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“Once you choose hope, anything is possible.” - Christopher Reeve

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” - Confucius

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body; it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” - President John F. Kennedy

After what seems like an eternity of a pre-primary season, Americans will finally cast the first votes of the 2016 presidential election next week. Our ranking of the fitness levels of each of the candidates’ supporters was published in Politico last month. Today, we’re going to look back at our nation’s 43 presidents and identify those who stand out for their outstanding fitness.

I’m sorry, William Howard Taft fans: This blog is not for you. President Taft’s 340 pound stature and 43.2 B.M.I. (Body Mass Index) are records that will likely stand for a long time. Laggards Grover Cleveland (who once said, “Bodily movement alone ... is among the dreary and unsatisfying things of life.") and Bill Clinton (whose wife famously said, “"The good news is, my husband loves to eat and enjoys it.”) didn’t make our list.

This article celebrates the presidents – regardless of political affiliation or competence in office – who we believe are the fittest of all time. These presidents belong on a Mount Rushmore of Presidential Fitness.

Theodore Roosevelt: Rough & Tough
Roosevelt suffered from severe asthma as a child. He was by all accounts sickly growing up. However, he pushed through his ailments and became an accomplished boxer and rower while at Harvard. He served as New York’s police commissioner and spent late nights on the streets supervising his officers. During the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and created a cavalry of volunteers known as the “Rough Riders.” His legendary experience leading the Rough Riders helped catapult him to the presidency. As president, Roosevelt built a boxing ring in the White House and was blinded in one eye by a punch. For fun, he would swim across near-frozen rivers and took on judo (for which he earned a brown belt).

Gerald Ford: Not Chevy Chase
Despite Saturday Night Live’s portrayal of Ford (played by Chevy Chase) as a clumsy, weak man with bad knees, Ford was an exceptional athlete. In fact, it’s because of his early athletic pursuits that Ford’s body was beat up by the time he served as president. Ford was the starting center on two national championship football teams for the University of Michigan. He turned down contract offers to play pro football for the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions in order to attend Yale Law School. Although he won on the football field, Ford never won a presidential election. He became vice president when Spiro Agnew resigned, and, the following year, became president upon Richard Nixon’s resignation. Following his electoral loss to Jimmy Carter, Ford nailed a hole in one in a pro-am golf tournament.

George Washington: Overcoming 18th Century Medicine
We haven’t seen photos of George Washington, let alone his B.M.I., resting heart rate, or max bench press. However, we can rely on accounts of his fitness from those who served with him on the battlefield when he led the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. Historian David McCullough described him as “a strapping man of commanding presence, he stood six feet two inches tall and weighed perhaps 190 pounds. There was not a King in Europe that would not look like a valet by his side.” Washington was tough. While leading his men during the French and Indian War, he was stricken with dysentery and severe hemorrhoids. In those days, doctors drew blood in an effort to eliminate “ill humors,” and Washington was severely depleted as a result. However, Washington overcame his pain and weakness, lifted himself upon his horse, and led his troops into battle.

Ronald Reagan: Staying Fit Late in Life
At nearly 70, Reagan was the oldest person sworn into the office of the presidency. Therefore, many of our memories of him are of an older man. In his youth, however, Reagan was extremely athletic. During his teen years, Reagan rescued 77 people as a lifeguard. He was captain of the swim team at Eureka College, where he was also a member of the football team. As an actor, he often played roles requiring a high level of fitness, such as cowboys and military men, and of course his famous role as Notre Dame footballer George Gipp in “Knute Rockne, All American.” While in office, Reagan had a rigorous workout routine. He penned an article titled “How to Stay Fit” in Parade magazine, in which he detailed his resistance training regimen involving bursts of high weight exercises.

We’d love to hear from you. What do you think about the presidents we listed? Comment below or on our Facebook page or tweet us at @flytefitness.

Be Flyte Fit,

Jeremy Greenberg
Co-Founder & CEO
Flyte Fitness

P.S. DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR FITNESS UPDATES! CLICK THE BOX AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE!

"One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation." - Arthur Ashe

Today, I’m writing the second article in our monthly series, “Taking Flyte," showcasing friend and partner Steve Weatherford’s advice on topics relating to health, fitness, and wellness. Last month, Steve reflected on the ups and downs of 2015. Today, Steve shares his thoughts on how he prepares to perform at his best: before, during, and after a big event.

There’s no bigger event for a professional football player than the Super Bowl. Steve shared how he mentally prepared throughout his experience with the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. The Giants won 21-17 over the New England Patriots and Steve played a pivotal role, pinning three punts within the Patriots' 20-yard line (two within the 10-yard line) which created field position havoc for the opposition. So, how did he mentally prepare for the biggest event of his life? We asked him.

Entering the Super Bowl, how did you mentally prepare for the big event?
Weatherford: “You treat it like anything else. I draw my confidence from knowing that I did every single possible thing up to that point to prepare myself for that one moment to be the greatest in the world. It's not that I had to go do yoga and find my Zen. For me, hard, hard, hard freaking work in the off-season is where I get my confidence.”

I’ve seen this hard work first-hand myself. We discussed how he prepared for the Super Bowl while we worked out in a marathon session that included an intense Core Flyte workout and what he calls “ARMageddon,” an all-out assault on every area of the tricep and bicep muscles. My arms felt like jelly for a couple of days after!

You’re playing in the Super Bowl. The stakes are high. How did you stay mentally focused?
Weatherford: “Nobody was having more fun in that game than I did. I was celebrating. I was hopping around. I was having fun. I was giggling. I know that you're only as good as your next play. For me, my first punt at the Super Bowl led to two points for us [a safety on Pats superstar Tom Brady]. That's as good as it gets for a punter. It's about being excited that you did well and then letting that go and focusing on the next play. Same thing if you had a bad one. If you have a bad one you let that go… short-term memory is key.”

Steve reminds those of us who know him that you can perform at a high level and have fun at the same time: they are not mutually exclusive. The important thing is to focus on your role and execute well each step of the way. In fact, for many people, having fun helps them stay loose – especially in a high-pressure situation – which can improve performance.

You won the Super Bowl. How did you mentally absorb such a big win?
Weatherford: “It’s important to celebrate. If you asked me before the game, ‘How many beers would have after you won the Super Bowl?’ I would have told you ‘all of them!’ But after the Super Bowl, I’m not kidding you, I went to the Super Bowl post-party and there were celebrities everywhere and everyone is partying and having a good time… but I had one drink, a Jack and Coke. I drank that drink and I looked at my wife and said, ‘I don’t want to feel any different. I’m not drinking anymore.’ With the euphoria that came from a lifetime of preparation to achieve a lifetime goal, I didn’t want to feel any different. I didn’t need alcohol to feel any different. I had just one drink. I enjoyed the celebration for about three hours with my mom, my dad, my in-laws, my son, and my daughter. I ended up going to bed around two in the morning. That was earlier than every single one of my teammates.”

Steve is a fun guy. His energy is insane. At the Super Bowl, he was as excited as anyone. At the end of the day, however, he was able to keep the achievement in perspective and enjoy it for what it was: the pinnacle of athletic accomplishment. And he did it with his family, which now includes two more children. And who knows… maybe while he was celebrating he was secretly thinking about his next workout!

We’d love to hear from you. How do you mentally prepare for a big event? Comment below or on our Facebook page or tweet us at @flytefitness.

Be Flyte Fit,

Jeremy Greenberg
Co-Founder & CEO
Flyte Fitness

P.S. DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR FITNESS UPDATES! CLICK THE BOX AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE!

“Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.” - Yogi Berra, baseball legend

“Perhaps the world's second-worst crime is boredom; the first is being a bore.” - English photographer Cecil Beaton

I think I speak for all of us when I say, “Boredom sucks.” Most of us are getting bored quicker and more easily these days. With attention spans shortening, if we don’t have our smartphone fix, our coffee, our TV, or our fantasy football scores, we feel fidgety. We fall into the trap of multitasking and we get caught up in acting for the sake of doing… often to avoid boredom.

Electric Shocks Preferred to Boredom
A collaboration of the University of Virginia and Harvard University found that people despise boredom so much they are even willing to cause themselves physical pain in order to avoid it. A series of 11 studies, led by UVA psychologist Timothy Wilson, began with groups of participants who were asked to be alone for short periods of time (up to 15 minutes) without any material to stimulate their minds. Most of the subjects reported not enjoying the experience.

Wilson and his team wanted to see if people would chose to take part in an objectively unpleasant activity rather than no activity at all. So, as psychologists like to do, they added a button to the barren room that when pressed administered a mild electric shock to the participant. Participants were given a sample shock and all agreed that they would pay not to receive the shock. However, while sitting alone for 15 minutes, 67 percent of the men and 25 percent of the women in this study voluntarily shocked themselves.

Wilson said, “Simply being alone with their own thoughts for 15 minutes was apparently so aversive that it drove many participants to self-administer an electric shock that they had earlier said they would pay to avoid."

Best-selling author and Harvard psychology professor Daniel Gilbert partnered with Wilson’s team on the shock study. Gilbert shared in a Freakonomics podcast last month that one of the male participants shocked himself an astonishing 190 times in the 15 minute period.

Boredom is Dangerous
Okay, so we clearly hate being bored. In addition, it turns out, boredom is also bad for our health. U.K. researchers collected data from 7,500 participants over a three-year period in the 1980s to gauge their level of boredom at work. 20 years after the collection period, the researchers analyzed the data for participants who had died. They found that those who had reported being “very bored” were two and a half times more likely to die from a heart-related problem than those who did not report being bored.

Psychologist Stephen Vodanovich of the University of West Florida states that research indicates that boredom increases the risk of anxiety, depression, drug and alcohol dependency, smoking, eating junk food, and work and school performance.

Exercise Combats Boredom
WebMD contends that boredom is common reason that people give for not exercising. People often find exercising monotonous. So, I’m going to argue that we should do something that many of us find boring to fight boredom. I’m a big fan of experimenting to find what works best for you… for your schedule, for your meal plan, for you workout routine. People often ask me, “What kind of exercise should I do to get me motivated?” The answer I give is, “Start with something that you will enjoy.” If we don’t like something the chances are slim that we’ll do it consistently.

Being active, however, isn’t sufficient to prevent boredom from creeping in. I’ve run the same route in Central Park dozens and dozens of times. And, yes it can get a bit boring. We need to find new ways to vary our routines so that they don’t become too… uh… routine.

Fight Boredom Your Way
There are some tips for combatting boredom while we work out so that we will stay motivated enough to keep exercising and enjoy it more. Again, everyone is different and not every suggestion will work for all of us. Reducing boredom is tantamount to making our workouts more fun. Making exercise a social activity can work for many of us. A running partner, workout buddy, or trainer can make exercises more competitive, supportive, or interactive. We wrote about how a great workout pal can be your dog in a blog last summer. Combining exercise with something else you enjoy can help a lot. Most people running on the treadmill or lifting weights in the gym have their headphones or earbuds glued to their heads. If music isn’t your bag, watching television, listening to podcasts, playing video games, or reading books may work for you.

One of the best ways to ensure that boredom doesn’t creep into our workouts is to create variety. With the many options of new and exciting classes available for us to try at gyms, apps and YouTube workouts available to enjoy at home, and new products to incorporate into my exercise regimen, I keep things interesting and fresh. My preference is to try at least one new exercise every week. My Core Flytes certainly make this easier for me to do as I am constantly challenged by what others are posting on social media. Fortunately, people are regularly telling me what they’re doing with their Core Flytes and it helps inspire me to try something new. This week a customer shared a “zombie press,” which I’m still working on!

We’d love to hear from you. What do you do to keep your workouts fun and make sure you’re never bored when you exercise? Comment below or on our Facebook page at facebook.com/flytefitness or tweet us at @flytefitness.

Be Flyte Fit,

Jeremy Greenberg

P.S. DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR FITNESS UPDATES! CLICK THE BOX AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE!

A few weeks ago, we received an email from a student at Penn State University who wanted to contribute to the Flyte Fitness blog after she had read several articles on fitness and health. The student, sophomore Haley Staub, explained that she was leading an effort on behalf of the Penn State Dance Marathon (known as “THON”) to raise money to fight childhood cancer. THON culminates with a 46-hour, “no sleeping, no sitting,” dance marathon every February which is watched by 150,000 people around the world. Throughout the year, there are many charity events to raise money and create momentum for the cause. Haley wanted to share with Flyte Fitness readers an innovative approach to an upcoming 5K.

“Never make predictions, especially about the future.” - Casey Stengel, Major League Baseball outfielder and manager

It's now November. Whoa! Where has the year gone? As we replace the pumpkin and ghost decorations with turkey ones, we are one step closer to the end of 2015. It's been an exciting year for us at Flyte Fitness. We began selling our Core Flyte stability training tools and customers, fitness professionals, and distribution partners all gave us excellent feedback. As the year comes to an end, we are looking forward to a great 2016.

So, what's in store for fitness next year? Last week, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world, gave us its annual predictions. ACSM published the results of its fitness trend forecast for 2016.

2,800 survey respondents –worldwide health and fitness professionals – differentiated "fads" (think Pizza Rat) from "trends" (think brick oven pizza) and focused on the areas that they think will influence the way that individuals will behave in the foreseeable future.

Here are the top five fitness trends for 2016 predicted by experts:

1. Wearable technology
Requirements: Cool tech gadgets

This trend went from “never-ranked” in the top 20, to “top-of-the-list.” The most common wearables used today are activity trackers that count steps walked, estimate heart rate and calories burned, and count hours of sleep. Many of these are integrated with smartphones and apps. There are wristbands (Fitbit), watches (Apple Watch), spectacles (Google Glass), and even earrings (we wrote about these last year).

The survey's lead author Walter Thompson, Associate Dean of the College of Education & Human Development at Georgia State University, said wearable technology helps by "gauging the intensity of effort during the workout... [and] also provides motivation between workouts."

We have written extensively about the importance of motivation and accountability when it comes up exercise. Technology that accurately monitors activity with little support required by users helps us see when we succeed and when we fall behind in clear, objective, and quantifiable metrics. I'm all for tools that help us track progress, and if they look cool too, great.

2. Body Weight Training
Requirement: Body.

The top trend in last year's survey, body weight training, took runner-up for 2016. Most personal trainers, group fitness classes, and popular home workout programs include body weight exercises that require only one's body. I was happy to see fitness professionals continue to recognize this trend as Core Flyte exercises take body weight exercises like planks, lunges, squats, push-ups, and rollouts to the next level.

3. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Requirement: Clock.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT), HIIT, is considered an effective method for getting a limit-pushing workout in a short period of time. It is comprised of alternating bursts of activity (e.g., sprints) and brief periods of recovery. It can be used with both cardio and strength exercises. Our Everlast Lab Core Flyte class has a session consisting of HIIT with 45-60 seconds of all-out Core Flyte exercises alternating with short rest periods.

4. Strength Training
Requirement: Weights.

Strength training uses resistance in order to build muscle and anaerobic endurance. It typically involves the use of equipment such as free weights. This type of training evokes the nostalgia of the movie Pumping Iron, but is certainly not only for the body-building type. Many women shy away from using weights due to fear of getting "too bulky." This is an unfounded fear because using weights is a great way to tone muscles and build strength and does not create a bulky look for most women.

5. Educated, Certified & Experienced Fitness Professionals
Requirement: Knowledge.

Ignorance may be bliss, but when it comes to exercise, it stunts progress, leads to inefficient workouts, and causes injuries. Knowledgeable fitness professionals help set and establish best practices and find innovative ways to work out. Attending fitness conventions in LA, New York, Orlando, and Atlanta this year has broadened my awareness of just how many new types of educational formats are out there, and how many are coming. Fitness professionals will have new ways to expand their tool sets with each new exercise science course. And, yes, we have in the works a Core Flyte education course for fitness professionals!

We’d love to hear from you. Is the prediction for wearables overstated? Which trend do you think will be the most important in 2016? Comment below or on our Facebook page at facebook.com/flytefitness or tweet us at @flytefitness.

Be Flyte Fit,

Jeremy Greenberg
Co-Founder & CEO
Flyte Fitness

P.S. DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR FITNESS UPDATES! CLICK THE BOX AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE!