This is a guest post by 21 Convention speaker and world renowned exercise authority Drew Baye. Re-posted with permission from Baye.com.

 
Maintaining your health and achieving and maintaining a high level of functional ability should be among your highest priorities. You only live once, and both how long you live and yourenjoyment of it are directly affected by your health, your physical capabilities and your appearance.

Proper exercise is a requirement for living the longest, happiest life possible. It is a requirementfor self-actualization – realizing your full human potential and necessary for achieving the idealof a sound mind in a sound body.

While many people have at least some awareness of the potential benefits of exercise relatively few fully realize its importance. I believe at least two of the main reasons for this are failure to associate a lack of exercise with the resulting physical consequences, and underestimation of human physical potential.

It is easier to make cause and effect associations when the cause is one of commission rather than omission and when the time between cause and effect is shorter. The consequences of a lack or omission of exercise are not immediately apparent and in some cases take years. Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones once explained during a seminar:

“If I were to grab you by the throat, and choke off your air supply, it would immediately become apparent to you that oxygen is absolutely essential for life. If I were to lock you in a room with no water, after several hours, the degree of thirst you would experience would indicate to you that water is a requirement for life. If I were to lock you in that room with water, but no food, it would take a little longer, a matter of a couple of days, before you would be ravenously hungry, and there would be no question in your mind that food was absolutely essential for life. However, it often takes years before ones body begins to show the harm done by a lack of proper exercise.”

 
 
In the long run, if nothing is done to prevent it, we gradually lose muscle as we age, becoming weaker and more frail and suffering other problems as a result such as decreased basal metabolic rate, decreased insulin sensitivity, increased body fat, decreased cardiovascular and metabolic capacity, increased blood pressure, osteoporosis, increased risk of falling due to reduction in speed and steadiness of movement, etc.

In the meanwhile, if you do not exercise you live with a level of functional ability and a physical appearance far below your potential. Compared to what you can and should be, you are weak, slow, and fragile. If you do exercise, properly, the improvements in strength, speed, durability, and overall health will allow you to do more, do it better, do it longer, and look good while you’re at it. I believe the average, untrained person grossly underestimates their potential, would be surprised at what they are capable of becoming with proper exercise.

Exercise is one of the most important things you can do to improve your life. It deserves the same serious consideration, attention to detail, and effort – both physical and mental – as any other major life goal or achievement of high value. It is not enough to just do exercise, you should strive  to master it.

You should perform every exercise and every workout in the safest, most effective, most efficient manner possible.

Safety

It ought to go without saying that exercise should performed in the safest manner possible, but considering the sloppy and haphazard form commonly displayed in gyms and the outright dangerous antics of Crossfit, plyometrics, “core stability training” and similar activities touted as exercise it is apparent most either aren’t aware of or underestimate the potential for injury and long term damage of improper training.

While all physical activity poses some risk of injury exercise can and should be performed in a manner and with a level of control which makes it safer than almost any other activity. It would be counterproductive and downright stupid to perform an activity for the purpose of physical improvement which simultaneously poses a significant risk of causing physical injury or undermining your long term functional ability and health.

This does not mean exercise should be easy. On the contrary, to be effective exercisemust involve a high level of effort. There is no conflict between safety and intensity of effort during exercise, however; the manner of performance required to minimize risk of injury is the exact same required to maximize the quality of muscular loading and effectiveness.

Effectiveness 

More than any other factor, exercise effectiveness is related to effort, and effort is maximized with proper form. Contrary to claims of some ignorant trainers that how you perform an exercise is less important than the effort you put into it, proper form and maximum effort arenot mutually exclusive but directly related. The better your form the higher the intensity.

The histrionics and bodily contortions often associated with a high level of effort during training are not an indication of greater intensity; many trainees commit these discrepancies even when they are not actually working hard. They are attempts to reduce the difficulty of the exercise or distractions from the discomfort of hard work.

The person who grunts, grimaces, and makes a show of heaving or jerking to gain momentum and leaning this way and that to find a lever advantage during exercise is not the one training the hardest, but rather the person who remains stoic as the pain of effort increases, impassive and expressionless, focusing on intensely contracting the targeted muscles while maintaining strict control of the position and movement of their body.

Correct form during exercise involves positioning and or alignment of the body and a path, range and manner of movement designed to effectively load the muscles. Breaking or “loosening” form makes an exercise easier, not harder. Some trainers claim “loosening” form is advantageous because it allows more repetitions to be performed displaying their ignorance of the real objective of exercise.

Efficiency

Exercise is not an end in itself, but a means to improving your health and functional ability to better enjoy other activities and aspects of life. You should spend no more time exercising than necessary for best results. Doing so will not give you better results, but will take away from the finite amount of time you have to pursue other goals or  interests and enjoy the company of friends and family. Fortunately very little exercise is required if performed properly and with a high level of effort.

The only exercise you need – in fact the only activity that truly qualifies as exercise – is progressive resistance training. When performed properly it is the safest and most effective method of stimulating improvements in all trainable factors of fitness; muscular strength, size and endurance, cardiovascular and metabolic efficiency, flexibility, bone density and connective tissue strength, and body composition.

The Standard

There are other considerations, but these three – safety, effectiveness, and efficiency – are the highest priorities and the standard against which different methods should be compared if the ultimate purpose of exercise is to contribute to greater enjoyment of life.

There are a lot of training methods, programs, and modalities which can eventually maximize your strength and overall fitness and functional ability.

Any strength training method performed with a relatively high level of effort, consistently, and progressively, and any program that addresses all the major muscle groups without exceeding a volume and frequency of work your body can recover from and adapt to can eventually get you about as strong and as muscular as your genetics will allow.

Any physical activity or combination of activities performed with a relatively high level of effort, over a full range of joint motions, involving loads meaningful to the skeletal system, can eventually result in significant improvements in cardiovascular and metabolic conditioning, flexibility and bone density.

Any modality that provides the ability to meaningfully and progressively load the muscles – free weights, machines, body weight, manual resistance, isometric stations, etc. – can be effective for this purpose if used correctly.

These things are often pointed out to avoid criticizing or making comparisons between methods, however in any objective comparison of different methods of achieving the same goal one will be best.

Your life, your health, and your time, are far too important to settle for just any training method, program, modality. Accept nothing less than the best.

The Mission

My mission is to promote this philosophy, of training in the safest, most effective, most efficient manner possible to maximize life-long health and functional ability with enjoyment of life as the standard, and to teach the best methods of achieving this.

This will be the purpose of this web site.

This refinement of philosophy and mission are why Elements of Form has been almost completely rewritten and rather than teach will expose the flaws of protocols like rest pause, negative-only, and the misuse of various unnecessary and counterproductive “advanced” techniques like forced reps, forced negatives, drop sets, etc. and why they have no place in a proper exercise program.

This is the reason I sought employment with Overload Fitness and membership in Renaissance Exercise, as they are the best in the field of exercise and represent true advancement in the art and science of exercise performance and instruction.

– Drew Baye

(Original link)

Drew Baye, returning speaker to The 21 Convention and star of The Community Tapes documentary series, is a leading authority on exercise physiology, has extensive experience training clients one on one, and is the author of the world’s most popular high intensity training blog, Baye.com.

Drew has also had the opportunity to meet and learn from the some of the most knowledgeable people on the planet regarding exercise, including Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden, Ken Hutchins, Jim Flanagan, Joe Mullen, John Little, Greg Anderson, Doug McGuff, Ryan Hall and others.

Drew currently lives and trains clients in Altamonte Springs, FL and is in the process of completing a series of books on high intensity training.

• Watch Drew Baye T21C 2009
• Watch Drew’s full feature Documentary Interview
• Visit Drew at Baye.com

Two videos of Drew Baye today. The one you see above is a short one Drew and I made about the 2011 Orlando event, the 2011 London event, and a special high intensity workshop Drew Baye is hosting on a first come, first serve basis for 8 people on July 25th (the Monday after The 21 Convention ends in Orlando Florida).

The second is A, content packed at an hour and 19 minutes long, and B, a very concrete (yet brief) demonstration of what to expect at the high intensity workshop with Drew Baye.
 

In the video Drew Baye goes into intricate detail explaining the workout he puts me through, which was brutal to say the least, and an ideal example of the exercise principles advocated by Doug McGuff MD.

 
The 4 hour workshop with Drew is $250. It is limited to the first 8 T21C attendees who sign up. To sign up through The 21 Convention directly click here.

Two time speaker of The 21 Convention and star of The Community Tapes Drew Baye, and I, were interviewed for over an hour on the DayGame.com Podcast by Andy Yosha.

Topics include but are not limited to,

• Exercise
• Nutrition
• The 21 Convention
• Self-actualization
• Self-esteem
• Approaching your fullest potential

I’m really happy with how it went, and I think everyone will enjoy it thoroughly.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Enjoy.

– Anthony Dream Johnson

Drew Baye is easily one of the most knowledgeable exercise authorities on the planet, has extensive experience training clients one on one, and is the author of the world’s most popular high intensity training blog.

Drew has had the opportunity to meet and learn from the some of the most knowledgeable people in history regarding exercise, including Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden, Ken Hutchins, Jim Flanagan, Joe Mullen, John Little, Greg Anderson, Doug McGuff, Ryan Hall and others.

In this video, Drew speaks on,

• What inspired him to become a trainer
• What influenced his training methodology
• The biggest mistakes and misconceptions about exercise and nutrition
• Short term vs. long term thinking
• Personal accountability
• Freedom

Visit Drew Baye at Baye.com

Other Posts Featuring Drew Baye:

• Drew Baye Talks About How to Exercise at The 21 Convention 2009

Drew has spent the majority of his adult life helping others achieve higher levels of health and fitness, and alongside the events of last Sunday evening in the United States, I found his thoughts within this short video to be especially relevant at the present time.

For the record, Drew’s opinions are entirely his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of any organization he has played a role in past, present, or future*. I do sympathize personally with his views – but as an individual, not as President & CEO of The 21 Convention LLC.

In addition, the majority of Drew’s interview does not pertain to ‘health care’, it is far more focused on exercise & nutrition – and as a result, this teaser clip does not do his full length interview (nearly 2 hours of total talk time) justice.

It is likely we will release another in the coming weeks that better reflects the content which he discussed, overall.

Visit Baye.com for more Drew

*Long story short, if you disagree with the brief comments expressed within this video, I appreciate that, as I’m sure Drew does. Please keep in mind however that Drew is one individual speaker at a convention of many, and he does not represent anyone but himself, in this video.

It’s time for another speaking and information update (see the last one posted in December by clicking here).

Details & Info

(Be patient, we’ll get to the lineup in just a sec!)

Both events are on schedule for the previously announced dates. T21C Orlando is July 22^nd-25^th (4 Days). T21C Stockholm is June 11^th-13^th (3 days).

However, I am still considering extending Stockholm to 4 days (adding in June 10^th). This is simply a revenue/ticket issue. Registration for Stockholm finally surpassed Orlando for the first time ever in a 30 day time span – which is excellent.

BUT, this trend needs to continue. If it does … we may be able to pull this off, add in a 4^th day, allow extended presentations for most speakers, and an additional handful of speaking slots – all at no extra cost.

If one was interested in helping make this happen in Stockholm, the best way to do so is simply word of mouth. Tell people about the site, and that the event is going multi-national for the first time ever in a city with the most beautiful women in the world, Stockholm.

Twitter, forums, Facebook Status, Stumble Upon, it all works.

There is even a Facebook event for Stockholm here (Orlando is here).

You can join either to be notified when important posts like this one release and you can even invite friends to it like any other Facebook event.

In other news, there is a new hotel booking link for the convention hotel in Orlando, which can be found here. That is for reserving a guest room AT the hotel where the convention is held. I’ve convinced them to keep the group rate at $99 a night (per room, not per person, of which you can find room mates on the forum here to split the cost), which is pretty damn good for that hotel. For how much longer this price will last, I can’t promise anything other than what they’ve told me, which now is the end of February. It could go beyond that date, but it’s not within my control.

And for the record, we don’t make an affiliate commission off rooms. I simply ask them for a group rate because I know a lot of you like to stay there, and if anything, the more people stay at the convention hotel, the more on time you guys are for speeches! Especially after nutty nights down town =O

Free Workshops

Every year we host an AAT or “Approach a Thon”. This is basically a free workshop we set up on the first night of the event (or in 2007, the night before the event). The “AAT” covers the simple basics of how to approach women at bars/clubs, even on the street.

It’s a lot of fun, a good learning experience, and run (mostly) by volunteers who have attended the convention in previous years.

I am planning on making this happen once again, both in Orlando and Stockholm. The AAT, by the way, is in addition to any bonus seminars the speakers give at night, usually before heading out (to coach, or just hang out with everyone). I will also work on organizing these better, rather than have them randomly occur (more in a sec).

Paid Workshops

This started in 2008, and picked up even more in 2009. It will continue this year, as the demand seems to be there, and most (surprisingly not all) speakers that offer it normally, are willing to offer their coaching at the event as well.

Basically a number of speakers will offer live coaching at the convention this year, that you can sign up for before the convention, or during (if they still have spots available).  It will be available on a ticket page in the coming months, just like the convention full access tickets for each event.

I’ll try to arrange it so that coaching is available every night of the event (from different speakers), including the night of the AAT for anyone that is already “good” with meeting women, and has some more advanced issues they want to work on with a coach. They obviously wouldn’t be volunteering at the AAT, and that is fine. We always have enough, so do what you feel is best for you.

When I release the updated speaking list below I’ll mention if that speaker is likely to offer coaching (or, I’ll bug them about it at least). And in case anyone is wondering, I won’t be taking any “cuts” on what the speakers charge for workshops/seminars during the convention, as long as they offer it at a discount to you guys, and it’s only a handful of people at most per coach.

I do this because it was obvious to me there was a demand for those types of services at the event last year (there must have been 10-15 people who took paid workshops last year, maybe more), and I want to make sure it’s better organized – not last minute/spur of the moment. I don’t necessarily have a problem with that happening, but it just seems better to announce it ahead of time for those who would otherwise not hear about it till after the event, or the coach fills up student spots and people are left wondering “WTF, why didn’t I hear about this?”.

It’s also customary to pay for speaker expenses such as flight/hotel accommodations at an event like The 21 Convention. I wish we could pay for all of their costs, but we simply can’t allot multiple thousands of dollars to do so for dozens of speakers. It’s an astronomical cost I simply can’t risk promising to all of them.

But I see paid workshops as a win/win. People who are at the event, and want to take some sort of live coaching, can do so at a discount or via a coaching session not normally offered by that speaker. It takes a little effort on my part to organize, but little if any monetary cost. In turn, speakers can then cover their travel costs by just doing what they normally do, and still have a good time in Orlando.

Speaking List as of 2/11/10 for T21C Stockholm

Anthony “Dream” Johnson

Steve “El Topo” Mayeda

I’ll request he offers coaching.

AFC Adam Lyons

I’ll request he offers coaching.

Dharam (Pua Training)

Dharam will be offering coaching.

Jared “Ratisse”

NEW. I’ll request he offers coaching.

Jeremy Soul (Love Systems)

I’ll request he offers coaching.

Dejan “Zebra”

Does not “coach”, but I’m volunteering him for the AAT =)

Vince Kelvin (Pua Summit founder)

NEW. I’ll request he offers coaching.

Dan “Bad Boy”

NEW. Will be offering coaching, one of his coaches will also be present at the event and speak side by side with Badboy.

Richard “Gambler” La Ruina

I’m talking to him about some other things right now, which reminds me I need to confirm speaking with him. BUT, Adam Lyons told me he would be there back in the fall. As soon as I find out from Richard I will update this post.

EDIT: Confirmed

Keychain (Love Systems)

NEW. Will be offering coaching.

Charismatic Revolution (most well known Swedish dating company)

NEW. They will be sending one, possibly two speakers. More details to come.

Speaking List as of 2/11/10 for T21C Orlando

Anthony “Dream” Johnson

Johnny “Manwhore”

I’ve heard Manwhore does now offer coaching, but this is not confirmed. If he does however, I will ask that he does offer it at the event.

Drew Baye

Steve “El Topo” Mayeda

Will request he offers coaching.

AFC Adam Lyons

Will request he offers coaching.

Nick Sparks

Now confirmed. Will request he offers coaching.

Dj Fuji

Will request he offers coaching.

Dodger “Hshudo”

Will request he offers coaching, even though he doesn’t coach, just because I think he will be an awesome coach =).

Jared “Ratisse”

Will request he offers coaching.

“Terminateher” and “Pretty Boy”

NEW. Former convention attendees! Will request they offer coaching, which I believe they do offer on occasion? Will find out more. They may also present again during the AAT.

Erika Awakening

Right Hand Man

Will request he offers coaching.

Rick Smith

Bill De Simone

Now 100% confirmed

Doug McGuff MD, author of Body by Science

NEW. Doug is “confirmed” barring unforeseen circumstances, such as a family emergency.

Julian Foxx

Mark Sisson

Author of The Primal Blueprint and Marks Daily Apple

Other Possible Speakers for both events

I sent personal invitations to Tucker Max and Tim Ferriss. No response yet, but both have been good in getting back to me in the past

Also sent invitations to Mark Sisson (author of The Primal Blueprint) and David Deida. Mark is interested. I will speak with him personally this week, so that looks pretty good =).

I got a response back from an employee of David Deida, will follow up on it, and see if we can make something happen.

Spoke with Zan Perrion, it does not appear that he will speak unless expenses are covered, which I simply can’t do (directly) in his case.

Spoke with Tynan (also known as Herbal from The Game). Similar situation. Tynan however would not benefit monetarily from the event, so I am considering working his expenses into the budget for T21C Stockholm. It’s not cheap flying someone to Stockholm from the US though … anyone interested in starting a “Tynan Speaks at T21C” donation fund? Lol

Was speaking with Johnny Soporno about Stockholm. Lost touch with him, will shoot him another e-mail and see if we can make something happen.

Contacted Hypnotica, sadly, it does not appear he can attend either event. Bummer.

No word from Real Social Dynamics yet about them sending someone out to Stockholm. DJ Fuji did hang out with Tyler the other week though and mentioned the convention to him. I will be contacting him personally soon enough. Sadly, if he does speak, RSD has a tight policy about their brand, and does not allow external filming. Good news for those who attend live, but no luck if you don’t and wanted to hear what he had to say.

A few other big names I am still planning on contacting include Tiger Woods, Dane Cook and Ron Paul. I think the most realistic out of those three is Ron Paul (a slim, but real chance). Dane Cook, who knows, but I figure it’s worth a shot.

Tiger Woods is probably the slimmest chance of all (if there even is one), due to recent personal events in his life. Never the less, I will write up a personal invitation for him – nothing to lose by trying.

If any of these three do choose to speak … man, we’re going to need a bigger conference room =).

Ticket Prices Change on V Day

Final bit of info – ticket prices change for both event Feb. 14^th, from 225 dollars/euros, to 300.

This is triple the usual price change of 25 dollars/euros, and for good reason. By making the final two tiers of ticket prices a bit higher, I was able to lower the early bird prices (very similar to last year’s prices actually).

This was the best win/win that I could find. Those who sign up many months in advance, save big. Those who sign up later, are still saving substantially over the 400 dollar/euro door price, but not saving as much as those who signed up anywhere from July 2009 (yes nearly a dozen people signed up all the way back then) to February 2010.

I believe the event is easily worth more than the standard (higher) ticket price, probably quite a bit more – but the last thing I want is for ticket prices to prevent anyone from attending the convention. That’s just plain stupid from my perspective. This event is about help individuals, and sparking a real change in our generation. The last thing I want to hear is that someone in college was 100 bucks short of attending. That would just piss me off, seriously.

Unlike a lot of larger, more bureaucratic corporations, I keep the overhead pretty low with this event. It takes substantially more work, sure, but I’ll sacrifice a bit of my time to help another X amount of people who would otherwise not attend the event due to financial obstacles or limitations.

Sign up before 11:59pm (EST) this Sunday night and grab one of the few remaining tickets at the following links.

T21C Stockholm

T21C Orlando

Also, I am in the process of making a few extra options available for locals of both cities. One example you can sign up for (if you are not interested in other topics at the event) is the exercise and nutrition only ticket available for T21C Orlando.

Get it here

It’s a lower price, but is a LIMITED access ticket for exercise and nutrition speeches ONLY. It will not get you into any other presentations at the event, like full access tickets listed previously.

If you live locally and sign up for that, attend those speeches, and wish to attend the rest of the event, you will have to pay the difference between the ticket you purchased and the $400 door price. It’s a good deal for those only interested in those topics, just want to be clear on the terms.

Have a good V Day everyone (it should be pretty wild)

-Anthony/Dream

Ps- you can view the rest of the “limited access” tickets here on Eventbrite. Again, I recommend only locals buy these of Stockholm and Orlando, unless you are really just that in love with one of the speakers and want to fly X thousand miles for a 90 minute presentation. Hey, it’s all you! =)

Drew Baye is a leading authority on exercise physiology, has extensive experience training clients one on one, and is the author of the world’s most popular high intensity training blog. Drew has also had the opportunity to meet and learn from the some of the most knowledgeable people on the planet regarding exercise, including Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden, Ken Hutchins, Jim Flanagan, Joe Mullen, John Little, Greg Anderson, Doug McGuff, Ryan Hall and others.

Drew currently lives and trains clients in Altamonte Springs, FL and is nearing completion of his first book.

In This Video, Drew Speaks On:

• How to Tell How Often to Workout
• The Different Types of Plateaus, and How to Get Over Them
• How to Find the Minimum Amount of Training Needed to Produce the Desired Result
• What Exercise is Best to Isolate Specific Muscles
• How to Find The Perfect Amount of Weight to Lift
• How to Put Your Exercises in the Right Order

Visit Drew Baye at Baye.com

Other Posts Featuring Drew Baye:

• Drew Talks About His Life, Exercise, Nutrition and Economics on The Community Tapes

Post notes and view further discussion of this speech on the forum.