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Fitness Article Roundup
Leonardo DiCaprio's Personal Trainer for "The Beach" – Cornel Chin
Leonardo DiCaprio's personal trainer for "The Beach" tracked me down and asked if I wanted to do a Q&A session. What is cool about his story is that he was flown to Thailand and only had a little over 2 weeks to whip the entire cast into to top shape. This interview explains how he accomplished that.
How to Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time?This article summarizes several experts view on gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time. It is possible if you schedule your eating pattern properly around your workout schedule.
The "Brief Workout" Trend – Are You Exercising Enough to Hit Your Goals?Brief workouts are good for those who are short on time, but can they really get the same results as longer workouts? Maybe not!
For the Guys Who Don't Work Out. (A 400-word Rant.)
Let's get one thing clear: I am not a meathead.
I understand you're confused; I don't blame you. I know I kinda look like that muscular guy at your gym who grunts, slams the weights, and scowls. The gym is filled with meatheads like that, guys whose lives revolve around their insecurity. They feel small inside so they have to project bigness. They're the dwarf behind the curtain, all fake confidence and loud noise, walking dicks with no balls. They're boys who haven't become men yet.
I'm not going to bullshit you: I'm in the gym for some of the same reasons they are. I want a powerful, good-looking body because it makes me feel, well, powerful and good-looking. But you gotta understand the gym doesn’t define me. I am not my broad shoulders. I am not my six-pack. I am not my fucking biceps.
I don't say stupid shit like, "Have you seen the weight room?" while flexing my arms. I don't know how to bounce my chest like a male stripper. I will not fuss and bitch if my girlfriend's parents serve me high-carb pasta for dinner; I'll eat it and thank them for the meal.
Meatheads like to tell you they work out. I don't. One look at my body and you'll know I don't sit on my ass and eat Little Debbie snack-cakes for fun. I'm not here to impress you or make you feel bad for your dietary or fitness decisions. You can do what you like.
I lift weights, eat healthy food, and nourish my body not out of some sense of guilt or vanity (at least not all the time), but because it's the one thing I can control. I own my body. Take away my stuff, my friends, my job, my family, and I still have it. My body is my vehicle to go places I want to go and do things I want to do.
And because I take care of it, it'll take care of me. It won't fail on me early. It'll combat sickness and recover quickly. It'll make tasks you find hard easy for me. It'll fill out a t-shirt and jeans and maybe attract a girl or two.
But the most important task my body performs is carrying around my brain. Try to get a meathead to tell you that.
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Why do YOU lift weights and eat healthy food? Best response gets a free Humblecock shirt.
(To read and post comments for this entry, visit http://thenategreenexperience.com)
4 Stupid Things We Do When Meeting Girls (And how to fix them)
It's a miracle any of us get laid or find girlfriends.
Talk with a pick-up artist or sex expert long enough and—once they get past their spiel—they'll tell you the truth: most guys have more luck with online poker than they do with women. (So the next time you tell me about your full house and fooling around with two pair, I'll see right through your bullshit, buddy.)
And it's not just the over-confident frat boys and World of Warcraft types that aren't getting any play. It's all of us. Just ask relationship coach Jamie Thompson.
"Most guys are pussies. They live in a shell and don't know how to interact. They're not entertaining, engaging, or interesting."
Ouch.
I put my hurt feelings aside and asked Thompson and Dana Carney, PhD, to identify and solve four common mistakes we all make when trying to meet girls.
1. You don't look for "approach invitations."
According to Carney, people send non-verbal signals back and forth to show things like dominance, security, and sexual interest. We just don't pay any attention.
"People listen to words or notice overt gestures, but often don't understand how rich non-verbal information and subtle cues are," she says.
According to some scientists, non-verbal communication outdates language and is thus ingrained in our DNA. So a girl may be sending you all right signals, but because she doesn't explicitly say "You should come talk to me," many guys don't notice.
How can you tell if she's interested? Carney suggests looking for deviations in her baseline set of behaviors.
"Imagine a girl who's hunched over a glass of wine and maybe looking in a particular direction," she says. "And then you walk by and all of a sudden she sits up and starts to touch her hair or her wrists. Or maybe she's talking to friends when she notices you, and her rate of speech speeds up, or her voice becomes higher or lower, or she starts licking her lips. Those are all changes that shifted because of the new stimulus that entered her awareness."
Think about that for a minute.
Could be the girl hovering over you in the café wasn't really reading the newspaper; maybe she was establishing a closer physical proximity. And the girl at the bar who started talking loudly when you walked by may have been trying to get you to notice her.
The bottom line: Become aware of all the unspoken "conversations" and train yourself to notice when a girl is giving you the green light. If you get it, smile, approach, and start a conversation. Just don't be that guy. Read on.
2. You're way focused on being perfect and come off as a "try-hard."
Everyone's been in a group with the guy who talks to himself ("Now what did I do yesterday?") and nervously laughs after every joke. It's hard not to feel sorry for him when he's obviously trying be a part of the conversation. He's usually tolerated but eventually gets left out. Don’t be that guy.
Thompson believes guys who act like this aren't being congruent with their personality—they're too focused on the outcome instead of having fun.
"You can't fake confidence, a sense of humor, or having a good time," she says. "And those are all things girls find attractive."
So what if you lack confidence or have a sense of humor most people don't understand? Just go with it and be yourself.
"There's a lot of evidence that suggests we like people who are seen as fallible more than infallible," adds Carney. "Who wants to be with someone who has to be perfect all the time? If a guy has a lot of good qualities, but then fucks up and drops a drink or says something stupid in a social interaction, the question becomes How does he finesse that into a way that's cute or turn it into self-deprecating humor?"
The bottom line: Girls are used to getting approached and are extremely adept at noticing who's sincere and who's trying hard. You set yourself apart from the other guys in the bar when you approached her; don't screw it up by trying to be someone you're not.
3. You act like a petulant child or a castrated monk in conversation.
While some guys may try too hard, others are blatantly not trying at all. They walk into a group of girls and expect them to lead the conversation.
"Women constantly test guys to see how confident and socially comfortable they are," says Thompson. "But one thing we really like is a guy who knows what he wants."
According to her, most guys either back down too quickly, or, thinking that women respond to jerks, become over-the-top rude.
"If you're in a group of girls, make them laugh. Say something outrageous. Ask them about the most dangerous or taboo thing they've ever done. Show that you're an interesting guy who isn't intimidated by them," she says.
The bottom line: Girls aren't stupid—they know what guys are after. Hell, many of them are after the same thing (but more on that in a minute). Not taking control, sitting there like a puppet, or trying to establish dominance by being a jerk is a pretty good way to ensure you'll be leaving alone.
4. You don't understand that some girls just want to have fun. (As in, no strings attached sex.)
That sentence alone is enough reason to jump up and down and howl at the moon. As it turns out, girls want casual sex just as much as guys do. Probably more.
"There have definitely been times when I've gone out with my friends with the main goal to have fun and hook up," says Thompson. "We know guys want the same thing but a lot of them are too afraid to go with it and bring it up in conversation, so we end up waiting around. Everybody loses."
So why doesn't the girl you're talking to just come out and say "I'd like to introduce you to my bed?"
Because she's a lady, stupid.
"There's always been a stigma attached," says Carney. "Girls who have casual sex without a relationship are considered slutty and boys who have casual sex are seen as studly."
But thanks to cultural icons like Madonna and TV shows like Sex in the City, the stereotypes are starting to slightly shift, says Carney.
"You see women like Angelina Jolie who are empowered sexually but also strong and mothering at the same time. She looks like a woman who has no boundaries and others are starting to respect that."
So, women want sex. But you can't just walk into a bar and say, "Let's fuck." (Unless you want a mai-tai thrown in your face.) You've got to know when women are looking for casual sex.
Thompson's got a few ideas. "If they've just broken up with their boyfriend or when they're on vacation is the best time," she says. "Girls know what they want so you can drop the whole 'but she's just on a rebound' thing. We know we're on the rebound. That's why we want to have sex with you."
The bottom line: Girls have just as much of a sexual appetite as you, and could be willing to come back to your place if you follow one simple rule: don't treat hear like a slut. "It's really important that you implicitly let her know that you respect her," says Thompson.
So don't bad-mouth your ex-girlfriend or talk about how skanky the girl in a mini-skirt sitting across the bar looks. She's taking mental notes to see if you respect women.
A few resources to check out:
Sex and dating advice: BeASexpert.com
Dating Science and seduction: Magic Bullets eBook
(A slightly different version of this article was posted in March of last year.)
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What do you think of Carney's and Thompson's tips? Do they jive with what you've done? Anything you disagree with? Let me know in the comments!
(To read and post comments for this entry, visit http://thenategreenexperience.com)
At the Grocery Store, In the Kitchen, and Around the Table
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. It's ridiculous that we need rules for eating. I mean, when's the last time you got advice on how to breathe?*
Still. Mom's no longer buying our groceries and one look at the high obesity rates and growing erectile dysfunction rates among young men—10% for guys in their twenties—make it pretty obvious we're not choosing our foods wisely.
We have less energy, less sex, and more man-boobs. Not good.
So, we can do one of two things: live off mac-n-cheese, microwaveable dinners, and the sympathy of our girlfriend's parents or we can follow some rules, buy high-quality food, and eat like kings. (Muscular, healthy kings, mind you.)
The following are a collection of "food rules" I follow—or try to follow—every day.
At the Grocery Store
1. Go grocery shopping more than once per week – We're buying fresh food here, not boxed crap. I usually get enough food for two or three days at a time.
2. On your grocery list, think "meals" instead of individual food items – Making a steak with potatoes and a salad for dinner? What about eggs, toast, and fruit for breakfast? List every ingredient you need and don't buy anything else. That's how food gets lost in the refrigerator.
3. Try to buy local as often as you can – The nutritional content is usually a lot better, you'll pay a cheaper price, and you're supporting local farmers. All good things.
4. Shop the perimeter of the aisles – Vegetables, fruits, meat, and dairy are on the perimeter. Doritos, Pepsi, and microwave popcorn are in the aisles. (This one isn't fool-proof, though. What's in a tube of Go-gurt anyway?)
5. Buy oats and nuts in bulk - Never buy meat in bulk unless you have a very large freezer.
6. Speaking of freezers, the only things you should be grabbing from them are frozen vegetables, fruits, and meats. No Hungry Man dinners allowed.
7. Buy grass-fed beef, wild-caught fish, cage-free eggs, and organic vegetables and fruits when possible.
8. If you don’t have one already, get a water filter of some sort - According to Dr. Jonny Bowden, "There are hundreds of chemicals and pollutants that have the potential to wind up in our water; the government determines what an appropriate or acceptable, "safe" level of these compounds is." I'll take my water without the arsenic, thank you.
9. Don't be afraid of fat - Stock up on mixed nuts and avocados, and whole milk (as long as it's from a cow who hasn't been pumped with a bunch of steroids). Also, try olive oil for low to medium heat cooking and coconut oil for high-heat.
10. Need dessert? Pick up some dark chocolate – Cocoa is loaded with antioxidants and flavanols which, again from Bowden, "prevent fatlike substances in the bloodstream from clogging the arteries." Make sure the cocoa content is 70% or higher.
12. Have a "snack list" ready – Because you're gonna eat more than three meals per day. Get things like cottage cheese, yogurt, fruit, beef jerky, Lara bars (whole food bars), and whey protein powder.
Preparation
13. Make big batches of food that you can re-heat – If you're in a rush, it's easy to stick a bowl of homemade chili in the microwave.
14. No time? Do your cooking on one day – Dr. John Berardi recommends chopping vegetables and cooking your meats on a Sunday. It'll take a few hours, but you won't have to stress over cooking during the workweek. (Not recommended for date nights. Sticking a cold chicken breast in the microwave isn't very romantic. And if it is, you may want to find a new date.)
15. Don't skimp on a knife or pan - I use a Kyocera Revolution Professional Chef's Knife
The Cooking Experience and Eating
16. Put on some music - Grab a drink and cook with your girlfriend. Or grill with your friends. Cooking is a fun experience and a time to wind down and have a conversation.
17. Use a cookbook and try some new recipes – I don't care how great your roast chicken tastes, you can't eat it every day. I recommend:
The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth
18. Take a digestive enzyme – Chances are you're not assimilating all the nutrients in your food because you're not that efficient at manufacturing hydrocholoric acid and digestive enzymes. (Or there aren't enough quality nutrients in your food to begin with). I recommend taking one with every meal.
19. Eat slowly – Chew your food (better for digestion) and actually try to enjoy your meal.
20. Don't eat in front of the TV – Also, turn off your cell phone, and don't surf the Internet. Enjoy the conversation instead. If you're alone, read a magazine article or book. Better yet, sit there and enjoy the different flavors.
21. Do the dishes within an hour of eating – Because they'll never get done otherwise.
So that's my list. What about you? Any rules? Let me know in the comments!
*By the way: in through the nose, fill the belly, don't let the chest rise, out through the mouth.
(To read and post comments for this entry, visit http://thenategreenexperience.com)