DLT Tip of the Week--My seatbelt?

It may seem like a simple thing, but adjusting how you put on your shoulder-harness seat belt may save you from additional strain or future damage to your shoulders.

DO:

When reaching for the shoulder harness of your seat belt, turn your shoulders and upper torso in direction of the seat belt buckle and reach for the buckle with the opposite hand, pull the buckle back across your body and then you can use your other hand to snap into connection.

DON'T:
Reach back with your left arm (if your driving, right arm if you're the passenger). This excess torque placed on the entire shoulder girdle can prove to be too strenuous.

(Those who've had shoulder dislocations will appreciate this simple adjustment)

GIVE IT A TRY...IT MAY NEED SOME GETTING USED TO...BUT WELL WORTH THE LONG-TERM BENEFITS!

Have a great week!
David Lea

Public School...best thing since sliced bread!

Two down one to go...

This morning the entire Lea clan traveled to our local elementary school (that's "grade school" to all those reading who are over the age of 50).

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

We now have a second-grader and kindergartner (we have one more who'll be starting preschool soon) in the local public school system and couldn't be happier!

I love public school. All the things it is and all the things it isn't. For all it's benefits and for all it's deficits.

Public School...where else are can you find:

1. Bullies

2. Mystery Meat on lime green lunch trays

3. Mean Girls

4. Gym Teachers confused about their gender identity

5. Custodians who seem a little too interested in the new young English literature teacher

6. Administrators on power-trips

7. Crazy gossip in the teacher's lounge

8. Cliques

9. "Smokin' in the boys room!"

10. What you wear is more important than who you are...

Okay...

I'm not sure about you, but to me the things I've listed above seem like......................real life.

So my question to all those parents and politicians who advocate private, parochial, or home schooling...why?

Why try to shelter, hide, withhold from your kids the realities of the real world.

I remember the first days of college for me were filled with advice from the upper class men to "go after" the girls who came from the private schools...they would be your best bet...

Now i don't have to go into further details about what we were going after, but i think you get my drift.

It's not to say there aren't incredible educations to be had from private institutions. Because there are...no doubt.

But please don't infer that private schooling is inherently better than public education, simply because "you pay for it".

Besides when it comes down to it...the real education our children receive is at home. Period. No doubt. Without question.

So my counsel to all is this: Save your money, give it away to causes that really matter (eradication of AIDS, erase social injustice, give food away, give money away, give yourself away.)

To those who choose to educate at home..............DON'T. Every parent needs time away from their children...it's not an accident that all the mothers who commit maternal filicide (killing your own children) were those who home-schooled. It's okay...take a break. There are professionals out there who spend four years in higher education learning how to educate your child. Let go...your children will appreciate it when they're adults.

all for now...

Dirty Biz...

• Dance Instructors who can't dance


• Swim coaches who can't swim


• Group Fitness Teachers who can't complete the exercises


• Personal Trainers who don't look like they practice what they preach...

Make sense?


I didn't think so...


What does this say about integrity? How come we follow, patron, invest in those who don't do what they're sellin?

• Would you hire a financial consultant who just filed Chapter 11?
• Would you receive marriage counseling from someone who just left his wife and kids?
• Would you go to a barber who's own dome looked like Edward Scissorhands had a couple of spare minutes?
• Would you attend a church who's leadership covered up a sex scandal?
  

....I hope not...

Expect more...demand integrity. Don't just do something because the biz has been recommended by your brother-in-law. Ask questions, investigate, get to know the people you do biz with...



Your dollar, your investment, your life is worth more!

Man's Best Friend...really?!

I was listening to my favorite morning show this morning (yeah, i'll go ahead and pimp 'em--98.9 the Rock's The Johnny Dare Morning Show here in KC) when i heard an endorsement that would become the last straw and would drive me to write this here and now...

"Pet Bereavement Counseling"

Are you kidding me? Really? We've gone there? Are you serious?

How 'bout this: these are my top five ridiculous ways to worship DWA's (Domesticated Wild Animal)

5. Doggy Day Care (if you can't care for them, don't have them!)

4. Excessively paying a veterinarian your hard-earned $$$ to treat an ANIMAL! Hip replacement on a dog???!!! C'MON! 3 steps: 1) Euthanasia 2) Dog Pound 3) New Dog Collar

3. Placing the wants and needs of an animal ahead of a family member--this includes but not limited to: postponing, cancelling an appt with a human to attend to your DWA; kissing your DWA but not your spouse; spending more on DWA food than your spouse's birthday present; willing anything to your DWA ahead of your immediate family...and the list could go on and on...

2. Pet Bereavement Counseling (mentioned above)

1. Dressing your wild animal...now you've really gone off the deep-end.

Now I know this blog may not be popular with the likes of Pam Anderson, PETA, or a overcaffeinated, certain local tv meterologist who has his DWA's on camera!!! And I risk the termination of a good many human relationships, but we must have a reality check!

There is a balance to everything and just as one uses food, illicit drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, shopping, gambling and the like to salve a hole in our soul; there are too many people out there who use their domesticated wild animal to relieve the true dysfunction in their lives.

The reality is that so many place so much time, energy, effort, and money into their DWA (domesticated wild animal) because they know that for whatever reason, the animal will rarely manipulate, lie, cheat, ignore, withhold love and affection, play games, break hearts. The DWA will love back unconditionally...

Unconditional love...of course. That's it! That's what you seek!

I don't blame you...

But imagine if all the money, effort, time, and energy were placed into the human relationships we REALLY desire instead of the DWA's, maybe the world would change...for real!

And please don't misunderstand...i'm not an animal hater.

I love visiting the zoo on the weekends with my three little ones (yes they're human, i helped create them) and viewing animals as they were meant to be enjoyed--in environments that they were designed to inhabit!!! I don't endorse cruelty to animals. In fact intentionally harming animals is disgusting!

But let's be real...let's find balance. A DWA is just that--an animal--not human! Please act accordingly people!

all for now...

let the firestorm begin...:-)

p.s. ferrett's are not pets...they're rodents...look it up on wikipedia (that one was for you, John!)

Exercise Sucks!

So why is exercise so difficult? Why is only 13% of the population exercising on a regular basis?

Why aren't gyms stacked, packed, and racked to the back during ALL 12 months of the year?

Why isn't home-gym equipment part of everyone's home decor? Why is it so unusual that when one sees a "six pack" of rectus abdominis, we swoon, awe, and gawk

Because exercise sucks, that's why!!!

I realize coming from someone who makes his profession in the fitness industry, my aforementioned comments might seem counter-productive, self-destructive, or just plain odd...

But let's all be honest, if exercise were easy, simple, or (seemingly) gave us the same enjoyment as a double martini at Mosaic, a kraut-laden polish sausage at the "K", or having sex with our significant other, WE'D ALL DO IT!!!

Am I right, or am I right?

Furthermore...let's analyze exercise in a group setting (i.e. the gym):
What we're asking of people is to dress up in clothes that don't fit, are too tight, show too much, or don't cinch where we need to be cinched...then ask them to jump, lift, push, pull, step, run in ways that seem odd, or don't fit their idea of functional everyday movement...then we put them in front of OTHER PEOPLE who look and do exercise better than them???!!!

(sarcasm ahead)

Man, I don't see the problem??!! What's the big deal? Expose people to potential wardrobe malfunctions, while jumping and jiggling, in front of pretty people, in an ego-laden sub-culture...

(more sarcasm ahead)

I just don't see the issue, do you?!

(sarcasm ends here)

Well, of course exercise is hard, humbling, difficult, and an up and down journey. The great experiences in life are NEVER EASY. It's hard, takes great discipline. It takes commitment, dedication, support from others, and expertise from those in the fitness industry.

But as one of my wonderful training clients, Cherryh Butler (one of INK magazine's supremely talented staff writers) says, "There are days I don't want to train, but I have to...I need to...I have to be there!"

So, does exercise really suck? For ALL OF US, there are those moments (I myself, had one today!). But find an exercise environment, a support system, a personal trainer, a group exercise class: all the components that are going to make you successful in your fitness journey...


...then...


MAKE IT HAPPEN! YOU are worth it!

The WATERboy

So why is water the most important, most critical, more pure element in anyone’s diet? Why is the most basic compound on the planet, the most beneficial to our minds and bodies? Why is water so important?

Here’s a basic rule of thumb to use when deciding what & what not to put in your mouth when living a healthy lifestyle:

If what you’re about to still in that gullet of yours, leaves any kind of trace, residue, "footprint" behind, you may want to question its validity in the "good-for-you" food & drink category...

So things like cheetos, doritos, french fries, rice krispie treats, soda all have one thing in common: they leave something behind!!! (c’mon, show us those orange caked-on digits as they exit that 20 oz. bag of death!)



Which brings me back to...WATER.

That’s right...ding, ding, you’re correct...NO RESIDUE. Perfection, purity, clean, WATER!

MIX WITH IT, COOK WITH IT, CLEAN WITH IT, BATHE IN IT...but most of all, when you’re feeling parched and even when you’re not:

DRINK IT--drink WATER more often than anything else (yes, including you’re favorite Venti tomorrow morning!)

any questions?

FRANKS & BEANS!

Men's Locker Room Ettiquette

(please, for the love of Pete!)

1. I don't care how good you think your bod looks, WEAR A TOWEL, washcloth, sock, loin cloth, something...when you get in and get out of your clothes. (You're not that pretty)

2. Wear flip-flops. I don't want to be sharing your feet filth and fowl. It's enough that you're sharing the visual of your "franks and beans" (see 1)

3. Reserve your phone conversations for OUTSIDE the lockerroom. I don't need to know how popular you THINK you are!

4. If you have to apply comforting powder to your unmentionables, please turn TOWARD your locker and NOT toward me!

5. WASH YOUR HANDS after you finish filling the porcelain. I do know where your hands are going--straight to the 50 pound dumbbell I'll be using in about 17 minutes.


thanks for trying to make the lockerrooms a better place to temporarily inhabit!

Jane Eyre, Lifetime Network...and...exercise?!

YOU ARE NOT EXERCISING IF YOU ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY DOING THE FOLLOWING:

• Reading a book/ magazine
  


• Studying for an exam with flash cards placed on the elliptical machine’s "book lip"
  


• Talking with your work-out partner/ cardio-neighbor more than you’re working
  


• TALKING ON THE PHONE
  


• Fully engaged in the plot-line of the Lifetime Network Drama playing on the flatscreen in front of you
  

If you are truly getting the most out of your workouts, you are NOT engaged in anything other than your workouts. PLEASE put the book, remote control, cell phone, or study notes away...especially if you’re complaining, "I just don’t see any progress from my workouts?!"

The one allowable exception of distraction: iTunes!!!...nuff said...

HAPPY WORKOUTS! :-)

ZZZZZZ's--Do you get them?

Calorie counting, carb counting, yoga, bench press, step class, 5k's...that's it, right?

WRONG!!!

We have to SLEEP!

"Sleep???!!!"

That's right...sleep. Our bodies will not function appropriately if we're not getting an adequate amount of sleep. It's just that simple.

We must set goals to begin to reach 7-8 hours of sleep on a consistent basis. Your body demands it. It really does. When you begin a new exercise routine, you will soon discover that your sleep habits improve. This is not an accident! You will feel tired (a natural tired)--not exhaustion due to high-stress levels and poor diet (which is what most people feel when they say they're "tired!")

Begin today...we need to begin making sleep a priority. It's so critical to rounding out your complete new LIFE-CHANGE!

For me, each morning, I do a quick count (after looking at my alarm clock digits) of just how many hours I received the night before...good habit to get into and hold yourself (and ask your trainer to do the same!)

HOW SHOULD I SLEEP?
The Way to Sleep: Sleep on your side with a pillow between your knees. This allows for the appropriate digestion to occur while you're sleeping along with the spine to find correct alignment while sleeping.

Avoid: Sleeping on your stomach. When we sleep in prone position, the back is forced to lie in an unnatural state for too long. Is the prone position good for stretching and working in the gym...yes. But avoid sleeping this way all night long!

OKAY...YOU'RE DONE READING THIS...GO TO SLEEP!!!

-D.W.B.L.