I don’t want a lot for Christmas
There’s just one thing I need
I don’t care about the presents
Underneath the Christmas tree
I just want you TO LISTEN UP!!
Alright folks, so here is my pseudo-Christmas list. Its not a bunch of toys like the rest of you, but its just some general take home stuff for everybody. Got some pretty simple stuff; so do us both a favor and hook yourself up.
1) The first thing I want to do is for people to clean up their diets. Its probably the simplest thing you can do that will make a huge impact on your health. I cringe everytime somebody complains that they don’t feel good or aren’t loosing weight. YA know why? Because you just ate a Big Mac! And no, 100 calorie packs aren’t healthy. Why? Because they’re still full of crappy food, and you know you always eat at least two of them. So seriously, eat real food. If you can’t pronounce it, its not real.
2) The second thing that I’d like is for you to exercise before you complain about exercise. By exercise, I mean run some intervals on an elliptical or bike, lift some weights, exert yourself. Step aerobics, going for a jog, and spending an hour on the elliptical are all a waste of time. Sure, something is better than nothing, but would you rather get a good return for your investment of time and energy, or not get much of anything because you’re doing the wrong stuff. No, Zumba doesn’t count either.
3) Now that you understand that you should do some exercise, let me give you some pointers: 1) Lift weights. Guidelines: If your hand isn’t grabbing on to metal, don’t use it. Basically, this means free-weights. Dumbbells and Barbells people. No color coded dumbbells, none of those machines. Seriously. You’ll get a lot more done with free weights and compound movements, and you might actually get stronger, too.
4) Alright, so now you’re eating better, and you’re exercising. Now lets talk supplements. I’d like to see more people taking fewer supplements. What I mean is that we’ve got your average frat-boy gym rats taking all these stacks of weight-gainers, creatine complexes, nitric oxide boosters. Once you already have your nutrition in check, start with the basics. Whey protein, Creatine Monohydrate. Are you taking a multivitamin? What about a fish oil? The efficacy of these has all been proven by years of scientific research, meaning you can’t go wrong. And for those ‘body building’ supplements? If the label is shiny or has a picture on it, odds are it isn’t a good investment.
5) I lied to you about the easiest change being fixing your diet. Whats easier? Getting enough sleep. How hard is it to sleep? Seriously. It’ll pay huge dividends if you get your 8 hours, and you get to bed before midnight. Seriously.
6) Sit less. Odds are you have poor posture, which is caused by sitting all the time. Get up, if even its just to walk around for a little before you sit down. If you walk around and stretch out every few minutes, you’ll make a world of difference. Stretch out those hip flexors. You’ll reduce your anterior pelvic tilt, which will return the lordosis of your spine back to a natural position, aka will reduce that lower back pain. You’ll stand up straighter too. This is good, because sitting at your computer all day pulls your sholders foward; you’ll be kyphotic, have improper scapular functioning, and your back will look like a turtle shell. As soon as you’re done reading this, get up in stretch. In fact, do it now, and then come back and finish it later. So you’ve stretched? Good. Now you might understand we want you to look more like the guy on the left than the guy on the right. http://chinesemedicinenews.com/wp-content/uploads/kyphosis.jpg
(You probably look like the guy on the right. This is bad)
It would be nice if you could get a few of these taken care of. Well, it would be nice if you took care of all of them. It won’t hurt me if you don’t, but you’ll still be eactly the way you are now. You might think that you’re alright, but can’t we all use a little self improvement? Its part of the holiday spirit, isn’t it? So for the both of us, please get me what I want for Christmas.
Happy Holidays folks!
Harold Gibbons 
