Salt of the Earth

Despite dabbling with (inherently vain & narcissistic) modeling for the past 12 years, I've always had a innate repulsion to pretentious, elitist, flashy people.  Hence I never was willing to move to Hollywood, never willing to give up my (Blue-Collar) occupation as an airline pilot to pursue the talent industry full time and still drive an old, dirty Toyota pick-up littered with dog hair.  So I had an absolute blast producing this 'Salt-of'-the-Earth' series of photos.  I'm not claiming to be so humble or down to Earth, but it is a characteristic that I've always been drawn too.  If nothing else it was a fun, family project and got us out exploring off-the-beaten-path shot-locations.  And yes, I make fun of people who drive BMWs or Range-Rovers too haha!

Max Wettstein's Guide to ATHLETIC ABS! DVD Chapter 1: The Exercises

...Now avail for viewing & sharing FREE via YouTube...featuring Chelsea Cruz...we have just released Chapter 1, of my NEW 'Guide to Athletic ABS!' DVD, The Exercises.  10 minutes of nothing but the effective exercises that I use to strengthen & sculpt my lean ABS & core, in HD.  We decided that FREE is better and that you like FREE stuff, and that folks like to watch media on their tablets & smart-phones and not on a DVD player, so that's why we went straight to YouTube with this production.  It will be available for iTunes download soon.  And here it is embedded in my blog...

...and the direct link to the YouTube video here: Max Wettstein's Guide to Athletic ABS!: Exercises

     There are 4 more chapters coming, released monthly to include Nutrition, Abs-Physiology, Abs-Awareness & Making Fitness Fun, all featuring Chelsea Cruz as well, so stay tuned!  Big thanks to Gregory Mantell for producing!  You can also always go to my Abs & Core web page (also FREE), at http://www.onestopabsshop.com/ anytime for my complete body of work in this area, to include reducing internal belly-fat, Syndrome-X & Metabolic Syndrome.  I have done more research in this field of flattening bellies and reducing internal, visceral-fat & inflammation than anybody else you know, I assure you, and it's all posted for FREE.  Why?  Because that is how I roll - Life has been good to me and I'm paying it forward!

Function Vs. Aesthetics: Finding Optimal Balance

     Athletes can't weight-train with the intent to completely blast a certain muscle group to total failure because then they're too damaged & sore to complete their functional workouts properly - Then it becomes like training with an injury at that point.  Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) caused by micro-tears in the muscle fibers due to heavy lifting, peaks up to 36 hours post workout, with full recovery taking up to 72 hours or longer.  That's a long time to have your other workouts or activities negatively affected to some degree.  It should at least cause you or your trainer or coach to pause to consider workout strategy and when it is ideal, if ever, to train to failure.

There's always a training trade-off but there is an optimal balance for all of us. #HolisticAthlete

     I rarely train to total failure in the weight-room: However I always give 100% on the 'court', which becomes a maximum effort workout in itself.  You have to ask yourself, "What is my primary training goal in the weight-room?", because it's always a trade-off:  Gaining muscle-mass or gaining function for your sport?  Aesthetics Vs. Performance?  For me I want to MOVE better & faster - so aesthetics is always secondary goal, but still important given my employment as a fitness-MODEL.