If you haven’t listened to part 1 of the show yet I would recommend listening to it first as you get to meet Tanner, Dallas, and Mike and hear their initial thoughts on endurance training and racing. As was the case in Part 1, I highly recommend you listen to the show for Part 2 as there was too much good stuff to capture in blog form.  The links for the show on various platforms are below.

This another one that I really recommend listening to the podcast episode as there was too much great stuff to capture in blog form.  Click below to listen on your favorite podcast app.  Below is an outline of what we cover.

A Virtual Wellness CommunityI wrote the outline for this show on a plane flying from Hong Kong to Seattle. My family is traveling back to the US for summer holiday. Since we were returning back to Kansas to our family, friends, and old training buddies, I knew I wanted to do another show on wellness community. But I knew this would be different than the one I did with Bo and Sheel about the SIRs and Dragons fitness communities. If you haven’t listened to that show yet it is Episode 15 of the BOOST Health Podcast and I highly recommend it. It is really a good one thanks mostly to the brilliant thoughts of Bo and Sheel as we break down how properly organized fitness communities can add tremendous performance, mentorship, accountability, and elicit kindness in the purest form. This show on community is different because I am not able to train with my Kansas buddies anymore, save a few weeks in the summer, since we moved to Hong Kong. I have kept in contact with this group of guys, and I still draw a lot of energy from them. This energy is a bit intangible and that is one of the things I want to tackle today. As you all know, people you train with over a period of time start to become more like close friends, and even family in some cases. These guys are definitely family. We all lived within a few blocks of each other so we were neighbors. We helped each other with flooding basements, moving heavy stuff, offered advice, cheered each other on, etc. We basically had each other’s back. We would train together as best as we could if schedules allowed and it made sense with objectives. So what if you are part of a wellness community that isn’t so well organized? What if your community doesn’t have weekly rides, gym workouts,

This another one that I really recommend listening to the podcast episode as there was too much great stuff to capture in blog form.  Click below to listen in iTunes or Google Play.  Below is an outline of what we cover.

I am excited as I just had Dr. Chris Zaino join me on Episode 18 of The BOOST Health Podcast!  If you normally just read the blog, you will want to tune in for this episode for sure.  There was too much great content to capture in blog form. If you are using an Apple iPhone or iPad, then go here to listen to the BOOST Health podcast. If you are using another type of mobile device, then go to Google Play to listen to The BOOST Health podcast. Anyone using their computer can just go to iTunes or Apple Podcasts on their iPhone and search for “Boost Health.”  Below is are the notes of what we cover.  Please listen in..I promise you will be inspired!Dr. Zaino has an obsession for helping people realize what they are truly capable of which I think is absolutely fantastic!  He and I thought having a chat on this show would be great because at BOOST Health we are always searching for new wellness tactics and encouraging folks to be open minded and try new things.  In case you are not familiar with Dr. Zaino, I will get you up to speed.  He is a world-renowned speaker, author, entrepreneur, and HERO (we will get into what that means). After winning Mr. America in 1998, and being a leader in the fitness industry, he found himself defying a deadly disease in his late 20’s. Dr. Zaino leveraged his experience to establish one of the largest health and wellness clinics in the world, seeing thousands of patients per week (yes, per week). Teaching mindset and health principles has allowed thousands of people to finally receive results where other health and medical systems failed them in the past. Now an international speaker, author, and mindset expert, Dr. Chris has shared his message of wholeness in mind and body over 4430 times. Shifting Doctors and Clients alike to continue to make the impact on millions. The Core Premise of his work is that everybody is born with seeds of greatness and capable of heroic things if given the chance. That each person has the noble qualities inherent in them to drastically shift themselves and their work. Dr. Chris seeks to unlock this in each man, woman, and child he reaches. Rather than let people silently grieve their potential, he exists to wake up the hero that we know is hidden within each of us.Oh by the way he also won his age group at Mr. Universe in 2016 and is a pro body builder today.  Needless to say he is in incredible shape!  But what I like most about Dr. Zaino is that he has figured out how to keep fit while managing a very successful business and also being a great husband and father to his 2 boys.  He sounds pretty balanced to me!Dr. Zaino thank you very much for taking time to join us on the show!I have tons of questions I want to ask you so I will jump right in. I read that the terrible disease that you were able to rebound from was actually ulcerative colitis, which is tough stuff!  What tactics did you use heal/recover from this?Was your battle and victory over ulcerative colitis what inspired...

I am excited as I just had Dr. Chris Zaino join me on Episode 18 of The BOOST Health Podcast!  If you normally just read the blog, you will want to tune in for this episode for sure.  There was too much great content to capture in blog form. If you are using an Apple iPhone or iPad, then go here to listen to the BOOST Health podcast. If you are using another type of mobile device, then go to Google Play to listen to The BOOST Health podcast. Anyone using their computer can just go to iTunes or Apple Podcasts on their iPhone and search for “Boost Health.”  Below is are the notes of what we cover.  Please listen in..I promise you will be inspired!Dr. Zaino has an obsession for helping people realize what they are truly capable of which I think is absolutely fantastic!  He and I thought having a chat on this show would be great because at BOOST Health we are always searching for new wellness tactics and encouraging folks to be open minded and try new things.  In case you are not familiar with Dr. Zaino, I will get you up to speed.  He is a world-renowned speaker, author, entrepreneur, and HERO (we will get into what that means). After winning Mr. America in 1998, and being a leader in the fitness industry, he found himself defying a deadly disease in his late 20’s. Dr. Zaino leveraged his experience to establish one of the largest health and wellness clinics in the world, seeing thousands of patients per week (yes, per week). Teaching mindset and health principles has allowed thousands of people to finally receive results where other health and medical systems failed them in the past. Now an international speaker, author, and mindset expert, Dr. Chris has shared his message of wholeness in mind and body over 4430 times. Shifting Doctors and Clients alike to continue to make the impact on millions. The Core Premise of his work is that everybody is born with seeds of greatness and capable of heroic things if given the chance. That each person has the noble qualities inherent in them to drastically shift themselves and their work. Dr. Chris seeks to unlock this in each man, woman, and child he reaches. Rather than let people silently grieve their potential, he exists to wake up the hero that we know is hidden within each of us.Oh by the way he also won his age group at Mr. Universe in 2016 and is a pro body builder today.  Needless to say he is in incredible shape!  But what I like most about Dr. Zaino is that he has figured out how to keep fit while managing a very successful business and also being a great husband and father to his 2 boys.  He sounds pretty balanced to me!Dr. Zaino thank you very much for taking time to join us on the show!I have tons of questions I want to ask you so I will jump right in. I read that the terrible disease that you were able to rebound from was actually ulcerative colitis, which is tough stuff!  What tactics did you use heal/recover from this?Was your battle and victory over ulcerative colitis what inspired you to become a doctor of chiropractic medicine?

I am going to have some professional pictures taken for BOOST Health later this month. This may come as a surprise but I may not have my shirt on in some of them. Those of you who follow myboosthealth on Instagram and Facebook probably know that is a joke!The fact is that I take a lot of my workout pictures without a shirt because I want to show I have nothing to hide. I want to show that if you maintain a certain lifestyle, you can have a flat stomach and abdominal definition year round. With that said, I am not going to do anything special to get ready for this photo shoot. No crash dieting, crazy workouts, or water pills. I will just keep doing what I do every day. I was actually having coffee with my buddy Ric, after a bike ride recently, and he said he didn’t like how he heard a few people say that I am able to keep fit because I don’t have a “real job”. We laughed because we know it requires discipline and effort to have a good physique, and doesn’t necessarily have a direct correlation to whether or not I work a typical office job. In fact, I had the exact same body composition several years ago after I switched to a plant-based diet, and was still working in the corporate world. And nowadays I spend most of my time in front of a computer researching and writing for the blog and podcast. It isn’t as if I am exercising all day long. The truth is, you can have a strong and defined midsection, even if you have a busy career.When I say defined and flat stomach I am not saying I am super cut up or the most shredded guy in the world. There are plenty of people that have more abdominal definition than I do. Body builders and figure competitors get their body fat down into the low single digits and you can even see vascularity in their abs. While this is impressive, this isn’t something that anyone can, or should, maintain year round. To get to this state there is usually a bulking phase where lots of fat and muscle are added and then a massive cutting phase to get the body fat super low while maintaining as much muscle as possible. These big swings in body composition are not healthy. According to an article on mensjournal.com that discusses negative effects of extremely low body fat, registered dietician Georgie Fear noted that body builders often go below 5% body fat during competition but this is actually too low for a healthy cardiovascular, endocrine, reproductive, skeletal, and nervous system. You can see why they don’t stay in this low zone for very long.My point is, if you are not a competitive body builder or figure competitor, how about just having a flat tummy and nice abdominal definition year round? There is no need to go to extremes to get and maintain this. Wouldn’t it be nice when swimsuit season comes around and you don’t have to do anything different to be “ready”? It just requires a disciplined lifestyle. In an effort to prescribe this lifestyle to you I have identified below 13 Tactics for Year-Round Abs to Get and Maintain a Flat and Defined Stomach. One of my goals with BOOST Health is to share ideas to help people find their wellness balance. I know not every tip will work with every individual, but I am hopeful that some of these ideas will work in chorus with what you already know about your body and what wo...

I am going to have some professional pictures taken for BOOST Health later this month. This may come as a surprise but I may not have my shirt on in some of them. Those of you who follow myboosthealth on Instagram and Facebook probably know that is a joke!The fact is that I take a lot of my workout pictures without a shirt because I want to show I have nothing to hide. I want to show that if you maintain a certain lifestyle, you can have a flat stomach and abdominal definition year round. With that said, I am not going to do anything special to get ready for this photo shoot. No crash dieting, crazy workouts, or water pills. I will just keep doing what I do every day. I was actually having coffee with my buddy Ric, after a bike ride recently, and he said he didn’t like how he heard a few people say that I am able to keep fit because I don’t have a “real job”. We laughed because we know it requires discipline and effort to have a good physique, and doesn’t necessarily have a direct correlation to whether or not I work a typical office job. In fact, I had the exact same body composition several years ago after I switched to a plant-based diet, and was still working in the corporate world. And nowadays I spend most of my time in front of a computer researching and writing for the blog and podcast. It isn’t as if I am exercising all day long. The truth is, you can have a strong and defined midsection, even if you have a busy career.When I say defined and flat stomach I am not saying I am super cut up or the most shredded guy in the world. There are plenty of people that have more abdominal definition than I do. Body builders and figure competitors get their body fat down into the low single digits and you can even see vascularity in their abs. While this is impressive, this isn’t something that anyone can, or should, maintain year round. To get to this state there is usually a bulking phase where lots of fat and muscle are added and then a massive cutting phase to get the body fat super low while maintaining as much muscle as possible. These big swings in body composition are not healthy. According to an article on mensjournal.com that discusses negative effects of extremely low body fat, registered dietician Georgie Fear noted that body builders often go below 5% body fat during competition but this is actually too low for a healthy cardiovascular, endocrine, reproductive, skeletal, and nervous system. You can see why they don’t stay in this low zone for very long.My point is, if you are not a competitive body builder or figure competitor, how about just having a flat tummy and nice abdominal definition year round? There is no need to go to extremes to get and maintain this. Wouldn’t it be nice when swimsuit season comes around and you don’t have to do anything different to be “ready”? It just requires a disciplined lifestyle. In an effort to prescribe this lifestyle to you I have identified below 13 Tactics for Year-Round Abs to Get and Maintain a Flat and Defined Stomach. One of my goals with BOOST Health is to share ideas to help people find their wellness balance. I know not every tip will work with every individual, but I am hopeful that some of these ideas will work in chorus with what you already know about your body and what works well for you.1.

I just got done putting some KT tape on my left knee.  It is pretty sore and I am not exactly certain what the culprit is. There is not a lot of research backing the use of these therapeutic tapes but there is some evidence of increased proprioception.  I feel a slight added stability when I where it on an injured area as well. There is a link to the kind I use below on Amazon if you are curious.

I injured my small toe on my left foot a few weeks ago so perhaps I have been compensating and changing the way I walk and stand to put less pressure on the toe. I also stand at my computer workstation quite a bit and this could be part of the problem too. Even though I have had ergonomic training and have been implementing good ergonomic strategies for myself for the last 12 years or so, I still catch myself slumping over or leaning to one side. I think it is just human nature. The body will get tired in a particular position and subconsciously make a change, even if it is to its own the detriment, ironically. An article on the nbcnews.com site mentions how desk workers will subconsciously adjust themselves fit to their workstation, such as leaning forward to see their screen, raising their chair too high, or reaching for their mouse.Ideally the worker’s station will be set up around them versus the other way around. This knee injury got me thinking that perhaps I am not as good as I should be with my setup, posture, and habits. In an effort to check myself before I wreck myself I dove into the latest ergonomic research and landed on 5 ways to maximize efforts in this area.1. Avoid Prolonged Periods of SittingWhen I first started standing at my work station I was so excited and proud of myself that I could stand the whole day. I would proudly tell my colleagues that I stand all day long and encourage them to try standing since all the evidence of sitting all day is not healthy was coming out. For example a 2012 study in Diabetologia found that sedentary behavior, such as sitting at a desk most of the day, significantly increases your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and overall causes of mortality.The problem is that standing all day long is not good for you either.2. Avoid Prolonged Periods of StandingA 2018 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that prolonged standing at an office workstation can cause reduced reaction time, a poor mental state, and overall body discomfort. This was a 12-year study of more than 7,000 office workers. I think the key word here is prolonged.Also according to a 2015 article on cnn.com, Alan Hedge, professor of ergonomics at Cornell University,

I just got done putting some KT tape on my left knee.  It is pretty sore and I am not exactly certain what the culprit is. There is not a lot of research backing the use of these therapeutic tapes but there is some evidence of increased proprioception.  I feel a slight added stability when I where it on an injured area as well. There is a link to the kind I use below on Amazon if you are curious.

I injured my small toe on my left foot a few weeks ago so perhaps I have been compensating and changing the way I walk and stand to put less pressure on the toe. I also stand at my computer workstation quite a bit and this could be part of the problem too. Even though I have had ergonomic training and have been implementing good ergonomic strategies for myself for the last 12 years or so, I still catch myself slumping over or leaning to one side. I think it is just human nature. The body will get tired in a particular position and subconsciously make a change, even if it is to its own the detriment, ironically. An article on the nbcnews.com site mentions how desk workers will subconsciously adjust themselves fit to their workstation, such as leaning forward to see their screen, raising their chair too high, or reaching for their mouse.Ideally the worker’s station will be set up around them versus the other way around. This knee injury got me thinking that perhaps I am not as good as I should be with my setup, posture, and habits. In an effort to check myself before I wreck myself I dove into the latest ergonomic research and landed on 5 ways to maximize efforts in this area.1. Avoid Prolonged Periods of SittingWhen I first started standing at my work station I was so excited and proud of myself that I could stand the whole day. I would proudly tell my colleagues that I stand all day long and encourage them to try standing since all the evidence of sitting all day is not healthy was coming out. For example a 2012 study in Diabetologia found that sedentary behavior, such as sitting at a desk most of the day, significantly increases your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and overall causes of mortality.The problem is that standing all day long is not good for you either.2. Avoid Prolonged Periods of StandingA 2018 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that prolonged standing at an office workstation can cause reduced reaction time, a poor mental state, and overall body discomfort. This was a 12-year study of more than 7,000 office workers. I think the key word here is prolonged.Also according to a 2015 article on cnn.com, Alan Hedge, professor of ergonomics at Cornell University, standing for too long can cause a variety of problems including back pain and varicose veins.

(Left to Right) Bo Kratz, Paul Sandburg, Sheel Kohli

More info on SIRs     More info on Dragons

For those of you who just read the blog version of each episode…this is one where you really should listen to the podcast!  There was just too much good discussion to capture in blog form.  Click icon below to listen on your favorite podcast app.  A summary of the show is below.

I am super excited for the show today because I have two very special guests joining the program.  These two gents have been integral in shaping my personal beliefs on fitness communities and have also become dear friends of mine here in Hong Kong. I can say, without question, I would still be cycling in circles (Redhill) and doing the same boring running and swimming workouts all on my own, without the help of these guys and the fitness communities they are a part of.  With their help, I have learned that you can safely navigate the mean, dangerous, steep, and slippery streets of Hong Kong.  I have learned that having friends with you while training isn’t just about motivation but also about kindness, caring, and understanding. Today we will discuss fitness community and the profound positive effects it can have on individuals, and the group as a whole,