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Rog Law Fitness - The Art of Sexification

The Art of Sexification

The Unbearable Lightness of Not Giving a Fuck: Why Caring Less Helps You Live More

September 17, 2014 by Roger Lawson II 17 Comments

frankly-my-dear-i-dont-give-a-fuck

Close your eyes, pause for a second and listen.

Do you hear that?

Somewhere very near, nestled between your left and right ears, is the sound of a never-ending cacophony of fucks bouncing off the walls of your skull, slowly driving you mad.

And unbeknownst to you, it’s holding you back from going all-in. From choosing a goal and showing it what you’re made of. From grabbing hold of life and making the most out of your short time on this spinning rock.

Heart disease? Sugar? Ninjas? Nah, giving too many fucks – that’s the real silent killer.

The Anatomy of a Fuck

It’s completely natural to care about the opinions of others; we’re social creatures and we’ve been doing it all of our lives.

No one is immune to this, nor should we be.

Allow me to share a few shining examples from my past.

At some point in early grade school (or yesterday), I remember having to pee. Bad. Cartoonishly bad. Michael Jackson bad. I raised my hand to go to the toilet and the teacher told me to hold it. So I did, all while recalling the horror stories of those who dared tempt fate before me and paid the price. In their pants.

Then came the critical fork-in-the-road moment. I was either going to sit there and soil my adorable Dockers shorts in front of all my friends, or challenge authority and fight my way to porcelain freedom. Thankfully my mom gave me enough good sense, and I ran out of that classroom and down the hallway like I scored the winning goal in the World Cup.

Then there was the time when I gave a public speech and got way too close to the microphone when I spoke, causing epic feedback and giving the audience an excuse to erupt in laughter. To this day, the thought of speaking to more than one person fills me with debilitating levels of anxiety.

I could go on, but you don’t have the time and I’m quickly running out of tears.

These are my stories – what are yours?

I see it all the time when working with clients.

Busy men an women who put themselves dead last after a long list of duties, stressing because they’re running around trying to be everything to everyone.

And we’re not even talking about what can start to happen once you choose to do something differently.

Put on weight? Nobody says a word.

Adopt new habits, start to feel empowered about the direction of your life, and maybe lose a little weight in the process? All of a sudden you’ve changed. You’re in the gym too much. You’re obsessed. You’re too muscular. You’re looking unhealthy. You’re no fun.

The Sea of Fucks is vast and wide; navigating it can be treacherous, and if we’re not careful it will swallow us whole.

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The problem isn’t that we care about what others think; we’re not robots. The real danger appears when begin to value their opinion more than the combination of our own knowledge, instincts and sense of self-worth, and changing our actions because of them.

Giving too many unnecessary fucks  fills our lives with so much noise that true clarity becomes damn near impossible. It forces us to dull our edges, and because we’re too busy worrying about what other might think about us we become stifled, unable to express who we truly are.

Here are three practices that you can begin to use in the war for your mental sanity.

Get Clear On What You Want

This step is critical in creating an anti-fuck shield deep within your soul. Your goals are you goals, so own them completely.

The less clear we are in terms of what our aim is, the more likely we are to fall victim to the whims and fancies of others.

One week you want to build a back that’s large enough to block out the Sun, then the next you’re switching it all up, devoting your energy towards becoming an ultra marathon runner because someone told you that it’s the best way to get a six-pack.

Like dandelion fluff on a breezy summer day, just as you start to head in one direction and gain traction, you’re quickly blown in another, stuck in this seemingly endless loop of having your course of action determined by external forces.

Remember The Golden Mantra

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Ready? Here it is: Just because someone can talk to you doesn’t mean you should listen.

Imagine if I waltzed into where they house the Large Hadron Collider, with my little shorts and shaker cup filled with protein powder, and started lecturing all of these brilliant scientists on what they were doing wrong, how I thought they could make improvements, and that putting a piece of cake inside the machine would probably accelerate results due to its delicious nature.

These people are at the top of their field, with years or rigorous study and practical experience to back them up.

Me? I know less about physics than I do about how planes work (AKA nothing at all). I’m just there, throwing unsubstantiated fucks into the air for no reason other than I can. They have every right to smile and nod, while secretly trying to make me disappear with their mind.

There’s a different between acknowledging that someone is saying something versus actually absorbing what’s said and having it influence your behaviour.

Create Your Power Team

It’s easy for us to be deterred or hurt by comments that people make about us or what we’re doing, but author Brenè Brown has a simple tactic to help us filer and reduce the amount of people we let into our inner circle: make a list.

Brown suggests that we take a small piece of paper (think smaller than you’re already imagining) and write down the names of people whose opinions and feedback we actually value and will ever think about considering.

This list will clearly different depending on the context of the situation.

Did you hire a coach to help you achieve your fitness goals? They should be on your list of people to listen to.

You know who isn’t on your list? The guy behind the deli counter who is telling you all about the newest plan he’s on that lets you eat as many cookies and raw bacon slices as you want while only working out once a month.

Are you putting your work out there for people? Perfect. Then you may want to listen to the feedback from the people who’ve invested their money in you by buying your product.

You know who doesn’t get a say? YouTube comment trolls and people who haven’t spent a dime supporting your work.

It’s hard to focus on anything but the one negative comment amongst a sea of positive praise and feedback, but you can strive towards this ideal and refine your approach over time.

At the end of the day, you make the final calls. It’s your job to filter all the feedback you receive, choose to accept, ignore, an then decide on a course of action. You are the gate keeper through which all fucks must pass – take this job seriously.

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There’s Only One Choice

To quote my friend Julien Smith, those who don’t give a fuck change the world. The rest do not.

But what if you’re setting your sights a bit lower? What if you don’t want to change the world, but just your world?

Then, oddly enough, after rallying for hoarding all the fucks and not giving any, giving them is exactly what needs to happen.

Give them to yourself. Give yourself permission to fail horribly, succeed wildly and everything in between.

Give them to those you serve. Your clients, community, friends and loved ones and protect them fiercely. This will fill you with more energy than you’ve ever had before.

The feeling of lightness that you experience once you realise how simple this can all be if you allow it is almost unbearable at first, then it transforms into something incredibly freeing.

We’re here for a brief moment in time. Don’t become so buried beneath the weight of the fucks that other people hoist upon your shoulders that you become a passive observer instead of an active participant in your own life.

Further Resources

Julien Smith – The Complete Guide To Not Giving A Fuck

Mark Manson – Fuck Yes or  No

Johnny B. Truant – The Universe Doesn’t Give A Flying Fuck About You

6 Tips From The Hulk to Help You Smash Diet Anxiety For Good

August 29, 2013 by Roger Lawson II 24 Comments

Dietary debauchery.

Accidental calorie overload.

Hand-to-mouth malfunction.

These all fall under the umbrella of Hulking Out, that moment where you throw your metaphorical papers into the air, say to hell with it and go on an unexpected roaring rampage of food.

That time when you ate half the birthday cake (and it wasn’t even your birthday)? That’s Hulking Out.

When you intend to eat just one serving of ice cream, but before you know it your head is stuck in the container because you tried to lick the last drop out of the corner? The Hulk strikes again.

You didn’t mean to, he just came out.

Instead of throwing in the towel and resigning yourself to a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and constant setbacks, it’s time to fight fire with fire and learn what Earth’s mightiest hero himself can teach you about overcoming diet anxiety once and for all.

1. Use A Less Severe Deficit

Let’s face it: when we’re hungry, our proclivity for making food related blunders increases by a bajillion percent. Dieting isn’t something that our bodies necessarily enjoy – we’re tapping into fat stores that it has grown accustomed to having – so the bigger the energy deficit we create, and the longer we do so, the more inclined our bodies are to sound the “FEED ME!” alarm.

This is why crash diets don’t work in the long run. They impose severe calorie restrictions in an all-out blitz on the fluff, with your body using all the tricks in the book to try and get you to eat more. Once the diet is over, the sense of freedom can be overwhelming and the the Hulking Out process begins, often leading right back to where you were (or worse) over the course of uncontrolled weeks or months.

To combat this, more is more.

To start, begin with a conservative deficit of anywhere between 500 and 700 calories, holding this level steady for as long as you can before adjusting variables. When the time comes, think of adding more activity instead of cutting calories further – save that as an option of last resort. When doing so, adjust downward slowly in the neighborhood of 100-150 calories, letting your results dictate when to make this executive decision.

The goal of a diet is to eat as much food as you can while still making sustainable progress, not cutting as many calories as possible in a mad dash for the fat loss finish line. Eating more calories, while still remaining in an overall weekly deficit, leads to more compliance and less Hulking Out, allowing you to enjoy the process as much as possible along the way.

2. Hug It Out

You’re human. You’re going to slip up at some point – let’s just hope your mistake don’t involve busting out of your shirt and causing millions of dollars of damage to an unsuspecting city. It’s not what happens that will define you, but how you respond.

A typical Hulking Out scenario looks something like this:

  1. Person eats something they didn’t intend to or a larger quantity of something than planned.
  2. Person beats themselves up mentally about it (I knew better, why am I so stupid, it’s always going to be like this, etc)
  3. Person punishes themselves physically on top of this, restricting food severely or super charging their activity as a way to try and recover.
  4. They can’t sustain this level of restriction and deprivation and the Hulk comes out. The cycle continues, becoming harder to break the more it happens.

So, what’s the answer? Chill out!

I know, it’s hard to do in the moment, especially with so many emotions running through you head at the time. I’ve been there many times myself. Nothing positive comes from wearing yourself out physically and mentally as a form of punishment. In fact, it just increases the likelihood of it occurring again as you constantly reinforce this pattern.

Instead, get in the habit of being more forgiving of yourself. looking to find the lessons in each setback so that you can act differently the next time.

Ok, so you goofed up. You made a minor error on one of the thousands of days that you’ll likely live; a dribble in the bucket of life that won’t mean a thing to your results in the grand scheme of things. This is a lifestyle, baby. Keeping a long term perspective instead of boxing yourself rigid and sometimes unrealistic short-term deadlines will go along way towards keeping the Hulk at bay.

3. Don’t Demonize ANY Food

When we restrict ourselves, putting certain foods onto an untouchable pedestal, it’s only natural for us to want them more than ever before.

Want to ensure that you’ll Hulk Out in a remarkably horrible fashion? Tell yourself that a food you love is completely off or restrict it severely. The naughtier you make the food, the higher the chances of you losing your damn mind when you actually decide to indulge because you’ve hyped it up so much.

The apple pie that was an occasional thought before might as well sprout legs and embark on the epic journey directly for your mouth.

The only foods that are “bad” are those that you can’t tolerate, can’t control once you start, or hate the taste of. Approach your diet with the mindset that there are no off-limit foods and that everything is on the table. Once you know that you can have anything you want, the desire to actually have it diminishes.

Yeah, it’s pretty Zen.

4. Don’t Eat Horrible Food

This belief is deeply embedded in my soul, more a part of me than Wolverine’s Adamantium.

Have you ever wanted to have something but thought it was too unhealthy, fattening or whatever reason you used to justify not smashing it into your face, only to get upset when the lame substitute you settled on left you feeling cold and unsatisfied?

On top of wasting calories on something that sucked, a common response is to end up getting your hand on what you originally wanted in the first place and devouring it with reckless abandon, almost as if to spite your sub par treat. This is called Reverse Hulking Out and it happens to the best of us.

Don’t settle for mediocre food. If you want some chips, then portion them out (the epitome of strength) and have some. Make sure they’re the kind that you really want and enjoy every last bite of it. Don’t try to compromise and choke down some veggie chips because it sounds like a good idea.

As an example, if I’m going to eat a cinnamon roll, you can bet all your money that it’ll be a Cinnabon. I’ve been burned far too many times with other copycats and know that they just won’t compare, so why bother?

Friends don’t let friends waste calories.

5. Have A Release Valve

I call these the “break glass in case of emergency” foods. For some, it’s a single doughnut, a little Skinny Cow ice cream, or a nice glass of wine before bed. Whatever your thing is, the goal is to incorporate it into your diet often enough so that it doesn’t interfere with your results yet helps keep you sane and compliance.

When you feel the Hulk pressure building, have your emergency food. You’ll likely find that this alone takes the edge off to the point where you’re ready to jump back into the game again, often for days or weeks on end without need anything release. You decide the frequency that works best for you.

6. Own It

Owning your decisions fully is empowering and brings a certain sense of calm to you life, fitness or not. Instead of things happening to you, you’re in the driver’s seat. You control how you act and respond to the reality of things, no longer being a victim of your circumstances. The optimal choice may not be available in every scenario, but believing that you’re capable of making the best decision given your situating and trusting yourself to do so is key.

“That’s my secret, Captain, I’m always angry.” – Dr. Banner

The more in control you feel, the less anxiety you’ll potentially have about any situation because you know you have it under control. As you prove this to yourself through your actions, small and Hulk-sized, it will feel less like a cheesy Hallmark feel-good statement and more of an ingrained belief that makes you feel unstoppable.

What are some ways that you keep yourself from Hulking out or help keep diet anxiety to a minimum? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.

The Best Life and Training Advice I Received From a Homeless Man

July 22, 2013 by Roger Lawson II 21 Comments

The night was filled with an air of uncertainty.

Bodies were all over the place. Some were curled up on the ground sleeping. Others were on their respective corners panhandling. A select few wandered the pavement aimlessly, yelling obscenities into the night or at whomever was brave enough to get too close.

It was a scene that I was all too familiar with. I had several ways to respond.

A) Give some money (not an option with only credit cards).

B) Fake the funk and act like I’m talking on the phone.

C) Temporarily lose any sense of hearing and peripheral vision, becoming Robot Rog and walking right by without a word.

Standard protocol.

Ahead of me I hear one of the homeless men ask someone for money. He brushes him off, saying that he wishes he could help him, which prompts the homeless man to yell the wildest, most insightful response I’ve heard to anything in the history of the world.

 “Fuck a wish!”

I stayed up that night laughing with my friends at what he said, mainly because of how shocking and raw it was, but a week later I still couldn’t shake the statement, and here’s why.

Why Wishing Sucks & What To Do Instead

It’s natural to wish, to want, to desire. We all do this to some extent.

Some men and women see someone with a well-developed physique walk down the street and wish they could be like them.

Many aspiring authors read an amazing piece of writing and wish they could create something similar.

Every time I watch Bill Burr, Patrice O’Neal, Louis C.K.,or any other amazing stand-up comedian perform, I wish that I could do what they did.

Wishing, however, is a dangerous trap that we can catch ourselves in that does more harm than good.

We’re problem solvers by nature. When we wish something, our brain goes to work, searching through our mental Google database to find a way to turn that wish into a reality.

It wants us to take action.

What happens when we don’t, though?

It confuses our mind and body. It causes friction and conflict, dissonance between our desires and our behaviors. It’s like the student who knows the answer to the teacher’s question yet doesn’t get called on, despite raising their hand and waving it in the air like a psychopath.

Wishes can also serve as a false release valve, a “press in case of emergency” button. We can want something so badly that the act of wishing releases the pressure, taking it from something that could happen and turning it into an impossible task that’s outside of ourselves and our capabilities. At this point we may as well wait for a genie or Christina Aguilera to come out of a bottle, because that’s the only way what we wish is going to happen.

We can become addicted to wishing, conditioning ourselves to believe that wanting alone is just as good, if not better than, striving towards and attaining.

So, what to do instead?

Ask Better Questions

This alone leads to more productive answers, increasing the likelihood of taking better action. When you find yourself wishing, chances are you’re on the right track. Instead of letting the thread end there, take yourself deeper down the rabbit hole.

Ask yourself what are some steps that you can take to bring yourself closer to where you want to be. Don’t just keep them in your head. Write them down, big and small ideas alike. Put them in the notepad app on your phone, or tattoo them on your body like in Momento if that you’re feeling extra sassy.

As an example, for the last few months every time I saw someone with a Bane-esque looking back, I found myself wishing that I too could increase the jacktitude of my back muscles. I took my own advice and made the following list of things that I could act on.

– Do more heavy rows
– Get better at pull ups
– Do more back exercises in the higher rep ranges
– Train my upper back more frequently
– Eat more food and gain a bit more body fat while chasing muscle gains

This list got my mind going and gave me something to go off of. After using this is as a rough outline, I got out of my own head, sat down and put together a training program based on the above musings and I’m loving it more than this dog loves his owner.

Be as general or specific as you want to be, as long as you feed the wish instead of letting it float around in the realm of fantasy.

Scale Back

Don’t expect to jump right to the end goal the first time you’re attempting something. That’s similar to trying to face and defeat the final boss of a video game within 5 minutes of picking up the controller. It sounds good in theory, but in reality you’ll get smashed like a warm cookie you forgot was in your back pocket before sitting down, making you less likely to try again in the future.

Start as small as possible. Make the barrier for winning so low that you can’t help but crush it. As you rack up those wins, improve and become more confident, push yourself further away from your comfort zone in doses that you can handle. If you’re still a bit scared then that’s good –you’re right where you need to be

This isn’t meant to dampen your enthusiasm or a kind way of saying that you’re not capable, but a pre-preemptive strike to make sure that you only push forward when your experience have prepared you for it.

Embrace The Suck

You know that sinking feeling you get in the depths of your stomach when you’re trying something new, different and out of your norm? I won’t promise that it will go away, but I will promise that you’ll get better at handling it the more you take action.

Expect to be weaker than you want to be on certain exercises.

Expect for your writing to be a bit lame when compared to the ideal in your head.

Expect to have a few less than spectacular days as far as eating goes as you begin to get your diet together.

It might not be the absolute worst feeling in the world, but no matter what your goals are, there’s no way around this step. You have to be willing to go to that dark and sometimes terrifying place where the gap between the current you and where you want to be is larger than Godzilla’s pants (if he wore them).

This is the same place Frodo goes when he puts on the One Ring, the place of doubt any hero goes as he sets off on his quest – and that’s ok.

You will stumble, you will feel like you messed up and you will want to call it quits at some point.

Do not let this stop you. Be kind and forgiving of yourself as you move forward, always remembering this: where you are is just that, a starting point, not where you’re destined to end up.

Feedback is your homie

Aim for progress in ways that are measurable, apply specifically to your situation, and get you excited to continue moving forward. Keeping it as fun as possible along the way (here are training and dietary ways to funify your life) helps, too.

Let both your experience and results guide you. If you need to stay at a certain level while you figure out your next move, then so be it. Don’t limit yourself to what you’ve always done – be open trying new techniques, tactics and experimenting with different ways of thinking as you move forward.

Speaking of thinking differently, my friend and fellow trainer David Dellanave has based his entire business on helping people break out of the typical strength training mold. To find out more, check out his free book detailing how he does just that while getting you to trust yourself more in the process.

Act

All of this is useless without action. We’re either going to wish, dream and hope that the things we want will magically appear in our lives, or we’re going to decide to work for them.

Below is one of my online training clients after he decided to stop wishing and start taking tangible steps towards his goal.

After all the planning, plotting and pontificating is done, action is the only thing that can save you. Always has been and always will be.

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As my friend and mentor Alan Aragon so eloquently put it, a life spent chasing dreams that never come true is better than a life spent running away from dreams that could have.

3 Powerful Exercises To Keep Your Chest Swole, Triceps Terrifying & Shoulders Pain Free

May 7, 2013 by Roger Lawson II 17 Comments

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In the land of the chest the bench press is king, and many would rather fight a horde of rabid bears with a spoon before they had to stop benching. Unfortunately for some, the perfect storm of shoulder issues and improper form makes the bench press and some of its variations (i.e. barbell floor press, incline bench press, etc) a no-go.

If this perfectly describes you – I’m also part of the “can’t bench because my shoulders feel like death” club – then have no fear. I’m going to keep this short and sweet like a cinnamon roll and give you three pressing variations that you can use in place of or alongside bench pressing to ensure that your strength and sexy levels don’t plummet precipitously without sacrificing shoulder health.

Weighted Push Up

In terms of strength development, the loaded push up is a mighty tool to have in your arsenal. Most people can do a ton of push ups, but sooner or later loading them in order to keep progressing becomes a huge issue. Weight vests and chains are cool but can become cumbersome or simply aren’t available, but by using a dip belt, something most commercials gyms have, we can side-step this issue completely.

For this variation, make sure that you set the bench far enough away from the bar so that you’re hips aren’t hiked high into the air (I could have pushed the bench back a bit further in this video). As you can see with the booty wiggle, the placement of the belt is important. Try to set it as high as you can on your torso without it interfering with the movement in order to minimize lower back discomfort. The further down the belt is placed on your lower back, the more you risk going into hyper extension which can lead to low back discomfort.

Keep your glutes squeezed mega tight throughout the entire exercise. Make sure that you place the bar high enough so that the weights don’t hit the floor at the bottom of the push up.

I’ve loaded up to 200lbs on this variation without any problem, so needless to say it can be used both for low rep strength sets of 5-8 as well as high rep pump stuff, ranging anywhere from 15-20 and beyond. To increase chest activation, actively try to push the bar together as you push up.

Band Push Up

Bands are a fantastic way to crush your chest and triceps no matter where you are in the world. For a greater challenge, simply use thicker bands.

Band Prayer Press

If you’re in the mood to hate your life while completely scorching your chest and tricepticons in the fires of Hades, this exercise is for you.

High reps sets ranging anywhere from 20-50 work best here. Make sure to keep your hands clasped together the entire time, squeezing your chest together and exploding forcefully outwards with each rep. For an even more sinister pump, control the “lowering” portion of the exercise for 3-5 seconds on each rep. You can also use an incomplete range of motion, pulsing the end range of the exercise and going for a glorious set of 100 reps, although I only recommend doing this if you’ve completed a will and are prepared to lose your life in the pursuit of hypertrophy.

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Be warned that it’s impossible to look normal while doing this exercise.

May your chest inspire the hopes and dreams of millions.
May your arm girth frighten the elderly, slow moving adults and very small children.
May your gains be plentiful.
Go forth and prosper.

Sexification Note: For a great band distributor, check out this site. I have no association with them and get no financial kickback. These are the only bands I’ve used and their awesomeness is the only brand that I can attest to.

For light resistance: EFS Pro Mini and Pro  Monster Mini Bands (red and black respectively)

For greater resistance: EFS Pro Light, Average & Strong bands (orange, gray and blue respectively).

 

Achieving and Maintaining Your Sexy With Alternate Day Fasting

April 25, 2013 by Roger Lawson II 34 Comments

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Sexification Note: This post won’t be heavy on the science front and will be filled mainly with notes from my personal experience. I’m happy to answer any questions that you have in the comment section, and all I ask is that you keep an open mind while reading this.

If you’re new to fasting in general, I recommend reading this aaaaaand this to quickly educate yourself on what it’s all about before diving in.

After a year of shorter duration daily fasts, I began experimenting with longer fasts, ranging anywhere from 24 to 62 hours (known loosely as Alternate Day Fasting) without eating during my longest stretch, essentially only eating on the days that I strength trained. The details of that experiment can be found here, but a quick summary is that I dropped 7lbs in 2 weeks (losing 4 more over the course of the trial), while either maintaining or increasing my strength.

My results were near effortless and I was able to maintain them with ease. Stepping back from this extreme style of fasting and going back to something more conservative (Leangains styles or simple 24 hours fasts), I want to share with you what some of the benefits were and how you use it in the pursuit of your own fat loss and maintenance goals.

But…..WHY?!

Gigantic benefits such as lack of hunger while dieting, increased focus and improved mood from fasting are all discussed here, but my reasons for experimenting went beyond these reasons and I hope that you can glean something from these experiences.

The main benefit for me was purely psychological. For the majority of my adult life, I’ve struggled with food. If I’m sad, I’m eating a ton of food. If I’m happy, I’m eating a cave full of the delicious nom noms. I wanted to use this an opportunity to explore my own habits and see what I could learn from them.

With actual physical hunger taken out of the equation, I found that I ate primarily when I was under stress, bored or simply looking for a distraction from something that I was supposed to be doing. By setting a hard fasting deadline (i.e. not eating for 24-36 hours) for myself, I was forced to sit with the uncomfortable feeling and resolve it instead of using food as medicine. Sometimes I broke and ate early, but I didn’t beat myself up about it, learned from the experience and simply hopped back on.

On the actual fat loss & maintenance side of things, fasting creates a large deficit with minimal effort. It’s easy to get OCD about dieting and keeping track of your macros, so I used it as a tool to free up my mental real estate to focus on more important things while simultaneously worrying less about the eating side. Plus it allowed me to not have to even worry about stressing at social gatherings, which is a huge plus because I love food & good company.

Less food prep. Less dishes. Less money spent.

Preparing For Battle

A good relationship with food

I can’t overstate the importance of this step, both from personal experience and from that of my clients.

When I first started fasting, it exposed a major flaw within myself: I was a binger. I LURVE to eat – my mom called me a bottomless pit as a kid – and if I’m not careful I can cause dietary destruction with even the most restrictive feeding window (I went from 16/8 to 20/4 before going back to a conventional style of eating until I got a handle on things).

For some, fasting tends to intensify issues that people have with food and bring them bubbling up to the surface in a big, bad way, especially during longer periods of fasting. It’s extremely difficult to tame the beast while you’re inside it, so if you find yourself running into the same issues over and over again, take a step back and resolve them before writing fasting off completely. If it works for you, cool. If it doesn’t, then that’s cool, too. You learned something new about yourself and you can apply it to whatever you decided to do going forward.

The mindset of a boss

A boss does what needs to be done.

Let me preface this by saying that I know where you’re coming from. Having been a 6-7 (up to 8 if i was feeling particularly sassy) meals a per day dude in the past, I’ve been through periods of ravenous hunger to the point where I would actually get angry if I couldn’t eat my next preciously scheduled meal on time.

You’re the owner of the most adaptable machine in the universe – act accordingly.

You will not die if you don’t eat in the short term. If that were the case, it would’ve been game over for the human race a long time ago. You’re a lot more flexible than you give yourself credit for. Hunger is a real thing, but how we respond to it mentally plays a huge role as well. When we come face to face with hunger, more often than not we give in right away, stomping it out with food (usually way more than we actually need).

While adapting your body to go for longer periods of time without eating, expect hunger. Some will have more than others, but learn what you can from it during your transition. Each successful encounter where you power through those hunger spikes like the boss you are, the more you empower yourself. Hunger doesn’t control you, you control your hunger.

Chill out!

Long fasts can be a big stressor on the body, and when you throw that into the mix of an already stress-filled lifestyle you have  a recipe for disaster. Before giving this an honest go, make sure you’re getting adequate sleep (fasting on little sleep can make fasting extremely difficult) while also doing your best to reduce stress in all other areas of your life – it will make the process a lot easier.

Getting Started

1) Choose your fasting window

For those just starting out in the world of extended fasts, 24 hours (‘ala Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat style) is a good place to start. Depending on your lifestyle, here are some examples of how that would look.

  • Finish your last meal at lunch and fast until lunch time the next day.
  • Finish your last meal at dinner and fast until dinner time the next day.

For someone with a family, dinner time with them is probably pretty important so dinner to dinner may be the best option. On the other hand, someone who is single and has a large degree of autonomy has more wiggle room. I’ve found that going to bed on a full stomach helps myself & my clients with compliance, but the strategy you choose is completely up to you.

To extend the fast to 36-48 hours, simply adjust and plan accordingly. Here are some examples.

  • Finish your last meal at dinner on Monday and fast until breakfast on Wednesday (36 hours).
  • Finish your last meal at lunch on Monday and fast until dinner on Wednesday (36 hours).
  • Finish your last meal at dinner on Monday and fast until dinner on Wednesday (48 hours)
  • Finish your last meal at lunch on Monday and fast until lunch on Wednesday (48 hours)

Fasting for this long is not necessary at all, but can be done and by doing so you afford yourself the opportunity to eat more when you do eat. Depending on your personality, this can be a powerful motivator.

For me, training 3x a week, I only ate on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and single meal on Friday or Saturday depending on social outings/hunger levels. This allowed me to eat essentially whatever I liked on training days without keeping track of my macros because the the large deficit that I was creating on the other days of the week.

2) Choose your feeding window

This may seem complicated, but it’s actually the easiest, and most delicious, part of the process.

All you do here is decide how long your eating window is going to be (I’ve found 4-8 hours to be best, but this isn’t set in stone by any means) and plan accordingly.

The number of meals you eat is entirely up to you, but I recommend at 2 to 3 depending on if you’re in fat loss or maintenance mode as the gastric stress from trying to fit an entire day’s worth of calories in one may leave you with a broken toilet and no friends – you have been warned!

3) Fit your training into the equation

You have a couple of options here.

  • Fasted training.
  • Beginning your feeding window with a small meal prior to training.

For fasted training, consume 10g of Branch Chain Amino Acids 15-30 minutes prior to training. After training, you can begin eating or if that isn’t possible, consume 10g of Branch Chain Amino Acids for every 2 hours that you go without eating until you start your feeding window. Here’s an example of this.

8:30am – 10g BCAAs
9-10am – Train
10am – 10g BCAA
12pm – Begin feeding window

Frequently Asked Questions

How much should I eat ?

That all depends.

For fat loss, I recommend that you start by eating at maintenance on your training days and 10-15% below maintenance on your off days, adjust according to your results.

If you’re following more of a 48 hour fast approach, you can eat at maintenance on training days if you’re a brave soul or 10% more than that to help stave off hunger, letting the deficit created on your off days handle the rest.

For maintaining your physique once you’ve achieved it, you can obviously get away with eating more as long as you make sure to adjust according to your results.

Again, the number of meals you eat is up to you, but I recommend at least 2 meals.

What should I eat?

For most people, the main benefit of fasting is that you can eat larger, satiating meals while dieting or maintaining. Of course this means that some junk food (any eating plan devoid of a Cinnabon now and then has no place in this world) will sneak in there from time to time, but make sure that the majority of your food intake comes from whole, unprocessed foods.

Here are some specifics.

  • Protein – Eat between 0.8 – 1 gram of protein protein per pound of body weight (the fluffier you are, the less protein you’ll need to stave off muscle loss) regardless of the day. Bump this number up slightly if you’re having issues with feeling full – I’d rather have you get slightly more protein than too little.
  • Carbohydrates – Eat 1 gram per pound of body weight (adjust this number down if you have a significant amount of weight to lose) on training days, and for the sake of simplicity cut them down to as low as you can handle on your off days. Play around with this number and adjust according to your results.
  • Fat – Fill the remainder of your calories with this delicious macronutrient. A general rule of thumb to start by is consume less on the days that you train (because of increased carbs) and more on the days that you don’t (because of decreased carbs)

For those following the 48 hour fast, maintain protein levels for sure, but you can be a bit more flexible what you’re taking in, increasing protein, fats and carbs as long as you don’t let your overall caloric intake get out of control.

What about muscle loss?

I haven’t found this to be an issue at all as long as you’re training progressively with a combination of the big lifts (squat, bench variations, chin ups, dips, deadlift variations, overhead press, leg press). Cover your bases with these exercises, training in the 4-8 rep range. Make sure to include some fun pump work as well with your accessory work – lunges, curls, rows, dumbbell bench variations, and machine work has its place, just get your heavy stuff out of the way first.

If you find your strength levels dropping, increase your calories slightly and reassess as necessary.

From a general standpoint, the leaner you are, the more that you have to worry about muscle loss during extended periods of fasting. The more fat you have to lose, the less at risk you are for muscle loss with your fat acting as essentially the sacrificial preferred energy source before the body starts looking to break down lean body mass.

With that said, if you lose a little bit of muscle along the way and you look amazingly awesome as an end result, would you be upset? As long as you’re following the above advice most of the time, muscle loss is a bit over exaggerated and doesn’t happen all at once at any rate. Don’t let optimal stand in the way of good enough.

For more fasting myths, check this in-depth post out.

How do I deal with hunger?

  • Stay busy. Go for a walk, hang out with friends, dance like a foolish mortal while listening to music. Pretty much do anything you can to distract yourself from a hunger spike. Hunger is like a bully – it pops up and demands your attention momentarily, but if you confront it proactively it goes away quick, fast and in a hurry. They usually last for 15-20 minutes in duration.
  • Supplement. Caffeine has an appetite suppressing properties  which goes a long way towards quieting the hunger beast – coffee & tea fiends, rejoice! I’ve also found that 5-10g of BCAAs taken during a hunger spike does a very good job of telling your stomach rumblings to “shhhhhh”.
  • Sleep. If you can just make it to bed and go to sleep (or even a nap whenever you can fit one in), it acts as a bit of a reset button for your hunger.
  • Eat. Sometimes you’ve just gotta eat, and the good thing is that rarely do you need as much food as your brain may try to convince you in order to take the edge off your hunger and return your sanity. Try to have on hand an “in case of emergency” scenario. This could be a protein bar in your car, a few pieces of fruit, or just a cooked meal waiting in your fridge. If you’e finding that your hunger is mainly from not eating enough prior to ending your fast, experiment with making your last meal of the day the largest and made largely of protein.

What happens if I mess up?

It’s all good! There is no “messing up”. Some days you’ll fast for long periods of time and on other days barely at all. This isn’t something that you have to do on a daily basis, although the longer that you do, the better you get at it, recognizing and dealing with patterns that may act as road blocks.

Don’t put any unnecessary pressure on yourself to extend the fast beyond the point where you feel comfortable, especially if it begins to interfere with your life and defeats the purpose of this being more or less a relaxed way of eating. Remember, at the end of the day fasting is just another tool in your Batman utility belt to get the job done – no more and no less.

 

Don’t associate any magical properties with fasting or any other protocol. Demystify it as much as possible. If it helps with compliance then use it to your advantage, but the moment it becomes a hindrance to your success, abandon it without a second thought for something more appropriate for your circumstances.

Above all else, I hope that you’re open to experimenting with your body. You’re a lot less fragile than many have convince you to believe.

Life and Training Lessons From Dragon Ball Z

January 24, 2013 by Roger Lawson II 14 Comments

DBZ2

1. Mentorship is crucial

Gohan and Piccolo.

Krillin and Master Roshi

Goku and King Kai.

For some, there’s a weird stigma surrounding mentorship. On one hand we’ve all benefited from the guidance of others in life, but on the other side is fear. It can be scary to admit out loud to someone else that you don’t know everything and that you need help. To do so takes is an act of vulnerability, and the older/more experienced we get, the harder it can be to ask.

Imagine 4 year old you asking someone how to  tie your shoe – no shame there, right? Now imagine a 40 year old you asking the exact same question – hot damn that’s scary! Why? Because at this point in life you should pretty much have that locked down, and our ego would rather have us remain ignorant and proud than risk embarrassment.

I used to be exactly like this. In class the teacher would ask if anyone had any questions or didn’t understand something, and I would sit in the back of the room yelling “WHAT IS GOING ON?!” inside my head, yet on the outside I said nothing, and that lesson passed me by. Now, I revel in being ignorant. It means that I have so much to learn still, plus I’ll meet exciting and interesting people in the process of figuring things out.

Mentors come in many forms. Some teach you actual skills that would’ve taken you years to learn on your own, while others simply teach you how to harness the power that you already have inside yourself. I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am career wise if it weren’t for the guidance of friends and mentors like Alan Aragon, JC Deen, John Romaniello and Leigh Peele (among many others).

The best part is that if you take the risk and ask for help, people are usually more than happy to do so!

Embrace your ignorance and actively strive to chase it out of your life. If Goku, the world’s greatest martial artist, can seek out help when he needs it, so can you.

2. Excellence is a journey, not a destination

As much as I love Goku and tried imitating him as a kid, he’s not my favorite character – Krillin is.

At the start of the series, Krillin was kinda sorta able to keep up with the other Z fighters. As things progressed and power levels quickly  reached absurd levels (over 9,000! *breaks scouter*), he was left behind. Once you start throwing Destructo Discs at villains and they just stand there letting it hit them in the face while laughing, you know you have a problem.

But that didn’t stop him from stepping up to the plate and giving it his all when needed. The fact that he died more times than anyone else in the series is a testament to his overall badassery and commitment to excellence in the face of overwhelming odds.

The biggest part of success is simply showing up.

In the gym and in life, the outcome may not always be in your favor, but you can bet a delectable Cinnabon that what you learn about yourself while pursuing a goal is priceless and will serve you well going forward.

3. Live by the Saiyan creed

A Saiyan grows stronger each time they face a challenge greater than their current levels. Something inside of them craves it, and they’re constantly running towards these opportunities.

We’ve all seen that person in the gym who has been there for years yet looks and performs exactly the same as a result. Growth is not an accident. You adapt to what you force yourself to endure and overcome. Do the same and you’ll stay the same.

Piccolo trains with weighted clothes on so that when the time comes to throw down he takes them off and is stronger as a result.

Goku trained under 100x Earth’s gravity to prepare himself for battle on planet Namek.

Growth is rarely comfortable. It may suck and it may hurt, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s absolutely necessary if you want to accomplish anything remarkable. By pushing through your comfort zone and into the unknown, you awaken an addictive quality deep inside yourself that thrives on being challenged and thus becoming better.

If you want to sexify your physique, focus on building a base of strength first. No matter what your goal is, being strong ALWAYS helps  and enhances every other quality. Constantly push yourself to become better in whatever increments that you’re comfortable with.

From Vegeta to Freeza to Cell and Buu, Goku grew stronger from each encounter. Instead of viewing challenges as something to run from, embrace them and the growth that they’ll inevitably bring.

4. Competition is healthy and necessary

When Vegeta came to Earth, he thought conquering the planet would be an easy task, but several battles and an epic energy blast battle later, he was forced to change his perspective. From that moment on, the Saiyan prince devoted the rest of his life to one goal: becoming stronger than Goku in every way possible.

While he never reached this goal, Vegeta would have NEVER become as strong as he did if he didn’t have someone whose simple existence pushed him to strive for more. Chasing after Goku gave him something to aim for. Goku on the other hand used himself as the benchmark, competing only with himself.

Both motivation styles have their benefits and which you choose all depends on your temperament and the situation at hand. Some are motivated by seeing excellence around them and aiming to surpass it while others only want to become better than who they were yesterday.

5. Quests are awesome

The premise of Dragon Ball Z is simple: find 7 magical balls that summon a huge ass dragon who will grant any wish while defeating every villain that attempts to destroy the planet.

Oh yeah, and have a whole lot of fun along the way!

Life is long and as thrilling or boring as we make it out to be. Going on a quest, whatever it may be, is exciting because we’re actively involved in the pursuit of something. Learning different skills, exploring new places and everything in between opens up a world of exciting possibilities that we’d never encounter if we never ventured beyond the mundane.

6. Be a good person and good people appear

The Spirit Bomb, Goku’s most powerful move, can only exist because of the natural goodness inside of people and their willingness to lend him their energy.

This one is really simple and something that I can personally attest to: just be kind!

By being a nice dude for no other reason than it makes me happy to see other people happy, so many opportunities and friendships have come my way that otherwise would’ve never come about.

People naturally want to help and be around those who make them feel good or add something positive to their life.

I reckon if Goku was an asshat, nobody would be lending him anything and his Spirit Bomb would look like the epitome of whackness.

7. YOLO is the dumbest thing ever

Every time I see YOLO, you only live once, I want 1990s Mike Tyson to punch me in the face!

With the Z fighters being killed and wished back more times than I can even remember, it helps frame risk and reward in an entirely different light.

In the year 2013, we’re safer than we’ve ever been at any point in human history. Almost any injury can be overcome through a combination of medicine, technology and ingenuity, but each day we’re faced with death by a thousand small cuts.

Settling for less than we deserve.

Unrequited love.

Getting in our own way.

These little things can add up, and one day you may look around and realize that at some point you stopped reaching for more and settled into safety despite something deep inside of you yearning for more.

The human spirit is indomitable and can recover from anything given enough time and perspective. View each day as a rebirth of sorts, using the lessons from the past to constantly shape and guide your future while still living and enjoy all the awesomeness that the present holds.

8. If you want to look good nekkid, it really is this simple

Simple DBZ Everything else is details.

9. There’s a Super Saiyan inside all of us

We can either passively let life dictate who we become, or say to hell with circumstances and create our own.

We can break under the heavy burden of life, or use our physical and emotional resources to rise and become more than we ever even thought we could.

We’re fully responsible for the direction of our lives. The choice is always ours.

20+ Ways to Live a More Positive, Fulfilling and Happy Life

January 1, 2013 by Roger Lawson II 12 Comments

create-happiness-text-Favim.com-188253

I don’t have anywhere near all the answers, but here are a few lessons that I’ve learned throughout my life that’ve helped me live a more positive and fulfilling life.

Note: For those who have seen some of this, the new stuff starts at #14.

1) Be the hero of your own story.

Whatever mistakes you’ve made up until now are off the table – the only thing that matters from this point on is how you move forward starting today.

Imagine you’re the main character in a video game, or you’re playing the starring role in the supremely megafantastic movie called YOUR LIFE – act accordingly.

What would they do? What choices would they make?

Don’t wait around or expect anyone else to create your own success or happiness – that’s entirely yours to make.

The princess is in another castle and nobody is gonna save her but you (high five if you get this reference).

“Be your own hero, it’s cheaper than a movie ticket.” – Douglas Horton

Action step: Watch your favorite movie montage, video game scene or TV moment. Find out what drew you to it (was it the character’s intensity, confidence, charisma? What about their ability to handle a tough situation or stand up for themselves?) then apply it to your own life in any situation that you can.

2) Fail often. Fail better.

“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

Action step: Pick back up (or start) something that failure, or fear of it, kept you from pursuing.

3) Empty your mind

Whether your goal is to look like Hugh JACKEDman or simply get rid of the extra fluff that has taken up residence on your body, odds are you’re holding on to some beliefs that do nothing more than hold you back.

It could be “knowing” that you have to eat x amount of meals a day, or “knowing” that if you eat certain foods you’ll never get the body that you want.

Open yourself to different possibilities. There are no absolutes, only options…and options are great because that means cake, and cake is AWESOME!

Action step: Identify at least one idea/belief that does nothing but hold you back or hinder your progress. Once you’ve done that, write down ways that you can act that run counter to those ideas. Give it time and do this for several weeks, taking note of any changes, positive or negative, that’ve occured.

Example: I must eat every 2 hours, despite it being a chore and my lifestyle beginning to suffer.
Action: For a month, increase the length of time between your meals and see how you respond.

4) Build momentum

Whatever your goal is, do whatever you have to do to get it, then do everything in your power to keep from losing it.

Unless of course you’re in a negative momentum spiral, then please feel free to stomp both feet into the ground Flinstone style to stop and get yourself on the right path.

Action step:  Identify one thing , small or large, that you really want to accomplish. Decide on a first step then do it, no matter what. If you want to write a book but haven’t written anything since you came up with the idea, shut off your phone, go to a place where you can write and sit there until you’ve made headway on the project. This could be on the weekend or you may even have to call in sick from work.

Extreme? Yup, but the “OH HELL YEAH!” feeling you get from finally making progress far outweighs any monetary or time sacrifice you made to make it happen.

After this, keep going on a daily, or at the very least weekly, basis. It doesn’t matter how small, just DO NOT lose the momentum you’ve gained. Small progression is better than no progression.

5) Do the simple things every day

Smile and laugh everyday.

Be positive and act positively as often as you can.

Pass up as many opportunities as possible to be a downer, asshat or general negative vibe bringer.

Action step: This one is easy – start with smiling and laughing and see where it takes you. Even if you don’ feel like it, this is one of those instances where faking it until you make it works wonders.

6) Death, defeat and life domination

36,816,413 minutes

840 months.

70 years.

The average life expectancy.

One of these days we’re going to die – and who knows then? This is the most empowering thing you will ever hear.

How many days, months or years have passed by without us having really lived them?

Doesn’t matter. Starting today, begin the process of doing more of what you love and what makes you happy vs what sucks and what drains you.

Tell the people close to you that you love ’em.

Reach out to and old friend you haven’t talked to in awhile and see what’s up.

Start surrounding yourself with those who say “why not?” instead of only asking “why?”

Write down a list of big dreams and little dreams, no matter how lame they may seem, and start pursuing them ALL like a damn cheetah with a rocketpack attached to it.

One day you will wake up and there won’t be anymore time to do the things you’ve always wanted – do it now.

“You have exactly one life in which to do everything you’ll ever do. Act accordingly.” – Colin Wright

Action step: Whenever you screw up, take a step back and laugh. Seriously, laugh. Did you die? If you’re reading this then you’re still in the game. Revel in this fact and get back to being awesome because you never know when your time will come.

7) Find inspiration daily

Whatever you’re doing, a mega dose of inspiration can help keep you going, take it to the next level or transform it into something wild & completely different.

So find that inspiration.

The best part? It’s everywhere.

Read a book by your favorite author.

Get out and explore nature (watch out for rabid wildebeests).

Listen to a dope podcast or some awesome music.

Find someone who is doing great things and thank them, because if they can do it then it’s within your own powers of awesomeness to do it as well.

Do this and do it daily; first thing in the morning so that you set the awesome tone for your day.

Make yourself aware of what’s possible in this world and be surprised at how it starts to change your own life.“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Action step: Do one of the above things on a daily basis, preferably first thing in the morning, or create your own inspirational ritual. For some it’s horseback riding and jigsaw puzzles, and for others it’s daily meditation.

8) Learn from your past, then let go

Spaceships don’t have rear-view mirrors for a reason (ok, several reasons).Treat your past experiences as the best teacher of all, but once you’re done, you’re done. Don’t look back and expect to learn something new from constantly analyzing or “re-taking” that same class over and over and over again.The same issues tend to keep popping up in life until the lesson is learned. If that’s happening, learn it once and for all and stop the cycle so you can moonwalk forward into the rest of your life.

“Going over your past is like sitting in a crap film and watching it over and over and over and over again expecting the ending to change, when it’s not. It’s not going to.” – Jules Murphy Wyman

Action step: Identify a moment from your past that’s still haunting you. Set aside some time to really analyze why it’s bothering you and extract as many possible positive takeaways or lessons that you can (there is always something, no matter how it may seem). Use those to improve your life from that point forward and put the past to rest.

This could range from anything to diet mishaps to romantic relationship mistakes.

 9) Stop hiding

Be your unabashed self in all the best ways that you can. Take your own strengths and superpowers and amplify them.

By not doing it, you’re not only robbing the world of your awesomeness, but you’ll never be able to step out and realize your full potential.Don’t try to be someone else – they’ll always be better at it than you could ever dream of being. Life is way too short to be a half-ass version of something that’s already out there.

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successfull personality and duplicate it.” – Bruce Lee

Action step: Seriously, you’re theshit.com*, so start by surrounding yourself with people with whom you can really be yourself with, online or in person. Gain confidence from these interactions. Sneak bits and pieces that you feel comfortable with into your daily life. Identify what’s awesome about you (asking friends or those close to you can help if you don’t have the slightest clue) and start amplifying it.

*Disclaimer: Don’t go to that site haha. I can’t imagine anything good coming from it.

10) Be kind

Never underestimate the power of a smile, a kind gesture, sympathetic word or a listening ear – all of which are easy to give and cost you nothing. You never know what someone right next to you is going through, and if it will be the difference between a craptastic day and one filled with a little sunshine and hope.

“How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.” – George Washington Carver

Action step: Be giving with your time, knowledge, money, kindness, connections or influence when you can. Give in such a way that the person who receives it can’t possibly return the favor.

 11) Be grateful

Practice gratitude daily.Take 5 minutes at the end of your day to chill and write down a small list of the things that made you smile, laugh, or that you’re glad are a part of your life. There’s ALWAYS something to be grateful about, especially when you look down at that list and realize that a lot of people out there have it worse off than you do and could use a few of those things.

“If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.” – Frank A. Clark

Action step: Make that list! I’ll know if you don’t 😉

12) Be positive and believe in yourself

Being an optimist won’t solve all your problems, but what’s the alternative? There isn’t much sense in being anything else.

If you’re constantly filling your head with negative thoughts, odds are they’ll lead you straight towards negative actions, self-doubt and increase the general suckitude of life by 10384398%.Suck City isn’t a cool place to live at all.

Think of each setback as a challenge to see the positive, spin the situation back around, making it better than it was before.

“You’ve done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.” – Ralph Marston

Action step: From now until the day you die, work on developing a positive mindset via positive thoughts and actions, and chase the defeatist and negative mindset out of your brain and life. Never say “it is what it is”.

13) Tell safety to suck it

Playing it safe is the riskiest thing that you can do.Do what everyone else does and your results will the same as theirs – average. And you’re better than average.

Be bold. Be yourself. Take a chance.

What’s the absolute worst that can happen? Death. Let’s be real though: what you want to do isn’t going to even come close to killing you, even though it may feel like it at times.

Use this to your advantage and run towards necessary risk instead of away from it. No failure is too large to recover from. No setback is too great to power through like a champ. Nothing hurts more than a death by 1,000 small cuts, letting each day that passes mark another day that you didn’t move closer, even if only a small way, towards your dreams.

“The world is full of people who want to play it safe, people who have tremendous potential but never use it. Somewhere deep inside them, they know that they could do more in life, be more, and have more — if only they were willing to take a few risks.” – George Foreman

Action step: Do something epic. Do something heroic. Do something awesome. Whatever you wanna call it, DO NOT settle for mediocrity. Do things that make the world better for you having been here.

Here are some resources to help:

The Flinch by Julien Smith

How To Be Legendary by Johnny B. Truant
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

14) Be present (thanks to reader Jordan Ayres)

With the humongous list of things to do and more ways to distract ourselves than ever, it’s easy to lose site of what’s important – RIGHT NOW; not sulking about the past or worrying about the future. The most important thing that we can get ourselves and others is our undivided attention.

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” – Henry David Thoreau

Action step: Be actively involved with what you’re doing. When you’re with friends/family, turn of your cell phone or leave it in the car if you have the habit of constantly checking it like you’re Superman on call (guilty as charged). Focus on one task while minimizing all other distraction that pull you away from it.

15) Treat money like a tool

Wads of flimsy, funny looking cash. Computer generated codes that tell us that those numbers in our online banking accounts are real. It’s wild how much meaning and emotion we attach to money. If I drop a penny, I won’t even blink, but if a $100 bill blows out my hand I might chase it through the streets until the end of time.

At the end of the day, money is just a means to an end. Nothing more.

If you’re grinding and struggling to make ends meet and buried under piles of debt, that’s pretty stressful. Once you have your basic needs met though, more money only makes you happier up to a certain point.

If you chase the dollar for no other reason than to make more of it, you’ll eventually slip and fall in a puddle of weaksauce and unhappiness.

“I can live without money, but I can’t live without love.” – Judy Garland

Action Step: Instead of buying more things, use it to create as many amazing experiences as you can for yourself and those you love. Happiness will surely follow.

16) Grow

Surround yourself with friends and people that are better than you in areas that you want to improve in. Learn from them, let them push you out of your comfort zone and it’s only a matter of time before you level up as well.

“Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing.” – William Butler Yeats

Action Step: Reach out to people that you want to learn from within your network or outside of it. Pay it forward and be ready to reciprocate when someone reaches out to you in the same way.

17) Quit the internet

Just kidding! But seriously.

The internet is one helluva drug, especially when you throw Facebook likes, retweets and all other forms of social media into the mix. It can, and will, consume more time then you’ll ever want to publicly admit., taking a large chunk of your emotions along for the ride.

On the flip side, I’ve made a ton of very good friends thanks to the power of the interwebz,  amazing people I otherwise would have never known. I’ve traveled to Ireland, released a product and will be hanging out with one of my favorite authors soon because of it.

Here’s how to maximize the good while minimizing the bad.

“Our brains are not wired to be made happy by the internet. Saying the web is important to your life is like saying that television is important. It might be social, sure, but it’s still media. It can help connect but it also divides in a very fundamental way.” – Julien Smith

Action Step: Use social media/the net to connect – and then take it offline as soon as possible. Talk with them on the phone. Send hilarious videos back and forth (hi, Kellie Davis). Video chat with them on Skype. Meet with them in the flesh whenever possible. Take it beyond the text.

18) Stomp out comparison

Think you’re strong (or good at anything)? Go on Youtube and prepare to be knocked down a few levels.

Someone will always be “better” than you at something, but it doesn’t matter. Be inspired by them, using it to push yourself further, and nothing more. If they can do it, it’s within your power as well while also applying your own unique spin on it.

DON’T compare your haves to their haves. It only leads a negative mindset. Rock your individual talents like a boss and let what makes you unique shine.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Action Step: Use that to light a fire under your own buttcheeks and to do things in your own unique way. You’re the only person you need to compare yourself to. Strive to make yourself just 0.001% more awesome than you were yesterday, and you’ve won in a big bad way.

19) Hug it out. Forgive quickly (thanks to Marianne Kane)

If you’re angry at someone or something, get over it – fast.

Either change the situation, change your outlook on the situation, or change yourself.

If you can the other person can talk it out and get over it together, even better. That ensuing feeling of relief and “ahhhhhhhh”ness feels amazing. Wrongs have been righted and balance has once again been restored to the force. It’s like make-up sex for your soul.

Regardless, let go of whatever anger or resentment you’re holding within yourself. If you don’t, you’re doing far more harm to yourself than anyone else ever could.

Forgiveness is for you, first and foremost.

“Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” – Nelson Mandela

20) Be yourself

We all have something within us that no one else can duplicate.

Embrace it and let the confidence that you feel positively spread into other areas of your life.

The world needs more people who have come alive instead of wondering if they can.

“Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model.” – Vincent Van Gogh

21) Rise

Sometimes you don’t win.
Sometimes things don’t turn out as planned.
Sometimes you don’t end up with who you want to be with.
Sometime you just don’t have feel like continuing on anymore.

So, what do you do?

Rise.

There’s a lesson to be learned in everything, and sometimes that lesson is to engage in the beautiful comeback. To refuse to be defeated and come back better than you were before.

“Why do we fall, sir? So we might learn to pick ourselves up.” – Alfred Pennyworth

22) Be the hero of someone’s story (thanks to Lou Schuler)

Husband. Wife. Friend. Employee. Writer.

We all have different roles that we play in the lives of people we love and care about. Our actions and how well we play our part has a direct influence on their life, so we better get in there and give our best performance. Wow them with how much you care in the capacity that you’re in.

Difficult? Yep. Worthwhile? Definitely.

Never underestimate your ability to be a positive influence on someone else.

23) Explore (thanks to Jen Sinkler)

We all have an itch inside, reminding us that we should be doing more with our brief time on this planet.

Most will ignore it for many reasons. Others will follow their curiosity and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Which sounds more fun?

You don’t have to make grand changes right off the bat. It could be as simple as trying new foods that you’ve been too scared to dig in to, or traveling to different part of your country. Gain confidence from these mini explorations. You owe it to yourself to explore and scratch away at the self-imposed boundaries of your own life, interests and passions and see where they take you.

And one day if your adventures take you far from your comfort zone, the possibility of what lies ahead scaring and exciting you at the same time, then you know you’re on the right path. Push forward.

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” -Alan Keightley

What ways do YOU bring positivity and happiness to your own life?

I want to have this as a resource for people going forward, so please add your ways in the comment section below and I’ll update this post with your suggestions. All props and recognition going to you.
Shakelton

Free Zombie Survival Workout!

December 21, 2012 by Roger Lawson II Leave a Comment

If you’re reading this you’re alive (for now), but I can’t promise that this will remain the case for long.

I don’t know how to say this delicately, so I’ll just spit it out: MAAAAAAAAAAAAN THE ZOMBIES ARE COMING EVENTUALLY AND IF YOU AREN’T READY TO STOMP ‘EM DEAD, THEY WILL EAT THE FACES OF YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES!

*straightens tie* I’m glad  I got that out of the way.

I care about ya too much to let you face this world of survival horror unprepared, so here’s a workout from my first product, the Zombie Apocalypse Survival Workout. If you’re unfamiliar with any of the exercise, make sure the click on the name – I’ve provided you with some rather splendid videos demonstrating the form.

Ready for action? Of course you are!

Z

Workout Set A – Barbell Front Squats
Set Up: Perform 5 sets of front squats, resting 2-3 minutes between sets.

A) Barbell Front Squats – 5×5
After your last set of front squats, rest 2-4 minutes and proceed to Workout Set B.

Workout Set B – Bilateral Leg Training
Set Up: Perform B1 and B2 alternately, resting 60 seconds between them. Perform a total of 2 sets per exercise.

B1) Barbell Romanian Deadlift – 2×8
B2) Dumbbell Goblet Squat – 2×20

After your last set, rest 5 minutes and proceed to workout set C.

Workout Set C – Density Circuit
Set Up: Perform exercises C1-C4 sequentially, in a circuit fashion. This is a density circuit performed for time.
Perform as many rounds as you can in the allotted time.

Weeks One and Two: 15 minutes
Weeks Three and Four: 20 minutes

C1) Pushups (lower for 3 seconds, explode up) – 5 reps
C2) Inverted Row – 5 reps
C3) Side Plank Rotations – 10 reps each side
C4) 1 Arm Dumbbell Row – 5 reps each arm

Rest as needed between exercises and rounds, but keep in mind, you’re being timed; the density is the name of the game, so get as much work done in that time period as you can. Every time you perform this workout, try to do more work than the previous attempt.

For the full 12 week, zombie slaying program, today is the last day to pick it up for 50% off, so move that index finger and….

Click here to purchase the Zombie Apocalypse Survival Workout!

All proceeds go towards making sure I don’t end up homeless, ending up in your kitchen eating all of your food, sleeping in your guest room and creating awkward moments for you and your family – thank you for your support!

The Zombie Apocalypse: Friends Don’t Let Friends Get Eaten

December 18, 2012 by Roger Lawson II 4 Comments

It all started with a workout created by my friend Leigh Peele designed to crush my body and soul.

Only after I finished the workout and was left wheezing on the ground like an asthmatic Zebra did I realize just how out of shape I was. It was cool, though – my life aspirations and physique doesn’t require me to lift beyond 8 reps, and the only jogging I do is if a strong gust of wind blows some papers out of my hand and I need to chase them down.

Back to regular life I went, until one day it hit me.

While watching my favorite show, The Walking Dead, and seeing all the ridiculousness that they had to go through just to survive, I realized a painful truth: if the zombie apocalypse ever happened in real life, I would be SO dead!

In a feeble attempt to make myself feel better, I started to playback in my head all of the zombie movies and gauge whether I would survive or not, and even that was pitiful.

Dawn of the Dead? Dead.
28 Days Later? Super dead.
Night of the Living Dead? Finished.
Shaun of the Dead? Game over (yes, I’d find a way to die even in a comedy).

Even if I went back to the first zombie movies where they more or less waddled after you, I’d still die. This is when I had an epiphany: If I’m in ok shape and would still end up as zombie bait, what happens to my friends who are in worse shape than me?!

A lot of my best friends don’t train. Hell, my own mom doesn’t even lift – and I love my mom! I can’t be satisfied with my current training plan, which is sure to leave me temporarily friendless and momless right before my weak heart gives out, I trip and fall on some wet leaves and get eaten by zombies.

Enter my homie and partner in zombie slayage, John Romaniello. We present to you, the Zombie Apocalypse Survival Workout

If we’re going to make our mark on the world, then hot damn it’s going to be for preparing as many people as we possibly can for the upcoming zombie apocalypse!

Do you doubt that this is eventually going to happen? As the great sage and philosopher DMX one said – do you think this is a game?! If so, look no further than headlines from the actual news.

  • In Maine, an official Zombie Outbreak Response Team vehicle is found upturned with high-powered weaponry on board. Perhaps it was on its way to an actual isolated event?
  • Further to that, a sign was altered to let people know of the zombie danger—and quickly changed back. Sounds like a cover-up if ever I heard one.
  • In Baltimore, a college student is arrested after murdering his roommate and eating his brains and heart. Let that sink in for a moment – his BRAINS AND HEART!
  • And then there’s the infamous Bath Salts incident in Miami, Florida where a man was shot and killed by police after eating a man’s face off on the side of the road as cars whizzed by, offering no help.
  • Perhaps most telling—not to mention alarming—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued an official zombie survival preparedness guide, complete with items to stockpile and government protocol in the case of an outbreak.

This workout guide will be the most important purchase you ever make since it’s the only guide that will get you fit enough to slay the undead, protect your family and survive the end of the world (while looking good doing it).

In the off-chance that the world doesn’t go to zombie hell in a bike basket, you’ll still be rewarded with a truly Sexified physique along with a Liam Neeson in Taken set of skills (we’re talking speed and endurance here, not martial arts and neck snapping).

Dying sucks in general, but dying at the hands of a zombie sucks even more. Since I care about you so much and want you to be ready to dominate the undead with reckless abandon, the Zombie Apocalypse Survival Workout is on sale for 50% until this Friday at midnight

Click here to pick up your copy and join the zombie resistance!

The Ultimate Guide To Turning Yourself On

December 6, 2012 by Roger Lawson II 25 Comments

I’m going to keep this one short and sweet like Danny DeVito eating a Cinnabon: one day, in the not too distant future, a human’s worth will not judged by their kindness, achievements or accolades, but by the strength and shape of their glutes. I don’t even want to begin on the social life-killing stigma of being the only one in your peer group NOT able to turn a piece of coal into a diamond with one flex of your butt cheeks.

If you’re looking for specific exercises to add to your arsenal, make sure to check out Bret Contreras’ page. He’s like King Midas of the fanny – everything he touches turns to glutes instead of gold (which will be worth far more in the future, anyway).

I care too much about you to see you suffer booty ostracism.

Rog’s Rump Revival Rules

1. The 40 Year Old Virgin will teach you everything that you need to know about glutes

The great sage Steve Carell once asked the greatest question known in the history of the world: is it true that if you don’t use it, you lose it?

When it comes to the glutes, this is the absolute truth.

For a variety of reasons (constantly sitting on them all day, never really learning how to use them in the first place, etc), most of our backsides are just plain ‘ol weak and inefficient. The problem doesn’t correct itself when we load up the barbell and expect the glutes to get their act together without being properly taught how to. This would be similar to taking  a 6 year old away from their coloring books and snacks and throwing them into an advance physics class – they’re just not ready.

If you don’t use ’em, you will lose ’em. Friend’s don’t let friends lose their glutes.

2. Work your glutes all day every day

The following exercises take less than a minute to do, but will help take your booty development to the next level. You can do them in the morning after you wake up, at night before you go off to dream land, or as part of  warm up before lifting. The more you turn your glutes “on” and actually FEEL them working, the easier it will be to call upon their awesomeness when you need it.

Create that mind-muscle connection and you will be handsomely rewarded.

Do 1-2 sets of 10 reps each side for these exercises.

Now for some real life bonus tips that you can do without throughout the day.

  • When you’re walking, focus on extending your hip back and really feeling your glutes squeeze with each step. Think “walk like Robocop”.
  • Stand up every now and then and just squeeze your butt together for 10 reps. If you really want to spice it up and feel them working, hold each rep for 5 seconds.
  • While sitting, flex each cheek individually, which will rock you from side to side a bit. For added flair and style points, squeeze both glutes together to bounce up and down and your chair. Yes, this does look as hilarious as it sounds.

3. Get ’em strong!

Now that you’ve woken your buns up, it’s time to integrate them into your lifts. Get strong at exercises like the deadlift and squat variations, hip thrusts and lunges. If you’ve been doing these with weak, non-functioning glutes (like I was for years), prepare to have your lifts skyrocket now that you have the strongest muscle in your body on your team. You might even shed a tear or two.

Remember to lock out with your glutes and NOT your lower back on all of the above exercises. Here is a video of how you want to approach it, especially if you have a history of low back pain like I do.

Questions? Concerns? Want some more tush talk? Leave a comment below – I’m more than happy to help you get to the bottom of this.

Remember: If you don’t squeeze it, no one else will.

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"What you can expect from Roger as a trainer is his visions the big picture. He doesn't see life, fitness, or Sexification through a narrow view. He takes the time to get to know his clients inside and out. He understands that the victory to their journey is one in more ways than just the workout. However, when it comes to that workout, he has the chops. He is the true epitome of Sexification."

— LEIGH PEELE

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