Michael Moore’s got a new movie lambasting the American Health Care system, and singing the praises of Cuba’s. I am not sure that we can model our system on Cuba’s, but we certainly do have a problem here.

I’ve been a fan of Michael Moore’s movies ever since he did “Canadian Bacon” with Alan Alda. They are funny, and unwavering. But, we all know how prone he is to propaganda. Truth isn’t the point, it’s entertainment disguised as journalism. And though, like Hunter S. Thompson, his work often does contain a lot of truth, you are never sure where to find it.

I have yet to see the film, and when I do I’ll post on it. But, I find the idea of someone who is so famously unhealthy (by choice) making a moving about the health care system to be more than a little ironic.

Our biggest problems, as I see it, are an inability for a wide group of Americans to afford health insurance on the one hand, and a total lack of personal responsibility taken by the public in preventative health care (AKA, working out and eating healthy food) on the other. An individual can only do so much about the first problem, and maybe Michael Moore is attempting to do his part with this film. But, the second one is well within the control of each individual.

Daily vigorous activity alone would radically change our nation for the better if we all just did it.

Well, I’ve just spend an unexpected week or so away from the blogosphere. Life got hectic, as it often can, and I ended up neglecting my daily posting duties to focus instead on my clients, the end of the term at school, and my fiance who just lost her uncle. It happens, but it brought to mind a certain reality for me. I had been posting “workouts of the day” and had made a commitment to doing that as a way of giving people some incentive to hit the gym and provide some framework for those who can’t afford a fitness coach.

But, rigidly sticking to a daily posting schedule is just not something I can do, as I am not a professional blogger and am loaded with a number of commitments (though I must admit to being addicted to the act of blogging). That said, I don’t want to leave people hanging who felt like the workouts a day were helpful. Instead I will periodically post a whole routine that one can follow for an extended period of time to achieve a certain goal.

And of course, I will blog on all the other topics I have always blogged on. Thank you for reading, and I hope it helps.

Workout of the Day:  Friday

A1:  Snatch:  6×4

B1:  Bench Press:  6×4

C1:  Front squats:  6×4

Workout of the Day:  Thursday

Intervals:  4 rounds of 1 on/2 off

Workout of the Day:  Wednesday

A1:  Power Cleans:  4×6

B1:  Deadlifts:  4×6

Workout of the Day:  Tuesday

Intervals:  4 rounds of 1 on/2 off

Workout of the Day:  Monday

A1:  Front Squats 3×8

A2:  Chins:  3×8

B1:   Step ups:  3×8

B2:  Push ups:  3×8

Workout of the Day:  Saturday, May 19th

Intervals:

4 rounds of:  1 min on/2 off

Bodybuilders are a notoriously drugged up group of people. (It’s one of the reasons I prefer strength sports like Olympic Weightlifting, Powerlifting, and of course Sumo!). But, their (relatively) new obsession with synthol is just ridiculous.

The act of building ones body is such a healthy endeavor. And it saddens me greatly that the modern sport of bodybuilding has degenerated to such base levels. They do real disservice the general fitness community, and the sports community at large.

If you wanna talk great bodybuilders, I prefer these guys:

John Grimek

Reg Park

Tommy Kono (who was also one of, if not the greatest Olympic Weightlifters of all time)

and Bill Pearl

They weren’t all completely natural (though Kono was). some of the old timers used some steriods. But the doses they used were miniscule. And, most importantly, they were still within the bounds of what it means to be human. They all lived healthy lives, and a few of them are still going strong. Grimek was still doing heavy squats in his 70′s.
The bottom line is longevity. Todays bodybuilders are seriously compromising their health. And in the next decade or so, we may be seeing the fallout.

Workout of the Day:  Thursday, May 17th

Intervals:

4 Rounds:  1 min on/2 off