I am consistently humbled when surrounded by the raw, untouched, natural environment. The gentle sway of trees, limbs, and greenery. Within the silent backdrop, the only sounds heard are from soft crunches beneath your feet and the gentle whistle of the wind. When the warmth of the sun touches your skin, there is an instantaneous feeling of… Continue reading Why Do I Run Where Others Will Not?

Not too long ago, I sucked at pull-ups. Any sort of pulling motion from overhead I avoided, and it was with the worst reasoning: I WAS BAD AT THEM, SO I AVOIDED THEM OH MY GOD, WHAT?! If I could go back a few years ago to that time, I would slap myself silly for… Continue reading 8 Proven Methods to Conquer the Chin Up

This Guest Post is by Brad Krause, writer/owner of selfcaring.info/ . Brad is inspired to help others improve their overall well-being through self-care, and we are happy to have him share his insights! Practical Advice on How to Incorporate Self-Care Into Your Daily Routine Self-care is getting a lot of attention these days, and for good reason.… Continue reading Practical Advice on How to Incorporate Self-Care Into Your Daily Routine

Just like with your exercise, it is important to have variability, or change up how you are BREATHING when performing those exercises. Here is How -->

❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips❄️ 🎁Tip #10: Focus on Your Big Rocks First 🎁   The amount of time you have each day ⏰is decided, but how you dedicate your time is all up to You! This is why it is important to identify your top level priorities versus lesser ones ↔️   Think of… Continue reading ❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips❄️ Day #10

❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips❄️ 🎁Tip #9: Ask Yourself WHY 🎁   Don’t just spin your wheels and hope for change to happen. Be the change 💪   Understanding why you want to “be healthy” is necessary if you want to see your progress. Without knowing a deeper, more intimate WHY of where want to… Continue reading ❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips❄️ Day #9

❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips❄️ 🎁Tip #8: It’s Not Your Fault 🎁   ↪️Eating more vegetables and less processed foods ↪️Making it to the gym 3 times a week ↪️Losing those pesky 10-20 pounds (or more) ↪️Feeling comfortable in your skin to even join a gym ↪️Challenging yourself with a new hobby or experience  … Continue reading ❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips❄️ Day #8

❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips❄️ 🎁Tip #7: Increase Your Healthy Activity Time 🎁   Is your selfish time aligned with the goals and expectations you set for yourself? ☝️If you want to accomplish big goals, you need practice the little steps that take you there DAILY 📆   Watching T.V. 📺mindlessly could be replaced with… Continue reading ❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips❄️ Day #7

❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips ❄️ 🎁Tip #6: Track Your Progress, it’s the Proof 🎁 If you aren’t measuring what you do, how will you ever know: ↪️If what you’re doing is effective ↪️What needs to be adjusted to create progress ↪️Where you started to celebrate your successes   Measuring is not about being overly… Continue reading 12 Days of FITmas Tips Day #6

❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips ❄️ 🎁Tip #5: Reward Yourself Along the Way 🎁   Giving yourself a pat on the back 👏is essential to reinforce your good habits and choices. The dilemma comes into play when you choose to reward yourself with GARBAGE 🗑   There is a difference between enjoying a treat and… Continue reading ❄️12 Days of FITmas Tips ❄️ Day #5

You might hear it from a doctor, family member, or even a friend that you should start exercising to improve your health. But what does that mean exactly? How long should I exercise for? Does it matter what type? What if I don't have a trainer? There is no way I have time for that.

Why Your Butt is Worth More Than Just Looking Good

Your butt, glutes, cheeks, fanny, buns, tooshie, badonkadonk, or whatever else you want to call it has big shoes to fill when it comes to strengthening and optimizing the body. The four primary benefits of strengthening your glutes are;

1. Improving your Posture
2. Preventing Injury and Pain (many different areas)
3. Increased Strength, Power, and Athletic Prowess
4. Looking Sexier, a.k.a. Improved Physique

As a coach, many of my students at Orca Empire spend a much of time sitting during their lives, and you might too. Sitting to commute in, sitting a huge majority of the day, sitting to commute out, and sitting down at the end of the day to relax. All of that sitting is silent torture to your glutes and hips unless you counteract it with activating, moving, and strengthening those areas of the body that are lying dormant throughout the day.

Turn Your Butt On

In one of my previous articles, #ButtStuff: What'ss the Deal Wit...

You discovered a time where each morning, afternoon and night, feeling like the best version of your potential exists.

With each favorable decision you make, you crack a smile and love how empowered it makes you feel.

You are unstoppable, regardless of whatever is going on around you. The habits you've built in allow you to enjoy life in all spectrums; your family, fitness, career, relationships, creativity, health, happiness...

And then you wake up.

You know that feeling when

Your body feels like ‘blah’? (I know, super scientific with that description) But seriously, your neck, back, hips, and legs either feel like Jell-O, or a 1,000-pound block of cement when trying to get up-and-out of bed.

Not before long you shake those feelings out, but lone behold, by the middle of the day you begin to feel sluggish, and tired. You’ve sucked down coffee, tea, snacks, and whatever else can keep you focused throughout the day, burning a hole in your pocket and energy. But what about the most vital part of what you as a human being is made up of; did you happen to try just adding more of that?

“Water is of major importance to all living things; in some organisms, up to 90% of their body weight comes from water. Up to 60% of the human adult body is water.

According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even the bones are watery: 31%.” (source)

Water is literally the most important nutrient you can give your body. Regardless of how many vitamins, protein...

Mindless: Marked by or displaying no use of the powers of the intellect; Requiring little attention or thought; Not intellectually challenging or stimulating.

Engaging in mindless behaviors are what cause us to feel stuck when the shit hits the fan in life. Out of the blue with no warning, the slap of reality shows you what happens when you don't pay enough attention or use positive choices to fuel your decisions. Sometimes, we can recognize the culprit on the spot, such as walking into the bakery and picking up a pastry, simply because you were walking by - not because you really wanted it. Or ignoring that twinge of soreness in your low back (since it's gone away in the past) until it is pulsating with pain each time you bend over. Or maybe it's gluing your eyes to an intriguing slew of social media posts while enjoying family time at the end of a weekday.

"Life repeats itself mindlessly - unless you become mindful, it will go on repeating like a wheel." - Osho

At the moment, it is tough to r...

What is Cortisol

Cortisol is a hormone created by the adrenal glands in your kidneys, then released into the bloodstream. Just like testosterone, progesterone, estrogen, melatonin, and DHEA, your body like to keep the balance of each hormone under its control, and does not like big shifts in change.

"Almost every cell contains receptors for cortisol and so cortisol can have lots of different actions depending on which sort of cells it is acting upon. These effects include controlling the body’s blood sugar levels and thus regulating metabolism, acting as an anti-inflammatory, influencing memory formation, controlling salt and water balance, influencing blood pressure and helping the development of the fetus." (source)

Most importantly, the biggest impact that cortisol is most well known for is the ability to influence 2 things; Your Sleep and Stress Levels.

Can I Control How Much I Have?

Throughout the day, your adrenal glands act like toll bridge booths, regulating the amount released to take on some of its duties. Cortisol follows what is called a diurnal rhythm, meaning your levels peak (the most) in the morning just before sunrise, and hitting its lowest levels a few hours after falling asleep. ...

It's Not Your Fault

First and foremost, you are not to blame. Nutrition and eating has become so confusing and complex, it can be difficult to sift through the bullshit. But now, you have taken a huge step in the right direction to arm yourself with good habit building practices.

Some of the hardest habits to change are the ones we barely recognize we do. Even more than that, they are the ones we have no intention of changing them because "there is nothing wrong, why would I?". The best way to maintain building the best version of yourself is to use each day for growth, learning, and evaluation. The current age of information provides the perfect platform to search or solve most question or dilemma within seconds! But the process of using and applying that ...

Don't get me wrong, training for sexy legs, arms, abs, and buns are absolutely important for function and improving your body.

But are you training the most vital muscle in your body you can't see?

"You may think anything that gets your heart rate up can count as cardio training, so you will be fine just doing high-rep squats. Well, no. Just like you can have concentric and eccentric muscle contractions when doing curls and presses, your heart can have different training adaptations." - Andrew Read

We spent this week covering how to speed up your metabolism. Through different types of training, such as HIIT, weight circuits, and different forms of aerobic exercise, the different ways your body utilizes energy are challenged to improve. But aside from the metabolism-boosting benefits, they do an amazing job at exercising the most important muscle in your body, the heart! Gaining age has many positive benefits, but it holds no prisoners when its negative effects try to sneak into your life. Things like decreased bone density, increased fat mass, and a big drop in energy levels are not mandatory, but are a ...

Your typical gym routine lacks purpose, and you might just be wasting your time.

Talk about a bold statement to start, eh? Now let me clear that up real quick before you say, "who the hell does this ginger headed kid think he is? Telling me my goals don't matter, I go all the time and work hard". On top of training outdoors and here at Orca, I am a member of a local 'box' gym, home to tons of weight plate machines, a dumbbell rack, some free moving equipment, cardio section, add-on group classes, and some ooh-aah things. But each time I go, I always learn something new about what exercises and movements that are not conducive to making your life better!

Your time is valuable,

So your training needs to have a clear purpose so you can gain improvements that are relevant and make you feel empowered. With the fast-paced and chaotic lifestyle, m...