10 Ways to do Boxing more often

Want to do boxing more often?

#1. Do 6 minutes of shadow boxing in the morning when you wake up, combined with some morning stretches. Helps wake you up in a hurry.

#2. Install a boxing punching bag in your basement or garage - and then schedule 20 minutes every day to use it.

#3. Practice shadow boxing while you wait for water to boil. eg. When making coffee, tea, when boiling water for pasta, when making soup, etc.

#4. Buy an old used punching bag that has seen better days and take it with you to the cottage and take it out whenever you want to practice with it.

#5. Get yourself some portable boxing punching bags so you can practice while camping or on road trips.

#6. Practice boxing while waiting for a bus or taxi outside. Also keeps you warm if it is cold outside.

#7. Sign up for boxing lessons with a trainer (like me) or sign up with a local boxing gym.

#8. Encourage your friends or family members to get into boxing too, and practice boxing together in a safe manner.

#9. Go jogging and practice boxing while you jog. Great for your endurance.

#10. Install a homemade boxing bag in a nearby wooded area for everyone to use. A cheap way to do this is to use old tires like in the photos below.

Catastrophe! How to get back on the horse after binge eating over the weekend

We all do it once in awhile.

We go away on vacation, often for Thanksgiving, Christmas or some similar family or friends oriented event, and we end up eating too much.

So what do you do about it and how do you recover from it?

#1. Moderation is Key.

Sometimes overeating is unavoidable, but if you know you are going to be overeating because Grandma keeps pushing cake at you and you are trying to avoid a third helping here is a handy thing to say:

"I already ate two. If I have any more I might burst."

At which point grandma will leave you alone and focus her attentions on fattening up the younglings.

Having the willpower to lie to your grandmother may take some effort, but your quest for moderation will not be stopped after the second helping. The cascade of sweets will wear down your willpower, so each time you sit down and eat your goal should be to limit yourself to no more than two helpings.

Two helping of Aunt Marjorie's pie. Two helpings of Grandma's cake. Two cookies from the tray of cookies your mother brought with her to the event. You get the idea.

And at some point you should start to fill full, at which point you should reach for the water - drink your fill of water, and pronounce yourself full.

When amongst friends it may be an even more glorious smorgasbord of junk food. Chips, pizza, chocolates, candies - like a junk food filled Halloween party. Your goal here will be to avoid becoming the Cookie Monster, crumbs flying in every direction, shovelling it in two hands at a time.

Same deal as before, eat your fair amount - then drink a large glass of water and then you should feel full.


#2. Plan Ahead to Prevent Over Eating.
There are ways that you can prevent the junk food from storing as long-term fat. Amongst the best preventative measures are...

-Eat a solid meal before going out.
-Eat a good sized portion of only what you have been craving...OR
-Try a *little* bit of everything.
-Avoid excess alcohol. It will just make you more hungry. Focus on water instead and stay hydrated.

#3. Don't Repeat Binge.

Okay, so you tried moderation and prevention, and possibly failed miserably. Or maybe you were successful. Even if you were not, no biggie.

What you need to do is don't do it again the following day (eg. The Sunday after the Saturday Pie Eating Contest). Your body stores extra fat over longer periods. If you only slip once in a while, it will be burned off easily with exercise because the blood sugar will still be in your blood system for 24 hours, and balanced by good nutrition and exercise you will be fine. However if you binge again a 2nd day then your body will start reducing your blood sugar levels by storing it as fat instead. So the trick on the 2nd day is to continue moderation as much as you can. Hopefully you are still full from the first day and this won't be too hard.

Honestly, there is also a psychological benefit to this too. If you're eating really healthy 90% of the time, eating "bad" food is psychologically GOOD for you. Why work out so hard, and monitor food intake, if you can't let loose once in a while and enjoy having a sweet tooth once in awhile? As long as your calorie input is less or equal to the output, you will continue to lose/maintain weight. Falling off the wagon (or horse) is a minor setback. It's only when you are eating more than you burn on average, over the course of the week, that you should be worried about losing results.

#4. Post Catastrophe Clean Up, aka Getting Back On The Horse!

Exercise. Burn fat the next morning. You will feel better about yourself in a hurry.

Drink lots of water and herbal tea. Give your body a flush. Liquids are your friend. Staying hydrated will keep the metabolism revved, and will reduce bloating. You may end up needing to urinate a lot, but every time you do your body will be ridding yourself of excess chemicals.

Calorie cycling. Calorie cycling is just a theory, it has yet to be proven, but it is a sound theory that involves tricking your metabolism into changing itself. The technique is very simple: If you have a heavy calorie day, cycle with lower calories on the following day. Basically, just eat lighter the day after you binged. (I do a similar thing whereby I have a high calorie day every Friday, and the rest of the week is low calorie days. This way I maintain higher energy levels, but only eat excessively on Fridays when I hang out with friends.)

Eat lots of fruit and veggies. Your body needs a dose of nutrients. Fruits especially, and vegetables have a high water content, and both contain: vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber. Fill up on good stuff.

NOTE

One or two days of eating badly isn't that big of a deal. You don't need to be alarmist about it. Just get right back on the horse and don't worry about it. Stuff happens and you can't let the small stuff get in the way of your big picture.

So if you eat a whole chocolate rabbit once a year during Easter, no biggie. You will make it up through smart diet and exercise during the weeks and months and years after the fact.

Archery 101 in Toronto

Where to buy Archery Equipment in Toronto

ArcheryToronto.ca maintains a list of all the reputable places where you can buy archery equipment in Toronto. The good news is that the list includes traditional bows, compound bows, and even places where you can buy Olympic archery equipment.

Archery Ranges in Toronto

There really is only big one that everyone can use: The Toronto Public Archery Range.

There are several smaller private archery ranges at Hart House (for University of Toronto students), the JCCC (primarily for people seeking to learn Japanese Kyudo), and also at Casa Loma (which offers longbow archery lessons for small groups several times per year).

Archery Lessons in Toronto for Kids

If you are looking for archery lessons for your kids you can...

A. Ask me to teach them.
B. Sign your kids up for Boy Scouts / Girl Guides. (I first learned in Boy Scouts myself.)
C. Send your kid to a day camp / summer camp near Toronto that offers archery lessons.

Note - Finding archery lessons for kids can be tricky as many instructors don't teach kids and have a set age limit.

Archery Lessons in Toronto for Adults

A. Ask me to teach you.
B. Sign up for Kyudo at the JCCC.
C. Sign up for longbow lessons at Casa Loma.
D. Browse other individuals / places which offer archery lessons in Toronto.

Guide to DIY Archery in Toronto

For starters read the Do-It-Yourself Approach to Archery in Toronto, an article I wrote for the Canadian Daily. That will give you a good idea of how to get started and how to do archery without hiring an instructor.

Other Archery Resources

#1. The Canadian Toxophilite Society.

#2. The Toronto Survivalist Meetup Group.

#3. The Toronto Public Archery Range on Facebook.

#4. The Ontario Outdoor Magazine Bowhunting Forum.

#5. Buy one of the following books that I recommend: "Precision Archery" by Steve Ruis and Claudia Stevenson; "Archery: Steps to Success" by Kathleen Haywood and Catherine Lewis.

5 Whey Protein Recipes on Video

There are lots of ways to mix whey protein in with lots of your daily foods. Everything from cereal to coffee to even pancakes and cookies. Go browse YouTube for whey protein recipes to see what I mean. Below is some examples that I found.

Up first on the list of whey protein recipes...



Whey Protein + Cereal!



Whey Protein in a Sandwich???



Whey Protein + Yogurt!



Whey Protein Oatmeal Cookies!



And lastly...

Whey Protein + Coffee!

Frequently Asked Questions about Whey Protein

Below is a list of Frequently Asked Questions about Whey Protein - and their corresponding answers.

#1. Does Whey Protein Have any Side Effects?

Whey protein is found in milk. There are no documented side effects provided a person does not have an allergy to dairy proteins or does not need to restrict dairy products for medical reasons. If you are allergic to dairy proteins please consult with a physician prior to consuming any type of whey protein.

#2. There are so many different kinds. Which Whey Protein Supplement is right for me?

When it comes to choosing a whey protein supplement that's right for you there are two main things you need to take into consideration: budget and quality. There are 3 main types of whey protein available:

    Whey protein isolate - the most pure form of whey protein - more expensive.

    Whey protein concentrate - not as pure, slightly higher fat & lactose - cheap.

    Whey protein blend - a mixture of isolate and concentrate - moderately priced.

Obviously, the more pure and high quality the product is then the higher the price tag will be. This is why whey protein isolate is the most expensive form of whey protein. But you get what you pay for, pure whey protein is literally zero fat, zero carbs and zero lactose. It's the highest quality protein and will give you the most protein per serving with the least amount of calories. So if you have the money to spend, then whey protein isolate is the best quality protein available.

#3. What are the Pros and Cons of Whey Protein Isolate?

Pros of Whey Protein Isolate:

1.     Purest form of whey protein available
2.     Fat free, lactose free, carb free
3.     Excellent amino acid profile
4.     More protein per serving
5.     Ideal for both muscle building & fat loss

Cons of Whey Protein Isolate:

1.    More expensive than concentrate & blends.

#4. Which whey protein brand name company is the best?

There isn't a "best". That is like asking which clump of sand is best. Sand is sand. Whey protein isolate is whey protein isolate, it is chemically no different from other whey protein isolate.

However when it comes to whey protein concentrate and whey protein blend, there will be definite differences in purity between different companies because they will be filtered differently and some concentrates will be higher quality than other concentrates, and the same goes with blends.

For someone who is looking for weight gain - muscle mass - they might want the concentrate or blend because it will give them more energy during their exercise routine. For someone who is actually looking to LOSE weight, but wants to gain muscle while shedding fat, they might want to pick the isolate instead - or if they feel they need more energy, the concentrate.

So it isn't a matter of which is the best brand name company, it is a matter of which product suits your needs in terms of protein, energy and price.

A quick rule of thumb, the bigger and shinier the container, the more likely the contents are overpriced. Myself, I whip out my smartphone and start doing protein per price calculations with the calculator on my phone.

#5. What are the Pros and Cons of Whey Protein Concentrate?

Pros of Whey Protein Concentrate:

1.     Well priced, with 5lbs starting at under $30
2.     High in amino acids
3.     Great for muscle building

Cons of Whey Protein Concentrate:

1.     Higher in fat and carbs than whey protein isolate
2.     More calories per serving coming from fat

#6. What are the Pros and Cons of Whey Protein Blends?

Thankfully there is some middle ground - Whey protein blends, as the name suggests, is literally a blend of whey protein isolate and concentrate. Roughly half and half, depending on the company. By doing this, supplement manufacturers have found a good middle-ground between price and quality.

Not all protein blends are created equal though. Some have more isolate than concentrate, and vice versa. So like I said earlier, now is a good time to get out your calculator and do some calculations to determine the price per protein.

Pros of Whey Protein Blends:

1.     Good mix of isolate and concentrate protein sources
2.     Great value for money
3.     Excellent amino acid profile
4.     Less fat/carbs/lactose than whey protein concentrate
5.     Loads of brands to choose from

Cons of Whey Protein Blends:

1.     More fat/carbs/lactose than whey protein isolate
2.     Some blends contain a lot of whey protein concentrate

#7. Can I mix whey protein with other supplements?
Yes of course. Whey protein goes well with a whole host of supplements. A few examples are creatine, dextrose and glutamine. In fact, the uptake of protein can be improved by combining it with high GI carbohydrates. This produces an insulin spike that delivers nutrients to muscles faster than water or milk.

However what really matters is what your goals are. If your primary goal is to add on muscle, then you need to learn more about whey protein and the other supplements you are using to see how each works independently.

#8. How much protein should I take?

How much whey protein you need is completely dependent on your weight, exercise level and goals. No 2 people are the same. Bodybuilders generally consume between 1 and 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day - but to be fair, not everyone is a bodybuilder and doing that much exercise. If you are an average joe who is trying to put on extra muscle, 1 scoop is probably all you need.

#9. When is the best time to take whey protein?

When you take whey protein depends on your goals. Whey protein is fast digesting, so it's ideal for when you need it quickly. The most common times whey is used is first thing in the morning, after sport or training and sometimes before exercise. So you can mix it with milk, water, yogurt - I even enjoy mixing it with my cereal and milk in the morning to make my Kellogg's Vector flakes taste chocolaty.

#10. Will whey protein help me lose weight?

More likely you will add weight first - as you put on more muscle weight.

However assuming you are exercising, especially cardio exercises, adding whey protein to your diet will add more muscle mass to your heart and lungs and give you a greater endurance.

And greater endurance means you can run faster for longer periods of time - which will ultimately burn more calories and shed fat. Thus yes, whey protein can help you lose weight - but only in combination with regular cardio exercises.

Studies have also  found that individuals who combine diets with leucine rich protein foods, like whey protein, and exercise have more lean muscle tissue and they lose more body fat. As they lose fat their metabolic rate increases and they naturally burn more calories each day. Another way that whey protein helps manage weight is by promoting satiety, or a feeling of fullness.

#11. What is better, whey or casein protein?

Whey protein has the highest BV value, and is the richest source of BCAAs of any protein. This means it is far superior to any other type of protein for muscle building, weight loss and general health. Casein protein has its place though. Casein protein is absorbed much slower by the body (up to about 7 hours). This means it's ideal for a "night time" supplement, taken before bed. Bodybuilders and professional athletes have used casein for decades as a slow release protein to repair muscle tissue during sleep.

Thus for best results, use whey protein in the morning, before and after workouts, and consume casein protein as part of your evening meal.

#12. Is whey protein OK for vegetarians?

    Absolutely. Whey protein is an ideal protein source for vegetarians who include dairy products in their diet. However for vegans, who don't consume dairy, they won't like where the source of the whey is coming from: Dairy farms.

#13. Is whey protein easy to digest?

Whey protein is water soluble and a very easy to digest protein. It quickly enters the body to provide the important essential amino acids needed to nourish muscles and other body tissues. This is one of the reasons it is a common ingredient in infant formula and protein supplements for medical use.

Some people also make granola bars, biscuits and cookies using their whey protein. There are lots of recipes online for you to browse.

#14. Can whey protein harm my kidneys?

No. Bodybuilders frequently consume up to 500g of protein per day for months - even years. There is no scientific evidence that this ridiculously high protein intake causes kidney problems. (Although there is evidence of bodybuilders taking steroids, and that DOES cause kidney problems and all sorts of other problems with internal organs.)

For animals studies have shown that animals with high protein intakes (like cats, dogs, bears and other carnivores) they don't suffer kidney damage for the first half of their life time. The kidney damage they sometimes suffer later in life is more closely linked to aging and getting older.

High protein intake may be hazardous only for individuals who have abnormal kidney function or kidney disease, and the reason is because their kidneys are the first to suffer if they become dehydrated.

Even for the disease-free individual, the most serious concern with high protein intake is dehydration, because it takes a lot of water to metabolize protein. Thus for best results, drink between 250 mL to 500 mL of water for each scoop of whey protein you take.

8 Benefits of Jumping Rope

Jumping rope for 6 minutes is a great cardio activity that you can do every day and you can see some dramatic health benefits.

• Fantastic cardiovascular workout that boosts weight loss dramatically.
• Tones lower body, especially calves
• Improves co-ordination
• Improves agility
• Increases heart and lung capacity
• Increases endurance
• Improves heart rate recovery time
• Great for fat burning programs

The trick about jumping rope is to pace yourself if you haven't done it for a long time.

Start off doing it for 6 minutes every day.

Then work your way up to 20 minutes every day.

After several months of 20 minutes every day then work your way up to 40 minutes per day.

Jumping rope for a minute is roughly 120 jumps. That makes it a pretty tough exercise to do because it requires so much more energy and coordination.

Calories Burned

A 170 lb person burns 539.78 calories during 40 minutes of moderate jumping rope.

A 200 lb person burns 635.03 calories during 40 minutes of moderate jumping rope.

A 240 lb person burns 762.03 calories during 40 minutes of moderate jumping rope.

Note, because skipping rope is such a big cardio exercise it can also trigger the Afterburn Effect, which will cause you to burn even more calories than you thought. Thus 20 to 40 minutes of vigorous jumping rope every day can burn approx. 1 to 2 pounds of fat (or more) per week thanks to the Afterburn Effect.

A 170 lb person burns 323.87 calories during 20 minutes of vigorous jumping rope.

X 7 is 2267 calories per week, which you can then (conservatively) multiply by 1.5 because of the Afterburn Effect = 3401 calories. 3500 calories equals 1 lb of fat.

Thus anyone who weighs 170 lbs or more, doing 20 minutes of skipping rope every day, can see dramatic differences in just 1 week. So how big is 1 lb of fat? See the photo below.

Now imagine all the health benefits if you started off at say 240 lbs and wanted to lose 80 lbs, down to 160 lbs? They would be plentiful health benefits, but lets do the math to see how this could be accomplished.

Assuming an average weight of 200 lbs during this weight loss period, we use that as the number when inputting into a calorie calculator.

A 200 lb person burns 381.02 calories during 20 minutes of vigorous jumping rope.

x 720 days = 274,334.4 calories burned. That is 78.38 lbs of fat in less than two years... and that is NOT counting the Afterburn Effect, that is not counting additional exercises the person might also try / start doing in addition to skipping rope, and that is not counting dietary changes if they start eating healthier.

For best results, I recommend a healthy balanced diet with lots of veggies, lean meat, and a moderately low amount of carbs. To stay motivated I recommend listening to fast adrenaline filled music while doing your rope jumping.

For fun combine rope jumping / skipping rope with other body weight activities like squats, crunches, sit ups, push ups, chin ups, etc for an all over approach to fitness.

:)

For even more fun try to get friends and family involved too.

Carbs Reducing Strategies for Weight Loss

There are many different fad diets on the market that restrict food groups, or eliminate them altogether! While this is not an ideal way to lose weight, cutting back on certain foods, like carbs can help you to lose weight.

However cutting out carbs entirely is not going to help you either.

Why? Well let us first ask what are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates are different kinds of sugars and when they are not burned by doing exercise activities they are stored as fat. If you don't use your carbs, then you end up storing them.

Thus many low carb and no carb diets focus on the idea of eliminating sugars entirely. The plan goes that if you reduce your intake of carbs / sugar, you will burn your fat stores instead.

Which is true, you do burn your fat stores - and your muscle - and your brain matter - and damages your internal organs. But what this plan doesn't account for is "carb crashing", wherein your blood sugar levels drop so low that your body starts to run low on energy and it cannot drain from your fat stores quickly enough, so instead you feel sluggish, tired and slow. And dumber.

If you've ever been on a low carb / no carb diet, then you know what I am talking about. Your body is basically shutting down and trying to use as little energy as possible, and to get energy it starts draining resources from muscle tissue, organs, fat stores, everything!

However there are ways to around this.

#1. Eat lots of vegetables.

#2. Combine your veggies with lean meat.

#3. Reduce grain products - rice, bread, etc. This doesn't mean you avoid such foods entirely. Simply that you reduce how much you are eating so you are not reliant upon sugars for all of your energy.

Your end goal here is to make sure you are consuming lots of nutrients and protein (veggies and meat), while simultaneously reducing how much carbs you are eating.

The end result is that you will lose weight gradually and healthily over a period of time.

As opposed to carb crashing, feeling physically horrible as your body cannibalizes itself, and making yourself slower, dumber and weaker.

So why do people complain about carbs so much?

Carbohydrates are very common, and often inadvertently overeaten because bread, rice, pasta and similar foods are considered to be staples in our modern culture. They are easy to store, easy to make, and cheap. Healthy foods - veggies and meat - always cost way more than a loaf of bread.

The concept of smaller portions of carbs, lots of veggies and a serving of lean meat just doesn't sound as appetizing to people who have been raised on mashed potatoes, gravy and fatty meats - which tastes amazing, but it would be a lot healthier if the meat was lean, the gravy was low fat, and the potatoes had other veggies (eg. peas) mixed in with it.

Here are 5 tips for reducing carbs in your diet.

#1. Make burritos but instead of wrapping in tortilla, wrap in a big piece of lettuce. This is similar to the Korean dish samgyopsal, which is BBQ pork wrapped in lettuce.

#2. Dip veggies into hummus or yogurt instead of bread.

#3. Reduce pasta portion by half, serve with lean, skinless meat or tofu, and vegetables.

#4. Have an open faced sandwich with one slice of bread. This leaves room for a side such as cottage cheese, salad or hard boiled eggs.

#5. When snacking, opt for carrot sticks, apple slices, or even a salad instead of reaching for the bag of chips.

If you have trouble dropping weight feel free to contact me for an in-person nutritional consultation.

Almond Butter and its Health Benefits

Beware!

If you try almond butter you might just fall in love!

Almond butter has the look and consistency of peanut butter but is a little darker (it looks like chocolate), and of course, it is made from almonds!

Almond butter is absolutely delicious and can be used in sandwiches with fruit, jelly, or just on its own. It can also be mixed into oatmeal, granola, flax meal, and even stir fry / stews.

In addition to the taste of almond butter, you may notice some interesting health benefits. eg. Like your nails became thicker, stronger and shinier. This is because almond butter is very high in vitamin E.

Here are the other benefits of natural almond butter and its vitamin E:

#1. Lowers cholesterol and prevents diabetes

#2. Contains heart healthy monounsaturated fats

#3. It makes a great "workout snack" for energy and protein.

#4. Contains good amounts of calcium, fiber, magnesium, folic acid and potassium

#5. Alleviates symptoms of BPH (enlarged prostate) in men.

#6. It makes you feel full for hours.

Plus it makes a great alternative to peanut butter when you need to pack a lunch (for your children) in a peanut-allergy conscientious environment. Many Toronto schools have banned peanut butter, so almond butter makes a great and healthy alternative.

However I want to point out that almond butter is not necessarily healthier than peanut butter. It simply has the health benefits of almonds, while peanut butter has all the health benefits of peanuts. They are both good for different reasons.

I recommend purchasing natural peanut and almond butters in order to avoid the hydrogenated oils many companies add to prevent the oil from separating. It just means you need to mix your butter with a knife and then stick it in the fridge, but once that is done it is no longer an issue.

Archery season back in full swing and more popular than ever

Archery is more popular than ever.

Or at least for the last 100 years. To be fair archery will never be as popular again as it was many centuries ago when archery was a prevalent part of tribal hunting and warfare. With the rise of agriculture, civilization, crossbows, firearms, pre-packaged foods, factory farms, etc the need to hunt for our food has been reduced significantly.

But with respect to the last 100 years archery has seen only 2 periods where it was a fad. The 1950s, when a variety of movies - including many different renditions of Robin Hood - had archery as a major part of the action sequences. Such movies were Westerns, sword and sandal action flicks, and a variety of Robin Hood ripoffs like "The Flame and the Arrow" starring a very young Burt Lancaster.

But the 1950s was a hiccup compared to the height of popularity archery has achieved now. And movies like "The Flame and the Arrow" now feel poorly made, as even during their time they were low-budget flicks designed to capitalize on the archery fad of the times. By today's standards such films would be B movies at best - and certainly wouldn't have star power like Burt Lancaster in a B movie role.

But how do I know that archery is more popular now than it was in the 1950s?

It is a combination of factors. Facetime on mass media, equipment sales records, the sheer number of people at the archery range - which is 15 times what it used to be 4 - 5 years ago.

The 1950s had school archery clubs in a rare few schools. By a few, I mean a rare few. While some schools did hop on the archery bandwagon during the 1940s, 1950s and even 1960s it was not a popular thing to do at the time.

Now? Thanks to a school archery program that began in Alabama over a decade ago that program has spread to hundreds and then thousands of schools across the USA. Canadian schools have begun to create their own similar programs, but it is more rare as Canada doesn't have the obesity rate the USA does and the program was started primarily for the reason of fighting obesity amongst Alabama schools.

The National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) was started in 2001 and has since had some small headway in Canada - mostly in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Prince Edward Island.

It isn't that archery isn't in its own fad stage here in Canada too, the problem is Canadian schools have not been signing on for a Canadian version of the NASP program at the same speed as American schools.

So if you are a parent and have kids who want to do archery, my advice is that you visit the NASP website (naspschools.org) and see if you can encourage your local school board to add archery as an after-school program for kids.

You might wonder why I am promoting this. Well, I am not getting paid by NASP if that is what you think. The truth is I am contacted daily by Toronto parents looking for archery lessons for their kids after school and on weekends - and my schedule is so full with my personal training sessions, boxing lessons, archery lessons, etc - to say nothing of having a social life - that I know right now that I am going to be turning people away for archery lessons because my schedule on some days is so full.

Thus it makes sense for me to promote alternative ways for parents to get archery lessons for their kids. For example, in addition to promoting NASP in Toronto schools, parents could also send their kids to one of the many day camps or summer camps in Ontario that offer archery. You can see a list of archery camps near Toronto by visiting ArcheryToronto.ca.

However a bit of advice regarding summer camps, a lot of them get booked full months in advance. So if you want to send your kids to a summer camp that has archery, you will need to do this NOW rather than later. Some summer camps book up full in February and cannot accept any more.

And if you cannot get a spot at a summer camp, if your kid's school doesn't offer archery, if people like myself are too busy, well then your next best option is to buy your own archery equipment, buy a book like "Precision Archery" by Steve Ruis and Claudia Stevenson, and then learn as best as you can using the book. If you opt for this then I recommend that the parent ALSO learn archery so that their kid is learning from you, instead of just fumbling the process and achieving horrible results.

Another option, often ignored, is to enroll your kids in Boy Scouts / Girl Guides. Boy Scouts is how I first tried archery in 1989. Find a group that has archery listed amongst their activities, ask the organizers how often archery is done in the group (not as much as you like, but still often enough) and then enroll little Samuel or Samantha in scouts / guides.

When archery became vogue during the 1950s it stayed pretty popular until the early 1970s. I fully expect the current rise in archery's popularity to last until 2030 at least. Or maybe we will see a resurgence in the sport the likes we have never seen before, effecting generations to come. That would be welcome too.

April 2014 Exercise Quotes

"If you’re not eating the right foods in the right amounts, all the exercise in the world won’t combat the caloric intake." - Jennifer Hudson.

"If you cannot take responsibility for your own well-being, you will never take control over it." - Jennifer Hudson.

"I started thinking about little kids putting a cylindrical peg through a circular hole, and how they do it over and over again for months when they figure it out, and how basketball was basically just a slightly more aerobic version of that same exercise." - John Green.

"Exercise is medicine. Literally. Just like a pill, it reliably changes brain function by altering the activity of key brain chemicals and hormones." - Stephen S. Ilardi PhD.

"Medication isn’t the only way to correct brain abnormalities in depression. Physical exercise also brings about profound changes in the brain - changes that rival those seen with the most potent antidepressant medications." - Stephen S. Ilardi PhD.

"Let each man exercise the art he knows." - Aristophanes (450 BC - 388 BC).

"Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind." - Plato (427 BC - 347 BC).

"Just as animal research tells us that gluttony and sloth are side effects of a drive to accumulate body fat, it also says that eating in moderation and being physically active (literally, having the energy to exercise) are not evidence of moral rectitude. Rather, they're the metabolic benefits of a body that's programmed to remain lean." - Gary Taubes.

"When we exercise self-control on a given occasion, we win for ourselves a little credibility we can rely on the next time around. Pretty soon we develop a reputation to ourselves that we want badly to uphold. With each test that we meet, our resolve gains momentum, fueled by the fear that we may succumb and establish a damaging precedent for our own weakness." - Daniel Akst.

"A good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help another up." - Anonymous.

"Too many people confine their exercise to jumping to conclusions, running up bills, stretching the truth, bending over backward, lying down on the job, sidestepping responsibility and pushing their luck." - Anonymous.

8 Fun Exercises for Cottage Country

The start of Spring and eventually Summer means more time for the family to spend at the cottage. Your weekend getaway does not have to be all about beer, BBQs, and pretzels. As the weather gets warmer, the great outdoors becomes more tempting, and that easily translates into FITNESS opportunities for the whole family!

Eight Fun Cottage Activities

1. Frisbee on the Shoreline

Kick off your sandals and go ankle deep into the lake. Running with sand and water resistance will add to an already great cardiovascular workout. Frisbee is also a good activity for working on your hand-eye-coordination and agility!

2. Swimming

The ultimate cardio and strength exercise, swimming is a no impact and challenging workout that is great for people suffering from sports injuries / back problems. If you're a jogger / runner, go for under water sprints to work on your leg strength / speed.

3. Cycling

Rent a bicycle or bring your bicycle from home along to the cottage, and spend a day seeing parts of the cottaging community you may not have had the opportunity to discover by car or foot. Make a day of it by packing healthy snacks, and bringing a friend or family members with you.

4. Canoeing

Paddling a canoe is so Canadian, but it can also be hard work. Paddling can be easy if you want go slowly, but for fun you can also have canoe races and give yourself a challenge.

5. Shoreline Activities

Whether you're building sandcastles, throwing around a football or simply walking the shoreline, being active at the cottage makes the after sunset barbecue and campfire so much more satisfying.

Sitting in the sun all day is tiring, and you're bound to get bored, and overdo the junk food. So get up, be active, and make fitness a part of your cottage plan this summer.

6. Bowfishing

All you need is a fishing license and a bow to try this fun activity. You can get a bowfishing kit from a fishing/hunting store (eg. Bass Pro) or you can make your own bowfishing kit. I recommend you learn how to do archery FIRST before doing bowfishing.

7. Snorkeling

If the water is clear and easy to see through snorkeling is a fun activity to try out. For children who have fears of water snorkeling can also be a way to get around their fears and overcome them.

8. Hiking

Don't forget to take the dog with you. A simple hike into the woods to explore is a great way to exercise, see some beautiful sights and come back with a camera full of memories.

Happy Cottaging!

12 Tips for Weight Loss Maintenance

So you've lost weight? Congratulations! You've completed half of your goal, losing the weight. Now you need to keep it off.

Tip #1. Make lifestyle changes if you want your weight loss to be permanent. Going back to your old routine just isn't going to cut it any more.

Tip #2. Drink lots of water regularly. It keeps your body clean of toxins. Avoid caffeine, nicotine products and alcohol as much as you can. When with friends, stick to one drink if possible.

Tip #3. If you regain weight at some point don't go on a diet, instead change your eating/exercise habits so that you make permanent changes. Fad diets are temporary band-aid solutions. Never go on a diet with food/a plan you KNOW you cannot eat forever!

Tip #4. Take a cooking course. Learning to make more healthy foods at home and expand your knowledge of what you can make and eat will allow you to maintain your diet more easily by having a broader range of healthy food options in your repertoire.

Tip #5. Set a caloric intake maintenance range. Your goal now is to maintain your weight, not to continue losing weight or go back to your old ways. Set a range, practice it for a few months and check your results, and once you know that the range works stick with it. After several months it should already be a habit.

Tip #6. Avoid dining out. Unless it is a special occasion you should not be dining out. Restaurant food / ordering take-out is a very quick way to break your habits - worse if you get into the habit of eating out regularly.

Tip #7. Remember to snack between meals - healthy snacks like fruit, salads, nutty granola bars, etc. This was you won't be overly hungry and binge later. Binging = weight gain.

Tip #8. Keep exercising at least twice per week for 30 minutes. Just because you lost all the weight doesn't mean you should stop exercising. Pick your favourite exercises and keep doing them.

Tip #9. Get involved in more sports that you enjoy doing.

Tip #10. Try new sports or activities that you always wanted to try. eg. Archery, boxing, rock climbing, fencing, snorkeling, windsurfing...

Tip #11. Go outside on dates more often. Regardless of whether you are married or single, dating activities such as picnics, throwing a football around, long walks on the beach - now is your chance to enjoy your new physique.

Tip #12. Get a dog and take the dog for walks twice daily. The dog will keep you healthy and it will give you an excuse to go outside more often.

Again, congratulations on achieving your weight loss goal!

Also I want to note that you should avoid going further and LOSING TOO MUCH WEIGHT. That isn't healthy for you either. What you want to do is to maintain your ideal healthy weight. Not too much and not too little. Below is an example of what happens when someone becomes too obsessed with losing weight and loses too much.

A Good Night's Sleep

Everyone needs a good nap now and then.

Last night I slept really well.

And I know why. I set my alarm clock ahead an hour so it went off at 8 AM instead of my normal 7 AM.

That extra hour of sleep made a world of difference in my opinion.

Now I understand not everyone has the convenience of being able to sleep in an extra hour whenever they want to, being a personal trainer in Toronto most of my clients are not expecting me to meet them for a personal training session until 10 or 11 AM at the earliest. Very rarely do I take on a client who wants a 9 AM workout.

But if you do have the convenience of being able to sleep in an extra hour - and you are currently suffering problems sleeping, I strongly recommend getting that extra hour to see if you can reset your biological clock.

Technically I didn't even wake to the alarm. I got up at 7:40 feeling well rested (and needing to urinate) and then I showered and I am now feeling the best I have felt in a week at least.

I am also a big fan of taking naps / siestas when your schedule permits it. A short 30 to 45 minute nap shortly after lunch is great for boosting your energy levels.

Sleep, as scientists will tell you, is extremely important to your overall health. A good night's sleep keeps you from packing on the pounds (lack of sleep causes people to overeat, especially sugary things, in order to boost energy levels), builds extra muscle (you build / regenerate approx. 80% of your muscle tissue while sleeping), and quality sleep boosts various "happy" hormone levels, which act as painkillers, antidepressants, and increase your metabolism levels so you regenerate damaged tissue faster (eg. fights back against cancer, heals injuries). The boosted metabolism even fights back against aging.

Thus quality sleep makes you slimmer, stronger, happier, healthier and younger.

Good sleep, healthy food, lots of exercise
and you will live a long and healthy life.

What is worse is that fatigue causes your body to start producing hormones that blocks your blood from drawing upon fat reserves for energy. This means that when fatigued you can only get energy from food - which means that exercising while fatigued you are drawing upon only food energy and not stored fat energy. So if you want to be burning fat then you really need to be well-rested before you exercise.

So if you are falling asleep at your desk then clearly you are not getting enough sleep. And if you are trying to lose weight by exercising, then you won't be seeing much results because you will feel fatigued all the time, unenergetic, and exercising without any results.

So if you want to see weight loss results, you need good quality sleep.

See Also

Sleeping Positions and How they Effect your Health

How to Reduce Stress using Exercise, Diet and Sleep

Get Better Sleep and Sleep Healthier

The Importance of Rest Periods

Easy Hangover Cure

So you tied one on last night and now have a hangover?

Well the good news is that there is a hangover cure, and it is a relatively simple cure. Water + Green Vegetables + 1 Hour.

That is it.

Alcohol upsets your body chemistry and makes you dehydrated. Start by drinking a litre of water to counteract the effects of dehydration.

Next make yourself a BIG SALAD. Green vegetables such as lettuce, green peppers, broccoli, etc. Go ahead and add some salad dressing and croutons too if you want, those won't hurt. Feel free to toss some potatoes or red peppers or carrots in there too. The more nutrients (and the more variety of nutrients) the better. [Some people also swear by bananas as a hangover cure, so try experimenting with that too.]

The green vegetables works to detoxify your body and give you some much needed nutrients. You don't have to make it a salad, but making a salad is pretty quick and easy. You could also make a veggie smoothie - which might taste weird, but it will work the same.

For best results drink the water and eat green veggies soon after your bout of drinking, before you go to bed. If you go to bed without drinking at least some water you will wake up in the morning rather dehydrated.

You don't need to drink massive quantities of water or eat a massive salad. 750 - 1000 ml of water will be enough, and approx. two servings worth of salad will be enough.

The last component here is 1 Hour. Within an hour after eating and drinking you will feel dramatically better. Your hangover might not be gone completely, but it will be sharply reduced since you have counteracted the dehydration and toxins in your system.

You can achieve similar results by drinking water and eating a large breakfast. The effect will be slower because most breakfast foods don't do much to counteract toxins.

Myth Busting Caffeine

Large doses of caffeine doesn't really help as much as people think. Strong coffee for example, the water helps a little but it is offset by the caffeine which also dehydrates you. The caffeine will perk you up however, but it is basically just acting as a pain killer.

Thus if you have used a big breakfast plus strong coffee before in the past as a hangover cure, you know it is going to be a slow cure. It will work but if you want faster results plain water and green veggies will rehydrate you and get rid of the toxins faster.

Five Quick Archery Tips

Hey Toronto, want to try archery?

Well if you want to get a degree of accuracy the best thing you can do is read up on every archery source you can get your hands on before scheduling an archery lesson. The book I recommend the most is "Precision Archery" by Steve Ruis and Claudia Stevenson.

But barring that, here is 5 quick tips for getting better accuracy.

#1. When in doubt, aim low.

Why? Beginners often overshoot the target because they don't have a clue of where to aim. Chances are likely that if you are a beginner you are aiming at a target within 10 or 20 yards away and the arrow will arc up on its way to the target - and not have any chance to arc back down.

#2. Pull back to an anchor spot on your face.

An anchor spot is a fixed spot on your face (under your dominant eye) which you pull back to each time you shoot. Always pulling to the same spot on your face ensures the angle of the arrow will be the same when shooting at the target repeatedly. Assuming good form and a tight anchor spot, you should experience tight clusters of arrows like in the photo further above. Observe below:

North Anchor / High Anchor Spot

South Anchor / Low Anchor

#3. Stand facing 90 degrees away from the target.

And always use the same stance when shooting. Stand up straight, avoid leaning to the side or backwards away from the bow. If you lean away from the bow, your arrow will go higher than expected because the angle will be higher up.

#4. Breathe into your belly while you aim.

Breathing into your chest will raise your shoulders upwards and mess with your ability to aim. You can hold yourself more still if you breathe into your belly. For best results, try doing yogic breathing exercises. This is a more advanced skill, but if you can learn how to hold yourself perfectly still while aiming then you can achieve a greater degree of accuracy.

#5. Learn from your mistakes.

A person who doesn't learn from their mistakes is doomed to repeat them. Archery, as a sport of perfectionism, doesn't tolerate mistakes. Thus contemplating what you did wrong, learning over time how you failed (eg. you jerked your arm during the release, you botched the release, you aimed too high, you overcompensated, you gripped the bow too tightly, etc.) will allow you to correct your mistakes by making active efforts to correct your common shooting faults.

HAPPY SHOOTING!

The Myths of Spot Reduction

Everyone stores fat differently.

And when it comes to losing weight, many people find a stubborn pocket of fat that they cannot get rid of.

So what do you do?

Most exercisers are familiar with the concept of "spot reduction", but what many people don't know is that spot reduction is a myth and doesn't work.

The idea behind spot reduction is the concept of exercising a specific part of your body in an effort to make that body part lose fat. In reality what happens is the spot gets bigger as you grow more muscle tissue in that area, and the fat doesn't go away.

So for example this means someone doing only crunches in an attempt to slim their waist, or for example performing just squats because, "All I want is a smaller butt!"

And then what happens is their ab muscles get bigger from doing crunches, and their glutes (butt muscles) get bigger when doing squats.

So regardless of what exercise you are doing, if you are trying to reduce fat you need to be thinking cardio instead. Cardio cuts fat all over your body - which means wherever your body is storing fat (belly, thighs, sides, etc) then your body will take the fat, use it as energy during the cardio exercises, and your special problem area will be reduced noticeably over time.

So why does Spot Reduction not work???

When exercising your body uses sugar in your blood to fuel your activities. When your blood sugar levels start to get low (like during jogging, cycling, etc) then your body absorbs fat into your blood to provide extra energy, and it absorbs it from ALL OVER your body. Wherever your body is storing fat, that is where the fat will be drained from.

When doing weight lifting / body weight exercises like squats and crunches you are actually doing muscle building exercises - which uses very little energy in comparison to a cardio activity like jogging. That means you aren't using very much blood sugar. So you are not going to lose much fat because the exercise simply isn't using that much energy.

Your muscles will feel tired, because your muscles are not used to being used that way during crunches and squats, but that is primarily due to muscle fatigue.

A better way of determining whether you are actually burning fat is seeing whether you can maintain a conversation. If you are gasping for breath and unable to talk - like someone who is jogging - then you are likely burning fat. If you can talk easily, you really are not exercising that much.

What about Spot Creation???

Weight lifters often want bigger biceps, bigger pecs, bigger abs. Yes, they can achieve some results by focusing only on specific body parts - like the guy who got into professional arm wrestling and only exercised his one arm.

However most people don't want freakishly big Popeye arms.

The thing is muscle building and toning, similar to cardio, doesn't actually happen one muscle at a time - it is a whole set of muscles that are co-dependent.

It is the fact that muscle groups are co-dependent that often causes confusion, because people don't realize that an "all over approach" often builds muscles faster because it targets muscles groups as a whole instead of just one specific part.

For swimmers, cyclists, gymnasts, etc these results will be more obvious to them as they are often targeting muscle groups - cyclists for example tend to get really strong legs. Like the photo below of a man with freakishly big legs.

So what have we learned here?

#1. Spot reduction doesn't work. If you want to reduce fat from a specific spot, go jogging and do cardio exercises to reduce fat all over your body.

#2. Spot creation does work, but if you want better results you are better off doing large muscle groups exercises because they are co-dependent on each other.

HAPPY MYTH BUSTING!

10 Tips for People who want to get into Competitive Archery

So, you want to go to archery competitions eh?

There are plenty of recurve, compound and traditional archery competitions to choose from. Whatever your chosen field of archery you can succeed at it if you are properly motivated and work hard to achieve your success.

Here is some handy advice on how you can achieve archery success faster by giving yourself a physical and mental edge.

#1. Start exercising more often - every day or every 2 days ideally. Focus on a full body routine will build strength, balance, endurance and hone your body from head to toe. Even professional golfers these days now exercise because they have realized it gives them a physical edge in the sport. Gone are the days when overweight golfers like Arnold Palmer could get by in golf without exercising. Today's golfers like Tiger Woods have carefully designed exercise routines to help them get a physical edge.

#2. Hire an archery coach / personal trainer. (Hint hint!) An archery instructor will be able to tell you what you are doing wrong and help you to correct your mistakes faster than anything you could do on your own.

#3. Healthy diet. If you are going to take archery seriously as a sport then you need to be training and eating like an athlete in any other sport. Eating healthy means a good balanced diet with lots of vitamins, nutrients, minerals and a fair dose of protein. An archer who ignores this aspect of their physical conditioning and does the exercises without adding the extra quality fuel to build stronger muscles will be shooting themselves in the foot metaphorically because they simply weren't getting enough of the building blocks they need to turn their body into a well-oiled machine.

#4. Daily or thrice weekly practice. At a bare minimum you should be honing your archery skills three times per week. Every day or every second day. Break days are good to have so your muscles have time to build and recover.

#5. Sleep. Your body needs rest in order to build new muscle tissue. Sleep + quality food + strength building exercises = More muscle!

#6. Yoga. I cannot stress this enough. Regardless of what you might think of yoga, I swear by it. Yoga gives archers better balance, better physical coordination, better core upper body strength. These are all things archers need.

#7. Yogic breathing. Two reasons. First, because yogic breathing helps you to control your breathing while you are shooting. Less shoulder movement = more accuracy. Second, yogic breathing has a calming effect on you and disciplines your mind. This is exceptionally useful during a competition when you may be nervous, stressed or distracted.

#8. Seriousness. If you want to get into competitive archery then you need to take the sport seriously and be religious about it. Skipping out on practice, skipping your daily exercises, ignoring your dietary needs... these are all signs you are not taking the sport seriously and you are just doing it out of pride / ambition.

#9. Humility. This is something you will learn anyway when you go to archery competitions expecting to win and instead you get metaphorically stomped on by other archers who are way more experienced and better than you are. You are better off going into the competition feeling humble and remind yourself to just try your best. If you do your best then you will never be ashamed of what you do, and if you are humble enough to realize that there is always someone better than you, then you stand a good chance of surviving your first several competitions without having your ego crushed.

#10. Perseverance. Don't give up on archery competitions just because you don't win the first competition, the second competition or even the 10th competition you go to. When you lose it just means you need to go back and keep practicing. Never give up.

Will Nose Exercises make my nose thinner?

Q1

Hello. I found your e-mail on Google and I just decided to send a message because I think you may be able to help me. Well, the problem is that I have a wide nose and it makes me feel so insecure, it's the biggest problem in my face. I mean the size of the nose is okay but I do want a slimmer nose. Is that possible with nose exercises? What exercises should I do? Thanks!

- Nita

A

You need to do Nose Exercise #4. Nose Narrowing
' Want a more narrow nose? Lower your chin and mouth and narrow your nose in the process. This uses a different set of muscles inside your nose which will help tighten up and narrow the appearance of your nose.

Hold for 5 to 10 seconds. Repeat 30 times, twice per day, and observe the long term results as your nose becomes more narrow. '

Sincerely,
Charles Moffat
CardioTrek.ca



Q2

Hey again, I forgot to ask something. Will it make my nose wider? Someone said that it made her/his nose wider after doing the exercise (I read it on the net), and then another person said that it worked for her. I'm really afraid about that because mine is already quite wide and I don't want a wide nose.

- Nita

A2

Sounds like the person was doing a different exercise designed for fixing a crooked nose. It fixes crooked noses, but has a side effect of making a person's nose thicker.

The different exercises produce different results.

See ' Nose Exercise #1. Squinting the Nose

Basically all you do is smile and try to squish your nose upwards using the muscles within your nose. No hands required. This upward "squinting" of the nose will add more girth to muscles in the sides of the nose and, assuming you do it evenly, both sides of the nose will auto-correct themselves with time until they're both equally muscular.

Hold for 5 to 10 seconds. Repeat 20 to 30 times daily until your nose muscles straighten out. '

The narrowing exercise builds up specific muscles the narrow the nose, and over time the muscles used for other parts of your nose become weaker (and thinner). Over time is makes your nose more dependent on the muscles that narrow the nose. The other muscles become weaker and thinner due to lack of use.

You will never completely get rid of those muscles obviously, you use them regularly when laughing, making facial expressions - but the shape of your nose will change over time due to changing its dependence on specific muscles inside the nose.

It would be like if you only lifted things using ONLY your triceps and NEVER used your biceps. Over time your biceps would become weaker and thinner and the triceps would become thicker - nobody does that in real life because those arm muscles are used a lot for many things, but that is the general analogy for how it works.

Sincerely,
Charles Moffat
CardioTrek.ca


PERSONALIZED HELP

I am getting a lot of requests from people wanting personalized advice about their nose and what nose exercises they should do, how often they should do them, special circumstances,  etc. My advice is to follow the instructions listed above and on other posts I have made about nose exercises.

If you are contacting me asking me for personalized help - basically asking for my services in aiding you with your nose exercises, then I will need to charge you my personal training rate ($50 per hour) for my services.

I know this is not the answer many of you are looking for. I have already answered many of the frequently asked questions in the comments section of various nose exercise posts, and answered many emails from people asking for help with their nose exercises - but I am a busy person and the emails have reached a point where I need to start charging for this service because I cannot answer all of them.

Best of luck with your nose exercises!