Tag: health and fitness

Why summers are all about the weak end

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Statistically speaking, summers are a horrible time to get in shape.

It’s when folks are most motivated to look and feel their best – but few ever do.

For many, the social calendar steadily builds to a crescendo of backyard barbecues, cottage get togethers, and patio cocktail binges.

In one major study, it was found that any weight lost during the week readdresses itself on summer weekends, leading the study’s authors to conclude that they’re just as bad for your fitness goals as major holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Eeek.

So you enjoy life…

I’m not gonna eat your lunch for that.

(Although I’d be assuming the burden of those calories for you.)

What I will do is give you some weapons with which to strike back at the deadly scourge of summer pool parties.

First off, if your plan is based on controlling yourself, you need a new plan – especially if even a splash of *the drink* is involved.  Instead, try to take self-control out of the mix as much as possible.  As per a core principle of my success philosophy, think in terms of making what I call context changes to your environment.

A radical context change would be to simply not agree to any social invitations.  While such anti-social behavior does have its applications for your physique goals (and possibly money-saving goals), it’s not necessarily the most realistic option.

For some examples of less extreme measures that allow for both summer fun AND summer wellbeing, peep the following…

*Don’t show up hungry – eat a meal or snack right before a social event (to the self-control piece: a well fed brain is a stronger one.  Low brain glucose drops willpower like an anchor.)

*Make an accountability pact or ridiculous bet with a friend.  You can (a) promise to keep each other in line, or (b) set guidelines and deter cheating with an embarrassing consequence like, e.g., starting every sentence with “my friend [friend’s name], the greatest living human, has granted me permission to say…”  See?  Parties can be fun without food.

*Keep logging your nutrition, even at nightclubs.  I have an industry friend who logs his vodka-water on his phone while standing at the bar.  He’s a bit of a buzzkill, but he’s lean.

*Book a class, or a training session in the morning to offset the sins of the afternoon. (GIANT CAVEAT: This one won’t do diddly squat unless combined with some form of moderation on the consumption side.  You’ll never run far enough, or fast enough to outpace indulgent eating and drinking…and you’ll probably injure yourself trying.)

You get the drift.

Have some fun with it.

The main thing is to respect the destructive wiles of the weak-end.

And strategize.

Invoke some brain power (not just body power) to beat the class average.

Only then will you emerge from the season unscathed – but for the occasional sun burn.

Happy Summering,

Conor Kelly

P.S.  Another great example of a context change?  My 16-week program.  Call me at (416) 826-4844 for your complimentary personal training consultation to break the summer curse, and discover how to take control of your health, once and for all.

3 problems with modern science

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Lately, phrases like *research has proven*, or *studies show* get tossed around with less consideration than sucker punches in baseball.

No doubt, we’re children of the scientific age.

And for all its merits, there are a few noteworthy problems facing modern science that should give us pause before accepting the gospel of the white coats.

Have a gander…

1. Lack of reproducibility.  Because careers are built on, and money flows toward new research, there tends not to be a whole lotta checking on previous research for its validity.

Few scientists want to invest time and money refuting someone else’s study.

But if a study’s conclusions are legit, you should be able to recreate them.  In one instance, staff at a drug company tried to reproduce the results of 53 high-profile cancer research papers and discovered that only 6 lived up to their original claims.

The problem is gaining attention…but for now me thinks a bit of skepticism at early scientific reports is kosher.

2.  Outcome switching.  This bit of scientific trickery allows the dishonest researcher to farm data pools to more or less prove whatever he wants.  How does it work?  You start your study with the stated intention of measuring one thing (or several), and half way through when those measures aren’t holding up, you switch to new ones.

Do this with big enough sources of data, and you can end up with random correlations that appear statistically significant.  Then you present the quietly improvised and more compliant measures as though they were the focus all along.

Big pharma’s already been fined billions by regulators for this crafty little gambit.

A group of researchers called COMPare analyzed clinical trials in five leading scientific publications – a total of 67 – and found 58 of them had produced 357 outcomes not specified at their inception.  Not all are deliberate attempts to mislead.  But some are illusions that would make Criss Angel nod in respect.

3.  How it’s reported.  A couple of recent headlines set my spidey senses a tinglin’.  One was from the Toronto Star, *Just 60 seconds of intense exercise can boost your fitness level*.  The study compared 10 minutes of interval training with 45 minutes of traditional cardio for its effects on V02 max.  Which is fine, but your V-max is one narrow aspect of your fitness.  Even the study’s author said that *60 seconds is all you need* wasn’t the right conclusion to draw, contrary to what the article’s headline implies.

The second was a press release entitled, *Exercise, more than diet, key to preventing obesity*.  For starters, it wasn’t an even an obesity study.  It examined metabolic indicators in rats to determine the impact of exercise on metabolism – independently of weight loss.

See what I’m getting at?

Of course there’s an art to writing headlines that seduce people away from other stuff they could be doing online, like watching videos of parliamentary tussles, or googling the word *syncopated*.

My point is to read these things critically, and take their claims with a cubic foot of salt.

There’s a lot of great science currently being conducted by some brilliant scientists.

Just don’t take the *plunge* with fat-burning sea water suppositories because they’re *proven by research*.

Besides, I don’t believe in conspiracies, but I’m pretty sure aliens are behind all this…

Happy Doubting,

Conor Kelly

P.S. Free yourself from the hypnosis of confusion the media perpetuates.  Call (416) 826-4844 right now for your complimentary personal training consultation, and get the *skinny* on what works for better fitting clothes, and a fitter body.

Do this one thing and change your life

conorkelLeave a comment

When I first started working out at age 16, it changed everything.

At 120-pounds bodyweight, I hated being small, and made it my mission to build muscle.

I was most insecure about my stick legs…even refused to wear shorts in public.  Instead, I relied on pants to conceal my secret shame.

I’d hammer my quads with leg extensions, lunges, and leg presses, and shred my hamstrings with leg curls and deadlifts.  I could see ripples and lines emerging, but my thighs didn’t grow in circumference.

I’d read an article by a pro bodybuilder in one of the glossies about how the leg press is all you need to build your legs, and you shouldn’t do barbell squats because they’re for powerlifters, they’ll make your butt big, yada yada yada.

And I used it to justify not doing squats.

But in truth barbell squats are hard.  I hated them.  So I avoided them.

That’s until I learned about how the body responds to lifting weights, and the scale of neuromuscular activation.  You see, when you look at what really causes muscle growth, the barbell squat ticks all the boxes.

Suddenly, I realized how foolish I’d been.  I was killing myself trying to beef up my legs by doing everything BUT the one lift that mattered most.

So I chained myself to the squat rack and worshiped at the altar of the almighty king of exercises.  I did high reps with lung-bursting intensity, and low reps with as much weight as I could handle while leaping into the abyss of a deep squat.

My legs grew.

Before too long, my quads, hamstrings, and glutes had expanded to the point that my various strategic leg coverings didn’t fit.  And indeed it was a proud day when I finally unveiled the new pillars by wearing – ready for this? – shorts.

My point is not to argue for why you should do barbell squats, nor highlight how great I look in shorts these days (I do, you know.)

It’s that I’ve noticed most people have a thing – kinda like I used to have with squats.

A thing which, out of fear or reluctance or sheer habit, they’re either unwilling to do, or simply don’t do.

And it’s usually this very same thing can catapult them to the next level of their pursuits if they could just bring themselves to embrace it.

*Forgoing alcohol
*Preparing meals
*Quitting smoking
*Giving up the evening oral fixation
*Doing cardio
*Letting go of obsessively weighing themselves
*Drinking water
*Keeping a nutrition journal

These are just a few common ones.

Feel free to substitute your own for the sake of the lesson.

Sometimes a person is merely unaware of how it’s affecting them.  But most often, they know what their thing is on some level, and accept it.  Even defend it.  They build complex rationalizations around it, and share their story with anyone who’ll listen.

And it keeps them mired in mediocrity for months, years, decades – or lifetimes.

Unfortunately, the only way to slay the Ogre terrorizing your cattle and turning their milk sour is to sharpen your axe and take a few swings.

That means you gotta do the thing.

Like you’re possessed.

And years later, while you’re enjoying the feeling of a cool breeze stroking the skin of your lower extremities, you can look back and laugh about the time you wore jeans by the pool in 36-degree heat.

Happy Squatting,

Conor Kelly

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Try this unusual health tip

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You heard it straight from the horse’s mouth…

Researchers at the University of Michigan reported that older people who were followed for five years reduced their risk of dying by 60% simply by being helpful to friends, neighbors, or relatives.  The ones receiving the help, however, didn’t alter their death risk at all.

Whether you think I’m the horse, or the scientists are, either way the mouth speaketh an interesting truth…

Doing good deeds has health benefits.

Maybe kindness is its own reward.  Maybe it’s good to feel useful.  Maybe giving induces the warm and fuzzies, which in turn support wellbeing.  Maybe keeping active when doing things for someone is the secret to superior coffin-dodging.  Whatever the reason, there’s a clear connection between longevity and helping others.

One of the best cures for negative emotion is performing a selfless act.

So do something nice for someone today.

And remember ye the flipside: when you accept another person’s help, you’re giving THEM an opportunity to be healthier.

Giddyup.

Happy Helping,

Conor Kelly

P.S.  In the spirit of today’s message, if there’s anything I can do to help you – let me know in the comments.  It would be my pleasure…and I’ll live longer.

P.P.S.  Just noticed there are exactly 3 spots left for my Lean for Life talk tonight in Liberty Village (6.30PM), so if you haven’t registered yet, come by.  You’d love it.  The deets:

=>Click here for details.

Possibly the greatest thing ever

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Have you heard of Shmoop.com?

The website bills itself as a Shakespearean Translator capable of turning your speak – or modern English – into eternal Shakespeare-isms.

For instance, typing *whoa, dude, pass that pizza over here, I’m going to starve* into the translator begets *Heigh-ho, broth’r, passeth that ‘zza ov’r hither, lest I waste away.*

Trolling the internet has never sounded so classy.

‘Twas heard most wondrous comments…

“Thy conclusions art unfounded and maketh no sense, thou knowest not wherefore thou writeth, knave.”

“Where’d thee receiveth thy science sir, or better hath said quack speaketh!”

“I’ve done mine research on thee, thou art a snakeoil salesman and filthy canker-blossom!!”

And my personal fave…

“A plague upon this howling, thee venomous fustilarian!”

That last bit was Shakesperean for “Give it up, you venomous douchebag.”

My life is now complete.

What does this have to do with your fitness program?

Research shows that laughter reverses the chemical effects of stress and releases anti-inflammatory compounds in the body.

And persistent inflammation is an impediment to losing fat.

In one study, watching an hour of humorous videos reduced the size of allergic reactions on the subjects’ skin by 50%!

So just by reading this post you’ve probably jettisoned a few fat grams.

(That’s assuming you think the Shmoop thing is as funny as I do.)

But there are only so many slimming blog posts I can write.

For any inflammation or fat I’ve missed, there’s my Lean For Life talk in Liberty Village on May 17th:

=>Click here for details & to register.

And let this be a reminder to not take yourself too seriously today.

Find opportunities to laugh.

Your health (and your waistline) will thank you for it.

Here’s to thy health mine cousin,

Conor Kelly

 

 

 

The ravages of low testosterone

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Today, a topic that’s near and dear to my heart…

El Testosteron-e.

Did you know testosterone is the primary hormone responsible not only for libido (in both men and women) but is also essential to normal emotions of self-confidence, friendliness, affection, and joy?

You got it, Esse…if your Test languishes, it can make you straight loco.

And we’re in the midst of a testosterone crisis.

In the U.S. alone it’s estimated that 1 in 4 men are completely impotent.  That’s a twofold increase in the last half-century!  And it’s a doomsday for our *swimmers*.  If sperm counts continue to dry up at the current rate, within three generations we’ll no longer be able to reproduce as a species.

In women, the effects are just as tangible.  Clinics in both Europe and North America report that roughly half of all women suffer from low libido.

But the decline in sexy time, and the desert of infertility are only the start of our problems.

This testosterone shortage is slowly turning us into a society of wimps, barely capable of courage, leadership – even love.

We’re being chemically neutered.

Driven to depression and lethargy.

What’s causing it?

A nasty cocktail of unnecessary surgeries, prescription medications, pollutants, and industrially manufactured food that’s not much more than a distant echo of the nutritious fare we evolved on.

But uno momentito, here’s the good news…

We can sober up from this dreary, sexless haze with a few smart lifestyle changes.

One of them happens to be my specialty.

Losing bodyfat.

Yes my friend, adipose tissue (as I like to call it when I’m being fancy) houses an enzyme called aromatase, which converts testosterone to estrogen – causing your t-levels to tank.  With less bodyfat, you’re more likely to have a healthy balance of both, and live a happier, more confident, and let’s not forget sexier life.

Mm hm…Si.  Es muy bueno.

I teach how to permanently get rid of said fat at my Lean For Life workshop in Liberty Village on May 17th:

=>Click here for details & to register.

Come prepared for a testosterone-boosting and life-enhancing experience.

Don’t let modern living take your balls…metaphorically speaking.

You can fight back against the scourge of low testosterone.

And you can WIN.

To A Testosterone-Fueled Life,

Conor Kelly

We talkin’ bout practice, not the game

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Yes sports fans, Allen Iverson’s famous rant (benched for missing practice, he repeated the phrase *we talkin’ bout practice* 22 times in a press conference) shall serve as fodder for the lesson today, which is:

You don’t get to be a champion unless you love to train.

Practice?

That’s right.

I’m talkin’ bout practice.

Even the great A.I. – despite his apparent disdain for practicing – loved to play basketball.

Roger Federer loves to play tennis.

Wayne Gretszky loved to play hockey.

They all loved to win too, but winning – be it awards, championships, or praise – wasn’t their primary motivation for playing, despite what you may think.  It drove them to greatness, but wasn’t what summoned them to invest a disproportionate amount of their lives participating in, and preparing for their respective sports.

Pleasure did.

They all felt great just doing what they were doing.

I became a strongman because I wanted to flip tires, pick up stones, and do other cool stuff like that.  Sure I cared about my results in competition.  But I always looked forward to training.  In fact, I didn’t really excel until I stopped caring as much about my competitive performance and threw my focus into my prep.  As long as I was happy with how my training went, and had fun on contest day, the outcome would take care of itself.

Too often we want things – achievable things – but throw up veritable hailstorms of resistance to avoid getting there.

Take losing weight for instance.

Many people obsess over the number on the scale but bury their heads in the sand when it comes to changing their lifestyle.  They proclaim that working out is torture, and cringe at the prospect of healthy food, which they consider bland.  They’ll try shortcuts like crash diets, supplements, and juice cleanses – really anything to ensure not a single bead of sweat traverses their pores.

But that’s backwards, you see.

The best bodies belong to people who enjoy whatever mode of exercise they prefer, and possess a sense of satisfaction about nourishing themselves well.

In short, they like the ins and outs of acquiring their desired body.  The activity itself is its own reward, without needing the additional payoff of being thin (or ‘thin right now‘) to feel good while doing it.

Surprise, surprise…they’re leaner.

People who love making money, and managing their money…are richer.

Whatever the achievement, it’s the ones who love the process of success that have it.

They don’t blow off practice.

(Well, most of the time.)

That’s why many humans approach to getting what they want is seriously effed up.

They just want the trophy.

But ya don’t get the trophy without practice…

…And you’ll never practice enough without passion.

What you’ll find, that I’ve discovered, is that there’s something else for us to gain through all this that goes way beyond winning or losing.  And that’s what you really miss out on, unless you spend those days, weeks, or years covering the terrain in search of something wanted.  Answer the call of your desire.  Let what’s ahead entice you.  Just don’t let it blind you to the beautiful vistas along the way.

Love the game…you can have your championship.

Love the process…you can have your result.

Yours In Great Health,

Conor Kelly

P.S. For help with de-mystifying the process of getting and staying LEAN, check out my latest Lean For Life talk in Liberty Village, May 17th:

Click here for details.

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The mirror-selfie & the end of civilization

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Meet Lazar Angelov.

He’s Facebook’s premier Bulgarian fitness model/personal trainer.  I’ve never met him, but he does train at the same gym I sometimes frequent when I’m in Sofia.

In *Fakebook* terms, his following is HUGE.

His marketing basically consists of posting wax ‘n tan shirtless pics of himself in various not-so-creative locales.   This daily *ab-check* garners hundreds of thousands of likes, and thousands of comments.

(Isn’t that one of the signs of the apocalypse?)

Besides foreshadowing our impending doom as a species, it’s a pretty good racket.

He’s got a great physique and a photogenic look – he’s a real prize poodle — and that’s all it took for him to build a fan base which he can besiege with his online programs.

So one day I thought, “I can do that,” and decided I’d try my own ab-domination routine.

‘Twas a mere two mirror-selfies later that I elected to scrap the idea.

Why?

It just ain’t me.

The Conz don’t play that.

Heck, I never even wear tank-tops in public.

So instead I recommitted to doing it like Sinatra, my way, by flexing my fingers against the keyboard of my laptop.  And aren’t you glad I do…

(No one really wants to see gym change room selfies anyway – unless you’re 1. a Jersey Shore reject, 2. a major creeper, or 3. Mark Zuckerberg…see #2).

Not hashing Lazar’s gig.  It works for him.  And the audience he appeals to would rather watch his body talk than read his emails – which I can vouch for…I’ve read his emails.

The point is there’s a lot to be said for authenticity in advertising.

Most of the clients I serve are not looking to do anything Lazar-like with their bodies.  They’re interested in health, feeling strong, and minimizing injuries.  Sure they want to improve how they look, but lifting their t-shirts to reveal a chiseled six-pack isn’t high on their list of priorities.

Yet many trainers are still trying to subject their clients to the standard hyper-strict pre-contest diet and high-flying workouts that Lazar groupies may want, but make absolutely no freakin’ sense for an executive mother of two, who’s caring for an ailing parent, and has a history of back issues!

Meet the client where they are now.

It’s at this crossroads that life-changing benefits are possible.

For time-saving strategies to help you burn fat, fit your clothes better, and boost your energy, without unrealistic diet and workout regimens, call me at (416) 826-4844 or reply to this email for your complimentary personal training consultation.

I only have one rule…

No mirror-selfies allowed.

Happy Transforming,

Conor Kelly

Why diets don’t work

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It’s hard to believe that in this day and age the human machine would require anything such as a famine response.

At least not in first-world countries, where the existence of 24HR drive-thrus and grocery stores ensures ’round the clock access to food for anyone with a method of payment.

But there wasn’t always an oasis of perfectly preserved foods, neatly organized into categories, and placed on refrigerated shelves within easy reach.

When we first evolved…times were tough.

Food was scarce.  Tools were primitive.

Finding sustenance for our mortal coil presented its own unique challenges.

Hence, our bodies developed a mechanism to cope with starvation, by slowing down our metabolism to conserve energy.

Presto – famine response.

This protective device enabled our organism to stockpile energy and fat calories at higher rate, so we’d survive shortages.

Even today, your body can’t tell the difference between intentional deprivation (i.e. diets) and genuine starvation.

Beyond the universal imperative of hunger, it adopted other ways of motivating us.  For example, when blood glucose falls below the desirable threshold, signals communicated through dendrites, transported along axons, and transferred between nerve cells by neurotransmitters – send information to your brain about this sad state of affairs.  The result surfaces in your mind as a craving.

Not only can cravings be powerful, but when brain glucose drops, our resistance to hunger crumbles.

Willpower goes out the window.

Genetically speaking, all the rules are dead set against us ever being successful at dieting.

And the stats bear it out too.

1 in every 3 Canadians report being actively engaged in some sort of diet program.  Yet, more than 50% of our population is considered unhealthily overweight.   In fact, any person that tries to lose weight through dieting is statistically more likely to GAIN weight in the long run.

Never.  Diet.  Again.

‘Tis the lesson for today.

As of this moment, I relieve you of this harmful habit.

Instead, eat according to what science tells us your body needs (your palate will adjust – trust me), work out with weights to preserve lean muscle, train your heart and nervous system with the right combination of high and medium intensity cardio, and focus on flexibility to forge fluid movement mechanics that enhance every activity you love.

Do that – and the fat takes care of itself.

Sound simple?

It’s not.

That’s why I created my Lean For Life talk, which I’m presenting at Physiomed on April 25th:

Click here for details & to save your seat.

I’ll help you exorcise the demons of information overload and time scarcity, and cut to heart of what really works to get you feeling great again.

Until then…

Happy Eating,

Conor Kelly

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Give up the willpower binge

conorkelLeave a comment

Did you know you have a limited supply of decision-making power?

That’s right, research shows willpower is like a muscle…it fatigues, and eventually refuses to cooperate altogether.

The more decisions you make in any given day, the more you deplete your willpower stores.

Yet, most people attempt to form new habits (e.g. eating well, exercising) by willing themselves to it.

And it don’t work.

That’s why I recommend abstinence in making choices.  Quit dispensing your willpower in such a willy-nilly way.  Restrict yourself to high-leverage acts of will, and instead of trying to moderate your minute-by-minute behaviours, focus on applying what I call *context changes*.

A context change is a change to your environment.

The reason it’s so powerful, is you apply a little determination ONCE, and it pays off over and over again.

Eee Gee…

One of my most harped upon nutrition strategies is food prepping.  Why?  It’s a high-leverage, high-upside decision.  Sure you’ve gotta convince yourself to make time to cook and pack meals.  But that one move saves you having to make 6-10 individual choices you’d otherwise encounter if you didn’t already have meals and snacks on hand.  Standing at many repeated crossroads will eventually leave you tapped out in the good-decision-making department.

You’d be binging on your own willpower.

Example numero dos…

Let’s say you want to walk more.  One way is to simply tell yourself you’re going to walk more, and daily match wits with the devil on your shoulder and his compelling case for collapsing on the couch instead.

The other is to not buy a metropass, so you’re forced to walk to and from work each day.

Again, one choice vs. many.

Leverage.

Got a weakness for potato chips?

Perform a Lays-ectomy on your kitchen cupboards.  You might still eat them, but at least you don’t have to stare temptation in the face so often that it erodes your judgment.

Is any of this advice new?

Maybe not in the specifics.  But I’ll wager the concept behind it has never been placed before you in such a neatly wrapped package.  Once you get the thought-process behind the examples above, you can see with new lenses any area in which your actions often betray your goals.

What context change can you implement?

How can you make better choices by making fewer choices?

I cover this in full detail, along with several other BREAKTHROUGH concepts at my Lean For Life talk on April 25th:

=>Click here for details & to save your seat.

Don’t miss it.

Hear me, ye faithful…

Forsake thy binge.

Ration thy willpower, and thou shalt not hunger.

To A Low-Willpower Diet,

Conor Kelly