Bloom to Fit

Interval Sitting, Micro-Breaks, and the Myth of the Perfect Posture

March 6, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 21 Comments

Perfect Posture The other week I got a chance to attend a neat little workshop held by my good friend David Wu from Student of Movement.

The workshop was called Destroy Desk Posture.

Sexy topic, I know.

But it’s a topic of incredible proportions. A topic essential for those of us who put in major time with our butts neatly tucked away in our comfy chairs. Whether you work a desk job, spend hours writing research papers, or spend endless days in front of a mountain of textbooks, sitting affects you. Big time.

The implications prolonged sitting has on our posture, our movement, and our health in general is akin to many of the deadly diseases we fear so mightily. It can and will kill us if we choose to ignore its powerful effects.

The Destroy Desk Posture workshop was full of strategies on how to combat these negative effects. David went over some powerful corrective exercises, assessment techniques, and little tips and tricks on how to negate the degradation.

And it just so happened that on the day of the workshop our city got hit with a pretty big snowstorm causing most of the people who signed up to back out.

Except me.

I was a lone soldier standing (I got good winter tires!) and I got a chance to pick David’s brain one posture-improving tip at a time.

Here’s what I learned…

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Lifestyle

Learn how to Cook: An Essential Life Skill that can Better your Body

February 27, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 12 Comments

[This is a guest post written by my good friend and food lover Darrin Carlson from theguycancook.com. I asked Darrin to prepare this post for Bloom to Fit because I know he is incredibly passionate about teaching people how to prepare simple and healthy meals. Learning how to cook for yourself isn't hard and it can literally transform your life. Take it away Darrin.]

Learn to cook 80% of your health and fitness is the result of your diet!

We’ve all heard sayings like this, and most people who have been successful at getting and staying in shape will agree that changing their diet had the most dramatic effect.

But how can you eat a healthy diet in a world of fast food and chemically-engineered food products?

Easy: learn how to cook.

When you learn how to prepare your own meals from scratch, you have 100% control over what you put into your body.

You don’t have to struggle reading nutrition labels, and plenty of research suggests that reducing the amount of “high-calorie, high-flavor” food that you find in most prepared meals is a successful way to reduce overeating.

Oh, and knowing how to throw together a tasty meal will come in handy on date night, whether you are a guy or a girl.

So you’re ready to learn how to cook? Awesome! Here are the basic guidelines. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Guest Post, Nutrition Tips

Better Your Life One Picture at a Time

February 20, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 10 Comments

One Photo a Day Life is beautiful.

There are so many small, joyful, funny, and tragic moments that happen over the course of our lives that it begs us to ask the question:

How are we going to remember it all?

This was the question posed by young director Cesar Kuriyama in a very inspiring and intriguing TED talk I watched recently (posted below).

Cesar used to be in advertising. And he did what many of us are stuck doing every day: sitting behind his desk and plugging away at his computer. He had long work weeks and little time to do the things he loved.

One day Cesar made the decision to to take a year off to travel and to pursue his own creative ideas (something I think we all need to do).

And that’s when he started his one second a day project.

Let me show you. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Lifestyle

30 Day Jump Rope Challenge

February 13, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 244 Comments

jump rope challenge Back in July, I asked you guys to do 100 kettlebell swings every single day for 30 days straight.

Sounds a bit insane, I know.

But the feedback and response I got from the 30 day kettlebell swing challenge was incredible and I was beyond excited to see so many people follow through the entire 30 days.

Much was gained from that challenge.

What most of us thought was going to be a physically demanding challenge turned out to be something completely different.

Something deeper. More stimulating.

It turned out that the act of having to consistently do the same thing every single day was far more of a mental challenge than anything else.

It was about breaking through personal barriers and fighting the demons in our minds that make us doubt ourselves.

It was about tearing through our perceived limitations.

Because no matter what was going on in your day, you knew, in the back of your mind somewhere, that those swings had to get done. It didn’t matter what situation or limitation you were facing, you had to get it done. Period.

And that’s the part of the challenge that people loved the most. The part they benefited from the most. It wasn’t the swings themselves that were difficult. It was about finding a way to get them done when every fiber in your body was resisting it.

And now, it’s time to embark on a new challenge.

Only this time it’s going to be much bigger. Much more intense. And you’ll have new barriers to break through. New demons to fight. New obstacles to conquer. But, if you stick with me, I promise that it will be more than worth it.

I hope you’re ready! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Challenge, Skipping Rope

Two Powerful Motivation Tools to Build a Better Body

February 6, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 19 Comments

motivational poster Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about motivation.

“Srdjan, how do I stay motivated?” they say. “How do I get back on track? Why do I keep losing motivation?”

Valid questions.

It seems as though many of us have trouble keeping ourselves motivated. We have good intentions. We want to achieve great things, we want to reach our goals, but too often we lose our rhythm. We stumble and can’t seem to find the focus and motivation to jump back up and keep pushing.

A recent study has found that 92% of people don’t achieve their new year resolutions.

Think about your last resolution.

You were probably super pumped to get started. Motivation and excitement was brewing inside of you. You exploded off the starting blocks without a worry in your mind.

But suddenly you hit a bit of a roadblock. You started feeling the resistance of the wind and the unevenness of the ground underneath you. So you slowed down. You stumbled a bit. And you just couldn’t regain your balance. So you slowed down. You started seconding guess yourself. You started looking for reasons to stop. To justify why quitting was the best option.

And you let the resistance of life overcome you.

92% of us experience this on a consistent basis. We start off strong, then lose focus, lose motivation, and never regain our rhythm. And so the goal gets swept under the carpet, possibly never to resurface.

The truth is, life does a damn good job of testing us.

It regularly throws curve balls our way to see what we’re made of. It puts up obstacles to see just how serious we are about achieving our goals and our dreams.

Many of us, unfortunately, let those curve balls throw us off our path.

And we never have what it takes to get back on and continue our journey.

Today I want to change that. I want to give you two very powerful motivation tools that you can use on your journey to a better body. There’s some homework involved, but it will be well worth your time. I promise.

Let’s dig in… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspiration & Motivation

A New Beginning for Bloom to Fit

January 30, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 18 Comments

Two years.

Believe it or not, it’s been just over two years since I gave birth to Bloom to Fit (wait, can I say that?).

Hmm. I can tell you this though:

It’s been one heck of a ride so far.

I’ve created a lot of content over the years. Not as much as I would have liked to, but as much as I could muster with everything else going on in my life.

And I’m sure I’ve made a ton of mistakes. Couple of set backs here and there. But the countless comments and emails I’ve received from my readers telling me that my content has helped improve their lives a little bit is all the motivation I need to keep going. To keep making mistakes. And to keep learning.

But, regardless of it all, one thing has remained the same:

Working on this blog has been an incredible joy for me. It has given me an outlet. An opportunity to share what I know and what I love. It has allowed me to unleash the creative beast inside of me.

But after two years of writing, I feel like there’s still something missing.

I feel like I could do more. Err better. I feel like it’s time for Bloom to Fit to grow up. To mature into the beautiful flower it’s meant to be.

This is why I’m dedicating the year 2013 as the re-birth of Bloom to Fit.

Here’s what I mean… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Be Mindful, Be Aware, Be Happy

January 23, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 18 Comments

Mindfulness When was the last time you took a moment to do nothing?

No texting. No creeping randoms on Facebook. No situps. No watching TV. No reading.

I mean absolutely nothing.

That was how Andy Puddicombe’s TED talk started (video below). And the entire concept of mindfullness really set in.

We live in a world today where we are constantly distracted. Overtly stressed. Our minds are constantly stimulated. Our eyes are always glued to devices, our fingers to keyboards, and our butts to chairs.

Studies show that, on average, our minds are lost in thought 47% of the time.

This means that we spend half of our lives completely unaware of our surroundings, our thoughts, and our emotions.

This, my friends, is no way to live life.

We are slowly, but surely becoming less mindful and more stressed and this is taking a toll on our health.

But here’s what we can do about it… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Your Mind

How to Build a Simple Home Gym (Bloom to Fit Style)

January 16, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 31 Comments

Ultimate Home Gym The new year is finally upon us.

And with every new year comes the same-old routine…

New resolutions, new goals, new dreams.

People are on a high right now. And it’s cool to see.

It’s nice to see people starting to take their health more seriously. Even if it may be short-lived (let’s be honest…90% of resolution-ers don’t stick with their resolutions), at least they’re trying to do something about it.

But with every new person looking to rock a six-pack by mid January there is a new membership in the books. A new body that takes up space. A new person to wait behind at the water fountain.

And although this might be great news for the gym’s bottom line, it sucks for the rest of the people who are used to having all that free space.

You’ll notice it from the very first moment you step foot in a gym in January.

The place is more crammed than a Japanese subway, probably surpassing capacity and breaking nearly every building code known to man.

And even though things usually go back to normal by early February (that’s kinda sad ), the brutality of January had always pushed me into a different direction.

It forced me into building my very own home gym.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Training Equipment

Jump Rope Training: The Beauty and Power of HEAVY Jump Ropes

January 9, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 8 Comments

Heavy Jump Ropes About two years ago, I went on an adventure of a lifetime.

My mission: train Muay Thai in Thailand.

It was the most incredible four weeks of my life. I completely immersed myself in a culture and a sport of tradition that demanded peak physical conditioning and flawless technique. It was something completely new to me, yet it felt like second nature.

Aside from our morning 10km runs, sparring sessions, bag work and bodyweight training sessions, one of the tools that we most frequently used was the jump rope.

Only Muay Thai fighters don’t use your typical speed ropes (like boxers do).

Nope.

These guys are on another level. They use heavy jump ropes.

Let me tell you why… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Skipping Rope, Training Equipment

25 Lessons Learned in 25 Years of Life

January 2, 2013 by Srdjan Popovic 16 Comments

25 Life Lessons As is common for me on the 24th of every December, I celebrated another year of existence.

Only this one was a little bit different.

A milestone as they would say.

This year I hit the big two five. The quarter century mark…

They say the 25th birthday is a special one. One that brings a lot of change. A lot of responsibility.

A lot happens apparently after a man hits his 25th birthday. The body apparently breaks down while the mind (hopefully) becomes more wise and mature. I’ll have to challenge the first one.

Over these past 25 years I’ve definitely experienced a lot. I’ve had my share of accomplishments interspersed with mistakes and setbacks. I’ve had moments that I’ll remember forever and days I wish never happened. I’ve met so many interesting people, crafted beautiful relationships, and lost friends and family members (and pets) along the way.

But I’m thankful for every single one of those moments because they have helped turn me into the man I am today.

They say that with every experience, whether good or bad, there is a lesson to be learned.

And boy have I had my share of lessons.

Today I’d love to share with you 25 lessons I’ve learned over my 25 years of life: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspiration & Motivation, Lifestyle