A 12-year Major League Baseball veteran who appeared in 1,104 career games and was a member of the 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series championship team, Gabe Kapler is a strength training and powerful food enthusiast who took a public stance against performance-enhancing drugs as a player.

Kapler has perpetually emphasized the importance of training outdoors and clean eating. To that end, he took to sharing information in 2013 and started a health and well-being blog at Kaplifestyle.com.

In the space, Kapler shares applicable advice on the procurement and cooking of whole foods, compares various workout philosophies and trends and interactively responds to questions from readers. Despite a full schedule that holds both family and work commitments, Kapler posts as often as possible, in addition to opening the space to readers, athletes and members of the media for guest blogs. He currently serves as Director, Player Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Prior, he was a baseball analyst for Fox Sports, combining an extensive playing background with an affinity for advanced baseball metrics, providing viewers with in-depth commentary and insight delivered in an understandable fashion. Kapler covered the 2014 All-Star Game and World Series before transitioning back to MLB with the Dodgers. From 2011-2013, he tackled special scouting assignments for the Tampa Bay Rays in addition to working with a team to build a startup company. After initially being selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 57th round of the 1995 MLB amateur draft, Kapler outperformed his longshot status, enjoying a meteoric rise in the club’s minor league system over his first three professional seasons. In 1998, he earned Minor League Player of the Year honors from USA Today, Baseball Weekly and the Sporting News after he set Southern League (AAA) single-season records for RBI (146), total bases (319), extra-base hits (87) and doubles (47). He also led the league in hits, home runs and runs scored that season, leading to his being named the Detroit organization’s No. 1 prospect by Baseball America. After breaking in with the Tigers toward the end of the 1998 season, Kapler went on to collect 799 hits and post a lifetime batting average of .268 over his 12 seasons with six different clubs. The crowning achievement of his career however, came when he was one of nine players on the field for the Red Sox recording of the final out in the 2004 World Series, a victory that snapped an 86-year championship drought for the franchise. Kapler is an angel investor in Coach Up, a service that connects athletes with private coaches. He also owns several real estate properties in Inglewood, CA.

Kapler has two sons, Chase (17) and Dane (15) and resides in Malibu, CA. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, lifestyle training and has a passion for music, naming Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker and Ali Farka Toure among his favorite artists.

You can follow Gabe on Twitter @GabeKapler and Instagram @GabeKapler

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The day 19 children and 2 teachers were murdered, we held a moment of silence at sporting events around the country, then we played the national anthem, and we went on with our lives.

Players, staff and fans stood for the moment of silence, grieving the lives lost, and then we (myself included) continued to stand, proudly proclaiming ourselves the land of the free and the home of the brave. We didn’t stop to reflect on whether we are actually free and brave after this horrific event, we just stood at attention.

When I was the same age as the children in Uvalde, my father taught me to stand for the pledge of allegiance when I believed my country was representing its people well or to protest and stay seated when it wasn’t. I don’t believe it is representing us well right now.

This particular time, an 18 year old walked into a store, bought multiple assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, walked into a school with an armed resource officer and its own police district and was able to murder children for nearly an hour. Parents begged and pleaded with police officers to do something, police officers who had weapons and who receive nearly 40% of the city’s funding, as their children were being murdered.

We elect our politicians to represent our interests. Immediately following this shooting, we were told we needed locked doors and armed teachers. We were given thoughts and prayers. We were told it could have been worse, and we just need love.

But we weren’t given bravery, and we aren’t free. The police on the scene put a mother in handcuffs as she begged them to go in and save her children. They blocked parents trying to organize to charge in to stop the shooter, including a father who learned his daughter was murdered while he argued with the cops. We aren’t free when politicians decide that the lobbyist and gun industries are more important than our children’s freedom to go to school without needing bulletproof backpacks and active shooter drills.

I’m often struck before our games by the lack of delivery of the promise of what our national anthem represents. We stand in honor of a country where we elect representatives to serve us, to thoughtfully consider and enact legislation that protects the interests of all the people in this country and to move this country forward towards the vision of the “shining city on the hill.” But instead, we thoughtlessly link our moment of silence and grief with the equally thoughtless display of celebration for a country that refuses to take up the concept of controlling the sale of weapons used nearly exclusively for the mass slaughter of human beings. We have our moment (over and over), and then we move on without demanding real change from the people we empower to make these changes. We stand, we bow our heads, and the people in power leave on recess, celebrating their own patriotism at every turn.

Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place. On Wednesday, I walked out onto the field, I listened to the announcement as we honored the victims in Uvalde. I bowed my head. I stood for the national anthem. Metallica riffed on City Connect guitars.

My brain said drop to a knee; my body didn’t listen. I wanted to walk back inside; instead I froze. I felt like a coward. I didn’t want to call attention to myself. I didn’t want to take away from the victims or their families. There was a baseball game, a rock band, the lights, the pageantry. I knew that thousands of people were using this game to escape the horrors of the world for just a little bit. I knew that thousands more wouldn’t understand the gesture and would take it as an offense to the military, to veterans, to themselves.

But I am not okay with the state of this country. I wish I hadn’t let my discomfort compromise my integrity. I wish that I could have demonstrated what I learned from my dad, that when you’re dissatisfied with your country, you let it be known through protest. The home of the brave should encourage this.

A friend recently asked me if I have a sweet tooth. The answer is unequivocally yes!

What I’ve found, however, is when we change our lifestyle to remove nearly all the added, refined sugar from our diets, real food begins to taste sweet. We can satisfy our desire for decadence in a manner consistent with our fitness goals.

Low carb eating plans are a popular fad, but I am not a fan, particularly for athletes. We are not solely dependent on our bodies for high-level athletic achievement. A sharp, strong mind is instrumental to our ability to compete successfully between the lines. “Low blood sugar deprives your brain of glucose, leaving you fluffy-headed and weak,” says Glenys Jones, nutritionist at the Medical Research Council. Glucose is found in fruits and starchy veggies like sweet potatoes and yams. These soil grown delicacies provide our brains with the fuel it needs, with the added benefit of being filled with nutrients and vitamins.

A starchy carbohydrate fix after a training session helps stimulate the release of insulin, putting you into an anabolic, muscle-building state, suggests the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. To maximize this benefit, one must take in carbs, protein and fat. I pair my carb of choice with a chunk of red meat or some organic chicken thighs after a workout.

One of my favorites is the Japanese sweet potato. It’s like candy to me, is ridiculously easy to prepare, and it’s a staple in staying in tune with my personal training mission of maintaining muscle mass.  Here’s how I prepare mine:

• Heat oven to 400° F.
• Pierce each sweet potato several times with a fork or slice the skin with a knife. Place the sweet potatoes directly on your oven’s rack with foil or something at the oven base to catch the sugar drippings.
• Bake until tender, roughly 50-55 minutes.

I enjoy the potatoes with hot sauce and love eating them cold. I bake 6 at a time and keep them in the fridge. Feel free to smear some grass fed butter on these bad boys!

We didn’t hit our Open Thread yesterday, so let’s do it today instead.

Chester:

What is your opinion of kids learning how to fight, not with a goal of fighting, but with a goal of Knowing How To Fight? Knowing how to fight is in my opinion a preventative to actually getting into fights.

I’m certainly no pacifist. While Martin Luther King Jr. is unquestionably the leader I most look up to, in many ways, I believe Malcolm X’s approach was more applicable to the situation. I’m not certain he executed as effectively, but there are times when violence is unfortunately unavoidable, given the state of the world.

Additionally, I believe all skills are worth acquiring. Steel work to language mastery to writing, they all have value. Learning to fight is no different. You want to put your moppet in a karate class, fantastic. In a vacuum, I don’t believe the ability to deliver a well-executed roundhouse kick can hurt anyone.

However, there has to be some life situation education to go along with the physical component.

Early in my playing career, I had a teammate who had been boxing for several years. He was trained to strike and was a solid all-around athlete. My man was plenty equipped to handle himself in the street, at least physically. One night, after a few beers, there was a road rage confrontation with another driver. My teammate urged the other dude to pull over and “handle it.” Turns out, the other driver was a professional grappler, and he fucked up my teammate pretty good. It was a “hospitalized” level beat down.

There will always be someone out there tougher than you. A false sense of security can be worse than none at all. Believing that because you have your brown belt in Judo, you’re safe to fight in the streets is simply absurd. Again, I advocate developing skills, but you should be mindful that it is a last resort and only in an absolutely necessary situation.

More importantly, if your goal is to keep your kid safe and prevent fights, teach them conflict resolution.

Many people believe that violence is basic to human nature; that violence has been deeply imbedded in the human brain since the beginning of time; that there is nothing we can do about it.

But many scientists who study human behavior think differently. They believe that humans have learned to use violence in response to a more basic fact of life—conflict. Some of these scientists suggest that, if human beings have learned to use violent methods to deal with conflict in the past, they can learn to use other, more constructive methods to deal with conflict in the future.

Around here, we advocate toughening both our bodies and our minds. We are on a perpetual hunt to sharpen ourselves and those around us. Being more physically powerful unequivocally leads to higher level of confidence. Being able to control and manage that power with a strong mind is the ultimate aim.

Kap

If you read yesterday’s post, you know that I’ve been stretching in an attempt to open my hips and improve the functionality of my squats. You also have heard me riff in the past and mock the practice of static stretching to increase flexibility.

I maintain my view that static stretching – that is, stretching and holding a position for several seconds – before workouts or athletic pursuits is not beneficial for maximum power and explosiveness. Several new studies are backing this up. From the New York Times:

The numbers, especially for competitive athletes, are sobering. According to their calculations, static stretching reduces strength in the stretched muscles by almost 5.5 percent, with the impact increasing in people who hold individual stretches for 90 seconds or more. While the effect is reduced somewhat when people’s stretches last less than 45 seconds, stretched muscles are, in general, substantially less strong…They also are less powerful, with power being a measure of the muscle’s ability to produce force during contractions… they determined that muscle power generally falls by about 2 percent after stretching.

And as a result, they found, explosive muscular performance also drops off significantly, by as much as 2.8 percent. That means that someone trying to burst from the starting blocks, blast out a ballistic first tennis serve, clean and jerk a laden barbell, block a basketball shot, or even tick off a fleet opening mile in a marathon will be ill served by stretching first. Their performance after warming up with stretching is likely to be worse than if they hadn’t warmed up at all.

A similar study determined that men were squatting 8.3% less weight after static stretching.

Our options aren’t limited to static stretching before engaging in athletic feats and tossing out the practice entirely, however. Static stretching can feel phenomenal and there are scientific reasons for it.

For three days straight, I’ve done three hip mobility stretches, each with holds. I’ve emerged feeling energized, alert and relaxed.

A stretch feels good because during the process the CNS (central nervous system) receives a “feel good” response from your muscles and sends the response to your brain. Stretching can also enhance the proprioceptors (neuro-muscular receptors that register stimuli) of one’s own body position and movement, making us more aware of our body and the coordination of it. It can also aid in the elimination of a knot or a trigger point.

A knot or a trigger point is a sustained contraction which prevents adequate amounts of nutrients and oxygen from traveling through the muscle. It can be caused by: a chronically irritated muscle spindle, inactivity, orthopedic procedures, and chronic dysfunctions of the musculoskeletal system. A slow stretch can increase oxygen and metabolism in the muscle spindle, allowing the muscle to relax, and decrease the severity of a trigger point.

Because I’m working on areas that are tight, loosening them up may not help my performance, but it will help to get them back into optimal condition.

I’ve also been doing some light stretching before bed. You’ve been following, so you know how we feel about optimizing for quality sleep to improve recovery and general well-being. It’s all part of the master plan. From inspiryr.com:

Developing a comfortable stretch routine before going to sleep will help you stay asleep, which equals more energy and a better following day.

Stretches that target key areas where we hold tension, like the shoulders, neck, hands, and chest, is a no-brainer for entering slumber relaxed. Also, since we use those legs of ours most of the day or find ourselves sitting in awkward positions, the leg and back muscles tend to become hypertonic or excessively tense.

When performed directly before a game or a workout, static stretching isn’t likely to help and may limit your success. I still prefer active warm-ups prior to my actual training session. However, this doesn’t deny that there are ample benefits to the practice when done at the right time.

I’m stubborn, and it took me a while to arrive at this place, but I’m glad I’m here.

Strong, flexible mind,

Kap

Welcome back to our weekly open thread. For today, I have my eye on two goals:

1. Answer a question posed by Ben
2. Plan an indulgence for late next week

In April of 2014, Ben wrote:

How often would you recommend a cheat meal or even cheat day Kap?

Perfect timing, Ben.

I’ve been feeling like an indulgence is in order. I’ve been crushing organic yams, eggs, veggies, grass fed steaks and the like in nearly identical portions on an especially strict schedule for the past month. I adore all of those foods, but sometimes a break is in order.

To respond specifically to the question, I don’t have any hard and fast rules. I believe in flexibility, although I don’t always practice it. I try to mix in a planned indulgence every two to three weeks, although frankly, I’ve seen months pass without lifting a glass of scotch or biting into a burger. As a general rule though, if you’re really on point the rest of the time, I’d say once every ten days is ideal. There is value in giving your body, mind and tastebuds a brief hiatus from the grind of discipline.

I’ll share with you my process. Right now, I’m writing from a hotel in Midland, Michigan. I’ve been traveling a ton, so I’m relatively worn down. These are the moments where poor decisions can come easily. Rather than succumb to my current sugar craving, I’m going to be strong and plan my next move. In doing so, I remain in control and don’t give away power.

Next week, I’ll be back in LA. On Thursday or Friday, I’ll leave the stadium and venture to Guisados for lunch. I’ll sample every taco on the menu, and I’ll wash each bite down with ice cold beer. No holds barred; it will be a true indulgent experience. This move inspires confidence as I accomplish two objectives:

1. Experience mind blowing flavors (I feel confident in assuming based on the unheard of number of spectacular reviews)
2. Stay on point before and prepare to get right back on my routine after, so there is no guilt or regret

Speaking of after, I’ll write about my lunch. That will complete a third objective:

1. Provide an opportunity to learn (new culinary experience) and teach (share what I mined)

Think about the opposite of a planned indulgence.

You’re starving at the end of a long day at the office. You worked straight through lunch and have just realized you haven’t eaten since breakfast. You’re dehydrated because you haven’t been drinking enough water. Your boss chewed you out for missing a deadline. You know you have more work to do when you get home. You’re run down, stressed out and in a bad spot.

You stop at the first open bar you come to, scarf a basket of wings and fries and down three Captain and Cokes. You feeling strong? Hell no.

Indulge with a purpose and a meaning. Go slow, get lost in flavor, then get back on point.

Strong mind,

Kap

By now, you know our stance on indulgences. The holidays are an ideal time to relax, dig in and enjoy the pleasures of food. Appreciating balance, there are easy steps we can take to stay on point nutritionally and stave off ravenous behavior later in the day. Making a simple choice early in the morning to get our daily allotment of vitamins and minerals leaves us feeling … [Read more…]

I just discovered tamarind paste. If you buy the hype, I’m now stronger than I was 15 minutes ago. The health benefits of tamarind have been well-studied and include the ability to reduce inflammation throughout the body, improve eye health, boost respiratory health, heal skin conditions, improve the digestive system, relieve pain, increase the strength of the immune system, … [Read more…]

The post below was a collaborative effort between Stephanie, our superstar editor, and me. We discussed and debated on the phone, then quickly hammered out a draft. What you’re about to read is an accurate representation of our collective view on the appearance of vegetables. Laugh at us. We deserve it. We’ve got to dig beyond the surface to mine true value. Don’t stress … [Read more…]

Most folks think the only difference between red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers is the color. This is preposterous. As absurd as writing a blog post on the topic? Perhaps not. I eat bell peppers like apples. Teammates and coworkers look at me strangely when I do, but I’m unashamed of the peculiarities in my eating habits. Given my familiarity with the nightshade … [Read more…]

My editor and partner at Kaplifestyle, Stephanie, comes on. Take it away, Steph.  A few weeks ago, Gabe posted about the benefits of galangal, a rhizome I used in my Thai soup. Several requests came in for the recipe. The soup is my version of Tom Kha Gai (chicken galangal soup). As we’ve spoken about before, all my soups begin with a stock. I usually start out with a … [Read more…]

All sugars are not created equal. The sugar in an apple pie from McDonald’s is not even a distant cousin of the sugar in a crisp, organic apple. I’ve preached time and time again on this blog – fat doesn’t make you fat, sugar does. You may have noticed, however, that I advocate apples, blueberries, and Japanese yams. All of these items contain sugars. I even use them to curb … [Read more…]

Dark meat has taken an unreasonable fall from grace over the years. It’s scrumptious, so block the noise of those folks who speak of its unsavory implications. At your next shopping excursion, choose dark meat over white meat; its health benefits are numerous and as an ancillary benefit, cheaper, too. I remember Thanksgiving with my grandfather, who turns 100 in June. He’d … [Read more…]

If you’ve been reading my blog for a bit, you know my mantra: fat doesn’t make you fat, sugar makes you fat. However, the health benefits of dark chocolate make it a worthwhile indulgence. Valentine’s Day is my least favorite holiday. Do we really need an appointment on the calendar to express love to another human being? C’mon, that should be our daily practice.  Now, there … [Read more…]

Are you up for the almond challenge? My man Joe from New York spends a portion of every day at Penn Station. Penn Station is the nation’s largest candy vending machine (oddly, folks also get on and off trains here). Joe loves Skittles, so every day is a temptation. You can’t really blame the guy for his sweet tooth. He’s overworked and has difficulty finding time to get … [Read more…]

What’s better than eating oysters near the ocean in sunny SoCal? Understanding, then absorbing all the health benefits oysters pack into their shells. I don’t play when it comes to my meals. When the time arrives for me to try a new restaurant, I review and research everything about the joint. I use crowdsourcing sites like Yelp to help me make decisions. 5 stars and 89 … [Read more…]

Let’s kick this off with a question from Mike:

What’s your opinion on using a hex bar for your deadlifts?

Hey, brother.

I don’t use the hex bar at all. The straight bar is more difficult and allows you to move more freely and easily. From AZcentral.com:

Hex bar deadlifts require less mobility than regular deadlifts. As most hex bars have elevated handles, you don’t have to bend down as far and it’s easier to keep your back straight, so you can deadlift safely without stressing your spine, writes corrective exercise specialist Mike Robertson, owner of Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training on his website. Regular deadlifts are perfectly safe when performed correctly, but if you’re new to training or have have an injury to your ankles, knees, hips or spine, hex bar deadlifts might be a better choice.

Very similarly to the way I view squats on the smith machine, the hex bar forces you into a movement pattern, to a very small degree. It has you surrounded and gives you less area to move about. That’s not to say it’s not the ideal alternative for some. I’ll experiment with it a bit more and report back.

Kap

Feitelberg wants to know:

What’s everyone think of hemp protein? It seems to be the new fad even Joey Defranco is pumping it up.

First, who the hell is Joey Defranco? Do you mean this dude, the jazz trumpeter?

I kid. I’m sure your Joey’s a badass.

Here’s my take on protein powders. Hemp, whey, soy, all of them. Enjoy.

Strong mind,

Kap

What are your thoughts today?