An Interview with Olympian Nick Delpopolo

May 23, 2013

in Martial Arts

Nick Delpopolo - JudoI’ve been lucky enough to have had the pleasure to train Judo (albeit very poorly) with 2012 Olympic Judoka, Nick Delpopolo on several occasions. I’ve always been immensely impressed by his work-ethic, humbleness and willingness to go the extra mile when teaching and I thought he might have some wisdom to share with my loyal readers; so I went out on a limb and asked him if he would be willing to take the time and talk about Judo, fitness and what motivates him to compete…

Luckily, he agreed and not only did we talk about violently throwing people on their heads, but also Starcraft, Game of Thrones and Snake Plissken. That’s right aspiring Jerds, this Olympian is a giant geek!

So let’s see what makes Nick Delpopolo tick, shall we?

The Jerd – “Hey Nick, thanks for sitting down with me today! I wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk to our readers about yourself. So before we get into me winging questions at you, would you mind telling the readers, who might not be familiar with you, a little bit about yourself?”

Nick Delpopolo – “Well, thanks for having me Jeff. I really appreciate the opportunity! My name is Nick Delpopolo. I’m a 2012 Olympian for the sport of Judo; I’ve been doing Judo for the last 20 years of my life and I am aiming to be the first make gold medalist in that sport for the Unites States.”

The Jerd – “That’s awesome! So 20 years huh?”

Read more Jerd wisdom… do it!

Tagged as: Judo, Martial Arts, Nick Delpopolo, Olympics

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Fitness Lessons from Scranton!

May 15, 2013

in Health & Fitness

The Office Jim Halpert Fitness WWJHDDunder-Mifflin fitness tips? What sort of crazy talk is this!?! Cool your jets aspiring Jerdlets and hear me out!

So tomorrow night marks the end of an era for a lot of people… NBC’s juggernaut T.V. series “The Office” will finally came to a close; a fact that is giving me a serious case of the feels. So before I get all choked up saying goodbye to all my friends in Scranton I wanted to look at the series through the eyes of a motivational fitness blogger and pull some lessons out for you all. Because that’s just how I roll.

You see, for the last 9 years I freaking LOVED “The Office“.  Something about it spoke to me and I was on-board since its humble beginnings, through its stellar run of mid-series seasons, all the way to its unfortunate stumbles towards the end. A show about the doldrums of everyday life but that was hilarious? A show with characters and situations I could relate to even though I had never worked in a north-eastern Pennsylvania based regional paper company? Pure brilliance as far as I am concerned! It has become that warm mental blanket of comfort that I will let stream in the background on Netflix as I am folding laundry or while I am laying on the couch if not feeling well; it is the show I can quote from memory without a second thought. What’s not to love about it?

I know what you are thinking. ”Okay Mr Mighty Jerd sir, I am happy you found a show you liked… What does this have to do with fitness?” Well calm down Slappy, I’m getting to it!

You see, as the show progressed I came to realize, in my opinion, that Jim Halpert (played by the affable John Krasinski) is one of the all time greats as far as TV characters go. Funny, smart and charismatic without coming across as bigger than life. Looking back, I realize that his relationship with Pam and his rivalry with Dwight have fueled more laughs with people, and provided more potential bonding moments with friends, than any other cultural phenomenon in a long time (I avoided “Lost” like the plague, so I dodged that water-cooler chat bullet)! Recounting his antics on the show week to week has become something of a tradition for me. He is the character everyone loves, the one that everyone wants to know in real life, and the one that everyone wishes they could be as cool as. To me that is the sign of a masterfully written character!

Well, guess what? Today is the day that I help you embrace your inner Halpert! I going to teach you how to get fit by infusing your life with a little ‘Scrantonicity’! Read more Jerd wisdom… do it!

Tagged as: Dunder-Mifflin, Jim Halpert, Scrantonicity, The Office, WWJHD

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The Kehs to Running: Running Accessories

May 8, 2013

in Keys to Running, Product Reviews

“Where does he get those wonderful toys?”

Let’s face it… geeks like love toys! From gadgets to video games, when a geek immerses himself in a hobby it is usually accompanied by a plethora of cool and cutting edge accessories. So here are all the running accessories I use when running. It might seem like a lot for someone who advocates “just get out and run!!!” but the setup is trivial, and nothing here is intrusive or distracting from the joy of putting feet to pavement.

Toys for Tracking Workouts

Running Accessories - Nike+ SportbandNike+ Sportband - The Nike+ Sportband is a very functional, lightweight wristband/watch that communicates with the Nike+ sensor, and tracks distance, calories, and pace, and you can save that data to the Nike+ web site, which will track each and every workout. I love this thing because it has everything I need without getting in the way. It’s a nice first step into the world of running technology as its functions are simple, and starting and stopping are as easy as holding the button down!

The obvious omission from something like this is the lack of GPS functionality. As I have relatively few routes that I know well, the added benefits of GPS don’t help a whole lot for me. I generally don’t map my runs, and the few that I do have interest in I can create manually. It would be a great nice-to-have feature, but not something I need at the moment.

(Check them out here on Amazon.com)

Read more Jerd wisdom… do it!

Tagged as: iPod Nano, Marware Sportsuit Sensor Case, Nike+, Nike+ Sensor, Nike+ Sportband, Running Accessories, Sony MDR-J10 Headphones, Toys

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ORIGIN series by Ninjabot

May 1, 2013

in Comic Books

OriginSeries_Ad

Considering how we here at the Jerd are all about people embarking on their own personal Heroes Transformation, it should be no surprise that we look to our favorite superheroes for inspiration… and man have we found a gem! This rare combination of expert composition, bold colors and graphic story-telling presents the origin stories of some of the world’s greatest heroes (and villains) in a set of fabulously simple, yet deep, prints.

I for one will be hanging a bunch of these in my home gym to give me motivation when pushing through a hard workout!

Get in on this now by clicking the banner above!

Tagged as: Origin

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Reader Mail Bag #1

May 1, 2013

in Iron Rations, Nerd-Core Fitness, Reader Mail Bag

I think it is high time to introduce a new series of articles to the site.

*cue drumroll please*

*dramatic pause*

Reader MailThe Reader Mail Bag!

That whole lead-up, drumroll, dramatic pause thing really doesn’t work when you write it out does it? Oh well, let us not allow that fizzled intro to detract from the point of this post; answering some reader mail!

Today we have two great questions from some loyal readers, so let’s see what they want to know and if I have any advice for them.

“So, some girl friends of mine at work are all talking about eating healthier and being more active. We are each making small adjustments in our lifestyles. One of the topics we were debating on were supplements, is there a need to take supplements? If so which kinds? With all of the fads going on…I think the latest I heard was raspberry ketone???…is it something I should look into?

I love reading your articles, I find them very helpful and have recommended your page to my friends.” – Tammy

Thanks so much for the feedback Tammy! I’m both glad that you are trying to get healthier and that you are finding the advice here helpful!

Read more Jerd wisdom… do it!

Tagged as: Hypertonic muscles, Hypotonic muscles, Raspberry Ketone, Supplements, Tight muscles

2 comments

Food Journaling

04.24.2013 Health & Fitness

Anyone who has been reading this site for any length of time understands the basics of weight loss. Eat less calories than you burn. Simple right? Well, I am going to make a bold statement here… Most people have no clue how many calories they eat in a day! They might think they do, but [...]

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Awesome New Projects!

04.17.2013 Health & Fitness

Ahoy there loyal readers (who I obviously am assuming are perusing this site from some sort of naval vessel)! I wanted to take a moment to keep you up to date on the latest ways I am trying to help you, and the geek world at large, get healthier! We have three things in the [...]

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The Mighty Jerd 103

04.10.2013 Geek Culture

That’s right nerds and nerdlettes, it is time for another scintillating edition of “Get to Know the Mighty Jerd!” Over the past few months I have been slowly revealing bits and pieces of my origin story; the formative moments that established my copious amount of nerd cred. I have been doling out these bowls of [...]

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Unleash Your Fitness Alter Ego!

04.05.2013 Health & Fitness

I was talking to my boss the other day, and he told me he finally realized why I just disappear immediately after work and am unreachable by phone or email until late at night. I chuckled and offhandedly told him it was because I was a superhero. He knows I train martial arts, but I [...]

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The Kehs to Running: Taking a Break

03.29.2013 Keys to Running

Or as we like to call it, exercising on vacation! Taking a vacation doesn’t necessarily mean taking a vacation from exercise.  It may require some changes to your routine, but it’s always worth it.  During a vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort earlier this year, the following things kept me motivated and allowed for [...]

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How To: Recover from a Workout

03.27.2013 Health & Fitness

Since I have been dealing with a few back-end site hiccups the past two weeks I thought I would use it as a round about way to discuss the importance of an oft-times overlooked, but vital, component of a fitness regimen. Recovery time! First off, before I lay out how to recover from a workout, [...]

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Iron Rations: 3 Quick and Healthy Chicken Dishes

03.13.2013 Iron Rations

One thing I commonly hear when talking to people who say they want to eat better is this: “I would eat healthier but it takes too long to cook!” Poppycock! It just takes a little forethought and kitchen know-how. The first step to eating healthy is making sure your kitchen is well stocked (here are some [...]

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The Basics of Getting in Shape

03.06.2013 Health & Fitness

No matter what endeavor you want to talk about, one universal truth will hold true – People hate learning/practicing the basics! Martial arts? “Don’t tell me to stretch for 30 minutes a day and then do 1000 front kicks to get proper form… show me how to spin around in the air and hit multiple [...]

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Momentum: The Secret to a Healthy Life

02.27.2013 Health & Fitness

There are a lot of secrets to a long and healthy life; some common sense and some not so much. Look across the internet and within the pages of fitness and health magazines and you will see everything from Amazonian superfruits to bizarre yoga poses being touted as that month’s super-duper secret that you have been [...]

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Iron Rations: A Simple and Healthy Breakfast

02.20.2013 Iron Rations

Eggs. The staple of so many people’s morning ritual. Unfortunately these miraculous packages of protein and amino acids are often partnered up with stacks of pancakes slathered in butter and sugar sauce, southern biscuits soaked in heart-attack inducing gravy, covered in tons of cheese, etc… Since everyone knows that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” [...]

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Iron Rations: Top Kitchen Essentials

02.13.2013 Iron Rations

I fondly remember shopping with my mother when I was growing up; wandering the aisles of the grocery store watching her toss endless boxes and bags into the cart, always hoping that if I was good that I would get to pick a comic book from the spinning rack near the checkout. It’s a very simple, and [...]

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Are You the Best?

02.06.2013 Health & Fitness

I have a serious question for you. If you aren’t the best at something, is it worth doing? I am pretty sure that most of you, after thinking about it for a moment, will come to the same conclusion as me. Of course! Think about it; if there wasn’t a point to doing something unless you were the [...]

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