As many of you know, I’m a huge advocate of reading (or learning) for at least an hour per day.  Since my beautiful daughter was born almost 8 weeks ago she and I have been putting in our time reading and watching some great stuff.

Outliers - By Malcolm Gladwell

This book provides a very insightful look at what makes people successful in their respective fields.  Despite what you might think about working hard, Gladwell suggests that this is only part of the equation.  Although I’m not 100% sold on every single assertion that was made, it certainly was enough to open my eyes to the possibility that there are other factors at play.

More importantly, Gladwell’s writing style is interesting and easy to read which is refreshing if you’re looking for something thought provoking, but not overly intense.  If this isn’t enough to convince you, consider that I’m now reading another Gladwell book called The Tipping Point and have his other books Blink and What the Dog Saw on my bookshelf already.

Fast Food Nation - By Eric Schlosser

Honestly, I could probably tell you all about this book and how it explains the production, flavoring, and marketing of your food, but it really wouldn’t do justice to the vast amount of information that is covered about the effects of corporate power on our food supply.

Consider that companies like Nestle make baby formula (Gerber), food (Cheerios, Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s), coffee (Nescafe), chocolate (Kit Kat, Smarties), and then when you get good and overweight they can sell you food replacements like Boost, Powerbar, Jenny Craig, and even the medically managed weight loss product called Optifast.  Need some water for that shake?  No worries, they sell that too.  Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, and S.Pelligrino are all Nestle products.  And by the way, they are also feeding your pets.  Nestle makes Alpo, Friskies, and Fancy Feast.   Once they start making caskets they’ll have us covered from cradle to grave.

Imagine what would happen if the goverment tried to mandate changes to the foods we eat to make them healthier.  Imagine the power of corporations to resist.  Although the observations about Nestle are my own, I’m sure you get the idea.  Fast Food Nation is well worth the read.

Note that this book led me to investigate further the treatment of animals during the commercial production of the food we eat.  Check out the galleries on THIS SITE if you’re interested.  Consider this fair warning that the images there are graphic and disturbing.  They also are not intended to convey that I think all industry operates like this…but it certainly opens your eyes.

StrengthCoach.com

Recently I’ve spent a fair bit of time on Strength Coach.com and I really enjoy the content.  The weekly articles are great, but I have to admit that the forum is really where it is at.  

Unlike many other web forums that are chock-full of nonsense by written by any idiot with a keyboard, here you can often read and participate in discussions bright folks like Mike Boyle, Bret Contreras, Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove,  Nick Tumminello, Charlie Weingroff, and many others that I’m probably forgetting to name.

Personally, I’ve read some people’s responses in the advanced forum and had to look stuff up or ask questions just so I could understand what they’re talking about.  As a result I’ve learned a ton of new stuff in a short period of time.

I think this is an incredible resource and totally worth checking out.  It’ll cost you a buck to try it for 14 days and if you don’t like it you can bail.

Oh yeah…while I’m on the Mike Boyle front I should also mention that I just watched Functional Strength Coach Volume 3 and think this is a great resource for any up and coming coach.

Fat Is Not Your Fault

After interviewing Dr. Bryan Walsh a few weeks back I decided to check out his Fat is not Your Fault Program.  Frankly, I’ve grown a little tired of the overhyped rapid fat loss programs that are basically just some variation of a low carb diet which is why I think this program is so interesting.  Dr. Walsh not only emphasizes the importance of diet, exercise, and mindset, but he also identifies several other possible roadblocks to fat loss success that you’re not going to see in your typical fat loss program.

I’ve already read the manual and am currently about half way through watching the videos and am loving the information so far.  Never have I really given as much thought to adrenal health and gastrointestinal function as I have since seeing this product.  If you’re successfully navigating the fat loss world, I’m not sure you’re absolutely in need of this program, but if you or a client have ever had difficulty losing fat despite being totally on plan, this would be a worthwhile investment.  Personally, I’m thinking of making Dr. Walsh’s screening questionaire (which is included) as part of my battery of forms for my clients.

Z-Health R Phase Manual

At the persistent enouragement of Mike T Nelson I’m checking out the Z-Health system.  To be honest, I have yet to start reading/watching this, but it is next on my list so hopefully I’ll steal a few pearls of wisdom from this as well.

What great stuff are you reading right now?  What’s next on your reading list?  Drop me a comment and let me know.

Today I have the distinct pleasure of posting an audio interview I did recently with Mike T Nelson.

Mike is a PhD candidate in Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota.  He is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the NSCA, Z Health R, I, S and T Phase certified, Z Health Master Trainer, and a RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certification).

Oh yeah, He is a professional member of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM),  the North American Society of Pediatric Exercise Medicine (NASPEM) and has presented at both ACSM and NASPEM Conferences as well.

In other words, Mike is wicked smart!

We chatted about the power of the nervous system, neuroplasticity, working the opposite joint for better strength, arthrokinetic reflex (bad joints = piss poor strength),  how the brain gets information for performance (hint, think joints, eyes and inner ear), Z-Health and much more!

You don’t want to miss this.  

Click here to listen!

In the meantime, feel free to drop by Mike’s site as well.  He’s giving away one hundred dollars to each of the first 100 visitors.  Okay…just kidding.  Here’s the link:

www.extremehumanperformance.com

As many of you may know, I believe that reading for an hour per day is paramount if you hope to become a leader in any field.  Fitness and nutrition are no different.  Here are a few things to get you started for today.

Tennis Elbow Pain: Tendonosis vs Tendonitis

Great little blog by Mike T Nelson on using eccentric exercise to speed healing from tendon pain in the elbow/forearm.

Are Tennis Elbow Straps Effective?

Short post by Mike Reinhold detailing the effectiveness of elbow straps for decreasing pain caused by tennis elbow.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything so I need to apologize for not having written anything sooner.  However, I can promise you that there is some incredible new content coming very soon.

I’ve almost wrapped up a series of interviews with some of the top professionals in the fitness industry and will be launching a HUGE teleseminar series with all these great minds soon.  Oh yeah…I forgot to mention that it is going to be totally FREE.  I just have some final editing to do on the audio and we’ll be good to go.  Keep your eyes peeled for this as there will only be a limited number of spots on the call.  Better yet, jump on my newsletter list on the left side and you’ll be the first to know.

I also just completed a wicked interview with Mike T Nelson on the power of the nervous system, neuroplasticity, working the opposite joint for better strength, arthrokinetic reflex (bad joints= piss poor strength),  how the brain gets information for performance (hint, think joints, eyes and inner ear), Z-Health and much more!

I’ll be posting this as a two part podcast in the next few weeks.  In the meantime, check out Mike’s blog at www.extremehumanperformance.com.