I spent the month of August recovering from near death at the hands of pulmonary embolii. Towards the end of August I started kickboxing again and let me tell you, I haven’t felt this healthy since the year 2006.
My cardio is improving drastically and soon I will surpass the fitness levels of everyone in my kickboxing class… no offense to anyone in the class who might be reading this, but I will torch you.
I have nothing else to report for the month of August.
 Franco Columbo |
Inexperienced athletes do dumb things. Most people look for the easiest way from point A to point B, and sometimes they become obsessed with trivial details. I did it; you did it… or maybe you still do it; and the newbie that jumps on the bench after you will do it too.
Hell, when I first started training, I was following a 6 day per week, 2 a day program, written by some professional bodybuilder. It took me a year to learn how to do barbell back squats and even longer to start deadlifting. I thought I knew what I was doing just like you do.
In order to take that first step towards knowing everything, we must first realize that we know nothing. This is what I want you to do before you read the rest of this article. Once you can admit that you know nothing about weightlifting, you can read these tips and apply them to what you have been doing, in order to start doing what you should be doing.
Once you have the proper train of thought, you may proceed…
Step #1 Acai Berry Detox Get a Free Trial or Buy a Full Supply
Step #2 Colon Cleanse Get a Free Trial or Buy a Full Supply
Step #3 Fat Loss Routine: full body fat loss for men or full body fat loss for women
Argh! Everyone keeps asking me what the best acai product is.
There are a whole bunch of acai berry products on the market today so it is hard to know which one is the best. Today, I would like to clear up any questions you might have.
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I’ve been doing a bunch of research on the subject of acai berries because I am very interested in eating healthy foods. I feel at this point it will benefit the readers of Project Swole to publish my results.
 The Dark Knight Joker |
The polls are in!
The overwhelming majority of Project Swole visitors chose Batman: The Dark Knight as the best superhero move ever.
The poll is still open though, so place your vote today.
51% of voters as of 9/9/08 voted for The Dark Knight. I actually did not choose The Dark Knight as the greatest superhero movie ever.
 Evil Doctor |
Medical debt can blindside you when you least expect it. It could be as simple as a small injury that needs an x-ray and stitches, or perhaps an emergency appendectomy; it could also be as huge as a quadruple by-pass, or a hip replacement. Either way, you could be ahead financially one day, and $100k in debt the next.
The percentage of Americans that are struggling with medical debt has grown 3.5% per year since 2005. This is pathetic to me. The cost of medical procedures is extraordinary, and many health insurance plans don’t help much… if you can even get on an insurance plan at all.
I came upon this link in CNN yesterday morning that might help you, if you think you are in danger of falling deeply into medical debt. You should act on these tips as soon as you realize you owe. Five mistakes that will land you in medical debt.
 Glycemic Index |
All carbohydrates are not created equal. A food’s glycemic index, or GI, describes this difference in the way carbs act in your body, by ranking them according to their immediate effect on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels.
Carbohydrates that breakdown quickly during digestion, causing a rapid blood sugar response, have the highest GI.
Carbohydrates that breakdown slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the blood stream, have a lower GI.
 Ricardo Funch MMA |
Once again, Black and Blue Entertainment has put on a tight Cage Fight MMA event. None of the fights seemed mismatched this time around, although some of the fighters did end up getting dominated and manhandled for whatever reason. Everyone has a bad day sometimes.
The sole Team Woo competitor this time around, Brent Kinberger, dominated once again. I’ve talked to Brent on several occasions and he’s really a genuine nice guy. When it’s time to step into the ring though, he kicks it up a notch. Both times that I’ve had the honor to see Brent fight, he just walked into the cage and kicks major ass. He’ll just jump on top of you and beat you until the ref stops the fight. I am totally a Brent fan.
 MMA Punch |
For those of you within 2 hours of Manchester, NH, there’s something fun and unique for you to do this Saturday night. Black and Blue Entertainment of Hooksett, NH presents their second ever Cage Fight Mixed Martial Arts event, which they are calling, “Blunt Force Trauma”.
The fights are put together by Roger Woo and Barbara Woo of Team Woo, an MMA team located in Hooksett, NH. The two of them alternate teaching my Thai Kickboxing class, and spend hours training and coaching the Team Woo fighters. Roger is also half owner of the previously mentioned Black and Blue Entertainment, which is organizing the event.
This is going to be a tight show. The first show went off with much praise and success, and this time there looks to be even more, higher quality match-ups. I would say 3/4 of the fighters last time had losing records; the winner of the main event was 4-15 coming into the fight. This time we will be watching some real competitors.
The current fight card looks like this (subject to change without prior notice):
Tomorrow I begin my umpteenth attempt to get back into shape. My medical condition is supposedly cleared up and I have been given the OK to start training again. So we’re back to the original plan: 3 days of kickboxing, 2 days of weightlifting.
I’ve run the usual tests: weight; and arm, chest, waist, thigh, calf measurements. I’d also like to get a body fat reading but I can’t find my calipers so it might have to wait until Tuesday when I hit the gym. All I know is that I am slow, weak, and smooth. My weight is 173lbs, but other than that I will not post any of my stats yet, but in due time I shall.
Two things have inspired me today:
So many of us are currently, or have tried to lose weight. There are so many fad diets out there, that no one really knows exactly what to do to lose weight. Fortunately there are some basic rules that we can follow to put together a great diet plan. Let me share some of them with you.
I have repeatedly found dieters who are unfamiliar with a basic nutrition rule that I learned long ago. It basically goes like this: do not eat any meals that are high in carbs and high in fat at the same time.
All I managed was one very painful kickboxing workout this week. During that workout I basically couldn’t punch, kick, run, participate in calisthenics, or breathe. I knew something was wrong since two Fridays ago, but I couldn’t go to the hospital or to the doctor until my new insurance policy kicked in on August 4th.
So on the 4th I went to see my primary care physician for a routine physical and to diagnose my breathing issues. Given my history of clotting, he set me up with a CT Scan and some blood tests. After fighting with my health insurance for an hour or more, I finally was cleared to take the tests. Finally on the 5th (today) I made it in for my tests.
 The Fall of Manny Ramirez |
All hail the baseball gods for they have seen fit to respect my wishes. Mangina Ramirez is now officially an LA Dodger! Unfortunately the Red Sox will have to pay the remaining $7 mil of his bloated contract, but that price is well worth being rid of him once and for all. Let the Pirates deal with his options.
Two-time All-Star slugger Jason Bay is coming to the Red Sox as part of the 3-way deal that will also send 4 minor leaguers to the the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates also get Brandon Moss, which stinks because Moss seems like a decent outfield prospect, and Craig Hansen, who is a crappy bullpen pitcher that mostly plays in losing games or gives up a bunch of earned runs and loses the game anyway.
 Manny Ramirez |
As a Red Sox fan, I feel the need to vent about Manny Ramirez. You’ve heard the expression, “It’s just Manny being Manny”, well the reality is, as ESPN put it, “It’s just Manny being about Manny”. This guy is a jerk. He doesn’t care about the fans or the team or his teammates. Every single year he complains about the Red Sox, says he is sick of the team, that he wants to be traded. This is fine by me. I say, “Trade the fat bastard.”
Three solid days of kickboxing this week, but Friday was absolutely horrible. I was feeling tired around 4pm so I decided to take a couple fat burner/energy pills. Not good.
 Jitter Free Java Rush |
If you are anything like me, you roll out of bed in the morning, stumble downstairs, and pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee. Then you probably feel sluggish around 10-11am, but lunch picks you up. Then you probably feel sluggish again around 3-4pm.
I don’t know, maybe you drink coffee all day long. Maybe you drink energy drinks that SPIKE YOUR ENERGY then you crash back down. I’ve been down these paths before and I’m tired of the rollercoaster energy ride all day every day. I want to tell you about Java Rush, a coffee supplement without the side effects and downsides of coffee.
Let me ask you a couple questions to see if you have any interest in Java Rush:
 Back Squat |
This was the first week at my new job, getting used to my new schedule, so I stuck mostly with kickboxing this week. There really wasn’t much time for anything else, although I did check out the gym on campus but they don’t have what I need. There’s no squat rack, power rack, or a place to deadlift. The guy I talked to also said that if I tried to deadlift there, I would set off the broken glass alarms or something. I’ll stay at Gold’s with the meatheads for now.
Monday was a dojo kickboxing day. Wednesday was an at-home kickboxing day. Friday was a day that not much happened at all. A little bike riding occurred over the weekend. Not much else happened.
 Cage Fight MMA Blunt Force Trauma |
Black and Blue Entertainment, LLC presents the follow up to its initial, mega-successful event Cage Fight MMA, held in May 2008! The last show went off without a hitch, and this one promises to be bigger and better. Bigger venue, more fights, more people, better VIP seating… everything has been increased and expanded!
This time around we have 17 fights on the card already, with a month still to go. If you live within traveling distance of the Manchester, NH area, I highly recommend you attend this event. You won’t be sad, trust me. Better yet, scroll to the bottom of this post and follow the link to sign up for the free ticket giveaway… they are giving away two free tickets every week!
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A study conducted by the University Of Kansas School Of Medicine reveals that Alzheimer’s patients who exercise have larger brains than those who are out of shape.
Of the 121 people in the study, all were over 60 years of age, and 57% of them already had Alzheimer’s. The actual study itself involved fitness tests and brain scans. Each patient was evaluated using a treadmill to determine a level of physical fitness. Then each patient’s brain was scanned to determine a level of brain shrinkage.
The first half of the week was spent on vacation in the White Mountains. Specifically at Dolly Copp Campground near Gorham, NH. While camping I got in several sets of push-ups, an hour or so of swimming, hours of running and kicking balls with the kids, and one 20 minute jog through the campground. Obviously there was no kickboxing or weight lifting to be had at the campground.
When going to the gym to train, you can develop a tradition that will help you stay focused on your goals. By sticking to the same regimen each day you will also be assured that nothing is changing in your training or preparation. This will make it easier to diagnose a problem or to pin point the result of a specific planned change in your training, nutrition, or lifestyle.
Consistency is one of the prime factors in your training progress. Following the basic outline below will ensure that you have some consistency in the factors that surround your training. After that, it’s your responsibility to actually get to the gym and train. Now let’s investigate how we can maintain consistency around training.
