Monthly Archives: May 2010

The notion of "diet" is shrouded in mystery within modern society. Some of this is due in part to the changing shape of the family unit, customs and skills lost to generations as well as a shift away from agrarian culture but additionally the powerful controlling arm of the food industry.

While the shift in society involves a much broader topic and one that historians and sociologists will debate for centuries to come as this era has lost touch with much of its roots, the latter is unquestionably the source of much of our problems.

The co-mingling of large-scale food production and distribution within a corporate conglomerate has shown in many circumstances to have a serious negative impact upon the health of the populous. While there are many companies who make an earnest effort at delivering quality food items to the market, the public is de-conditioned from traditional foods and methods of productions, making a "healthy diet" a near impossibility unless it involves significant lifestyle changes.

As I noted in my release “Diet Solutions” in 2008, “on the coat-tails of postmodernism movements in the early twentieth century and globalization of the world’s economies, came quite by chance the slow denegation of quality of life in many parts of the world.” In essence, the only way to impart positive changes in diet is to improve the quality of life but this will only come through a reconnecting to our past and understanding the point when healthy and lifestyle no longer met.

Ultimately, this leads to the realisation that the most impacting route to positive change is by considering the global perspective but from a micro level. A call phrase to be heard in the horizon will be “consumer responsibility” whereby only businesses who understand the impact of poor health are supported. For some that may seem like an idealistic notion but as the world struggles with a crumbling environment, scarcity of natural resources and burgeoning health problems as well dire food shortages, this must become a reality.

On the front of what consumers can do today, the first step is to ensure you purchase food items, when possible from local markets and growers. By supporting local groups, you will not only have a say in the production with your purchasing dollar and help ensure ethical farming practices but have a significant positive impact upon reducing unnecessary shipping costs.

Where possible, make use of backyard garden, whether in your own home or a community project. Planting a garden in your backyard will reap you a harvest of not only fresh produce but provide you a special connection to honest, natural connection of soil in your hands. As society has ratcheted into a lower quality lifestyle, this connection has been lost.

To improve diet from a broad scale of society we must capture the notion of improving the quality of life. As we dig into the soil and understand the close bound to agriculture society, we will not only solve our personal dietary woes but much of the worlds.

Prepared by John Davies

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s, Google+, Renegade Training™ on Google+ as well as or Twitter.

John’s present supplement stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Yok3d, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle (workout log 1, 2, 3, 4).

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk.

If “sport echoes society”, often we are left shaking our heads in disbelief. While the sporting pages have become a litany of foul residue, reports of player misconduct and a further lack of condemnation by the public that has somehow traded morality for “victories”, without ever truly understanding how they have “lost”, the presentation of women in sport must change.

While the notion of “misogynist” is not completely accurate in this use, the overriding theme of how much of the media presents women in athletics needs to end. From the sophomoric approach of marketing to a male audience that requires female athletes to engage in sport, while wearing a bikini or the media that focuses on the physical allure of the subject, it is a point of embarrassment for a man. How this occurred is both nauseating and signals a “dumbing down” of society and one of the most guilty parties is sports, health and fitness sectors.

For some, they are ready to click the “back” button now, annoyed that I tipped the status quo of forcing athletes to uphold a standard that is insulting towards women. The irony is as thick as the sludge, as somehow this prevailing spirit is accepted by a sector that promotes “health” never realising it plays an enormous role in the spiralling down of morality in society. There is no health or victories when women are degraded and it falls far short of one of most important goals of sport, that being, “to better society”.

That said, the exercise industry that bellows so loudly that is strong, needs to understand strength. The gavel may have already sounded as rarely do men emerge to stand up for character, honour and values but if there is a chance, the time is now for it to be heard.

It is 2010 and from my vision, it is both time to put aside antiquated notions of women in sport by objectifying them and simply treat them as fellow athletes. Maybe then, the true message of sport can be heard and maybe then, the public will learn that principles never have a price tag and right is never wrong.

Prepared by John Davies
Photo: John Davies

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s, Google+, Renegade Training™ on Google+ as well as or Twitter.

John’s present supplement stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Yok3d, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle (workout log 1, 2, 3, 4).

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk.

Though I have said all resistance work is "simple" as it is either, pushing, pulling, squatting or pressing, the qualifying statement of "once proper technique is learned" is a river that runs deep. Performing resistance movements is crucial element to physical development but rarely learned properly and in many ways, the modern gym is prone to error.

Whether it is the lack of understanding that, virtually all training has a baseline requirement of maintaining proper posture while under duress or lowering work threshold levels in society, the issue of being able to execute lifts correct is not as "simple" as it make look. In-fact, while hypothetically all lifts are "simple", proper compliance is a world of problems.

On the broadest issues is proper posture and in this specific case, the shoulder capsule. Whether you are an everyday person looking to maintain healthy posture, studying dance or a weightlifter ready to hoist an enormous weight, there is an interesting similarity. Training for a healthy shoulder capsule is quite possibly one of the most important areas within overall development but rarely is it covered in the modern facility. The "how and why" is unimportant, though it may relate to the lack of commercial basis to training the region. There is no sexy apparatus in training the shoulder capsule and though it will improve your physical appearance due to better posture, it is not so easily understood.

There a host of movements to use in training the shoulder capsule, each with some sleight variation but likely none better than the four step "STS" model from the Renegade FIX™ pre / rehabilitation program.

Holding a tennis ball, looped over a therapy band and under the foot, perform the follow four-step pattern for six to ten repetitions each and in continuous movement. All movements are smooth, with constant tension.

(i) Standing on band with the opposite foot you are holding the tennis ball with, laterally arc the hand across such that the arm is at a 45°angle as the elbow comes to near ear level.

(ii) Place the near foot over the band and increase tension the band tension and perform a classic lateral raise by raising the elbow up with thumb pointing downwards.

(iii) Perform a “Cuban Press” by first pinching the shoulder blades back and down, then raising the elbow until the upper arm is parallel to the ground and then pivot the upper arm upwards to create a 90°angle.

(iv) Repeat the above first step of the Cuban Press before continuing the hand straight as high as possible to perform a Muscle Snatch.

In addition, I strongly suggest adding internal / external rotation using the same apparatus.

Maintaining a healthy shoulder capsule is a key element in training often overlooked. In future releases of the Diamond Mine we will review many different approaches for your use.

Inside the Diamond Mine is a regular column prepared by John Davies for USP Labs that will contain secret tips on how to gain the most from your training as well as answering issues direct from our readers.

Diet is and will continue to be, the most difficult hurdle in modern societies quest for health. Running counter to medical advancements, lifestyle and dietary approaches pull optimal health back in a case of one-step forward, another back. How to solve this perplexing two-step is not easy and in-fact goes against the entire notion of a "healthy diet".

Truthfully, the notion of a "healthy diet" is in my opinion an oxymoron to some degree. No "diet" can truly be healthy if you are obsessing over it and merely trading poor dietary habits or the comfort of food for the obsession of what and how to eat. The larger riddle is how modern society, with all its advancements lost the hidden notion of how to dine and ultimately created this enormous problem.

Is the problem simply dietary choices, the lack of quality of food options, its expense or that along the way of the digital revolution, an impersonal lifestyle has crept in and with it, an element of escapism and not sharing a meal with others? The answer to that is likely “all of the above” and while anecdotal in nature, comfort food is merely a modern development to replace the lack of fellowship that was once a cornerstone of "the family meal". Equally, "fast food" profits from the same changing family dynamic as the maddening pace of a world does not understand its obvious flaws. Society has not simply forgotten what and how to eat but how to live for that matter and in the end gravitated towards the quick solution to replace a deeper emptiness.

Dietary habits, like the "shopaholic" needing another fix at the counter for things they do not need, have mistaken the broader problem and found a solution that in this case, is sending them to an unhealthy life. Naturally, not all dietary problems relate to this and many simply are a case of not knowing how and what to eat, but as the cycle of poor habits engrain, they are uphill struggle to reverse.

I consider a healthy diet is in many ways, akin to the manner I lecture on topics. To approach a lecture with an endless presentation and a script lacks the organic nature of truly “being” and in his case, never reach optimal health. A healthy diet emanates as a stream of consciousness that as in the example of the speech, simply happens. In this manner, it is neither planned nor unnatural but happens because it is a pattern of life.

That might be the biggest message and hurdle to cross in healing the dietary problems of society. While we need to solve the problem of “food choices”, we need to recapture the art of the dining and that my friends is why it is a round table. Sit down, slow down and enjoy a meal with family and friends. Life is not a race to the end.

Prepared by John Davies

The Round Table is a regular no-nonsense column prepared by John Davies for USP Labs that will contain useful advice on diet and lifestyle to ensure optimal health for you and your family.

Within the training sector, few occupations have such far off-base exercise approaches in the public as the Law Enforcement sector. While the profession has extraordinary high demands, both mental and physical, with many that put theirs and other lives at stake, parts of the exercise community treat it like its open season to shill product and over-priced ideas.

Law Enforcement requires specialized needs and many commonly accepted exercises measures may not apply and leaves the individual prone to failure. This will upset those who have gotten away with training “LE” as if they are powerlifters, bodybuilders and many other training styles but while costs of unsuccessful training in everyday life means the lack of goal fulfilment, the repercussions with law enforcement is severe. While I prefer not to be so glaring in a public setting, this situation warrants it, as an error in physical training for law enforcement may cost a person their life. Given this, only seasoned professionals, who understand the stark reality of the job, must administer training for “LE”.

Step one in Law Enforcement training understands you are going home tonight and every night. Quite obviously, I mean that with enormous respect but my job is getting you home to your loved ones safe, while doing your job to the best of your ability. Survivability is the over riding theme to all law enforcement preparation as the individual must be able to manage rapidly changing situations and be able to make decisions on the spot and not be distracted with the rush of adrenaline that is inherent to the job.

While discussing law enforcement, I should specifically note I would not be supplying information in the online community that can be turned against members. Though others think it is appropriate to discuss tactical weaponry, defence (or counter-attacking) approaches and the like online, I will not. I work closely with the one of the experts in the field, Mr. Danny Dring and he and I agree that this type of information is reserved for those of the "thin blue line". That may upset some but there are no negotiations with this matter.

Inside the Diamond Mine is a regular column prepared by John Davies for USP Labs that will contain secret tips on how to gain the most from your training as well as answering issues direct from our readers.

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™ ’s as well as or Twitter.

Prepared by John Davies

Photo: John Davies performing banded push-ups in the snow. © Copyright protected Renegade Style Productions, 2010

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should it be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk.