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Entries by Michael Kaye (965)

Tuesday
Feb132018

Lifting Heavy Ass Weight in the Gym at Near 49

Some of last weeks heavy lifts. Do I lift heavy weight because I have big muscles or do I have big muscles because I lift heavy weight? I prefer to think I have big muscles because I lift heavy weight meaning I did the work to get like this.

When people say you have a lot of muscle and that's why you can lift so much weight they may not realize they are suggesting that you have some sort of advantage because you are just muscular in nature when this is often not the case. A lot of very hard work most people are not prepared to undergo is involved to take yourself to the highest levels.

Thursday
Jan182018

How is Your New Year's Fitness Resolution Going?

So it’s been a few weeks since you made that promise to yourself to improve your overall Health and Fitness in some way, maybe eating better or starting to working out or even better, doing both! Unfortunately life gets in the way and bit-by-bit our goals can slip away from us…

Don’t feel too bad if this has happened to you, 8 out of 10 people set a new year's resolution goal this year and for one reason or another will fail to complete it.

OK so you got off to a bit of a rough start, does that mean it’s over and so now you have to wait till next January to start over again? Of course not, January is not some mystical month, if anything January can be one of the worst months to decide to start a Health and Fitness related goal. The gyms are a mess full of people, everyone is putting all this pressure on themselves, we all tend to feel a little down in general coming of off the Christmas and New Years high, and some of us are carrying a little more end of year debt then we like plus we us are feeling the effects of all that yummy seasonal food we consumed over the holidays. Not the best conditions for success!

Let’s take a step back and figure out what may have gone wrong? Perhaps you set your goals too high setting yourself up to fail or maybe too low and haven’t seen any results which led to loss of interest? With most people one missed workout day or cheat meal leads to another and pretty soon they are back to old bad habits.

I want to talk to the people that have not given up on themselves yet, yes things are not going as planned but you are still willing to keep trying. If that’s you and you feel like what you are currently doing is not working then I would like to offer you a system that I feel will give you a fighting chance.

I normally only offer Online Personal Training to my Clients in a more conventional method where they pay me, and I offer weekly instructions on what they need to do to achieve their Health and Fitness Goals. This type of Online Personal Training works but can add up in cost month to month so, what about other options?

I want to offer something a little bit different, that I feel will be more affordable and perhaps even more successful for many people since Nutrition and Diet are key to Fitness related goals, especially when weight loss is the focus.

So rather than making payments each month for my consulting fees, I would instead put my clients on an Isagenix Health and Fitness program that is best suited to their goals and they would pay for the products they use. I know for a fact that Isagenix has helped me a great deal with meeting my own personal Fitness Goals, so I can wholeheartedly recommend Isagenix to others. Isagenix products work at a cellular level to provide your body the nutrition it needs while giving you energy even when on a calorie reduced diet. I know this from personal experience as I am required to put myself in an extreme calorie deficit when I am in contest preparation, yet during this time I still have the energy I need for my workouts when I am using Isagenix products.

I find no matter what, if you want to achieve any goal, you need to put something on the line! Investing a small amount of money along with your dedication of time will set you up better for success than just a promise to yourself.

What I am talking about here is a commitment of anywhere from $200-$400 dollars in Monthly Isagenix products while you reshape your health and Fitness life, keep in mind you are probably already spending most of that money on food and supplements that the Isagenix products will replace, so in reality you may only be spending about $100-$200 more than you already are.

Your commitment to me means I will also return my own commitment back to you by setting you up with a plan that includes the right Isagenix products combined with a basic daily meal and workout plan designed to get you to your goals. I will revisit your plan each month to make sure you are on track and adjust it as required.

The main Isagenix products we will be focusing on our the Isagenix meal replacement shakes in both standard and Pro formulas, Isagenix Protein bars and other snack related Isagenix product for between meals. Isagenix Vitamins and detox system can be added in  if required, and for people looking to put on some muscle there are Isagenix workout enhancement products.

If you’re ready to succeed this time around by changing your Health and Fitness life, and you’re ready to make a small personal and financial commitment to me then let’s get started together right now and do this!

Contact me here if you accept my challenge and want to actually succeed with your Health and Fitness Goals!

Friday
Jan122018

TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) Advantage in the Gym Revisit

A while back I made a fairly well viewed YouTube video with close to 40,000 views so far entitled "Does TRT - Testosterone Replacement Therapy Give You An Advantage in the Gym?". TRT can be a fairly controversial topic for some people and because of this I have been getting various feedback in my comments section and wanted to go over the points that seem to be coming up most often.

Keep in mind I go into a lot more detail in my video so please watch it!

Comment Point Number One: There is no actual TRT Normal Range since everyone is different.

Yes we are all different and our Testosterone levels can vary a fair amount between individuals but there is a standard in which levels are determined to be in the normal ranges for a given age and sex. This is not a made up number it has been established over time using studies and test groups.

Here is a chart going over normal Testosterone ranges for men and women in different age categories:

Male   Female  
Age: T Level (ng/dL): Age: T Level (ng/dL):
0-5 mo. 75-400 0-5 mo. 20-80
6 mos.-9 yrs. < 7-20 6 mos.-9 yrs. < 7-20
10-11 yrs. < 7-130 10-11 yrs. < 7-44
12-13 yrs. < 7-800 12-16 yrs. < 7-75
14 yrs. < 7-1,200    
15-16 yrs. 100-1,200    
17-18 yrs. 300-1,200 17-18 yrs. 20-75
19+ yrs. 240-950 19+ yrs. 20-75
Adult male 270-1,070 Adult female 15-70
30+ yrs. -1% per year

 

Comment Point Number Two: People on TRT have more stabilized Testosterone levels than people not on TRT.

Yes factors like stress, sickness, diet and exercise will more than likely effect a person not on TRT than a person that is on TRT and can cause the non TRT person's Testosterone levels to fluctuate up and down.

On the other hand a person on TRT can actually experience even more radical Testosterone levels since their body does not produce much natural Testosterone and because of this they are dependant on their TRT injections for their Testosterone. The problem with this is Testosterone injections are usually every 1-2 weeks which means a person on TRT will have higher levels right after their Testosterone injection but can experience really low Testosterone levels when they are nearing their next TRT injection especially if these injections are weeks apart.

Comment Point Number Three: People on TRT Can gain more muscle and more strength than people not on TRT.

People often use examples of how a person that when getting on TRT gained 10 pounds of muscle and got a lot stronger and say that this is a big advantage but what they fail to realize is the person prior to their TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) had below average levels of Testosterone in their body meaning they where physically not able to build much muscle or gain much strength at least compared to someone that had normal levels of Testosterone. So of course they get stronger and gain muscle after starting their Testosterone Replacement Therapy.

In my "Does TRT - Testosterone Replacement Therapy Give You An Advantage in the Gym" video I compare two identical turbo charged engines in identical cars with one of the engines running with less turbo boast than the other engine. The identical engine/car combo with more turbo boast will outperform the engine with lower turbo boast every time. In this example the turbo and its boast represent more Testosterone. If both cars have the same amount of boast (Testosterone) than they will perform the exact same given equal driving talent.

Other Factors:

Of course if a person on TRT is taking more Testosterone than they need putting them at an above average Testosterone level then yes they will potentially have an advantage in the gym. This is why it is important to consult a doctor and get on a trusted TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) program where tests are conducted to determine what is the ideal amount of Testosterone one should be taking.

Saturday
Dec302017

Switching from Apple to Google

What do I mean by Switching from Apple to Google? Both companies provide hardware, operating systems, applications and services. For the most part I have changed over everything to Google with only a few exceptions.

I don’t recommending this for everyone as I still strongly feel that Apple is a great solution for many people. I still use a Mac desktop computer for my heavy lifting and my family all still has iPhones which was something I needed to consider when I switched over to Google.

 

Why Did I do it?

It all started with the Chromebook, I purchased a Chromebook to replace my MacBook Pro since I already had an iMac desktop computer as my main workhorse and I figured a Chromebook would do everything I needed when I wanted to be portable. As it turned out my Chromebook exceeded my expectations and now my entire family uses them as their main portable computers.

Just recently I purchased my first Google Home and fell in love with the concept. I love the way I can access my smart home devices and automate my life. I even went out and bought a bunch more of the Google Home systems so I could access Google Home in more areas of my house and office. My kids are getting their own units for Christmas along with a family music plan…

The one thing I realized was that Google Home works best if you’re using Google services, like their calendar and contacts. If you want to access this info on your Google Home, then you need to make sure your calendar and contact info is in the Google cloud. At first I achieved this from my Apple iPhone using third party apps that synced my Apple Calendar and Contacts with Google Calendar and Contacts. At this point I started to wonder why I was using Apple hardware if I was becoming so Google oriented?

The last straw that lead me to decide to switch from Apple to Google was when I bought a Samsung Gear Sport Smart Fitness Watch and tried to use it paired with my Apple iPhone only to find out it was crippled in so many ways when paired with an iPhone rather than an Android Phone. I could only really do basic stuff and when it came to adding more Applications to the Samsung Gear Sport Smart Fitness Watch, none of the fitness Apps I really wanted where available. And the thing was I really loved the Samsung Gear Sport Smart Fitness Watch since it had a great design, was superior to my older first gen Apple watch in many ways and its optical heart rate monitor was the first one that actually worked for me. That was it. I decided to switch from Apple to Google!

What did I get?

Well you know I got the Samsung Gear Sport Smart Fitness Watch and so that replaced my Apple Watch. For my iPhone replacement I did some research and ended up getting the Samsung Galaxy S8 plus Android Phone, I was also considering the Google Pixel 2 but really liked the design of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the screen on the Galaxy S8 is simply amazing!

Things to Consider when Switching from Google to Apple.

Calendars and Contacts we kind of covered already but you will need to get your Apple Calendars and Contacts over to Google Calendars and Contacts. There are a few ways to do this, there was even software on my new phone to help with transferring my iPhone data over to my Android phone. I could have even brought over my photos and movies this way but I chose to use Google Photos instead.

I recommend Google Photos to everyone no matter if you use an Apple or Android phone, why wouldn't you. Google Photos is free, space is unlimited and the quality is very good, (1080p video and 16MP Photos). Just download the App on your device and Google Photos starts uploading your photos and movies to the cloud where you can view them and share them on any device. That was a no brainer and not having to buy extra Apple iCloud storage and constantly getting “Your iCloud is Full” warnings is a bonus. My entire family now has Google Photos on their iPhones.

Was I going to lose Find my Phone Locations Services?

Nope, there is an App for that :) I use an App on my Samsung Galaxy S8 called xFi Locator which allows me to tap into Apple location sharing services. All I need to do is log my Apple credentials in and since I use this setup with my Apple family location services, I then have access to my entire families phone locations. I can also use this same App to locate my Android devices so I have it on my Chromebook and my Samsung Galaxy S8 to find either one if I need to.

What about Facetime?

My family doesn’t use facetime a lot, we see enough of each other most days but it is nice when I travel so I wanted a solution for this. I went with Google Duo as it seemed like the logical choice and again you can download Google Duo to the iPhone and it sets up super quickly by simply entering in your phone number as your username.

Online Storage and Documents.

I was already using Google Drive and Dropbox as my online storage choices so there was really no change there as these options work on pretty much every device. Same with my documents like Word and Excel. I was primarily using Google Docs for this so no change was required here either.

Apple Mail on Non-Apple Devices.

Apple has their 2-Factor Authentication which does make setting up your Apple mail on an Android device a little more complicated than on an iPhone but it can be done by creating a device specific password. You may have to do this online using your Apple ID through Apples Apple ID Webpage.

Other Miscellaneous Apps.

When it comes to most Apps, you can generally find all the same popular Apps for Android as you would find on your iOS iPhone and for the most part they look and work about the same but be prepared for a little bit of weirdness since some features may work differently on each platform.

Getting use to the Android Interface.

I have been using an Apple iPhone since the very first version came out so I’m not going to lie, there was some getting use to the new interface and is one System OS better than the other? Not really, Apple offers a bit more simplicity with pretty much the same user experience from phone to phone. Android Phones are more customizable which means one phone can look and navigate completely different than another Android phone. Companies also like to throw their own custom interfaces on their devices to perhaps differentiate themselves. At the end of the day I can get around on my Samsung Galaxy S8 just as easily and quickly as I did on my Apple iPhone.

Do I regret Switching from Apple to Google?

When I first made the jump I was a little bit worried. I knew I had some work ahead of me doing some research to figure to some workarounds between the devices. I’m happy to say I am very pleased with my decision at the end of the day. Not only am I more educated about the different phone options out there but I feel that at least for me at this point in my life Switching from Apple to Google was the right decision. I feel I have more options available to me now when it comes to hardware choices for Phones and Fitness Tech devices. Apple does like to keep their hardware and software a bit more closed in which can be limiting at times.

Google is more open when it comes to cross compatibility, offering most of their Apps and Applications to be run on pretty much any device. Yes some Google based hardware will not work so well with Apple devices but this is more of an Apple control issue meaning Apple does not always play well with others. To sum it up I would say Apple acts more like the introvert, whereas Google is more of the extrovert. I kinda feel like hanging out with the more outgoing and fun kids and so far I am not missing my iPhone at all.

times.

Thursday
Dec142017

Inspire Fitness SCS Workout Bench Demonstration Review

I've made a few reviews and demo videos about Inspire Fitness products, so far mainly focusing on their FT2 Functional Gym which I absolutely love and recommend if you're looking for something that can fit even in smaller rooms yet give you a gym quality full body workout. You will spend a bit of money up front on the Inspire FT2 Functional Trainer but you'll save a lot of travel time not heading to the gym along with cost savings on gym membership fee's.

In this video review / demonstration I focus in on the Inspire SCS Adjustable Workout Bench with the addition of two add on accessories, the Leg Extension Attachment and the Preacher Curl Attachment, both kind of self explanatory. The Inspire Fitness SCS Bench along with both add on accessories are made to work with the Inspire FT2 and tie into the weight stacks but you can use the Inspire Fitness SCS Bench on its own with standard weight plates for the leg attachment and either dumbbells or other free weights for the SCS Bench and Preacher Curl Bar if you choose to.

Since I own the Inspire Fitness FT2 System I demonstrate some of my favorite exercises in this YouTube video using only Inspire Fitness equipment.