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rocco castellano

My Personal Orthorexia

Last week I reminisced about the past year of writing my column for Dayton City Paper. In that issue, I quoted a reader that was not quite a fan. In the reader’s quote, they used the phrase my “personal orthorexia”. Now for all of you who don’t have a dictionary in your pocket or apple dictionaries on your phone… Orthorexia means an obsession with being healthy or healthy things. Obviously, it was meant as a dig but I found myself laughing so hard at the inane attempt to chastise me and my love of health.

Yes, I am guilty of wanting to find truth in the ridiculousness that is the USDA, FDA, Fitness Industry, Nutritional logic, ingredient lists and whatever else lends itself to creating unhealthy bodies in the name of health. I will continue to bombard you with my personal orthorexia because if you pick your head up from reading this, look around you… 6 out of ten people are visibly fat or unhealthy. That’s a pretty large percentage to just go on living our lives with our head up our asses thinking that it is someone else’s problem…

And most likely one of those 6 is you.

Most of the people reading my column either hate me or semi-like me for holding the mirror up and unveiling a truth that has evaded them for years. The hardest thing to do is to find the truth hiding in your own shadows. No one wants to confront the truth. The truth is an ugly, vile, oozing proliferation of excuses, lies and half-baked attempts at reaching even one goal or resolution.

I want to give a quick English lesson here for those that may not understand. The word “resolution” means to resolve or to be resolute… Ok, what the f-k does that mean? It means to “go with a purpose” and follow through it a designated direction. When I’m coaching my fitness business clients on how to create multi-million dollar companies, yes, this trash talking, f-bomb dropping columnist with personal orthorexia consults on how… Because I’ve been there. When I consult with my business clients it is not unlike the way I consult with my fitness clients.

You Need To Plan

Prepare and execute all stages of your fitness plan the same way you would build a house. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever put a roof on a house before I laid a foundation, put up walls and knew those walls would support that roof but that is exactly what nearly everyone does when starting a fitness plan. You want results yesterday. It doesn’t ever work that way. If you are fat… I know this is going to be hard for you to comprehend but it takes a whole bunch of f-king work to get you “unfat”. And bariatric surgery, prescription weight loss pills (Amphetamines/Speed), the latest diet book, diet fad, diet f-king food isn’t going to get you to the place you need to be. Resolved… Resolute.

My personal orthorexia should become your battle cry. Take 5-10 minutes every day to read educated health material. If you don’t like me or my material don’t read my sh-t but I do ask that you give people like the late Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, Mark’s Daily Apple (although I’m not a huge Paleo Fan), RenegadeHealth.com (no I’m not a vegetarian), Ray Peat and whatever you do keep it as simple as possible. The biggest mistake that everyone makes is complicating the whole process…

So it’s bound to fail.

We, as individuals make sh-t difficult on purpose in order to make sure that we fail. And we as a society have a hard time winning and it shouldn’t be that way. Thus, we should want to win everyday. The more simple you keep something the easier it is to draw a straight line to the end. What do I mean by simple?

If you are fat, recognize how fat you are. 50lbs overweight, 75lbs, 100lbs… 10lbs it doesn’t matter how fat you are it is important that you know how fat you are and can measure your progress. Simple is knowing what foods you like and finding healthy foods that you may like and eating them. It’s not wise to try and eat foods that you have to “tolerate” or just flat out don’t like. I don’t like fish. Never have, never will.

Everyone wants me to get my Omega 3’s from fish. F-k fish. So as you can see I’m not a huge fan of fish… So why in the hell would I ever go on a Sushi Diet or fish taco diet or some other idiotic seafood diet? I would choke down fish dishes for the first 3 days. And then go back to eating meat, potatoes and vegetables and everything else that wasn’t fish. If you don’t normally eat 3 salads a day, it’s going to be quite a stretch to choke down 3 salads a day. I like salads and it’s hard to eat that many a day. If the only time you’ve eaten a grapefruit is as a vodka drink garnish… Don’t think it’s a good idea to start eating grapefruits morning noon, and night.

In a nutshell find the foods (meat/protein, vegetables, fruits) you like and eat in portions that sustain your hunger not make you feel full or even eat your soup if you must! Get some sun, breath some fresh air and you will be headed in the right direction. Make it easier for yourself to win.

June 1, 2019 0 comment

Men's Fitness Women's Fitness

If You’re Sick, Don’t Exercise!

written by Rocco Castellano

I just got over the worst flu I’ve ever had in my life. I had a 102 degree fever for five days straight. And I actually thought the last time I got sick, about two years ago, was the worst I had when I got a 104 degree fever for three days and was on the verge of going to the Emergency Room several times throughout. I never went. I just felt like I was dying in my bed.

This time, the fever was lower but lasted longer and then I had this insane bronchial infection that felt like my chest was on fire. Three weeks later, I’m 10 pounds lighter and still coughing intermittently. Yeah, three friggin’ weeks with some sickness in me. WTF?

Normally I’m very healthy, except when I do stupid shit like stay up working until 5 a.m. writing fitness columns… I mean, ummm… Working on my blogs and answering emails. Whew! I think I dodged that bullet.

I’m not kidding, I’m usually never sick and I attribute it to putting the right foods, enzymes, and supplements in my body. Everything I eat, I know where it comes from. I have visited the farms to make sure it’s not bullshit. I drink green shakes and take vitamins sourced organically so I know my body is killing most of the bugs attacking it.

This year, I started to go back to the gym.

A small no-nonsense gym like the one I bought from my cousin when I was 18. What can I say? I’m nostalgic. I knew I was going to get sick because stupidity kept rearing its ugly head every time I was in the gym. Three people – let’s call them idiot boy, idiot girl, and idiot women – kept coming in to work out. Each of them had a cough and was sweating like a whore in the church – or just more than they should have been. Idiot girl was on the elliptical on some setting that resembled 10 and thought it was a good idea to cough in her sweaty hands and grasp on to the railings.

When she was done, she never wiped off the machine and walked over to the water fountain (I told you, old school) and put her sweaty, germ hands on the water fountain handle. Then, she went over to the dumbbell rack and started touching every single dumbbell. Really, idiot, you weigh 120 pounds wet and you’re going to curl or press 40 or 50 pounds? Stop touching the dumbbells. Now, mind you, I’m watching this whole event transpire like some crazy stalker, shaking my head. I finally went up to the idiot girl who couldn’t pass for 18 and told her to stop touching everything in sight and that she should probably go home because she was sick.

Her response was beautiful, “I don’t think so, I’m really not that sick, I’m able to finish my workout.”

Not really that sick.

It really doesn’t matter at what level of sickness you are. Germs are still being spewed all over a confined space that is a breeding ground for viral and bacterial infections. Gyms, health clubs, and personal training studios are just very large Petri dishes – so stay home!

Idiot boy had a particular kind of stupid going on, and I’m pretty sure he’s the one who gave me the crazy symptoms I experienced. I witnessed him in the locker room sucking on an inhaler like he was strapped to a ventilator. Every 10 minutes he was spraying, spraying and spraying that shit down his throat. After every suck, he would cough until my chest hurt. So he was coughing out in the open, sat down on a bench and started coughing into his towel.

OK, now he was trying to be a little considerate, when, oh no, stupidity reared its three heads of stupid.

He was doing dumbbell curls and sweating all over the bench; after his set, he started coughing again, this time in his towel. Disgusting as he was coughing so hard I thought he was puking.

This is something I never thought I would ever see but right before my eyes: after all that coughing, he decided to wipe the sweat off the bench with his germ-infested towel. And he wiped every inch of that bench with his slimy, germy, viral infected towel and didn’t even think to get some type of sanitizing solution. And he did that to every piece of equipment he used. I can’t imagine how many people are still wishing he were dead for getting them sick.

Stay home!

And if you don’t know you are sick, and yes, if you are that stupid, don’t cough into your towel and wipe down equipment.

Now, idiot woman came in just after being sick in bed for a little more than a week. I know this because she was telling everyone that would listen to how sick she was the week before. But she was braving it and getting her work out in. Here’s a clue: you’re not braving anything and you are an idiot if you think you’re toughing it out. And you still can be contagious if you are coughing. The virus or flu may have subsided but there may still be bacteria spewing from your lungs that no one wants to catch. Whoever told you to sweat out cold was full of shit… You don’t need to sweat out anything and leave it at the gym. Stay home!

When you recover, exercise for 15 mins only at first. This is really enough if you’re the busy kind of person to spare some time exercising!

May 30, 2019 0 comment

Men's Fitness

I’m too busy to exercise. F**k you, take 15 minutes

written by Rocco Castellano

It’s amazing how many times I hear that most people don’t have time to exercise.

Deadlines, kids, pets, meetings, reports – everything for everyone else.

Without work, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the good things in life, right?

You’re probably thinking, “I already know my life is busy. I don’t need it spelled out for me.”

Well, maybe you do.

Yes, all of these things are important, but they also need to be put into perspective. You, yes, you, are the main ingredient in the recipe of your life. Without you, there wouldn’t be all that money coming in. All those deadlines being met. All those reports being written and all those meetings attended. And on the family side, who would be there to go to the soccer games and spelling bees, cook dinners or organize yet another f**king Girl Scout Jamboree?

Well, ladies and gentlemen of the workforce, you too can have a better busy life if you would just take the time to exercise. That’s right, maybe entertain the thought of being a little selfish. Do something for yourself. Holy shit! What a concept, something for yourself; something that will benefit both your work and family life. With a proper exercise program, your quality of life changes dramatically. That’s right! Your stress-handling capabilities are strengthened and you sleep better, resulting in better quality time with your family.

Here we go back to that statement again: “I have absolutely no time to exercise.” This time with my response: “Are you f**king hard of hearing?”

Contrary To Popular Belief

No one needs to spend countless hours in a health club or gym to get in shape and be healthy. I may be pumped up in staying fit always but I hate seeing nightclubs disguised as gyms. I’d rather stay at home doing some exercise of my own! Now, back to the real deal. If you have 15 minutes, you have enough time to exercise. Don’t even try to say that you don’t have 15 minutes. You can pull 15 minutes out of your ass – whenever emergencies arise, or, for that matter whenever something stupid arises.

Let’s start considering your health and well being as one of those “emergency situations.” Take 15 minutes, three times a week – that’s 45 minutes a week for those of you who are too busy to do the math. Forty-five minutes to perform a combination of resistance and aerobic training.

Most of us think of resistance training as going to the gym and lifting endless amounts of iron, aerobic training and running forever on a treadmill. How can you do all of this in 15 minutes, you ask?

The truth is, you can’t. What you can do, however, is train only your major muscle groups with exercises referred to as “multi-joint exercises.” As the name implies, these muscles require more than one group of muscles to be included in a movement. A pushup is a great example of a multi-joint movement.

Performing a pushup requires you to use your chest, shoulders, and triceps to complete the exercise.

Another example of a multi-joint movement is a chin-up that requires your upper back, shoulders, and biceps to do the exercise.

Here it comes, like the shot heard ‘round the world: “Are you crazy? I’m so out of shape that I can’t even do one push up, let alone do a set of them!”

When the dust settles from that excuse, you’ll find there is more than one way to exercise a certain muscle group. A beginner should try to lower himself or herself down instead of pushing or pulling up. Fitness professionals use the term “negatives” for this type of training. It is easier for you to lower weight than to lift it. If you are not strong enough to lift, then lower. It provides the same benefits.

Those two exercises cover all of the major muscles in your upper body – and it took a little more than two and a half minutes: 80 seconds of work is 80 seconds of work. If you perform 20 military push-ups with a four-second count (two up, two down) or 20 negative push-ups with a four-second count (down in four seconds), it still is work. A set of 20 chin-ups using the same count is another 80 seconds. That’s 160 seconds of activity or about 2.67 minutes. Sorry, there is no rest period. You’re too busy to rest!

It’s important to exercise your lower body as well since these are the parts of your anatomy that provide mobility and help you accomplish all of your busy chores. The largest groups of muscles are those that move the hip and knee joints, more specifically, your buttocks and thighs. These muscles can be exercised with a multi-joint exercise known as a split squat.

Stand facing a wall. Lock your elbows and position your hands on the wall. Place one toe against the wall and the other toe back far enough so that it feels comfortable. Now, squat down so that you touch the floor with your back knee and rise back up to the starting position. Perform 25 repetitions and then switch legs.

The most often neglected area of your body is the midsection.

To exercise this area adequately, you will need to exercise your lower back muscles and your abdomen. My favorite, if done correctly, is the “windmill.” Some of you former athletes may remember these from high school sports. Stand up straight with your legs a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Raise your arms up to shoulder height. Touch your right hand to your left foot (or as close as you can get). Slowly return to a straight posture. Now, touch your left hand to your right foot.

By now you’ve worked all of the major muscle groups in your body and are wondering, where is the aerobic training? That’s right, jumping jacks! Well, my now-exhausted executives, the jumping jack, when executed properly, is one of the best all-around cardiovascular exercises. It also exercises the shoulders, postural muscles (middle back) and calves.

Keep your arms perfectly straight and bring them completely over your head. Ready? Begin. Much more difficult than you remember, huh? A set of 25 repetitions of this very simple exercise needs to be inserted at the beginning of your workout and in between every set of resistance exercises. This will keep your heart rate up throughout the entire workout.

This workout – when done consistently and properly – will yield a much better quality of life for you and the people who depend on you. And it only takes 15 minutes!

May 29, 2019 0 comment

Men's Fitness Women's Fitness

I Hate Nightclubs Disguised as Gyms

written by Rocco Castellano

As you’ve read my column for a bit now, you don’t have to be Sherlock “friggin” Holmes to realize I don’t like many things in an industry I call home. Why do I stay? It’s a question I asked myself a million times a day. It’s even more bothering seeing Justin Bieber at the cover of men’s health. It’s because I have the delusion that I may someday be part of the change that the fitness industry can be. At the moment it’s still pretty much a pile of sh*t, but I do see a light at the end of this dark tunnel. If you read my column, take my words and ask questions and don’t let the stupid lead you.

With that said, I can’t stand nightclubs and pick up joints that masquerade as a gym just. I get it – primal groans, sweaty bodies, it’s what shitty porn videos are made of. But when I walk into a gym, I really do want to workout. I pay my fees and go to the gym because I’m either traveling or don’t have what I need at the house.

When I walk into any “gym” and I smell cologne on a man that is working out, I want to – and most likely will – throw up on him while he’s bench pressing. It literally annoys the sh*t out of my nostrils and causes a chain reaction that ends with me emptying my stomach contents. I like cologne and wear several scents, (Versace, Armani) and my wife loves a hard-to-find Lacoste scent, but I wear that when I go out, not when I’m wearing a tank top and shorts and engaging in a workout that will involve ridding my body of salty fluids. It’s just plain wrong… So stop it.

Another thing, guys, wear underwear or a jock.

As a guy, I don’t want to see your junk, ever, on the workout floor. I don’t care if your banana is made of gold and should be hung at the Sex Awards hall of fame (pun absolutely intended).

That also goes for the idiotic bike shorts you wear. If there’s nothing to imagine, I imagine you’re an idiot. I’m really not sure why this is, but it has to stop.

I did some bodybuilding for a minute when I was young, so I get the whole narcissism thing. But no one needs to do a set, look at their tricep, do another set, look at their tricep, do a set of biceps and look at their tricep… Here’s a f**king clue Einstein, it doesn’t change that much in three sets. It just doesn’t.

Your pump is annoying to the rest of us. Knock it off.

I can go on for a little while longer but I am limited to a specific word count. I’ll just save it for another column.

Now to the ladies, and I use that word as loosely as you are when you come to the gym. Now, I am in love with the female anatomy. I love every part of it, from your toes all the way up to your bouncing blonde, brunette or red hair.

Here’s the problem, I don’t want to see every inch of you when I’m working out. Your ass in a thong, bent over in my face when I’m doing bicep curls is not attractive. And not as motivational as one may think. Most of the time I just want to tuck a dollar somewhere and hope you go away.

The cologne thing goes for you too, ladies – breathing in perfume when working out is, again, vomit-producing and makes me want to throw up in your just-bought $6,000 cleavage.

And speaking of cleavage, when you’re wearing a sports bra that gives pasties a go, don’t get pissed off when every guy in the gym is staring at them. If you want to show them off like a trophy you got at the 4H fair, expect the stares. But I suggest you stop being an idiot and put some clothes on. I don’t need nipples poking me in the eye when I’m working out… I like my eyes.

Women, when you’re at the gym please leave the makeup at home. Spackling your face with makeup and coming to the gym makes you look like a slut. And puts a huge sign on your forehead saying, “I want to get laid but I’m too ugly to come here without makeup.”

Plus, you get all the machines dirty and I have to clean up after you. Yea, I don’t want to see your “sparkle” foundation on my leg curl machine… Sorry, I’m an a**hole like that.

Those big hoops Jersey Shore earrings need to stay home too.

Nobody wants to see you get them caught on the treadmill, elliptical or whatever piece of cardio equipment you feel like jumping on and ripping your ear lobe off. It’s just not that pretty when you think about it. Speaking of cardio: wear a sports bra that actually fits and corrals your breasts. Your “Cooper’s Tendons” will thank you. No one wants to see your breasts flopping around like dolphins at SeaWorld… No one.

For all of you who believe that the gym is this millennium’s version of the nightclub with protein drinks, throw down some Ginko Biloba and save what brain cells you have. The stupid antics are just that. And if you don’t realize that, read this column over and over again until it sinks in… Or join match.com.

May 25, 2019 0 comment

Diet

Clean Eating Equals Healthy Babies

written by Rocco Castellano

So it’s official, I’m a daddy at 53 years old. All the idiots in the medical community said there were hundreds of risks that could befall our little one. We defied them all. One major one was my age—I guess the doctors weren’t looking at the physical specimen that I am. Now enough with the bragging and the fun, let me tell you how we did it… Clean eating.

Cleaning Eating Isn’t Easy

Not many of you really know that much about me, because, well, I don’t want you to know much except that I’m that asshole that writes a blog about fitness, sometimes. The asshole part is correct but I also run a company that runs several Internet properties, RoccoCastellano.com being one of them. Stress used to be a very present part of my day and night. (I am writing this column at 12:06 a.m.)

Many people asked me how can I just keep going, how is it possible for me to be so productive like the energizer bunny and keep a family environment intact and be happy—this column notwithstanding. It’s actually hard f—ing work… For all you lazy bastards out there, stop reading now and go watch, cat videos on YouTube… You won’t get it. This column will not be about how “easy” it is to do what I do but it will give you some insight on how to do it and actually get it done. So buckle up, shut up, grab a protein drink and let’s get ready to rumble.

As a family, we pretty much focus on clean eating. Most of our food is organic and locally grown, as in I know the chickens that lay my eggs and the farmer that grows my tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and eggplants: that would be me, plus a bunch of friends I’ve gotten to know over the years. When I’m not eating my homegrown food, I buy grass fed and finished beef, bison, and elk as our meat sources from a local butcher. The chicken comes from Whole Foods, Mary’s air-chilled, so what it costs a little more? Boo-hoo. Pork comes in the form of bacon and pork loin from the same butcher and because I love the way my wife cooks both of them.

Cook Most Meals at Home

The one thing about our household is we both are extremely good cooks. My wife loves to cook and I have actual chef training. So no matter what, we are cooking as many meals at home as we can (at least 19). The rest are most likely leftovers. I can hear it now, boo-hoo, boo-hoo I have to work, I can’t cook all my meals, I “have” to eat shit food. Well, no you don’t my little fatty. You can prepare your foods as we do. If you go to my YouTube channel you can see how I prepare my salads, snacks, and meals.

My wife and I also drink a green superfood shake at least 2 times a day. The one I love is Purium’s Apple-Berry Power Shake. It’s packed with nutrients and is very low calorie (not that I really give a shit). There are many things we do that some people cringe at but I just laugh and tell them to go screw themselves.

I’m healthy and you will die a strange, painful death. Thank you and have a nice day.

Bone Broth is a Staple

My protein supplementation comes from bone broth or gelatin. I cook 10 lbs of chicken feet—yes chicken feet, you didn’t read that wrong—every week and create a bone broth gelatin. Bone broth has specific brain beneficial amino acids such as proline and glycine, which have a calming and healing effect, without the pro-aging effects of tryptophan and cysteine, which most protein powders have in good supply.

It’s important for me to have my supply for the whole week so I put it in mason jars. I drink it in the morning when I wake up and at night before I go to sleep.

My wife and I both take Vitamin D with Vitamin K (You always want to take vitamin K to help your body convert and absorb Vitamin D… And make sure it’s Vitamin D3). Most Americans in the Midwest usually have some degree of vitamin D deficiency. It’s probably because no one gets enough sun, everyone works inside during the sunny hours and most people don’t drink enough dairy because they believe they are lactose intolerant. We actually drink raw milk and supplement vitamin D at between 2000 mgs and 4000 mgs.

Two Oils in Our Pantry

We also make sure that everything we cook in a frying pan or fryer is cooked in coconut oil and the only other oil we use as a non-cooking oil (except for my marinara sauce) is olive oil. So the only two oils in my pantry are coconut oil and olive oil.

We eat as many fruits and vegetables as we can that are in season. The result is an unbelievably healthy 9-pound 12-ounce baby boy with the grip of a steelworker. Now, not that I’m biased but who’s cute as a button and sleeps throughout the night, except when he’s feeding.

Eat clean. It pays incredible dividends.

May 23, 2019 1 comment

Diet

Heart Attacks – the 50 Year Old Lie

written by Rocco Castellano

You’ve been lied to. I know you’re looking at this page saying to yourself, “Really? This must be about another fitness-related scam, like the Acai Berry Diet or the Green Tea Diet… ”

Not even close. We, as a nation, have been lied to for over 50 years and are still being lied to by pharmaceutical companies and doctors, who actually believe their own lies. It’s called “The Lipid Hypothesis” and no one knows about it.

Until now, ill-educated cardiologists and the pharmaceutical industry shoving “statins” down your throat are feeding you a 50-year-old lie: eating fat will give you heart disease. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of campaigns, commercials, books, and articles about how fat will give you a friggin’ heart attack. And the bigger culprit is “saturated fat” because, well, it’s saturated with fat… So it must be the felon of fats. Sometimes I just want to slap doctors over the head with their own medical books. Nothing of what these idiots say is true.

Saturated fat does not cause heart disease at all.

As a matter of fact, the very substances that were supposed to be substituted for saturated fats are what is causing an increase in heart attacks over the past 30 years.

But the medical community is trying to keep it a secret. Hey idiots! The cat’s already out of the bag.

Polyunsaturated fats contained in oils like canola, safflower, flaxseed, vegetable, and soybean,

Oxidizes in the body and becomes rancid, causing cancer. Yet, these are the types of fats doctors for years have recommended to patients, arguing the need to maintain a low-fat diet.

But why hasn’t the mainstream media brought this to our attention? The stupidity in this runs wild. The Parkay maker’s corporation buys the margarine executives’ kids’ private school tuition, so no one is going renege on their “Hey, fat sucks, polyunsaturated fats are great!” statements. They will continue to tow the “Saturated fats are bad for you” line. But if you go to a doctor and he tells you to stop eating bacon because it’s bad for you, slap him and go get a BLT because he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. And email me because I’d just like to hear you slapped a doctor.

So here’s the story about how “saturated fat” became public enemy number one and gave rise to an incredibly lucrative cholesterol drug business. Are you strapped in? This is going to be a wild ride – and it won’t cost you $1.

Way back in ancient times, let’s call them the 1950s, a so-called scientist and researcher named Ancel Keys published a study that linked eating fatty foods to the rise in blood cholesterol that would eventually cause heart disease. Many doctors today still reference the “The Lipid Hypothesis” today. Now they don’t call it by its real name, but they reference it every single time they say fatty foods will cause heart disease. This to me is so annoying that I still want to slap them over the head with their heavy medical books.

The study was an absolute fabrication that left out very important data.

Ancel Keys reported the six countries that had the highest rates of heart disease also consumed the most saturated fats in their diets. So, as a result, saturated fats were bad and can cause heart disease.

Time Magazine put Ancel on the cover because they thought this was such a huge discovery. Holy crap! He was Man of the Year for fraud, lies and probably some sex tape. Wait a second, I don’t think there was a sex tape because VHS wasn’t invented yet. OK, let’s just go with fraud and lies, and continue the story…

Our good friend Ancel left out some important facts, like that he used data from 22 countries in the study and some countries, like Chile, had a high rate of heart disease but didn’t consume that much-saturated fat. Then there were countries that ate a high percentage of saturated fat but had almost no heart disease, like Holland and Norway. These results were kicked to the curb because they didn’t perpetuate what he wanted to tell the world. Fat is bad; it can cause heart disease. So he published the study using only six of the 22 countries he examined.

For the next 60 years, everyone clung to the “fact” that saturated fat raised your cholesterol and gave you heart disease with no real proof it was fact. So all you doctors that still spew this myth, consider yourselves idiots.

What’s so fascinating is that studies show polyunsaturated fats are the real cause of heart disease. It has a hard time surfacing. This 50-year-old lie is set in stone.

Here’s the Thing I Want You To Do

As an American you have the right to choose. If a food is known to give you heart disease or cancer, don’t consume it. Polyunsaturated fats (oils) are unstable and can oxidize at very fast rates. Which means by the time they are on the grocers’ shelves they can become degraded and toxic. If you’re planning to consume superfoods, check this out to see if these are really healthy.

Most oils become oxidized or rancid in a very short period, causing them to become toxic to the body. Oxidation causes the oils (fats) to become damaged, meaning they can’t work within the complex set of systems that our bodies are. So putting bad stuff into our bodies makes our bodies run bad. Hopefully, you get it. If not, here’s the number of great crematorium. Because I don’t want to look at your corpse: 1-800-Oh-S**t-I’m-Dead

May 22, 2019 0 comment

Men's Fitness

Hitting It Old School (No One’s That Tough Any More)

written by Rocco Castellano

So I went to Facebook to ask my fans and friends what fitness columns they wanted me to write. What I got was a deluge of ideas and wants. Over the next couple of months, I will write as many of those columns as I can. This week is one I’ve wanted to write for a while. A great friend of mine from back in the day reminded me how we used to train at a gym my cousins owned, which I later took over.

There was Nothing Like North Jersey Health Club

Nothing. I started going there when I was 10 years old to learn how to box. I was a husky, short kid who pretty much got picked on by everyone—even the girls. Donna Houston kicked me in the nuts just because she could. I remember that pain like the kick was five minutes ago. We later became friends, but I needed a bodyguard. No, really, I’m not kidding.

I was sick and tired of growing up in a f—ed up house, going to school and then getting my ass kicked. So, I climbed the mile hill to Bergen Boulevard, where, under a place that sold carpet and rugs called the “Rug Barn,” was only the second of its kind in all of Bergen County…

A real physical culture/weight-lifting gym. It was the coolest and scariest thing I ever saw. All you heard were grunts and clanging weights. Muscular men loaded plates on machines with cables you knew would snap any minute. Totally Spartan. Totally old school.

In 1976, there were no selectorized (universal style) weight stacks. So you were loading 35, 10 and 50 pounds onto a welded bar with pads on it. Every machine was hand-built to my cousin Frank’s specifications. I’m pretty sure he had a welder who traded his time for a gym membership, which happened to be $99 a year.

Really Hitting It Old School

You had everything you ever thought you needed and then some. Seated calf machines, two squat racks, the narrowest—but still functional—bench presses (no Olympic bars just yet), leg extensions, leg curls, and 90-degree leg press machines (I still have nightmares about that motherf–ker). All the dumbbells were handmade and went up to 110 pounds each. The only people to use them were my cousin and his training partner, Dave.

At 10 years old, I just wanted to learn how to punch somebody’s face in. And there was a heavy bag, speed bag, boxing ring, and a coach.

I started the second I walked in: Coach just laughed at me and said to put the gloves on. For four years, all I did were push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks… I used the jump rope and beat the shit out of the heavy bag. I was lean, really f–king mean and made sure that everyone knew it. That’s when my cousin decided to put me to real work and started my weight training. Training in the ’70s was not like anything people ever seen.

You worked out until your body literally gave out. By this time, North Jersey Health Club had powerlifting squat racks, wide Olympic benches (that we went to York Barbell to pick up) with cold, rolled steel Olympic bars, and we used every bit of them. The handmade 90-degree leg press had a partner in 45 degrees. Only the p—–s used the 45-degree machine. This was heaven to a 14-year-old athlete and one tough motherf–ker.

I don’t even know how many members we had at the time, but it seemed like everyone knew each other and had each other’s back. The older guys were the younger guys’ mentors. If we got out of line (in school, church or any other place) and the older guys found out, which always seemed to happen, you got your ass kicked (either under weights or more literally, whichever was warranted).

Decided To Turn Things Around

One of those comrades asked me to write this column—my friend Tony Senatore, Mr. Squat. No one had legs like him. No one worked legs like him. I would copy everything he did: a little warm up, 145 pounds on the bar, 15-20 reps, 225 for 15-20 reps, 315 pounds for 50 reps. At the point of vomiting: stop, rest and throw 405 for 10-12 reps. Then, put as much weight the leg and leg press held and bang out as many reps as you could for three sets…

Then when you thought you couldn’t walk, which most of the time I couldn’t, crawl over to the 45-degree and bang out four more 50 rep sets. Puke, cry, scream, sweat, cry some more and try to walk out of the gym. Remember the one-mile hill I told you about earlier? I was never able to stop myself from rolling down it on leg day.

Two days later we would be back for more, but this time, no squats: 100-rep 90-degree leg press superset with 50-rep, 45-degree leg press superset with hack squats until your training partner needed to peel you from the machine. Rotate out for four sets. So much for hitting it the old school way huh?

Thank you, Tony, for reminding me how f–ked up we were and how much fun it was to train, proving there really was no limit to what we could achieve. Here’s a workout to keep you fit even when you travel.

May 19, 2019 0 comment

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