The Fast Food Fiasco

This past weekend, my nephew Blake and his mom Laura (my sister-in-law) were baptized together, and I was fortunate enough to witness the event. Unfortunately however, his choice for the celebratory dinner following the baptism ended up being a fast food restaurant I'm sure you've all heard of called Steak'n'Shake.

Also famous for America's Obesity Problem

Now, for those of you that haven't been to a Steak'n'Shake, the menu does NOT offer up much in terms of healthy alternatives. With that being said, I did my best to compensate by ordering an avocado burger and a side salad. What I got was a barf burger and a side of yuck!

Pictured: Yuck

Whether it be the fact that I haven't eaten fast food in over 3 months, or just the possibility that I received some "bad" meat, that night I felt like Death was watching in anticipation as my arteries and stomach battled for Middle Earth.

The Inner-Workings of my Stomach on Sunday Night

Immediately following this fiasco, I picked up a few new valuable life lessons:

1.) Never go to Steak'n'Shake
2.) When you say you aren't going to eat fast food, don't eat fast food
3.) Smothering a side salad in Ranch dressing isn't considered healthy
4.) Avocados don't reduce the amount of fat in a burger
5.) Never go to Steak'n'Shake

So, after learning my lesson and also having taken an extra day off this week due to complications that arose from my near death experience, I was able to finish my workouts for the rest of the week:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time (Morning)	Total Time (Night)	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
3/26/2012	REST
3/27/2012	Ladder	11	10 min 35 sec	10 min 26 sec	40 sec	132
3/28/2012	Ladder	11	9 min 54 sec	9 min 57 sec	40 sec	132
3/29/2012	REST
3/30/2012	Ladder	11	9 min 46 sec	9 min 48 sec	40 sec	132
3/31/2012	Ladder	11	9 min 55 sec	9 min 39 sec	40 sec	132
4/1/2012	REST

Now, it may be on a rare occasion that I eat fast food, but when it comes to the rest of society, I believe our First Lady has it right when she was quoted saying:

"The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit. And I think that's what's happened in our culture. fast food has become the every day meal."

L&R,

Drew

Safety First

Throughout most of our lives, we've always had people saying to us "safety first", whether you're a world class athlete training for the Olympics or just a simple kid jumping a makeshift ramp on your Schwinn in the backyard. We've heard it from our parents, our coaches, and even in some cases our Chemistry teachers.

"Mee-mee-mee-mee!"

The saying "safety first" can apply to almost any situation, and in the case of exercising, it's no different. However, I feel that over the years safety hasn't been spotlighted as much as it should by trainers, gyms, and fitness "gurus" alike. Some people may argue that we should take responsibility for our own safety when exercising. Although I agree with this point in most cases, the issue is that many of the people out there spending their hard earned cash on workout DVDs, gym memberships, and potentially harmful supplements, haven't the slightest idea about their own physical anatomy, let alone how to operate a DVD player correctly. 

Now, I'm not saying those of us who didn't graduate with a degree in Kinesiology shouldn't take some responsibility for our own safety, but gyms, trainers, and TV personalities should all make it a point to push this agenda whenever possible, and in turn, all of us should listen. 

As always, my workouts (done safely) throughout the past week are listed below:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
3/19/2012	Vacation
3/20/2012	Vacation
3/21/2012	Pull-up	6	10 min  11 sec	60 sec	60
3/22/2012	REST
3/232012	Lunges	8	14 min  48 sec	60 sec	80
3/24/2012	Mix	7	12 min  24 sec	60 sec	70
3/25/2012	REST

Along with this, I've posted my updated 3 month picture and posted it below:

And today I'll leave you with a quote from the president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railways, Charles M. Hayes, who said it best, when he was quoted saying:

"Safety first, safety always."

L&R,

Drew

The Mile High Burpee

This past weekend, my wife and I took a much needed vacation from the "real world" and headed to the mountains to get our skiing/snowboarding fix. As I've said in recent posts, when you're on vacation, working out is the farthest thing from your mind. This is especially true when your vacation consists of waking up every morning and not being able to move your body because it's so sore from the day before.

Pictured: The Day After Skiing

With that being said, I decided that not doing Burpees over the weekend would be in my body's best interest as well as a nice break from working out.

Since my vacation didn't officially start until Thursday, I was still able to work out Monday through Wednesday. Those results are listed below:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time (Morning)	Total Time (Night)	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
3/12/2012	Ladder	10	7 min 11 sec	7 min 11 sec	30 sec	110
3/13/2012	Ladder	10	7 min  09 sec	7 min 05 sec	30 sec	110
3/14/2012	Ladder	10	7 min 08 sec	7 min 00 sec	30 sec	110
3/15/2012	Vacation
3/16/2012	Vacation
3/17/2012	Vacation
3/18/2012	Vacation

Today, I'll leave you with a fun quote from the Pulitzer Prize winning author and humor columnist, Dave Barry:

"Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face."

L&R,

Drew

Donde Esta El Agua

There's something my wife has continually had to remind me about for the past couple years that she feels is one of THE most important things related to your body's nutrition, and now after two months of Burpees, I've finally decided to listen. This shout-out is for none other than what I've dubbed the "life force of man"...

Narrowly Beating out "Air" for the Top Spot

That's right. Water is something we all need, but usually take for granted. Well, everyone except Kevin Costner...

Too much damn water!

How many of you out there can say you drink at least 64 oz. of water per day? Now, for those of you that smugly raised your hand or nodded your head at the computer, put your hands down and quit nodding. You look ridiculous... And you're also the minority. 

As crazy as it may seem, studies show more than 60% of Americans aren't drinking enough water on a daily basis. Our lack of hydration is one big FAIL, and we have only ourselves to blame. We should all take a page out of the book of every college kid in America.

Huh?

If you've ever been on a college campus, you'll have seen that Nalgene bottles are the next best accessory to Croakies and Boat Shoes.

Sweet Bottle Bro!

Now whether or not most of the students are carrying around these bottles to nurse a hangover is a different story...But regardless, the lesson we should take from this is that we should pay more attention to our own water consumption.

As always, my workout results from week 9 are posted below:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
3/5/2012	Climbers	5	8 min 27 sec	60 sec	50
3/6/2012	Ladder	15	19 min 46 sec	60 sec	120
3/7/2012	Pull-up	6	10 min 31 sec	60 sec	60
3/8/2012	REST
3/9/2012	Lunges	8	15 min 01 sec	60 sec	80
3/10/2012	Mix	7	12 min 19 sec	60 sec	70
3/11/2012	REST

And if after reading this post, you continue to slack in your hydrational responsibilities, I may just have to call  in our friend Bobby Boucher to convince you otherwise...

"H20!"

L&R,

Drew

The Traveling Burpee

For those of you that travel for work, I'm going to go ahead and guess that about 99% of you HATE exercising while you're on the road. I'm also pretty sure the other 1% of you who actually do enjoy working out in your hotel's crummy fitness room are sleep walking, because the only times I've ever seen anyone in there is at 5 in the morning...

Pictured: The 1%

If any of you are like me, when you're on a business trip, the only time you leave your hotel room is to go to meetings, dinner, and the airport. This of course makes it very difficult to get up the motivation to make it to the fitness room. So, why not just take what you've learned so far, and perform those exercises right there in the room? I mean hey, you've got a TV, plenty of floor space, and even a window that sometimes has a better view than the brick wall of the Dollar General next door.

I think I can almost make out the ocean...

Now, obviously this doesn't only have to pertain to those of us that spend half our year working out of hotels. But I'm sure after you've just ordered the surf and turf and your third margarita while enjoying a traditional Hawaiian dance, exercise might be the farthest thing from your mind.

Snooki is ready to exercise.

So having just returned from a business trip myself, I was able to take my own advice and workout in my room each day. Below are the results:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time (Morning)	Total Time (Night)	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
2/27/2012	Ladder	10	7 min 20 sec	7 min 21 sec	30 sec	110
2/28/2012	Ladder	10	7 min 23 sec	7 min 18 sec	30 sec	110
2/29/2012	Ladder	10	7 min 10 sec	7 min 17 sec	30 sec	110
3/1/2012	REST
3/2/2012	Ladder	10	7 min 09 sec	7 min 04 sec	30 sec	110
3/3/2012	Ladder	10	7 min 12 sec	7 min 03 sec	30 sec	110
3/4/2012	REST

I've also decided to bump up my workouts by doing "two-aday" ladder sets, while alternating those and the mixed sets (pull-ups, lunges, climbers) on a weekly basis. 

And this week I'll leave you with a quote that will hopefully motivate you the next time you're sitting in a hotel room, wasting time. It was spoken by English cleric and writer Charles Caleb Colton:

"Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time that every day produces, and which most men throw away."

L&R,
Drew