Open Sky Fitness Podcast

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Zach Bitter: The Life of an Ultrarunner -Ep 130 Jan 09, 2017

Show notes

"When you get intuitive with your body, you can be honest with yourself. That honesty and intuition really have to couple together and that will be your map to help you understand where your body is going."- Zach Bitter Join The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group! That's right! We have a closed Open Sky Fitness Podcast group on Facebook where you and everyone have the opportunity to talk about your health and fitness goals in a safe environment. We post workouts and start discussions about how to be strategic around finding a healthier you. Check it out! A Short Guide: The New Year Big Gym Rush Before you listen to the interview with Ultrarunner, Coach, 100 Mile American Record Holder, and 12 Hour World Record Holder, Zach Bitter, Rob and Devon had another special guest on the podcast this week. CEO and owner of the Los Angeles StrengthRx CrossFit Gym, Justin Schollard, discussed with Rob and Devon about what to do when the big gym rush happens in January when the New Year Big Gym Rush happens across nation. Whether you're a veteran gym goer or you're just starting to go the gym, you may find the gyms to be over-crowded, a bit chaotic, and unsure of what to do in some situations. Read on to learn how we can all make the gym a great place to be for everyone. Make Your Gym a Comfortable Place for Everyone Meet New People & Create a Fitness Community You might feel intimated or uncomfortable when you start going to a gym. You're not sure how to use the equipment, people are lifting heavier weights or are faster at you on a cardio machine, you don't know what to focus on etc. The best way to get comfortable at the gym, is to meet new people. Join a class that interests you such as dance, cycling, or HIIT for example. That way, you get to know other members and trainers at the gym right away. At CrossFit gyms such as Strength Rx, you can automatically sign up to join small classes with only 12-20 people per session. That way, compared to joining a 24 hour gym where you're all on your own, you have the chance to get to know others and belong to a community of people with similar goals. If you are a veteran gym member, try to go out of you way to talk to new members. Even a simple 'hello' or smile will help people to feel welcome at the gym. Go In With a Plan A lot of people tend to wander aimlessly from one machine to the next without a real plan for the hour that they're at the gym. Instead of going to the gym with no idea what you're going to do, create a plan for yourself. Decide how many minutes of cardio you will do, if today is leg or arm day, how many reps you will do for each set etc. If you know exactly what you're going to do for your workout, you'll feel focused and confident. Take it Easy Even if you decide you're going to the gym to walk on the treadmill rather than your neighborhood, you still have a plan and it will help you become more familiar with your new gym. To help you get started with building your own workout plan, check out our Open Sky Fitness templates here: Download Results Tracker here! Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates. Gym Etiquette 101- To Cycle In or Not to Cycle In? Should you ask to cycle in or wait for someone to be done at a machine? Try to cycle in! You can easily make a new friend or workout buddy at the gym by cycling in with another person. It can be intimidating, but people are usually very friendly and will let you cycle in if you ask politely. If somebody is lifting way more than you, like 2-3 plates at the dead-lift for example, it's best to let them finish their set and use the equipment when they're done. Zach Bitter: The Life of an Ultrarunner Ever wondered what it was like to be and race as an Ultrarunner? This week, Rob interviewed Ultrarunner, Coach, 100 Mile American Record Holder, and 12 Hour World Record Holder, Zach Bitter. Find out how Zach got his start as an Ultrarunner, how to become fat-adaptive, and how Zach trains to compete in 100 mile races. Discover Your Fitness Zone "What I've found is that by just keeping your heart rate consistent, your body will experience enough stress so that it can adapt. But the body shouldn't receive so much stress that it need to spend so much time recovery from it." - Zach Bitter You don't have to go all out to build your body and get faster. If you stay at a comfortable, elevated heart rate, you can easily get into the fitness zone every time you work out. To discover your fitness zone, simply subtract your age from 180. For example, if you're 40, you're fitness zone heart rate is 180. 180 - your age = approximately your comfortable heart rate zone If you find yourself sprinting to stay at the heart rate or feel like you're just walking, tweak your speed until you find the heart rate that allows you to get a good workout in, but challenges you at the same time. Train for a 100 Mile Ultra Marathon Zach's advice for training and competing in a 100 Mile Ultra Marathon is to have a good time, but to also be prepared for it. To train for competing in a 100 mile race, you need to design a training program that focuses on the race profile. How elevated is the land? Will you run on flat ground, up hill, or down hill? What is the terrain like? Will you be in the woods, a desert, a field? Create a program that helps you to improve specific skills that will be necessary for your race. For example, Zach finds it difficult to run down hill so he'll train specifically to help his body prepare for running under that type of condition. Have a good time and enjoy the process. If you stress too much or go out to hard in practice or the race, it can be a recipe for an injury. Cross Training for Running Competitions Zach uses cross training as a means to help him strengthen any of his body's weak areas that need to be addressed such as the posterior chain. His cross training includes: Dead lifts Isolated hamstring exercises Back bridges Kettlebell swings Priming yoga Kinesthetics exercises How to Follow a Fat-Adaptive Nutrition How do you get fat adapted? We've been told for decades that fat is bad for us, so it can be strange for a person who has avoided fat for most of their life to suddenly begin to start eating it more often. According to Zach, it can take a 2-4 week period to become fat-adapted. During this time, it's best not to not stress out about your training. Take advantage of this time to focus on having a combined fitness and nutrition goal to re-program your body's recognition of fuel. When you follow a fat-adaptive nutrition guideline, you are convincing your body that it's main fuel is fat, not carbohydrates. Zach's Nutrition This is what Zach includes in his diet in order to be fat-adaptive: Breakfast Tea Coffee Coconut Milk Almond Milk Raw Honey Almond Coconut Oil Post Morning Workout/Lunch Eggs Bacon Stir fry Coconut milk smoothie with possibly: Berries Melons Sweet Potatoes Dinner Stir fry Vegetable based recipes Chicken Beef Fatty fish like Salmon Protein based meals Organ meats that are nutrient dense Non starchy vegetables: Spinach Peppers Beets Avocados Starchy vegetables on high carb days such as sweet potatoes Become a Fat-Adaptive Runner When you transition to being fat-adaptive, you don't have to stop workout out completely, but be honest with yourself. Go easy on yourself because you're body is going through a lot of stress by focusing on eating fats rather than carbs. Your body has to adapt to eating fat and adding exercise can put your stress too high. You'll notice your body changing when you feel tired and grumpy as you experience the "keto flu." After the switch, you'll feel a lot more energetic. Start Building Your Own Workouts and Meal Plan! Download Results Tracker here! Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates. Download the OSF Food Journal Now! Have a Question or Review for Rob or Devon? We love answering questions and getting feedback from you, our listener! If you have any questions to ask us, want to share a review of the show, or tell us any suggestions for guests/topics that you think would be great to have on the show, just email Rob at rob@openskyfitness.com or Devon at devon@openskyfitness.com or you can also leave us a review at www.openskyfitness.com/review and even text OSFreview to 33444 to get the link. What You'll Hear on This Episode 00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction 1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon 2:50 Introduction to Zach Bitter 3:50 Dealing with the busy New Years gym rush 8:30 How to get comfortable at the gym when you're a new member 13:30 Find people to encourage you and hold you accountable with your new gym goals 14:40 What equipment to use when you're a beginner and how to do a super set. 17:00 When should you go to the gym? 17:40 Gym Etiquette 101 23:30 Interview with Zach Bitter 24:10 The beginning of Zach's racing career 27:40 What does it take to train for an ultra run? 29:00 Keeping up a heart rate pace through training for ultra runs 30:45 What do you do to keep your heart rate down? Do you do interval training or sprints? 34:00 Find a comfortable heart rate zone for you. 35:15 What is the approximate heart rate for runners who can run 4 minute miles in a marathon? 36:25 What training do you do for an ultra marathon? 39:00 How do you train by running on just a track? 44:00 What's your mental focus for ultra marathons? 45:30 Zach's struggles during ultra marathons 47:20 Do you including any cross-training when you're preparing for ultra marathons? Is there a standard ratio of endurance vs strength that's relative to your goals? 51:00 What does your programming look like during the week? 53:30 Finding Your Inner Fitness Intuition 59:20 What does 'fat-adaptive' mean? 1:02:20 What does your nutrition look like each day? 1:08:00 Why Zach decided to keep dairy out of his diet 1:11:10 How does your digestion affect your training? The importance of food for your training and performance. 1:16:30 How does one transition from getting energy from fats rather than carbs? How can a person do that when they're a distance runner? 1:25:00 What does a typical pre-race and post-race meal look like for you? How many carbs do you eat on a daily basis vs an event day? 1:33:45 What's next for Zach and ultra running events 1:35:30 Contact Zach to be your running coach! 1:37:25 Closing comments with Rob and Devon 1:39:05 Open Sky Fitness Closing RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW: The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group on Facebook Check out the official website of Zach Bitter Find out how Zach can become your Running Coach Zach's upcoming races for 2017: Rocky Raccoon, Huntsville, TX (Feb 4) Western States, Auburn, CA (June 24) Javelina Jundred, Fountain Hills, AZ (Oct 28) Desert Solstice, Phoenix, AZ (Dec 9) Check out our upcoming OSF Podcast Guest, Director of L.A. Sports & Spine, Dr. Craig Liebenson Strength Rx CrossFit Gym in Los Angeles, California Learn more about the MINDBODY App to help your members reserve a spot in a gym class! Read about fat-adaptive diets with Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney in The Art and Science of Low Carb To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below** Download Templates Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com To leave a Review for Rob and the Open Sky Fitness Podcast CLICK NOW! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them. Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Do you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast)? Click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail." And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free! Thanks for listening/reading Episode 130- Zach Bitter: Life of an Ultra Runner! We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

Full show notes at the publisher

Active Recovery From Stress - EP 129 Jan 03, 2017

Show notes

"Any workout is a stress on the body. When you put that stress on the body, it needs to adapt to it in order to grow. Just like normal stress, we use it to grow and improve ourselves. Whether it's stress from exercise, jobs, or life in general, we need recovery." - Rob Dionne

Join The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page!

That's right! We have an Open Sky Fitness Podcast group where you and everyone have the opportunity to talk about your health and fitness goals in a safe environment. We post workouts and start discussions about how to be strategic around finding a healthier you. Check it out!

What Do You Do if You're Bored with Your Workout?

We had a great question on the OSF Closed Facebook Group about what to do if you're bored with your current workout? What to do to switch things up or see results again if you're stuck in a rut.

The response from our OSF Facebook group members was overwhelming and we'd like to share some of their suggestions here:

Rediscover your WHY- What is your ultimate intention and why are you doing what you're doing to reach your goal.

Do something different - Take a break from what you're doing (maybe every 4th-6th week) and do something new or fun with your workout - swim, dance, bike, or do yoga for example.

Join a fitness group - take a fitness class such as yoga or Zumba or a join of group of people who enjoy doing the same thing as you such as a running club, cycling group, or Master's swim team.

Get a new workout program - Either create a new program on your own or ask someone else to write a new program for you. This new program should still help you work towards your fitness goal.

Find a lifting or workout partner - It will be fun to do a workout with someone else and they will also hold you accountable to your goal of going to the gym a couple of times a week or completing a goal.

The Path to Active Recovery From Stress

"Active recovery is being present with yourself and understanding what your body needs." -Rob and Devon Dionne

On this week's episode of Open Sky Fitness, Rob and Devon took some time to discuss how we can use active recovery from stress to help re-build and energize our minds and bodies.

You may think the best recovery is just to completely stop what you're doing and rest, but best recovery is one that still keeps you in motion with your goals and intentions.

"Our bodies need continual active recovery rather than taking a complete rest period." - Devon Dionne

What is Active Recovery for Fitness?

You can still keep up with your fitness goals while recovering by staying active on a daily basis.

For example, if you're working out a lot by lifting heavy weights or doing intense cardio activities such as running, biking, and swimming, take a rest day and do a different, but fun activity.

Active recovery for fitness can be joining a dance class, hiking, yoga, or surfing. It can be any other physical exercise that you enjoy doing. The main thing to remember is that it can be any form of physical exercise as long as it's n0t intense, but allows your mucles to function and rest at the same time.

Active Recovery from Stress

"We have to get over the idea that our stress or physical pains are happening because it's just the way that we are. There has to be something that's causing you to feel the way you are and you can put an end to it by discovering the root of the problem." - Rob Dionne

3 Different Types of Stress

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), we can experience 3 different kinds of stress: Acute Stress, Episodic Acute Stress, and Chronic Stress.

To intentionally begin active recovery from stress, you need to take something with yourself to discover what type of stress you are experiencing.

Acute Stress

Acute stress is the stress that we experience on a day-to-day basis. It's the stress that comes and goes away in a short amount of time.

Receiving a speeding ticket or having a bad interaction may cause you to experience acute stress.

If you are not a regular skier, going skiing all day can also cause acute stress on the body because it's a sudden, abrupt stress that your body has to adapt to in a short amount of time.

Episodic Acute Stress

Episodic acute stress happens to those are frequently stressed because they take on too much to do at once and blame themselves if things go wrong. They're often in a hurry and will feel overly anxious on a regular basis.

The APA website puts people who have episodic acute stress into two groups: Type A and Worry Warts.

People who are Type A will self-inflict stress onto themselves by following a tight schedule on purpose. They may suffer from migraines and constant tension to the point that they body just shuts down on itself.

Worry Warts are pessimistic and constantly worrying about the future and afraid that nothing will work out the way that they want it to happen. They may feel anxious and depressed.

Episodic acute stress can happen from numerous souces:

Learning from watching how our family handles stress
Work
Relationships
A 9-5 hour daily job
Working 60+ hours per week
Being a stay at home mom and constantly driving children from one place to the next.

Those who self-inflict stress upon themselves may wear it like a badge of honor. They believe it's a positive thing that the more you work, the better yo are as a person because you do so much. However, this mindset will just cause you to experience more problems in the future because you are doing so much.

No one can have a perfect schedule or happy life by doing so much at once that it cause unnecessary stress.

Chronic Stress

Chronic stress can tear people down. It can greatly affect those who are dealing with constant stress that is making them feel like there is no hope or escape from it.

Chronic stress can happen because of a job that you hate, not feeling appreciated by others, feeling trapped, or being in abusive relationships with others. People who are located in areas of constant war and repression will also experience constant chronic stress.

How to Cope with Episodic Acute Stress

Because episodic acute stress is self-inflicting, you and only you have the power to turn things around for yourself OR with the the help of another person if you don't know how to change your life.

The first step to coping with episodic acute stress is to recognize that you have it and you need to take responsibility to change it.

How to Actively Recover from Stress with Good Intentions

"When you pick your active recovery, it should be in line with your intentions and goals in life." - Rob Dionne

A couple of weeks ago, Rob and Devon discussed The Power of Intention to help us achieve our goals and live the life that we want to be in every day.

When you think about what your intentions are for yourself, you want to try to create a life that you would love to be in every day.

Here is how you can use the power of intention to help you actively recover from stress:

List All of Your Favorite Things

Listen to yourself and make a list of all the things that you love that also help you become more present with yourself and with others. Don't list anything that causes you to tune out such as: binge watching TV, going out a lot, or binge eating and drinking.

Schedule Time to Give Yourself More Self-Care

Set aside a certain amount of time to solely focus on giving yourself more self-care. This can be either daily or monthly.

Think about what is holding you back from achieving what you want and then purposefully create a schedule that helps you spend more time focusing on you and your goals.

You should be creating a life for yourself that allows you to have more time for yourself.

Think About What Brings You Pure Joy

Make a list of all of the things that truly bring you joy or anything at you enjoy doing. Next, break them down into time categories of how long each thing takes to do: 5 minutes, 1 hour, a fully day? Include anything that you can do a couple of times a day, per month, or each year.

Some daily activities to help break up your stress may include:

Walking
A short workout
Journaling
Reading
Praying
Meditating

During the week, you can enjoy:

Favorite outdoor activities
Crafts such as pottery or knitting
Catching up with friends or family
Classes

Try to include anything that helps you to stop for a moment during your week to just be present with what's going on with you.

Schedule Time for Relationships

Make sure you set some time aside to focus on building relationships with your family and loved ones.

Choose a couple of hours or full day to cook dinner together, go out on a date, or simply making a habit of eating dinner together at the dinner table.

What You'll Hear on This Episode

00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction

1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon

4:00 Facebook group question- What do you do if you're bored with lifting?

10:10 Active Recovery from Stress

12:30 The three different kinds of stress that we deal with

19:00 How to deal with episodic stress

21:00 What mistakes do we make when we try to relieve our stress?

24:00 How to deal with your stress with good intentions

26:00 How is binge watching TV shows giving any value to your life?

28:40 What's a good plan for active recovery from stress?

40:30 How to set yourself up for active recovery from stress

46:00 Closing comments with Rob and Devon

51:05 Open Sky Fitness Closing

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW:

The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group on Facebook
Check out our upcoming guest: Ultrarunner, Coach, and 100 Mile American Record Holder, Zach Bitter
American Psychological Association- Stress: The Different Kinds of Stress
Listen to Episode 125 of the OSF Podcast: The Power of Intention
Listen to Episode 126 of the OSF Podcast: How Do I Change?

To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below**

Download Templates

Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com

To leave a Review for Rob and the Open Sky Fitness Podcast CLICK NOW! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them.

Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com

Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Do you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast)? Click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail."

And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free!

Thanks for listening/reading Episode 129- Active Recovery From Stress! We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

Lou Schuler: Strength Training Made Simple-Ep 128 Dec 27, 2016

Show notes

Please leave a review: http://openskyfitness.com/review Join The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page!

That's right! We have an Open Sky Fitness Podcast group where you and everyone will have the opportunity to talk about your health and fitness goals in a safe environment. We'll be posting workouts and starting discussions about how to be strategic around finding a healthier you. Check it out!

Your Health and Wellness This Week: Strength Training & Self-Care

On this week's episode of Open Sky Fitness, award-winning journalist, certified strength and conditioning specialist, and author, Lou Schuler, spoke to Rob about his career and life experiences about getting fit and staying fit for life. Lou has had a career in the fitness journey for more than 20 years and has witnessed major changes and trends in the world of health.

But before we get into the interview with Lou, Rob and Devon share some self-care topics. Learn what it means when you judge other people, how you can turn your focus back to you, and when is a good time to help other people in need.

Lou Schuler's Fitness Advice

On this episode, you'll learn what it was like for Lou to start lifting weights as a teenager with minimal sources available compared to the immense amount of information that you can find today on the Internet and in magazines.

Today, As Lou reaches 60 years of age, he's realized that his focus on strength training and fitness has shifted compared to when he was younger.

Lou currently works out about 3 days a week and focuses on core stability training and mobility training. By focusing on more isometric exercises, Lou has been able to focus on improving his balance while still staying strong, stabilizing the muscles, and avoiding joint pain.

Growing Stronger Over Time

Whether you're just beginning to strength train or you're returning to it after a break, it's important to start with the basics and progress over time.

Lou's advice is that you shouldn't feel that you need to speed up your workout to lift heavy weights or take on a Cross Fit class. Don't do anything intense until you've mastered the basic movements.

Back to the Basics of Strength Training

Even if you've been lifting for years, going back to basics with a program that includes completing 2 sets of 12 repetitions can be fatiguing because your body has changed over time and it's not used to doing this exercise.

Staying Strong for Life

When we're young, and especially if we're involved in sports, we can feel unstoppable. It's a great sensation to feel like you're unbreakable and don't have any limits when it comes to pushing your body's limits. On the other hand, not matter what our age is, we all need to take care of our body's health for life

Athletes try to lift more than they can really handle and that's where injury comes into play.

As we age, just like Lou, different types of strength training and balancing exercises come into play. At some point in our lives, we begin to prioritize exercises that help us to stabilize our body and condition the muscle to help reduce any type of future injury. If an injury should occur, we want to make sure that our body is strong enough that we can recover quickly.

Staying Healthy With Age

"There is no turning back the clock. I'll never get back the body that I used to have when I was 30, 40, or even 50. There's just no way." - Lou Schuler

A lot of people may believe that they can have this same body forever by taking a special pill, but we have to realize that our bodies will age and we cannot workout at the gym in the same matter that we did when we were younger.

As we get older, it can be discouraging to think about everything that our bodies used to be able to do when we were younger that we cannot do now. However, the best thing about gaining experience with fitness and strength training over time is that we know our bodies better than we did before. Now we can suspect when an injury might come up, we know when to slow down, and we recognize when we've reached our limits.

We just have to treat our bodies well over time and take care of it the best we can through fitness and nutrition.

About Lou Schuler

Lou Schuler is an award-winning journalist, a certified strength and conditioning specialist, a contributing editor to Men's Health magazine (you can find most of my articles here), and author or coauthor of many popular books about diet and strength training.

Lou's latest book, Strong, came out November 10, 2015. He and Alwyn Cosgrove wrote it as a follow-up to The New Rules of Lifting for Women, which is by far the most influential of the five books in the New Rules of Lifting series.

Lou also wrote The Lean Muscle Diet with Alan Aragon, which came out in December 2014, along with The Book of Muscle (with Ian King), The Home Workout Bible (with Mike Mejia and many other contributors), and The Testosterone Advantage Plan (with Jeff Volek, Mike Mejia, and Adam Campbell).

Lou recently self-published his first novel, Saints Alive, and he is a coauthor of How to Get Published: Writing Domination in the Fitness Industry, which he wrote with Sean Hyson and John Romaniello for all the trainers and nutritionists who've asked him over the years how to break into his field.

What You'll Hear on This Episode

00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction

1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon

4:00 Judging others and what that says about you

11:00 Taking the opportunity to focus on yourself

13:00 Being proactive and eating healthy during the holiday season

21:00 Introduction to Lou Schuler

21:30 Lou's book series: The New Rules of Lifting

27:00 Men & Women: What's the potential for gaining muscle? What programs can they do?

29:30 How much should we lift to gain upper body strength?

31:30 Different fitness programs for different reasons

32:30 Lou's background

36:10 What sources were you relying on for fitness advice when you were a teenager? How did you learn how to lift?

39:00 How did you become a journalist for fitness articles?

42:30 Where is the best place to start for strength training basics? What should we focus on?

49:00 The state of mind as we age and how we see fitness

52:50 How has your fitness regime changed over the last 20 years?

56:40 The mentality around fitness and strength training for athletes

58:00 At 60 years, what is your workout like?

1:03:00 What do you do when you get bored with lifting?

1:11:00 What is your style of eating?

1:13:40 How can people get in touch with you?

1:15:00 Closing comments with Rob and Devon

1:16:35 Open Sky Fitness Closing

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW:

The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group on Facebook
Lou Schuler's official website
The New Rules of Lifting website
Check out our upcoming guest: Ultrarunner, Coach, and 100 Mile American Record Holder, Zach Bitter
Learn more about Dr. Peter Harms' research and findings
Read The New Rules of Lifting by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove

The latest book from Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove, Strong
Learn more about Alwyn Cosgrove on his official website
Dave Draper's body building career
Bill Starr's 5x5 Training Guide

To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below**

Download Templates

Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com

Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com

Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

Do you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast)? Click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail."

And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free!

Thanks for listening/reading Episode 128- Strength Training Made Simple with Lou Schuler! We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness - Ep. 127 Dec 20, 2016

Show notes

Join The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page! That's right! We have an Open Sky Fitness Podcast group where you and everyone will have the opportunity to talk about your health and fitness goals in a safe environment. We'll be posting workouts and starting discussions about how to be strategic around finding a healthier you. Check it out! Upcoming Open Sky Fitness Podcast Guests: Zach Bitter and Lou Schuler This Thursday, December 22nd, Rob will be interviewing two upcoming OSF Podcast guests: ultra runner, Zach Bitter, and award-winning fitness journalist and author, Lou Schuler. If you have any questions you would like to ask them, email us at rob@openskyfitness.com or devon@openskyfitness.com. You can even record you own question on the Open Sky Fitness website. Just click on the "Send Voicemail" button on the homepage. It's as easy as that! Zach Bitter Lou Schuler Healing from DOMS: Road to a Healthy Recovery There are a lot of different theories and beliefs around what causes our muscles to become sore and what helps or doesn't help the pain go away. Muscle recovery and soreness has been a topic in the OSF Facebook group. On this week's episode of Open Sky Fitness, Rob and Devon explain what Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) actually is, what might be the cause of it, and how to help your muscles recover. Healthy Snacks: Dark Chocolate Not only has DOMS been a topic of conversation on the OSF Facebook group, but healthy snacks have been a hot topic as well. One of the best healthy snacks you can eat is dark chocolate. Yes, you read that right. Dark chocolate has amazing benefits for our bodies. Tune in as Rob and Devon share what ingredients to look for in a dark chocolate, what ingredients to avoid, and how dark chocolate can boost your overall health. Why Dark Chocolate? Dark chocolate is a really great source of micro nutrients, vitamins, and minerals such as: Iron (good for those who are anemic) Copper Magnesium Fiber Potassium Phosphorus Zinc Selenium It also bioflavonoides which help protect you against the sun. Best Dark Chocolate Ingredients When looking for a great, healthy dark chocolate, the ingredients should include: 85% and above amounts of cacao whether it's a butter, liquor, mask, or pastel Natural vanilla extract Low amounts of sugar Coconut butter or cream (sometimes included to make it creamier) Avoid any dark chocolate products that include: High fructose corn syrup (common in popular brands like Ghirardelli) Artificial flavorings Vanillin (the artificial version of vanilla extract) TBQ preservative Partially hydrogenated oils (aka trans fats) Soy lexatin (common in chocolate and it's a thick gummy part from soy to keep the chocolate together) If the dark chocolate includes this ingredient, make sure it says non-GMO How much dark chocolate can you eat? Just have a square or two squares with something else like fruit (blueberries and cranberries) or yogurt or nuts for a delicious snack. There is caffeine in chocolate so try to avoid it at night. If you eat dark chocolate with blueberries, the chemicals in the chocolate can actually help increase the fruit's antioxidant level by a large amount. What is DOMS? Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS is the feeling of intense soreness that you feel within 24-48 hours of working out. It peaks during the first two days and can last for about 4-5 days afterwards as the pain slowly decreases. It usually occurs after you lift heavy weights or have completed an eccentric exercise. What Causes DOMS? "Muscle tears are necessary to build stronger muscles, but the pain that goes with it in the training process is a trauma that your body is not used it and it has to adapt." - Rob Dionne There are many theories behind what cause DOMS, but scientists do not have an exact answer for us. In fact, no one truly knows what causes DOMS or how to speed up the healing process. One common belief is that DOMS happens because of a build up of lactic acid in the muscle after a workout. The lactic acid blocks circulation and creates soreness. However, what most likely causes DOMS is probably the tears in the micro muscle fibers that have to be repaired. Muscle soreness really isn't a bad thing. In fact, the muscle tears that cause us to be sore are necessary to build stronger muscles. If our muscles are not broken down from a workout, then the repair process cannot happen to build our muscles. Common causes of DOMS includes: Lifting weights Jogging Plyometrics or jump training Eccentric exercises Physical stress Metabolic stress Other forms of stress on the body What Can Make DOMS Worse? The following can make DOMS worse and difficult for your body to heal: Dehydration Vitamin D deficiency Sleep deprivation Mental stress Emotional stress Poor nutrition Caffeine It's very common for people to have a Vitamin D deficiency. If you believe you may have this, you can take a supplement. Poor nutrition and caffeine is linked to sleep deprivation. If you drink a lot of coffee or other caffeinated beverages throughout the day, you probably won't be able to sleep and therefore your body will not be able to recover. The Differences Between Eccentric, Concentric, and Isometric Exercises Eccentric exercises focus on lengthening the muscle in a controlled motion. As you lower the weight down from a bicep curl, you lengthen your muscle. A strong lowering motion can easily be too hard on the body. This action can over stress your muscle to the point that it can potentially tear it and cause DOMS. Concentric exercises focus on pulling and shortening the muscle. One example is a bicep curl. With each bicep curl, you are putting stress on the muscle by pulling it up and shortening it. Isometric exercises are caused by holding a position for a couple of seconds. Isometric exercises include doing a plank exercise or freezing your position during a bicep curl to keep a muscle active. Side Effects of DOMS Side effects of DOMS includes: Pain Swelling Stiffness Soreness Muscle tenderness Strength loss Inflammation Weakness Nausea Recovering from DOMS "Having DOMS is like having a cold. You can't get rid of it; you just have to let it run its course. The only thing you can do is to take care of yourself during the process and make sure you're not over doing anything to prolong the recovery stage." - Rob Dionne How long do you need to recover? It's really up to your body. If you bench press 100 lbs and go back to the gym 2 days later and you can only bench press 85, then you didn't give your body enough time to recover. You should give your body enough time to recover so that the next time you're still able to bench press 100 lbs or a bit more. Preventing DOMS To best thing that you can do to heal DOMS is to simply prevent it from happening in the first place. To prevent DOMS, you can do two things: 1) Ease into a workout program. 2) Warm up with specific movements. Easing into a workout program Take your time easing into your workout program. It may take weeks or months for you to finally get to a point where you're comfortable with pushing your body with a cardio or weight lifting workout. Even if it's just beeen a couple of weeks or months since you've been to the gym, take your time to ease yourself rather than going at it full force. A lot of former athletes make the mistake of thinking that they can take a break from training and continue right where the left off before. You'll still feel sore after an easy workout, but no to the point that the pain is unbearable for 4-5 days like with DOMS. Warm up with specific movements Some studies have shown that by taking the time to warm up specific muscle groups before your workout can help prevent some of the pain caused by DOMS. When you warm up, you create an elasticity in the motions. Before you get into your full workout, do a jog and do a couple of sets of super light weights (squats, bench press). Tumeric has also been shown to help with DOMS by adding it to your beverages or including it in recipes. It's been said that the body can better absorb it if pepper is mixed in. What About Stretching and Massages? Stretching is essentially doing the same thing as a massage. It can help with temporary relief and has a beneficial impact overall for your body, but it will not impact your DOMS. When you have muscle tears, tendinitis, or inflammation, stretching is not really the best thing and it can create more pain. Instead, a trigger point release is better by massaging the muscle and pining the muscle and moving it through a range of motion and releasing the pressure. Release the tension by lengthening the muscle and help improve your range of motion. Sometimes recovery just takes time and you have to be patient. DOMS is just your body adapting to your muscles recovering and growing. Temporary Relief from DOMS There is no exact cure for DOMS, but there are several steps you can take to help give your body temporary relief from the pain. Besides massages and stretching, Ibuprofen, other NSAIDs, and icing can help take the pain away for a moment, but they cannot heal the body. In fact, ibuprofen and icing make the situation worse by stopping the healing process that happens when inflammation is trying to help heal and rebuild muscle tissue. Epsom salt baths, compression garments, and water will not help cure DOMS either. Compression garments will actually block the flow of circulation in your muscles and don't have an impact on DOMS. Water is very important to help you stay well hydrated, but will not have an affect on DOMS either. The best thing to do is try to prevent DOMS from even happening in the first place. What if the Muscle Pain Lasts for Weeks? If your DOMS lasts for weeks, then you may have torn a muscle or have another sickness in the body such as a Vitamin D deficiency. If you've torn a muscle, it may take much longer for your body to recover. It's common to have a Vitamin D deficiency and it's recommended to take a year round Vitamin D supplement. Start Building Your Own Workouts and Meal Plan! Download Results Tracker here! Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates. Download the OSF Food Journal Now! Have a Question or Review for Rob or Devon? We love answering questions and getting feedback from you, our listener! If you have any questions to ask us, want to share a review of the show, or tell us any suggestions for guests/topics that you think would be great to have on the show, just email Rob at rob@openskyfitness.com or Devon at devon@openskyfitness.com or you can also leave us a review at www.openskyfitness.com/review and even text OSFreview to 33444 to get the link. What You'll Hear on This Episode 00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction 1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon 2:40 Healthy snacks: What to look for and what to stay away from with dark chocolate 16:10 DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness 18:00 Side effects of DOMS 21:50 What causes DOMS? 24:00 Actual causes of DOMS 32:00 What doesn't help DOMS- NSAIDS, icing, and water and more 46:15 What makes DOMS worse? 51:30 What can you do to help prevent DOMS? 58:00 Closing comments with Rob and Devon 1:03:55 Open Sky Fitness Closing RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW: The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group on Facebook Check out our upcoming guests: Ultrarunner, Coach, and 100 Mile American Record Holder, Zach Bitter and award winning author and journalist, Lou Schuler Listen to Episode no. 87 with Dr. Kelly Starrett: How to Prevent Injuries and Improve Performance Listen to Episode no. 97 with Dr. Loren Cordain: The Origin of the Paleo Diet Listen to Episode no. 112 with Dr. Jonny Bowden: Breaking Down Cholesterol and Nutrition Myths Learn more about Dr. David Nieman's research on ibuprofen Learn more about Tim Ferriss To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below** Download Templates Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com To leave a Review for Rob and the Open Sky Fitness Podcast CLICK NOW! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them. Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. If you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast), click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail." And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free! Thanks for listening/reading Episode 127- DOMS: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness? We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

Full show notes at the publisher

How Do I Change? - Ep 126 Dec 13, 2016

Show notes

Change Your Life with Healthy Habits

"The intention is not the goal. The intention has to be the thought process behind the goal. Your intention should always include being joyful; especially when we're talking about health and improving your life. We often forget that this is a gift that we're giving to ourselves. Being healthy has nothing to do with anyone but ourselves." - Rob Dionne

Last week, Rob and Devon discussed how the power of intention can help navigate our health and wellness in the direction that we want to go. It can be difficult to change our ways because we're often looking for that quick fix to drop weight and be healthy for a short amount of time before going back to our old ways.

Fortunately, it's really not that hard to become healthier. You just have to make changes, be persistent, and have patience.

A healthy lifestyle is truly a gift to ourselves and we can enjoy the process by taking in each moment and achievement. We don't have to be hard on ourselves to see our health improve. We just have to swap our unhealthy habits for healthier ones. In fact, if we follow the 80/20 rule, 80% of our health benefits happen just because we make a 20% effort to change our ways on purpose.

This week, Rob and Devon share the same healthy habit tips that they tell their clients. With these easy health hacks, you can start implementing changes today to build a stronger, healthier body.

How Can I Begin to Change?

"We like to try to change everything at once and that's what most people do when they start a diet plan. This is why they end up crashing and burning because they try to go from 0 to 100 overnight. It's impossible to do that." - Rob Dionne

Let's face it, we're used to instant gratification, but we need to have patience if we want to get healthy the right way. When we follow the route to being healthy, all we have to do is just focus on 1-3 changes each week.

If we try to do too much at once like suddenly trying out a Ketogenic Diet, it can be too much on us and we're likely to quit and fall back into our old habits.

If we focus on even just one change instead of changing everything we do, all of the pressure and anxiety easily goes away.

It may sound too good to be true, but focusing on just even one task can provide a long-term benefit your health, relationships, well-being, internal thoughts, career, and more.

Take each week at a time to focus on 1-3 changes. You can choose to focus on just 1 very difficult task for the week OR maybe have 1-2 easy tasks and than the third is intermediate.

Change Your Nutrition Weeks 1-2: Food Journal and More Water

The very first two things that both Rob and Devon recommend that their clients do if they want to eat better is to keep a food journal and to begin drinking more water.

Even before they meet with Rob and Devon, each client fills out their 3-day food journal. Not only does this it help you keep track of your diet, but also your emotions, hunger levels, moods, physical changes, and digestion. This will really help you recognize which foods may be affect your mind and body.

In addition to adding a food journal, add more water to your diet during the first or secondweek.

You should try to drink around 80-100 ounces each week. To help keep track and motivate you to drink more water compared to coffee, soda, energy drinks etc., place 5 rubber bands at the bottom of your water bottle. Every time you drink a full 20 ounces, move one of the rubber bands to the top of the bottle.

Week 3: Add in Non-Starchy Vegetables

When you want to change your lifestyle, focus on adding healthy habits and not taking anything away. Because you're so focused on creating healthy habits, you're not focusing on other things.

To make these healthy habits part of your new lifestyle, you have to add and add more things until there's no more room for any of your past bad habits. These habits might include drinking too much coffee and soda or eating too much process food for example.

During the third week, Rob and Devon's clients begin to focus on eating better foods for their diet by beginning with non-starchy vegetables such as:

Broccoli
Asparagus
Cauliflower
Onions
Peppers
Artichokes
Eggplant
Heart of palm/Palmito
Snow peas
Celery
Radishes
Mushrooms

If you're not used to adding vegetables to your diet, begin by just adding one non-starchy vegetable to your daily diet and increase the amount of vegetables over time. Try to get to the point where you're eating non-starchy vegetables with each meal or 4-6 servings per day.

If you're not a big fan of vegetables nor fruits, take a daily multi-vitamin or supplements to ensure you're getting all the nutrition that your body needs.

Week 4: Add in Protein

During the 4th week of you health makeover, add in 1 source of protein a day:

Beef (grass-fed if possible)
Fish
Chicken
Pork
Eggs
Beans
Quinoa
Broccoli

Week 5: Add in Healthy Fats

During the 5th week, top off you diet by adding healthy fats:

Fish oil
High fat fish like Salmon
Avocados
Avocado oil
Coconut oil
Nuts

By the end of your 5th week, you should have implemented all of the following changes:

Keeping a food journal
Drinking 80-100 ounces of water each week
Eating non-starchy vegetables
Eating protein
Eating healthy fats

Life Changes with Exercise

Once you have a hold on nutrition, make exercise a habit to add to your daily week. Again, you want to take small steps. There's no rush to begin training for a marathon right off the bat.

Before you hit the gym, focus on exercising at home by building your own home workout. Even just taking a ten minute walk every day during the week can be life changing.

Once you've created a home workout for yourself, do that once a week. Then two the next week, then 3 HIIT workouts the following week.

Before you know it, the next step will be to look for a gym to go to!

Implementing Lifestyle Changes

To fully implement your new lifestyle changes and commit yourself to them, write it all on paper.

For example, you can write down what your intentions are, what your schedule is, or what healthy habit you want to add this week all in your fitness journal.

Create a schedule for everything: when you sleep, wake up , cook dinner, have meetings, and even time to relax. Use your time to relax to think about what you're grateful for, mediate, or write in your thoughts in your journal. These tasks can help put you in the right mindset to focus on the positive rather than the negative and prepare you to take on a new day.

If you want someone to be there with you each step of the way, ask a friend to be your accountability partner and to help you keep in check with yourself.

Start Building Your Own Workouts and Meal Plan!

Download Results Tracker here!

Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates.

Download the OSF Food Journal Now!

Check Out The Brand New Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page

That's right! We've started an Open Sky Fitness Podcast group, where you and everyone will have the opportunity to talk about your health and fitness goals in a safe environment. We'll be posting workouts and starting discussions about how to be strategic around finding a healthier you. Check it out!

Have a Question or Review for Rob or Devon?

We love answering questions and getting feedback from you, our listener! If you have any questions to ask us, want to share a review of the show, or tell us any suggestions for guests/topics that you think would be great to have on the show, just email Rob at rob@openskyfitness.com or Devon at devon@openskyfitness.com or you can also leave us a review at www.openskyfitness.com/review and even text OSFreview to 33444 to get the link.

What You'll Hear on This Episode

00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction

1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon

10:20 How do I change?

16:00 It's okay not to focus on everything at once.

18:30 Don't forget to have intentions to follow through with your new, healthy habits

20:20 How to change your nutrition

25:10 Constantly add things in, don't take things out

26:00 Weekly nutrition add-ins

33:20 Life changes with exercise

36:00 Implementing lifestyle changes

41:00 Closing comments with Rob and Devon

48:20 Open Sky Fitness Closing

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW:

The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group on Facebook
Check out our upcoming guest: Ultrarunner, Coach, and 100 Mile American Record Holder, Zach Bitter
Listen to OSF episode 21 TALKIN' SLEEP AND NUTRITION WITH SHAWN STEVENSON
Listen to OSF episode 125 THE POWER OF INTENTION
Listen to OSF episode 117 KITCHEN CLEAN OUT HACKS for Nutrition Month
Listen to OSF episode 79 DAVID ALLEN: THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT

To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below**

Download Templates

Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com

Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com

Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

If you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast), click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail."

And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free!

Thanks for listening/reading Episode 126- How Do I Change? We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

The Power of Intention-Ep 125 Dec 06, 2016

Show notes

Make Yourself Present with Good Intentions

On this week's episode, Rob and Devon discuss how good intentions have a more powerful impact our lives compared to just goals. As you tune in, learn and take notes on how you can set new intentions for yourself with an easy, 4-step process.

Throughout the podcast, Rob and Devon share personal stories about how they've learned how to set good intentions for themselves.

Intentions vs. Goals

"Goals are the external results and intentions are your external connections to yourself." - Rob Dionne

A lot of us enjoy the process of goals, but when we meet the end date, the final result can be frustrating. To really succeed in your goals and to feel accomplished, you have to have an intention behind it.

What is an intention?

Intention is a way of being in the present. It's all about focusing on HOW you're going to complete your goal or HOW your going to create a mindset around doing something.

Intentions give you a WHY and a purpose for completing goals. Maybe your goal is to lose 10 pounds, but your intention is why you want to do that. Is it to be more healthy? To have more energy?

Allow yourself to be present with the process with each intention! Intentions are your external connections to yourself.

A lot of people feel a sense of loss after they complete a goal, but intentions can help move you forward towards what you want to work on next so that you're constantly setting new S.M.A.R.T. Goals for yourself.

What is a goal?

Goals are something that you're trying to do to achieve a result in the future. They are the external results.

A goal can move you forward, but the happiness relies on whether or not you accomplish that goal.

We can be so hard on ourselves for not completing a goal such as losing a certain amount of weight. However, what's more important is to notice other changes in yourself thanks to all of your hard work-your energy, digestion, new abilities etc.

Different Types of Intention

"You either win or you learn. There is no lose." - Rob Dionne

There are three different types of intention: immediate, short-term, and long-term. From here on out, any goal you make has to be aligned with your new intention.

Immediate Intentions

Immediate intentions can take place the very moment when you wake up in the morning and set an intention for just that day. For example, you might wake up and tell yourself, "I'm going to try to be really present today. I want to focus on being more grateful today."

Short-term Intentions

Short-term intentions last from a couple of months to a year. During this time, you take a step back to really look at yourself and make a commitment to improve something in your life.

Have an intention for the year for yourself. Take a look at what you NEED and what you WANT.

Short-term intentions can be applied to anything: health, careers, relationships etc.

Especially if you're in pain, you're sick, and your health really needs attention; make sure you're giving yourself what you need before you give to others.

Life-long Intentions

Life-long intentions are broad and something that you can focus on for your entire life. Some examples might be:

Build a family and create friendships with those you support and those who support you back.
Inspire others and be around people that inspire you.
Have empathy for not only others, but for yourself as well.

Life-long intentions don't have to be complicated and they're quite simple.

4 Steps to Create a Good Intention

"Be curious about your feelings and be present with them." - Devon Dionne

Creating a good intention does not have to be complicated. Devon and Rob have put together a 4 step process to help you create a good intention for yourself.

1) Discover Who You Are

Spend some time with yourself to think about who you are and where you feel unempowered in your life. If you don't feel like you can discover yourself on your own, you can talk it over with someone you are close to or with a therapist.

You may feel unempowered about your eating habits (do you have self control over eating unhealthy foods), time management, health, and relationships. Learning about this is important to help you discover who you are and where you're at in your life.

2) How Are You Being?

How do you treat yourself? What actions do you take? Are you thoughtless, unloving, or disconnected to who you are?

How do you treat others; especially the ones that you love the most? Do you show up for the relationship or are you unloving, cold, distant, and even self-absorbed?

3) The Cost of Being This Way

How are your actions making you feel? Are you exhausted, ill, angry, negative? Do you feel like you're letting other people down? Do you feel alone or disconnected with your loved one?

How does this affect you physically? Do you harm your body? Are you eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly? Or do you ignore your body?

How is your mental health? Do you feel anxious, depressed, or confused? How does everything make you feel?

4) Set a New Intention for Yourself

"Give love as a gift. You have to love yourself first before you give of yourself to others." - Rob Dionne

The best part of this process is that now you get to make a 180 turn and set a new intention for yourself.

Examples of intentions might be to love with all of your heart or to give love without any expectations from other people.

Start with this thought: "I am going to be ________________." For example:

I am going to be more loving.
I am going to focus on myself and my family before helping others.
I am going to be more empathetic.
I am going to be more health conscious.
I am going to be more present for my clients.

Once you've established good intentions for yourself, you can start to set S.M.A.R.T. goals. Just remember that any goal you make has to be aligned with your new intention.

Start Building Your Own Workouts and Meal Plan!

Download Results Tracker here!

Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates.

Download the OSF Food Journal Now!

Check Out The Brand New Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page

Have a Question or Review for Rob or Devon?

What You'll Hear on This Episode

00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction

1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon

7:00 Why do some people enjoy the process of completing goals while others struggle and fall short?

8:30 Goals vs. Intention

12:00 Having goals without intentions: Rob and Devon's experience on the Road to Hana in Maui

20:00 Having intention is more important than having goals

23:00 Different types of intention: immediate, short-term, life-long intentions

25:50 Devon's current short-term intention

29:00 How to implement intentions and be present with yourself

33:00 Life-long intentions

34:30 How to create a good intention in 4 steps

51:40 Closing comments with Rob and Devon

52:30 Open Sky Fitness Closing

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW:

The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group on Facebook
How to Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals-Episode 104
Craig Ballantyne: How to Create a Perfect Day- Episode 91
The Perfect Day Formula by Craig Ballantyne
How To Set Goals: Ultimate Goal Setting Guide to Having Your Best Year Ever by Craig Ballantyne
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
Road to Hana in Maui, Hawaii
The 7 Sacred Pools along the Road to Hana in Maui, Hawaii

To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below**

Download Templates

Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com

Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com

Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

If you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast), click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail."

And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free!

Thanks for listening/reading Episode 125- The Power of Intention! We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

The Problem with the Dogmatic Nutrition Approach-EP 124 Nov 29, 2016

Show notes

Please leave a review at openskyfitness.com/review Join Us for a 10k Holiday Fun Run!

Devon and I will be participating in a 10k run in Santa Monica, California on Sunday, December 4th. Get in touch with us about meeting up and click here for more details.

November Nutrition Month: Week 8-Dogmatic Approach to Nutrition

One of the members of our Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Group shared her experience watching on a documentary on Netflix called "Food Choices."

It's great to learn about different diets and to be well informed about what you're eating. We want you all to know that there is not just one correct way to eat healthy. This prompted Devin and I to want to talk about why using a dogmatic nutrition approach is so problematic.

If you watch this documentary, you will see that it uses a one-sided, dogmatic approach to nutrition. This approach basically uses scare tactics to teach people that the only way to live a healthy life and help the environment is to follow a plant-based only diet.

What this documentary could have focused on instead is why we should always approach nutrition with an open mind and look at different facts, arguments, and discussions.

Nutrition Topics for October and November October:

Week 1- Which Popular Diet is Best for You?

Week 2-Kitchen Clean Out Hacks

Deciding to make a change towards turning your life around by eating better, exercising more, and becoming an overall healthier you can be liberating, but also challenging. A health journey is much easier when there is someone there to support you each day. But what do you do if the people closest to you aren't 100% with you for your health goals? How can your family and relationships continue to grow when you want to make significant life changes? What can you do to help your loved ones eat better too? Where do you even begin talking to them about living a healthier life? As part of our October Nutrition Month, this week, Wellness Author and Health Coach, Michael Tamez, joins Devon and I as we share our favorite nutrition tips for the family. Have a specific question about nutrition? If you have any specific questions or concerns about nutrition, contact us by email at rob@openskyfitness.com and devon@openskyfitness.com. Talk about nutrition with us! We've already been discussing nutrition and motivation tactics on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Group. It's a great group to talk with other people about health, share tips, and encourage each other to keep living a healthy lifestyle. Click here to join the conversation https">Nutrition Tips for Your Family

Week 4- Convenient Foods and Meal Prep Hacks

November:

Week 5- How to Hack Your Diet: Carb Cycling and Fasting

Week 6- Keys To A Healthy Gut

Week 7- Hot Topics: Gluten and Sugar

Week 8- The Problem with the Dogmatic Nutrition Approach

The Evolution of the Human Diet

"We're constantly learning more each day about nutrition and we need to be open for change." - Devon Dionne

The human race has been developing for thousands of years and we are still evolving to find the best nutrition for ourselves.

In accordance to different cultures and environments, groups of people will always follow different diets that are the best for them. Why? Because we all have different genetic makeup so one food that may be good for one person, might not be so healthy for another person.

One great example is dairy. Only a small percentage of the population can digest dairy, but the rest do not have the genetics for that type of capabilty.

Inuits have a diet that contains mostly meat because they can't grow vegetables in the cold. They need different sources of meat to help them live and stay healthy in that extreme environment.

Aboriginal cultures eat off of the land and that includes reptiles, bugs, birds, plants and other sources of protein from fish when they can find it.

Other cultures that follow different diets that we mention in the podcast include:

Native Americans
Tribes in Africa
Okinawans
Finnish
Japanese
Chinese
Other cultures that purposefully drink raw milk

Because of their environment and genetics, the diets of these cultures worked great for them compared to other diets.

Even in the mainland part of the USA, we never used to eat as many grains and cereals as we do now. More grains and cereals were introduced into our diets because of the agricultural revolution.

Myths About Omnivore Diets Myths About Proteins

As humans, we are naturally omnivores and need both meat and plants in order to absorb the nutrition that our bodies need.

According to the documentary, "Food Choice," we don't actually need as much protein like we thought we did. Therefore, there's no nutritious reason to eat meat when we can just eat plants.

But our bodies do need that protein and there are plenty of healthy options to eat grass fed meat compared to grain fed meat.

Our brains also need that protein from meat to stay strong and healthy. During the Paleothic era, our brains actually grew 20% once we began to consume meat from nature.

Our bodies are built to consume meat for protein because it is bioavailable and therefore easier to absorb the nutrients.

Vegetarians can consume their protein from eggs and dairy, but it's much harder for vegans to consume the right amount of protein that their body needs just from grains and beans.

"It's possible to be healthy as a vegan or vegetarian, but it's more difficult and you have to be thoughtful all the time." - Devon Dionne

Myths About Cholesterol

"It has been highly debunked that meat has a direct connection to high cholesterol." - Rob Dionne

Not only it is false that meat has a connection to high cholesterol and it will kill you if you eat a lot of it, but it is also not true that a high fat diet causes cholesterol and that in turn causes heart disease.

But what can make your cholesterol go up? A high intake of carbohydrates.

We also tend to forget that there are two types of cholesterol: HDL and LDL.

Meat has LDL cholestoral and this is actually a good thing because LDL feeds your brain.

What is bad about LDL is that it can become oxidized from the consumption of too many carbohydrates which can create plaque in your arteries.

Research and Choose a Diet That is Right for You

Dogmatic approaches to nutrition like the one from "Food Choice" create a Doomsday mindset for us. They create fear in our minds that we have to follow their way or we'll get sick and die.

The problem with dogmatic approaches to nutrition is that they don't bring up arguments from different opinions. Why would they? They purposefully don't want to create a sense of doubt with the information that they are proving so they can create a following and make money.

We're not saying that you shouldn't follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, but that you should make healthy decisions about food based on what your body needs.

If you have strong beliefs about not eating any kind of animal, that's a wonderful thing and we're happy for you. We might not necessarily agree with that choice because we believe that meat is an important part of a nutritious diet, but if you believe that a vegetarian or vegan diet is right for you, that's great! If you follow a diet because of religious or other beliefs, that's beautiful as well.

Discovering the Perfect Diet for You

Devon and I really suggest that you look at both sides of the argument and look into different diets. Listen to your body and pay attention to your gut.

A diet isn't right for you if you're experiencing any gut or gas problems, if you're sick a lot, or your energy is low.

If your weight is not where you want it to be and you have trouble either gaining weight or losing weight, you may want to look into changing your diet as well.

Look at your blood markers including sugar and protein levels. What is your body lacking and how can you fix it?

Pay attention to your emotions as well. Is your thinking cloudy or are you having negative thoughts? Are you depressed? These are also all signs that your diet is not working of you and something has to be changed.

Start Building Your Own Workouts and Meal Plan!

Download Results Tracker here!

Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates.

Download the OSF Food Journal Now!

Check Out The Brand New Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page

Have a Question or Review for Rob or Devon?

What You'll Hear on This Episode

00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction

1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon

2:00 OSF Facebook Group shout outs

5:00 Nutrition Months October and November Recap

8:00 The Problem with the Dogmatic Nutrition Approach

16:00 The evolution of the human diet

19:00 What's the biggest difference between the amount of protein or aminos for a vegan and someone who does eat meat?

23:00 Why it's important to be open to research and change around nutrition

28:40 The false idea that meat is high in cholesterol

32:50 Dogmatic nutrition beliefs are one-sided

35:30 Fact or Fiction: Does constantly eating meat shorten your life?

38:00 What are the other healthy diets for different cultures?

44:00 Why do dogmatic approaches to nutrition exist?

49:00 The best thing is to choose a diet that is right for you

50:30 Closing comments with Rob and Devon

52:30 Open Sky Fitness Closing

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW:

To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below**

Download Templates

Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com

Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com

Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

If you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast), click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail."

And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free!

Thanks for listening/reading Episode 123- Hot Topics: Gluten and Sugar! We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

Hot Topics: Gluten and Sugar- EP 123 Nov 22, 2016

Show notes

Please leave us a review at openskyfitness.com/review Join Us for a 10k Holiday Fun Run! Devon and I will be participating in a 10k run in Santa Monica, California on Sunday, December 4th. Get in touch with us about meeting up and click here for more details. November Nutrition Month: Week 6- Gluten and Sugar This week, Devon and I are talking about Hot Topics in Nutrition: Gluten and Sugar! There's a very high amount of Americans that over-consume gluten and sugar. Unfortunately, large amounts of products containing gluten and sugar can lead to different autoimmune diseases. Today, we'll talk about what products contain high amounts of sugar and gluten, how they affect the body, and what you can do to turn our health around. We also took some time to answer the question: What and when should you eat for pre and post workouts? Talk about nutrition with us! We've already been discussing nutrition and motivation tactics on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Group. It's a great group to talk with other people about health, share tips, and encourage each other to keep living a healthy lifestyle. Each week, we'll be discussing a different nutrition topic! Nutrition Topics October: Week 1- Which Popular Diet is Best for You? Week 2-Kitchen Clean Out Hacks Week 4- Convenient Foods and Meal Prep Hacks November: Week 5- How to Hack Your Diet: Carb Cycling and Fasting Week 6- Keys To A Healthy Gut Week 7- Hot Topics: Gluten and Sugar All About Gluten What is gluten? Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, grains, and other foods. It helps hold processed food together including: Breads Pasta Cereal Doritos Pretzels Crackers Nuts Fried food Cupcakes Cookies Flour Stuffing Pie crust Gluten can even be found in foods that have been crossed such as peanuts and Brazilian nuts. Today, the genetic makeup of gluten is so different than what it used to be. During the 1980s, there used to be around 30 different types of gluten in the USA. After years of crossing different types of gluten, we only have about 3 or 4 types now. What is Gluten Sensitivity? A person can be allergic to either gluten or gliadin and any of the 12 smaller parts that make up gliadin. Extreme cases of gluten sensitivity can lead to Celiac Disease, a genetic disease. This is an allergic reaction to gluten that is also an autoimmune disease that can cause damage to the stomach. Because Celiac Disease is a genetic disease, it can be turned on with enough gluten. Once it's turned on, it cannot be turned off. There's about 1 in every 200 people that have Celiac Disease and there's a chance that 1 in 30 are undiagnosed. Chances are higher if you are of European descent. Besides the small intestine, you can be gluten sensitive to to other parts of the body such as the brain. What are Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity Symptoms? People who have Celiac Disease or are sensitive to gluten can have the following symptoms: Abdominal pain Bloated belly Nausea Constipation Diarrhea Gas How Can You Test for Gluten Sensitivity? You can test for gluten sensitivity with either a Cyrex Array 3 Test or C Reactive Protein test to test for inflammation of the body. What Can Happen to Your Body with Gluten Sensitivity? Your body doesn't like the gluten and overtime it starts to create antibodies against the gluten that it's allergic to, but also other parts of your body and can create autoimmune diseases such as: Alzheimers, autism, dementia, MS, Parkinson's etc. Autoimmune Diseases can include: Thyroid problems Type 1 Diabetes Ffibromialgia Liver Disease Rheumatoid Arthritis Skin Disease such as Eczema Fortunately, a lot of these diseases can be treated by simply removing gluten from the diet! Sugar and Our Health "It's not fat that makes you fat, it's sugar that makes you fat." - Rob Dionne Our ancestors had it right when it came to eating fruit since it is the most natural food we have that contains healthy sugar. Today, we're more likely to find overly processed food in the stores that contain ingredients such as high glucose corn syrup. According to the latest release from the World Health Organization on sugar guidelines, we should only be consuming about 6 teaspoons of sugar or less each day. That's about 4-6 packets of sugar in your coffee! Two Main Sugars: Fructose and Glucose There are two main types of sugar that we intake on a daily basis: Fructose and Glucose. Fructose comes from fruit and honey. Glucose is the simplest form of sugar and it can be found in foods such as vegetables, leafy greens and some forms of sugar. Our body creates glucose by turning the food we eat into glucose! How Does the Body Digest Fructose and Glucose? We eat the food, the body breaks down the food and sugar is broken down in the blood stream, your pancreas releases insulin for your cells. When you have too much sugar and the cells are full, your pancreas transfers the sugar to your liver and it is stored as a glycogen for later use. If the glycogen is full and you're still eating sugar, you start to turn that into fat. Too much can create insulin resistance and lead to Type 2 Diabetes Uncovering Hidden Sugars Food and Beverage labels can include an assortment of different hidden sugars: High Fructose Corn Syrup Cane Sugar Corn Syrup Dextrose Maltose Sucralose Evaporated cane juice Fruit juice concentrates Monosaccharides Disaccharides Health Problems Because of Sugar A numerous amount of health problems can occur because of consuming too much sugar: Obesity Diabetes Type 2 Heart Disease Stroke Foods to Avoid to Prevent Diabetes & Other Health Problems Avoid any simple carbs that the body will break down quickly: White bread Wheat/ whole wheat breads White rice Baked white potatoes Bagels Croissants Vanilla wafers Graham crackers Pretzels Corn chips Cookies Jelly beans Gatorade Beer What foods should you be eating? Any complex carbs such as: Starchy veggies Sweet potatoes Squash Leafy veggies Workout Nutrition Pre-Workout Nutrition Depending on each person, they may or may not want to consume any food or beverages such as a smoothie or coffee before they workout. Overtime, you should know whether or not your body benefits from nutrition before you go workout. If your workout is suffering, you need more energy, or you're hitting a plateau, you might want to consider eating before you work out. If eating makes you feel nauseous during a workout (especially an early morning workout), then make you should wait to eat till after you're done. When Should You Eat Before a Workout? It really depends on the time of day, but you should try to consume something at least 30 minutes-1 hour before your workout. What Foods and Beverages in General? You will want to eat fast, digestible foods. You should consider eating carbohydrates as your first option, then proteins is second, and your last possible option are fats. Fats are the slowest digestible food so you should eat a very small amount of it if you're considering eating that. If you want to build muscle mass, then you should definitely eat some protein before your workout. I suggest eating food 30 minutes-1 hour before your workout because if you eat as soon as you get to the gym, then it's too close to the start of your workout. Your body won't have enough time to digest the protein and your body will be forced to use your muscle mass for energy. You will feel very sluggish because your body is working so hard to digest the food at the same time that you're trying to exercise. How Much Can you Consume Before a Morning Workout? Depending on how fast your body is able to metabolize food, you can consume anywhere between 100-700 calories. Some great food options during the morning include: Bananas Berries Greek Yogurt Nut butters Peanut Butter Almond Butter Honey Low-sugar jelly Steel cut oats/oatmeal Rolled out oats Hard boiled eggs Avocado Nuts Beverages to help your energy include: Coffee with Half n Half, coconut oil, or grass-fed butter Tea with caffeine Mate Supplement Options A protein shake with bananas, berries, almond milk, or nut butter is a great combination. We also recommend adding branched chain amino acids to your protein shake. Not only are protein shakese great for pre workouts, but for post workouts as well. You should try to stay away from any pre workout drink that has caffeine such as N.O. Xplode. The caffeine can be addicting and give you a lot of anxiety. In addition, drinks like this have tons of artificial colors and flavorings that are horrible for your body. You're better off with coffee, tea, or mate. What About Pre-Workout Foods for the Afternoon or Night? Try to eat something at least an hour before your workout so that you have energy. Any protein such as fish, meat, or eggs with complex carbohydrates like starchy veggies or grains and a minimum amount of fat so that your body can quickly digest the food. This should be eaten about an hour before you workout. A simple,quick fix is a smoothie that includes leafy greens, bananas, protein powder, and anything else from the breakfast list above. Try to consume this about 30 minutes before your workout. Post Workout Food Options If you had an intense workout, you can eat a lot of carbs because you exerted your body's limit and now you need the carbs to help you rebuild your muscles. If you did a light workout such as a walk on the treadmill, you should stay away from carb loading. To follow a macronutrient diet that includes about 2,000 calories, you should break it down as: 40% carbs (800 calories, 200 grams) 40% protein 20% fat As a post workout, you should consume 25-40% of carbs for your daily intake. 25% of carbs is about 50g minimum. You can eat starchy vegetables such as: Yams Sweet potatoes White potatoes Squash Pumpkins Beans Legume White rice Quinoa Similar to carbs, your protein post-workout should also have a minimum of 50 grams: Steak Chicken Fish Eggs Another option includes protein powder mixed with branched amino acids or grass-fed whey or egg white proteins. We really like brands such as Jay Robb for egg white protein. Fats are not necessary for a post workout meal. What you really need is fast absorbing food. Start Building Your Own Workouts and Meal Plan! Download Results Tracker here! Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates. Download the OSF Food Journal Now! Check Out The Brand New Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page That's right! We've started an Open Sky Fitness Podcast group, where you and everyone will have the opportunity to talk about your health and fitness goals in a safe environment. We'll be posting workouts and starting discussions about how to be strategic around finding a healthier you. Check it out! Have a Question or Review for Rob or Devon? We love answering questions and getting feedback from you, our listener! If you have any questions to ask us, want to share a review of the show, or tell us any suggestions for guests/topics that you think would be great to have on the show, just email Rob at rob@openskyfitness.com or Devon at devon@openskyfitness.com or you can also leave us a review at www.openskyfitness.com/review and even text OSFreview to 33444 to get the link. What You'll Hear on This Episode 00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction 1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon 3:20- Hot Topic: Sugar and Gluten 5:40 What should we be eating pre and post workout? 10:30 What can you eat/drink pre-workout during the morning? 18:40 What foods should you eat pre-workout during the afternoon? 21:00 Always stay hydrated 22:10 Post workout food options 28:10 Gluten and Sugar 30:20 What's Gluten? 35:45 What's gluten sensitivity? 40:00 How do people know if they have Celiac Disease or are sensitive to gluten? 42:15 The effects of gluten in the body 48:40 Test your gluten sensitivity 49:30 Sugar and Our Health 50:15 Where did our ancestors get sugar from? 58:20 How does fructose and glucose digest in the body? 1:01:50 What problems can sugar create for the body? 1:04:20 Diabetes Breakdown 1:12:35 Sugar makes you fat, not fat itself 1:14:50 Foods to avoid to stop diabetes 1:18:10 What foods should you be eating? 1:19:00 Closing comments with Rob and Devon 1:22:25 Open Sky Fitness Closing RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW: The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group on Facebook Holiday Fun Run in Santa Monica, California Jay Robb Egg White Protein JENNY SCHATZLE: 10 HOLIDAY TIPS FOR STAYING HEALTHY -EP. 72 Grain Brain by Dr. David Perlmutter Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar by Dr. Robert Lustig YouTube: Sugar: The Bitter Truth with Dr. Robert Lustwig To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below** Download Templates Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com To leave a Review for Rob and the Open Sky Fitness Podcast CLICK NOW! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them. Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. If you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast), click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail." And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free! Thanks for listening/reading Episode 123- Hot Topics: Gluten and Sugar! We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

Full show notes at the publisher

Esther Gokhale: Achieving a Primal Posture- Ep 122 Nov 15, 2016

Show notes

Join Us for a 10k Holiday Fun Run!

Devon and I will be participating in a 10k run in Santa Monica, California on Sunday, December 4th. Get in touch with us about meeting up and click here for more details.

A Short Break from Nutrition Month

Hey everyone!

Devon was not feeling too well to record the podcast this week with me so we will be taking a break from November Nutrition Month, but we hope to continue on with it next week!

Talk about health and fitness with us!

Join us in discussing, health, fitness, nutrition and motivation tactics on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Group. It's a great group to talk with other people about health, share tips, and encourage each other to keep living a healthy lifestyle.

Good Posture 101

This week, the Posture Guru of Silicone Valley aka Esther Gokhale of the Gokhale Method, joined myself to talk about the importance of good posture.

Have you ever wondered how you can improve your back's posture at your desk or whether a standing desk would be better for you? Esther answered a ton of our questions and gave us some good, basic stretches to begin our way to healthier and stronger bodies.

Primal Posture vs. Posture Today

Unlike today, our primal ancestors were living a certain lifestyle by hunting and gathering each day. Overtime, they developed specific movements and postures fit for that lifestyle.

Now, times have changed and today we're doing different things with our bodies by sitting at a computer desk rather than squatting and bending over to do different activities like picking up sticks for firewood.

We've lost a lot of kinesthetic wisdom in first world cultures. Yet there are many cultures out there, especially in Africa, that continue to teach younger generations how to hold their posture as far as how to hold babies, work in the fields to grow and gather crops, lying down to sleep, bending over to cook etc.

All of this without fatiguing themselves and running out of breath when we're having difficulties simply bringing groceries from the car into the kitchen.

Keep in mind, learning how to have good posture is not that simple. As Esther put it, just like a language, good posture takes time and practice to learn. In order to see great improvement in your posture, hans-on assistance and coaching is usually necessary.

What's Better? A Sitting Chair or a Standing Desk?

Both are good because we need change throughout the day, but we also need plenty of rest. If you find yourself standing all day (like older generations did when they worked and stood in factories), you will have many back and muscle pains from your poor posture.

Compared to standing, sitting also helps a person have deeper thoughts and better motor skills.

Improve Shoulder Posture

Esther's tips for good shoulder posture:

One at a time, bring one shoulder forward a little bit.
Bring your shoulder up a little bit.
Move your shoulder back and relax.
Repeat with the other shoulder.

You will experience better circulation, breathing, and feel more comfortable overall after doing this simple exercise.

How to do Stretchsitting

Sit with your bum back in the seat.
Hinge away from the back rest.
Lengthen your back with a crunch by folding your rib cage forward.
Maintain your forward fold while slowly using your hands to push your top half and lengthen more (push on arm rest if they're there).
Hinge back towards the back rest (use a towel or the Gokhale Method chair) to help stick/hook yourself to the back of the chair.
Relax and your weight will be attached to the towel and you will have traction against the chair.
Feel free to do a shoulder roll afterwards.
You're done!

Stretch sitting can be done anywhere and at anytime. Mix things up by standing up, walking around, or do some other light stretching from time to time (every 20-30 minutes).

About Esther Gokhale

Esther Gokhale (Go-clay) has been involved in integrative therapies all her life. As a young girl growing up in India, she helped her mother, a nurse, treat abandoned babies waiting to be adopted. This early interest in healing led her to study biochemistry at Harvard and Princeton and, later, acupuncture at the San Francisco School of Oriental Medicine.

After experiencing crippling back pain during her first pregnancy and unsuccessful back surgery, Gokhale began her lifelong crusade to vanquish back pain. Her studies at the Aplomb® Institute in Paris and years of research in Brazil, India, Portugal and elsewhere led her to develop the Gokhale Method, a unique, systematic approach to help people find their bodies' way back to pain-free living.

Gokhale practiced acupuncture and taught posture, dance, and yoga in her Palo Alto wellness center for over twenty years. The Gokhale Method continues to grow as qualified Gokhale Method teachers now teach the method worldwide.

Gokhale's book, 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back, has sold over 100,000 copies and has been translated into eight languages. In 2010, Gokhale hosted the nationally televised program Back Pain: The Primal Posture Solution (available on DVD).

Gokhale has taught at corporations such as Google, IDEO, Varian Medical Systems, and Facebook Inc. She has also presented at conferences including TEDx(Stanford), Ancestral Health Symposium, Weston Price Foundation Conference, and PrimalCon. She continues to speak with physician groups including Stanford, PAMF, UCSF and has consulted for the trainers of the SF 49ers and several Stanford sports teams.

In May 2013, The New York Times featured Esther in an article giving her the title, "The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley".

Esther Gokhale lives on Stanford University campus where she raised three children with her husband Brian White, chairman of the Math Department.

Start Building Your Own Workouts and Meal Plan!

Download Results Tracker here!

Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates.

Download the OSF Food Journal Now!

Check Out The Brand New Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page

Have a Question or Review for Rob or Devon?

What You'll Hear on This Episode

00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction

1:15 Opening comments with Rob

3:00 The OSF Podcast Group

6:00 Quick breakfast cups with muffin trays and tomatoes

8:30 Gut health and gas: Keep track of your nutrition with a food journal

13:45 Introduction to Esther Gokhale

15:00 How did you become the Silicone Valley Posture Guru?

16:40 What was your experience with back pain and how did you overcome it?

20:00 How do other cultures move and how did you translate that to your own posture movements?

25:23 Esther's tips for good shoulder posture

27:10 Is primal posture a trend or an awakening of our ancestor's posture?

32:30 Is it better to carry a baby on your back or on your front?

39:30 How did you carry your baby with you while cross country skiing?

43:40 How long does it take to learn how to have good posture?

48:10 Can some people learn good posture in a day?

51:40 How to do stretch sitting

57:00 What would you recommend: a sitting chair or a standing desk?

1:06:00 Closing comments with Rob

1:08:00 Open Sky Fitness Closing

RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW:

The Gokhale Method
8 Steps to a Pain Free Back by Esther Gokhale
The New York Times article: The Posture Guru of Silicon Valley
Sign up for a class with the Gokhale Method
The 6 course Foundations Course with the Gokhale Method
Free classes with the Gokhale Method
The Gokhale Method Blog
Sit to Stand Desks available at STAPLES

To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below**

Download Templates

Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com

Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com

Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.

If you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast), click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail."

And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free!

Thanks for listening/reading Episode 121- Keys To A Healthy Gut! We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

Keys To A Healthy Gut Nov 08, 2016

Show notes

Please leave us a review at http://openskyfitness.com/review Join Us for a 10k Holiday Fun Run! Devon and I will be participating in a 10k run in Santa Monica, California on Sunday, December 4th. Get in touch with us about meeting up and click here for more details. November Nutrition Month: Week 5 "Gut symptoms like constant gas and acid reflux is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong down there. So if you just ignore these symptoms or cover it up with a medication like Tums or Prilosec, you're completely ignoring your body telling you that it needs help."- Devon Dionne This week, Devon and I will be sharing key tips to having and maintaining a healthy gut! There is so much to cover that we're just going to talk about the basics today. Having a healthy gut is vital for the rest of your body's health, but fortunately it is also easy to heal it as well with the right combination of food, supplements, or medicine that your body needs. Talk about nutrition with us! We've already been discussing nutrition and motivation tactics on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Group. It's a great group to talk with other people about health, share tips, and encourage each other to keep living a healthy lifestyle. Each week, we'll be discussing a different nutrition topic! Nutrition Topics October: Week 1- Which Popular Diet is Best for You? Week 2-Kitchen Clean Out Hacks Week 3- Nutrition Tips for Your Family Week 4- Convenient Foods and Meal Prep Hacks November: Week 5- How to Hack Your Diet: Carb Cycling and Fasting Week 6- Keys To A Healthy Gut Week 7- Hot Topics: Sugar and Gluten The Importance of a Healthy Gut The gut is so much more important that we give credit to it. In fact, the digestive system basically acts like a second brain because it's a sensory organ. There's a reason why we have English sayings such as: A gut feeling Butterflies in my stomach Feeling sick to my stomach The reason is because there is a direct correlation between our gut and our emotions and moods. What's in the Gut? In the gut system alone, there are 10x more microbial cells than human cells in the body. The majority of that is healthy bacteria aka Probiotics unless you are suffering from poor digestion or an autoimmune system disease. Healthy probiotics are so important for our body for so many different reasons: Breaks down the food that are body cannot break down. Produces vitamins that our bodies cannot receive from food alone. Feeds on sugars during a fermentation cycle and produces vitamins and nutrients for our bodies. However, our bad gut bacteria can also create gas and inflammation as well in the digestive system. If you have imbalanced bacteria, you could suffer from inflammation. How to Spot an Unhealthy Gut On average, around 30-40% of people complain about digestion problems on a regular basis. They think it's normal to have stomach problems, but it truly is not. Any constant symptoms of even gas and acid reflux are trying to tell you that there is something wrong with your body's health and you need to start paying attention to it. You can spot a healthy gut, by paying attention to your bowel movements. A healthy gut means having 1 to 2 bowel movements a day and the stool should be long, dark brown, and floating compared to sinking to the bottom. If you're constipated, you many need to intake more water, vegetables, magnesium, and fiber. Any signs of bloating at any age is another sign of an unhealthy gut. If you notice a baby's stomach is bloated, it could mean that there is something in the formula that is upsetting the digestive system. Heal a Leaky Gut One sure way that your guy is unhealthy is if it's leaky. Unfortunately the signs may not be super obvious, but there are many ways to combat it. Your body is designed to heal and you can reverse a leaky gut and other stomach issues with the following tactics: Add Fiber Fiber is so important for your gut's health and bowel movements. Once it is in your stomach, it helps begin a fermentation process that assists with digesting your food and pushing it through the body. Your body cannot absorb fiber, but there are many sources of both soluble and insoluble fiber elements: Vegetables Sweet Potatoes Potatoes Yucca Celery Leave out Sugar and Gluten Sugar and gluten are BIG issues when it comes to gut health. Having a heavy gluten/sugar diet can lead to a leaky gut or autoimmune disease. If you're constantly eating food that has been sprayed with pesticide or foods that include artificial coloring and flavoring, or preservatives and drinking from non-BPA plastic bottles, this poor diet will start to break down the gut lining and create holes in it. A leaky gut can then develop into an autoimmune disease such as: Hashimoto's Disease Celiac Multiple Sclerosis Diabetes Type 1 Rheumatoid Arthritis Inflammatory Bowel Disease Irritable Bowel Syndrome Parkinsons Cancer Heart Disease Alzheimer's Avoid Possible Hidden Dangers Sometimes the medicine that is supposed to help us can cause the most damage. Be sure to talk in detail with your doctor about the following: Antibiotics Birth Control Pills Anti Inflammatory Drugs Mood Disorders Caused by Your Gut Studies have shown that people with depressive disorders have an alarming high amount of harmful gut bacteria. High cortisol levels that cause stress could be the cause of harmful gut bacteria. Also, if a person is eating large amounts of processed, zero-nutritious foods, that can trigger an autoimmune response and impact your emotional health as well. Food can really impact our energy and mood. If you consistently eat bad food, your mind and body will be in a consistent slouch. Before you allow your body to adapt to feeling that way, you should change your diet and replace unhealthy food with nutritious, natural, real foods. Improve Your Gut Health Stick to Simple Foods To improve your gut health, the first thing to do is to clean up your diet by eating simple, basic foods. As mentioned before, get rid of any toxins such as: Sugar Gluten Artifical flavoring labels Natural flavoring labels Strict Dairy Exceptions If you don't have a dairy problem, you can eat yogurt and kefir such as products from Lifeway Kefir. Eat Fermentable Fibers Your diet should include fiber that can help your body with the fermentation cycle: Sweet Potatoes Yams Yucca Sauerkraut Kimchi A couple of bites of sauerkraut is actually great to eat before every meal to help! Supplements to Heal Your Gut Some great supplements and other food sources that can help heal your gut include: Apple Cider Vinegar: Rather than using a product like Tums to combat stomach acid, the problem might be that your body NEEDS stomach acid and it's low. Vinegar can help give you more stomach acid to digest food. Hydrochloric Acid (HCl)-Similar to apple cider vinegar, some people might actually need this to help create more stomach acid rather than suppress it like Tums. You should be under a doctor's supervision for this and it's only for extreme stomach problems. Bone broth: Amino acids from the collagen help to reverse the damage in your stomach. Probiotics: ingesting healthy bacteria Prebiotics: ingesting the food that your gut bacteria eats How Long Will it Take Your Gut to Heal? Depending on your case, you may have to stick to a very basic diet for an amount of time that could be anywhere from 6 months to several years. Once you're feeling better or your doctor has permitted you to do so, add different foods to your diet and see what affects your stomach. Unfortunately for some people, they have to live a strict diet for the rest of their lives, but it is a very small percentile of the population. Devon's Experience Healing Her Own Lyme Disease In order to help heal her body and be rid of Lyme Disease, Devon had to follow a very strict, clean Paleo diet for 6 months. During that time, she did not consume any sugar nor alcohol and had to take a high number of supplements each day to heal herself. Start Building Your Own Workouts and Meal Plan! Download Results Tracker here! Click To Download Home Workout Templates or text the word, "lifting," to 33444 to download the templates. Download the OSF Food Journal Now! Check Out The Brand New Open Sky Fitness Podcast Facebook Page That's right! We've started an Open Sky Fitness Podcast group, where you and everyone will have the opportunity to talk about your health and fitness goals in a safe environment. We'll be posting workouts and starting discussions about how to be strategic around finding a healthier you. Check it out! Have a Question or Review for Rob or Devon? We love answering questions and getting feedback from you, our listener! If you have any questions to ask us, want to share a review of the show, or tell us any suggestions for guests/topics that you think would be great to have on the show, just email Rob at rob@openskyfitness.com or Devon at devon@openskyfitness.com or you can also leave us a review at www.openskyfitness.com/review and even text OSFreview to 33444 to get the link. What You'll Hear on This Episode 00:00 Open Sky Fitness Introduction 1:15 Opening comments with Rob and Devon 2:10 100 Members in the OSF Podcast Facebook Group!! 7:30 Let's talk about gut health! 10:00 Signs of an unhealthy gut 14:00 What's in the gut? Why is bacteria so important? 17:00 How science is helping people with their gut health 22:00 Leaky gut symptoms 29:50 Mood disorders caused by your gut's health 34:00 Adjusting your diet to heal your gut health 38:00 Devon's experience healing her own Lyme Disease 39:45 What you can do to heal your gut 41:50 Combating against parasites 42:50 Supplements and aids to improve gut health 52:00 Closing comments with Rob and Devon 54:00 Open Sky Fitness Closing RESOURCES MENTIONED DURING THE SHOW: The Open Sky Fitness Podcast Group on Facebook EP. 35 – MARK SISSON ON HOW TO LOOK GOOD NAKED Lifeway Kefir To Download Rob's FREE workout templates click below** Download Templates Ask Rob a Question or tell him what is working for you: Email Rob@OpenSkyFitness.com To leave a Review for Rob and the Open Sky Fitness Podcast CLICK NOW! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them. Contact our amazing sound engineer Ryan? Send him an e-mail here: info@stellarsoundsstudio.com Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. If you have any questions (and would like to hear yourself on the Open Sky Fitness Podcast), click on the link on the right side of any page on our website that says "Send Voicemail." And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It's free! Thanks for listening/reading Episode 121- Keys To A Healthy Gut! We hope you have gained more knowledge on how to be a healthier you!

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