The Gift of Losing

No one goes a lifetime without losing, and what would life be without at least a few notches in the losses column?

What do you learn about yourself if you never lose, if you never have to face adversity, or never have to get back up after being knocked down?

If you have never heard of Fedor Emelianenko, look him up. He is to mixed martial arts what an Ali or a Marciano were to boxing, the guy is a living legend. In a sport where having 21 wins and 8 losses (Lidell), or even 18 wins and 10 losses (Couture) earns you the status of a legend, and deservedly so, Fedor goes above and beyond. He had a record of 32 wins, with 1 loss and 1 no-contest before suffering his first loss in 10 years this past Saturday, something not seen in the world of mixed martial arts where there are so many different ways to lose. Read the rest of this entry »

3 Lesson’s Learned from a Great Weekend

This past weekend I traveled to Niagara Falls and Toronto, Ontario with my lovely girlfriend for the wedding of a good friend of mine, Vince DelMonte, who married his beautiful bride in Flavia Dragos. Vince and Flavia are great people and I couldn’t be happier for them.

As for the wedding, it was filled to the brim with lots of laughs, great food and even greater collection of people. I went there to support my friend, his family and to celebrate his marriage. And, yes to have a good time and enjoy the festivities. But in the middle of the great party I ended up learning a few lessons.

1. You’re only as good as the company you keep.

Happy and successful people hang out with other happy and successful people, much like people with little or no ambition hang out with people who share a similar mentality. Read the rest of this entry »

The Complaining Generation?

I’m sitting here at the kitchen table sipping on a cup of coffee (French press), getting some work done. I have Johnny Cash and Sinatra on shuffle in the background and it just got me thinking about my generation in comparison to theirs.

I had a great conversation yesterday with my Grandparents who live in the beautiful province of Newfoundland. It was great talking to them. My Grandfather’s a funny guy, he’ll always make a crack about me having a girlfriend who’s too good looking for me, which I don’t disagree with. I’ll fire back calling him an old fart which’ll make my Grandmother laugh. I haven’t seen them in years and it was great talking to them. Read the rest of this entry »

7 things that make for a better workout

Whale watching in Maui with Claire – a great reward after reaching a training goal!

1. Have a plan

Don’t go in there guessing what exercise you’re going to do next. That’s what most people, they know what they’re working, but don’t have an exact plan of what they’re going to do. If you don’t have a plan, you’re going to be wasting a lot of time and you’re not going to get the results you should be seeing.

Whether fat loss is your goal or you’re trying to pack on some lean muscle, your workouts need to be focused and intense, and without a program or a written down sense of what you’re doing you’ll end up losing a lot of that intensity trying to figure out what’s next.

2. Put it between two solid meals

Our bodies are like cars, they need fuel to run properly. Placing your exercise between two solid meals will give your body the nutrients and fuel it needs to run properly.

I’ll have a decent sized meal 45 minutes before exercise with lots of carbs and a source of lean protein. I’ll have a shake right after a workout, and then a big meal around an hour or two after that which will look something like this:

- 9 oz lean ground beef + 1 cup red beans + 1 cup brown rice + low fat plain yogurt + salsa. Read the rest of this entry »