Brain Food #11 - A little nutritional miscellanea & some "punch me now" moments

I am starting to absolutely love my membership at the local franchise fitness place! 

Yep. You definitely read that right. I get a serious kick out of lifting there from time to time but not for the reason most people love to train at a particular gym. Most people pick their gym based on the training style or its atmosphere. Some examples that came to mind...

• Crossfit is known for butt-whompings and occasionally serious soreness
• Planet Fitness is known for having a "Lunk" alarm in case people grunt too loud or drop weights
• Fury Performance is starting to be known for high quality performance training (OK - I'm biased)

While my purpose for joining 24/7 was strictly utilitarian at first, I think I might just keep my membership there for a bit after my Tough Mudder is over. Why would I do such a thing since I own my gym and have all kinds of cool toys to play with? Because every time I go in there I get to witness the most awesome displays of mamby pamby-ness and moronic training ever! Let me illustrate this with some real world examples that I will affectionately call "punch me now" moments.

You get the idea...

"Punch me now" moment #1 - Just today I happened to see one of the trainers take an older lady through a 20 minute shoulder/ab workout. For some perspective, this lady warm ups on a treadmill for 20 minutes at 2-3mph and probably hasn't voluntarily sweated in at least decade - you know the type if you go to chain gym. After she failed to do a basic lateral raise with 5lbs, he embarked on a series of advanced cuff drills that aren't normally used outside of rehab settings - drills that have crushed well conditioned athletes 30 years her junior. After her shoulders pretty much gave out, he started after her core with hanging leg raises for which she rewarded him with maybe 3-5 reps before giving out. After trying to coax a few more out of her, he did everyone a favor and moved her to a crunch machine to save all of us watching some extra misery. Please don't get me wrong - I am not hating on the lady. I just hope she didn't pay for her "awesome" workout because she got screwed.  Who certifies these people anyways?

"Punch me now" #2 -  I got to the gym at 9:30 and was gone by 10:20. In less than an hour, I got in full upper body workout consisting of the following:

 

I swear they were at my gym today!

1 Arm DB Press 35-60lbs x 5, 65-75lbs x 3, 80lbs x 2, 85lbs x 1 (Rock Grip Chins x1 )

DB Shrugs 5 x 10 x 85lbs (Fat Bar Chins x 1)

(Machine Side Raises x 5 x various reps/weights, Big Ball Push Ups 5 x 10, Monkey Chins x 1 or 2)

When I got there, a pair of Jersey Shore-esque jazzbos were doing curls of all sorts including 1 arm preacher curls, reverse curls, band burn outs. This easily went on for the whole first line of my of workout - 20 minutes solid (and they had started before I got there!). As I moved into the next line of my workout, they did as well. Did they switch up and go for triceps in this new loop of stupidity? Nah...MORE BICEPS WORK! To be fair, one started doing some machine pushdowns as if it mattered at this point.  If you throw in some flirting with the female "trainer", you had totally epic workout. Everyone should try this latest fitness craze sweeping the nation - BICEPS FOR 2 HOURS STRAIGHT! I know I will!

In all seriousness, this place is becoming a source of inspiration for me and I think I would miss it. Working out there has become a guilty pleasure of sorts that reminds me to neverrrrrr, everrrrrr suck for my clients. I guess seeing the stupid things in life helps you to appreciate doing things the right way for the right reasons, which is one of my unofficial mottos at Fury Performance. With that in mind, here is some high quality brain food to counter all of the suck-i-tude from above. Hope you enjoy it.

Sneaky Sources of BPA?!?!

Did you know that shopping receipts and food cans are surprising sources of BPA? Read this Charles Poliquin blog for more information on this alarming, little known fact.

Yo Quierro Taco Bell? NOT!

This article discusses the lawsuit that has been filed against Taco Bell claiming that the "beef" is their products is not "beefy" enough. A law firm had TM's "beef" tested and it contained less than 35% beef! GROSS!

Just a general comment - you shouldn't be eating at Taco Bell anyway. Fast food is fast food is fast food. To quote the noted social commentator Terrell Owens, "If it looks like a skunk and smells like a skunk - it's probably a skunk." Don't be fooled by TM's clever marketing or cheap prices - their food is complete junk!

Lifting is "Cardio"? Huh?

This is a humorous blog from Tony Gentilcore dispelling the notion that lifting isn't "cardio". If you don't like to use a stepper, elliptical, or treadmill to get your heart rate up, you will enjoy this.