How to Build Your Chest...

Q: I've been really pushing my bench press for the past 6 months, and I've made pretty good strength gains but my chest hasn't grown much? What can I do?

A: This is a common complaint that I have heard frequently. Often when someone is able to make good strength gains and yet their chest still remains largely undeveloped to any significant degree, a certain genetic predisposition can exist which makes it pretty hard.

One of the things to look for is bigger shoulders and big arms. If this is you, then the way your muscles and skeleton are put together, when you train the stress falls primarily along the muscles of your arms. People in this situation generally have very little difficulty building up their arms. But their chest and back muscles generally seem to lag far behind.

In cases like this, exercise selection and exercise order become extremely important. Bench press, while it can remain part of your training arsenal, should be left for strength phases. For you folk, the bench press will likely never do anything to help you build your chest.

Dumbbell work, presses, and flyes will both provide significantly greater recruitment of the pectoral muscles than the bench press will. So these exercises along with other isolation movements such as cable crossovers will allow you to strongly recruit the pecs, which is ultimately required for growth.

Next you have to put them together into an intelligently planned training program.

Lets presume you're following a three day a week, full body program, or a four day a week, split routine.

With three training days per week, you'll want to be sure that at least two of your training days have a good section of chest work. With four days per week, again, at least two training days should have significant chest work in order to really get the chest to grow.

Here's a sample chest training that could fit in with the rest of your training template:

Flat dumbbell press 4x5
work up slowly with low reps until you reach a weight heavy enough that it's a challenge for 5 reps, but make sure it's not too heavy for you to get all four sets with good form.

Dips 3x8
Again, start off with your bodyweight, and as you're able, add weight with chains or by attaching a plate with a small chain and weight belt. Be certain to lean forward on this exercise as it facilitates the contraction of the pecs.

Cable crossovers 3x12
Make sure you get a good stretch on each rep and a full contraction at the peak position.

Starting off with sets of five allows us to get a decent weight which recruits some of the bigger fast twitch fibres which have the greatest potential for growth. Next we hit dips for sets of 8. With 8 reps we're getting into some of the more glycolitic fibers, and finally with the cable crossovers, at 12 reps, we're thoroughly fatiguing everything else.

Each week try to make an increase in how much weight you can use for good form. As part of your whole program, every 4-5 weeks should be an easier week where you drop the weight and the overall volume. This just allows for better recovery. When you get back into it the following week, you'll appreciate the reduced week.

Additionally, depending on your training age (how long you've been training) you can vary the rep ranges for each exercise from week to week or every 2nd or 3rd week or after each reduced week. Of course, keeping the general structure is adivsed... I don't think I have to say it, but cable crossovers aren't very useful at sets of 5 reps. Likewise, dumbbell presses become less useful going much higher than 10 reps. Each type of exercise has it's preferred repetition range and place in a program.

So give this post a re-read, and then hit the gym and give it your best! I think you'll notice an immediate difference in the way your muscles feel during the workout. That "feeling" is what's required for growth. Significant fatigue!

Numbers Never Lie!
:)
Shane

2008 Ottawa & Eastern Ontario Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure Championships

On Saturday I had a client, Lysa Gubbels compete at the Eastern Ontario Figure competition.

Congratulations need to go out to Lysa. I'm not sure of the final placings, although she didn't make the top 3. This competition was very difficult, there were over 40 girls in the competition, and there were 6 girls in her class.

Regardless of the final placings, Lysa looked better this year than she has ever before.

Lysa trained for this competition over the past year following a couple different programs that I'd planned out for her. She dieted for a solid 5 months on a very difficult macronutrient and calorie rotation diet.

Here's a few pics so you can see for yourself.

Lysa pics 1

Lysa pics 2

Thanks to Blair Gable Photography for really capturing Lysa's physique so perfectly with his lens!

Once pics are posted on the Ontario Physique Association website I will post a link to them.

:)
Shane

Smart Breakfast...

My clients often ask me what I eat for breakfast so I thought I'd post it on my blog for all my online viewers to see as well.

I "heat-up" in the microwave 1 cup of organic oats with about 1/2 cup - 2/3 cup 2% organic milk.

Add 1 scoop plain protein powder (about 25g protein in a 30g scoop) I use Isopro by Precision Nutrition.

Add 1 tbsp Udo's Oil Blend

Add 2 heaping tbsp ground flax seeds*

Add 1 semi-heaping tbsp ground pumpkin seeds*

Add 1 semi-heaping tbsp ground sunflower seeds*

Add 1 sliced banana

Add 1/2 cup thawed frozen raspberries (Either Europe's Best or Presidents Choice brand)

Add 1 or 2 packets Stevia

Add 2/3 cup Liberte organic plain 2% yogurt

Mix it all together and presto.. that's my breakfast every morning.

Yes this is a whole lot to eat and it weighs in around 1200kcal. It's about 30% protein, 50% carbs, and about 20% fat. It takes me all of 3 minutes to prepare every morning, and only another 5 minutes to eat it.

So there's absolutely no excuse to not get a good breakfast!

You might think that 1200kcal is too much for you, and it very well may be, so just multiply the amounts of each food item by .25, .33, .5, .66, or .75 to get 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, or 3/4 of the portion.

One of those amounts will probably be perfect for just about everyone.

The best thing about it is that you'll have loads of energy all the way through until noon, based on an 8am or 9am breakfast. I usually eat this between 5am and 7am depending on when I have my first client of the day, and I'm guaranteed a good 3-4 hours before I get hungry again.

Enjoy!
:)
Shane

1RM Testing Protocols

Often a training program will require you to lift a certain percentage of your 1RM. The program may not list the 1RM part.. but if there are percentages given it is implicit that they are of your 1RM.

What is a 1RM?

1 RM stands for 1 Repetition Maximum. It is the most weight one can possibly lift for one repetition without compromising correct exercise technique.

When training for maximum size and strength, 80% of lifts should fall in the 70%-85% range. Ten percent should fall above, and ten percent should fall below. When too many lifts are attempted above the 85% range, over time strength will decrease as the nervous system does not recover sufficiently over time.

So it is a useful thing to know, and testing it is not too difficult.

** BE CERTAIN TO HAVE A SPOTTER FOR ANY LIFTS ATTEMPTED FOR JUST 1 REP **

** REST A FULL 1-3 MINUTES BETWEEN EACH SET **

If you have have been training regularly for more than 6 months and your technique is good, you can safely perform a 1RM test. If not, a 3RM-6RM test will give us an approximate 1RM that you can use to plan your training.

To test your 1RM, set yourself up with about 20-30 minutes of time. Start off with some easy calisthenics or light cardio for just 5 minutes to help increase your core temperature.

Then get yourself over to your exercise of choice and go through your set-up, practicing all elements of technique very carefully with just an unloaded 45 lb bar.

At this point you will do the following loading scheme to prepare yourself for your 1RM test.
You may do a few lighter warm-up sets if you feel you need to, but keep the reps to 5 or below.

Take the unloaded bar and add approximately 10 pounds to each side of the bar and do 5 reps.

Add 10 lbs per side and do 4 reps
Add 10 lbs per side and do 3 reps
Add 10 lbs per side and do 2 reps
Add 10 lbs per side and do 1 rep

Continue adding weight in 10 lb increments until you feel you are getting close to your 1RM.

At this point if you are not sure you can add another 10 lbs to each side, add 5 lbs to each side and do one rep.

If you are successful, decide whether or not another 5 lbs per side will be possible, if you are unsure, add 2.5 lbs per side and make an attempt at 1 rep. If you are unsuccessful then your 1RM = the last weight you successfully lifted.

If you are successful go up by 2.5 lbs again per side and make an attempt.

Continue this type of step-wise progression until you fail at an attempt.

If you are a beginner, and depending on your body size, you may find increases of between 2.5-10 pounds per side are sufficient to get you up to your 1RM weight within 3-7 sets. If you're a more seasoned lifter, you may find increases of 5-20 lbs per side will get you there in 3-7 sets.
If you are an advanced lifter, you may find increases of 10-45 lbs per side will get you there in 5-9 sets.

In fact, the number of sets is not predetermined, but rather useful for helping your nervous system prepare for subsequent heavier loading. So don't try to get up to your 1RM with too few sets. Of course if you're an experienced lifter, don't use too small of a jump between sets or you'll be there all day before you get up to your 1RM.

Example 1. :

A 225 lb guy with a training age of 5 years has benched 275 lbs for 3 reps in the past, but hasn't lifted weights in 6 months. To test his 1RM, he might follow the following protocol.

45 (empty bar) x 5
135x5
185x4
205x3
225x1
245x1
265x1
275x1 (Just barely made it)

So although he could try to do 280, because he only barely made 275, its probably wise to just leave it at 275 as his 1RM.

Example 2. :

A 135 lb woman has been training for just over a year. She's going to start a new program which requires a 1RM. Her best bench press thus far has been 95 lbs for 5 reps.

Her 1RM protocol might look like this:

45x5
65x3
75x2
85x1
95x1
105x1
110x1
115x1 (fails the attempt)

So her best 1RM is 110 lbs.

If you are a complete novice, attempting a 1RM can put too much strain on the ligaments and tendons, as well as unnecessary stress on the nervous system. For novices, a 3RM-6RM test is a better choice.

To do this type of test you follow similar protocols...

Example 3. :

A 145 lb guy, slim build wants to start a program where he needs to know his 1RM.
We'll test him with a weight that is comfortable enough that it feels safe, and yet he can strain a bit against it.

First we try the bar, and he finds it ok and does 5 reps. Then we move up by 10 lbs total. We do four reps and stop him there as it looks as though he could do a few more. We add another 10 lbs total, and again stop him at 3 reps. We add another 10 lbs and yet again stop him at 3 reps. Finally we add another 10 lbs and this time he seems pretty shaky... so we'll see how he looks at 3 reps. He hits 3 reps and appears to be able to possibly do one more. He attempts a fourth rep and is successful. A fifth rep is tried, but his spotter has to help him complete the rep.

Here it is again:
45x5
55x4
65x3
75x3
85x4 (the fifth rep required help)

So this means that his 4RM is with 85 lbs.

We now take this and reference approximately where he is on the chart:

1RM = 100%
2RM = 95%
3RM = 92%
4RM = 90%
5RM = 87%
6RM = 85%
7RM = 83%
8RM = 80%
9RM = 78%
10RM = 75%

You can go lower following approximately the same pattern, but below 6RM the accuracy
starts to fall off.

Interestingly, women tend to have a higher strength endurance than men, so women will usually be able to do more repetitions with a given percentage of their 1RM than men.

So if he managed 4 repetitions at 85 lbs, this represents approximately 90% of his 1RM. Dividing 85 by 90% we get 94.44 lbs.. or rounding it off to 95 lbs (easiest for weight selection).

I hope this sheds some light on RM testing and how to apply it safely.

Marketing Sold to You as Science...

I just replied to an email sent to me from a client who wanted to know whether or not a certain whey protein product was a good product to buy. My client sent me the following link to the product...

http://www.livepurehealth.ca/store/product.php?productid=16584

There is nothing wrong with this product, and very likely it does have much faster absorption rates as they claim than any other whey protein product on the market. However, will this product produce any different results to your body if you use it versus any other whey protein product? I highly doubt it. If there were ever to be any well planned and controlled independent study done to compare the two on their effects on the body, undoubtedly there would be differences in various absorption rates and blood levels of proteins etc... over time, but I can almost guarantee that over a 6 or 8 week period or whichever study period they chose, there would be virtually no difference in how the body looked or performed athletically.

But there is one difference in particular between this product, and similar fast absorbing whey protein isolate products and other whey protein products that also contain concentrates, hydrosylates, caseinates, and a variety of other protein sources....

THE COST!!!

The above product lists for just under $120 for an 8 lb tub. Whereas you can buy an equally effective (at producing changes to body composition and strength and fat loss) whey protein product in the $60-$80 range. Personally, I buy the Optimum Nutrition product called 100% Whey Gold Standard because of the $79 price, and I usually get a frequent buyer discount and they give it to me for between $65-$70.

So... if all other things are held equal... do you want to spend twice as much money for a product than you need to? Neither do I.

This is not a knock on this particular product or the company that produces it, but just an info piece about how you don't need the highest quality protein powder to make the best possible progress with your training and body re-composition goals!

If you are desperately searching for something to help you make better progress, as always, I suggest a critical look at your diet--we all eat stuff we know we shouldn't--and your training plan.

Most people don't train nearly hard enough or frequently enough, or with enough consistency to achieve the kind of results they seek. So start there, and put the time in at the gym with an intelligently planned workout, and don't look for gimmicky products to try to make up for lack of discipline when it comes to bad eating and training habits!

If you aren't sure what a well planned out training program for you should be, there's tons of great reading material in my blog archives as well as in the links section of my blog to some of the other great trainers in the industry.

Additionally, if you do want some personal guidance, don't hesitate to contact me directly at shane@spectrumfitness.ca

Yours... under the bar,

:)
Shane

What I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Every Thanksgiving when our family gets together for dinner, we sit around the dinner table and take turns saying what we're thankful for. Today I had the privilege to be at two Thanksgiving get-togethers, one a brunch and one at dinner.

Even though we do this each year, as always if I have to go first I have a hard time thinking of things other than the obvious. Luckily this year many people went ahead of me, so I was able to get a few good ideas from listening to what other people were thankful for. I heard some pretty thoughtful things today that really impressed upon me about the quality of people around me.

I heard one person speak about how much they've learned from their partner about seeking out the goodness in other people, and how thankful they were for that.

I heard another person speak about their thankfulness of being a Canadian Citizen, as they are a landed immigrant. They spoke about how thankful they were about the quality of life here, about how good things are here for them and their family. But this person didn't stop there. They continued on to say that they hoped through their own actions that they were able to give back to Canada and to their family and friends they've made here in Canada as much as they've received.

I heard another person speak about a healed relationship in their family, and how much the quality of their life has improved because of it, and how thankful they are for it, and to the people who influenced them to heal their relationship.

When it came my turn to speak about what I was thankful for, I found it flowed more easily this year than in many previous...

I am blessed, not with perfect parents, but with parents who've learned from any mistakes made. My own parents, divorced now for 20 years, have a wonderful amicable relationship today that makes me proud and very happy for both of them. For this I am truly thankful. It wasn't always this way, but initially through both of their loves for their children, and subsequently for their own self-improvement, they have spoken at length about their path together and apart, and have found a way now as good friends to enjoy life together again as "family".

I am also blessed with a wonderful sister and her family. My own sister and I have previously healed troubles from our childhood, so I am very thankful for the excellent relationship that we both have now.

One of the things that I have noticed in my years as a coach and trainer is that many people who unsuccessfully seek to change their body are often people who have unhealed relationships in their lives. Whether it is with a mother, a father, brother or sister, even a best friend, an unhealed relationship can often prevent someone from achieving their own enlightenment.

Family and very close friends are supposed to help us develop to our potential through the interactions that we have with them. But when these relationships fail or are dulled or hindered, so is the development that they are supposed to help us with. So it is very difficult to reach true happiness and success in one's life, without first healing the relationships.

This may be hard to grasp for some, but more likely it is that some people don't want to accept that they may have played a part in a failed or unhealed relationship. It takes a lot of courage to recognize and admit to being a part of the problem in a relationship. But taking that step and making the effort to resolve past issues is a HUGE part of becoming someone who truly feels that they deserve to be happy.

Once you truly feel like you deserve to be happy, it's a heck of a lot easier to take the necessary steps to become happy! (and to do what your trainer tells you to!! ;)

I have worked with people who wanted to change so much, but had unresolved family issues, issues from childhood that have held them back to the point where they truly felt as though they didn't deserve to be happy. Subsequent to healing the relationship, they didn't beat themself up anymore. This made making the choices of healthy eating and regular exercise so much easier.

So one of the things I realize now that I am so very thankful for is having learned about the power of healing relationships that have old scars. In my own life I have witnessed it, helped friends, clients, and family do this, and when I see the results of it, hardly anything could make me happier.

Finally, I am thankful to have my wonderful wife Tanya, who is the first person to show me scars in my own life that needed to be healed. Without her I may not have become the person I am today.

When we bought our house, I knew I wanted to put a private training studio in my basement, so I had the basement built with 9 foot ceilings and an entrance to the basement from outside. I wasn't sure when I would actually set up the private studio, but at Tanya's urging, I did it earlier this year. And thank God I listened to her. With the fires at 275 Bank Street, and Trueform's and my private studio downtown's temporary closure I would have been in big financial trouble. But because of Tanya's urging me to build my new studio here at our house, I've been able to serve the majority of my clients here.

And if that's not enough to be thankful for, I'm thankful for the gift that we have and are still to fully receive, the gift of a baby girl, that we are due to have on Feb. 14th.

So these are all the things that I am thankful for today. I'm sure there are others I haven't mentioned but this is lots for this year!

I hope you, my clients, and online readers are all healthy, happy, and enjoying a big turkey induced sleep as I will be shortly!

Happy Thanksgiving!

:)
Shane

The Secret Finally Revealed... There is no Secret!

Hey Shane... Finally taking the time to draft up a couple of questions for you :) I've got more and will shoot them off when I have time!! Thanks for the tips!

Q1. Overdoing it on Supplements?

I've been taking a creatine based cell volumizing product along with a NOX pre-workout mix for over and month now. I started a dedicated workout regiment about 5 months ago and have been seeing some pretty amazing results since starting the supplements. Chest press three-rep max up almost 30% with similar results for squats for example. Now that the containers are almost empty I'm contemplating buying more. My question is: Is it safe to take these supplements over a prolonged period of time? Is it best to give them a break for a while and come back to them? I've heard there's a link between creatine and cancer, is that true?

A1: I sure hope there's no link to creatine and cancer or we're all doomed as every cell of our bodies naturally produces creatine. And there's an exhausting amount of research out there on creatine and nothing has linked it to cancer in any review I have read (and I've read lots!). Most research is done using certain doses that are known to be effective for promoting the products' benefits, and these studies do not show creatine to cause cancer. However, take enough of anything and it's possible right? Cancers are being shown to often be the result of irritated, inflammed tissues. So consuming too much of anything could provoke irritation and inflammation. So I think the key is to look at safety issues within normal consumption ranges.

A good example is Aspartame. This product is made out to be the Devil by some, and while I don't think it's "good" for you, having a scoop of protein powder in your shake isn't going to make you sick or cause you to get cancer. BUT... have a scoop of protein in your oats for breakfast, drink sugar free Crystal Light, chew sugar free gum, drink diet Coke, have multiple low-carb protein bars, and more protein shakes... all foods often containing Aspartame, and you could be setting yourself up for some major problems down the road.

I think a good dose of common sense prevails just as much in this case as always!

Going back to the safety of long-term consumption of the NOX product you are using. Without reading the whole ingredient list, I can only comment to the two ingredients you mention. The creatine and the nox component.

Creatine has been evaluated in depth in many studies and on otherwise healthy people, even long-term use up to 21 months has not shown to change any blood or urine markers of health in normal doses between users and non-users.

I've listed just one resource here, but a quick search of Pubmed will find you many more.
Resource: http://tinyurl.com/3sk5kd

As for the NOX component of the product. Most likely it is some form of the amino acid arginine. Arginine has been shown for decades to cause an increase in the release of Growth Hormone. But only at doses far to high to be given orally. Oral doses of 22+g/day are needed (and more like 30g and 40g to see some statistically significant figures). However, doses higher than 10g/day are generally not tolerated orally. So the studies use IV methods of delivering the arginine.

So as of late unscrupulous (which means basically all of them) nutritional supplement companies have been pushing another of Arginine's effects, and that is to raise Nitric Oxide levels. The thinking is that since Nitric Oxide is a vasodilator, taking something (Arginine) that will increase the Nitric Oxide and subsequent vasodilation, means more blood flow and more nutrients reaching the muscles which will lead to greater muscle pumps and muscle growth.

Firstly, the only studies where Arginine supplementation actually increased Nitric Oxide production, again, were in studies where people received massive IV doses of Arginine. Far more than would be orally tolerable. Other studies using "time-released" Arginine, as labeled by the supplement company selling the product, showed ZERO time-release effect.

So unfortunately the NOX part of the product you're consuming scores a MASSIVE ZERO in terms of being beneficial in any way. But the effect you felt IS real, and is very likely the result of a big 1-2 punch that comes from the creatine in the product and the placebo effect.

So should you consider continuing with supplementing your training? YES... but should you use the same product? Likely no. I would pick up a Creatine Monohydrate product from Ultimate Nutrition, Prolab, or Optimum Nutrition. These three manufacturers provide a standalone creatine monohydrate product that will give you awesome bang for your buck.

While there is very little safety issue with long-term use of Creatine Monohydrate, you will notice over time that it doesn't seem to work as well and this is generally caused by creatine transporter down-regulation. It just means that the longer you have higher concentrations of intracellular creatine, the fewer transporters the cell puts out to bring in more creatine. So my suggestion is to cycle off creatine every couple months for a good 3-4 weeks to give your system time to reset.




2. Is There a Secret to Reducing Belly Fat??

I've been crushing my abs at the gym lately, working them daily and getting to the point where they're starting to pop. Is there a clear-cut secret to reducing belly fat? When it comes to cardio I hear mixed opinions, some say train in hard bursts with lower impact in between while others recommend prolonged sessions at an optimum "fat burn" heart rate that's barely above resting. Your thoughts?

What about diet? Are carbs the evil culprit or the scapegoat? What about foods that are capable of helping you metabolize fat, do they exist?

A2: The laws of physics apply here. If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose bodymass. Where the bodymass comes from depends on a number of factors. If you do the long slow cardio that some experts try to have you believe is the only way to lose bodyfat then you will actually oxidize fat to produce energy. This is the "fat-burning" zone. Scientifically it is true, that you do burn fat during your workout when you train this way. I read the science myself and used to be a major proponent of this method, and it does work. But depending on the person, I now believe there is a better method.

The major problem with training in the "fat-burning" zone is that the human body becomes more efficient over time at burning fat, which also means that over time it takes fewer fat calories to do the same amount of work. Additionally, training in the fat-burning zone also improves the body's ability to use intra-muscular fat as an energy source. A situation that doesn't benefit us at all! What we want is subcutaneous fat to be used, and for inefficiency when it comes to how many calories it takes to do work.

Higher intensity cardio training requires energy at a pace far too quickly for fat to supply enough energy. Even though fat has more than twice the calories as carbohydrates gram for gram (9g vs. 4g), the processes that release energy from fat are far too slow to release sufficient energy to fuel high-energy activity. So the slack is made up by burning sugars (carbohydrates or CHO). When CHO is burned for energy, the oxidation processes that release the energy from the bonds do not require oxygen. But the inefficiency of using CHO to produce energy produces a great requirement for recovery processes - which are all highly dependent on oxygen. So we have anaerobic energy production, and aerobic energy recovery processes.

Take a typical 1 hour "fat-burning" workout. An average male will burn around 300 kcal. Of this perhaps 70% is fat, so 210 kcal are fat, which is about 23g of fat. Not very much when you consider that a pound of fat contains 454g of fat. On the other hand, a 20 minute high intensity interval training session may burn about 200 kcal. Of this, perhaps 10% will be fat so 20kcal or just a few grams of fat, and the rest is CHO. So maybe 180 kcal of CHO is used, which is about 45g CHO. At this point it sounds like the fat-burning zone is the clear winner. At the succession of a high intensity interval training session you will notice that you maintain higher levels of respiration and heart-rate possibly for a number of hours after. And even when you don't notice your breathing and heart-rate anymore, your metabolic rate is elevated for often up to 6 or 7 hours after you have finished the exercise. This increased metabolism is caused by the recovery processes that are necessary after very intense exercise.

The difference between how much fat loss occurs during the workout from slow cardio to high intensity seems to favour the slow cardio, but after considering that the balance is usually made up through recovery processes, the shorter time required to do the higher intensity training seems to make it the more appealing option.

I used to be a strong advocate for the slow cardio because of the clear fact that you do burn more fat during slow cardio. That seemed to me to be enough for me to put my belief and name behind this method. However, I'm not one to believe something and never re-consider, re-evaluate, or consider new evidence. Part of what led me to re-evaluate my belief was just the sheer number of people who do lose bodyfat doing the higher intensity work. It's pretty hard to ignore something that obviously works. So digging deeper, the recovery processes, which were largely ignored, yielded the answers.

So at this point.. it should be clear that both work, they work differently, and each way may work better for some people than others. The key is to try one, and if you don't like the result you get, try the other.

A few factors to consider include... obviously diet. If you are consuming more calories than you are burning off, it doesn't really matter what kind of fat-loss training you do. And alcohol calories (7kcal/g vs 9kcal/g for fat and 4kcal/g for CHO) seem to increase fat-storing and fat-producing enzymes, so they're a double-whammy if you're hoping for fat loss.

With carbohydrate and fat intake and in general overall calorie intake unrestricted, it is quite easy to consume the quantity of calories that you burn off during the your workouts. So without imposing some restrictions on food intake losing those last few pounds may be a challenge.

Fat was the first scapegoat, and now it's carbs. All in the name of profit for supplement manufacturers.

Eat foods that don't come in plastic wrappers or boxes. If there's no place to put a health claim on the label, then it's probably good for you.. like a banana or a tomato or oats. When we eat we often begin to feel full but continue to eat because we like the taste of the food. This is probably the biggest mistake you can ever make. If observed and adhered to, stopping eating at the first feeling of fullness can probably reduce your daily calorie intake by up to 20%. Over time this will definitely help you lose bodyfat.

Additionally, while there aren't any foods that specifically really help you metabolize and burn fat, the absence of refined and processed carbs, and too much fruit definitely has a positive effect on helping you metabolize and burn fat.

Remember, carbs are the preferred source of energy for the body. If you give it enough it will do it's best to not use fat at all. So cut back on the carbs and your body will have no choice but to increase fat burning.

I know these are pretty long answers to your questions, but I often feel that a more thorough and detailed answer helps people to understand the more simple answer rather than just believing it because they think I know the answers. With just the simple answer, the next expert comes along and says something contrary and people jump on it. Hopefully with the information I've provided here you'll be able to decipher the next outrageous diet or fat-loss claim from the next well thought out information article with confidence.

Best...
:)
Shane

Fire At 275 Bank Street!!!

As you may or may not already know, a Fire at 275 Bank Street has caused the temporary shut down of Trueform Health and Fitness as well as my personal training studio both located at this address.

The building caught fire on the 2nd and 4th floor, and damaged structures on all four floors. Thankfully both Trueform and my private studio are located in the basement and likely haven't suffered any fire damage. However, water damage will likely be significant in the basement and may take weeks to repair.

I'm just guessing here, but there may be as much as a foot or more of dirty, sooty, water in the basement, which will need to be pumped out. The bottom foot or two of all drywalled walls will likely have to be rebuilt, and all of the rubber mats in the gym and my studio will have to be lifted and cleaned and dried properly before being re-laid.

My studio computer was sitting on the floor, so I'm sure it's done! My biggest hope at this point is that all my textbooks which were on a shelf about 5 feet off the ground are not damaged.

Thankfully earlier this year I decided to set up a studio in my basement so I've been able to continue training a large number of my clients here.

I'll keep you posted as further details are released!

Thankfully nobody was hurt!

:)
Shane

Program Design

In almost any domain, for every answer you get from one expert, you can find another contradictory answer from another expert. Strength training is no exception.

At the gym there are many discussions over bodypart splits and full body training routines, the merits and disadvantages of each system are thrown back and forth. It's hard to argue with a big strong guy who's used a typical bodybuilding split routine to build his physique. It's also hard to argue with a big strong guy who can clean and jerk two+ times his bodyweight.

Both styles of training seem to produce dramatic results. So how do you know which style of training is best for you? I will provide sample programs later in the article.

There are a number of factors to consider. The first is what type of physique do you want. If you want the bodybuilder look, a bodybuilding style training routine will help you shape your body more since you directly train all areas of the body. However, only people with excellent genetics for growth and appealing muscle shape will make significant long-term progress with this style of training. People without the best genetics for growth from bodybuilding training routines, will fare better with trying to build a significant strength base first, concentrating on the big three lifts, Squat, Deadlift, and Bench Press, and their supplemental and accessory lifts.

Powerlifting methods involve straining against significant loads, which makes the training far more (CNS) central nervous system intensive. Adaptations such as increased tendon size and strength are stimulated better through this style of training, and those who seek larger muscle size who are smaller to begin with will fare better by first developing the framework which includes stronger connective tissues. Later, higher volume bodybuilding methods will be more effective when larger loads can be used.

Planning your training can be confusing without some guidance. An important rule to consider is the frequency of training. Many bodybuilding style routines have users splitting their bodyparts over four to five days, training each area just once every five to seven days. While this may be beneficial for a very advanced athlete, for beginners and even intermediate trainees a higher training frequency will facilitate perfecting of technique. I can't say enough about the importance of good technique, so I am definitely in favour of the higher training frequency. Additionally, the training intensities required for building significant strength and muscle mass are difficult for beginners and intermediate athletes, so a higher frequency of training allows for a greater training volume, which can help produce results at lower intensities.

A novice trainee would be best starting out with a very basic routine just focusing on technique of the main three lifts, plus a few accessory lifts. Their program might look something like this:

WEEK 1
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 5x3 x40%-60%
Plank 2x30 seconds

Wednesday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 5x3 x40%-60%
Plank 3x20 seconds

Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 6x3 x40%-60%
Plank 4x20 seconds

WEEK 2
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Plank 3x30 seconds

Wednesday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Side Plank 3x15 seconds

Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Plank 5x20 seconds


WEEK 3
Monday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Rope Face Pulls 3x12
Plank 3x30 seconds

Wednesday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Side Plank 4x20 seconds


Friday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Seated Cable Rows 3x10
Plank 3x30 seconds

Week 4
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-70%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-70%
DB Step-ups 3x10
Parallel Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Plank 5x20 seconds

Wednesday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-70%
Military Press 5x4
Rope Face Pulls 3x10
Flat Dumbbell Press 3x10
Side Plank 3x25 seconds

Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-70%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-70%
Romanian Deadlifts (RDL) 3x10
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Band/Tube Sideways Walking 3x10 steps
Plank 4x20 seconds


In this routine, percentages are given as a percent of a 1RM. A true 1RM test should only be performed by subjects with adequate training experience who have learned correct exercise technique and can maintain it under fatigued conditions.

An estimate of a 1RM can be made using the results of a 3RM-6RM test. Protocols for testing can be found HERE.

Once an approximate 1RM is known, all percents in the above program can be applies safely.

In this program, percentage ranges are given, and it is suggested that trainees start with the lower percentage on their first set, and progress upward in small incremements through each set towards the higher percentage in the range. Often novice trainees will be excited to try to push heavier weights soon in a program, but it is important to learn and practice proper technique with low weights during the initial 4 weeks of training. This reduces the occurrence of technical breakdown of exercise technique during subsequent loading in later training phases.

Rest periods between sets should be sufficient to prevent accumulation of fatigue which impairs motor co-ordination and limits outcomes of successful technique practice.

This sample exercise program will not produce much in the way of visual changes to the body, but it will provide significant motor pathway learning which lays the basis for further muscular strength and hypertrophic adaptation.

There has been much discussion concerning the merits of frequent bench pressing. Much of the lay press has jumped on the "don't train bench press to frequently" wagon, which is unfounded. Correct technique of the bench press requires frequent practice, and so long as loads do not exceed the 70%-85% range on a regular basis, the bench press can be safely practiced with a high frequency. When attempts at heavier loading are desired, training frequency can be reduced as well as loading at subsequent practice sessions.

Squats and Deadlifts carry similar nervous system fatigue characteristics, so they are usually not done in the same workout. During initial stages of learning technique they may be practiced in the same training session as the loads and repetition ranges are kept very low.

Upper back work is important to help build strength of the main parascapular stabilizers (rhomboids, trapezius, serratus anterior) which are required to be strong enough to stabilize the scapula during loading of the shoulder girdle which occurs during pressing movements. Seated rows, Bent-over dumbbell rows, and Rope face pulls all significantly involve this muscularture. Pulldowns do not involve the scapula to the same degree as the lats do not attach on the scapula, however pulldows are a beneficial back strengthening exercise that should be included in a balanced program. During squats and deadlifts, the lats are strongly recruited to help maintain a tight arch in the low back.

Dumbbell Step-ups and Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts are both accessory exercises that can help hypertrophy the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings, all which are intimately involved with producing force during the squat and deadlift.

As a basic start for abdominal strength, the plank and side plank are excellent exercises that strongly recruit all four muscles of the abdominal region.


For more information on program design, please contact shane@spectrumfitness.ca


Hopefully I've been able to shed some light on basic program design. I will be posting future articles on evolving a novice program into a good beginner program. Check back frequently for updates!

Just lift it!
:)
Shane

M.I.A...

It's been a while since my last blog post, I've been busy with a number of projects, and took a bit of vacation time with my wife and some friends, so all rested up, I'm back in the swing, and I'll have some new pieces for you shortly.

In the mean time, here's a favourite recipe of mine, courtesy of my wife Tanya.

For those of you out there who hate broccoli but know you should be eating it.. I promise with this recipe you'll be able to consume your broccoli and you'll absolutely love it!

Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:
2 heads broccoli
4 carrots
2-3 tbsp chicken broth
1 med onion
1/2 cup milk
3-4 cloves garlic
1- 1.5 tbsp flour

Preparation:
Cut broccoli, carrots, and onion into 10" diameter pot.
Add water (approx 8 cups) to cover veggies by 1" water.
Bring to boil and ensure veggies are well cooked.
Let stand 10 minutes.
Pour mixture into blender, puree until smooth.
Pour blender contents back into pot.
Add milk.
Add crushed garlic.
Put heat at med.
Mix flour with 1/2 cup hot water and whip until pasty (no chunks), then add flour and water mixture to pot contents and stir until bottom starts to thicken.
Turn off heat and stir occasionally until desired consistency.
Serve hot or let cool and freeze for future use.
Salt and pepper to taste.

Note: May replace 2% milk with half and half or table cream for a creamier soup if you don't mind the extra calories.

I had this for dinner tonight and as always with this soup, I never enjoy my broccoli so much!

Hope you enjoy it too!

:)
Shane

To Wear Gloves or Not to Wear Gloves...

Hi Shane,

Is it better to wear gloves or build up hand callouses when lifting? If hand callouses are better, then what is the hand care to prevent painful bloody rips?

:)

Sunny

Hi Sunny,

Good question! Definitely building up calluses is the better route. When you wear gloves you remove bar feel. It's like the difference between driving a standard and automatic. There's an intangible "feel" of the road with a standard, and there's a similar "feel" to the bar that you just don't get when you wear gloves. Some people feel like the gloves give them a better grip because their hands get sweaty. For you guys.. use chalk! Chalk delivers the ultimate bar grip while retaining 100% bar feel!

Finally.. to prevent torn calluses... and the caveat here is that there is no perfect system for preventing them 100% of the time, but when you start to notice that the calluses are getting tipped or pointy and/or are starting to fold over a bit, it's time to get out some good old coarse sandpaper and just smooth them over a little. Get rid of the tip/point but don't get rid of the thickened base.

A number of years ago after three heavy months of deadlifting, I tore a good callus off my hand and yep..it was damn painful and bled like crazy! That was my lesson. Now every month or two I'll use some sandpaper to keep them even.

Hope that helps!
:)
Shane

What's The Plate Under The Heel For?

Hi Shane,

Sometimes I see people put a plate under their heels when squatting. I tried it and found that I could squat more deeply than normal. I know you're a proponent of deep squatting, so at first I thought it was a good idea, but lately I've seen you having your clients squat without their shoes on at all. So what's the deal then.. shoes off or a plate under the heels and why?

Thanks,
Dale


Hi Dale,

Thanks for your question... it's a real good one. The plate under the heels is definitely a common sight in most gyms. In fact I used to do it myself years ago, and along with a slew of other bad habits I used to have, I give it partial credit for some of the laxity of my knee ligaments.

The squat when done properly is a deep squat. The safety issue of the depth of the squat is really a non-issue and is rather an issue on misunderstanding the mechanics of the muscles that act upon the knee during a squat.

When most people try to squat deeply, they do it with poor technique, allowing their lumbar spine to lose it's natural arch, and their knees to move too far forward, with the pull of the quadriceps on the tibia unrestrained except for the role of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). Both of these technique flaws increase the risk of injury to the lumbar dics and knee joints. BUT... for those without the flexibility in the ankles, hamstrings and hips, this will be the only way they will be able to squat deeply.

So knowing they shouldn't let their low back lose the arch, some bright fella has come along at some point and showed young Jimmy that if he places some plates under his heels that he can now squat deeply without losing the arch in his back.

Feeling confident now, young Jimmy is off squatting deeply with a plate under his heels.

The problem is that what really happens when you put a plate under your heels is that you're circumventing the problem of tight hamstrings which prevent you from squatting deeply. Usually you'll find young Jimmy off stretching his hamstrings at the end of his workout anyway, which won't do much to lengthen them permanently. And of course by virtue of circumventing the position in the squat where your hamstrings reach the end of their functional range of motion under load, you remove likely the most effective way to increase hamstring flexibility. Done correctly, the squat when taken to the point where the hamstrings become taught under load, over weeks and months of practice will increase in length to accomodate the deeper hip position required to squat deeply and safely.

The plate under the heel merely raises the ankle joint which allows the knees to travel forwards further (this motion if it occurs should come from increased ankle mobility, not raising the heel). But when the knee moves forward, the insertion point of the hamstring on the hip also moves forward, allowing the hamstring to remain loose enough for the hips to go deep.

Back to the orginal question... Why is it bad? It is bad because when the hamstrings stay loose as the hips descend, they do not restrain the tibia under the forward moving knee. So the only restraint engaged is the ACL. You won't often hear of ACL rupture from this, but over the years you'll definitely increase the laxity of the ACL and in turn compromise joint stability.

The second part of the question (much shorter answer I promise!) was about my clients not wearing their shoes when they squat. The primary reason is because most people come to the gym with either absolutely awful shoes that are ready for the garbage (You know who you are! ;p) or with fancy-schmancy running shoes which have great big cushy heels (which are perfect for absorption of forces during heel strike when running)... but are lousy for transfering loads effectively through the foot to the floor during a squat. When you're squatting the last thing you want is to have something under your foot thats going to absorb the force you're trying to create and transfer to the floor. Especially when the absorption may not be perfectly even from left to right foot. Running shoes can create a scary wobbly feel under you when squatting with any decent loads. So short of having my clients go out and buy thin, hard sole shoes, I just have them squat with their shoes off. This way all the force that their muscles create is transferred directly to the floor. Safer, and more effective.

Finally, it makes it a little tougher to get deeper into the squat and thus encourages increased hamstring flexibility.

So either get some thin, hard soled shoes, or take off the running shoe. I promise you'll notice a postive difference right away!

:)
Shane

Bench Press Safety Tip

I was at the gym last week and saw a guy doing the bench press with a thumb-less grip. I approached him and respectfully suggested for safety reasons that he use a full thumbed grip on the bar citing injury potential as outweighing any potential or perceived benefits of a thumb-less grip.

I found it a bit odd that he really tried to persuade me that it was safe enough if done "carefully", and that he was careful.

Granted, you may never have an accident, but just like the risk of lumbar disc injury from rounding your back during a deadlift, the thumb-less grip on bench press is just asking for trouble.

Take a look at this video and see for yourself the kind of "impact" the thumb-less grip can have on you!

If that isn't enough to get you to use a full thumbed grip... then just make sure you do this kind of thing in your home gym so we don't have to deal with your ignorance here!

Grip it right or get out!

;)
Shane

Sunday's Workout - Dynamic Effort Lower Body

We went to the Freedom Fight Title Quest Mixed Martial arts fight on Saturday night and were treated to some amazing fights. As always conditioning plays such a crucial role in allowing these athletes to continue into the later rounds. Watching these guys is definitely motivating to say the least. So throwing some Prowler pushes into our Sunday workout was influenced by our Saturday night outing.

The goal of Dynamic Effort (DE) training is to improve the ability to accelerate loads. High rates of acceleration require very high forces. Consequently DE training improves rate of force production which contributes to maximal strength. We use accommodating resistance modalities such as chains or bands to increase the tension on the muscles as the natural strength curve of the exercise gives us improved leverage.

Generally we start with a bar weight equal to about 50% of your 1RM and then add either chains or bands to give a top position weight of between 90-110% of your 1RM. The goal is to then explode from the bottom as hard as possible so that you are accelerating right through to the top position.

That said, here's what we did yesterday:

Warmup:
Skipping 10 min
Foam Roller: Quads, IT Band, Hams, Glutes, Adductors, T-Spine.
Tennis Ball: Piriformis
Band external rotator cuff work to warm up in prep for the low bar position.

DE Box Squats (did a few warm-up sets of 5 reps with various band tensions then decided to use chains.)

2x95 + 1 set chains
2x115 + 2 sets chains
2x135 + 2 sets chains
10x2x155 + 2 sets chains
We took just as long a rest between sets as it took the other person to do their set.
So around 30-45 seconds rest. I haven't weighed them yet, but I'm pretty sure each set of chains is around 60 lbs.

DE Deadlifts - For this exercise we sat the bar on the ground inside the rack and just threw a doubled up monster miniband over the bar from the two band pins.

I haven't had deadlifts in my program for the past 8 weeks, so going pretty light we did:
10x1x185 + 1 doubled monster mini. (I would estimate the tension the band added was close to 100 lbs at the top.

After this a little volume work..

Dumbbell Step-ups 2 warm-up sets then 3x10
45 degree hypers w/bands 3x10

Reverse Hypers 1x20x20lbs fast, 1x15x20 slow w/ 2 sec isohold at top, 1x15x20
(unilateral)
Grappler Barbell Twists: 16 x bar, long handle 2x8 x bar

Hanging leg raises 20, 15, 15, 9

Then after all this we headed outside to push the Prowler.

Here's some video footage of our work outside!




We even got my brother in law's baby girl to try giving the Prowler a push.. but she wasn't into it! LOL


So all in all it was a pretty brutal session. Thankfully we'd just changed the water in the hot tub and it was still a balmy 74 degrees.. so we hopped in to cool down afterwards.

That's it for our training logs. A new week is upon us!

Have a great one!
:)
Shane

High Intensity Intervals for Fat Loss - Work it like a Dog!

So we live in a suburb where there's quite a few Labrador Retrievers. We own a black Lab, her name is Sona. In our neighbourhood the other Labs are often out for long walks with their owners. Some are really slow (doesn't really count for cardio) and others are faster. One guy goes out on his bike and his Lab runs beside him. I've seen another lady out jogging and her Lab is running with her. So what does all this have to do with high intensity intervals for fat loss?

Well... if you've seen our Lab you know she's very lean. We feed her very well, including oats, carrots, broccoli, Udo's oil, cottage cheese, blueberries, tomatoes, apples, bananas, as well as a few cans of Natural Balance dog food daily. So she's getting plenty of nutrition. To top it all off, she always finishes all our leftovers after we eat. So her calorie levels are as high as most labs, but we take her out three to four times a day for a 10-15 minute high intensity interval training session that we call "Play"... Basically we throw the tennis ball using the whippit and she retrieves the ball. Her sprint out to get the ball is at maximum effort, and then her return is a slower pace.

When we bring her in the house, for the next couple hours her breathing is heavier, and she's quite hot. This is the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption period where her body continues to burn calories at a much higher rate.

It's also what we do outside when we push the Prowler up and down in between our house and our neighbours.

When we have very limited time our workout looks like this:

Prowler push 3-5 sets of 30-60seconds with 60-120 seconds rest intervals.

If you give it all you've got.. this can pretty much flatten you!

Admittedly when we did it a few weeks back I was a little out of shape cardio-wise, and it took just 3 sets 60 seconds of all out effort to put me out of commission for nearly 20 minutes.

There's an intuitive feeling that this kind of effort is really good for you. So here's to high intensity intervals for fat loss!

Work it like a Dog!

:)
Shane

Real Core Stability...

This is getting ridiculous! Can I please go one day without hearing another so called fitness expert or Pilates person or whoever talk about "drawing your navel towards your spine" during exercise to protect the spine.

Based on an Australian study in 1996 where they found that the firing of the transverse abdominus (TVA) was delayed slightly in the people in the study who were suffering from low back pain. Their advice was to draw the navel back towards the spine (which does engage the TVA) and hope that over time this "drawing in" would become automatic.

I am not aware of any study that shows that drawing in on the navel has ever or could ever become automatic. Additionally, others have drawn the same conclusion before me. Shirley Sahrmann has stated, "I don't know of a study that shows that drawing in becomes a subconscious reflex", Sahrmann is a professor of physical therapy at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and is author of "Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes", arguably one of the best references for everything related to joint disfunction. I have personally learned more from this book than any other relating to muscle length/tension relationships and their effect on joint function and disfunction.

A name that if you're not already familiar with, you will be before too long is Dr. Stuart McGill. Dr. McGill is the foremost back specialist in the world. His research into the mechanics of the spine is shedding new light on the causes of disc injury and prevention.

Dr. McGill states clearly that although the TVA is definitely important in core stabilization, it is just one muscle, and all of the muscles that act upon the core are involved in stabilization. Dr. McGill says if you want to see an easy example of how just pulling in your navel reduces your core strength, sit in a chair and try to stand up by just pulling in your navel versus "bracing" your whole abdominal wall.

"Bracing" is the new key word. You'll see it popping up everywhere and I think we've finally got it right with this one. Of course it was instinctively done thousands of years ago by anybody who was straining to lift a heavy object. Dr. McGill explains that to "brace" your abdominal wall, pretend you're about to get punched in the abdominals and do what comes naturally. A contraction of all the abdominal muscles as well as the musculature that surrounds the spine at the back occurs when you brace.

Another example is consider what you would do if you had to lift a very heavy object in a hurried fashion. Lets say a heavy object fell on someone and you were going to try to lift it off. You would bend down, with knees and hips, and take a very deep breath and drive the pressure down into your stomach by "bracing" all your abdominals. Then you would try to lift the object.

You may have heard of the "Valsalva Maneuver" named after the 17th century physician Antonio Maria Valsalva is taking a deep breath and forcibly exhaling against a closed glottis. This causes an increase in intra-abdominal pressure by the contraction of the core musculature.

So please folks, even if your Pilates instructor says to draw in your navel when you're exercising, just brace your core by tensing all of the muscles in your abdominal region.

It could save your discs!

:)
Shane

What Motivates You?

When you set out to accomplish a task be it physical, academic, or other, we often have motivating factors that help push us along when we might otherwise pack it in.

With physical tasks such as exercising we do it because it's good for our health, it helps give us more energy, or even to look better on the beach. Whatever our reasons, we all have them.

Now take Dick and Rick Hoyt, a father and son team who compete in marathons and Ironman triathlons. It was Rick who convinced his father to enter these races with him.

So this was Dick's motivation. Now... that sounds nice and all.. but watch the video and you'll really understand the depth of commitment on Dick's part to his son.




Sorry to suck you in to a nearly 10 minute video, and I'm not a big fan of the music in the video.. but the story is simply incredible.

When I see something like this, I want to never make an excuse for why I couldn't or I didn't do something that was important. Whether it's a favour for a friend, a loved one, or something as simple as getting in some exercise.

I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I did.

Excuseless...
:)
Shane

What to Do When it Rains!

Like many of you I awoke at around 4am to a mad storm outside. Thunder, lightning, and deafening rain striking the roof and siding on the house kept me awake for about 20 minutes!

I guess it all stopped at some point around or before 5am, as my alarm woke me up at 5:30am. I had definitely fallen back asleep, but didn't remember falling back asleep. I was pretty tired, but had to get up for my first client at 6am.

I hit the shower to wake up (didn't really work), had breakfast and headed downstairs to my studio to prepare for my 6am client. At 6:08am I sent a text wondering if we were still on for training. When I didn't get an answer by 6:15am I called. Turns out they'd had their windows open and had quite a bit of water get in the house. So training was off, as they had clean-up to take care of at home.

So.. I was there, now awake, in my studio... what do I do. I could go back to bed, but by the time I would get to sleep, I'd have to be up by 7:15 anyway for my next client, so I decided that some restoration work would be the most productive use of my time.

Here's what I did.

Foam Roller: Quads, IT band, Hamstrings, Adductors, Glute Max, Glute Med, Thoracic Spine, Lats, and Pecs.

I grabbed my tennis ball and took care of my Infraspinatus and Piriformis.

Then I did some static stretching for my Rectus Femoris / Tensor Fascia.

I probably spent about 25 minutes in all, and as I went upstairs after, I was reminded again by how good all my joints felt of the importance of soft tissue work.

So don't skip out on your foam roller!

It's Friday folks.. so I gotta roll!

;)
Shane

First Workout In New Studio!

I Christened my new studio yesterday with a split routine leg workout.

I had 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes at night to thoroughly thrash my legs.
Here's what I did.

Training Session #1 12:45pm
Foam Roller: Quads, IT Band, Hip Flexors, Hams, Calves, Peroneals, Adductors, Glutes, T-Spine.
(10 min)
Dynamic stretching for Hip Flexors, Quads, Hams, and Glutes.
(5 min)

Squats: worked up to a tough 4x5RM
Dumbbell Split Squats 4x8
Band Sideways X-Walking 3x12 (Red Jumpstretch)


Training Session #2 8pm
Dynamic warm-up consisting of: squat to stand, side-side lunging, cradle walk. (5 min)

1-leg squat to bench w/Kettlebell counter weight 4x10 (this is ridiculously difficult.. takes a lot of concentration)
Glute & Ham Raises 4x10

Romanian Deadlifts 3x8
Decline Sit-ups 3x10 (Easy.. no weight, very slight decline)

Reverse Hyperextensions 3x10
Grappler Barbell Twist 3x10

Incline Reverse Crunches 3x10

At this point I was toast, even if I could have done more, Sona, my pup was jumping all over me. She'd had just about enough of me grunting... I figure she thinks i'm in pain (kinda true) and she's jumping all over me to see if I'm ok? Funny.

Anyway.. it was a great workout.. and today I'm well aware of it!

Tonight I'm going to take apart my pulldown/seated row unit gotta remove the whole weight stack in order to get it to a manageable weight to carry down the stairs.

:)
Shane

Equipment Arrives!

With plans of starting a family, I decided that the 2 hours per day of travel time to and from work in the winter was going to be too much to handle. So the decision to put a training studio in my basement was put into action.

The planning took a couple months, and the construction took another couple, but it's finally come together. Before I started, my basement had the normal unfinished appearance.


Main Space

The nearly finished interior as it looked a few weeks ago can been seen in the pic below.


Main Space - Nearly Finished

With the main space finally completed, and after numerous shipping, and customs delays, my equipment has finally arrived. Of course for most gyms that order commercial gym equipment they've got big huge garage doors that open and the stuff is just rolled in on a skid and carried to the location in the gym. But for me, everything arrived "assembled", so I had to "disassemble" everything, carry it downstairs and then "re-assemble" it all again in the studio space.


Equipment Jammed into Garage


The Narrow Staircase and Reason Disassembling Was Required



Main Space - Looking towards entrance.

Another few days and everything will be in place! I can't wait!

Well that's it.. just a quick update on the private training studio
in Aylmer.

:)
Shane

Anterior Shoulder Pain When Benching

Q: I've been pushing my bench pretty hard in the past 6 months with mostly good results, but i'm starting to get some pain in the front of my left shoulder. I took a few days off training intially, the pain subsided, but then came back the very next time I did bench. So now I'm lifting lighter and periodically I try to go up but every time I go up there's pain at the front of my shoulder.

What can I do?

Thanks,
Jay H.

A: Jay, there could be a number of different causes for your pain. Without watching you bench in person, it will be hard to be specific. But I'll go over a couple scenarios for you.

Firstly, if your subscapularis muscle is weak, then you may be getting some anterior humeral head gliding. Anterior glide of the humeral head will often lead to stretching of the anterior joint capsule and subsequent loss of glenohumeral stability. When you bench, your pec pulls the humeral head forward forcefully and it's the job of the subscapularis to pull it backward and down into the correct position.

To remedy the problem, first, you would need to back off on lifting anything heavy, and then start doing 3x15 tube or band internal rotations from above (See Fig 1.1 & Fig 1.2).


Fig 1.1 - Tube internal rotation from above - Start and Finishing position.


Fig 1.2 - Tube internal rotation from above - Midpoint position.


Do this daily for about a week and then move to every second day and increase to 4x15. Finally drop it to twice a week and then try to keep it in your program at least once a week to keep that muscle strong as you gradually return to pressing.

Second possibility is that you've got some impingement going on in the shoulder. Impingement is usually the cause if you have pain when raising your arm to the front or side in between about 60 or 70 degrees and 120-130 degrees of flexion. If this is the case, again you'll have to back off from anything heavy, and perform a few sets of the pendulum exercise (See Video 1.1) to help open up the sub-acromial space Be sure to use only 5-8 lbs. Going heavier than 8 lbs tends to cause the outer muscles to take up the tension, when we want it on the ligaments in the shoulder.


Video 1.1 - The Pendulum Exercise - Creating distraction at the humeral head to increase sub-acromial space.

When you get impingement, the humeral head is being pulled upward against the sub-acromial bursa and supraspinatus tendon. This pressure causes pain and often swelling (which further reduces the sub-acromial space). A bit of time off from heavy benching will be required to allow any swelling to go away.

Once you can raise your arm through the normally painful range without pain, this means you're ready to start strengthening a few areas that need to be stronger to prevent the re-occurence of the pain. This doesn't mean you're ready to bench again, and if you can bench a little that's fine, but DON'T go heavy yet.

Tube external rotations (See Fig. 2.1-2.6) from a few different angles will help to strengthen the external rotator cuff muscles. The teres minor and the infraspinatus being heavily involved in stabilizing the shoulder joint during bench press.


Fig 2.1 - Tube External Rotation (Focus Teres Minor) - Start & Finish Position
Note: Place a small towel or similar object in between arm and ribcage.


Fig 2.2 - Tube External Rotation (Focus Teres Minor) - Midpoint Position
Note: Place a small towel or similar object in between arm and ribcage.


Fig 2.3 - Tube External Rotation 90/0 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Start & Finish Position



Fig 2.4 - Tube External Rotation 90/0 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Midpoint Position



Fig 2.5 - Tube External Rotation 0/90 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Start & Finish Position



Fig 2.6 - Tube External Rotation 0/90 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Midpoint Position

Additionally, spend a few weeks doing extra rows, dumbbells, barbells, cable rows, they will all help. Also spend some time doing some rope face pulls or prone incline trap raises which allow the upper and lower traps to work without involving the rhomboids. Some people tend to be rhomboid dominant, which means scapular stability is created mostly by the rhomboids and with very little help from the traps. Often people with rhomboid dominance have weak serratus anterior muscles. Weak serratus anterior muscles can contribute to a host of other compensation patterns which ultimately produce anterior shoulder pain. To strengthen the serratus anterior muscles perform 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps of Serratus/Scapula Pushups (see Video 2.1). Keep your elbows locked and sink between your shoulder blades. You'll feel them squash together as you sink down, and then push yourself back up and pull your shoulder blades as far apart as possible at the top. Try to avoid creating the upward movement simply by rounding your upper back.



Video 2.1 - Serratus/Scapula Pushups


A third possibility for your shoulder pain involves the long head biceps tendon. Speed's test is a good way to determine whether or not the long head biceps tendon is involved. To perform speed's test, make a fist and pretend you are doing a dumbbell curl and bring your fist up towards your shoulder. Continue to move your fist up a few inches further by flexing your shoulder joint. From this position have a friend or training partner pull down on your fist while you resist. If you have pain or significant weakness in your shoulder during this test, some or all of your shoulder pain involves the long head biceps tendon.

If there is inflammation, again some rest time is needed. Icing the afflicted area and some ibuprofen will help to bring the swelling down. Once the pain has subsided, heat will help encourage blood flow to the area, which will help speed healing. Use the speed's test again but ask your partner to pulldown with much less force and resist them less as well to see if you still have soreness in the shoulder. If you are doing the test and you pull too hard you might aggravate the area again. So always perform subsequent tests at a lower intensity.

After a couple weeks of adding these exercises into your program, you can gradually bring benching back into your program. But spend the first couple weeks using loads close to 60%-80% of the loads that were causing your pain. After a few weeks at these lighter loads, and continued use of the tube exercises and serratus/scapula pushups, you'll be ready to resume some heavier lifting.

When you resume training, for a while, try to do most of your overhead pushing and pulling movements using a closer hand spacing. Same thing for horizontal pressing movements. Spend some time working on your close grip bench press. This movement puts less stress on the shoulder than the wider grip varieties.

Don't rush it. Remember this... one or two additional weeks off training to really prepare those shoulder tissues for loading again can save you months off with serious inflammation.

A final word... It can be very discouraging to find out you've injured yourself and that you have no choice but to take a lengthy break from bench pressing, but if you're like most people in the gym, you probably spend a disproportionate time on your bench anyway, so use this opportunity to work on your deadlifts and squats. When you come back to bench, hopefully your squat and deadlift will have benefitted!

:)
Shane