The AllAroundJoe Fitness Podcast

What’s better than a good old fashioned road trip? Retired people still do them all the time.

My question is… why wait until you’re retired to go on a road trip?

In this blog post I’m going to give you everything that we planned for, and how we cut costs by using memberships, and fun apps that you can use too.

My girlfriend and I have a quest. A quest to visit all of the National Parks. And this was our first run at parks outside of the great state of Washington.

The road trip is titled “Utah Road Trip” because our final destination was Utah, but it doesn’t really make any sense because we hit National Parks in California as well. I just like Utah :-).

Expenses Gas – $486 National Park Pass – $40×2 (split w/sister) Food – Lots Camping – $10, 35, 10, 10, 10, 16, 16, 16 Hotels – $45, 50

Audiobooks we listened to Unbreakable Deep survival

Sept 12th-13th Sleep – Driftwood Campground – $15

Sept 13th-14th Redwood National Park Sleep – Albee Creek Campgrounds – $35 Activity 11 mile hike Minors Ridge & James Irvine Loop (best all-day hike) Cut through Fern Canyon http://www.redwoodhikes.com/PrairieCreek/Miners.html

Sept 14th-15th Activity – 30 mile long avenue of the giants is highly recommended Sleep – San Francisco with friends

Sept 15th-17th Yosemite National Park Sleep – Porcupine Flats Campgrounds No reservations White Wolf Campgrounds spot 28, 22, or 23 We wanted to camp at White Wolf, but it was closed. No reservations Activities Cathedral Lakes Half Dome cables – MUST have permit Mono Hot Springs Clouds Rest (if no half dome)

Consider Death Valley if you have the time. We didn’t.

Sept 17th-20th Zion National Park Sleep – The Watchman Campgrounds – $16 (3 nights) Make reservations here Activities The Narrows Angels Landing – MUST do! This is pretty scary if you don’t like heights, but totally amazing! Hidden Canyon – This guy is short and steep for 1 mile. The cool part is you can keep hiking/exploring after the maintained trail ends. I highly recommend you keep exploring. The Zion Scenic Byway

Sept 20th-21st Sleep – Bryce Canyon Sunset Campground – $15 Make reservations here Drive – Zion – Bryce

Sept 21st-22nd – Driving day Sleep – Hotel Boise – Seattle

• Where to stay in Zion National Park.
• How to get a discount on your National Parks adventures.
• What taking time away from the gym will do to you.
• And much more.

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 028: Outdoor adventures/National Park Tour you must do, and time off appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

This is somewhat of a complete review of what’s been going on lately.

When you workout hard it’s important to know how to recover, and come back stronger. One of the major parts of recovery is sleep, and we will talk about 3 major things you can do to sleep harder and longer.

Also, I recently went on my second backpacking trip to the Goat Rocks. It’s an amazing trip for experienced or novice backpackers with breathtaking views. Here are some of my pics from the trip:

• My Goat Rocks backpacking adventure.
• How to hack your sleep.
• What I think of the new Reebok CrossFit Nano 4’s.
• And much more.

Reebok CrossFit Nano 4 review – Click here to read Now Foods ZMA – Amazon PurePharma M3 – Click here to find out more *above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 027: Recovery, sleep hacks, and Nano 4’s appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Having an injury can be one of the most frustrating things that can happen to an athlete.

It’s not everyday that it happens, but it’s something that happens to us all at some point or another.

If ever you find yourself with an injury make sure to:

– See a doctor. – Figure out what hurts and what doesn’t. – Make the injury a positive. Address weaknesses. – Rehab injured area.

Once you know that you’re probably not going to hurt yourself further by continuing to workout, you have a world of opportunities for improvement.

Figure out what doesn’t hurt, and make if your mission to improve that aspect of your fitness.

Years ago when I had a back injury I made it my mission to improve my upper body movements, as well as any leg movements that didn’t aggravate my lower back. It sucked that I couldn’t do some of my favorite exercises, such as squats and deadlifts, but I am now a better athlete because of it.

• How to figure out what exercises you can and cannot do.
• How to make the injury a positive.
• How to keep from getting injured in the future.
• And much more.

MobilityWOD – www.MobilityWOD.com *above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 026: How to workout with an injury appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

This episode of the All Around Joe podcast comes from a listener question. Logan Gray asks…

How can we gain weight and improve strength, while maintaining mobility, and improving gymnastics movements.

This is a great question, and one that most CrossFitters want to know the answer to.

It’s really a simpler answer than you’d think…

Start by eating a ton of food. I like people to get 1 gram of protein per pound of desired body weight. Then matching that number with your fat consumption. And last, eating carbs based on your energy needs. It’s usually around 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbs. But the fat can increase, and carbs and decrease based on energy needs.

Next up… lift heavy weights (always using good form), using large muscle groups in multi-joint movements. Think squats, deadlifts, bench presses, cleans, and snatches, etc. Find an off season strength program to follow, and get to work.

Something that most people don’t realize, is that mobility can be gained from lifting weights (even heavy weights). Yep, true story. What you need to do is lift weights through full ranges of motion. Those half squats just aren’t going to cut it. Make sure that you have a neutral spine, and then squat as low as you can get. Doing this you’ll find that your mobility actually will increase over time. It’s awesome!

This is the trickiest part of the equation. When you get heavier, gymnastics movements suffer. Sorry! But what you can do is pay extra attention to having amazing gymnastics movement patterns. Study Carl Paoli at http://gymnasticswod.com. Carl can show you how to improve your gymnastics movement patterns, which will make the movements easier. So, the goal is to get better at your gymnastics form, knowing that the movements will get harder when you gain weight. But at some point you will want to get ready for the CrossFit Open (usually starting in Nov. or Dec.), and increase your metabolic condition. When you increase your metabolic conditioning, there’s a good chance you’ll also lose some of that body fat that you put on while gaining weight/strength. Once the body weight comes off, the gymnastics will get much easier. And you’ll be stronger, and have better movement patterns. It will be awesome!

• What to eat.
• How much to eat.
• How to increase mobility through weight lifting.
• What’s important when doing gymnastics when gaining weight.

Carl Paoli GymnasticsWOD – http://gymnasticswod.com/

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 025: Gain weight & strength, maintain mobility, and improve gymnastics appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

This is a post/podcast for people that want to get better at CrossFit.

You might be a competitor, and want to make it to Regionals, or the CrossFit Games.

Or you might want to simply get better, and see more results faster at you local CrossFit box.

Either way, you will get some gold nuggets out of this podcast.

Here are some of the important things to consider if you want to become a better CrossFit athlete at any level…

This should be common sense, but you’d be surprised how many people sacrifice form for going faster. Trust me when I say, it’s just not worth it. You will eventually end up injured and sitting on the CrossFit bench. Have you coaches help you with good technique, and watch videos of other top CrossFit and Olympic lifting athletes.

These are some of the athletes that post quality videos that I follow –

Ian Wilson YouTube Instagram

Noah Ohlsen YouTube Instagram

D’Angelo Osorio YouTube Instagram

Anthony Pomponio Website Instagram

This is where you need to leave your pride at the door. It’s fun to win workouts, but if you’re winning them all the time (and not a Games athlete) then you need to consider who you’re working out with. You will get better faster if you’re working out with people who are stronger and faster than you are. If this means finding a different gym, do it. Or it could mean following a blog where you post your weights and times against other athletes.

Go to camps like Invictus, Coach B Oly clinic, or local camps that sound interesting. You can always learn something new. I was recently at an Invictus athletes camp, and learned a small nugget that completely changed the way that I snatch. It was AWESOME!

This might sound just like the videos section above, but it’s a little different. The reason is… Twitter is different. What does that mean? Twitter is very unique in that it allows regular people to contact almost anyone. Well, with the exception of super celebrities, but they might even answer you sometimes.

I recommend following the athletes that you look up to, and when appropriate ask them questions related to things they are posting about. You’ll be surprised how many responses you get. Just make sure that you don’t abuse this.

Lastly, you need to give 100% when you are working out, eating, resting, taking supplements, etc. If if has to do with becoming a better CrossFit athlete you need to work really hard at it. You’ll benefit if you take this practice into all your life endeavors.

• Why you must use great technique.
• Why you need to be watching videos of other top athletes.
• When to workout with athletes that are better than you are.
• And a bunch of other fun stuff!

See above for links to athletes that I follow.

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 024: How become a better CrossFit athlete appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Blog post:

There might be a few of you out there that are thinking… “I’ll never do a CrossFit competition, why should I listen to this?”. And for those of you thinking that, never say never. Even my 60+ year old mother does CrossFit competitions, and has a blast.

CrossFit competitions are full of energetic, inspiring, fun loving people. And most competitions have divisions for all skill levels. So you don’t have to be a CrossFit professional to have fun at a CrossFit competition.

So… if you decide to do a CrossFit competition here are some things that you should think about beforehand.

Get strong – As with most activities, being stronger is never a bad thing. So plan your training cycles to have strength components. These can include: squats, deadlifts, bench and overhead presses, cleans, snatches, jerks, etc.

Add endurance training – A well rounded CrossFit athlete will be not only strong, but also able to work for long periods of time without getting too tired. I’ve found that the best way to get this endurance up is to add additional training to your regular CrossFit workout. So 2-4 times a week add 20-40 mins of running, biking, rowing, swimming, etc to build up that extra endurance. You’ll thank me when you do your competition.

Train hard – This is simply stating that you should be training as hard as you can with good form. Give 100%.

Eat more a few days out – As your competition approaches increase the amount of food that you’re consuming. Most competitions will increase the total amount of work that your body is used to handling, so this will get your body ready nutritionally for that extra work.

Bring foods to the comp that won’t upset your stomach – Basically bring foods to the competition that you’re used to eating. Don’t try eating something that you’re not used to on competition day.

Have you usual protein and sugar post workout drink on hand – After each event you should be thinking about refueling, and in almost all cases the best thing to have is your usual post workout protein and sugar concoction. Mine is Progenex Recovery and dextrose powder. If you have 3 workouts throughout the day, you could have this 3 times.

Sleep extra – If you can get an extra hour or two of sleep a few nights before your CrossFit competition do it, and especially get an extra hour or two if you have a multi-day competition, during the competition.

Warm up before the competition, but not too warm – This just means, go through your usual workout warm up before your event. I see people doing whole workouts before they do their events because they are so excited, and then being tired during the actual event.

After event, talk about/journal what you’d change – This is a time to reflect on what you did good, and what you could have done better. Get it all out of you. This is priceless going into your next competition, and daily workouts.

Refeed – Eat, eat, eat! Like I mentioned above, a comp will probably take more out of you than a regular workout, so make sure you give your body the nutrition it needs after the comp. This might be a good time to plan your cheat day…

• What to do leading up the competition, the day before, during, and after.
• How to eat and fuel yourself.
• Recovery.
• And much more.

Progenex – www.Progenexusa.com *above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 023: How to prepare for a CrossFit competitions appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

Muscle soreness is just part of working out. Actually it’s just part of living. Assuming you’re living hard!

What happens is you work hard in the gym, or in some physical way, and you create micro tears in your muscles. These micro tears are small damages to the muscle that cause that still “sore” feeling. As long as the tears aren’t too big, they are actually a good thing.

What you’ll find is the soreness is a sign that your muscles will be adapting, and coming back stronger in the days to come.

That being said, it is a good idea to try to recover from the soreness as fast as you can. And get back to your awesome feeling self.

The best thing you can do to get on the recovery track is… move. Yep, get moving. This doesn’t have to be anything too hard. Just some simple jogging, hiking, swimming, etc. is a great way to get the blood flowing through your sore muscles. The new blood flow will bring with it nutrients that will help you muscles recover faster.

The less active things that you can do to get your muscles to recovery from soreness are: salt baths, massages, foam rolling, smashing, rest, and nutrition.

Listen to the podcast for me to go into detail on all of this topic.

• What active rest is best for recovery.
• How movement can be great for sore muscles.
• What non active things you can do right away to take that soreness away.
• Where to get products to get rid of soreness.

SoakFitness.com MobilityWOD.com Foam roller guide *above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 022: Muscle soreness & how to eliminate it appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

In this country type 2 diabetes is a serious problem. And I believe that we can prevent it by simply educating people.

Right now our school system does a terrible job of teaching people how to be healthy, and in turn how to avoid type 2 diabetes.

So you understand what type 2 diabetes is… It’s when your body has usable carbs floating around in your blood, but no need for those carbs. Because there is no need for the carbs, your body stops producing the insulin that shuttles those carbs to muscles and fat. Then you have those carbs just chilling out in your body with no where to go, and this causes all kinds of problems.

No one wants to experience those problems, and some simple actions can keep them from happening.

The first thing you can do is give your body a reason to need the carbs. The easiest way to give your body a need for carbs is to do some resistance training. This could be body weight resistance, or weight lifting. Anything that’s under 2 mins per set, or activity will cause a need for the carbs.

The second thing you can do is think of carbs like fuel for your muscles. The analogy that I like to use is… Carbs are like gasoline. Would you put gasoline in your car if the tank was on full? Of course not. So don’t put carbs in your body if you aren’t working out. Your body just doesn’t need them.

Other things you can do is limit the number of bad carbs you consume at all times. These are sugars, grains, and some fruits.

As soon as you can start thinking of your body as a machine, the better, and healthier you’ll become.

If you need motivation, google type 2 diabetes pictures. You won’t like what you find.

• What carbs are used for in your body.
• What carbs you should be eating.
• What carbs you should be avoiding.
• What kind of exercise you need to be doing.

EVL ENGN pre workout supplement *above are affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

Affiliate Disclosure

The post AAJ 021: How to avoid type 2 diabetes appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

I know this is for the unique population that is wanting to know how to gain weight, not lose it.

This is speaking to the bodybuilder or CrossFitter that needs to put on some extra pounds to be better at their sport.

In this podcast I’m going to be covering the essentials of protein, fat, and carbs that you’ll need to be consuming to know how to gain weight. Some of the great weight gaining foods out there. The timing of your meals for gaining weight. And some other tips and tricks that you need to know.

• What to eat.
• How much to eat.
• The timing of your meals.
• The type of workouts you need to be doing.

The 5 Supplements I Can’t Live Without – Get the list here

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ 020: How to gain weight appeared first on AllAroundJoe.

The new year is here and I know most of you would like to lose some weight.  So this episode is all about how to lose that weight in this year of 2014.

I also share how you can get some help from my new product, the AllAroundJoe Tribe.  Daily workouts and (for a limited time) nutrition coaching.

You can get started with the AllAroundJoe Tribe by clicking here

There are some main things that you can do to make sure that you’ll get that weight loss that you want and need.

1. Track everything – google drive spreadsheet

2. Get a workout buddy

3. Hire a coach/trainer

4. Schedule your workouts always

5. Get support

6. Track results

7. Form workout/nutrition habit

• How and why to track everything.
• Who your workout buddy should be.
• Why you need a coach or trainer.
• Where to get your support to keep you going.
• What results you NEED to track and what you can forget about.
• And when you know that a habit has been formed.

The AllAroundJoe Tribe – Pay What You Want

*above could be affiliate links. I get a small commission if you click through them and buy, but they in no way make the products cost anymore. If you decide to use them please let me know so I can thank you.

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Listen on Stitcher Radio

If you haven’t done so already, it would totally help me out if you could give me a quick iTunes review by clicking the link below. My goal is to help as many people as possible with this podcast, and each review helps me get more people listening.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/allaroundjoe-podcast-fitness/id690333495

The post AAJ NewYears2014: How to lose weight this new year appeared first on AllAroundJoe.