A couple months back I got my blood tested for the first time ever. For about a year I had been interested in doing just that. As I plan on sharing even more health related information with you in the coming months I figured giving you a “score card” so to speak would be a great way to start.
Feeling great and making progress in the gym is a great general marker of your health. But seeing black and white numbers can also be very useful. And I was pleased with the results. Here they are:
First off, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you how I got this done. I paid for this out of pocket and it wasn’t too expensive. I went through the Life Extension Foundation. I highly suggest you become a member there. They have a great magazine, awesome supplements, and you can get your blood work done for just a couple hundred bucks. Get more info here.
I’d like to call your attention to a few things here. If you actually take the time to go through the numbers you’ll notice that every single one, except one Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, is found in the reference range.
I asked by fried Mike T Nelson over at Extreme Human Performance what his thoughts on SHBG were and this is what he said:
“I did a bit more research on SBHG levels and my current conclusion is that if everything is going well, I would NOT do much to try to lower them. Newer research shows they serve all sorts of functions related to health and performance than just a carrier and attempts to lower them (despite the popular beliefs) is probably not the best idea, esp when Test and free test levels are ok. Plus, any very aggressive attempts to lower them will probably completely screw something else up.”
So besides that one high number everything else falls in the reference ranges. Of course, I don’t just want to be in the average ranges. I want to be optimal. So I had to do some more research myself to find out any improvements I could make. There were several, like my white blood cells being a bit low at this time. My plan of action isn’t to take specific supplements to raise my testosterone even higher for instance, but to continue increasing my health through better living, nutrition and all the experimenting I’ve been doing (such as organs and even raw meat lately). I completely expect my health to increase over time, not decrease.
When I do this test again, maybe next year, we’ll see if I’ve gotten healthier or worse. I plan on doing the former.
Also I want to call attention to my Vitamin D levels. Here I am in the optimal ranges which is usually designated 70-100ng/ml. This is something I feel is important for everyone to take unless they know they’re getting enough sun. I try to go outside but to be honest spend way too much time indoors, on the computer. So to supplement the natural way to get Vitamin D I take 6000 IU’s of D3 each and every day. I highly recommend you do that too, possibly even more.
I’ll be talking a lot more soon on everything related to health. Now a couple questions for you:
Have you ever gotten your blood work done and what did you find? If not, do you plan to in the future? Post your answers in the comments below.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Want a place to start on the road to health? Then I highly recommend you check out my book 101 Simple Steps to Radiant Health to learn easy-to-do steps you can do today that’ll increase your health.
Filed under Health by on Sep 12th, 2011. 7 Comments. 
Did you catch the earlier parts?
Kettlebells – Part 1
Bodyweight Training – Part 2
Monster Strength and Conditioning – Part 3
Can your body handle your environment?
A one size fits all approach does not exist.
Yet, there are commonalities even among very different yet healthy diets (such as a meat based diet versus veganism). By looking at these commonalities you can become healthier easily without the debate.
Because there are so many different eating plans there are not that many of these similarities. But once you have them safely stored in your brain it makes all dietary choices easier. And once you make them habits then health comes easily.
Since we know that different people get wide ranging results on different diets where should you start? Look at what others are doing and use that as a starting point for your experiments.
Now let’s talk about performance. How will getting healthier make you better at lifting weights or any sport?
What would happen if you were at 100% each day? If not 100, than how about 90% which is a much more achievable goal? And what happens when you expand the boundaries of the vitality you feel each day (Like making your old 100% only feel like 50% of how you feel today)?
With constant tweaks and improvements it is possible.
Let’s take getting sick for instance. No one enjoys that. When we’re talking about performance it means obviously you’ll have to take some time off or at the very least ease back. Well, getting sick is an option. If you keep your immune system strong it will not happen except in cases of extreme lifestyle distress. And even then you have to ask yourself what could I do to avoid this?
If you EVER get sick you are not as healthy as you can be. It’s a bold statement but one I believe in. Sickness is indicative of problems in the future, not just now.
Having more health is obviously better. And being able to perform better because of your greater health is a plus.
Once you have the foundation with 90% of the basics set then you can begin to play with the advanced stuff.
The fact is with our environment as toxic as it is, in the air, food, and water supply (not to mention nuclear radiation) these days you can’t always just rely on the basics. A few well-picked supplements and a watchful eye are necessary to maintain true radiant health.
We are getting less of what we need and using up even more of it. It’s no wonder there is so much disease everywhere you look.
I’ll be going into much more detail on these subjects at the Super Human Training Workshop. Telling you specific steps you can take to safeguard your health. Not only me, but Bud will be giving his take on health and nutrition too.
The price goes up in TWO DAYS. Make sure to sign up now.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Nutrition, workshops by on Mar 29th, 2011. Comment.
I’ve gone even deeper than ever before in my study of diet and nutrition to maximize health and performance.
One thing has become very much clear to me. I knew this before but now it’s set in stone, no doubt in my mind.
That is that people are individual. What works for one person will not necessarily work for another. In fact what gives one person the body of their dreams, and limitless energy could straight up end up killing another person.
All the more reason you can’t buy a diet book and follow the plan to the letter…except as an experiment to see if that works for you. Any program that doesn’t take this into account is bound to fail for a percentage of the population.
That’s why every diet will have success stories and utter failures. And that’s just talking about the people that are compliant with it.
Now I understand I’m a bit different then most people. I am not looking at changing my diet in order to cure an “uncurable” disease. I am looking to find what works very best for me specifically on a performance level. Not just in the gym but the mental edge in all of life as well.
This is a ‘towards’ versus an ‘away from’ strategy which puts me in the minority.
The majority, if they don’t have illness or disease, only look at what their eating when they have some weight they want to lose. I’m not saying this is bad, its just another aspect of how different people are built differently.
Health and weight loss are correlated to each other but certainly not equal. Just like size and strength are correlated but not equal. More muscular people tend to be stronger. Less fat people tend to be healthier. The inverse is also true but the keyword is ‘tend to’.
You can lose weight while still eating unhealthy. Just ask the guy that did the twinkie diet.
In my studies I’ve learned from many different people. One person in the last year that has opened up a new area to me is Mike T. Nelson and the idea of metabolic flexibility.
The basic premise of it is to become more flexible in your eating in terms of quality, macronutrient profile, quantity and much more. In fact you can eat many “unhealthy” foods and still get results in weight loss.
This material spoke true to my own experience. Actually I was already eating like this for the most part which may be part of the reason for my very lean 6‘2“ frame at 185lbs. Having this flexibility is great for your health and losing weight as many people have seen.
While I eat great the majority of the time I make no claims of being perfect. But the truth is, albeit counterintuitive, perfection in diet can slow your results.
The best part is his program is put together in a way that you can easily make it part of your lifestyle for the long term. Its not some diet you’ll try and then stop doing.
That’s because one of the main premises is the quantity and when you eat instead of just what you’re eating.
I don’t agree with everything. One statement he makes rubs me the wrong way which is to see how bad you can eat while still maintaining your goals. While this may work well for fat loss, I just can’t quite agree with it in regards to health.
Still this is definitely worth checking out especially if you‘re looking to lose a few pounds.
Check out Metabolic Flexibility.
Many of the misconceptions on fats, proteins, and carbs will be cleared up. Go to this page and you’ll see the results some other people have gotten and continue to get.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Less than a week away to get the early bird discount for half price for the Super Human Training Workshop. I highly encourage you to sign up right now. It ends after Monday next week!
Filed under Nutrition by on Feb 23rd, 2011. 1 Comment.
Meant to get this out to you sooner but things have just been crazy around here. I’ll be having a big announcement next week but until then I wanted to leave you with something that’ll keep you busy.
Do you remember the film, “Super Size Me”?
You know the one where a guy in New York city (Morgan Spurlock) decided to eat nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days?
In the film Morgan showed what happens if you eat terrible food for 30 days. The results were not good.
Well I want to share with you an exclusive, behind the scenes video with Morgan Spurlock that I think is critically important for you to watch if you care about your health…
The question is asked what if you did something different? What if diabetics went on a 100% raw food diet for the same period of time. The results are astounding.
It’s pretty mind-blowing. Be sure to watch this video now as well as the other 3 in the series they’re giving away.
I think that this video will be a real eye opener for you.Check it out now.
In health,
Logan Christopher
P.S. When you sign up there you’ll be able to gain access to a few other videos including those with David Wolfe, whom I’m a big fan of and more. Yes, in the end they’ll be selling you something but it’s a cheap DVD with a couple other options. If you know anyone who needs to turn their health around you need to get this information in their hands.
Filed under Health, Nutrition by on Nov 8th, 2010. 1 Comment.
Over the weekend I did a fast. In total it lasted about 3 days.
Fasting is something I’ve been doing on and off for years. Recently, though I haven’t done all that much.
No food for three days
If you’re unfamiliar with fasting the basics of it are to go completely without food for a period of time. This can be as short as 24 hours (anything less I wouldn’t call a real fast). Or it can go on for longer than a month (this is generally not recommended for most people).
The Benefits of Fasting
There are several reasons why you’d want to fast. It gives the body a break. Did you know that digestion is one of the most energy intensive processes in the human body? Especially when you eat, eat, and eat never giving it a break it has no time to play catch-up.
But with a fast, and the digestion freed up, the body can begin to fortify itself. It can use the extra time and energy to detox the body. Especially in this day and age, even with the healthiest diet (and how many people really are on all the time?) you still need to detox.
Fasting is also a great way to build willpower as you will at times be hungry. The funny thing is after a period of time, the hunger goes away. As I write this food doesn’t even sound all that appetizing to me. I wouldn’t even be thinking about it except that I’m writing about it.
Want to lose weight? Regularly fasting, for instance one day per week, can certainly help. I’ve dropped down to below 180 now. Of course, I know that my weight will come back fast as I begin eating again, and then some.
I also believe that fasting could help you gain weight, done on a limited basis. It sounds counter-intuitive but fasting can better prepare your body to eat and assimilate food when you are eating, which you’ll also likely do more of. I haven’t fully tested this yet, but may at some point in the future.
What does this all have to do with strength and performance? I believe that the better you body runs, the cleaner it is, the better it will allow you to build and express your strength.
While Paul Bragg was a big advocate of water fasting, and that is what I always use to do, I took a different approach this time.
That is a Nutritional Fast.
A nutritional fast involves taking in nutrition while fasting. But that doesn’t make sense…I just said you can’t eat while fasting. To put it in a broad idea, macronutrients are not nutrition. Yes you need them and certain kinds are way better then others.
However, nutrition is pretty much all in the micronutrients. That is vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, enzymes, probiotics, herbs and the like. You could also stick some fats and amino acids here. These are not only necessary for your body to function, but necessary to make it thrive. The key difference is most macronutrients are used for fuel, while micronutrients are used for everything else.
When you take these in while fasting you do a number of things.
1. You make the fast easier. With nutrition coming in (often what your body is actually craving when it signals you for food) you don’t get as hungry. In fact, this time I’ve loaded up so much that I sometimes feel the sense of fullness. Having tea throughout the day certainly helps. Load that tea up with tonic herbs, even better.
2. You give the body what it needs to do its job better. I mentioned detoxing and freeing up the body’s energies. By providing nutrition your body can better do the job. If vitamins and minerals are necessary pieces in cleansing the body, through various enzymatic functions and what not, then you can basically accelerate your fast by doing so.
3. It may be a little healthier to do so. Unless you get consistent blood work done you don’t necessarily know of things you could be chronically deficient in. While having some form of nutrition, you better mitigate the risks of fasting not to say there is much risk in fasting, especially shorter versions, but it is not the right choice in all cases. Just ask Bernarr McFadden whose intense fasting protocols may have hastened his death!
I wanted to give you some ideas about fasting. For more, fasting is listed as several of the points in 101 Simple Steps to Radiant Health (with different ideas about fasting in each point).
Here’s a recent review I got in for the book:
“First of all I want to say that your 101 Simple Steps to Radiant Health! is a SICK book (In a good way!).
“The simplicity of it makes it a Awesome book about health, without all the scientific BS of MOST health books these days. Just straight to the point no fluff, NO BS, legit stuff! I consulted it & keep on consulting it day by day as a reminder of how IMPORTANT health is to strength & vice versa!
“I also started incorporating Almost ALL of the Steps that you mentioned in the book & have been noticing some amazing effects, especially with sleeping WITHOUT a pillow, which is a blessing to say the least. I never had any neck cramps or pain in the first place ( I Train my Neck like you do, with Wrestler Bridge/Front Bridge etc.). But still it made me fall in sleep faster & easier & it also improved my quality of sleep! so thanks for that bro! That one tip changed the way I sleep forever! Never going to go back to those damn pillows EVER again!
“I could go on & on & on about How much I like the book & how much I’ve learned from it, But I think you get the point!
“Bottom Line: It’s a Awesome Straight-to-the-point book Which every Health fanatic should have!”
Matti Marzel – The Netherlands
If you haven’t already I suggest you check out the book today.
And then if you’re new to it, try fasting. Just go from dinner to dinner the following day and see how it feels.
But if you do have experience fasting, nutritional, water, even without food and water, tell me about it below.
In health,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Health, Nutrition, Recovery by on Oct 18th, 2010. 1 Comment.
I got back from my trip last to the Longevity Now Conference last night. And what a trip it was.
I’m afraid I can only scratch the surface of everything I learned here. But I did want to give you a few things to take away from it.
With David 'Avocado' Wolfe
So if you are training hard, especially in conditioning, by being grounded while you do it you’ll perform better. All the more reason to train outside and barefoot.
2. We are energetic beings before chemical. This has wide ranging implications. I’ll leave you to take away what you can from that statement.
3. The key to losing weight that no one talks about. You can make high nutrition very low calorie foods (and I talking about ridiculously high nutrition, the likes of which your average person never gets). Make them taste unbelievable (literally like ice cream, vegan or not, with nothing bad in them), and use those to satisfy your body and energy needs.
With that you’ll be able to eat a lot less food and you won’t even have cravings. I dropped about 8 lbs this weekend without trying.
4. Did you know that the fluorine found in most water supplies virtually destroys the pineal gland by age 18? If you know the functions of the pineal gland then you know how bad this is.
5. If you want to be truly healthy it comes down to the intestinal bacteria in your gut. For instance, 70% of your immunity comes down to your healthy gut flora. This is not as easy as swallowing a single pill of probiotics or eating a small thing of yogurt each day. It takes much more work.
That’s why the very day when I got home I prepared my own sauerkraut and raw milk kefir.
6. I got so much information on hormone optimization I don’t even know where to start. To get your hormones better you need to kick out the bad ones (such as xenoestrogens caused by environmental and nutritional toxins) before you try to increase your testosterone. The indole-3-carbinol found in cruciferous vegetables will help deal with those xenoestrogens.
7. When it comes to anti-aging the length of your telomeres found in your DNA is the undisputed way to measure your biological clock. These naturally get shorter as time goes on through reproduction but it can be accelerated by all the things generally contributed to aging. Right now they’re seeking to find out how to switch on the enzyme telomerase which stops this process in the cells.
And so much more its crazy.
You may have missed the event but there are a few options open. They are selling the online videos in which you can watch the recordings of everything.
Even better they have a two for one deal on the next conference coming up in April. But this special is only open until October 1st. I’m already signed up and I suggest you do the same.
I’ll have more to share later on.
In health,
Logan Christopher
P.S. The only thing unfortunate about this weekend is I had little time to train. But now that I’m back I’ll be hitting a hard one in an hour or so. With the break and how great I’m feeling right now it’s sure to be a great one.
Filed under Conditioning, Health, Nutrition by on Sep 29th, 2010. 5 Comments.
Recently I told you that in addition to strength training and feats of strength I’d start to talk more on the subject of health.
Health is important. It seems to me that the majority of trainees these days don’t pay enough attention to it. If you workout then scarf down a couple Big Macs you’re really not doing much for your health.
But everyone knows what healthy eating is, right? Whether they do it or not, so I won’t be addressing that area much.
Instead I want to focus on the other things you need to be doing for your health.
Things that you may not realize you should be doing.
Things that can make a dramatic impact on your life and vitality with a simple change.
Today I reveal a breakthru discovery and all that it can do for you health.
This report details a ‘non-technology’ you can start using today…at no cost…and how this will result in improved sleep and circulation with reduced soreness.
(Sounds to me like that means better recovery from your workouts. That couldn’t possibly help you, could it???)
Get all the details, including the scientific research, in my new report.
Sign up to get the report and start putting it into action today.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Health, Recovery by on Jun 22nd, 2010. 2 Comments.
What is the best time to workout?
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. But I want to cover all the different times to workout and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
This is going to be individual to each person. Some people have tons of energy when they wake up at 5AM in the morning. I am not one of those people. Then there are the night owls and everything in between.
Why mornings are the best time to workout.
If you are having troubles actually doing your workout this is a good option. When you do this you get your workout in and then you are good for the rest of the day. There is nothing else that can get in your way when you do it first thing after you wake up.
I don’t want to go into nutrition here but there are certain advantages to training first thing on an empty stomach. There are also advantages for not doing so. Maybe I’ll cover these another time.
The biggest issue with morning workouts is your body is not warmed up. Yes you can do a warmup to get your body running and warm. If you are doing morning workouts this is a necessity not an option. You need to get your joints running smoothly and your muscles warmed especially as it gets colder.
This is not just to prevent injury but to optimize performance. Just think about trying to do a near max lift the moment you roll out of bed and you’ll get the idea of why this is a must.
Why noon or afternoon is the best time to exercise.
This is personally my favorite option. I like to sleep in but when I get up the morning time is my best time to get work done. Like this post right here I am writing in the morning. But after a few hours my mental energy starts to dip. I need a break.
The best and most effective break for me is to go and train. Intense mental work followed by intense physical work. And after that I like to eat, nap, and then get back to work. This nap falls in line with the midday energy dip that most people feel if you‘ve ever studied the circadian rhythm.
While some kind of warmup is a good idea since you’ve been up and moving around your body is good to go. Despite warm-ups my performance just seems better midday then early mornings.
Plus since I train outside it’s a good time to get some sun (another thing you should try to do each day).
Why evenings or night time is the best time to workout.
For most people this is the only choice. When they get off of work is the only time they can workout. Though it can be tough after a long day at work you’ll feel better doing it. I think the best option is to start right away and don’t get side tracked by anything.
This is similar to the afternoon workouts in that your body has been moving all day and is ready to go.
Another advantage of working out later is that most people’s biggest meal tends to be dinner. You train hard, eat a good, big meal and then go to sleep. This sounds ideal for recovery purposes.
Now depending on the time between training, eating and sleeping this could be better or worse. For most people you don’t want to do either working out or eating too close to bedtime as it can throw you off. For others this isn’t as big an issue.
There you have it. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of what time you workout. Let me end with saying the best time to workout for you is when you can and will workout. If you don’t have options just do it when you can. If you do have options then you can experiment.
Another thing you might want to look at which I cover in the Keys to Successful Training Online Course is establishing a pattern of when you train and doing that the same each day.
Would love to hear your comments on this subject. Agree with me or not, comment below.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Flexibility/Mobility, Recovery, Strength Training Concepts by on Nov 10th, 2009. 1 Comment.
