Jason Alan Griffin :: The Blog

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a great method for reshaping your body.  It taps into your metabolism and burns fat for hours afterward. I spent many years doing “cardio” with very scant results. I learned and believed that if I kept my heart rate in the ‘fat burning zone’ for 45 minutes that that would be the best use of my time and energy. But I couldn’t drop those last few pounds around my middle. Then I discovered and practiced HIIT and I could literally see results on my body within weeks.  I’m going to explain the basic premise of the technique that I’ve been using to keep myself lean. This article is not for people who still need to be convinced that HIIT is the way to go.  For that, I will refer you to this article : What I’m doing here, is explaining how you can start to reap the benefits of this powerful technique. It will require a timer and an activity; that’s all. Running, swimming, jumping rope, burpees, climbing a tree.... anything that you c...

This year, I’ve decided to blog about my adventures in getting my life back on the health and fitness track.  I have to admit, I’ve been coasting for the last few months of 2011. So, another New Year and another opportunity to assess how much my life has gotten away from me.  I often use this time of year to make new promises to myself.  And I’m almost always seeking self-improvement through these changes. I’ve written down some basic Resolutions for the New Year. Notice that the way I word these things are as if they’re already happening.  This is the most powerful way to phrase these affirmations.  Also, I can never affirm to NOT do something.  For example, it won’t work to say “I’m going to stop smoking” as well as it will work to say, “I love to breathe only fresh clean air and I love having healthy lungs.”  To me, the energy of the two statements are significantly different. I also like to give myself a built in reward whenever possible. So...

Hi. I recently had a crazy idea how to share my personal training with people at a super low cost. The more I thought about it, the less crazy it sounded until finally, I thought I'd share it with you now. This makes me super excited; I’m so glad I thought of it. So here goes.... Typically, my rates are $80/half hour for single session, or for a small package of sessions. I also work on a retainer basis; being available for as many sessions, phone calls and emails as the client needs for success in the program I’m prescribing. The monthly rate for that is $399, quarterly is $999 and to have my unlimited services for a whole year is $3600. But now I am announcing my latest product, which is JAG Virtual Training. For the low price of $95, I will offer my unlimited support for a month. This can include phone calls and emails and possible even my creating personalized videos for you. It’s basically everything that I include in my standard personal training monthly support except fo...

Refined sugar and chemical sugar substitutes are like narcotics; they are harmful and addictive.  Without getting into too much science, they cause a hormonal response that leaves the body feeling depleted in a way that can only be satisfied by having moresugar.  Splenda is 600 times sweeter than sugar and not only causes the same hormonal response as sugar, but both create a heavily distorted sense of what level of sweetness is appropriate for our healthy bodies. The taste of 'sweet' is very important to our palate. Without the taste of sweetness, it is hard to satisfy our appetite as humans. I recommend to my clients that they have a sweet taste in all of their meals and that they make a point to have that taste in the last bite they take of that meal.  The important thing to remember is that the degree of sweetness that we need is much lower than many people use on a daily basis.  Most people in our society are sweet abusers.  The sweetness from a meal coul...

As a culture, we eat too much.  WAY TOO MUCH!!! I’m not pointing any fingers.  Maybe you think you eat the perfect amount. Hey, I would have said the same thing about myself until about six months ago. I was recently inspired to begin experimenting with the concept of “LESS” throughout many aspects of my life. I have improved my mindset and increased my strength and agility by breathing less. (I wrote about that in a different blog post.)  I have also increased my sensitivity and my enjoyment of life by slowing down the rate at which I walk.  (I was living in New York City, among some of the fastest walkers in the world, so it wasn’t easy. But it was totally worth it.) And I've increased my energy level and improved the look and feel of my body by reducing the amount that I ate. I focused on eating smaller meals and on not just reacting immediately to the hunger feeling.  But I found that living with the feeling of hunger for just a couple of hours made a ...

In November 2008, I had just gotten fired up by yoga. I was determined to study and practice yoga in depth. In January 2009 I had some photos taken of myself demonstrating the sixteen yoga poses that I was going to be working with, so that I could chart my progress for the year. Well, about two weeks after that photo shoot, I injured my shoulder. And suddenly my life became about something else. Dealing with pain, Loss of function. Starting over. I went from doing over 200 pushups, to not being able to do a single pushup. I could barely put on a shirt. In March I started to feel a bit better and wanted to be buff for a show I was doing, so I started to lift weights again. I was pushing them around as best I could do. And I was smart to start light and build incrementally and slowly. And I warmed up well and stretched afterwards. But the pain came back. I also noticed I was building my body incorrectly. I was building asymmetry and imbalance by using compensatory movements to ma...

JAG Energy Flow builds holistic fitness. Using basic, body weight movements to build strength, flexibility, coordination and agility. JAG Energy Flow burns fat and tones muscles. You feel stronger, and more at peace because you don't have to do any jarring, repetitive, boring movement for your cardio. There are four segments to an Energy Flow Class 1) The class begins warming and preparing your body by moving through the Five Stages of Human Development. Embryonic, Creeping, Crawling, Standing and Walking. This practice alone is one of the best exercises you can do for yourself. By moving your body through these five stages, it basically realigns your body every time you do it. If you learn this practice from this class and do it every day on your own, you will be amazed at the way your body responds. You will notice a freedom and an ease in your movements. 2) Then Energy Flow moves into HIIT. High Intensity Interval Training means that you take your heart rate up high for short pe...

I recently got this email from one of my clients and I wanted to share his story. Jason, My experience with you has been extraordinary for me...for you it's basic and fundamental...but for me it's beyond belief how much I have changed from just a few exercises..and really not many, because I am too easy on myself most of the time..and diet changes of course. Before Christmas I was 202 pounds of pure fat...I am now 174 pounds . ..and also FYI..everyone ..even the waitress at an Irish pub where I always eat once a week and used to drink also..but now have iced tea (sugarless of course)..said just tonight.."you look terrific...you have lost all your bloat..your face has changed dramatically...and my wifes best friend who is the epitome of a bitch..said "i was worried about you..even though I didnt say anything...u were so heavy and getting fatter and had no exercise...and I was glad when u said u were going to a trainer but I didnt have much faith ...BUT now look at u..y...

Second to air, water is the most important nutrient for your body.  Whereas you could go months, or maybe years without many of your body’s important nutrients, you would be dead in a few days without water.  Everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock has heard something to the effect that you should be drinking “Eight glasses a day.”  But still, most people don’t.   I’m not saying that you should necessarily drink that much water, but you should certainly be drinking enough. Most of us are walking around in a chronic state of mild dehydration and don’t even realize it.  Check out this website to find out how much water you should be drinking. When figuring your water intake needs, keep in mind that water sources include drinking water and also certain foods and other beverages, so an individual with a healthy diet can assume they are getting about 20% percent of their water needs from their diet. Do not consider soda, coffee, alcohol, and black teas to be good sources of water beca...