Entries by Carlton Cullins

In my mind, there are 2 HUGE (extremely popular) exercise myths that have created a lot of problems, as well as helped construct unnecessary barriers for many. However, there are a million reasons (excuses) why most don’t and won’t exercise. I have heard them all. Not enough time is most often what i hear. This week i talk about why most of us don’t need to do exercise extremely hard or extremely long to get what we need done. But don’t misunderstand me, exercise is most certainly supposed to be work. It’s supposed to be challenging. If we don’t continually challenge our minds, bodies, etc, we’ll never really evolve and/or improve. Exercise is important because when done properly, it improves many aspects of health. Losing body fat is just a very, very small part of that. Just because something (anything) is “good” for us does not mean a whole lot more of it is always automatically better.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6blp4Xx0iFA&w=560&h=315]

/0 Comments/by
, , , , , , , , , , ,

New weekly Health & Fitness Tipz! This week my video is shorter (less than 3 minutes). I talk briefly about the benefits of starting each day off on the “good foot”, regardless of what time of day we get up or how well we wake up. I do have a concern for caffeine addiction, especially if that caffeine must contain cream &/or sugar. Sorry but that sh*t ain’t good for you. That’s just a dessert drink that is probably doing nothing but making you fatter, unhealthier and less likely to sleep better each day. Many of the “energy” drinks also have similar issues. I’d recommend drinking a full glass of clean water first thing in the morning and then maybe one cup of black coffee or one sugar-free energy drink if you must. Beyond that, i’d highly recommend getting better rest each night. Moving more if you sit down most of your day. Possibly moving less if you exercise and work “hard” every day. Eat healthier foods. Manage stress daily. Write down (in your mind or on paper) a plan for each day. Don’t just be a robot, a slave. Be an arrow aimed at the bullseye of where you want to go and what you want to accomplish. This starts by setting the tone as soon as you wake :)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_n1g8Dhi6o&w=560&h=315]

/0 Comments/by
, ,

FREE SEMINAR: Saturday, April 4, 9-10am. For anyone that might be interested, i am planning to host a small “Health & Wellness” gathering at our neighborhood city park this coming Saturday morning from 9am-10am. The park is located at the intersection of South First and Emerald Wood. It’s completely free to attend. I have absolutely no intention of selling anyone anything, now or in the future. My primary hope is to simply begin providing a trusted resource for general health & fitness concerns within our Southwood neighborhood. A place where anyone can come to get useful, helpful information and inspiration that i hope will benefit the health and well-being of all. This week, I plan to cover a few important topics dealing with some of the general basics of health maintenance, flexibility, nutrition and exercise. I imagine it to be fairly loosely structured and informal, yet still entirely professional. Unless it is pouring down rain, i will plan to be there. Just to be clear, this is not a group workout class. This is for educational purposes only. If you would like to sit down, bring something comfortable to sit on. Do also understand, with the obvious complexity of many areas of nutrition, fitness and health (such as specific diet recommendations, advanced exercise protocols and specific medical questions/concerns), do not expect every question to be answered. At the very least, I will do my best to point everyone in the best direction. Other resources and information might very well need to be explored. A little more about me: I have been a resident and home-owner in Southwood since 1999. I have worked professionally as a fully certified Personal Trainer/Nutrition Specialist for over 10 years, owning and operating my own company, The Blue Sky Strongbox, 7 of those years. I have worked with kids, elderly, handicapped, college athletes and everyone in between and beyond. For quite a while now, i have been interested in doing more direct local-community volunteer work. Free work. No gimmicks. No trying to sell anyone anything, ever. Why? Because i love my Austin. I love this neighborhood. I’ve been in South Austin for going on 20 years now. I truly do care about the health and well-being of others. I’m hoping this can be a positive way for me to impact our community. WHEN: Saturday, April 4, 2015. TIME: 9am – 10am WHERE: Williamson Creek Central Greenbelt Park. Intersection of South First and Emerald Wood. (http://www.austinparks.org/our-parks.html?parkid=378) COST: free. There will be no selling of anything. WHO: Carlton Cullins

/0 Comments/by
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

New Health & Fitness Tipz! Today i talk about “Squatting”. Most people hear that and think: an exercise. But it’s much more than that. Even if you never plan to “workout” again, you still should be able to squat down without it looking like total dogsh*t. The point is, you need to be able to safely squat down fairly low till the day you die. But this requires some knowledge and will take some practice. Today’s video is not about trying to teach anyone how to squat correctly(that would be a much longer video), but more for ideas on where to begin. Start today. Learn to squat again. If you are not an “exerciser” then try getting down and hanging out in the bottom part of the squat, much like a daily stretch. If you have seen the light and do practice movement on a regular basis, include squats in every workout, either as part of your warmup or as a main dish. The point is to move better and squatting is a fundamental part of that huge equation. Enjoy.

/1 Comment/by
, , , , , ,

We all love simple, short answers to the questions we have. But unfortunately, when it comes to many Fitness/Health/Medical questions, there are rarely simple, short, definitive, one-size-fits-all answers. I wish there were but such is life. The main reason for this is that we are all uniquely different. What works for one of us might not work for all of us. And what seems to work right this moment, might not continue to work so well down the line. Things change, especially our bodies and even more, our lives. The key is to focus on where each of us finds ourselves at any point in time. There are answers to most of our questions but are likely to be found only through patience, perseverance and putting in some serious work. And that work typically makes most of us better than we were before, anyhow.

/0 Comments/by
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ideas for a better warmup: THE “Old” WARMUP (5-15min): Most people just hop on a treadmill or stationary bike for anywhere from 5-20 minutes to “warmup”. This works but it’s most likely not as effective as other options. Guys who plan on lifting “heavy” weights often ONLY warmup by doing light warmup-sets of their chosen […]

/0 Comments/by
, , , , , , , , , ,

New Monthly Tipz! I’m back but instead of weekly, it’s proably gonna be more like monthly.This time i talk about a simple strategy for the holiday season. Why you ask? Because like it or not, too many people are gonna be fatter by the end of this year. Let’s not do that. You know, to be honest, there’s no secret or magic trick to any of it. It just comes down to a mindset, a simple plan and some stick-to-it-ness. Exercise can help but not more than focusing on nutrition during the next couple of months. Watch the video. Figure out your plan. Follow through. See you soon. Sorry it’s been a while… – Carlton

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63k0xDsME-o&w=560&h=315]

/0 Comments/by

A nice entry

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, […]

/1 Comment/by