Tag: liberty

5 Lifestyle Hacks

On By seancovellIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

(Disclaimer: Although we love to pretend, we do not live in a free country.  There are powerful forces that love to intervene in every aspect of our lives. That is especially true when it comes to your pocketbook and your health.  Please do not misconstrue the following as medical advice.  So, to protect myself I will state the obligatory, “Consult your physician before engaging in any diet or exercise program”.  That said, be your own advocate. Do your own research. Ask your own questions. Do everything possible to better your life. As far as I know, you only get one.)

If you followed the last 50 years of government advice regarding diet and exercise, its almost a certainty that you have a chronic illness, fatigue, a high body fat percentage and you have no idea what your body needs in terms of real nutrition and physical activity.  Don’t worry. It’s not completely your fault. After all, we remember that awe-inspiring food pyramid telling us to eat five to seven servings of carbohydrates and walk 20 minutes a day as part of “balanced” diet and fitness plan.  I have bad news for you: both of those recommendations are probably not suitable for you. What should you do? Say, “Screw it”, sit on the couch and pound some cola and chips while watching reality TV? NO! You care about yourself and your body and are dedicated to improvement.  So, if you’re looking for some tried and true life hacks to kick-start your health and physical fitness, the following tips are for you.

  1. Intermittent Fasting (IF): The old adage that breakfast is the most important meal of the day turns out to be an old wives tale.  In fact, new research shows that skipping breakfast altogether may turn out to be the single best thing you can do for your health.  Dr. Joseph Mercola and others have done a great deal of research about this subject and I suggest you do your own.  Fasting has been used for centuries as a way to detoxify the body and lose weight. This tactic is well known in the Paleo community, but it can also be used to build muscle mass and cut body fat. Many athletes and bodybuilders are beginning to embrace IF.  Actor Hugh Jackman, when asked his secret for getting so lean for the X-Men movies, stated that he only ate between 10am and 6pm.  Essentially, he skipped breakfast, worked out in a fasted state and then stopped eating food after 6 pm. He fasted for 16 hours, ate for 8. He did not cut calories. He actually ate more while he was trying to pack on lean mass.  This is the approach I use and it has worked very well for me.

How does it work?  Skipping breakfast and doing exercise in a fasted state triggers the body to release growth hormone to preserve muscle tissue. Additionally, the body is signaled to mobilize fat tissue to burn for energy. Most breakfast foods are high in carbohydrates, which triggers the body to release insulin.  While insulin levels are high, the body will shut off growth hormone production. If your muscles and liver have enough glycogen stored already, that high insulin will cause your body to shuttle glucose from those carbohydrates into your fat cells.  So what if you just skip carbs in the morning and opt for eggs? I’ll address that next, but I suggest unless you have some medical condition that prevents you from trying intermittent fasting, try it.  Who knows? You may reverse unhealthy conditions in your body and you might feel better.

2.  Carbohydrate Cycling or “Backloading”: I’ve already suggested skipping breakfast and especially high sugar, high grain foods in the morning.  There are those who do not eat any sugar or grain whatsoever, and they have changed their lives.  Personally, I have followed a no starch, low-sugar diet and I have been able to effectively manage an autoimmune disease without any painkillers or prescription drugs.  However, if you are an athlete who needs to refuel your muscle tissue or you just have to have some carbs to feel whole, try eating them only on certain days and eating them later in the day, after exercising.

Carb Cycling: By skipping carbohydrates for a period of time and then spiking your intake of them, you can refuel your glycogen stores allowing your body to perform at a high level while stripping off body fat.  This is carb-cycling.  Essentially, skip carbs for a number of days to mobilize fat stores to be used as energy, and then fill up for a day. You will learn how many carbs and what type your body likes after just a few weeks.

            Carb Backloading: Another approach is to eat your carbs later in the day.  This essentially allows your body to slip into ketosis, maximize fat usage through the day, and then reefed at night.  John Kiefer has published two books and other articles examining how the body can transport glucose without raising insulin levels in the body.  By eating carbs later in the day, after exercise, the body can take in carbohydrates to refuel without the body’s insulin level skyrocketing.

If you need carbs in your diet, you may consider looking into these two life hacks.

3.  Eating More Fat: If your have not read Wheat Belly by William Davis M.D. or Grain Brain by Davis Perlmutter M.D., you really should.  Both books present a compelling case against high carbohydrate consumption and also for why people may not be eating enough of the right fat for optimum health. Grain Brain further argues that most bodies, and especially the brain, prefer to burn ketones for optimal health. The brain needs enough fat (butter, avocado, fish oil, heavy cream, nuts) to function and repair itself properly.  Both books suggest that Alzheimers and other brain abnormalities could really be a form of diabetes, caused by excessively high blood sugar levels.

The takeaway?  Fat is not the enemy.  Fat doesn’t make fat.  High blood sugar and insulin levels are most likely the culprits. Also, it is no coincidence that after the government’s “war on fat” occurred, the level of obesity and autoimmune disease began to skyrocket. Changing your diet will change your life. Embrace fat or be fat. Pun intended.

4.  Hit it and quit it! How long are your workouts?  Do you spend hours at the gym or on the bicycle or treadmill?  If so, raise your hand, and say, “Hi, I’m ________your name here_______ and I’m wasting time.” You may have been led to believe that the time you put into an activity is more important that the intensity you use.  The opposite is true.  Just as productivity is more important that activity, intensity is more important than duration.  Running is more effective than walking. Smaller rest periods are more effective that sitting on the leg press or preacher curl machine with your smart phone for 5 minutes between sets. The book First 20 Minutes by Gretchen Reynolds is a great resource for those who want to learn more about why exercise intensity trumps exercise duration. For now, as a multiple health club owner and personal trainer, I will tell you those who train using drop sets, supersets and high intensity interval training (HIIT) see much better results than those who workout without a plan and take a nap between sets.  In fact, while I suggest changing routines every 6-8 weeks to shock the body into change, I never recommend people stop using high intensity principles.

Note:  Please don’t confuse HIIT, drop sets and supersets with Crossfit.  Some preach Crossfit, and I applaud anyone who sticks to a plan. However, the amount of injury, chronic fatigue and overtraining I see from crossfitters lead me to suggest using it as a part of a training routine, not the entire thing.  Think Bruce Lee here. Take the best from all disciplines. Don’t be a fanatic without regard for the results.

How It Works: With Cardio: Instead of walking on a treadmill for 45 minutes, begin to walk for 30 seconds, then sprint for 30, then back to walking. Continue to do this for 10-20 minutes.  You’ll save time and increase results.

With weight lifting: After doing squats with, let’s say 135 pounds, drop the weight down immediately after the first set to 100 pounds and perform more reps. This is a drop set. A superset would be performing bicep curls on the machine and then immediately performing another bicep exercise. It’s also possible to move onto a completely different muscle group. (For example, doing bench press followed by pull-ups.)  Embrace intensity over duration. Save yourself some time. Don’t workout for longer than 90 minutes. Ever. 45 minutes is much better. See more results. Enjoy life more!

5. Wear a Watch During Your Workout And decorate your house with wall clocks.  I believe firmly in being consciously aware that time is ticking away. We all have the same hours in the day.  The bum and the millionaire get the same time during the day. What makes the difference? How people use and don’t use their time. Time is really the only asset we have that doesn’t depend on something or someone else.  During your workout, being conscious of how you are using your time. Capitalize on it. This will help you be more productive.  Personally I like to wear a Casio G Shock with a stopwatch so I can time my workouts and rest periods. Sometimes I’ll even wear an expensive watch to remind me that lost time is lost money and that craftsmanship matters in life and the marketplace.

At home, decorate with clocks.  They look nice and they will keep you on track. Once you begin to maximize your time, you’ll find you begin to resent the people and things that waste your time.  This is good.  Don’t waste your time. This is especially true when eating and getting exercise.  Most importantly, don’t waste time being ignorant. It’s your responsibility to yourself and your family to become educated and independent. Do your research. A mentor once said, “Poor people have big TV’s. Rich people have big libraries.” I believe this is also true with healthy people. You only get so much time in life. Don’t waste it!

 

Why I’m a Libertarian (And Why You Should Be One Also, in 800 Words)

On By seancovellIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Republicans hate me. Democrats loathe me. Why? I’m a staunch Libertarian and I have little tolerance for government intervention in our lives. Democrats and Republicans love government and see it as a tool to maintain power and control over others. They are Statists; they worship the State. The State is their idol, their god. Both parties believe in the “Noble Lie” from Machiavelli. They believe it’s acceptable to lie to the people because most are too stupid for their own good. Statists believe they know how to spend your money better than you. They know what to teach your children. They know what types of food you should eat and how much of your income you should be left with. They know that only they should have guns, nuclear weapons and drones because they are wise and you are stupid and dangerous. They know better than you because they are the elite. As Hegel put it, the state is all, a God walking on the Earth. The individual is nothing. This is what the “right and the left” believe—that the individual is secondary to the collective, to the State.

So, I’m a Libertarian because I believe that you own your own body and no one else, including the State, has a claim on it. I believe in private property rights. I believe taxation is theft. Taxation assumes the government owns the fruits of your labor and allows you to keep a certain percentage. If 100% taxation is slavery, at what point is it not? I believe that the world consists of only individuals and the terms “society” and “collective” diminish the value of the individual. I believe you have the right to defend yourself against aggression. I believe that the only laws that should exist would enforce private contracts and promote non-aggression towards others. I believe that government is force, nothing more. I believe that governments have murdered more people throughout history than any other entity. I believe that large groups of people do not have more superior rights than an individual, and that democracies trample the liberties of men far more than monarchs. I reject the tyranny of the majority. I believe the State allows people to steal from their neighbors via the law.

I believe in non-aggression and if you haven’t aggressed against anyone, you are free to do what you desire. I believe you are free to do whatever you desire as long as you do not harm others. I believe that government is the antithesis of freedom and the larger it grows, the less free everyone is. I believe that so long as people see government as a tool to enrich themselves other than a force, they will continue to steal wealth from others through taxation. I believe that more people than ever are reliant on the State and it’s destroying our humanity. I believe in the free market and as long as people do not commit fraud or harm, they are entitled to all the monies the marketplace delivers to them. I believe the courts are tools to increase government power. I believe in nullification—that jurors and communities of people can refuse to enforce laws that violate the non-aggression principle and private property laws. I believe that all laws that violate these principles are unjust and therefore should be null and void. I believe that if a gang of people got together and went around with guns taking money from people for whatever reason they claimed, people would see that as a violation of their natural rights and would fight back. I believe this is what the State does daily. I believe this violates the principles of liberty that all humans are born with. I believe you should take back your freedom. I believe that if you think you own your body and you are entitled to what your body’s labor produces, you are a libertarian. I believe if you smoke weed or do other “illegal” things and you’re not hurting anyone, you should be a Libertarian.

I believe that if you are a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jew or any other religion that believes in non-aggression and the Golden Rule, you should be a Libertarian. I believe if you oppose theft, murder and rape, you should be a Libertarian. I believe that if you vote to steal from your neighbor because you are envious of them, you are a bad person. I believe the law should protect freedom not violate it. I believe that no one should be allowed to use the law to trample individual liberty. I believe if you agree with me on all of this because the arguments are rational and in line agreement with nature, you are a Libertarian. I believe if you want freedom, you must be a Libertarian.

I believe that gay, married couples should be able to protect their children and marijuana farms with fully automatic firearms because no other authority has the right to tell them they can’t. That is why I am a Libertarian.

 

Maximum Contraction

On By seancovellIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The best way to truly build up your body.

            Do you ever notice how certain people have excellent body parts? It could be their biceps, chest, back, shoulders, butt. Let’s be honest, 2014 was the year of the butt. There’s even a new term “belfie” due to the phenomenon of people posting pictures of their firm butts on social media. Maybe you have a body part you’re really proud of. Maybe there are a few you don’t want to talk about. Today, we’ll talk about the best way to truly sculpt the body parts you want to improve.

The secret to building up stubborn body parts is one word: Contraction. While many lift weights and perform exercise they think will help sculpt their body, the likelihood is they are not contracting the target muscle for a long enough time to build it up. The other problem is likely the muscle is not fully shortened during the exercise. What’s fully shortened mean? Let me explain.
Fully shortening a muscle, like the triceps for example, would be pulling your elbows back behind your body and fully extending your arm. You see most people do triceps pushdowns with the cable in front of them and then extend down. They may feel their triceps, but they haven’t fully shortened or contracted the muscle. This process forces your nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers because the muscle is very weak when fully shortened. So let’s start by laying out what you need to do to get maximum contraction.
Learn the Muscle’s Range of Motion:
A key to this process of properly contracting a muscle is to learn the true range of motion of the muscle itself. As with the example of the triceps, the full range of motion is when the bicep is contracted (the triceps are fully stretched) and when the elbow is pulled all the way back and the arm is extended. With the chest, maximum contraction comes when your hands are pulled in towards each other. With the calves, point your toes up towards your knees as far as possible, then extend your toes down as far as possible (like a ballerina). Getting the idea? Take the time to figure out your body’s full range of motion!

Start by Contracting:

With any exercise, begin by contracting the muscle you intend to engage first. So, when doing a seated row for example, pull your hands away from each other first, thereby engaging the lats immediately. Then, follow throw with the movement by focusing on driving your elbows back and down. This will shorten the muscle and take it through its full range of motion, ensuring constant tension and stimulating your body to repair it bigger and stronger.
Slow the Negative:
Super important! Slow down the negative part of the exercise. For example, after you do a bicep curl, control the weight slowly on the way down. Keep tension for as long as possible during a set of an exercise. Muscles only grow because of the tension placed on them. The weight you use should only be a tool to increase tension, but the truth is you can increase the tension just by activating the muscle, fully shortening it, and keeping it under tension through the duration of an exercise. In other words, leave your ego and attitude at home when weight training. You don’t need lots of weight to get amazing results.

Have a Vision:
Yes, the mind-muscle connection is very real. It’s your brain that send signals to muscle fibers to contract and extend. Therefore, it’s imperative that you focus on the target muscle and squeeeeeeeeeze it to maximize the connection between your mind and the muscle. It’s true—you must get your head in the game when bringing up lagging body parts. So, have a vision for the body you want and then train wisely and efficiently to go and get it!

Conquer Worry

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HOW TO CONQUER WORRY AND DOMINATE 2016

Watching the news today, one would think that humanity is on the brink of Armageddon. Sinking global stock prices, ISIS, global unrest and just overall bad news. If you are thinking about what the future holds and are uncertain about what to do to survive this global crisis. I urge you to think inward. Very few things in life are within our control, but they are the most important. Among these are time and health. The only thing we truly have is the time left in our lives and the quality of our life in the form of our health. With this in mind, let all of us focus on increasing the quality and length of our lives with the hope of bettering the world around us. The following are recommendations to help cope with stress, gain strength and maintain a positive attitude. Take heed of this advice and send this article to everyone you know who could use some help.

Fear

All stress, worry and anxiety is fear.  And there are really only two types of fear; 1. that you won’t be enough , 2. that no one will love you. Are you afraid of losing your job? Your wife? Your health? What if you did? What would happen. See,  those fears really boil down to the fear that if something bad happens, you’re not enough or others won’t love you.  These fears are easily banished by taking action.  The problem is that taking action requires discipline.  It takes the PAIN of disciplining yourself to confront fear and refuse to let it get a hold of you forever. Get better thoughts and emotions in your life. Decide to live in a great place whenever possible.  And yes, it’s possible to live in a great state when the world is falling down around you. It just takes tremendous discipline. So let’s get moving!

Exercise

If you are feeling down or lethargic ask yourself, “Am I working out 4 times a week? Am I sweating? Am I combining strength training with cardio exercise?” If you answered yes to all of these questions, really look inside and be honest with yourself. We’re talking about your life and if you are living in denial or making excuses as to why you can’t exercise, you’re inherently sabotaging yourself. Be honest. You need to exercise vigorously at least 4 days a week. No excuses and no whining.

Why?

A recent article from the Mayo Clinic reports on the mental benefits from exercise. The release of endorphins via exercise can cause an elevation in mood and reduce stress. Regular exercise forces us to concentrate on ourselves rather than the situation of the world. In addition, working out can reduce the symptoms of mild depression. Perhaps the most important mental aspect of working out is the boost in self-confidence. There is a mind-muscle connection in which the mind controls the body. But this connection works the other way around as well. While many sit and complain about how they are “not in the mood to workout”, they forget that working out the body will improve the mood. Next time you’re not in the mood, go lift some weights and see if your attitude improves. I guarantee you will feel stronger, more energetic and more confident.

Bottom line: Stop sabotaging yourself! Go train your body and improve your take on life.

Diet

The food you are taking in could very well be causing your mood to sink. Fast food and restaurant food contain large amounts of sugar, flour, hydrogenation and trans fats, which cause an inflammatory response in the body. This will cause your mood and your body to sink faster than a rock (result: food coma). Moreover, intake of these types of substances is devastating to the liver and kidney, which filter out toxins and synthesize amino acids and other compounds. Fast food and highly processed foods are the equivalent of a tiny bomb going off inside your body. I point to Morgan Spurlock’s documentary film nside your body. I point to Morgan Spurlock’s documentary film “Supersize Me” as evidence of what can happen from constantly bombarding your body with these types of foods.

I can’t even tell you the amount of times I have heard clients say, “I don’t eat this stuff all the time.” What they really mean is, “I don’t have McDonalds for every meal.” Sometimes it’s McDonald’s for breakfast, Taco Bell for lunch and Jack in the Box for dinner. Get the point? We must eat clean in order to properly manage our lives and our well-being. If we don’t prepare our own meals and eat nutrient dense foods, we are consuming large amounts of flour, sugar, alcohol, saturated fats and other elements that destroy the body. If so, we are THINKING WITH OUR TONGUES RATHER THAN OUR BRAINS! To maintain a healthy, positive attitude, we must think logically and give our bodies what they need, not what our tongues want.

Reading

Turn off the news and read a book. This author used to work in the media early in life and my arthritis began to give him more trouble than ever. The constant flow of negative information and geo-political problems can cause people to wonder why they should even try to carry on. Turn off the radio and TV and stop listening to pundits and analysts who claim to be experts. Rather, pick up a copy of “Think and Grow Rich” or “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.” Learn how to heal yourself. The point is this: all the problems that you are facing in your life have been dealt with and written down by others. Take the time to read and learn how you can use the experience of others to improve your own life. The written word contains the secrets to life. All you have to do is be willing to seek the information out.

Supplementation

When we are under a lot of stress, particularly financial stress, we tend to cut back on purchases we deem are non-essential. Unfortunately, many of us will eliminate or cut back on the things we need the most to prepare us to deal with stressful times. Two things that come to mind are gym memberships and our supplement regimen. Stress left unchecked will eventually exhibit itself in the form of disease, both mental and physical. The best way to combat both is to give our body and mind the nutrition and proper exercise it needs to work towards developing a healthy mind/body relationship.

We all know there are times when we justify purchasing that 99-cent hamburger on the sweetened white flour bun in order to save money, rather than opting for something healthier, which may cost a little more. The problem with doing that is, once you have put that idea in your head, you will soon develop a lifestyle habit that will ultimately cost you much more in the way of compromised health. If you live the fast food lifestyle, it is even more important for you to maintain a healthy supplement regimen to make sure your body and your brain are receiving all of the nutrients they need, not only to run efficiently, but also to fight off disease and depression. A high quality multi-supplement containing nutrients like essential fatty acids, such as omega-3s from fish oil and B vitamins with powerful antioxidants like alpha lipoic acid and green tea extract, can go a long way toward nourishing and protecting your most valuable assets– your body and your brain.

If you are too busy to prepare or buy a healthy breakfast or lunch, you can at least add water to a healthy and delicious protein shake rather than consume a jelly doughnut. If you don’t know what supplements to take, look it up! The world is at your fingertips.

No one knows what the future holds, but it makes sense to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for whatever may come our way. If indeed we are headed for a long economic downturn, allowing ourselves to become physically and emotionally ill will only paralyze us in our own personal depression, making us even more of a victim. Remember, great things were accomplished during this country’s Great Depression era of the 1930s, such as building the Hoover Dam and the Empire State Building. Don’t let the worry about what might happen paralyze you into inaction. Take control of your thoughts—that, in turn, will lead to control of your actions. Prepare yourself to conquer worry and whatever challenges may come your way by exercising and nourishing your body and your mind. DOMINATE 2016!

-Sean Covell

Questions to Ponder This Holiday Season

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Questions to ponder during the Holiday Season:
The following questions are for your consideration. There are no answers provided here. Only some intriguing questions that, depending on your answer, may be the key for you to fully enjoy this holiday season and thrive in 2016.

What if the holidays are really about gratitude for others and not receiving yourself?

What if the type of body you want and are committed to having will determine your attitude towards the holidays? What if the more fit your are, the happier you can become?

What if the cold weather can be your ally in reducing inflammation in your body and burning fat?

What if cold therapy can eliminate depression altogether?

What if Christmas and New Years are like any other day?

What if Christmas and New Years are magical days, if you choose them to be, but every other day can be as well?

What will you do if you do not receive any gifts this year?

What if the only gifts you accept from others are charitable donations to a charity of your choice?

What if your actions can light up the face of someone else this season?

What if you can be a hero to a child this season?

What if you open your heart and destroy your limiting beliefs this season?

How will that affect everyone around you?

How will it affect you?

What if you could give to others all year?

What if your family receiving a heartfelt written letter of love this Christmas?

What if you didn’t eat desserts this holiday season and instead donated the money you would have spent on them to charity?

What would happen if you believed your loved ones who have passed are really still with you this season because all humans are made of energy and energy cannot be destroyed, only transferred?

What if the reason for the season is “to go out and love others as I have loved you.”

What if New Years resolutions mostly never happen because people have limiting thoughts keeping them from achieving them?

What if discipline is freedom and your rituals, including holiday rituals determine your life’s outcome?

What if you could carry Christmas in your heart every day?