Health & Fitness – An Effective Path

by Chris Rountreein Uncategorizedon Posted on

I get asked this questions all the time: “How do I get fit and healthy and keep it with my hectic schedule (and mostly poor sleep habits)?”

Keep it simple, stick to the plan, get it done!

That may be a bit over simplified, so let me dive just a bit deeper. In fact, let’s first bust some common myths about fitness right now.

  1. Health & Fitness is a super complicated balance of nutrition, working out, sleep, timing, environmental factors, etc… WRONG! It is actually super simple and only about two things: Work and Recovery. If we can maximize both of those for the time you have available, we can maximize your health and fitness.
  2. Eggs are bad for you. WRONG! Eggs, Milk, Whey Protein, Fish, Nuts, etc… are just fuel sources made of Protein, Carbs, and Sugars (also known as Macronutrients). If we get close to the right mix of Macronutrients consumed in a day, you will be on a great track. There are ways to maximize the timing of it, but let’s just focus on the main picture right now.
  3. You must eat every two hours… or your not suppose to eat 2 hours before bed. WRONG and WRONG! Your eating timing matters much less than the quality of fuel (food and water) you put in your body.
  4. You have to wait 72 hours between workouts. WRONG! Everyone recovers at a different rate. It may take you 36 hours and it may take me only 12 hours. We don’t limit your activities based on general blanketed myths.
  5. I have to take a multivitamin. WRONG! You should be getting all of your vitamins and minerals in your regular meals through the day, eating as close to the source as possible. If, after eating the right foods, you see a doctor and they verify a deficiency, then yes, please ensure you make up for just that one thing.

There are many more myths, but we will stop there for the moment and get back on track with getting your fitness program started. Let’s start with some stratigies that will make this whole thing easy to understand and follow.

  1. Clearly define your purpose and drive. We need to identify where you realistically want to be and what’s driving your discipline.
  2. Operate off of the Theory of Constraints. Focus on the activities that drive the biggest results before getting granular. Most bang for your buck!
  3. Utilize the Minimum Effective Dose. How can we achieve the greatest output for our efforts? We will use a bit of science here to guide us.
  4. Measure & Track. We need to define where you are, where you want to be and how to objectively and accurately measure this.
  5. Stick with the Plan. You can brush your teeth and eat popcorn at the same, but you will neither enjoy the popcorn or get clean teeth. Choose one and stick with it.
  6. Prioritize Mobility, then Strength, then Conditioning. You need to have pain free mobility, strengthen your mobility, and condition that strength.
  7. Don’t be lazy and do it right. We will hit our goals with intensity, in and out quickly to keep up the tempo and motivation up. We exercise with the correct technique, form, weight, and tempo.

Recovery is the Starting point

Out of the two core pieces I discussed earlier, recovery is where we need to start. If your recovery is not on point (or close), all the work in the world to get more flexible, stronger, and better conditioned are diminished significantly and much is lost. Recovery consist of fuel (food and water), rest, and body work.

  1. Fuel is food and water. Nothing more and nothing less.
    • Water: Get enough. If you feel you are drinking a lot and still thirsty, get electrolytes and/or salt with your water. Here are my reccommendations for electrolite packs.
    • Food: The key is to eat as close to the source as possible. Whatever diet you want to use, start with ensuring the Protein is accurate. From there, ensure Carbohydrates/Sugars are appropriate for the energy level used for that day. Then, fill in the rest with fats. Listed are a few of the best diets to look at. Again, the diet needs to match with your goals and food preference.
  2. Rest is providing your body time to rebuild after putting in work that stresses the system. This can be as simple as lowering your body temperature or sleeping. Sleep, by a long shot, is the #1 recovery tool top level athletes
  3. Body Work

Work must be intense and

For our fitness program, I have spent years testing and trying all kinds of theories, programs, and ideas. The result? I have found many to provide good results, but one stood out above the rest. Some of the metrics used to judge this program is ability to safely build strength, time constraints, and longevity. So what did I come up with?

Down to the actual program, where the rubber meets the road. We will be using Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1