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ISSUE NO. 11 | MAR 2022
Good Action - Body + Brain Performance
“The point of fitness is to improve your life outside of the gym, not become your life.” - Dustin Hassard

Get A Life

Also, in this week's issue:
  • Exercise - Improve the Anterior Arm (including the Biceps and more): Exercises, Stretches, and Self-Massage
  • Exercise - Single-Leg Squat Progressions
  • Exercise - Every Home Gym Should Have These 3 Kettlebells
  • Nutrition - Food Labels Are Cooler Than You Think
  • Sleep - Sleep Malfunction
  • Treatment - Every Healthy Body Has This
  • Intellect - On the TIP of Your Brain
Get A Life

For my members and myself, I want us to spend as little time as possible in the gym. I only use the gym to improve my life outside of the gym. That’s what fitness is for, to improve life outside of the gym, not become your life.

Have you noticed that really fit people spend a lot of time working out and eating healthy? Like, a lot of time. It seems fitness is all they do every day, all day. Eleven years in this business, and that’s how I’ve always seen fitness represented. Are you seeing this too? Perhaps, that’s how I represent myself. This commitment is not what it takes to be fit for life. Of course, it works for them, and I greatly respect them for it, but it’s not for me.

I only workout 2-4 hours a week, and I don’t do meal prep. Yes, I should and could do more, but I don’t want to. Because of this, you won’t see me posting videos with my shirt off. I’m not trying to show off my body (only my brain).

Are you surprised that as a fitness professional, exercising and meal prep is not my life (hold your comments)? I don’t spend much time in the gym which isn’t work-related. I have a job too. Yes, part of my job is to train people. My work, however, is learning what and how to teach people, not working out.

If you’re like me, you’re not interested in working out daily and prepping meals in your free time. I want to have a better life outside the gym without sacrificing much. I have work to do, and I have to fit in exercise and good nutrition around my work like anyone else.

Some of you are rolling your eyes. I’ll admit, by having my own gym, it is easier for me to squeeze in a workout, but I rarely do because I’m at work, doing work stuff (side note: if you think having a gym like mine in your home would help you, I can teach you how to do it on any budget).

So how do you improve your fitness without putting in much time? I’m going to teach you in this newsletter and with all of the content I put out.

With so much I want to teach about exercise, I’m loading this newsletter with extra exercise tips.

>>> Need help selecting the proper exercises for achieving your goals faster? Reply to this email or visit https://modernath.com/custom-training-programs/.

Food Labels Are Cooler Than You Think

"If it has a label, it's not real food." Great quote, but of course, we're going to buy food that has labels, so it's helpful to learn how we can use these labels to help us make better choices.

Food labels have been around since the beginning of time. Well, they've only been required since 1980. Did you notice how the food label changed in the past couple of years? They made some good changes.

  • Calories are listed bigger and bolder. 
  • Sugars list natural sugars, but more importantly, how many grams are added artificially (eeek!).
  • Specific health claims have to be validated by the label.

These and other changes became required in 2020. There's an overwhelming amount of info on food labels, but I'll highlight some useful parts.

  • Ingredients are listed in order of primary ingredient to least used ingredient. You should see if the main ingredient is what you want it to be. 
  • "100% Organic" - made with 100% organic ingredients, aside from water or salt. I won't get the details of what qualifies as organic here.
  • "Organic" - made with at least 95% organic ingredients.
  • "Made with Organic Ingredients" - made with at least 70% organic ingredients.

>>> If you want to nerd out on food labels, NASM offers a free course until the 21st. https://www.nasm.org/products/online-nutrition-course-food-labels-and-portion-sizes

Sleep Malfunction

All of the past sleep tips I’ve given are probably only useful once you’ve eliminated any perceived threats in your life. By threats, I mean any abnormal levels of stress and anxiety in your life. According to Professor Charles Nuun, an evolutionary anthropologist, the inability to sleep isn’t a malfunction - it’s “an adaptive trait, under circumstances of perceived threat.” In order to sleep better, try to alleviate the sources of anxiety and stress. Sounds obvious, I know, but look into what’s keeping you up at night and develop some strategies for reducing these.

>>> If you need some guidance, consider booking a 30 or 60-minute virtual coaching session with me. https://modernath.com/book

Every Healthy Body Has This

I describe healing and having a healthy body in two words, flow and space. This means having good circulation and space for blood to flow. Both flow and space can be restricted by tension, tightness, adhesions, knots, stagnant waste, posture, and many other controllable factors. I think of these as obstructions in a road, damns in a river, or my term for it, traffic.

My top choices for improving flow and space and reducing traffic is massage and movement. Massage is done with tools like a foam roller, a massage gun, or a massage therapist (don't call me a tool). Massage is very effective for moving fluid and reducing stickiness or obstructions to both internal and external movements. Movement is done by using the full range of available motion in all of my joints. My warmups create both flow and space.

>>> Improve your flow and space with this warmup https://modernath.com/courses/mobility/lessons/warmups/topic/warmup-1/

On the TIP of Your Brain

One technique to remember a word or name is TIP - Turn Into Picture.

  1. Assign a visual image to something
  2. Combine images

For example, if I want to remember the name “Dustin,” I can picture dust being blown in the wind and into my eyes (ouch). Now, I’ll never forget my own name. Let’s say you meet a Donald, and he’s bald. I picture Donald Duck, or any duck, sitting on his bald head. The ridiculousness of it makes it even more memorable. You can also turn letters or numbers into pictures. The number 4 looks like a sailboat. A is for apple, J is for Jack Rabbit. AJ is a rabbit eating an apple. The possibilities are limitless.

Have any requests? All you have to do is ask.

Until next week,
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>>> Learn More at https://modernath.com/modern-athlete-program/


Need Accountability?

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>>> Learn More at https://modernath.com/services/

Do you live near Issaquah, Sammamish, or the Seattle area? Come see me in-person.

>>> Book an Appointment

Modern Athletics is on a mission to coach people to feel their best every day and succeed in life by prioritizing their mental and physical fitness. We believe in a world where fitness empowers people to feel confident in themselves, grow athletically and intellectually, and have an excitement for life that inspires others.
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