HOTEL GYM AND HOME WORKOUT: THE JET SETTER GUIDE TO FITNESS

If you’re a businessman or woman, on the go or a frequent vacationer, there’s a good  chance that at some point you’re going to end up away from your gym and on the  hunt for a place to work out. While many assume that every hotel comes equipped  with a gym, this is often not the case. Even some pricey boutique hotels do not  include an exercise room, so it’s important to have a workout backup plan.

This is where hotel workouts come into play: you can use items found in your hotel room as props to help you work out and maintain your  physique while out of town. The key to an effective hotel workout is finding  creative ways to challenge the muscles, all while using your own body weight or  props. For the cardioportion of your hotel workout, options include  stepping up and down on a chair or bench, running stairs located in the hotel,  skipping (outside if you’re not on the bottom floor), or simply going for a  run. For strength training, you’re going to need to put a spin on  traditional exercises to create your hotel workout. Here are some  useful ways to get an effective hotel workout.

Props

To complete your hotel workout, you can use the following  props:

  • 2 2-liter bottles of water obtained at a nearby grocery or convenience  store
  • 2 chairs found in your room

The objective of your hotel  workout is to move through the following exercises as quickly as possible.

Body weight squats with wall squats

Start your hotel workout by holding  one of the water bottles directly out in front of you with your feet  shoulder-width apart. Begin to squat down, keeping your toes pointed  forward and going as low as possible. Complete a total of 30-50 reps, depending  on your fitness level. Then, stand with your back against a wall and  move down into the squat position so that your knees are at a 90-degree  angle. Hold this position for 20-30 seconds.

Push-up sequence

To add more difficulty to regular push-ups, place your  feet on top of the bed while keeping your hands on the floor. Your body should  be on a flat decline. From there, perform push-ups as usual.   Once you’re finished doing 15-20 reps, turn your body while lifting one hand off  the floor so that you are sideways with one arm fully supporting your body.  Maintain this position for 20 seconds. After you’re finished, repeat  the push-ups, only this time place your hands in a triangular position.   Repeat once more on the other side, holding the sideways position to complete  this sequence.

Posted by Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

From Askmen.com

 

MOVE YOUR BODY!! EXERCISE CAN DRAMATICALLY CURE AND PREVENT DISEASE

It wasn’t too long ago that people with conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, arthritis, asthma and heart disease, were told by Physicians to “take it easy”,”stay in bed” or ingest several medications in order to stabilize these conditions. Today, there is little doubt how the impact of lifestyle changes, including exercise, can dramatically prevent, treat and even cure many of these ailments.

Any sustained movement, like walking, bicycling, swimming, or cross-country skiing, will reduce the risk of several life-threatening diseases, such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and possibly cancer. Exercise does not need to be boring, expensive, time-consuming, or inconvenient. Moderate forms of exercise will give the benefits needed to prevent disease. Gardening, dancing, walking, household chores, and even shopping expeditions can give you enough exercise to meet the daily requirement. All that’s needed to personalize your fitness plan is a creative and adventurous spirit.

Exercise v.s. diet is often the debate that many health professionals evaluate. By examining each disease through clinical trials, we can better determine the efficacy of both exercise and diet in the treatment of many common ailments. Diet, for example, is the cornerstone of diabetes care, but if diet is combined with exercise, diabetics dramatically improve their condition by more than 45% than with diet alone. “The problem with our health today, is that people are just not moving enough. You’re talking about a dramatic decrease in our level of physical activity from just 30 to 50 years ago. That’s a relatively insignificant amount of time for our bodies to adapt in comparison to the activity levels we had evolved to before the technological era. This combined with irresponsible eating habits is creating the health crisis you see before you today.”

For people with chronic ailments, exercise used to be viewed as asking for trouble. However, current evidence suggests that in both health and disease, the overall prognosis is better for the exerciser than for the sedentary. For example, a recent study showed that intensive workouts can not only slow the progress of coronary disease, but actually restore lost coronary function when the disease is still stable.

Clinical trials indicate that exercise can help reduce the pain and joint damage caused by arthritis, decrease attacks and the need for medication in asthma sufferers, and ease anxiety and depression. Other research 11indicates that regular workouts may cut the risk of symptomatic gallstones by one-third. Exercise has also recently be found to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and improve adherence to such treatment.

For chronically ill individuals, the psychological as well as physical benefits of exercise can be profound. Even ten minutes of light exercise a day, can help most chronically ill patients feel more vibrant, energetic and alert.

One of the most effective killers in North America is cardiovascular disease. It is also a disease which is so easily preventable through proper exercise and diet. Out of a recent study conducted by Consumers Reports, almost 60% of people who had heart conditions, reported that exercise and diet (types of exercise and diet were not specified) helped them feel much better. Hypertension, a common precursor to cardiovascular disease is also directly influenced, treated and prevented by supervised exercise and diet.

Studies still show that most doctors still fail to advise patients about lifestyle changes to prevent and treat disease. Economic pressure for briefer doctor visits, lack of formal training in nutrition, exercise and lifestyle medicine, seem to underlie doctors’ poor performance in this area.

People with chronic medical problems should insist their health-care providers give them information on how execise and lifestyle changes can affect the course of a disease. If patients cannot obtain this information from their doctors, they should find an appropriate health professional who can.

The Chart below indicates the maximum improvement for both diet and exercise for 6 common disorders, based on well designed clinical trials. These lifestyle changes can also lead to weight loss, which eases many of these disorders, thus increasing the maximum improvement.

From Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

SUNDAY MORNING SUBWAY CHRONICLES

image

NYC Subway on a Sunday Morning

This blog is a perfect example of the intersection of the beauty of technology and the sometimes annoying conditions on the NYC subway system.

I’m writing this blog on the D train, using the new WordPress app, which I just installed on my phone. I’m on my way to run and workout with my friend, Tommy Boyer.  I thought that since this is a Sunday morning, I would be able to sit on the train and write in some peace and quiet, but NO, not this morning. Silly me!

There is this little girl sitting across from me, who won’t shut up. Her poor older brother and parents look like they would give anything to, poof, disappear! She has been talking, non-stop, for nearly 20 minutes.

As if that were not enough, the train doors opened and four tween-age girls enter the train and proceed to talk and laugh at the top of their lungs. The noise was now in full surround sound! Thank God I packed my Ipod. There’s nothing like a Rick Ross track to drown out all outside noise.

And so I continue to write. For my workout this morning, I intend to run 4 miles in addition to Squats, lunges, situps and leg-raises, with some sprinting mixed in. This is a great way to fire up the metabolism on a Sunday miorning. This type of training gets your mind in the game and ready for Monday.

As annoying as these girls are, I commend them for getting out and moving around. Get out there and do something!!

THE BEST DIET FOR KEEPING THE WEIGHT OFF

You’ve lost weight, but will you keep it off? A low-glycemic-index diet may work better than others at burning calories and helping people ward off those pesky Lbs, reports a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the study, researchers had 21 people who’d lost 10 to 15 percent of their body weight try three different diets, each for 4 weeks. The diets consisted of a low-fat, a low-carbohydrate, and a low-glycemic-index—which endorses carbohydrates that keep blood sugar levels low—eating program.

The result: Even though the participants ate the same amount of calories on each of the plans, they burned an average of 300 fewer calories per day on the low-fat diet compared to the low-carb option.

But the low-carb diet wasn’t a win-win alternative, either. Although it was better at encouraging calorie burn, it also caused the greatest increases in cortisol and C-reactive protein levels—both of which may elevate heart disease risk—among the study participants.

The low-glycemic-index diet, however, seemed to strike the right balance in terms of heart health and resting metabolism, says study authoer Cara Ebbeling, Ph.D., associate director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. And any help you can get torching extra calories is beneficial after a big weight loss. That’s because the more weight you lose, the more your metabolism slows, making it  increasingly difficult to burn calories, explains Ebbeling. (Here’s the truth behind the glycemic index, a notion many experts disagree with entirely.)

So is a low-glycemic-index diet the savior for people who want to keep the excess baggage from creeping back? The problem of “weight maintenance” may not be so easily solved, warns Alan Aragon, M.S., and a Men’s Health nutrition expert. “You can’t tell a whole lot after 4 weeks,” he says. “And looking at the nutritional makeup of the diets used in the study, you’re really comparing two extremes in the low-carb and low-fat diets to a more moderate diet, which will almost always be best in the long run.”

Avoid diets that condemn whole nutrient categories, he suggests. Instead, eat proven weight-managers—whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts, as well as proteins like fish and meat. “Your body requires about ten times more energy to process a gram of protein than a gram of fat. So you’ll burn more calories just by eating more protein-packed foods,” Aragon explains. Follow our 6 Grilling Recipes for Weight Loss to cook up some of the leanest, healthiest, and tastiest dishes of the  summer—and effortlessly drop pounds  while you’re doing it.

Exercise will also play a big role in whether you’re able to fend off the old weight, Aragon says. Running or other aerobic exercise is good, but you should mix in weight training at least half of the time. “Resistance exercise boosts lean body mass and metabolism, both of which help your body burn calories even when you’re not working out,” he says. Shoot for a minimum of three 30-to-60-minute workout sessions a week, he advises. Try the 18 cutting-edge workouts found in the Speed Shred program. They’re fast-paced and designed to blast fat and light your muscles on fire.

From Men’s Health Magazine

Posted by Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

HILARIOUS WORKOUT ADVICE- TIMOTHY BRADLEY AND HIS DAD ON HBO’s 24/7

Videos of fathers and sons working out always produce the funniest scenes and this one does not disappoint. In this video, we see Timothy Bradley, three-time world champion, sharing his father’s insane style of training and motivation. Timothy is in training camp for his title fight against the warrior himself, Manny Pacquiao.

WATCH THE VIDEO AND SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

By

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model

Nigerian American black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

 

NO MORE EXCUSES: TRY THESE HOTEL ROOM AND HOTEL GYM WORKOUTS

It’s Friday once again. TGIF!!! This week went so fast. I remember waking up on monday morning and now it’s Friday. It all good though. It’s Fit Friday!! On to the business at hand. I have to travel a lot due to my work and sometimes it is challenging to keep up with my fiteness routine, when I’m on the road. I know there are many people out there that travel even more than I do and have to go through the same problem on a regular basis. Well, look no further. I have found the article and video that will save us all. It will keep us all in shape especially as the summer is coming. Read more:

PULLED FROM MEN’S HEALTH

Staying in an average hotel with an average gym for a few days. I was still  able to get in a half-decent upper body workout and then followed up with some  bodyweight cardio in the hotel room. On Sunday morning there will be  deadlifting. Looking forward to that back in Toronto.

Quick video for you…Top Abs Exercises: – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI66OJguLSI

Kickbutt Mindset Tips: You are the type of person who takes action,  doesn’t complain, finds a way to get it done, and never gives up, right? The  answer is yes, yes you are.

“Your network is your net worth.” Go to seminars. (I’m at one right now in  Cleveland.) Talk to people. Listen, I know how tough it can be. But you must  invest the time and effort in building relationships and helping others, because  it will make your entire life easier.

Craig Ballantyne, CTT Certified Turbulence Trainer

by

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model

Nigerian American black male model photo gallery and blog

www.getingo.com

MY WORKOUT VIDEO SIZZLE REEL

I hope you guys and girls are having a great day. I wanted to share this workout video promo reel with you. I worked hard to get super lean for this shoot. I stayed away from carbs for nearly a month to get there. I also did a ton of cardio and lifted very heavy weights. I hope you enjoy it

By

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model

African american black male model photo gallery

www.getingo.com

MY TOP 10 TIPS TO GET SEXY MALE MODEL ABS

Yesterday was a good day. I had two very good workouts. I did my boxing training and then I did my strength and conditioning workout. Both were very strong workouts. I hope to continue this trend for the rest of the week. Yesterday was particularly a good day because I found a really good film editor. I’ve been looking for an editor for a very long time. It has to be a person that understands you and your project in addition to being talented. An editor is key to the process of making a documentary and indeed, any film.

Enough about yesterday, let’s get to my topic of today’s post. ABS…ABS…ABS… I get so many emails from men and women seeking information on how to make their abs look like that of a sexy male model. The guys want a six pack and women want flatter sexier abs. I decided that the best way to answer every one’s questions would be to write about abs in a blog, that way, everyone can read it and share it. Most of these exercises can be performed in the comfort of your own home.  I will share the 10 best ab exercises to get the washboard stomach you’ve always dreamed of. BE SURE TO CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN BEFORE STARTING ANY WORKOUT ROUTINE.

If you follow these tips, you’ll see a transformation in your tummy within three weeks. The first step is changing the way you view your ab work. Too many people are under the impression that these exercises are going to reduce their midsection. Abdominal exercises ARE NOT going to reduce the area — they actually develop the muscles. Most people have sexy abs under the belly fat, they just have to burn the fat off to see them!!!

It’s crucial to build strong ab muscles, and not just for aesthetic purposes. The core of the body is the abs and the lower back, which is the “center” on the body. All of the strength of the rest of the body stems from the core. It also helps as far as improving balance and flexibility and reducing injury. Having weak abs and a weak lower back is an invitation for injury.

Another common mistake is that many people make is doing too much, too often. 15 minutes a day and three days a week is enough to get you started. In addition to working the abs with my 10 best ab exercises, I must stress the importance of a healthy diet and regular cardio exercise. Before you can achieve a flat stomach, you need to reduce overall body fat. You have to ruduce the fat covering the ab muscles in order to see them. You can have the strongest abs in the world, but if you don’t reduce the fat over the muscles, you won’t see the sexy abs beneath them.

In reality, abs are like any other group of muscles in the body and needs to recover from any type of workout in order to make progress. Your ab workout shouldn’t take you more than 12 minutes, three days a week.”

Here the 10 most effective abdominal exercises. Raphael suggests that beginners start with the Ab Crunch and Reverse Ab Curl.

1. Bicycle Maneuver(studies actually prove this to be one of the most effective)

Starting Position:

  • Lie on a mat with your lower back in a comfortable position.
  • Put your hands on either side of your head by your ears.
  • Bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle.Movement:
  • Slowly go through a bicycle pedaling motion alternating your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee.Key Points:
  • This can be a more advanced exercise. Do not perform this activity if it puts any strain on your lower back.
  • Do not pull on your head and neck during this exercise.
  • The lower to the ground your legs bicycle, the harder your abs have to work.2. Ab Crunch

    Starting Position:

    Lie on a mat on your back.

  • Make sure that your lower back is relaxed against the mat during this exercise.
  • Bend your knees until your legs are at a 45-degree angle.
  • Keep both feet on the floor.
  • Place both hands behind your head.Movement:
  • Contracting the upper abs, raise your head and upper torso off the floor until your shoulders are slightly lifted.
  • Slowly return to the starting position, stopping just short of your head touching the floor.Key Points:
  • Exhale as you contract the abs.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.
  • Keep your eyes focused on the ceiling to avoid pulling with your neck.
  • Your hands should not be used to lift the head or assist in the movement.3. Reverse Ab Curl

    Starting Position:

  • Lie on the floor with your back relaxed and your hands on the floor by your hips.
  • Keep the upper back pressed into the floor throughout the exercise.Movement:
  • Contracting your abs, raise your butt and gently roll your hips off the floor, stopping when you feel a full contraction of the abdominals and can no longer lift your hips.
  • Slowly return to the starting position.Key Points:
  • Exhale while lifting your hips.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.4. Double Crunch

    Starting Position:

  • Lie on the floor face up.
  • Bend your knees until your legs are at a 45-degree angle with both feet on the floor.
  • Your back should be comfortably relaxed on the floor.
  • Place both hands behind your head.Movement:
  • Contracting your abdominals, raise your head and legs off the floor toward one another.
  • Slowly return to the starting position, stopping just short of your shoulders and feet touching the floor.Key Points:
  • Exhale while raising up.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.
  • Keep your eyes on the ceiling to avoid pulling with your neck.
  • Your hands should not be used to lift the head or assist in the movement.5. Cable Kneeling Rope Crunch

    Starting Position:

  • On a mat, kneel in front of the cable machine with your body facing the machine. Hold a rope attached to the upper cable attachment keeping your elbows in toward your ears.Movement:
  • Contracting the oblique muscles, curl your body downward on an angle rotating your right elbow to the left knee, stopping when you have reached a full contraction of your obliques.
  • Slowly return to the starting position, stopping just short of the weight stack touching.
  • You can either alternate side to side or do 8-12 repetitions on one side and then repeat on the other side.Key Points:
  • Exhale as you lift the weight.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.6. Machine Hanging Knee Raise(should use spotter or have someone watch you)

    Starting Position:

  • Grasp a chinning bar with hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing forward. Keep your upper body motionless throughout the exercise.Movement:
  • Contracting the abdominal muscles, raise your legs with bent knees while gently rolling your hips under, stopping when you feel a full contraction of the abdominals and can no longer lift your hips. You may get your knees to 90 degrees or higher depending on your strength and flexibility.
  • Slowly return to the starting position.Key Points:
  • Exhale while lifting your legs.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.7. Fitball Advanced Reverse Crunch(not for those with back injuries)

    Starting Position:

  • Lie on the ball with your upper back supported by the ball and hands above your head, holding onto a solid support, such as the support for a cable machine in the gym or the footboard of your bed at home.
  • Bring your legs up until your hips and knees are each at a 90-degree angle.Movement:
  • Contracting the abdominals, curl your legs up toward your body.
  • Slowly return to the starting position.Key Points:
  • Exhale while lifting your legs.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.
  • Lower your legs only as far as you can while maintaining control.8. Lying Bent Knee Leg Lift(care needed for those with back injuries)

    Starting Position:

  • Lie on your back with your feet on the floor and knees slightly bent.
  • Place your hands under your head for comfort, not support.Movement:
  • Contracting your lower abdominal muscles, draw your knees toward your chest until they form a 90-degree angle with the floor.
  • Slowly return to the starting position, stopping just short of the feet touching the floor.Key Points:
  • Exhale while lifting your legs.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.
  • Your back should remain comfortably against the floor during the entire motion.
  • Avoid this exercise if you have any back conditions.
  • Eliminate this exercise if you experience any discomfort.9. Machine Angled Leg Raise

    Starting Position:

  • Support your body on your elbows in a Roman Chair or by hanging from a chin-up bar.Movement:
  • Contracting the abdominals and obliques, draw your knees up on an angle so that they move toward your right elbow. Stop when you get a full contraction of the obliques and abdominals.
  • Slowly return to the starting position, stopping when the hips are almost fully extended.
  • Alternate side to side to complete the set.Key Points:
  • Exhale while lifting your legs.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.
  • Keep the upper body stationary throughout the exercise.10. Incline Bench Leg Raises (care needed for those with back injuries)

    Starting Position:

  • Lie on an incline bench and stabilize your body by gripping the bench above your head with your legs extended out.Movement:
  • Contracting the lower abs, raise your legs up until your hips form a 90-degree angle.
  • Slowly return to the starting position, stopping just short of your legs touching the bench.Key Points:
  • Exhale while lifting your legs.
  • Inhale while returning to the starting position.
  • Point your chin toward the ceiling to avoid using your upper body.
  • To increase the difficulty, cross your arms over your chest.

By

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model

African american black male model photo gallery

www.getingo.com

SLOW YOUR ROLL!!

I really need to take my own advice, every now and then. I was feeling sick yesterday. My head felt stuffed up, my nose was runny and stuffed up and my eyes were itchy. I was feeling all these symptoms of a bad head cold, but because I hadn’t worked out since friday, I ignored them all and tried to kill it at the gym. There is a big difference between getting a sweat in the gym and fighting through a tough workout. But me being me, of course I did the latter. I ended up running 4 miles on the treadmill, followed by a bench press-bent over row-abs superset. One of the trainers at Peak Performance NYC designed a piece of training equipment, which can be used for presses (which works out your arms and chest), rope pull (which works out your arms and back). I used that peice of equipment as well to round-up my workout. Shout out to Jose Perez for designing and building such a cool piece of equipment. It was a tough workout, but I pushed through it.

It was not such a good idea due to the fact that I was not at my normal machine status!  I was not able to bounce back the way I usually would. Once my body started to cool, I started to feel worse. My nose got more clogged up and my head felt more stuffed. I couldn’t breathe out of my nose. In an attempt to warm up, I took a 30 minute shower under hot water. I got home about an hour later and started to feel flu-like symptoms. My joints were hurting. My elbows, and my lower back felt sore. My skin felt all tingly, I felt feverish and my eyes felt warm. Damn!! I could not afford to have the flu. I have so much lined up this week, that I could not afford to be really sick. A cold I can handle, but the flu would put me down for a few days.

So I ate dinner and took a dose of NyQuil. That is one powerful drug. I’m not a big pill popper, so last night was the first time I had ever taken NyQuil. I passed out!!! Within an hour of taking the pills, I was out cold. I woke up this morning feeling much better. Most people usually get worse because they feel better and mistake that for being well. Will I be one of those people who go out and think that they can take on the world, even though they are not well? That remains to be seen….

By

Ngo Okafor

The Most Downloaded Black Male Model Actor

African-American Black Male Model Actor

www.getingo.com

MIX IT UP

Ngo Okafor Black Male ModelIt’s thursday and you know what that means! It means that friday is just a day away and the weekend is here. It also means that thanksgiving is only a week away. Time for turkey and gravy. I’ve never been a turkey person, but I have to do it because it brings families together and makes for a time to catch up on all that’s been going on. We all need that.

I went to a different gym last night and they were nice enough to give me a free one week membership. The gym is New York Health And Racquet Club on 23rd Street in Mahattan. It’s a great gym. It has a boxing ring which I love, a pool, a spin studio and of course all the weights that a guy could need. I was like a kid in a candy store because it was new. It always good to mix up your workouts in all kinds of different ways. Sometimes you do it by changing up your workouts or by trying a different gym. Sort of like sleeping on a bed. Studies have shown you can a better night’s rest by changing sleeping positions on the bed.

Now that it’s thanksgiving time, it’s a great time to mix things up. You can go to the local gym in your hometown where your parents live or where your significant other lives. Chances are you haven’t been to the gym in quite a while and it’ll be good to go in and get a different workout. It’ll also be fun to see people you haven’t seen in a while.

 

By

Ngo Okafor

Black Male Model Actor

African American Black Male Model Actor

www.getingo.com

TRUE WARRIOR GONE

Joe Frazier by Ngo Okafor Black Male Model

Joe Frazier by Ngo Okafor Black Male Model

The boxing world and indeed the world in general has lost a great warrior. ‘Smoking’ Joe Frazier died yesterday, losing his battle with liver cancer. He was only 67 years old. In this day and age, 67 is extremely young. Joe Frazier was the first man to beat Muhammad Ali. He dominated the fight from begining to end. Frazier was not a big heavyweight. He was only about 5’10″ tall and a little over 200 lbs, but knocked out guys much bigger than he was. He was in such great condition that he was always in perpetual motion during fights which made him hard to hit and gave him power in his punches.

What makes this story even more sad is that Joe Frazier was such a good person. When Muhammad Ali was in exile from boxing due to his refusal to fight in the Vietnam war, Joe gave him money and supported him. Frazier actully petiotioned to the government to reinstate Ali. He spoke to the president on behalf of Ali. He was still fond of and respected Ali even when Ali continued to disrespect him in the media, calling him a gorrilla and an Uncle Tom.

Joe Frazier showed that with hardwork and dedcation you can summount all obstacles. No one gave him a shot against Ali. He was smaller than Ali and most felt that the combination Ali’s blazing speed and size would be impossible for Joe Frazier to overcome. Joe on the hand trained his ass off and belived that he could and would beat Ali. He hunted him down and never got tired. He scored a devastating knockdown that Ali surprisingly got up from. It was an amazing fro ‘Smoking’ Joe. He got his nickname due to his work rate.

Joe Frazier died poor. Muhammad Ali made and continues to make millions from his image as a fighter, but Joe Frazier, who is considered one of the top 10 heavyweights of all time, died poor. Really sad. He gave his whole being to the sport and boxing did not love him back. He probably was feeling symptoms but because he couldn’t afford adequate healthcare, never went to get checked out. By the time he did, it was too late. He was diagnosed about 4 weeks ago. By the time he was diagnosed, his body was probably too ravaged by the disease that there nothing that could be done for him.

By

Ngo Okafor

Black Male Model Actor

African American Black Male Model Actor

www.getingo.com

OPEN UP YOUR MIND, SO YOU CAN GROW

Male Model Ngo Okafor on the beach

Male Model Ngo Okafor on the beach

Writing can be a challenge at times. I’m sitting at my desk, but the words are slow to come.  So, I’m  just going to sit here, push these keys and hope that something good comes of it at the end. This weekend was more eventful than most because I got to perform in an Opera on saturday. It was so much fun. I didn’t sing in the Opera, but played a key part in it, which included being in certain state of undress. The women loved it, the undress I mean. The guys were inspired by it…I hope. I got to kick some ass as well.

The show was a dinner style show at the Tuxedo Park Lodge. The audience was close to us. I’m sure they felt as though they were in the show. As a matter of fact, some audience were called upon to join the certain parts of the show. It reminded of one of the shows that a speakeasy. I’ve been watching the Prohibition documentary on PBS, so excuse my excitement about speakeasies. The other performers were seasoned veterans but had never performed a dinner style. It was fun for all of us because there was a lot of improvisation because the piece was designed for a stage, not a dinning room. I was happy that I allowed myself to experience and be a part of this show. I always thought Operas were long and painfully boring, but now I see that are beautiful and the music will blow you away.

I never knew that a place such as Tuxedo Park existed. Tuxedo Park is in the town of Tuxedo which is about an hour drive upstate New York. It’s a small village of a little more than 700 people (using the census figures from 2000). It’s a very beautiful place. It’s kinda Sleepy Hollowish. I wish I could shoot a movie here. They have their own school, church, bank and they even have their own mayor. Kinda cool.

Now I have to open myself up to the 6 miles that I have to run today. I usually don’t listen to music when I run, but I think that I need some Lil’ Wayne and Rick Ross to get me through the run today. I will keep you posted on how my workout goes today. Hmm..the blog was not so bad after all!

By

Ngo Okafor

Black Male Model Actor

African American Black Male Models

www.getingo.com

GO GET IT YOURSELF!

It’s been a stressfull couple of days. Sometimes I feel like I’m doing all this preparation for the trip to Nigeria all by myself. I understand that no one can take on such a project without the help of others, but DAMN!! No one understands what it takes to make a project of this magnitude run smoothly. There are so many little peices that have to move for it to work.

People see the finished product and think that it’s easy. They don’t see the hundreds of phone calls, walking, running and lifting that go into it. Thank God for giving me the strength to carry it all.

I just have to focus and run my 6 miles three days a week and doing my strength and conditioning. That helps keep me sane.  Yesterday, I did 8 sprints. I did the sprints on the Woodway Force. I ran 100 yards in 22 seconds, 8 times, with a rest of 60 seconds in between. It was brutal, but that is the way to be a champion. NO PAIN…NO GAIN. I won’t be able to write everything that happened with my workout because I have to run to my rehearsal. I’m going to be in an Opera. Yeah I said it…AN OPERA. I’ll tell you more about that in my next post.

I’M GOING IN!!

Hooray for starting the week off right. I had so much running around to do yesterday for the charity and for my trip. After my afternoon meeting, I had to run all the way across town to the FEDEX office to mail a package containing marketing materials to Nigeria. When I got there, I found out that the office was closing early due to the Halloween parade. I had to run over to another office in order to catch them before they closed. By the time all this was done, it was 5pm and I was exhausted. I still had to go to the gym and get my running done. 80% of working out is accomplished by just showing up to the gym. So, I showed up. I got on the treadmill as quickly as I could to make sure that I don’t run right back out.

Once on the treadmill, I knew I couldn’t get off before completing my 6 mile run. Once I started running, all the tiredness went away. So much of this mental. Once you shift your mind to focus on doing something as opposed to how hard that thing will be, then it feels so much easier. The run felt great. It didn’t feel hard at all. I never thought I would be saying this. I ended up running 6.5 miles in under an hour. I felt great. My body felt so light. I used to have problems with tightness in my hips, but running this distance, helps loosen up my hips. My quads feel better than they have ever felt. I feel stronger and sharper than I’ve ever felt. It just goes to show that when you open yourself up and try new things, great things can happen.

Today, I’m going to do 15 sprints on the Woodway Force at Peak Performance NYC and then jump rope for about 30 minutes. After that, I will do my boxing technique work followed by strength and conditioning. It took a while, but I’m finally clicking on all cylinders. I’M GOING IN!!!

By

Ngo Okafor

Black Male Model and actor

African American Black Male Model Actor

 

THE FIRST STEP WINNING IS TO SET CLEAR GOALS

The weekend is over…already…DAMN!!! This was such a short weekend. Even though I had many events to attend, I made sure to stay away from the halloween craziness. People always use Halloween as an excuse to act crazy! I must say that I got plenty of rest though, which was a huge goal of mine for the weekend. All the running and workouts I did last week, takes a toll on the body and without rest, would have been wasted. I feel very strong. No tightness and no soreness.

This week, I intend to run 6 miles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and thursday, I will do a series of sprints in addition to jumping a lot rope. Immediately following each cardio session, I will do boxing technique work and then lift some weights (time permitting of course).

I will also tighten up my nutrition this week. I will cut back on carbohydrates and junk food this week. In addition to that, I intend to make time to eat breakfast every morning, no matter what. Breakfast is the cornerstone of all healthy living. I always feel great and have superb energy throughout the day as long as I eat a good breakfast. For breakfast, I usually eat 4 eggs with sausage or 4 eggs with oatmeal. When I have a project coming up and need to be leaner, I eat the sausage instead of the oatmeal in order to keep my carb intake low.

On the work front, I have scheduled meetings all week to ensure that my trip to Nigeria is successful. I have also set up production meetings for my film production company as well as creating videos which will market my initiatives and me…of course.

What are your goals for the week?

By

Ngo Okafor

The Most Downloaded Black Male Model and actor

African American American Black Male Model and Actor

IF YOU HUSTLED HARD THIS WEEK, SHINE ON!!

Thank God it’s Friday. I’m so ready for the weekend. I was up at 4.30am everyday this week, so my days were extremely long. Since I was up so early, I made sure to get my workout done early. That was one good thing about waking up early. I don’t have the opportunity to procrastinate. When I workout later on in the day, there’s always that possibility that I might defer it to the next day. I would just do more of a workout the next day to make up for the lost day of working out. Not this week though!! I didn’t miss any days.

I was so excited this week because on Wednesday, I finally did it!! I ran 6 miles; I did  a 10k. Someone reading this might say that 6 miles is not a big deal, but to me…. HUGE. From hating running when I was fighting to now, I feel that I have grown so much. I wish I had run more when I fought. Even though I won my fights, running would have made them easier. Anyway, back to the 6 miles. I did it in 58 minutes. It was tough, but I knew that I would be extremely happy if I pushed myself to do it. Afterwards, I had some energy left, so I did a step up/plyo-leg press/deadlift combo. I did 4 sets of this routine. I then went over and did a Leg press/Leg curl/Calves raise/Sit-up combo. I did only 3 sets of this routine because I started rto run out of gas. I was so happy. I finally conquered a barrier. My body felt so light. I could float away.

Today, friday, I ran 6 miles on the treadmill. It was a little more difficult than running on the track because I set my speed at a slightly faster pace than I had run on the track on Wednesday. I completed the 6 miles in 52 minutes. Much faster than I did on Wednesday. Now I’m curious to find out how fast I can do it on monday.

I intend to run 6 miles on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I want to this so that 6 miles will eventually feel like a walk in the park. A great fighter once told me that in order to build world-class cardiovascular endurance for boxing, he would run a 10k everyday. I thought that it was crazy, but I’m close to doing it. Look at me, the skinny kid from Nigeria, about to reach world-class cardiovascular endurance. Very cool, for me anyway. That in itself is a major achievement for me. Not to mention how lean all this running is getting me.

Hard work pays off and IF YOU HUSTLED HARD THIS WEEK, SHINE ON!!

 

by

Ngo Okafor

The Most Downloaded Black Male Model Actor

African American Black Male Model Actor

www.getingo.com

www.youtube.com/ngotv

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

As the saying goes, if you can make in New York, you can make it anywhere. That holds true for every of business. There are over 8 million in New York City and are all packed in a small area of of land sitting on an island. You have got to be strong to make it here. The best of the best come here to make it. All the local champions from every part of the world comes to NYC to shine. More power to all of them. The most beautiful, the smartest, the toughest…get your shine on!!

At the same time, that toughness of the city has crushed most dreams. I know many guys and girls who were the most beautiful in their town and came here to make it big only to find out that everybody is just as beautiful, sometimes more so. They think that they are going to come and easily conquer the modeling world (my direct experience) or conquer the finance or legal world. Many of them have never shared the spotlight and when they are forced to do so, they crumble, give up, pack up and go home. That is why I respect anyone who has moved to NYC and has stayed because you have to possess that non-stop hustle mentality to make it.

This same hustle should apply to anywhere in the world. The work that it takes to fulfill dreams should be endless. Even in the parts of the world where life is not as difficult, the hustle mentality will get you to your goal.

KEEP SHINNING…WITH THAT NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

By

Ngo Okafor

The Most Downloaded Black Male Model Actor

African American Black Male Model Actor

www.getingo.com

IN A DOWN ECONOMY, HIT THE GYM HARD!!

Most people are are concerned and stressed about the state of our economy today. We can’t control that. One thing we can control is how we look and feel. You’ve probably heard countless times how exercise is “good for you.” But did you know that it can actually help you feel good, too? Getting the right amount of exercise can rev up your energy levels and even help improve your mood.

Rewards and Benefits

Experts recommend that we get at least 30 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. Here are some of the reasons:

  • Exercise benefits every part of the body, including the mind. Exercising causes the body to produce endorphins, chemicals that can help a person to feel more peaceful and happy. Exercise can help some people sleep better. It can also help some people who have mild depression and low self-esteem. Plus, exercise can give people a real sense of accomplishment and pride at having achieved a certain goal — like beating an old time in the 100-meter dash.
  • Exercising can help you look better. People who exercise burn more calories and look more toned than those who don’t. In fact, exercise is one of the most important parts of keeping your body at a healthy weight.
  • Exercise helps people lose weight and lower the risk of some diseases. Exercising to maintain a healthy weight decreases the risk of developing certain diseases, including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. These diseases, which used to be found mostly in adults, are becoming more common in teens.
  • Exercise can help a person age well. This may not seem important now, but your body will thank you later. Women are especially prone to osteoporosis (a weakening of the bones) as they get older. Studies have found that weight-bearing exercise, like jumping, running or brisk walking, can help girls (and guys!) keep their bones strong.

Strength Training

The heart isn’t the only muscle to benefit from regular exercise. Most of the other muscles in your body enjoy exercise, too. When you use your muscles and they become stronger, it allows you to be active for longer periods of time without getting worn out.

Strong muscles are also a plus because they actually help protect you when you exercise by supporting your joints and helping to prevent injuries. Muscle also burns more energy when a person’s at rest than fat does, so building your muscles will help you burn more calories and maintain a healthy weight.

 

YOU WANT IT, YOU GOT IT…FIRST OF MANY VIDEOS IS HERE!!!

I was up again late last night editing this video that I have attached to this post. I edited it on Windows Movie Maker. It’s amazing what great videos can be created using this simple program that comes with every PC. I use it to edit all my videos. The best thing about it is that it is free!! I bought a new FlipHD camera to shoot the videos. It’s crazy what this little camera can do. It shoots full HD.

Last week, a friend of mine, Jay Wright, the Owner of The Wright Fit asked me to come over to his office and test out the new Woodway Curve treadmill. The CURVE  treadmill burns up to 30% more calories than conventional motorized treadmills  because the user is actually powering the running surface, thus engaging more  muscle groups and achieving a superior workout. Research studies have proven  that users are able to reach similar cardiovascular exercise levels and caloric  burn walking on the CURVE treadmill in comparison to running on conventional  motorized units. IT DOES NOT REQUIRE A POWER SOURCE. Talk about going green!

CLICK TO VIEW THE VIDEO – NGO OKAFOR WORKOUT TRIAL ON THE NEW WOODWAY CURVE

I worked up a ridiculous sweat within the first few minutes of running on the treadmill. I ran on it for 20 minutes and felt as though I had run for 30 minutes. I was drenched. My heart rate was up for several minutes after I stopped running which shows that the upward curvature of the machine, which forces you run up hill, builds muscle.

 

 

 

Look at my shirt at the end of my run. It was hard to talk at the end of the run.

 

 

 

 

 

BY

NGO OKAFOR

THE MOST DOWNLOADED BLACK MALE MODEL  AND ACTOR

AFRICAN AMERICAN BLACK MALE MODEL AND ACTOR

WWW.GETINGO.COM

WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/NGOTV

AS THE LOEWS TAGLINE SAYS…NEVER STOP IMPROVING

NGO OKAFOR BLACK MALE MODEL ACTOR

NGO OKAFOR BLACK MALE MODEL ACTOR

On several occasions, I have had some of my best workouts when I’ve been tired as hell. Yesterday was one of them. I was up until 4am the previous night, editing videos and uploading them to my website www.getingo.com in addition to uploading them to www.youtube.com, www.vimeo.com, www.dailymotion, and google+. When I woke up yesterday I was exhausted, but I had so much to do. Phone calls, emails, and more editing. I have to do all this not just because I have to get ready for my trip to Nigeria, but I CAN NEVER STOP IMPROVING! I knew that just showing up at the gym was 80% of the battle, so I dragged myself there. I started running on the track and once I started to wake up and warm up, my energy shot up. I ended up running four miles , boxing for about 45 minutes and lifting some weights for my legs.

I have recently redesigned my webite www.getingo.com. It looks completely different from the previous one. Thanks to Chioma (Yvonne) Mbanefo for doing such an amazing job on the new design. It much easier to navigate and a whole lot sharper. You have to keep the content on websites fresh in order to maintain a high google and search engine ranking. All my blogs are on the home page of the site, my acting reel is immediately accesible on the home page as well. Click on the link to take a look at it.

I have learned over the years that you cannot allow your brand to get stale. You have to continue to add fresh content and come with fresh ideas with which to market your brand. Brand building never stops. It’s a never ending process. As a model and actor, I have to continue to shoot and find innovative ways to create work. I continue to edit and upload new videos every week. I want to flood the web with my images and videos. There are millions of people on the internet seeking to promote themselves and take advantage of the internet to make money, so I know that I can’t slack off. That’s the only way I can keep my Most Downloaded Black Male Model status.

 

THE WEEKEND IS HERE…DON’T LET IT ALL GO

Ngo Okafor Black Male Model

Ngo Okafor Black Male Model

Woohoo!! Finally, the weekend is here! It was a long week. Very busy…busy is very good though. Weekends are great for rest and recovery. At the same time, weekends are great for preparing for the next week. I’m definitely going to enjoy myself, but I will try not to go too crazy. All the hard work that I put in during the week can be hurt by two nights of heavy partying. Four drinks can wipe out an entire workout. As much as that sucks, it’s true. The question that is always asked after the weekend is

‘How many calories are in my drink?’

Well that depends. Typically, the
more sugar and alcohol wine has, the more calories it will have. Read below -

 As for why it’s not listed – because they aren’t required to by the FDA. They’re regulated by
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms, not the
FDA.Beer
Non-alcoholic beer actually has the same calories as beer with alcohol: 148 calories in 12 ounces. Drinking light beer, you’ll only take in 99 calories per 12 ounces. One six-pack has more than 800 calories (and that’s without the chips and dip).Wine
Dry wine contains fewer
calories than sweet: 106 calories for 5 ounces of dry wine and a whopping 226
calories for 5 ounces of sweet dessert wine (without the chocolate mousse). If
you drink a glass of wine before dinner, another glass with dinner and a sweet
wine for dessert, you’ve added more than 400 calories to your
meal.

You’ll be glad to hear that champagne contains the same amount of
calories as other dry wines, 106 calories per 5 ounces. Of course, if you drink
the entire bottle…

The hard stuff
The calories in gin, rum, vodka or
whiskey depends on the proof, which is twice the percentage of alcohol. For
example, 90 proof vodka contains 45 percent alcohol; 100 proof contains 50
percent alcohol. And it’s easy to guess which has more calories: The higher the
proof, the higher the calories. Here’s the damage:

* 1 1/2 ounces 80
proof contains 97 calories
* 1 1/2 ounces 90 proof contains 110 calories
*
1 1/2 ounces 100 proof contains 124 calories

Calorie content of other
types of liquor varies greatly. If you’re watching your weight, choose cordial,
at only 20 calories per 1 1/2 ounces. Schnapps has 108 calories per 1 1/2
ounces, but 1 1/2 ounces of creme de menthe will set you back 186
calories.

Mixed drinks
Obviously, the larger the drink the higher the
calorie content. If your favorite watering hole serves pond-sized margaritas,
you can easily drink more than 400 calories (without the tortilla chips and
guacamole). Choose a more petite 2-ounce Manhattan and you’ll only drink 128
calories. Here are common serving sizes and calorie amounts for your favorite
drinks:

* 5-ounce Blood Mary: 115 calories (and the celery adds less than
5 calories)
* 8-ounce eggnog: 490 calories (remember I said you wouldn’t
believe this)
* 7.5-ounce gin and tonic: 171 calories
* 4.5-ounce pina
colada: 262 calories
* 3-ounce whiskey sour: 122 calories

Hope this
helps

 

Sources: http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/diet-fitness/beer-wine-liquor-are-they-making-you-fat.htmlBy Ngo Okafor

Black Male Model and Actor

African American Black Male Model and Actor

www.getingo.com

www.youtube.com/ngotv

GETTING IT IN…NO MATTTER WHAT!

Ngo Okafor for Gatorade
Ngo Okafor for Gatorade

I woke up this morning tired and sore as hell. I don’t know why, because I got 7 hours of sleep. No matter what I was feeling, I knew that I had to go running. Running at least 3 miles, 4 times a week is the only thing that ensures that my body fat will stay low. Nobody wants a fitness model or any model for that matter without abs! The game is getting extremely competitive and in the words of Muhammad Ali, I CAN’T BE BEAT! With the economy the way it is, only a few of us are working and I intend to keep it that way.

Over the weekend, I decided that the only way to guarantee that I do my running will be to get it over with once I wake up in the morning. Even when I was fighting, I hated running. It is so mundane and repetitive. My boxing trainer, Greg Vicente, would come to my apartment and pick me up to go running. I’m glad he did that because during my fights, I liked throwing a ton of punches and would definitely have run out of gas. I always knew that if I’m throwing punches, my opponent can’t hit me. The more punches I threw, the safer I was.

Back to this morning. I didn’t have Greg there to make me run, but I had Gary, our intimidating, ferocious Yorkie-Poodle. Gary can run for ever without getting tired. He loves running and it helps keep him calm. Running helps keep me calm too. I have so much energy and if don’t get it out, I get ance. Gary was my trainer today. We ran just about 4 miles with some sprints mixed in to the run. I wanted to tire Gary out, but I was the one that got tired. But I did it. I did my run and at a very good pace too. THANK YOU GARY!!!!

Now that my run is done, all I have to focus on is getting my weight training work out done. All that cardio training is useless if I don’t build any strength. Later today, I will do a chest and back workout with some leg strengthening work mixed. I find that if don’t do any strengthening work for my legs after running, my lower back and legs get unnecessarily tight. Lunges, reverse lunges and split squats usually do the trick. I would two exercises for my quads, hamstrings and calves. I then do some heavy core work.

I’m going to start shooting the mini workout videos this weekend, so keep an eye out for them.

Ngo Okafor

Black Male Model And Actor

African American Male Model and Actor

www.getingo.com

 

HARDWORK!!…..DEDICATION!!!

Ngo Okafor Schott NYC ad on billboards nationwide

Ngo Okafor Schott NYC ad on billboards nationwide

After my rest day, I had showed up yesterday, monday, at the gym ready to train hard. I worked out at Chelsea Piers in New York city. I got a membership at Chelsea Piers because the many exercise options. Chelsea Piers has a full indoor track, a boxing ring, three basketball courts and an olympic sized pool. Even though it’s a major pain in the ass to get all the way over to it (it’s all the way on the west side highway), when I do get there, it’s a lot of fun. So much stuff to get into. You can probably spend the entire day there. There is also a bowling alley, bar and movie theater.

Yesterday, I ran two miles at a fast pace. I then went over to heavy bags and did several rounds of technique work. I’ve been working on a way to make my right hand faster and sharper. Luckily, there was a trainer in the ring that was willing to do pad work with me. I quickly obliged. It is important to do pad work because no matter how much you hit the bag, you cannot work on your timing and distance, by hitting the bag. The person doing the pad work can also spot mistakes in your technique and offer adjustments. He pushed me hard for 4 rounds and I loved it. We worked on several combinations and speed. It had been so long since I worked on the pads, so I was exhausted. The running and boxing took about an hour and a half.

I then grabbed lunch. I ate plate of chicken and rice and a salad. I’ve never been the healthiest eater, but I have to get leaner, so I have to eat my veggies. After lunch, I went to the boxing gym and did some drills and calisthenics for and hour. You don’t have to train as intensely as I do, but you have to train in order to achieve results. I have to say that if you want to be the best, you have train harder and more efficiently than everyone.

 

By

Ngo Okafor

Black Male Model Actor

African American Black Male Model Actor

www.getingo.com

DON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!

PLEASE…PLEASE…PLEASE…I am obligated to begin this post with this disclaimer. Guys…I only say ’DON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER’ when it comes to business, acheiving career and life goals. When a girl says no to you, NO means NO. OK, now that we got that out of the way, lets move on.

To survive and succeed in the entertainment business, you cannot let anyone tell you that you cannot do something. You cannot take no for an answer. When I decided that I was going to compete in the Golden Gloves, many people in my life told me that I couldn’t do it. My friends told me that I was too old to compete. They told me that the younger guys who have been boxing their entire lives were going to kill me. Some of the coaches in the boxing gym would laugh at me when I started boxing and they told my trainer not to waste his time with me. Whatever their reasons or motivation for saying the things they said, they had nothing to do with me. I believed that I had something to offer. I believed that I could work hard and win. I didn’t care what all those people said about me. It hurt to hear it, but I used it as fuel for my fire. If I ever felt tired and not in the mood to train, I would remember those people. I would remember their laughter. I would remember their negative comments. That would make me get up and run or hit the bag for a few more rounds.

The same thing happened with modeling. Many people including agents told me that I wouldn’t make it. They told me that I was too muscular and too tall. They said that I would not be able to fit the clothes. Once again, I knew that I had what it took to make. If one man…or woman can do it, so can I! When I was selected for the Wall Street Journal Magazine editorial, I was so excited. It was huge. I was selected over Roy Jones Jr. When I got to the WSJ office, they looked at me, saw the muscles and felt that I wouldn’t be able fit the suits they had. I told them to just hand me the jacket. They reluctantly did. I proceeded to slip into it without a problem. They all looked shocked. I then put on the pants and shocked them even further. They didn’t have to tailor my suit at all. They had to tailor the suits for all the other guys. After nearly 10 years on top of my game, they are all “fans of my work”. They all become fans of your work when they can’t knock you down. They have no choice but to join you.

Check out the Wall Street Journal Magazine image-

Ngo Okafor male model in the wall Street Journal Magazine

Ngo Okafor African Male Model Actor in the wall Street Journal Magazine

We have to believe in ourselves or else no one will. Once you belive, your body has no choice but to follow. The same goes with exercise or work. Once you want to change your life and become better, everything and everyone will follow. NEVER TAKE NO AN ANSWER

NEVER TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER

by

Ngo Okafor

THE MOST DOWNLOADED BLACK MALE MODEL

4TH OF JULY IDIOTS

Here I sit in my apartment or better yet, here I lay, on the couch, watching TV, movies and dozing off. The guilty pleasures of being stricken with the flu. My body continues to battle the  fever that threatens to take me. Just kidding. I’m speaking this way because I’ve been watching a ‘Game of Thrones’ marathon. Great show.

It’s 12:31am and it’s not July 4th anymore but these losers are still tossing out fire crackers. I don’t know about you, but it’s very difficult to tell the difference between firecrackers and gun shots. I sit back and try to visualize the faces of these idiots. Are they children gigling as they throw the firecrackers out of their window or are they extremely immature adult males I just don’t see girls or women doing this), wiping drool from their faces as they yell ‘cool’ while tossing firecrackers. It reminds of a scene in ‘Boogie NIghts’, where a little Asian party boy kept lighting and dropping firecrackers inside the house. So insane!

How dumb are these people? Do they not hear the noise that they are making? Maybe they are deaf. But then, isn’t there anyone in their family, a father, a mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, someone, anyone… with half of a brain to let them know how annoying it is. Maybe they’re high and are in desperate need of repeating a loud sound over and over and over again.

We may know the answers to these questions. But what we do know is that these people are utter and complete 4TH OF JULY IDIOTS

By

Ngo Okafor

www.getingo.com

THAT’S LIFE

I just looked at my blog and sawthat the last post that I wrote was on the 21st of June. Even before then, my writting has significantly diminished as I continue to I get over the death of Ogbogu. I miss Ogbogu, but time has continued the heal the rawness of the pain. I’m learning that the pain will continue to be a part of who I am. It will be a part of my family’s life forever and it’s ok. We are all learning how to deal with it. Everyday when I see a picture, a video or the t-shirts for Ogbogu’s funeral, I feel my heat drop. I can’t believe that it has been over two months since we lost him.

When I came back from London, I went right to work. I felt that I had lost so much time and had to go on overdrive in order to make up for the time that I had lost. I was in the gym the day after I got back. I had a photo shoot 3 days after I got back to NYC. I felt that this was what I had to do in order to get back on top of my game. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t getting enough sleep. Getting back to being busy again, as quickly as possible was what I thought that I needed to do. I was able to do that, but I didn’t pay attention to the fact that my body was breaking down. Onward and upward! No time to look back.

I continued to push until my body said STOP! The mind can only over ride the body for so long. I came down with the flu late on the saturaday evening. I felt terrible, not just because I had a massive headache, severe joint pains and high fever, but I was pissed off that I was going to lose more time. I felt that I was getting back into a groove and BOOM! Your body will tell you when it needs you to chill the hell out. And now I have no choice but to sit at at home and do nothing. I hated it at first, but I’m coming to terms with it now. I haven’t taken this much medication in nearly 10 years, but it is necessary. I don’t think I’ve slept this much since I was a baby. It actually feels good now.

This weekend, I’m going to relax, watch tennis (even though the Williams sisters are out of Wimbledon) and movies. I also have the several marathons of ‘Law and Order’ to keep me company. Stay warm and out of trouble this July 4th weekend.

TO CARB OR NOT TO CARB? THAT IS THE QUESTION

Ngo OKafor on a Clikque Magazine cover

Ngo OKafor on a Clikque Magazine cover

I would like to thank Carleen, a reader of my blog, for sending in a nutrition and fitness question. The question and my response are below. Please check it out 

QUESTION

Please make some suggestions on what would work for a seroiusly over weight mother. Would the low carb system work for me? If it is, sould I consider it a lifestyle change? I tried it before and the weight cane off really fast, can you over do the low carb plan? Would weight training to a lesser extent be good too? Thanks in advance

 MY RESPONSE

Hi Carleen,

Reducing your carb and sugar intake will definitely help. Lower your rice, pasta, potato and white bread intake. The most important thing to keep in mind while on the subject of nutrition is portion size. If you can control the amount of food consumed, that will make big a difference. Smarter carb choices are oatmeal, whole grain bread, whole grains and vegetables.

In the begining, when you you are trying to get your weight under control or if you are trying to get your weight to a healthy place, more extreme measures should be taken such as eating just lean meats and vegetables. When your weight is under control, it might be a good idea to relax the diet a little so that you don’t crash. Eat smaller meals throughout the day. Exercise is also important. Cardiovascular exercise such as walking, low-impact fitness classes are great choices to aid weight loss. The reason I suggest low-impact classes is that most of the time, when a person is overweight, running and jumping exercises put dangerous amounts of pressure on joints such as the knees, hips and ankles. Consistency with any exercise routine is key. Please consult your doctor before resumimg any exercise routine.

It is important to build lean muscle to help burn fat. The muscle building process continues well after the strength training exercise is done. The lean muscle building process continues to burn fat throughout the day and even while you are asleep.

BY NGO

THE MOST DOWNLOADED BLACK MALE MODEL AND ACTOR

WWW.GETINGO.COM

INTERVIEW AND WORKOUT TIPS IN AN INTERVIEW WITH BONNIE MECHELLE

Black male model Ngo Okafor on the Monique show

Black male model Ngo Okafor on the Monique show

Ngo Okafor, the most downloaded black male model, actor, championship boxer and business man came on The Healthtopia Radio Show with Bonnie Mechelle in Atlanta,Georgia to talk about getting fit and staying fit for a lifetime.

He is well known for his fabulous physique and shared with listeners how to attain the same fitness results that he is profiting from. Ngo was born in Massachusetts; after his dad got his PhD from Harvard he moved Ngo and his older brother to Nigeria to get accustomed to Nigerian culture and learn their native language. He attributes his determination and dedication to growing up in Nigeria and seeing how hard life can be in a different part of the world compared to life in the United States of America.

Ngo said that when he made trips back to Nigeria from the US the people (despite living in extreme poverty) were always happy and worked very hard, this gives him drive in everything that he does. In 1993 he moved back to the States to go to college at the Universityof Connecticut to study computer science. He got a job at the department of transportation and got an opportunity to move to New York with a computer company that digitizes maps (before GPS systems). His parents always stressed the importance of getting a REAL job, a corporate job with good health insurance…

However, he was always an artist at heart and saw living in New York as an opportunity to do what he really wanted to do, which was to model. He said he met a photographer at his gym to take some pictures to present to a few modeling agencies. He eventually signed with an agency and started booking jobs and auditions right away.

Ngo said that it was tough to get his parent to accept what he was doing because they never knew a model before. They asked Ngo questions like: How long are you going to do this, you’re not going to be young forever? Ngo’s answer: Being healthy and fit is a lifelong thing. As you get older it’s important to stay on top of your fitness. “This is going to guide me in the entertainment business; I’m going to make my own movies.”

He transitioned his modeling career into a boxing career “by accident.” He said, “I never saw myself boxing, I always though it was dangerous.” He was looking for something different to do for cardio fitness and a trainer came to him and made him consider boxing seriously. So he went into a boxing gym and started to train everyday.

He trained for only a year and a half and won 2 Golden Gloves, which is unprecedented! He said his boxing skills were a blessing and a gift that he had to do something with. It was amazing. He started at age 31 when most boxers start training in their teenage years. He is a prime example of how you can leave a corporate job to peruse your dream in entertainment and how you can also start an athletic career in your 30’s.

Ngo has put together a magnificent calendar featuring photos of him showing off his physically fit body. The proceeds from the calendar will help buy sports equipment for underprivileged children in Nigeria, and it can be purchased at www.getingo.com

Here are some of the main fitness tips that Ngo shared with us on The Healthtopia Radio Show with Bonnie Mechelle:

#1 Remember that fitness is a lifelong thing; don’t let it go just because you’re getting older. Consistency is key.

#2 Burn fat and build muscle by increasing your protein intake, cut back on sugars and foods with a high carb content. Cook most of your own food.

#3 Don’t do too much too soon, don’t pack it all into one week. Do exercise that you can maintain for a lifetime.

#4 Mix up your exercise routine so you will not get bored. Try new sports like boxing or outdoor activities like biking.

Black male model Ngo Okafor and Gisele

Black male model Ngo Okafor and Gisele

Ngo was in V Magazine with Brazilian supermodel Gisele Caroline Bündchen. He said that during the photo shoot, Gisel was “not the divaish type, she just chillin like everyone else.” He said it was a full day photo shoot and Gisel had a lot of underwear to try on, designs to choose from and makeup changes. “It takes a long time to get the perfect shot with all the wardrobe changes, getting the right lighting and camera angels. But it is a lot of fun.”

Ngo also starred in The Rebound with Catherine Zeta Jones which is a romantic comedy. In the movie Ngo played himself as a boxer, in the scene Catherine Zeta Jones’ character takes her boyfriend to a professional boxing match. During the filming of this scene, the crowd began to roar as Ngo was actually fighting his opponent Al Cole, and they started throwing REAL BLOWS at each other totally off the choreographed plan in the heat of the moment! He did not realize it until the audience started reacting to the punches, but he says that’s what happens to boxers when the get in the zone. Ngo is currently working on a feature length documentary film that chronicles his journey from Nigeria to the top of the boxing world. It’s titled, “Triumph of The will” and it highlights his will to succeed and pursue his dreams and encourages others to do the same. Learn more about Ngo at www.getingo.com

THE TRUE TEST

Yesterday was a workout day that many exercise enthusiasts dread…LEG DAY!! Yes, I’m on the list as one of those people who dread leg day. No matter how much I dread it, it must be done. You don’t want to be that guy or girl, who has nice looking upper body, but no legs. The true test for me to know that I’m truly back to form was to do a leg workout. Working out your legs not only strengthens the leg muscles, doing leg exercises actually strengthens your entire body. This is true because the muscles in the leg are so big that training them requires demands higher levels of adrenaline and testosterone in the body. The elevation of testosterone in the body makes the entire body stronger.

My workout yesterday, by my standards was slightly above average. It didn’t reach machine status. I like to train at machine status. Machine status is the point at which my level of endurance is so high and I am able to push past all kinds of physical pain. Yesterday was good, but not quite there. I made a video that shows a cross-section of my workout. Check it out below.

 

I started the workout by running 2 miles on the treadmill. I started my run at 7.0 mph and then sped up to 9.0 mph. I then finished off the second mile by running at 10.0 mph. That was a tough run, but the harder you run the easier it gets. I then got on the Keiser exercise bike and rode for 20 minutes on high gear. After my cardio, I did a Squat/Deadlift/Ab twist circuit for 20 minutes, non-stop. This was brutal. It started out ok, but as time went on, it got more difficult. I did the workout with my good friend, Matt Townsend, a trainer at Peak Performance. We did this 20 minute workout because we didn’t have a lot of time and I really wanted to test the endurance of my leg muscles. A big shout out to Matt for shooting this video.

My legs were already toast after running and riding the bike, but in my mind, I believe that the quickest way for me to get back in top shape is to push myself to the limit. Most of working out is mental. Once you decide that you want to change your body, your body has no choice to follow. The mind is the general and the body is the rest of the platoon. If you keep that in mind, there is nothing you cannot achieve.

STILL IN LONDON, STILL HUSTLING!!

No matter what happens, come what may, we have to keep hustling. We have to keep moving forward. It has now been exactly 3 weeks since I left New York for London. As you’ve been reading on my blog, it’s been a rough ride. In these weeks that have gone by, i have learned a lot about myself. They say that every death is an opportunity for the living to learn and grow. I know I have. That’s for sure.

I’ve been able to do some business when I’ve had some free time.  I’ve have tried to stay consistent with promoting my career, even it’s just a little bit each day. A thing such as this is all consuming. I’ve learned that it is healthy to do other things such as working and working out in order to keep your mind off the pain. To keep you from going crazy. There hasn’t been a lot of free time, but when I’m able to squeeze some out, I make the best of it. While on the shoot for VOX Africa, I got a chance to chat with the cameraman. I found out that he was also an editor. I liked the control he had with the camera and had a feeling that he would be a good choice to cut a new reel for me. I usually edit my own videos, but with everything that’s going on right now, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to apply the kind of focus needed to edit a reel such as this one. My brother, Maduka also suggested that sometimes you have to spend the money to hire someone who is not emotional attached to any of the footage. Sometimes when you cut your own videos, you tend to hold on to footage because of the experience you had while in the shoot.

He turned out to be extremely good. When we sat down for our meeting, it was quickly evident that it was a good match. I explained my vision and he got it! That is the most important thing in editing.  I think that he cut a really great reel. Check it out below.

Today will be my first day going to the gym. I’m going to lose my mind in there. I will keep you posted