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Divergent

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What does the first in a series of books about virtues in a dystopian society have to do with being 40ish and working out?  A lot more than I expected.

I haven’t read The Divergent Book Series yet, but my daughters loved them and wanted to see the movie. 

As with most of their public appearances now, I am not invited. Plus I didn’t want to see some teenage girl movie so I dropped them off and I went to Wings to watch some basketball and make other bad choices :)

When I picked them up, they kept raving about how good the books were, how good the movie was, how the movie was different from the book, and how much I would like the movie.  Hmmm.  They know me pretty well so I guess I’ll have to go see it.

After checking out some of the reviews, Veronica’s blog, and some YouTube previews… I am in.  

But after finding out more about the story, all I am thinking about is how this relates to real life… especially the lives of people who exercise in some form or fashion.

Virtues of an “Exerciser”

There are five basic virtues [Read more…]

March Madness

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College hoops are finally here with March Madness officially kicking off!

What’s the Score?

You’ll hear that a lot over the next few weeks. From the tipoff of the play-in game to the final four and ultimately the championship game.

I ask that same question to myself… I am typically “That Guy” who relishes glancing over at the scoreboard of life.

Never even close.  No Cinderella’s.   I always have a considerable lead for the home team…..me!  Life is my B!

Scoreboard:

That Guy – 175  vs Life – 0

Every so often I let the work-life balance tip in favor of work.  Today is that day, or should I say… this week is that week.

When work starts gaining ground and [Read more…]

Six Pack Abs with Not So Average Joe

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aka – Six Pack abs and the 80-20 rule

The COLD Six Pack

Six pack abs guy - beers covering his one pack absEveryone wants a six pack. Most 40-ish guys just want it to be cold and in a convenient carrying case. The ones who want it to be ON their belly instead of IN their belly have a little more work to do than just swinging by the corner store on the way home.

This is the beginning of my quest for the mythical six pack abs. 

That Guy has them most of the time and can dial them in if needed for beach trips or a weekend on the lake or at the neighborhood pool/cookout.

The HOT Six Pack

Six Pack Abs is the goal - losing weight is the keyMost of you have heard the phrase “washboard abs” and I’m not quite 40-ish-plus enough to have used or seen a washboard in action, but I can tell you everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, appreciates a hot 6 pack – whether it is on a man or woman. Sexy. Hot.

Also, EVERYONE wants [Read more…]

Kiss me, I’m Ironish!

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Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Green, Shamrocks, Parades, Parties, Leprechauns, Celebrations, and Green Beer!

Kiss me, I’m Irish!

That has become the phrase of the day! And St. Patrick’s day has become an international day of celebration of…

St. Patrick's Day Green Beer or WorkoutWell, I have no idea other than it is a really good excuse to get a bunch of people to party and drink green beer.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t really need an excuse to drink beer, but I always find it fascinating how people rally around a good beer drinking event.

  • Super Bowl
  • St. Patrick’s Day
  • 4th of July
  • Summer weekends at the lake
  • Anytime at the beach
  • And my personal favorite – New Year’s Eve

Kiss off, I’m Ironish!

What got me thinking about this is several friends wanted [Read more…]

Workout reality check

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My primary workout partner aka ‘That Guy’ is traveling today, or so he says. So I worked out alone today for the first 30 minutes and then our part time partner (ie, shows up a couple times a week) decided to drag his ass out of bed and make an appearance.

I was finishing up with some triceps cable pushdowns so we moved over to the biceps machine for a superset with seated tricep push downs. Note – supersets with only two people is always an effective way to get someone moving who is a talker – they would rather discuss stocks, sports, cars, or anything else that avoids lifting heavy weight consistently – not enough time with this plan! You can thank me later.

New Guy at the GymAnother guy at the gym who just started coming in a couple weeks ago asked if he could work in on the bicep machine. Ugh, new guy :(

5am, very sparse crowd, SERIOUSLY? WTF, but since we were moving fast no big deal. OK.

Then he started critiquing technique. What?

Here’s the deal… We generally have two rules in the gym and sometimes we mix in [Read more…]

Give up Good and Go for Great

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Like most 40-ish guys, you work/live in an environment where there is always a random candy dish – at home, in a lobby, or possibly even on your desk.

It’s Just 1 tiny M&M

M&M candy jarAs I walked past the candy dish in our house last night, I reached in for an M&M just like hundreds of times before, maybe thousands. And like most ‘junk’ food, who can stop with just one tiny M&M? No thought or plan or even malicious intent – just habit.

After a few had “melted in my mouth and not my hands“, I saw an email from Not So Average Joe inquiring on tomorrow’s workout. I responded with the norm and then mentioned… oh yeah, need to start with a mile on the treadmill to burn off some chocolate candy.

That got me thinking… How far would I need to run to burn off those bad choices?

Imagine if you did eat just one…

What amount of exercise would it take to burn those calories?

After a little research, I will never look at some foods in the same way. Ever.

Warning!!!
If you enjoy junk food and don’t want [Read more…]

The World’s Smallest Violin

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Not sure if they still make these instruments

You have most likely heard the phrase, or perhaps seen someone make a gesture as if they are playing a tiny violin.

Well, I had to pull mine out and tune it up today!

In case you are not 40-ish and are too young to know what I am referring to, here is the standard situation you might use your tiny violin:

You have two people talking and one of them is not at all impressed with the other person’s story and really considers it whining or complaining. The listener begins rubbing his thumb and forefinger together near his ear and often asks “Do you hear that” or “do you know what I am doing? I’m playing the world’s tiniest violin and a sad song for you!”

There is a time for everything. Usually.

No, I am not referring to Ecclesiastes 3 which spells out a time and place for everything… that is for another post.

For the 40-ish crowd, if you don’t read the bible, you might recall Ecclesiastes 3 from Kevin Bacon’s plea to the schoolboard:

The gym is not the time and place to whine and complain about your life to others, especially guys. Even more specifically, your workout partners… No, not even if they are [Read more…]

300: Rise of an Empire

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300 + ripped up warriors

Years ago when the first 300 movie came out there were some pretty good workout routines that showed up online that these guys did to get into that kind of shape.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, look at the links for some of those dudes. Not only did they have some excellent muscle, there were also shredded. Lean.

300 and 40ish cardio

Now, like a lot of other guys in [Read more…]

Be the hammer and the nail?

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It’s not about the nail

For most guys, life’s little bumps seem easy… give us an issue, complaint, or obstacle and most of us will quickly change into “solution man“.

I’ve noticed that most guys can come up with a solution to just about any dilemma, and for some reason, most gals don’t always want that as you can see in this classic ‘That Guy’ video.

Be the Hammer?

What if we applied our solution generating powers to our own personal lives and fitness situations?

What if we looked at ourselves with the detached, objective perspective and analysis we have when solving problems for others?

Then, what if we actually listened to our internal hammer/self assessment and took the necessary steps to [Read more…]

How to Fight Gravity

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Gravity

While running on the hamster wheel in our gyms cardio theater, I was able to pass some time watching the movie Gravity.

I’m sure the movie won a bunch of Oscar awards… personally I don’t care.

40-ish Women Rock

I did notice that Sandra Bullock showed the world how a 40-ish female can alter her [Read more…]