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We be… BIG LIFTIN’ movin’ G’s…
We be… BIG LIFTIN’ that barbell with ease…
We be… BIG LIFTIN’ and you know what that means…
Coach J’s gonna get you liftin’ like a gym rat fiend.
-Jay-Z (probably)
Happy Friday, Coach J here from Anyman Fitness – and welcome to the latest edition of The N.W.A. Newsletter.
Each Friday’s N.W.A. Newsletter will have 3 parts:
- A Nutritional Tip to help make your diet healthier and easier to stick to.
- A Workout Tip to help make your training sessions more effective and fun.
- An Attitude/Mindset tip to help you strengthen your greatest asset – your mental toughness.
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I will also give you my single favorite piece of social media content from AF over the past week and link to it on either Instagram or Twitter.
Without any further ado… let’s get started, shall we?
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N.W.A. Nutrition Tip Of The Week:
Always having fresh produce on hand at your house can be difficult.
This is especially true if you’re trying to eat organic produce.
Pesticides are certainly an issue to our health, but when you remove them, your fruits and veggies can become spoiled in a hurry.
I can’t tell you how many stalks of broccoli or bunches of bananas I’ve had to throw out in the past because of this.
If you’re a busy person who doesn’t have time to grocery shop multiple times per week, I highly suggest using frozen fruit and veggies for convenience.
Canned fruits and veggies might be better than nothing, but frozen are far superior from a nutritional standpoint.
Most frozen produce is frozen at the absolute peak of its ripeness and healthfulness.
The vitamins and minerals are locked in and it nearly guarantees you to be chock full of the fiber, elements, and minerals you’re looking for.
Another bonus to eating frozen produce: There are many different ‘steamer bag’ options out there as well.
With these options, all you need to do is pop them into the microwave and hit the button for a minute or so.
No cooking oil, butter, or sautéing pans needed.
Our clients at Anyman Fitness don’t track their vegetable intake, yet we suggest adding them to every meal.
Not only are they healthy for you, but they’re also full of fiber and will help you reduce your overall hunger.
Fiber slows digestion, and when digestion is slowed, the food ‘sticks’ to you longer and gives you a more stable energy source over the course of the day.
It’s always a smart idea to think about your food choices in terms of fullness, satiety, and volume – specifically when dieting.
Veggies are a great way to get your stomach filled up on very few calories overall.
If purchasing fresh produce doesn’t work for your busy schedule, grab a bag of steamed veggies (your choice) and add them as a side to each of your meals.
Oh… and please eat them, okay?
None of that ‘lima beans in the napkin’ nonsense, or I’ll get your grandma to come over and play ‘airplane’ with you… 🙂
N.W.A. Training Tip Of The Week:
With the Holiday Season in full swing, there’s nothing I would recommend to you more than to lift weights throughout the holiday season.
We know we’re going to be eating plenty of goodies and treats – it’s really difficult to abstain from all the junk food this time of the year.
I always recommend to my clients to smash those weights as hard as possible during the month of December – this makes sense for a variety of reasons.
First is the simple fact that (most of us) naturally eat more during this time period.
Food is anabolic (it helps to build muscle). This is why sumo wrestlers force feed themselves until they gain weight.
Weight gain = muscle gain, so when you may be naturally gaining weight, it only makes sense to try to build some muscle along with any holiday fluff you might accumulate.
Second is the fact that in most areas of the United States, it’s too cold to need to worry about taking your shirt off.
Hoodie weather starts in late September up here in Michigan, and by now, we’re bundled up from head to toe each time we leave the house.
This is why many people use the Fall and Winter as “bulking season” and move back towards a more fat loss oriented program come January or February.
If you can’t show it off anyways, you may as well build some muscle now, strip the fat away later, and see what you’ve created when the weather turns warmer.
Lastly, it just plain feels good to be building something rather than always being focused on burning fat.
Muscle is one of the most metabolically helpful tissues you can possess.
Muscle burns more calories than body fat does.
Muscle makes daily life tasks easier.
Muscle reduces your all-cause mortality rate.
Muscle bulletproofs you from falls as you age.
Muscle strengthens your bones, tendons, and ligaments over time.
Oh, and my personal favorite… muscle looks great when you’re naked!
I’ve never come across a client who has been ‘upset’ when they’ve gained muscle.
Even if they tell me their main goal isn’t muscle building… when they see what they’ve created through sheer hard work and determination, they beam with pride every time.
Be sure you put any extra treats Santa has left under your tree to good use this holiday season.
Get into that gym and give those weights hell!
N.W.A. Attitude/Mindset Tip Of The Week:
Every time I start to think life is too tough, or too stressful, I do the same thing.
I watch Band of Brothers from start to finish over the course of a few days.
If you’ve never heard of Band of Brothers, it’s an HBO miniseries from the early 2000’s that focuses on Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II.
Easy Company was a paratrooper division.
World War II employed many paratroopers for the first time ever for American soldiers in a full scale war.
While many troops would be storming the beaches of Normandy by foot, the paratroopers were flown inland a bit and then they jumped out of an airplane, rifles in hand, to combat the German forces.
Read that again…
These kids – some as young as 16, 17, and 18 – hopped into an airplane with a rifle in hand, jumped out of an airplane with enemy fire flying past their heads, employed their parachutes, landed in a field, and started immediately fighting the Germans.
Holy smokes…
Now you can see why I watch the miniseries every time I feel even a *little bit* stressed out or anxious about my life in 2021.
Our battles are much different from the battles back in 1941.
I hope and pray we never see widescale war, death, and destruction like we did just a few generations ago.
Both of my grandfathers served in World War II.
Neither saw the front lines, thankfully, or who knows if they would have ever made it home, or if I’d even be alive these days.
We can all gain a bit of perspective by learning about history.
Yes, we have our issues and our problems as a society.
But no matter how you slice and dice it, we live in the best time period in all of history to live well, be happy, and propser.
I can promise you Major Richard Winters and the rest of the Easy Company division can show you just how lucky you are if you haven’t seen Band of Brothers and you give it a watch.
One Favorite Social Media Post Of The Week:
Nothing has improved my posture more than doing these every week.
If you sit in a computer desk for most of your day, these are a must have in any training program.
Share this on Twitter | Share this on Instagram
I hope you enjoyed this edition of the Anyman Fitness N.W.A. Newsletter.
I’ll be back next week.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Best,
Coach J
Anyman Fitness
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Teenage me LOVED Too Short and his extremely raunchy (and sexual) raps.
I’ve grown up since then and I no longer have the same tastes (having 2 daughters will do that to you), but teenage boys everywhere rapped along to the disgusting, yet catchy beats and lyrics back in the 1990’s purely for the shock value.
My friends and I used to ‘freestyle’ to this beat back in high school, using our own lyrics instead of the too-gross-for-reality lyrics of Too Short.
‘Cocktails’ was our favorite song of his; here’s the link to check it out if you dare (NSFW – lyrics/sexual content).