Question of the Day and Bar-barian workout...SICK ONE TODAY!!:)

Erin changed up yesterdays stamina workout to a wicked card deck....it's hitting em right here!!!:) haha
QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you beat yourself up for not being a perfect model? Are you never satisfied? OR are you the one in a million who gives yourself props...looking good!! OR do you simply not judge and look to see if you look clean or not without any negativity? I ask this because in hearing people beat themselves up for so many years and doing a bit myself:) I just wanted to ask and hear what most people say. Guessing most beat themselves up a bit and are never satisfied. IF this is the case, here's a little thing i do that i learned a great lesson from an overweight client along time ago:) She was a very sweet lady, about 200lbs and maybe 5' tall:) The lesson was simple, she saw me working out and looking at myself in the mirror (now i said this was a looooong time ago:) haha....anyways she said have you ever tried to not look at yourself and just enjoy the feel of what you're doing? No, hadnt thought of it....but you know what, i did it and it felt great...to pay attention to my movement, the feel of my muscles working, the 'feel' of the bar, the ground, the implement. SO instead of beating yourself up, try this, One understand you are where you are....Two life is an up and down road, hopefully it's going in a good up direction, but you know it's still gonna have downs too and to accept them and learn from them...Three and this is the big one....ask yourself, how do i FEEL, not how do i appear, but how do you truly feel....THAT is the real thing we are going for isnt it...NOT to appear healthy, vibrant and happy...but to truly be healthy, vibrant and happy. Try it out and tell me how it goes for you okay my friends:)
MBG 1 - Eischens Yoga: did a sequence with jessie, felt really good, shoulder mobility drills with chest expander, wrist 60 mobility drills. Sleep: other night slept 3 hours and felt tired all day...shocker:) so did a light movement workout and felt good, added some meditation breath work too. Last night good sleep 9:45 - 6:30....felt good!
MBG 2 - todays training:
Ladder 1:3 pullups and dips, up to 5:15 as warm up after mobility drills
Bar-barian test -
Last week did 11/35/12/40/5 =103/165 (165 due to using assistance on MUs and putting 20 reps as my number i need to hit before going to lighter assistance with PJ bands 2R8, 1R6)
Today did: *14 / 35t / 12t / *47 / 5 = 113/165  improved by 10 reps!! Thats good:)
NOTE: some folks have asked how to do i scale using the power jumper bands....heres how i'm doing them with NO kipping using two greens and one red....for goal of 20 each MU set, when i can do that then i move to 2 greens for 15s, then 1 green and 1 red for 10s, when i got that i think i'll be pretty close to doing them without any help or just the one green for maybe 8s, when i get those, nothing and i'm passing the requirements!!!!!:) haha
Then the group push ups (10-1) and pull ups (6-1) for 2 sets each!!
Man this crushed us all!! It was great fun:)

• Push ups (no dropping) made both sets....very very hard!! Loved it!
• Pull ups (used 2 red PJ bands) worked great....very hard again!! awesome:)

MBG 3 plantstrong eats!

• bengal spice, stevia, almond milk
• sprouted toast, honey, raw cashew butter, smashed banana on top (2)
• spinach smoothie with orange juice, spinach, mango, lifes basics
• kale, cous cous, almonds, beans, cabbage, corn, peas, sunflower seeds
• pumpkin pie
• vegan pot pie, veggie stuffings, sweet potato, cabbage

Good day today my friends:)
hope you all are doing great!
Jon

Power Plant Video! Badgers beat Penn State and todays results!

Here is a video of an awesome Power Plant Meal Jessie made.....it was Off the Hook!!!:)
Today was a very busy day, testing out some new products (cant tell you yet:), Did a photo
shoot for the Wisconsin State Journal at MBG Madison....it's been 10 years since the WSJ
did it's original article on my MBG and alots changed since then:) It was very cool and we
had alot of fun during the shoot, the photag Craig was cool and he had a blast shooting
the noon class. Then after a quick smoothie stopped by the brand new Lifeline USA building
which is huge! and we worked on two of my new products, then we drove back here to chicago!
Whew long day:)
FUN QUESTION OF THE DAY: If you had to do an MMA fight against a hollywood star who would it be and why? haha It could be someone you dont like:) someone who's funny:) whatever!!:) 
MBG 1 restoration & sleep - did some warrior poses, indian clubs and my shoulder routine with the chest expander. For sleep went to bed later than i wanted last night but woke up at the same time so ended up getting about 6 hours of sleep....got to follow the same routine there and start tv/laptop off by 9:30 and hopefully sleeping til 6:30 getting 8 or more hours of sleep a night is the goal....it's crazy the affect poor sleep has as well as how little i know i've focused on it before and how little most all people focus on it....almost not at all:)
MBG 2 todays workout - 20 minutes amap reps of press ups and pull ups
warm up - mobility drills, then ladder up to 5:15 of pull ups : dips

• Pull ups x *13,11, 8,7,6,6,5,5,4,4 = 69  (down 5 from last week but new PR 13 on first set, seems like i went out a bit faster and needed a bit longer rests btwn sets. SO only got in 10 sets versus 13 last wk)
• Press ups x 6,6,6, 5,5,4, 3,3,3, 2,2 = 45 (ties last monday on 2 less sets! so that's good improvement)
• 5 minute 100 push up & 50 pull up challenge: closer by 1 rep!!:) haha got 100 pushups and 43 pullups
• THEN SOME OF THE MBG MAD TRAINERS SAID THEY JUST STARTED DOING THIS ONE: 1 minute amap reps of jumping rope with a 8.5 lb 6" thick rope...my friends this was one of the most wicked simple workouts my friends!! ONE MINUTE!!! well i got 71 reps and that smashed me! Felt like a ran a 400 meters all out! Got to do this one again!!

MBG 3 Plant Strong meals!!

• Kuchicha tea
• soaked oats, bananas, walnuts, lifes basics, blueberries
• banana, mango, rice milk, life's basics
• apples and yummbutter peanut butter & cranberries (this PB is awesome!!)
• sweet potato, veggie pot pie with tofu, stuffing with cranberries, raw nuts and sprouted bread

Pretty good day my friends:)
Sleep time!
Peace:)
Jon

15/15 results, traveling and fixing back pain, INTENSITY and Love story!!:)

Amazing Dinner Jessie made of kale, cabbage, tofu seasoned perfectly, some beans and more!!

Traveling and fixing back pain - sitting in a car, plane or train you can jack your back up....WHY the seats are shaped the opposite way of our backs i'll never understand...instead of having lumbar support the seats cave your back in??? What's that all about? What person thought that up and WHY is it still in place??? Ahh oh well, it is what it is:) So how do you deal with the negative affects of these seats? First off, stay on your path of doing your Eischens Yoga beginner sequence every single day...even if it's ONE BREATH each pose, it does wonders. Put a big focus on your breath, get into the pose, breath in, breath out, move to next pose...it's simple but it works...quickly you'll find yourself holding each pose for 2-3 breaths or longer:) After the base sequence is done make sure then to do rest pose, get in a completely comfortable position while laying down, breath in (nose), breath out (mouth), focus purely on each breath...work your way from 4:2 counts all the way up to 10:5 counts....make it last about 5-6 minutes and your done:) Twice daily and no problems my friends:)
Intensity!! Helping others helps YOU! - Yesterday in Chicago before leaving for madison jess and i were helping out the noon class, giving feedback to students through our intensity. THIS is an interesting point, giving, helping, inspiring through OUR INTENSITY....THIS is a key at the MBG, it's not just yelling at folks, it's giving honest feedback, love really to people. People ask why i do this and it always comes back to love, i love helping people reach a higher level of performance. I literally can see them at higher levels, someone who can barely touch the rim to getting them to jumping so high they dunk hard!! Someone's who's out of shape to someone who's in sick shape, sprinting, jumping, handstand walking and rope climbing with ease!!! THIS comes across in two ways...pats on the back...I believe in you, you can do this! TO kicks in the arse....you're not quitting, screaming at them dont you frickin' stop!!! Both work, both have intensity and both have love in there own way:) THAT is the helping, the feedback that makes people helping people so important! WHY DO I SAY THIS IS LOVE? Many years ago a client of mine, a practicing Bhuddist names Josh, was training with me, after the session i said we're all going to minneapolis to watch carlos fight at the target center in his first pro mma fight...he asked to go...my mind was like no way so i asked are you sure and he said yes so he joined us. Carlos broke the opponents arm in 26 seconds, many fights were very bloody, even nasty in many ways. After i asked josh so what'd you think....after thinking many seconds and me thinking he's gonna say how horrible it was josh replied it was the most dramatic demonstration of........LOVE that i've ever seen!!! WHAT??? you got to explain that:) haha he asked me why i push him so when training him? cause i see what you can be, how amazing you can become....BUT WHY do you care to do this? .....it's love! because i care so much it's a way to give love to other humans:) thru inspiring them to higher level because we care to do so. SO he said this is what these guys are all doing tonight...each and all is ultimately taking each other to their highest level and that is why afterwards they hug, because they are giving thanks to that person for bringing out their all, to bringing them to their very essence of being!! THAT TO ME WAS SOOO TRUE!! In all my years of sports and especially competing in brazilian jiu-jitsu...that taking to the brink is incredible. It's a feeling you almost never get and THAT is why afterwards you hug your opponent or training partner...because they brought that out of you and you brought it out of them!!! THAT is why the MBG puts such an emphasis on partner feedback....because it is a chance to do what we all want to do, help our fellow man out and we can do this daily! And in doing so we help ourselves as well because in giving we get and then they give and get as well!! Love that story!!!!:) Hope you guys like it too!!
Fridays workout results: 15/15 x 25 total minutes...passed on the cleans and presses this week as after traveling and sitting alot my back was a little tight and after my kb warm up it did not feel better so intelligence said...PASS:) but the rest of the workout felt good to go:) Hey Hey Hey!!

• 15/15 x 5 minutes of PJ Assisted Muscle Ups x 3s/3s/3s/3s/3s = *30 reps (w/power jumper - 2 greens and 1 red) This works 110% better than massive kipping MU's with walk up  as i feel like i'm only re-enforcing poor form on this exercise and now that i can do these staying close to the bar with good form i'm all over this exercise!!!:)
• 15/15 x 5 minutes of Dips + 16lb vest x 10s/9s/8s/7s/6s  = *80 reps...MUCH BETTER challenge for me here....TIP - when you can do more than 10 in 15 seconds here move up in weight or challenge of exercise so that is exactly what i did here and it worked perfect. Last week did 100 without any resistance so this challenged me alot better!
• 15/15 x 5 minutes of Pull Ups x 4s, 4s, 4s, 3s, 3s = *36 New PR (by 4 reps, 12 more reps in last 2 weeks improvement!!)
• 15/15 x 5 minutes of Push Ups + R8 power push up x 8s/6s/4s/3s/3s = 48 REPS:) CRUSHED ME!! hahaha WAY HARDER WITH POWER PUSH UP!!!:) GREAT!!!
• 15/15 x 5 minutes of PJ Assisted Muscle Ups x 3s/3s/2s/2s/0s = 20 reps GOOD FINISH!! ROUGH DANG:) Love this exercise:)

Felt pretty good today and it showed...first week got 223 then jumped up to 289 reps today got 214 total reps with added load and different muscle ups....i say this was another step up this week!
 
MBG 3 -

1. Green Drink
2. Bengal spice tea, rice milk, stevia
3. Banana, walnuts
4. Kale salad (above), cous cous, beans, cabbage
5. organic food bar
6. Spinach salad, sprouts, carrots, sweet potatoes, veggie wrap
7. bengal spice tea, rice milk, stevia

Hope the story above can help you in your training and path of life as it helped and helps me:)
Peace my friends!
Jon

Power Jumper Muscle Ups!! Sleep, Eischens and todays results!!

Check out how awesome the Power Jumper is for assisting Muscle ups (my good friend Paul Fogg made me re-think this one we tried out over a year ago in madison and the bar system didnt allow for it but when i saw him doing it on a weight rack on a video and i knew i had bars that could make it work i had to try it:) and....of all the MU"s i've ever done from JGXT to jump to walk ups this is easily the best way to assist them....I began using 2 bands to assist (maybe 60lbs of assistance)....and it helped a good amount and enough so that i can work on breaking my bad habits of kipping so much (kip then pull is the bad habit)....with the Power Jumper assisting me i can work on my technique and working to stay close to the bar and IF i use my legs...to use them at the same time that i'm pulling, not after. This works perfect my friends and because of the way the power jumper lays it doesnt give to much and then drop off to nothing which is great!
QUESTION FOR YOU ALL: and please if you read this, post your answers on my blog or on my FB page or the MBG"s....
Who are you thankful for and why?
What are you thankful for and why?
Who am i thankful for? I'm thankful for having a wonderful women in my life:) Jessica Rucker:) She's an amazing lady who brings lots of happiness to my life, support, honesty and lots of love:)
What am i thankful for? I'm thankful for doing something i love with an intense passion, for having wonderful friends all over the world with whom i can share my passions, my dreams and goals with... thank you all my friends for i'm very lucky to know so many of you as my close friends, soul brothers and sisters and that......is priceless!:)   THANK YOU ALL!!:)
MBG 1 - restoration and sleep:) Did an awesome Eischens Yoga class yesterday and left feeling peaceful and happy:) On my sleep day 2 and 3 went really well and sticking to plan...all computer/tv stuff off at 9:30, reading til 10:30 then sleeping....woke up a few times but generally got about 8 hours each night which is very cool!!
MBG 2 training - yesterday was mostly doing the bar MU's on the power jumper...got sort of carried away with it and ended up doing about 70 probably:) haha
Then did the Legs buyout from monday's workout: 5 minutes to do 100 foot up lunges and 50 swings with a 40k...almost got it..done in 5:10!! Man that was crazy hard!! Whew serious leg workout...and quick too:)
Today did one ladder up of 1:3 pullups to dips up to 5:15 as a warm up
Bar-barian requirements test 6:00 minutes, changed up the MU"s though, instead of doing walk ups, i've decided to stop doing them (yes:) haha and just do the power jumper assisted ones as now that i have a great way to do them with proper form, that is what i'm gonna do....so my goal is to do 15 straight then go to lighter assistance.

• Power Jumper MU's (assisted with 2 greens and 1 red) x 11
• Dips x 35 (same as last week, was working fuller extension at the top)
• Pullups x *12 (1 rep improvement, i think the crazy amount of MU's yesterday got me a bit:)
• Push ups x 40 (again stressing bigger range of motion)
• PJ MU's x 5

Hard:) but a little improvement!!
Then rested about 10 minutes then did the 5 minute workout (100 push ups and 50 pullups)
My previous best done in NYC was 90/40...today i got 100 and 42!! so again improvement!!
MBG 3 - 

• Green drink
• Green tea
• soaked oats, pecans, lifes basics, sunflower seeds, rice milk
• spinach, mango, banana, rice milk, lifes basics smoothie
• organic food bar
• bell peppers, onions, spinach, vegan sausage, green beans and some hummus
• vegan cookie!

My friends, I'm giving you all a big hug, a big smile and thank you for being in my life:)
PEACE AND LOVE MY FRIENDS:)
Jon:)

My Sleep Quest, Todays Results and BJJ Master Luiz Claudio is a bad bad Bunny?:)

Black Belt Luiz Claudio in Bunny Ears:) haha

Well my friends i've been writing my blog for a little over a year now and it's time i work aloud on one of my biggest challenges i've had in my training life......SLEEP! Yep:) this is a challenge i've had since i was  a little boy staying up late to make sure everyone was home and asleep first, then i could go to sleep:) Well for some reason i still have a big challenge getting 8 hours sleep a night....most of my life i get about 5 hours a night and i must admit this makes training hard very difficult. SO, because of this i havent felt as strong as possible alot of the time. SO i decided to infront of all of you....to do something about it, to put myself on a sleep workout plan....to focus on my sleep, to learn about it, to apply what i learn like i apply to my own workouts. So although i know alot of my issues from my younger days mentally jack up my sleep....it time to face it head on and get myself sleeping like a champ. SO from now on i'll be posting my sleep, how i'm feeling and what sleep tips or methods that i'm trying to apply:) So hopefully this can help some of you all out as well. It's just something i've always swept under the rug and just dealt with but the days of not facing up to this need to stop:)
MBG 1 - Did my Eischens Yoga sequence and then 10 minutes of breath work.
SLEEP - Asleep at 10, woke up 4 times til 2:30....then was up til 6:30am, then slept til 8am = about 6.5 hours very interrupted sleep. Took another 20 minute nap after my workout. Energy for day = 60%
MBG 2 - Did todays workout x 20 minutes, then the buyout

1. Pull ups (last week did 64) x 11*, 7, 6 / 6, 6, 6, / 5, 5, 5 / 5, 4, 4, 4 = *74
2. Press ups (last week 33)     x    6, 5, 5 / 4, 4, 3, / 3, 3, 3 / 3, 2, 2, 2 = *45

Did buy out of WMU's x 10 (4,4,2) to 50 Diamond p.ups (23,14, 13)
Good workout 3.6:) not bad for feeling about a 6 out of 10 on the energy scale:)
MBG 3 - 

• Lots of water and bengal spice tea
• banana, raw nuts
• kale, cous cous, raw nuts, sunflower seeds, beans, mushrooms, corn, peas
• sprouted bread, organic peanut butter, honey
• Jessies kale salad, plus big bowl of mung beans

well it's 9pm time to go to bed:) gonna learn how to sleep right on my friends:)
peace,
jon

15/15 x 30 minutes???? YES!!! And 1 awesome Kale recipe!

Getting artistic in BK:)

Got to say this is the best MBG Training cycle we've ever done! Todays workout was insane! Made even more insane by the fact Jess and i wanted to add in more bodyweight to the mix today and totally crushed ourselves:) haha Ah well now we get to rest and recover til monday!
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF YOUR TRAINING? To look a certain way? To be connected to your body and mind? To feel amazing, happy and healthier than ever? Or to feel a part of something amazing? OR TO HAVE IT ALL?
Well my friends....i think alot about training, why i love it so, why i opened my Monkey Bar Gym and why it is such an amazing place....because it is true and honest, it's simple, strong, a place all can come to and feel a part of something special and positive for people and planet. It is crazy....The VIBE goin on right now at the MBG's is what i dreamed about over 11 years ago when i first opened....seeing the love people have for teaching and training at MBG's is priceless. Just loving it my friends:) Just been smiling so much lately i had to share that with you all:) haha
MBG 1 - yesterday taught Eischens Yoga class, at the end of class doing alot of partner feedback and all had a huge jump in ROM doing back domes. Starting to get to full arms and legs extension now which feels great after. NOTE: having full ROM on back dome is a huge sign of overall health in the body as you cannot do this pose if you have tight hips or shoulders and being that those two areas are the most common areas of trouble for most people. SO make sure you do your EY and work towards getting a full back dome my friends for your a healthy body and mind!!:)
MBG 2 - todays 15/15 with a twist!

• 15/15 x 5 minutes of cleans and presses x 36k's x 2 sets of 2 a minute for 20 total reps...not too over the top:) a good start to the cycle for this workout!

Then we changed things up a bit and did a 15/15 version of the Bar-barian workout ...yeah i know but i love bodyweight training what can i say:) and i had some good number on this from 11.2.11 but i was tired a bit last time i did it so i wanted to beat those numbers...SO

• 15/15 x 5 minutes of Walk up Muscle Ups x 4,3/4,3/3,3/3,3/3,4 = *33 reps New PR (by 3 reps)
• 15/15 x 5 minutes of Dips x 10s x all 10 sets = *100 reps New PR (by 20 reps)
• 15/15 x 5 minutes of Pull Ups x 4s, 4s, 3s, 3s, 2s = *32 New PR (by 8 reps)
• 15/15 x 5 minutes of Push Ups x 12s, 10s, 9s, 9s, 9s = *98 New PR (by 30 reps)
• 15/15 x 5 minutes of Walk up Muscle Ups x 3,2 / 3,2 / 3,2 / 3s / 3,2 = *26 New PR (by 5 reps)

What an awesome workout!! Felt alot stronger today and it showed 223 to 289 reps!!!
MBG 3 - RECIPE OF THE DAY: Kale Salad - after cleaning chop up head of kale, add chopped tomatoes, onions and almonds, toss with some balsamic vinaigrette...eat lots of this!!!

1. Green Drink
2. Bengal spice tea, rice milk, stevia
3. soaked oats, blueberries, banana, walnuts, lifes basics
4. Kale salad (above), cous cous, beans
5. organic food bar
6. Spinach salad, sprouts, carrots, sweet potatoes, veggie wrap
7. 2 vegan cookies
8. bengal spice tea, rice milk, stevia

Strong day, Strong food:)
Peace my friends!!
Jon

Day 2 & 3 workout results, 1 amazing Plant Strong Recipe!!

Showing Full Extension on the Dips

The word is out my friends and it is GOOD!! This 8 week MBG Cycle is amazing!!:) During the last 8 week cycle alot of you gave us some great feedback and we listened and applied it to this cycle and already all the members here and online have said they love it! I got to admit i'm feeling pretty dang good myself too from the first 3 workouts this week....sore but good!!
SOME QUESTIONS ASKED:  (what are some more you'd like to know?)

1. Can we add some legs into the Monday and Wednesday workouts for those of us that only train M, W, F....so we added the LEGS BUYOUT and man they are wicked hard! 
2. Another question on todays workout was How do i do the Bar-barian test part if i am not at the level of passing it yet? Simple my friends...you have 6 minutes, 1:12 at each of the 5 stations or exercises. Do your best to hit the requirement...if you hit it, cool, move on to the next one, if you drop early, you're done, write down what you did. No stopping and resting and then starting back up again, pausing in the top of a push up position, yes that's cool, hanging on the bar with feet off the floor, yes that too is cool, but dropping the knees, you're done, jumping off the bar, you're done:). SO, do your best at each station, write what you did, then add them up at the end. So for example here's what my numbers looked like today:
1. 3 muscle ups...written as 3.5/5 (i count walk ups as half reps, i did 7 wmu's)
2. 35 dips = 35/45
3. 11 pullups = 11/25
4. 35 push ups = 35/55
5. 0 muscle ups = 0/5
• TOTAL = 84.5/135 (felt pretty good with really strict form)

So although i'm not there yet, i got good baseline numbers to improve on next week:) if i can improve just 5 reps each week then i'll be at about 125 in 8 weeks and that is pretty close to passing the Bar-barian requirements and that in my book is a feather in my cap:) SO get a good baseline and improve it next week, that is the goal!
Day 2:
Began with the Top of the minute workout: Foot Up Lunges with 28k's x 10 total, 100 reps Jump Rope, Deadlifts x 44k's x 10 and last exercise i changed to full power wheel rollouts x 10.
Did this for 24 minutes and although at first it seemed cool this morning it kicked my ass literally!!:) SO later in the afternoon i took one of our Eischens Yoga classes with Jessie my sweetie teaching and it was amazing, after rest pose i walked out on cloud 9 and felt super relaxed and that my friends is the goal isnt it:)
Day 3 of cycle (Today):
After the Bar-barian requirements test above, jess and i did the workout and MAN that was no joke! 10-1 on the push ups for 2 rounds...some lifting of the hips, but never dropping. On the pull ups, had to use the Pull Up Revolution and hung at the bottom of each rep...got 6-1 for both sets, but barely, this was no joke my friends!!
Eating:
Been eating ON POINT!!
Green drink
maca cafe
RECIPE OF THE DAY: This is a great after workout meal my friends!!
1st meal of the Day: Cooked quinoa, add rice milk, add life's basics, big handful of pecans, banana, blueberries

• kale, cous cous, pumpkin seeds, beans, corn
• organic food bar
• spinach salad, corn on the cob (2), brown rice and beans
• pecans, banana, agave nectar (great after dinner snack jessie made!!)

What a week my friends and it's just beginning!! Loving this cycle my friends!!
Peace my friends!
Jon

Day 1 New Cycle: My 3 Training Rules! Great 20 min workout! Powerful Plant Meals!!

Cool video of China Town Playground in NYC:)

Feels great to be starting with this new 8 week cycle, Todays workout is Either
a prison 10-1 of press ups and pull ups (L seats) OR 20 minutes amap of each exercise:
Since getting back Jessie and i have been playing catch up and feel like starting the new
8 week cycle is right on time for us as we've just gotten caught up and we're ready to get started!
Part of that was resting the last few days, doing alot of restorative work and Eischens Yoga poses
and also shopping like crazy the last two days so we eat 100% of our meals at home! That is such
a positive way to eat it's incredible. Saves money, gets you eating cleaner, you control everything you eat...that is a huge point....more focused, more results. Knowing what you're eating ahead of time relaxes your mind and gives more confidence for your day and plan!
Follow your plan for: eating (clean), 8 week cycle (simple strong and progressive training) and restoration (eischens yoga, shoulder mobility drills with chest expander and/or jungle gym xt shoulder & hip mobility drills).
MY 3 RULES FOR KEEPING IT REAL POSITIVE AND STRONG OVER THE 8 WEEKS:

1. Eat simple, lay out meals ahead of time helps relax your mind alot and frees up alot of time
2. Plan your workouts for the 8 week cycle: what's your goals? strength, stamina, re-balancing an injured body/mind? Well depending on this maybe you plan to do 2 strength, 2 stamina and 2 eischens yoga classes a week....plan your work and work your plan!! Here's some examples:
1. strength: focus on just those classes and do alot of eischens yoga to restore as well
2. stamina: just do the conditioning classes and eischens yoga
3. recovery & restoration: just take the eischens yoga classes and then do the warm up drills only from classes if you want....that's low key but you still work some skills my friend!
3. Plan getting to bed and resting alot as well my friends! Sleep is your friend, Sleep is where we get stronger and recover...so plan on getting 8-9 a night it's that important to improve your training each and every week!

MBG 1 restoration training: shoulder mobility drills with chest expander and jungle gym xt, wrist mobility drills: did 2-3 rounds thru all. Then also did Eischens Yoga sequence.
MBG 2 training: 8 week cycle first workout, i chose the amap in 20 minutes today.

1. Started with two ladders: pull ups and dips of 1/3, 2/6, 3/9, 4/12, 5/15 x 2
2. Followed with todays 20 minutes amap reps of each pull ups and press ups:
1. Pull ups x 7,5,6  / 5,6,6 / 5,4,4 / 4,4,4,4 = 64
2. Press ups x 4,4,4/ 3,2,2 / 2,2,2 / 2,2,2,2 = 33
• 5:30 / 11:00 / 15:30 / 20 minutes total

Buyout - 10 walk up muscle ups (5, 4,1) to 50 diamond push ups (20,10,10,10)
Felt really good: 3.7** Really kept form perfect on everything and did not cheat on any reps for today!
MBG 3 plant based meals: 

1. Green drink
2. Bengal spice tea
3. Soaked oats, raw nuts, sunflower seeds, banana, blueberries, life's basics
4. figs, almonds
5. mung beans, kale salad with pumpkin seed dressing
6. apple

Great start to the 8 week MBG cycle!!
peace my friends!!:)
Jon

Brooklyn visit + Travel JGXT Workout Video + My Healthy Travel guidelines!

Here is a great strength and stamina JGXT Travel Workout i did in my BK hotel room!
This is how it goes; 10-1 style but you stay with that same exercise until done with it, resting only the same amount of breaths as reps that you just did...so do 10 reps, then 10 breaths, then 9 and 9, 8 and 8 etc til done. It amounts to a great strength workout with the added bonus of stamina work too!!
HOW DO YOU TRAVEL AND STAY HEALTHY or MBG 3?
Well that is simple and here are some of my guidelines: No doubt you do not have control of these so you do the best you can on all points.

1. Travel to places i like to go and visit, places that have great energy!
2. See people i want to hang out with... people that have great energy!
3. Stick to your schedule as best as you can. This is huge to making sure you get stuff done everyday for yourself and if your like me training and eating are big parts of that:)
4. Make sure wherever you go it has many healthy options / places to eat...ask before leaving if needed.
5. So the big ones for me are go to healthy cities, hang with healthy people, and eat at healthy places! Going to environments that energize me, like mountains (colorado), rivers, lakes (madison), oceans (cali), cool neighborhoods and sites like new york city has is all essentials for me. 

I learned this lesson many years ago when i traveled to a place in europe that i wasnt feeling:) haha but it was a business trip. It had none of the above points and was not a fun trip in comparison. Sometimes you just got to make due though of course and so finding healthy places to eat and sticking to your routine for getting YOUR healthy stuff done daily is key. Make sure you eat clean strong foods, make sure you do your Eischens Yoga. This point is huge, the planes and trains can really mess with our posture and so doing your Eischens Yoga daily is big! Then finally making sure you do your workout daily, something is better than nothing my friends! Get in the travel options version of our MBG workout or do one of our old favorites. It's our choice, make sure you choose a healthy one as we always have the choice my friends:)
How did i fair on my trip? Check it out:)
One - went to a place i love! NYC, Brooklyn!!! love the culture, the cool neighborhoods, history!!
Two - hung with people that have amazing energy, my Bar-barian brothers, my boy Gavin and Magnus! All of these guys are all very cool individually, together it's a riot!!:) We laugh alot and mess with each other alot....GOOD LIFE:)
Three - i stuck to my schedule, each day i got up, drank my green drink and then worked on my laptop for a few hours. Then rode my bike into manhatten to Tompkins Square Park (TSP) to train. YES i have a bike in NYC, my boy Gavin lets me keep my bike at his place so anytime i'm in town i have my favorite mode of transportation and NOTHING beats riding a bike in NY/BK...it's amazing the sites you can only see on a bike...i simply love it:) THIS aspect is extremely important in my life, keep it in yours my friends...this is a choice to connect to the outdoors or not...choose to connect!! Of course doing the workouts on the bars is a long time love of my life and so this was a given and training with friends which i did daily was simply great! I usually did a ladder of pullups and dips (high five foggy!) for about 5 rounds, then most of the Bar-barians would show up and then we did some 5 minute sets or some other wicked routine:) always fun! After training? Well that leads right into 4!
Four - Eat at healthy places that give energy!! Fortunately having a bike in nyc AND about 500 vegan or plant based places to eat makes this an easy one:) I usually stopped in at my buddy marcus's spot the "Juice Press" and had a green drink in the am, then a soaked oats meal, then during the workout had one of his "Horny Gorilla" drinks (fitting name:) haha that was pure water and maca and gives you amazing energy all afternoon during your training! Later we'd ride to one of the Pan Asian Vegan places and have some greens and lots more great food...that place is amazing!
Five - So me going to NYC/BK is a great healthy trip for me mentally and physically as it has all the elements i need AND i choose healthy options on each point as well. Great place, healthy friends and foods, doing what i love my friends.
Got alot of videos and pictures coming up of my trip for you too:)
Hope this helps some of you all out as i live by these rules when i travel and it keeps me happy:)
Peace my friends!!
Jon

Great SPINACH SMOOTHIE VIDEO!! Great BK bike ride:)

Here's a GREAT SMOOTHIE video i pulled out as i cannot load ANY pictures or videos tonight???? ODD oh well this is a very tasty smoothie and thought it might help some of you to see me make it...i know watching first hand helped me alot:) Fun Sunday here in Brooklyn, after a long day of about 8 hours on saturday, today was all on the bikes and just a quick workout in my hotel room with the JGXT:) rode about 25 miles again today, mostly following the marathon path in BK, then did 5 laps of prospect park in brooklyn....beautiful park!! ever get a chance check it out....i'm really digging brooklyn, really cool neighborhoods and people:) It's really interesting how many cool people the Bar-barians hang out with:) haha Like attracts like....this is something we talked about on the ride too.
Last night i was talking to some people and this lady was saying that everyone in her family is likely to have cancer....and she said nothing she can do...it's her genes....i said it's not your genes but your surrounding...THAT is what makes you sick...you just happen to be around people who eat and stress in a way that leads to disease. She actually thought about it and said i dont know about that....and i said well i do:) haha and then talk to her about the studies in the China Study showing a diet of over 10% animal products leads to diseases and the higher the % the greater the likelihood of disease. She began to think more about it and so maybe i helped her:) i hope so, this talk made me and my Bar brothers talk about it a bit more while riding....it's not just the food, but stress as well that can lead to disease and stress comes in all forms as we know but one thought that Flow (Bar-barian "Juiceman", very healthy guy who runs a great health food store in BK) and i discussed....that people who DO EAT a healthy plant based diet are more conscious of themselves and the planet (less littering and all types of pollution) and are probably less likely to be stressed out about life as well....SO what does this mean??:) haha

• Eat plant based....get healthier physically and then mentally
• Treat self and planet with greater respect and love
• Be a shining example of health thru the way you interact with people and planet

These 3 points i believe we all want to do, we all want to help people....so how much easier and healthier can you make it then choosing to eat a plant based plan of foods:) Simple huh:)
MBG 1 - did my morning Eischens Yoga
MBG 2 - Rode about 28 miles today:) good riding, good friends! Then came home and did 50 down dog push ups off blocks, feet up on box and 150 body rows.
MBG 3 -

• Green tea...then a Green drink
• oatmeal, walnuts, spirilina, plant protein, banana..vegan oatmeal cookie, healthy P&J sandwich
• nut milk - a bunch of raw nuts, dates, raisins
• huge bowl of lentil veggie soup, fruit bread, bread pudding...then some zuchini bread
• green drink

Big training day again tomorrow!! Going to TSP for sure so it'll be fun for sure!!
Talk soon my friends!!
Peace!:)
Jon

New Puppy!!! 15/15 meet Bar-barian requirements:)

Nuka playing with our New Puppy Stoney:)

Jessie and i just got our new puppy two nights ago at a dog rescue in oak park...we named him Stoney:) he's awesome:) Nuka is already playing with him like he's her baby:) very cute:)
He's a good puppy and we're very happy and so is Nuka and that is a big reason we got him...for her:)
MBG 1 restoration - in doing my Eischens Yoga this morning i focused purely on maintaining extension completely on all poses...feeling it fully on each pose, no parts of my body NOT feeling extension...that was and is my focus...can i make each part lets say while in standing mountain to feel engaged in extension? That is the challenge and the key to really feeling amazing while doing EY, at least for me it is and it works....IF you focus on it:)
MBG 2 training - Jessie and i trained together today and as we are both training for the Bar-barians requirements we want to put great focus on improving on the muscle ups, dips, pullups, push ups and more muscle ups....SO we thought lets get the good strength in AND work that strength / endurance as well with the 15/15 workout;

1. Bar muscle ups (walk ups) x 5 minutes (10 sets) x 3's for the entire thing! = 30 total reps
2. Dips x 5 minutes (10 sets) x 10s/10s/8s/6s/6s = 80 total reps
3. Pull ups x 5 minutes (10 sets) x 3s/3s/2s/2s/2s = 24 reps
4. Push ups x 5 minutes (10 sets) x 10s/8s/6s/5s/5s = 68 reps
5. Bar muscle ups (walk ups) x 5 minutes (10 sets) x 3,2/2s/2s/2s/2s = 21 reps

SO my total reps for this great workout was 223 total reps.....my goals were met and i felt pretty good today:) now at least i can get all my muscle ups, be it walk ups i still did not miss a one today and that is big improvement:) After this workout jess and i looked at each other and said "i feel great how about you?" and we both smiled and said perfect lets go have lunch feeling great:) haha .... very good!!
MBG 3 plant based foods - 

1. Green drink
2. Green tea
3. spinach, banana, almond milk, dales raw protein powder, almonds, cashews
4. organic food bar
5. raw bar
6. vegan pizza (3 slices:)
7. kale salad, cranberries, cashews
8. vegetable soup

Good day my friends, going to NYC tomorrow to hang with my Bar-barian brothers!!!! So i'll give you all some videos from our training there okay!!:)
peace my friends:)
Jon