TACFIT Survival is a comprehensive, plug-and-play fitness training program that will help you develop a high standard of fitness by burning stubborn fat, building functional muscle and improving your conditioning level using a variety of movement skills and training protocols that were specifically created to improve performance in high stress situations such as competitive fighting.
Note: I just got a copy of TACFIT Survival this morning. So, naturally, I have not used the entire program, and this TACFIT Survival Review is based on my first impressions.
The TACFIT entourage just released a new training program called TACFIT Survival. Truth be told, I have been looking forward to this for a number of months, but I didn’t know it was being released today until this morning when a few of you wrote to me about it (thanks!). I have not used TACFIT Survival before, but in my travels, I’ve spoken with a few people that have attended a TACFIT Survival seminar, and I’ve heard comments ranging from “it’s freaking awesome” to “I thought I was going to die, and then I was done!” Needless to say, I’ve gotten mixed feedback, but overall, everything has been really positive.
Anyways, I just downloaded the entire program a few hours ago, and have had a quick looksee at all the materials. I took one session through a test drive (video forthcoming). As can be expected from a TACFIT program, it’s good stuff as far as I can tell, but it’s not necessarily RMAX’s finest from a product quality standpoint – in my humble opinion. That said, there’s no doubt in my mind that this is a solid program and I bet many of you will enjoy using it as I will in the future. I thought I’d give you my initial thoughts while the launch sale is still running (31% off until Sunday, April 15. Yep, that’s THIS Sunday!). So, hopefully, this review will help you figure out if TACFIT Survival is right for you and your goals.
In case you’re already familiar with the other TACFIT programs out there, TACFIT Survival is very much like TACFIT Commando. So, if you’ve enjoyed TACFIT Commando (I know that at least several dozen of my readers have from all the messages and comments I’ve received over the years), then you’ll also enjoy TACFIT Survival. They are certainly not one in the same, but they are quite similar in many ways. So, in that case, if you want more training materials to work through, TACFIT Survival will be right up your alley.
But for those that aren’t familiar with the other TACFIT programs, what’s all the fuss about TACFIT Survival? What’s inside the program, what do you have to do, and most importantly, what can it do for you? Well, now that you’ve asked, let’s have a look. Continue reading TACFIT Survival Review – First Impressions
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten this question over the years – far too many to remember. Fortunately, there’s an easy answer for everyone – no matter what your goals are.
So, which is it: high quality, personalized nutrition or an optimized, challenging exercise routine? And while we’re at it, how about sleep, stress management, hydration, outdoor play and recreation, and heck… red wine, or dark chocolate just in case we want to be in vogue? Which of these is the most important – the biggest bang for your buck investment for your health, fitness, etc.?
Your personal trainer will tell you it’s the exercise that matters, but any nutritionist will tell you it’s the food. These conflicting views aren’t much help, of course. So, maybe it would be best to seek out advice from a real expert. However, those “lifestyle coaches” will probably just offer vague, unhelpful advice like “cut back on the sweets” and “take the stairs instead of the elevator, park further away… yadda yadda yadda.” And we all know how helpful that is, right? So, let’s turn to a medical doctor – a true professional – who will probably… GASP… offer medical advice and medical treatments, usually in the form of drugs or surgery. It’s almost like that’s what they specialize in or something! Of course, if you go down that route, it will be quite expensive, and then there’s the side effects. There are ALWAYS side effects. I hope you have a good insurance policy with low premiums!
So, you see our predicament now. It can be a bit difficult to get some reliable information that is not only helpful, but actually makes sense, too. But this really isn’t as complicated as everybody in our cutting-edge, 21st-century culture has made it out to be.
So, here’s a clue: all those categories listed earlier (exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.) – they are ALL important. And if you’re asking this question because you ONLY want to work on ONE thing, then you’re missing the point. If you want to get healthier, fitter, stronger, ____________ (fill in the blank), etc. – if you want to improve in some way, shape, or form physically – then you will need to optimize your approach in ALL of these areas (ok, maybe not the booze or chocolate). Anyone who tells you otherwise is most likely lying and/or trying to lay claim to your money (not as uncommon as you might think). The bottom line is that if one area is lacking, then your results will be limited in some way, shape, or form. If you’re lacking in a few areas, then you can forget it. Think about that for a second.
So, let me tell you something true. It’s going to take everything you got – your ALL. And it’s going to take your ALL, every single day until you get to WHAT you want. And if you want to KEEP it once you have it, it’s going to take the rest of your life. Try swallowing that one next time you’re enjoying an evening with some red wine and dark chocolate.
So, stop looking for the magic bullet, the quick fix, the easy button, a pill, a supplement, or a special gadget and start taking responsibility for your choices. This is not just the BEST way to achieve your goals, it’s the ONLY way to achieve them and keep them for the rest of your life.
And if you’re still wondering which one is more important for YOU, then I’d suggest that you start working on either a) the one that is more likely to help you achieve your specific goals, or b) the one that will challenge you the most. Lucky for you, oftentimes the thing that will be the hardest for you will also make the biggest difference. So, it’s usually not a bad idea to just eat the biggest frog first, if you know what I mean. Open WIDE!
So, there you have it. You could hire a whole entourage of personal trainers, nutritionists, doctors, and “lifestyle coaches” to tell you the same thing, but you don’t need to do that. You already know the truth, and not just because I told you now. You’ve always known. So, do something about it. And if you want something bad enough, you won’t start tomorrow, you’ll start today. It’s the truth.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting. ~Dr. Seuss
You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it. ~Charles Buxton
It’s never too late to be who you might have been. ~George Eliot
If you found this article helpful, please share it with your friends and tweeps:
5 Complete Pullup and Chinup Workouts to Help You Build Muscle, Increase Your Strength, and Skyrocket Your Numbers
I’ve written about pullup training many times before (see links below), and even published a complete 3 month pullup training program that I’ve used with my clients quite successfully over the years. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t more fun to be had from this great exercise. And so, I present to you five of my personal favorite pullup and chinup workouts. These are just too much fun to NOT share with you! And get this – they actually work!
I’ve used each and every one of these to build both my and my clients pullup numbers and increase strength and hypertrophy when the goal has been there. And if probability is on my side, these can work for you, too.
Once you've learned these workouts, zounds of people will gather around you - just begging for a turn!
I tend to care about things that I can use to improve my health, make me stronger, and ultimately better prepare me for the future. If you’re in the same boat, then I’m going to share a concept with you that may challenge some of the things you know about training, stress, and adaptation. I’m also going to show you how brain-dead easy it is to start using this in your lifestyle. But you’ll have to pay attention or you might not “get” it.
I believe it was Nietzsche who said, “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” and the more we are learning about the human body, the more correct he has become with time.
You see, there’s this little phenomenon known as hormesis.
Say wha?
You know… Hormesis.
OK, I had never heard of the term either – at least not until a few months ago.
According to Mark Mattson, whom, if I’m reading this correctly, is a neuroscientist, “In the fields of biology and medicine hormesis is defined as an adaptive response of cells and organisms to a moderate (usually intermittent) stress. Examples include ischemic preconditioning, exercise, dietary energy restriction and exposures to low doses of certain phytochemicals.”
In case the PhD lingo fogged up your brain for a second there, here’s another definition from Stephan Guyenet that is a bit simpler: “Hormesis is the process by which a mild or acute stressor increases resistance to other, more intense or chronic stressors.” (source here)
So, you see, at least two people agree with Nietzsche, including a doctor, which obviously makes Friedrich uber-correct on this issue and way ahead of his time (Surely, nobody thought that about him!).
But back on point, let’s get a little more specific with this explanation from Todd Becker: “Hormesis is a biological phenomenon whereby a beneficial effect (improved health, stress tolerance, growth or longevity) results from exposure to low doses of an agent that is otherwise toxic or lethal when given at higher doses. The philosophy of Hormetism… is based upon harnessing this biological phenomenon in a deliberate and systematic way in order to increase strength and resilience.” (source here)
NOW we’re starting to make some sense – thanks Todd! Exercise is a perfect example of hormesis. You stress the body just enough to elicit a positive adaptation. Vaccinations are another example as is taking a cold shower. There are tons of examples out there!
Todd goes on to say, “Hormetism puts forward the thesis that progressive hormesis is a general phenomenon that applies to virtually any stressor. Following the principles of intensity, constraint, oscillation, and gradualism… it should be possible to increase strength and tolerance with respect to a wide, virtually unlimited range of challenges and stressors.”
In other words, given the right dose, stress is extremely good for us in many ways. Are you starting to see the far-reaching implications this could have? Yeah, me too, but you’ll want to keep a few things in mind before you load a thousands pounds on the barbell or sign up for the special forces. So, let’s keep going! Continue reading How to Leverage Stress to Max Out in Life
Maybe you’ve already heard of square breathing. It’s a fairly common practice in yoga, martial art, and fitness circles among other places. It has many uses, one of which is to relieve stress. And it works – every single time – because it’s based on a fundamental physiological mechanism that is hard-wired into the human body. In fact, most people can measurably, and more importantly, noticeably decrease their level of stress by merely doing one quick square breathing exercise for 48 seconds. Professional athletes, military operators, and yoga practitioners are known to use this exact technique to help them relax, control their stress levels, boost their recovery and enhance their performance – and it can work for you, too.
I’m not real big on quick fixes, except when they actually work, and are NOT used as a crutch to avoid dealing with a bigger issue. So, if you have chronic stress, then you’ll need to address that with other more appropriate solutions. But for those of us who just want to relax and de-stress and also boost recovery and performance, here is a quick square breathing exercise that takes less than a minute to complete. You can follow along with this video. Please excuse the goofy voice and New England accent.
How to Relieve Stress, Boost Recovery + Performance, and Relax Yourself With Square Breathing
This is just a quick announcement that I will be attending the Maddog Mudder event in Gilford, NH on Saturday, June 2nd, and I’d be delighted to meet you if you can make it out for the race, too!
In fact, I can’t think of a better way to spend a summer day, than crawling around in the mud with a bunch of other sweaty people!
See?
If you don’t know anything about the Maddog Mudder, it’s a 5k race littered with obstacles quite similar to a military-style boot camp o-course. It’s not all that unlike the popular “Tough Mudder” races, just a much shorter distance. Suffice to say that if you enter, you will get tired, you will get muddy, and you will have fun – lot’s of fun. I could spend the next 1,000 words trying to convince you it will be the highlight of your summer, but I’ll leave it at that. Continue reading Meet and Greet with John Sifferman in New Hampshire This June
Maybe you’ve heard the general recommendation that you need to get 7-9 hours of quality sleep every night, and that’s not bad advice. But what’s the TRUE amount of sleep that you really need on a daily basis? That’s a good question and fortunately, there’s a simple self-test that you can do to figure out exactly how much sleep you need – and it works every time. But before we get to the test, here’s a little bit of back story.
Wild animals don't seem to have any problem figuring out how much time to devote to sleep. Why haven't we figured this out yet?
You see, it’s true that everyone knows that sleep is “good for us” just like vegetables are good for us, but not everyone knows how much sleep is ideal to be getting daily. And when I say ideal, I mean the optimal amount of sleep based on your own individual needs – not some arbitrary standard, but a personalized standard. Knowing this number could literally change your life because sleep affects EVERYTHING and getting the optimal amount of sleep will optimize… well, you know what I mean.
Now, I’ve seen a multitude of articles, research studies, and videos among other things that all proclaim exactly how much sleep people need on a daily basis. Depending on who you ask, the general recommendation is to get between seven and nine hours of sleep every night. Some sources will lean towards the bottom of that range, and others near the top. And some sources will deliberately tell you to get more than nine hours per night if you can. But here’s the thing, there’s a pretty big difference between 7 and 9 hours. If my calculations are correct, it’s a difference of not one, but TWO hours time (or 120 minutes for you math whizzes). I don’t know about you, but I really REALLY value my time and for me personally, two hours is a lot of time – especially if we’re talking two hours every single day. That’s 730 hours a year (gulp).
.jpg "John Sifferman")
You see, there’s this little phenomenon known as hormesis.
