With my eyes blindfolded

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

This is my fourth month of membership at my current gym, an upscale place compared to my former gym. I enjoy my gym and the friendly people I’ve met there.

There’s one thing I’ve noticed watching people train there, and that’s the popular use of balance balls, bosu balls, and other instability platforms in tandem with using dumbbells or performing lunges, pushups and squats. It’s trendy and a popular recommendation of the personal trainers.

I have no problem or training preference of using instability fitness gizmos and, like most others, periodically include balance and coordination challenge elements to my training. Along with my martial arts training, here are some examples of how I’ve challenged my balance and coordination:










In all three of these examples, I could have made the exercises so much more difficult by merely closing my eyes when performing them.

Personally, I believe it’s possible to get too cute with our training by bundling too many training objectives into a single compound movement. I prefer to train balance and coordination, endurance, and strength separately because, most of the time, I have no special needs to call upon all these attributes at once. After all, I’m not a circus clown whose job it is to juggle heavy kettlebells while riding a 12-foot high unicycle in a circle with my eyes blindfolded.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

What will be my Lenten sacrifice this year?

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

For Catholics, Lent is a season of soul-searching, repentance, reflection and taking stock. It originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus Christ’s withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. In addition to penitential prayer and almsgiving, Catholics observe the abstinence and fasting obligation.

Last year, I chose intermittent fasting as one of my Lenten sacrifices. From Ash Wednesday on February 25th until Easter Sunday on April 12th, I practiced what I called "2/24 intermittent fasting" with a goal of only eating within a very narrow two-hour window each day from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Because no man is an island, I had to be flexible on some days but overall I maintained an average daily window of two hours. Some days my window started as early as 5:00 p.m. but one day it didn’t start until 9:00 p.m. My longest eating window was five hours.

Lent 2010 begins in eight days and today I’m asking myself “What will be my Lenten sacrifice this year?”

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Twice a week gets the job done

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

Last week I only trained twice, once on Monday and again on Wednesday. Both workouts were in the late afternoon after work and each lasted slightly longer than one hour. I planned to do something on Friday but it just didn’t happen and, in hindsight, that was good because my body and mind needed the rest. I was a little short in the sleep department that day.

On Monday I did six sets of barbell squats supersetted with my favorite 6-grip pullup/chinup medley. On Wednesday I did six sets of barbell squat cleans supersetted with barbell overhead presses, and then wrapped it up with about nine minutes of running intervals on the treadmill.

Both workouts satisfied the spirit of my “something is better than nothing” training mindset that I follow when the rigors of my work get in the way of my fitness training.

Reflecting back on last week’s training effort, there’s no doubt about it that to maintain a reasonable level of middle-age man fitness, twice a week gets the job done.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

Today is Sunday and, as usual, Pierini Fitness is closed so the chief executive blogger can rest his body, mind and spirit.

So I guess today is Super Bowl Sunday because its talk I hear everywhere I go. I remember the old days when the NFL was part of my world with Sunday set aside for a deuce of games to watch that would adequately prepare and qualify me for the following Monday morning expert commentator small talk that would go on during work time.

I don’t do the NFL anymore, nor am I a fan of the NBA, MLB or any other professional sports teams (for the record, I was an Oakland Raiders fan in the old days). Every now and then I’ll get a glimpse of a game in progress on the big screen television at my gym; enough for all that I need to know that nothing has changed other than the names of the cast of professional athlete characters who play the game and the crew of pretty-boy television commentators whose job it is to tell us everything we’d ever want to know but don’t need to know about fans, owners, players and teams.

Visit Pierini Fitness tomorrow for another blogflection about a topic not yet determined but guaranteed to be creative and original. Until we meet again, enjoy your Super Bowl Sunday.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Hiccups meant to be enjoyed

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

Today is the first Saturday of 2010 that I am working. I always try to start working half days on Saturday beginning in February so I’m off to a good start. What I’ve discovered over the years are the different seasons of my relationship with my work.

With a new year, I begin to slowly awaken for the upcoming busy work season that awaits me, much like a bear awakening from its winter hibernation. Work productivity erosion has settled in big time and, much like a stiff old rodeo cowboy who has fallen off the bucking bronco one time too many, I move ever so slow as I go from here to there with my work.

Once awakened, I begin conquering this work productivity erosion and getting the “sleep out of my work ethic”. Slowly but surely, I start working harder and longer much like a migrant farm laborer picking fruit when the crops are in season. There’s really no big deal about this hard work when I think about it in a yesteryear context of when my ancestors worked hard every day while chasing their dreams in their new country. March is normally my toughest work month when I clock about 250 to 270 hours at my office.

After my busy work season, I echo a long and loud mental and physical sigh of relief. At this point, it’s not uncommon for me to experience a serious adrenaline hangover or to feel like a victim of abuse from the constant demands to which my body, mind and spirit have been subjected.

Then the fun season begins with my very relaxed work schedule of Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. It’s wonderful at this point of the year with only occasional departures from this leisure schedule to meet special client demands. Sure it’s possible for me to accept additional clients, work harder and make more money, but why is the question I ask myself when those thoughts enter my head. My answer is always the same because the wealth of leisure is golden.

It’s during this “Life of Riley” season that work productivity erosion slowly returns to the point that on some days it takes me all day long to get nothing done. It’s the flip side of Parkinson’s Law – the classic economic adage of “work expands for the time available to complete it” – in that my loafing at work expands for the time available to loaf.

With the economy being as bad as it is with rampant unemployment everywhere, I’m grateful to be busy and earning my keep. The lesson I’ve learned from the seasons of my work is that, just like winter, spring, summer and fall, work seasons come and go just like hiccups meant to be enjoyed.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

I'm sure they will card me

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

Later this month I’ll blossom into a 55-year young middle-age man and am looking forward to it. Why? - Because several businesses offer senior discounts to those age 55 years or older. I’ve got some financial savings in my future. Here’s a sampling of what I discovered:

Arby's – the fast food place - offers a 10 percent discount at participating locations. I’ve hardly frequented this place in my entire life so why start now.

Banana Republic – the clothing store - offers a 10 percent discount everyday (for those age 50 years and older) but warns that discount and age may vary by location. Sounds like a fake senior discount offer to me. I think the last time I bought something from this place was when Bill Clinton was President. I’ll pass on this one.

Best Western – the motel chain – offers at least a 10 percent discount off regular room rates with late checkouts and other offers are also available. Yawn!

Chili's – the restaurant chain – offers at 10 percent discount at participating locations. I’ve eaten at Chili’s a time or two in my life and remember having a good plate of barbeque baby back ribs there. This one is a real possibility to cash in on my impending senior fortune.

Goodwill – the thrift store chain – offers a 10 percent discount one day a week but warns that specifics may vary by location. Since my wife is a manic thrift store shopper, this one offers me a real financial windfall and an opportunity to update my business attire. Count me in!

International House of Pancakes - the restaurant chain – offers a 10 percent discount at participating locations. I’m a pancake and waffle junkie like Homer Simpson is for doughnuts so it’s fair to say that my next pancake binge will be here. I’ll wear my faded baggy green sweat pants with the loose draw string for added comfort.

Kmart – the retail chain – has a Gold K prescription discount program offering a 20 percent discount on prescription medication (for those age 50 years and older). Thank God that I’m prescription drug free at this point of my life but maybe I can make some money buying a Viagra refill for my friends.

Ross – the clothing store – offers a 10 percent discount on Tuesday at participating locations. This financial bonanza is probably my wife’s favorite one. We’ll probably do this one as a date. I’ll update my boxer shorts underwear collection there and “cash in” the first Tuesday that I’m eligible.

Wendy’s – the fast food place - offers a 10 percent discount at participating locations. My wife likes the chili beans on their bargain menu so maybe we’ll do a chili bean date there for our anniversary and drive home with the windows open for safety.

For this middle-age man who sees a 16-year old kid when looking in the mirror, I’ll bring my ID because I’m sure they will card me.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

The chicken or the egg?

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

Here’s something that caught my attention during my morning surfing of news on the internet yesterday - internet addicts who devote much of their lives to browsing the internet are more likely to show signs of depression, at least that’s what British researchers have discovered.

These researchers reported that excessive internet use is associated with depression but they are not sure which comes first – the depression or the excessive internet use. Are people suffering from depression drawn to the internet or does the internet cause depression?

As is typical with most research findings, I’m sure these researchers also reported that additional research is needed to find answers to that question.

I have a better research project for these characters. How about a research project to find out which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

Memories are made of this

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

This is the time of year I meet with clients that I normally see only once a year. I look forward to these meetings to advise them about this and that and the social chit chat that oftentimes follows - the small talk about life in general, family in particular, fitness, God, economics, politics, places traveled and maybe even the weather. It’s a great reciprocal exchange of humor, knowledge and wisdom and one of the fringe benefits of my profession.

Last year meetings with clients were the inspiration for these five Pierini Fitness blogflections:

Find something else to worry about

Rebels in remission

One day it will be our turn

Busy about nothing

They can’t eat you

I look forward to seeing all my clients again this year. Memories are made of this.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

President Lyndon Baines Johnson

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

Yesterday’s blogflection about the words of wisdom of President Thomas Jefferson and today’s should not be construed as the start of a presidential theme at Pierini Fitness, but merely a random act of coincidence.

Just about every morning, I stop at Starbuck’s on the way to work for a cup of coffee to go. Part of my morning ritual of waiting in line for my turn to order is to glance at the question of the day that is written on a chalk board next to the cash register counter. Answer the question correctly and you get a shot of espresso added to your drink. The questions are challenging and I seldom know the answer, but every now and then I strike gold with a correct answer. Like yesterday morning.

Driving to work with my free shot of espresso swirling around in my cup of coffee, I thought back to a childhood memory associated with this question of the day. It was the afternoon of September 17, 1964 on the playground of St. Francis Elementary School – the school I attended - a mere three blocks from where I currently live and eight blocks from the Starbuck’s where I had purchased my cup of coffee minutes earlier. Then President Lyndon B. Johnson was in Sacramento that day to give a speech at the State Capitol.

Rumor had it that he would be traveling east bound on L Street after leaving the State Capitol and pass our school playground. So the nuns had us all line up on the perimeter of the playground next to chain link fence that separated us from the street. Perhaps, they thought, we would be able to get a glimpse of President Johnson or, better yet, a wave and a smile as he drove past our school.

It turned out that we got that and more.

Something that no president would be allowed to do these days, President Johnson’s limousine stopped at the curb next to our school. He got out and approached the chain link fence to greet us. Some students got to shake his fingers that protruded the chain links of the fence, and one of the nuns actually got his autograph. It seemed like a big blur to me at the time, and had been buried deep in my memory until being resurrected by the Starbuck’s question of the day.

So what was the question and what was the answer?

The question was “What does the “B” stand for in President Lyndon B. Johnson?” With a smile on my face, I told the Starbuck’s employee to leave room in my cup of coffee for my free shot of espresso because I knew the answer to the question of the day.

In answering the question, I cherished my childhood memory of the day I saw President Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum

That man on the two-dollar bill

The Pierini DIET - click here to learn more

Looking at my calendar on this first day of a new month, I’m reminded that February is an odd month because it has an extra day every four years.

Equally as odd - because they are not widely in circulation - is the two dollar bill, something I thought was “neat” as a kid growing up. They still exist but you have to ask for one. Maybe I’ll do that the next visit to my bank.

And if I do, I’ll glance at the face of the person on that two-dollar bill, Mr. Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. Enjoy his words of wisdom below:

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.”

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”

“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”

“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

These are words of wisdom as true today as they were over two hundred years ago from that man on the two-dollar bill.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum