Shane Miller is Your Strength and Fat Loss Coach

Ottawa Bodybuilding Precontest Diet Progress Report - Week 5-8

2010-11-05T04:56:00.000-07:00

Well I was hoping to get progress reports from Greg all the way through, but Greg's been focused on more important things like his training and diet. And trust me, he's been nailing it!

Greg's the ideal client. He does exactly what you say.. to a T. Can't ask for more. When you see him onstage on Saturday, you'll see what all his hard work has produced!

Gonna be sick!

So in lieu of his reports, here's more progress pics we took each week.

Week 5

Week 5

The flash on my camera still severely washes out the definition in these pics... ahhh.. to have the right lighting!

Week 6

Week 6

Only a little bit of water left in the lower back... pretty tight otherwise!

Week 7

Week 7

No week 8 pic... sorry guys..

You'll have to come to the show to see the final result!

It's pretty freaking dramatic!

Ottawa Bodybuilding Precontest Diet Progress Report - Week 4

2010-11-05T04:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the week 4 progress report on Greg's pre-contest diet for this Sat, Nov 6 bodybuilding show.

If you don't have tickets yet, you can get them here:

http://ottawachampionships.typepad.com/tickets/

Week 4

Hey Shane!

This week I'm starting to look really lean. I am definitely dropping the last bit of fat. I have my eating down and training. My cardio is finally figured out. Morning cardio bike, nice and easy. And this week I have been doing cardio post workout, treadmill. No fat left on stomach and back fat going quick. Come Friday should be shredded, depleted but shredded. Feeling good still.

Week 4

I will say though, the low carb days are starting to get me a little loopy! All good though! I'll make it!

Gonna hit my peak perfectly!

- Greg

** As you can see, as the weeks go on and the calories and carbs get a little lower, the comments start to get less and less as "thinking" becomes something you want to spare for the really important stuff! LOL

Ottawa Bodybuilding Precontest Diet Progress Report - Week 3

2010-11-04T06:22:00.000-07:00

Here's Greg Charron's report on his third week of dieting for the Ottawa Bodybuilding Contest which takes place on Sat Nov 6th.

Week 3 - Pre-Contest Diet

A bit of a different spin this week. Since I only decided to compete 8 weeks out from the show, things have really had to move quickly. This week has been no exception. Because I was eating so little in the beginning, the first two weeks of high calories as Shane explained were to boost my metabolism. I guess I knew lower calories would have to come, and this week it has.

Week 3

The low carb days definitely affect my energy, but I only do the low carb days for two or three days and even then the carbs climb, and the fats drop, keeping my calories low, but helping to stimulate leptin (the master fat burning hormone as Shane calls it!)

Week 3

Aside from what Shane is doing diet-wise, I'm finally getting the hang of taking the fluctuating numbers he gives me and organizing them into my 7 daily meals. One thing that I've been surprised at is the variety of foods I'm allowed to eat. I'd spoken to a few other people about contest diets and pretty much everything I heard was about chicken and broccoli, but with Shane's diet, I'm eating gourmet everything. I'm allowed all veggies, all fruit, all meat, butter, natural peanut butter.. pretty much everything I used to eat. The difference is how foods are combined, and when during the day I eat things.

Since I love to cook, it's great I'm eating like a King, and getting into the best shape of my life at the same time! Still with 5 weeks to go, I'm sure some of this will change at some point.

We met again on Friday morning and took more photos of my mandatory poses. We reviewed them, and Shane gave me his feedback. We were both impressed with the changes that have happened in just 3 weeks. My shoulders are starting to show striations my chest had grown, and my arms are showing an improved peak and detail. My right quadriceps had almost reached the left leg in size. I'll admit, I have decent genetics, but never thought my body could change like this. Clearly, having the right coach is a huge deal when it comes to making this kind of progress!

At this point I'm starting to feel like I may actually be a true contender at the show.

- Greg

Ottawa Bodybuilding Precontest Diet Progress Report - Week 2

2010-11-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

Here's week 2 of Greg Charron's Pre-contest diet for the Ottawa Bodybuilding Contest on Sat Nov 6th.

Second Week of Diet

The first week out of the way, I feel much more confident with how the diet works. Not to mention the obvious of working really hard in the gym and being strict. The way Shane has explained it to me, I know if I follow his instructions to a T, I will be in the best shape in my life come show day!

Week 2

This week I'm noticing my muscles are getting bigger, and I'm getting leaner at the same time. I always thought that wasn't possible, but it's exactly what's happening. My mood is also much better, but I guess that's due to the dramatic increase in calories. Another benefit to this increased calorie intake is my energy for training is way up there now.

It's really been great, I've often got questions about how or why my diet and training are set a certain way, and Shane always has an answer that actually makes sense to me. Even when it's pretty technical, he makes it seem simple to understand, which definitely increases my confidence with what I'm doing!

Week 2

I met with Shane on Friday morning and he took progress pics again. I was so happy with my quick results and so was Shane... It's a good thing when your coach is pleased!

Shane's eye for shape and symmetry must come in part from his 17 years of judging bodybuilding shows. I was shocked to learn that.. but to be honest, it was also one of the reasons I hired him. On top of knowing his stuff when it comes to training and diet, he's got an almost unfair advantage by knowing exactly what the judges are looking for. So when we work on posing, he's got amazing tips on how to present my body in the best possible way!

I also bug Shane quite a bit on ideas for areas that I don't find respond well to my training, and he's always got tips that not only sound good, but seem to really work! I think you'll see what I mean come the day of the show!

Shane and I have a really good working relationship. It's like a race car driver. He's not much good to the pit crew manager if he does not know how to talk about his car and the issues at hand. He gives me new instructions for the next week, and I follow them verbatim, and presto.. results!

Can't wait for each week!

- Greg

Ottawa Bodybuilding Precontest Diet Progress Report

2010-10-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

We're back today with Greg Charron's Ottawa bodybuilding precontest diet progress report. Here's his week 1 comments and progress pics.


Front - Week 1

Back - Week 1

Monday Sept 13th, 2010

Week 1

I received my diet instructions Monday evening. At first it was overwhelming, but at the same time exciting. I studied the pages printed over and over and anything I was unsure of, I responded with a list of questions. Shane was always prompt and detailed with his responses.

Because I had been eating like a bird (around 2000 calories per day), by the second day of eating well over 3,000 calories, I could already see significant changes. I had more energy, my muscles appeared more full, and they certainly felt harder. I was also sweating like crazy! My internal furnace was revving up!

With all this extra energy, my workouts also really improved. I was happy, and only after 2 days! I looked forward to how things would shape up in the days and weeks to come.

On Friday when we met for the second assessment, I was really impressed with the changes, and more importantly, so was Shane! I could tell I was on the right track with plenty of time to go until the show.

- Greg

I'll be back tomorrow with Greg's week 2 progress report.

Please post your comments below.

Ottawa Bodybuilding Coach and Trainer Discusses Pre- Contest Diet Methods

2010-10-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Recently, an old old friend contacted me about getting my help in preparation for the upcoming Ottawa Bodybuilding Championships on November 6th.

I wanted to document his transformation so you can see what I do, and I asked Greg if he would give me a brief week by week synopsis of his experience working with me from the initial assessment we did right up to how he feels after he won. Ooops.. I mean right up until after the show. (hehehe)

Here's Greg's email to me with his feelings on the initial assessment.

Initial assessment Sept 8th 2010

Sept 9th, 2010

Initial Assessment

I decided to do a Bodybuilding show for the first time in my life this fall with only 8 weeks to the show date.

I was referred to Shane Miller from a good friend that had consulted with Shane in his hay day of bodybuilding competitions, Jake Guay. I had admired Jake and his commitment to the sport due to his level of conditioning that he came into every show with. He credits much of his success to Shane Miller.

This was enough for me, I was now confident with my decision to go with Shane.

In my initial meeting with Shane he assessed my physique and where I was at 8 weeks out. There was some issues that he had addressed. And these needed to be heard if I wanted to improve.

First, I lacked in certain body parts such as Chest and Biceps/Triceps. Beyond merely which bodyparts needed improvement, he went on to address issues with posture as well, which is very important when it comes to presenting your body on stage.

For starters my right shoulder dropped and both rolled forward. Second, my left Quad was noticeably bigger than my right. Shane took photos and showed me so I could see for myself what needed to be worked on.

I couldn't believe it! But I knew right then and there that Shane was a guy that was all about detail -- an obviously important thing in bodybuilding.

I also provided him with a breakdown of my current diet. And although I pride myself in learning as much as I can about nutrition, clearly, I still had so much to learn. I wasn't eating nearly enough for 200 lb guy. I was eating like a bird!

After assessing my body we had discussions about what to expect and what not to. He provided me with a set of instructions to follow until he came up with his game plan that would be give me 5 days later. I was to be assessed and pictures to be taken every Friday.

- Greg

I'll be back tomorrow with week 1 of Greg's progress report, as well as some pics documenting his progress.

If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

Aylmer Personal Trainer Reveals How to Build Muscle Build an Awesome Back

2010-09-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

Awesome Muscle Building for Your Back!

Undoubtedly, a well developed back is the hallmark differentiator between those who train the "show" muscles, and those who train the "go" muscles.

Arnold's flawless back development!

A well developed back is unmistakable. Starting with the upper traps, the mid and lower traps and the rhomboids, as well as the lats and even , when bent forwards, the lumbar (erector group) musculature pops out as to thick ridges that run beside the spine.

Additionally, for athletes, strong and balanced back development helps to prevent injuries and keeps you in the game and in the gym so your training can continue uninterrupted by injuries.

Guaranteed, if you think you can forgo the important stuff, just to work on the show muscles, you'll be hit up with an injury that can keep you out of the game for years!

Don't Risk Injury... Train Serious, But Train Smart! (TSTS)

Considerations for Awesome Muscle Building Training For Your Back

1. Exercise Selection

Deadlifts

If you could only do one exercise for back, I would say Deadlifts would be your best choice, but thankfully we can do more than one exercise. Deadlifts are the exercise that will best allow you to express your strength and develop top end strength, but they take a toll on your recovery, so while you need to do them, they shouldn't be your main focus. Do them once a week, or even once every two weeks cycled in in place of a squat exercise.

Safe and effective deadlift technique:

Ensure back is in neutral arch, brace abdominals forcefully. Begin movement by "pushing" the floor away from you. Maintain the same upper body to floor angle until your legs are nearly straight, then using glutes and hamstrings, pull your hips inwards, squeezing your butt as your upper body pulls up into the finish position. Be sure to lock your knees out and continue to brace your abdominals hard as you squeeze your glutes to pull you into the finish. If you don't keep your abdominal brace and lock your knees out, and you pull your glutes in hard, you increase the risk of injury to your back!

Remember: SAFETY ALWAYS FIRST!

Overload with chains, bands, partials

Here's a short video I put together that shows you the exact description above in action.

How to Deadlift for a Massive Back!

Pull-ups and Chin-ups

Pull-ups and chin-ups are the most important exercise for you to do on a regular basis. They are heavily reliant on the CNS, and thus contribute to significant strength gains that have massive carry-over to many other exercises.

Band-assisted Pull-ups (start)

Because of the stretch position at the bottom, they are also excellent for adding mass to your back. Repeated studies have shown that muscles grow best when loads are applied to muscles in a stretched position.

And if those reasons aren't enough, pull-ups and chin-ups will teach you to leave your ego at the door. I can't tell you how many times when I used to work at silly commercial gyms I would see big muscular guys doing partial range of motion cable pulldowns with 200+ pounds on the rack, yet they could barely do 5 chin-ups. This is just not acceptable, and if you're an athlete, you'll just plain suck if this is your situation!

Don't be that guy! (Or girl!!)

Band-assisted Pull-ups (finish)

Pull-ups and their variations are the meat and potatoes of your back
training program.

Because there are so many variations, you can get even up to three good pull-up workouts into a single week. At that volume (3x per week), they'll all have to be different, but that's the beauty of it! You get way more benefit.

Here's an example:

Monday: Parallel-grip pull-ups 5x8 (strength with strength capacity)
Wednesday: Weighted Chin-ups 6x3 (strength)
Friday: Wide-grip band-assisted pull-ups 3x20 (conditioning)

Overload with: bands, chains, plates, etc...

Bent-over rows/Seated rows

All forms of rows rely on lower back strength to hold your body in position (except for chest-supported varieties), which makes your ultimate strength in the movement reliant on your current low back condition. If you've already done deadlifts in your workout, chances are you wont' be setting any strength records in your rows training.

Rows are great for adding additional training volume, and to ensure you have good scapular retraction and depression strength, which is ultimately important for helping with your bench.

Warning: Don't do deadlifts and then a bent-over variation of rows. It's just too much for the back. A good combination is some form of pull-up first, followed by rows. If hitting rows is a must after deadlifts then use one of the chest-supported variety.

Keep a variety of rowing movements in your program including from the bottom up: seated rows, bent-over dumbbell or barbell rows, wide-grip elbows out barbell, dumbbell, or seated rows, rope face pulls with elbows below shoulder height, rope face pulls with elbows above shoulder height (very important to help encourage mid- and low-trap recruitment patterns - helps to overcome rhomboid dominance patterns), dumbbell or barbell shrugs, and overhead shrugs with dumbbells or barbells. Variety helps prevent boredom too!

Overload with rest/pause, pre-fatigue, giant sets, etc...

Lower Back
The lower back may be small compared to the upper back, but the importance of it's development in size, strength, and conditioning cannot be overstated!

Reverse Hypers (controlled movement)

You can Deadlift, Chin, and Row all day long, but if you don't develop your lower back properly, you'll pay the price with either slow progress in the rest of your back and leg development or worse become injured!

To keep your lower back strong and well conditioned include back extensions, 45 degree back extensions, and reverse hypers in your training. For all three, brace the abdominals, maintain a neutral arch, and move from your hips. These exercises also target the hams and glutes but with much lower loads than main lifts like deadlifts.

Overload with dumbbells / kettlebells / plates / bands / medballs / barbell

2. Exercise Intensity

Yes you need volume for adding mass, but you're not going to add any mass or get any stronger if you're always lifting puny weights. Don't be gun-shy here!

Exercise intensity is inversely related to how many reps you can manage per set. Depending on whether your goal for the training phase is more strength or hypertrophy, each exercise group has a repetition range you can choose from.

Main lifts (like deadlifts) 1-5 reps
Pull-ups and chins 3-20 reps
Bent-over/seated rows 6-15
1-arm rows 6-12
Back extensions/45 degree back xt/reverse hypers 10-20 reps

Point is, even if you are going for size, make sure you've got blocks of training where you go heavy, choosing weights that put you in the low end repetition ranges. Without some heavy training, you just aren't going to get bigger or stronger PERIOD!

3. Training Volume

The body's limited ability to recover from intense training necessitates a lower overall training volume as training intensity increases.

If you've been doing a higher volume (3-4 exercises, 3-4 sets, 8-15 reps) to build some size, and you're moving into a strength phase, your volume might look more like 3-4 exercises, 1-5 sets, 3-8 reps.

Getting stronger is not a function of trying to beat your max every time you hit the gym, and continually adding more exercises to your program. Getting stronger relies on recovery. So train with 70-85% of your max on a regular basis, staying away from failure on most of your sets. Periodically you can push out some RM (repetition max) sets (where you train to failure) or push up into the 90-93% range for just a few sets of just a few reps, and finally every so often (4 weeks to 4 months) you can go for a new max.

If you've been training longer than 6 months, a deload week every 3-5 weeks will help tremendously with managing your overall volume.

A Deload week is not a NO-LOAD week.. it's NOT a week where you don't go to the gym. It's not a vacation from training although it should feel like one in the sense that your body gets a rest. But a proper deload week involves going in and hitting your lifts with significantly lighter weights (60-65% 1RM) for a much reduced volume (50%).

The goal for your deload week is to practice your technique, work on weak points (i.e. rotator cuff strength, hip strength, flexibility, mobility, soft-tissue work, etc...). At the end of your deload week your body should feel rested and your mind should feel ready to hit the gym with ferocity come Monday!

4. Balanced Training

The worst cause for lack of progress is injuries. Other than using safe exercise technique and using deload weeks to help with recovery, the best way to prevent injuries and ensure continued training progress is to use a balanced training program.

The only saving grace when you see meatheads at the gym who walk around like they're king shit, only training their chest and arms, is that they're likely just a short time away from suffering a good injury that'll keep them out of the gym and out of your way so you can get your training done and not have to see them!

Here's a few balance pointers:
1. Horizontal press vs. horizontal pull (row)
2. Vertical presses vs vertical pull
3. Anterior shoulder vs. posterior shoulder
4. Horizontal row with elbows down (seated row) vs. horizontal row with elbows up (face pulls)
5. Always hitting some external rotator cuff work at least once a week.

Band pull-aparts to chest

Finally, make sure you do the small stuff... external rotator cuff, band pull-aparts, face pulls... and do your soft tissue with the roller and/or lacrosse ball... this is the stuff that keeps the shoulders able to handle the heavy stuff.

Soft-tissue work removes adhesions and scar tissue, helps mobilize tissue around the joints, and helps mobilize the thoracic spinal segments and ribs too!

Here's a couple sample back workouts for massive size and strength:

Workout 1
Deadlifts 5x5
Pull-ups 7x3 (weighted)
Face Pulls 3x15

Workout 2
Deadlifts 3x3
Chin-ups 5x10
Chest-supported rows 4x12
DB Shrugs 3x15
Band external rotator cuff 3x20

Give these a try and let me know how it goes!

Top Five Reasons You Aren't Losing Weight and How To Fix It

2010-08-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

Top Five Reasons You Aren't Losing Weight, How To Fix It

I'll Give You A Hint!

Losing weight, or more importantly, losing body fat is an obsession in North America. Doesn't matter where you turn, weight loss and fat loss ads are everywhere. Today, almost everyone is more educated about nutrition and health than ever before, yet our population continues to punch yet another hole in their belt to encompass their growing bellies. Kind of ironic... like the more we try to learn about it, the worse the problem becomes... strange... or is it?

Selling You The Solution

So yes, there's a problem that in my opinion was partly created by the food industry, but now, as if selling you 2L Super Big Gulps with over a thousand calories of pure sugar wasn't bad enough, the same people who got you fat (the food industry) are trying to sell you the solution.

HUGE RED FLAG!

It's crazy! I was renting a movie not too long ago and when I got to the cash, you know how they have chocolate bars and chips and all that set up as impulse buys, well there was this chocolate bar and when I saw it I almost lost it!

Here's this damn thing, with huge letters all across it advertising the fact that it only has 80 calories per bar. But the killer is that its price... wait for it... $3.99

Four fricken dollars for 80 calories? I can head down to McDonalds and get at least 500 calories for a measly 4 bux!

What a rip off!

Yet people buy this crap all the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting 500 cal at McFatties is any better... but I'm just trying to say that big industry is ripping you off and making you fatter in the process.

They can give you 1/5th of the calories and charge triple the amount. Huh? Who the hell ever agreed to that?

Well you do every time you buy this garbage.

If you're eating properly, you can eat a REGULAR old chocolate bar from time to time (remember the 90/10 rule) and it won't end up as stored fat at all.

The problem is that when you're wired to eat more calories, spending $4 on an 80 calorie chocolate bar does NOTHING to solve the problem. Want to solve the problem? Stop buying crap,eat good, natural foods, and exercise more!

Now that I've vented a little, I feel better. Here's the Top Five Reasons You Aren't Losing Weight and How to Fix it!

Starting with number 5.

5. Nutritional Knowledge - Paralysis by Analysis!

You do NOT have to know much about nutrition to lose weight. Our grandparents knew virtually nothing about nutrition and when it was necessary, they could lose weight. How? They moved more and ate less!

One of the main reasons for our society's growing obesity issue is that people who need to lose weight hide behind searching for the HOLY GRAIL diet that will guarantee them the most healthy and effective way to lose weight.

So instead of grabbing an apple and heading out for a bike ride, they get on the internet and spend hours trying to "learn" as much as they can about how to lose weight and get in shape.

Then, hours later, they're famished, and they raid their fridge and plow back a "low fat" bagel with "zero sugar added" jam... because that's what they happened to read on the latest diet-guru website. Of course they also vow to get back to the gym on Monday.

Folks.. acquiring information does NOT produce RESULTS! Only ACTION produces RESULTS!

Of course I'm not telling you to stop reading my newsletters as a trusted source of information is important to have when you really need it! ;)

4. Cooking Ability

Before I met my wife, I basically ate everything just boiled or baked with not much else than salt and pepper for flavour. I ate what I was supposed to, because I WANTED the results you get from eating the right stuff.

Of course, now, food tastes much better and I don't think I could ever go back to eating tuna straight out of the can... or worse.. mixed with my oats as I would often do.

But if you're spoiled and food has to taste good or you won't eat it, then learn how to cook nutritious meals. Prepping and cooking your foods, and then preparing meals doesn't have to take as long as you might think.

I've set up a Kitchen Bootcamp at the Urban Element, and if you haven't booked your spot yet, please email me ASAP to reserve your spot! We'll be covering meal planning, groceries, preparing, storing, and finally meal preparing along with many different spice combinations for different types of dishes.

While cooking ability isn't a MUST for losing weight, it definitely has to be in my Top 5!

3. Not Being Honest With Yourself!

As a coach, I hear excuses all the time. And the only thing worse than hearing other people's excuses is having to hear your own.

"I only drink zero-sugar juice"

"I'm starting to workout again next week so eating (whatever junk) this won't matter"

"I'm big boned"

"My metabolism is slow"

These are just a few examples of excuses people make all the time.

You can justify them all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that it's an excuse. In this life you can either have excuses or you can have results, but understand, they're on opposite sides of a balance.

So if there's even just a tiny part of you deep inside that actually wants results... you have to STOP MAKING EXCUSES!

2. Fear of Hard Work!

This one has to trump them all... well, all except for the number one reason that is. If you head over to the recumbent bicycle at the gym, and "very carefully" set yourself at 60% of your maximum heart rate to ensure that you don't "accidentally" get out of the fat burning zone, then I'm sorry, but you'll probably always be battling your weight.

Yes, it will work for some people, and hey, good for you if you can get what you want with the bare minimum effort, and if you are able to lose weight like this, the only thing you'll lack is any real fitness and conditioning levels. But I don't imagine you'd care anyway.

If you are serious about developing a powerful, well conditioned, and LEAN MEAN FAT-LESS MACHINE, then stop worrying about whether you leave the fat burning zone, and see how hard you can work for a change.

If you look like this after you finish training, you can bet your sweet tooth that you'll get the body you want!

Nothing, and I repeat, Nothing Beats Hard Work!

1. You CANNOT Out-Train A Bad Diet!

The 90/10 rule is a beautiful thing. It allows us to eat anything we want in reasonable quantities and still lose weight. Gone are the days when you must be ultra strict to ever lose any weight.

The truth is, there never was a time when you actually had to be ultra strict to lose any weight. We know now more than anything the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT part of losing weight is consistency of your actions.

That said, if you are consistently eating badly, or you're actually following the 70/30 rule, or worse yet the 60/40 or any other combination... YOU WONT GET WHAT YOU WANT!

It is IMPOSSIBLE to train enough to make up for a bad diet. So if you've been having dessert every night, or eating crap cafeteria food every day at lunch, or eating well Monday-Thursday, then binging from Friday-Sunday... you just won't get the results you're after!

Time to be brutally honest with yourself. Use a food journal and keep track of what you eat for a while and it will stare you back in the face, as plain as day. Once you can admit that you're eating the wrong stuff too much, the 90/10 rule is just NOT that hard to switch to. You still get some goods on a regular basis, and you'll get the body you want!

Is that too much to ask?

BONUS REASON

Of course no top 5 list of why you aren't losing weight would be complete without mention of exercise. The type of exercise you do can make a huge difference in whether you lose weight or not.

If you're using the latest fitness equipment gimmick, you'll likely fall off as fast as you hopped on. And while treadmills, lifecycles, and elliptical machines can help you burn off stored body fat, you'll spend more than twice as much time on them to burn just half the body fat you would if you performed high-intensity intervals with full body exercises.

If you've been hearing about this high-intensity interval training stuff for a while now but aren't really sure what the fuss is all about, I run a bootcamp that is easily the toughest thing you'll ever do, but NOTHING and I mean NOTHING will strip the fat off you as quickly!

Don't believe me? I'll give you three completely free sessions to try it and see for yourself. Even after that, once you join, I'll give you a full 30 days in case you change your mind.

If you want to try it, head over to www.YourBeachBodyBootCamp.com and sign-up for your free trial. If you've already entered your name and email at the bootcamp website but have not activated your trial, go to www.shanmillerfitness.com/bootcamp/trial.php and get started today!

Massive Arms Crazy Biceps Part 1

2010-08-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Massive Arms, Crazy Biceps Part 1

BUILD HUGE ARMS BY TRAINING SMARTER

Developing a crazy set of arms requires intelligent development of both the biceps and the triceps. This article is devoted to the biceps, and we'll discuss building the triceps in part 2 next week.

In general the lack of well developed biceps is usually not for lack of effort, but rather for lack of intelligent training principles.

Here's the typical gym rat's biceps routine:

Barbell biceps curls 3x8

Seated dumbbell curls 3x10

Concentration curls 3x12

This routine isn't without merit as it does train through three different repetition ranges from lower to higher. This increases glycogen depletion and overall muscle fatigue--both of which are indicators for increased muscle growth, but the angles of arm flexion and therefore range of motion of the first two exercises are the same. Only the third exercise gives us some additional benefit by training into a position of peak contraction. But this routine misses a huge part of overall biceps development... the brachialis.

To understand how to make biceps training more effective, a little anatomy lesson is required.

As you can see the Brachialis is a thick muscle that lies in behind the Biceps Brachii. When most people train their biceps, they focus on the biceps brachii and completely neglect the Brachialis.

As you can see in the above diagram, the Brachialis is quite thick, and its development often makes all the difference between a good arm and a great arm.

Because of it's position in behind the Biceps Brachii, developing it not only physically adds bulk to the arm, but if you organize the training properly, you can elicit even greater growth of the Biceps Brachii by first training the Brachialis.

If you'll recall, the MOST important thing you can ever do to create muscle growth is to apply tension to a muscle while it is in a stretched position. Nothing else creates the same level of stimulus for growth.

So how might we optimize biceps training to achieve this?

Here's how:

Exercise 1: Barbell Curls 3x6

This exercise is heavy, to produce overload to all the structures.

Exercise 2: Prone Incline DB Hammer Curls 3x12

Because of the line of pull, this exercise really hammers the Brachialis without significantly fatiguing the Biceps Brachii. This exercise will also help with development of the Brachioradialis of the forearm. We keep the reps higher on this one to ensure the Brachialis is heavily pumped by the end of all your sets.

Exercise 3: Incline Dumbbell Curls 3x10

Due to the attachment of the long head of the Biceps Brachii at the back of the shoulder, the incline bench position puts the Biceps Brachii is in a very stretched position as the elbow reaches full extension.

Inclined Dumbbell Curls

Arnold Knew The Secrets

Compound the already stretched muscle with a heavily pumped Brachialis, which if you'll recall lies directly beneath the Biceps Brachii, and you've got an unmatched situation for loading the Biceps Brachii in a stretched position.

WARNING:

Due to the incredible stretch at the bottom of the incline dumbbell curl (especially after hammering the Brachialis), the biceps tendon attachments are more susceptible to injury from abuse.

For this reason, be sure to start with a weight that is light enough that you could do 20 reps with it normally, and just do your 10. Trust me your arms will be destroyed after this. And if not, go a little heavier on the next set. The point is, it's always better to be on the safe side than injure yourself.

And as always, please leave any egos at the door.

Give this routine a try and let me know what you think!

Build Freakish Leg Size And Strength

2010-08-06T07:34:00.001-07:00

How to Build Freakish Leg Size And Strength, Exercise Selection

Building freakish leg size and strength more than anything else requires a lot of suffering. Even the most genetically elite (and assisted) strength athletes and bodybuilders like Tom Platz (shown below alongside Lou Ferrigno aka The Incredible Hulk), put themselves through absolute torture to build their insane legs.

Tom Platz & Lou Ferrigno aka The Incredible Hulk

But take note of the difference in the leg size between Tom Platz a popular bodybuilder back in the 1980's and Lou Ferrigno who is best known for his non-speaking role in The 1980's TV series The Incredible Hulk.

What makes legs grow so differently? Genetics definitely play a role, but the willingness to suffer is the number one requirement for big freaky legs. (Apparently the Incredible Hulk wasn't very masochistic). After that, exercise selection is the next most important thing for developing freakish leg size and strength.

Deconstruction of The Squat

It has been proven repeatedly that muscles undergo the most growth and increases in strength when the load is applied to a muscle in a stretched position.

And while the Back Squat is hailed as the king of all leg exercises, squats are not the best

exercise for placing a stretch on the quads and glutes. However, in defense of squats, as this article isn't here to bash them, rarely do you see a set of incredibly strong and huge legs where full, deep squats were not part of the equation.

But ultimately when you squat, your legs generally aren't the weak link. The lower back usually gives out before the legs do, which is usually why most people move on to do another leg exercise after squats.

Exercise Selection

Most people follow up their squats with leg extensions, and while they may be the icing on the cake for the elite level bodybuilder, 99% of you need far more hamstring and glute development before you worry about whatever little extra leg extensions might give you.

The Split-Leg Squat is in my opinion the best leg exercise ever.

Types of Split-Leg Squats

Usually we refer to split-leg squats just as split squats.

1. Barbell or dumbbell split squats

2. Barbell held in racked (front squat) position

3. Front foot elevated split squats

4. Rear foot elevated split squats aka Bulgarian split squats (shown in video below)

5. Front and rear foot elevated split squats

6. Lateral split squats

7. Jumping split squats

8. Feet switching jumping split squats

Good Exercise Selection Here

He's doing it right!

Ways to increase overload

1. Increase the load

2. Increase the time-under-tension (TUT)

3. Increase the range of motion (with foot-elevated variations)

4. Increase the speed of the concentric action

5. Decrease the speed of the eccentric action

6. Include isometric segments

7. Include ballistic or plyometric components (jumping)

8. Use of chains with barbell

9. Use of asymmetric loads (with dumbbells)

Darwin's Theory of Evolution Hard at Work!

NOPE!

If your coach or trainer has you doing this... fire them fast!

Benefits of Bulgarian Split Squats

1. Extra stretch in rectus femoris of trailing leg

2. Greater range of motion for front-leg glute

3. Increased recruitment of hip stabilizers

4. Increased recruitment of core musculature

5. Builds muscles faster because of stretch

6. Can train muscles more deeply into fatigue

7. Producing higher growth hormone elevation

8. Which reduces body fat

One of the beautiful things about Bulgarian split squats is that muscle growth occurs more quickly than with any other leg exercise.

Think about this for a minute. If you're currently squatting 300 lbs for 3 reps. And your legs measure 26 inches around, how much will you need to be squatting and how long will it take before your legs are 30 inches?

If you're squatting 300 lbs for 3 reps, and you aren't doing Bulgarian or other types of split squats, you may find you get brutally sore when you first start, so go easy until you're used to them.

But I'd guess you might be able to do 3-4 sets of 15 reps with 35-40 lb dumbbells within a few weeks of starting. But you'll quickly be able to move up in weight and volume and you'll notice a huge difference in the size of your legs.

If you only keep doing squats it might take you 2 more years to be doing 400 lbs for 3 reps, but in that two years if you make your way up to 4-5 sets of 15 reps with 65-85 lb dumbbells, your quads will have exploded much more than if you just focused on squats and leg extensions for example.

Watch this video to learn proper form:

Notes:

- erect torso (no forward lean)

- deep descent (knee to floor)

- front leg weight even across foot

- knee does not extend significantly past toe

So how would you include Bugarian split squats in a training program?

Just like this:

Sample Workout 1

Foam Rolling

T-Spine

Quads

Lats

Hams

Dynamic Stretching

Quads

Hip Flexors

Hamstrings

Glutes

Static Stretching

Pecs

Lats

Activation

Glute bridges

Clams

Mobility

Squat to stand

Cossack squats

Striders

Strength Work

Exercise / Purpose

Squats 5x3 / For overall strength

Bulgarian split squat* 3x12 / Glute and quad activation and hypertrophy

*(with front foot elevated)

Romanian deadlifts 5x8 / Hamstring hypertrophy

Side-lying hip abduction 3x20 / Hip strength

Side-lying shoulder external rotations / External rotation strength

Sample Workout 2

Foam Rolling

Quads

T-Spine

IT Bands

Pecs

Lacrosse Ball

Glutes

Rectus Femoris (top)

Piriformis

Calves

Dynamic Stretching

Quads

Hams

Hip Flexors

Pecs

Static Stretching

Lats

Activation

Glute bridges

Band X-walking

Band pull-aparts to chest

Scarecrows

Mobility

Squat to stand

Band dislocates

Strength Work

Exercise / Purpose

Front Squats 4x5 / For quad strength

Rack Pull Partial Deadlifts 5x6 / For hip extension strength

Suspended Pushups / Shoulder conditioning

Bulgarian Split Squats 5x15 / Quad, glute, and ham hypertrophy

Bent-over barbell rows 4x12 / Upper back strength and size

Farmer's walk 3x50 steps / Core strength / conditioning

There you have it!

Now get to the gym right away and do one of these workouts and let me know how you liked them Bulgarian split squats.

I'll bet they kill your legs more than everything else!

Kitchen Boot Camp Fat-Loss Friendly Food Preparation and Cooking Class

2010-08-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading my newsletters for any time you already know that nutrition is the number one thing you have to nail for fat loss to occur.

So what's the big deal and why isn't everyone losing weight?

Most people will say they are too busy to plan, purchase groceries, prepare foods in advance, and cook.

But in reality, nobody is too busy to do it, most people just don't know exactly what they need to do, and HOW to do it efficiently, so they end up grabbing whatever is fast and easy (= processed junk) and their health and body is ruined in the process.

So to help you guys really figure this stuff out once and for all, I've teamed up with Carley Schelck, owner of The Urban Element, to to provide a 3 hour hands on food preparation and cooking class.

We're going to call it Kitchen Boot Camp!

The Urban Element (on Parkdale)

Carley is going to provide us with her Master Chef who is also a registered dietician to teach us the most efficient ways to prepare our foods in bulk, and will show us how to prepare 5 and 15 minute meals based on the nutrition principles I teach in my 7 Day Fat Loss Guide.

The course will cover:

1. How to plan your meals for the week in advance

2. How to 'safely' navigate the grocery store

3. How to prepare your foods in advance

4. Food storage and safety.

5. How to combine your prepared foods to create quick 5 minute and 15 minute meals.

6. How to spice foods for fat-loss friendly flavour.

You will leave with printed copies of all the recipes we cook in the class as well as a few extras.

The reason that this class is going to be so effective at helping you with your fat-loss goals is that it is not just a course where you sit and watch. Yes, you will sit and watch at first, but then you will DO!

And true learning only occurs when you DO things!

You will actually clean, cut, and prepare all your veggies and meats, put them into storage containers as though you were going to stock your own fridge. Then you'll actually choose from your containers and put together quick and easy yet nutritious meals. You'll make some meals that take only 5 minutes for when you're really under the gun, and you'll also make some others that take 15 minutes for when you still need quick, but not mad quick! ;)

The class will be 3 hours long, and will be on either a Thursday or Sunday evening from 6pm-9pm.

Included will also be two glasses of wine expertly paired to the meals we cook and eat.

If you aren't familiar with the Urban Element, it is that gorgeous new place in the old fire station on Parkdale Avenue.

Please visit their website to check it out: www.theurbanelement.ca

Spaces are limited to between 20-30 and will fill up very fast. Availability is on a first come first serve basis.

The cost for the entire event is $100 plus tax. Spots can be reserved with a deposit of $50.

I don't try to sell you guys on very much, because I don't buy into most of the B.S. that is out there, but this is different. This is huge value! The skills you will learn in this class are essential to keeping fat-loss friendly eating habits for the rest of your life.

So now I AM trying to sell you on this! And I'm not making a penny on it! I just really believe in this and I want you to do it!

For more information or to reserve your spot, please contact:

Carley or Oliver at 613.722.0885 x101/102

carley@theurbanelement.ca or oliver@theurbanelement.ca

Supercompensation and the Progressive Overload Dilemma

2010-08-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

So what exactly is Supercompensation and the Progressive Overload Dilemma? Well if you've been training consistently for more than a few years you've already faced it, although you may not have been familiar with its name.

As a beginner, almost any training program will produce results. A body that hasn't adapted yet to training will adapt quickly. It may seem as though you're able to add weight to the bar almost every workout.

Each workout stimulates an adaptation to allow the body to handle more the next time. The period of time in which the body is sufficiently prepared to handle a greater load than before is called the Supercompensation phase.

But eventually progress slows and further increases in strength and muscular size are only possible when the program is altered to produce more overload. At this point, weight can no longer generally be added at every workout, but often weight can be added weekly.

At this point progressive overload requires manipulation of sets, reps, load, rest intervals and time-under-tension (TUT).

But what happens when you’ve manipulated all of the variables as much as possible and you still can’t make progress?

This is called the Progressive Overload Dilemma.

The solution or at least the attempt to provide progressive overload is through the manipulation of volume and intensity over longer periods of time.

With a couple years of training behind you, the loads you can lift are far more taxing to both your structures as well as your recovery ability. For this reason, cycling of loads and volumes must be carefully planned or progress is halted.

The longer you train, the more complex the planning of your training must be to elicit further progress.

Here’s a breakdown of how volumes and loads are cycled to give progressive overload at the different stages of your training career.

Beginner

Week/Workout Volume/Load

1/1 Moderate/High (PR)

1/2 Moderate/High (PR)

1/3 Moderate/High (PR)

2/1 Moderate/High (PR)

2/2 Moderate/High (PR)

2/3 High/High (PR)

3/1 Moderate/High (PR)

3/2 Moderate/High (PR)

3/3 Moderate/High (PR)

This can often continue for 3-6 months. Moderate volume is generally 2-3 working sets and High load means that you’re lifting more than before.

Intermediate

Week/Workout Volume/Load

1/1 High/Moderate

1/2 Moderate/Low

1/3 Low/High (PR)

2/1 High/Moderate

2/2 Moderate/Low

2/3 Low/High (PR)

3/1 High/Moderate

3/2 Moderate/Low

3/3 Low/High (PR)

This type of progress will eventually stop as the PR numbers get higher and higher. When they stop, periodization must be introduced as follows to allow for further progress.

Advanced

Week/Workout Volume/Load

1/1 Mod-High/High

1/2 Mod/Low

1/3 High/High

2/1 Mod-High/Mod

2/2 Mod/Low

2/3 Mod-High/Mod

3/1 Mod-High/High

3/2 Mod/Mod

3/3 Low/High (PR)

4/1 Low/Low

4/2 Low/Low

4/3 Low/Low

As before, when hitting a new PR is not possible after successive 3-5 week blocks, and with all other lifestyle factors in check, programming must be planned for PR attempts to be at 5-6 month intervals.

Elite

Week Volume/Load

1-4: Mod/High

5-8: Mod/Mod

9-13: High/High

14-17: Mod/Mod

18-21: High/High

22-25: Mod/Mod

26-29: Low/Very High (PR)

In the end, continued progress is the result of carefully planning the alternating sequences of volume and load manipulations to provide progressive overload over time which results in supercompensation which allows for the new PR.

If you have any questions about how you can incorporate this into your training, please leave your comments in the comments box below.

The Skinny Fat Bastard Solution

2010-07-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

After the article I wrote last week entitled The Skinny Bastard Solution, I received a few emails from a bunch of guys who were inspired and wanted some additional help with their training and diet.

But after a couple emails back and forth, and after looking at some pics they sent, I noticed something that I think it's important to clarify.

If you USED to be a skinny guy, and you USED to have a hard time building muscle, and no matter what you ate you USED to never gain bodyfat, but now, in your late twenties or early thirties, you find yourself STILL having a tough time building muscle but you NOW have a little belly and some love handles... then you're now a Skinny Fat Bastard.

And the Skinny Fat Bastard Solution is different from The Skinny Bastard Solution.

The training program doesn't need much changing, but the diet definitely needs to be different.
Once you've gained a belly and love handles, your insulin sensitivity is reduced, forcing your body to secrete more insulin to handle sharp rises in blood sugar than the Skinny Bastards.

As a Skinny Bastard, you can pretty much eat anything and not gain any weight, but once you've gained some body fat, you can't just plow back the calories in effort to gain muscle without also increasing your body fat.

If you're a Skinny Fat Bastard, you'll have to target your calories more closely to the meals before and after your weight training, and you'll have to avoid eating until you're stuffed, as well as making sure you limit your starches to mornings, and meals before and after your weights.

As a Skinny Fat Bastard, if you decide to follow the Skinny Bastard Solution, while you'll definitely build some muscle, you're also likely to gain as much or more body fat as muscle.

If you're unsure of which category you fit into, fire me off an email with a short description of how you find your metabolism, a little about your training history, and a pic of yourself wearing shorts and no shirt, or for you girls with sports bra and tight-ish shorts and I'll respond to each of you individually and help you know where you are.

Please leave any other comments below.

Watch 2 Pounds Of Fat Get Torched Before Your Eyes

2010-06-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

Every wonder what 2 lbs of fat being torched before your very eyes looks like?

Well wonder no more...

Check this out:

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that combining that kind of a workout with a diet that supports fat loss, and your body will have no choice but to shed that extra body fat.

And if that appeals to you, head on over to http://www.YourBeachBodyBootCamp.com and take advantage of the completely free 1-week trial I'm offering.

And if you've already entered your name and email address at my bootcamp website, please use this link to activate your free 1-week trial instead.

http://www.shanemillerfitness.com/bootcamp/trial.php

If you like the video and want to see more like it, just let me know down below in the comments section.

The Skinny Bastard Solution

2010-06-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

I don't have good genetics to grow...

My metabolism is too fast...

I can't eat enough food...

I burn calories faster than I can get them in...

Sound familiar?

Well it's a load of crap!

Well, not entirely, but for the most part they're just excuses to explain why you don't get the results you're after.

Yes, some people do have more potential than others, but it's rare that "potential" limits muscular growth until years of training and significant muscle has already been added.

So what limits muscle growth and what can we do about it?

It all comes down to desire, and that I'm sorry, is not something I can help you with.

As a 15 year old kid trying to become the next Mr. Olympia, I knew all about desire. I ate tons and trained tons. But I was eating lots of fruits and veggies, and not enough meat and potatoes. I was interested in nutrition as it pertained to building muscle, and low fat was all the rage, so I ate as little fat as possible... Big Mistake!

I also had severe exercise A.D.D.

I blindly went from one training program to the next, never sticking to any one program long enough to see any results.

Each huge guy that came into the gym must have had some secret, so I'd stop whatever program I was on and try to follow the next guy.

I pretty much stayed the same weight for the first three years, until I finally found a training partner who I trained with consistently for the next three years (thanks Jason!) and I gained quickly moved from 18 years old and 145 lbs to 21 years old and 165 lbs.

Next, a new training partner (thanks Dan!) and I went from 21 years old and 165 lbs to 24 years old and 185lbs.

My success in gaining muscle always lay in finding the right program and sticking to it, as well as eating more than ever before.

With that, here's the best diet and training program for skinny bastards to pack on serious muscle size and strength!

Diet Solution For Skinny Bastards

If your goal is to build tons of muscle and you're a hardgainer, the solution is not very technical, but I'll give you a quick breakdown of what you should be eating.

Breakfast (pick any 6)

Oats, Eggs, Waffles, Protein Shakes, Omelettes, Fruit, etc... and that's just for breakfast.

Mid-Morning Snack

Your mid-morning snack should be something that will really get you hungry for a huge lunch, so we're looking for something that's going to spike the hell out of your insulin. So... let's go for a large Dairy Queen Blizzard.

If you're a kid in school, your snacks can be chocolate bars, chocolate milk, and PB&Anything sandwiches!

Lunch

Lunch should include hamburgers, leftover pizza, PB&A sandwiches, leftover steak, leftover chicken, salad is good for nutrition, but you'll need to completely soak it in dressing to get enough calories from it!

If you're a kid in school, the school cafeteria will have Lasagna and Pizza... go back for seconds, thirds, and when nobody's looking, sneak around behind the counter and steal whatever's left on the tray!

In fact, eat as much as you can get your hands on without getting expelled from school!

Wait a minute... screw that.. if you get expelled, you can eat straight through from the time you wake until you go to bed! Hit it!

Mid-Afternoon Snack

Your mid-afternoon snack should be your highest calorie meal of the day.. since you can sneak off without anyone noticing you and gorge yourself without grossing out anyone you know seeing you. A 12" meatballs Subway sub should do it! Oh, and I always asked for 2-4 extra meatballs and they would just charge me an extra buck or two.

(Your mid-afternoon snack might also be your pre-workout meal or your post-workout meal.)

Dinner

Dinner should involve a full plate of meat (steak, fish, chicken, etc...), a full plate of starch (rice, potatoes, pasta, etc...) and of course you do need veggies... although if building massive amounts of muscle is most important to you, if you fill up on too much veggies, you won't grow.

Just make sure you find a full fat salad dressing you can drench your salad and veggies in so that you'll like the taste enough to force them down, and make sure you eat them last so if you do fill up too soon on the other stuff.. then oh well!

Dessert

All skinny bastards should eat dessert every night after dinner. But don't eat it immediately following dinner as you should not have enough room for dessert if you ate enough at dinner.

Go sit your butt down on the couch, conserve as much energy as possible, watch a few TV shows, then head back to the fridge and eat absolutely everything that you can possibly eat, be it ice cream, yogurt, left-over anything, PB&Anything sandwiches... just anything and everything!

Got a brother or sister who steals food off your plate? Or who eats more than their share of food during the day, leaving you with little choice for dessert... EAT THEM TOO!! That way you get back the food they stole from your plate and then some!

The takeaway point about your diet if you're a skinny bastard hardgainer who thinks they can't gain weight is this...

And I'm not exactly sure about the best way to convey this... but think of every opportunity to eat as your last for a very long time. As you eat, keep thinking that your next meal might not be for weeks or months... and you'll probably get enough food down to finally start building muscle.

The Skinny Bastard Training Solution

If you're a classic hardgainer who has a difficult time gaining mass, your workout needs to be simple.

Week 1

Day 1

Squats 5 sets of 5, increase weight every set.

Dips 5 sets of AMRAP

Wide Grip Pull-ups 5 sets of AMRAP

Farmer's Walk 4 sets of 100 steps, increase weight every set.

Rest 1-2 days

Day 2

Deadlifts 8 x 3 reps , increase weight every set.

Split Squats 5 x 12, 10, 8, 8, 8, increase weight every set.

Bench Press 4 x 10, 8, 6, 6, increase weight every set.

Bent-Over Barbell Rows 5 x 12, 10, 8, 8, 8, increase weight every set.

Barbell Curls 3 x 8, increase weight every set.

Rest 1-2 days

Day 3

Squats: 5 x 10, 10, 10, 8, 8, increase weight on every set.

Military Press 4 x 12, 10, 8, 8, increase on every set.

Pushups 3 x AMRAP

Chin-ups 5 x AMRAP

Weighted Plank 3 x ALAP

Rest 1-2 days

Week 2

Day 1

Deadlifts 5 x 5, increase weight every set.

Weighted Pushups 5 x 10, increase weight every set.

Weighted Chin-ups AMSAP x 3 reps, increase weight every set.

Barbell Curls 3 x 10, increase weight on each set.

Hands-to-Forearms 3 x 20 each direction.

Rest 1-2 days

Day 2

Squats 6 x 3, increase weight every set.

Step-ups 4 x 12, increase weight every set.

Incline Bench Press 6 x 10, 8, 8, 6, 6, 6 increase weight every set.

Bent-Over Barbell Rows 5 x 12, increase weight every set.

1-DB Farmer's walk 4 x 100', increase weight every set.

Rest 1-2 days

Day 3

Barbell Clean and Press 4 x 8, increase weight every set.

Deadlifts 4 x 10, increase weight every set.

Dips AMSAP x 5 reps, increase weight every set.

Inverted Rows 4 x AMRAP

Mountain Climbers 4 x 30

Notes:

1. AMRAP = As Many Reps As Possible

2. AMSAP = As Many Sets As Possible, which means continue doing more sets until you can't complete another set with increased weight with good form.

3. Always increase weight on each set if possible with good form.

4. Do not train to failure on any exercises except those with AMRAP.

Conclusion

Use the "SeeFood" diet, meaning eat absolutely everything you see, and put this program to work for the next 6-12 months, and you should expect maximum muscle mass and a huge increase in strength.

If you have any comments, please leave them below.

Ottawa Boot Camp Member Loses 4 lbs In Just 3 Weeks

2010-06-23T15:10:00.001-07:00

Here's an email I received from one of my bootcamp members yesterday.

Hi Shane,

I won't be able to make it to tomorrow's class, and while I know I don't have to inform you of sessions that I can't make, I wanted you to know because I am taking this program very seriously, and I actually feel BAD and am very disappointed that I am forced to miss my workout tomorrow!

I wanted you to know that you are having a very positive impact on me and I am feeling very motivated by your Ottawa Bootcamp program. Although I am very tired after an early morning rise and a long day at work, I feel I have more energy than ever to tackle all the things (and more) that I need do.

In addition, as I am working so hard physically, its motivating me to make a bigger effort to improve my eating habits - still, I am not perfect, but I feel the small changes I've made to date have definitely made an impact.

I jumped on the scale today and I am down 4lbs from when we started!

Talk about motivating!

This is just what I needed to see - and so soon in the program is so awesome... and I wanted you to know!

Having said all this, I know that the road ahead will be challenging - it's easy to see results fast if you work hard in the beginning but the real challenge is in maintaining the hard work to keep progressing towards the goal!

In the past, I might have given up when it gets tough, but with your help, Shane, I'm confident I'll reach my goal and finally get in the best shape of my life!

- Name Withheld

--------------------------------------------------------

Well thank you very much for your email, and I promise to keep my end and do everything in my power to help you get there!

Shane

WOW - Lower Body Workout Of the Week - Jun 16 - 2010

2010-06-16T08:39:00.002-07:00

This week's WOW is a lower body strength workout with a lot of core emphasis.

As you progress through the workout, make sure to keep your focus on bracing your abdominals throughout each movement.

Top to bottom time 75 minutes including all warm-ups.

Foam Roller: Quads, Hams, ITB, T-Spine, Lats

Tennis Ball: Piriformis

Dynamic Stretching: Quads, Hams, Hip Flexors, Pecs, Lats

Activation: Glute bridges, band x-walking, band pull-aparts behind neck

Skipping 5 minutes

Mobility: Cossack squats, Kneeling kip-ups

Strength Training:

1 ) Safety Squat Bar High Box (1-2" above parallel) Squats 4x5

2) Trap Bar Deadlifts 3x7

3) Reverse Lunges from 6" box 3x9

4)Glute & Ham Raises 5x8

5A) Grappler Barbell Twists 3x15

5B) Band X-Walking 3x12

Foam Roller: Quads, Hams

Tennis Ball: Piriformis, Glute Medius

Give this workout a try and let me know how it goes in the comments section below!

Top Five Reasons Slow Cardio Sucks

2010-06-16T07:29:00.003-07:00

The debate over the effectiveness of traditional cardio continues, even though a mountain of evidence unequivocably proves the superiority of high intensity conditioning training for fat loss.

If you're at all unconvinced, here's my top 5 reasons that high-intensity interval training is superior to traditional (boring as hell) slow cardio.

1. Laws of Physics always prevail!

When you're giving it your all, it takes more fuel. It's like stepping hard on the gas pedal in your car! If you burn more fuel, your body mass decreases. That means you burn more fat. Simple!

2. Increased Metabolic Rate = More Fat Burning 24 hours a day!

High-intensity interval training has a significant effect on 24 hour energy expenditure. This means you continue to burn fat day and night!

Are you going to tell me you'd prefer to limit it to JUST the time you spend on the exercise bike watching reruns of Dr. Phil?

Please, allow me to hammer my head against the wall... I think it would be less painful!

Which brings me to the next point...

3. High-intensity interval training is ANYTHING but boring!

High-Intensity interval training can involve hundreds of different exercises, and when you have to give it 100% at all times, boredom does not even enter your mind!

Trust me on this one... my bootcampers are ANYTHING but bored!

Isn't that right guys?

4. Develop Strong Powerful Muscles!

High-Intensity interval training exercises impose significant loads and high rate-of-force development, creating much stronger, and far more powerful (expression of strength) muscles which improves overall athleticism.

5. Prevent Overuse Injuries

Traditional, slow, boring, low intensity cardio trains your body to economize fuel. Not burn through it like crazy. And while economizing fuel, your body also tends to get "movement" lazy, and repetitive stress injuries are common.

Whether it's the arches of the feet, the ankles, knees, hips, low back, or even shoulders, slow cardio makes it easy to practice poor posture, and lazy movements which can result in all sorts of overuse injuries.

Does all this mean slow cardio has zero benefit?

Not at all!

And slow cardio can be used to supplement high intensity work. It can even help with recovery between high-intensity workouts.

But reliance or over-reliance upon slow cardio for fat-burning... is the big mistake!

Four Year Old Boy Does 1500 Pushups Sets Record

2010-06-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure about you, but I feel like there's something wrong here with this picture.

In the video you're about to watch, a 4 year old kid is exercising under the wise (or maybe not so wise) guidance of his grandmother, and mother I presume.

Click here to watch the video:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6581900n&tag=mg;mostpopvideo

Now don't get me wrong, I think it's great that kids get lots of physical exercise, but having such a defined exercise "goal" as strength training at such a young age is undoubtedly going to rob this youngster of socializing and unstructured play that will further his athletic development down the road more than his current narrowly focused routine.

I'll admit though, he's doing the best stuff for a kid if you're to do strength work... all bodyweight exercises, no actual weight lifting. But...

The problem I see is that those instructing him, seem not to be leading by example in any way, but rather to be simply enabling his young obsession.

If his exercise routine were only 15-20 minutes per day, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but by 4 years old, managing 1,500 pushups in just 40 minutes... I imagine he's spending at least 40 minutes if not more each day training for such a feat... and of course it's all under the (*ahem*) wise guidance of his expert "in-the-trenches" family members.

As a coach, and as a father, as much as I hope that my kids grow up to embrace strength training as a means to develop a strong and healthy body, I will only encourage it as a means to improve performance in another physical activity (sport)at first.

I will strive to encourage my kids to try many different sports, and become a team player, and at the right age, introduce appropriate strength and conditioning workouts to facilitate improved performance in their sport, and not just for the sake of setting records at young ages.

Coming from India, and judging by the apparent state of dis-repair of the gym they're in, probably a poor part of India, I wonder if this is the parents way of trying to get publicity, in hopes of somehow garnering financial support from what their child is doing.

My thoughts are that if the parents hadn't pushed the kid to keep at it so much, he might have gotten bored with it and just wanted to go play with the other kids. Although he does seem to be enjoying himself in the video.

I don't agree with this kind of thing... but maybe I'm off base.

What do you think?

I'd love to hear your comments on this topic. Please leave them in the comments section below.

Avoid Bad Fats But Still Enjoy Your Food (Recipe)

2010-06-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

Tuna Salad Without Mayo That You Can Still Enjoy? Get Out of Here! No Really!

If you're like me, there's nothing worse than a tuna salad without mayo. And if you never have bad fats in your diet, you can probably get away with having a bit of mayo in your tuna salad once in a while.

But as I'm always trying to use tuna since it's so fast and easy, not having mayo all the time might seem tough. Of course you could always use plain yogurt, but still there's something missing.

So it dawned on my a few months ago to try a ripe avocado. Again, if you're like me, the idea of eating avocado by itself is not that appealing... but knowing how healthy they are for you, I decided to take the plunge and just do it.

Here's the recipe I came up with and it's soooo yummy!

1 can skipjack flaked light tuna (always use skipjack "light" tuna as it has the lowest mercury content of any commercially available tuna)

1/2 ripe avocado

1/2 - 1 medium diced tomato

1 spring onion finely chopped

5-6 stalks (with leaves) fresh coriander finely chopped

1/4 lime squeezed

pepper to taste

Spike to taste (Spike is a spice)

Note: Spike contains yeast and autolyzed vegetable protein. There have been claims that autolyzed vegetable protein breaks down into MSG, but personally after a dinner out at a local Chinese food favourite of mine, if I forget to ask for no MSG added, I feel like crap afterwards, but I can put a decent amount of Spike on my foods a few times a week and I always feel great. So I'm not sure these claims are founded.

If you have an MSG issue, you know by how you feel afterwards. As with all foods, I suggest you pay attention to how you feel afterwards and let it govern your choice to consume.

Of course this shouldn't be taken literally... as I feel great after an entire container of ice cream, but I won't do this anymore.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or any recipes that you'd like to share, please leave them in the comments section below.

Develop Powerful Shoulders Without Pain

2010-05-31T19:42:00.000-07:00

Develop Powerful Shoulders Without Pain

Want crazy shoulders like Arnold? Don't get injured!

One of the best exercises for shoulder strength and size development is the Barbell Press Behind The Neck. But grabbing a loaded bar and trying to press it behind your neck without sufficiently warming your shoulders up is asking for trouble. So here's an awesome shoulder saver exercise.

Band Pull-Aparts Behind The Neck

This exercise takes all the muscles involved in the barbell press behind the neck and provides them with tension that helps activate them so they'll all contribute properly to the pressing movement.

As always, before any heavy lifing, make sure muscles that might oppose achieving the full range of motion are well stretched out first.

Stretch: Pecs, Lats, External Rotation

Warm-up:

Side-lying dumbbell external rotations

Serratus push-ups

Band pull-aparts behind the neck (as shown above) 1-3 sets

Rest sufficiently between sets to prevent accumulation of fatigue. Do only as many reps as you feel you need to fully activate the muscle. But make sure to stop your set before you feel fatigue or burning in the targeted muscles.

Pushing your warm-up and activation sets into fatigue will hinder performance of your heavy pressing movement to come.

Use this warm up and then do this balanced upper body workout to build awesome muscle size and strength.

1) Barbell Press Behind The Neck 3 x 8

2a) Mixed Grip Pull-ups 3 x 8-12

2b) TRX, Blast Strap, or chain suspended push-ups

3a) Barbell Shrugs 3x15

3b) Posterior Flyes 3x12

Let me know how it went in the comments section below.

WOW - Workout Of the Week

2010-05-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

Trying to get the final touches on the new bootcamp website last week, I didn't have time to post last week's WOW for you guys... so here it is!

Workout Of the Week:

Foam Rolling: T-Spine, Pecs, Lats

Dynamic Stretching: Pecs/Lats/Shoulders

Activation: Serratus pushups, Band Pull-Aparts (behind neck), DB

retractions

Warm-up:

Barbell High Pulls & Muscle-Snatch

2 sets of 6+6 reps (just the bar, or for stronger guys, keep this still relatively light... should be easy... focus is on the mechanics)

Strength Work:

KB Snatch

Work up progressively to heavy 3x6

KB Push Press

3x6

Seated Cable Rows

Work up to heavy 4x8

Suspended Pushups

4x15

Superset:

Dumbbell Curls 3x10

Side-Lying Triceps Extensions 3x10

Mountainclimbers

3x40

Hanging Leg Raises

2x12

So get to the gym and hit up this WOW and let me know how it goes!

As always, I'd love to hear your comments or suggestions, so please leave them in the comments section below!

Strength Training On Limited Time

2010-05-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason if you've got limited time to get your workouts in, don't despair, there's still ways to get stronger and build more muscle.

Key Points

1. Limit the number of exercises

2. Every other day training with upper/lower split

3. Ensure you get soft tissue work for a couple areas as well as some dynamic stretching and activation prior to your strength work

4. Pick one main exercise, one supplemental, and one accessory.

Example:

Monday - Day 1 - Lower Body

Foam Roller: Quads/IT Bands/ T-Spine

Dynamic stretching: Quads, Hip Flexors

Activation: Glute Bridges

Squats 5x5

RDL 4x8

Weighted Plank 3x60 sec

Wednesday - Day 2 - Upper Body

Foam Roller: T-Spine/Pecs/Lats

Dynamic Stretching: Pecs/Lats

Activation: Band Pull-aparts behind neck, Band Pull-aparts to chest

Bench Press 5x5

Chin - ups 4xmax

Barbell Curls 3x10

Friday - Day 3 - Lower Body

Foam Roller: T-Spine/Quads/IT Bands/Hams

Dynamic Stretching: Hamstrings/Squat-to-stand

Activation: Glute Bridge variations

Deadlifts 5x3

Split Squats 4x12

Hanging Leg Raises 3x15

Monday - Day 4 - Upper Body

Foam Roller: Pecs/Lats/T-Spine

Dynamic Stretching: PNF Patterns for shoulders

Activation: Wall Slides, Scapular retractions

1- DB Push Press 5x6

Seated Cable Rows 4x10

EZ-Bar Skull Crushers 3x10

Volume Considerations

Progressive volume manipulations will also keep you from plateauing.

Using squats as an example:

Starting week 1 with an 80% 1RM load (225 lbs), volume progressions might map out as follows. Weeks 5-8, 9-12, and 13-16 use the same manipulations as weeks 1-4.

Week 1: 5x5x225 Moderate volume moderate load

Week 2: 4x5x225 Reduced volume, moderate load

Week 3: 8x3x245 Increased volume, increased load

Week 4: 3x6x205 Significant volume and load reduction (deload week)

Week 5: 5x5x230

Week 6: 4x5x230

Week 7: 7x3x255

Week 8: 3x6x215

Week 9: 5x5x235

Week 10: 4x5x235

Week 11: 6x2x260

Week 12: 3x6x220

Week 13: 5x5x240

Week 14: 3x5x240

Week 15: 5x2x265

Week 16: 2x6x225

Such volume manipulations allow increased for strength increases that you wouldn't otherwise get from simple linear progression.

The same types of variations can be done with all main exercises, and some supplemental exercises such as chin-ups, and weighted pushups.

If you're a beginner, you can probably keep the same main exercises throughout the 16 week period, intermediate and advanced lifters need to switch out the main exercises after each 4 week block.

Example substitutions include but are not limited to:

Main Upper Body

Bench Press

Board Presses

Floor Press

Military Press

Fat Bar Press

Swiss Bar Press

Weighted Pushups

Dynamic Effort work with bands/chains

Main Lower Body

Squats

Box Squats

Giant Cambered Bar Squats

Safety Squat Bar Squats

Zercher Squats

Front Squats

Deadlifts

Trap Bar Deadlifts

BTR (Beyond The Range) Deadlifts

Sumo Deadlifts

Rack Pull (Partials) Deadlifts

Dynamic effort work with bands/chains

Exercise ADD

2010-05-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

I just received an email from an old client yesterday. He wants to come back and train with me. It's been more than a few years since I last trained him, but he said he's eager to put on some size.

I turned him down. I told him I was too busy, that I had no room in my schedule.

The part about being busy is pretty much true, but I would never turn someone down who was eager to train and was ready to sacrifice at the alter... er.. in the rack, under the bar.

So why did I turn him down?

Because I couldn't get him to focus 100% of his energies on his training. It's not entirely his fault anyway, let's just say he's got an incurable case of exercise ADD.

The exercise ADD industry, yes.. it's an industry, has got the internet and bookstores and magazine racks and supermarket checkout aisles flooded with so much contradictory information that many people feel like it's impossible to change their bodies.

While they're feeling helpless they're buying into every new exercise fad, gimmick, or magazine with some crazy promise of overnight abs, or nutritional supplement with a cure for their plumbers' crack, instead of buckling down and committing to sacrifice... in the rack... under the bar!

When I used to train this old client of mine, and please understand, this guy was 28 years old, 6'2" tall, and he barely weighed 140 lbs, he was always emailing me ads he would find on the internet for the latest nutritional supplement, and while I would be putting him through his workout, he would see a piece of equipment at the gym or in my studio that he hadn't used and ask me if he should buy one for his home gym.

And every week he would ask me if we were going to do this exercise, or that exercise, or some other exercise instead of just sacrificing... in the rack... under the bar.

If You See This Man On TV...Turn it off quickly or you might end up with one of his ridiculous exercise gimmicks!

I would tell him we were going to be deadlifting today, and he would respond with, "Deadlifts? again? Didn't we do them last week?".

Can you see how frustrating this was for me?

Folks... I've been training for more than 20 years, and I would say that there hasn't been a month go by in those 20 years that I haven't trained deadlifts. Now it doesn't have to be deadlifts, it could be anything. But deadlifts are one of the moneymaker exercises. You just always deadlift.

So getting these kinds of responses just bores down on you over time.

I just can't take it anymore!

And I made a decision afterwards that I won't take any more clients who don't have the right attitude. Because guess what? If you don't want to deadlift... you ain't gonna get strong! And you're definitely not going to reach your goals.

Back in the day when nutritional supplements didn't exist, and fancy-schmancy equipment didn't exist, there were Men!

Very Strong men!

The Great Eugene Sandow

Men who couldn't care less about whether they were lifting a bar, a stone, or the back of a car.

They didn't care about silly spandex outfits!

They just wanted to get STRONG!

And they knew if they just persevered through the torn and sweat stained shirts, that they would become Powerful Beasts!

They lifted kettlebells, heavy sandbags, they pulled cars, trucks, boats, and even airplanes using thick ropes. They flipped massive tires, and did thousands of bodyweight exercises.

The Great Goerner...

Deadlifting With Only TWO Fingers!

They'd even resort to lifting other people when no other tools were at their disposal... or.. if it might get them laid!

The Great Paul Anderson

They'd never seen an exercise bike, a treadmill, an elliptical machine, or a stairmaster, and even had they seen them they would have probably tried to lift them not ride them.

The Great Paul Anderson Bench Pressing A Plate Loaded Power Rack!

Lionel Strongfort with 105 lb Kettlebell

These men were ripped to the bone and not one of them did any cardio!

Why?

Because they knew without knowing, that aerobic metabolism continues in the background throughout their tortuous workouts of lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling!

While spandex wearing fufu men would do traditional cardio, which is fueled by aerobic metabolism, these men would allow their aerobic energy system recover them from their lifting.

These men were committed...

These men came prepared...

These men sacrificed...

In the rack...

Under the bar...

Where do you stand?

Overtime Can Kill You

2010-05-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

You gotta watch your back!

Overtime is out there!

And if you haven't seen it... YOU WILL!

Gotta get that project finished in a hurry? Working lots of overtime? If so, you've got a 1.6 fold increased chance of a heart attack! That's right, all that overtime can kill you!

At least that's what a recent study published in the European Heart Journal says. Six thousand and fourteen British civil servants (4262 men and 1752 women), aged 39–61 years who were free from CHD and worked full time at baseline (1991–1994), were followed until 2002–2004, an average of 11 years.

The study, adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics showed that 3–4 h overtime work per day was associated with 1.60-fold (95% CI 1.15–2.23) increased risk of incident CHD compared with employees with no overtime work.

There are 21 independent risk factors for heart disease, and even once these risk factors were adjusted for, the results were largely unchanged.

The study concluded that overtime work is related to increased risk of incident CHD independently of conventional risk factors, and that overtime work adversely affects coronary health.

It seems pretty clear to me from this study, and it also makes a lot of sense, as stress is one of the leading causes of heart disease, and most people who work significant overtime are highly stressed.

Take home points:

1. Try to plan ahead more to avoid running into last minute crises that force you to work overtime.

2. If your boss won't pay you (at LEAST your regular rate... if not time and a half) for your overtime work, now you can at least tell him that you won't do it because it's bad for your health.

3. Always remember that next to not creating the stress in the first place, exercise and a healthy diet is your best way to combat stress.

4. Always pack a cooler to take with you to work each day, and make sure you always have a bit extra in the pack in case you have to stay and work late. Don't worry, if you're packing healthy foods, you'll auto-regulate how much you should eat each day.

Hope you're heading home early today!

If you have any questions or comments about this post, please leave them below in the comments section!

I think I Just Threw Up In My Mouth...

2010-05-18T10:18:00.002-07:00

Sadly... I have just seen a new evolution in the ever-pathetic pussification of the fitness industry!

People need ways of becoming stronger, not WEAKER!

Getting stronger means applying INCREASED loads to our muscles not DECREASED loads!

A new product is now available that removes the requirement to have any calf or ankle strength when engaging in running and jumping type physical activities.

I couldn't get the video to embed here, but you can watch it by clicking the link below the picture of Mario the Kangaroo:

WATCH MARIO THE KANGAROO!

(warning: try not to vomit)

Points to note in video:

1. Obviously pre-Kangaroo athletically inclined, body built with genetics and weights "Mario the Kangaroo who is demoing the product.

2. Remove Mario the Kangaroo from the video, and how exciting does it look?

3. Note how great of a workout she had at end of video by all the sweat on her, even though she says it was a great workout.

4. Tell me you're going to bounce up stairs like that without risking a good fall? You've got a half moon on the bottom of your foot... not so smart!

5. How much money are you going to let them make off your continued lower limb dysfunction?

It's bad enough you have to pay upwards of $120 for a decent pair of running shoes. So let's double that price and enable you to maintain your puny useless ankles and feet!

But hey, maybe trying it will make you a believer?

So picture this. You'll be wearing these joke Kangaroo Shoes and you'll be out for a jog and you'll notice that you can jog longer than you could before. You'll enjoy it a bit more perhaps. Why? Because your feet and calves won't get as sore.

Great... right?

Well no.. because as the rest of your body is adapting to being able to do more, your poor little calves and ankles are being left behind to rot and wither.

Mainstream fitness doesn't mention much about the importance of lower limb strength because it doesn't sell magazine covers. But if you think about it for just one second.. your calves, ankles, and feet are the one part of you that connects you to the ground.

Just look at how good you are with a sprained ankle. Useless as 3 legged mule!

Hey.. I know... Let's go put a 450 block engine into our little Toyota but screw the tires and suspension... who cares...

Exactly... completely retarded!

"But wait... there's all sorts of studies cited at www.kangaroojumps.com that show how great they are.. "

Are you kidding me?

I didn't bother reading any of the studies, because OBVIOUSLY they're all going to show that people got increases in cardiovascular health with less lower limb injuries.

Duh!

You can take any fat out-of-shape population get them running with Kangaroos and then compare their rate of lower limb injury and obviously they'll have more injuries.

The point is that as any personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, or fitness instructor/leader or anything similar, your job is to help your clients to become stronger and more functional, NOT LESS!

There is rarely someone who can't develop foot and ankle strength and flexibility sufficient to begin walking and eventually progress to some degree of jogging/running, and along the way, their cardiovascular system will benefit.

When most people don't move around enough to begin with and have withered, weak, feet and ankles, the one thing they DON'T need is to circumvent their situation.

It is rare that you can circumvent a problem in the body without creating another. Just look at what the rise of "low fat" foods has done to our growing epidemic of obesity!

So are there any situations where Kangaroos might be beneficial? Sure! If you've been in an accident and you've completely destroyed your ankle or had the calf muscles torn off the back of your leg, then this could be a very useful MEDICAL device.

But for the rest of you lazy slobs who think this is a great invention... let me save you some money and help you get yourself ready to run again:

1. Get yourself a foam roller and start using it!

2. Back up the foam roller with a once a month trip to see a good, experienced soft-tissue specialist who uses Active Release techniques.

3. Start by walking more. Walk on different types of terrains. Grass, sand, some hills... a little hike.

4. Add in some pace variations. Fast/Slow.. kind of like interval training.

5. Make sure you get lots of barefoot walking in too on softer surfaces.

6. Then maybe, just maybe you might actually go for a few short jogs.

7. Work on some uphill jogs.

8. Add in uphill speed work before distance.

In other words.. gradually stress the structures in your lower limbs and get them strong enough so that if you do want to go for a 5-10km run one day.. you can just throw your NORMAL running shoes on and hit it!

The point I'm trying to make is that todays fitness industry is largely a joke, and these Kangaroo boots are no exception. Everyone in the industry is out to somehow make things easier.

Understand this.. to be strong and fit will take hard work, no matter how you cut it. Don't believe me? That's fine... I couldn't care less. I have no time to try and convince you otherwise.. as there's more than enough people out there who know it takes hard work and are ready to invest in themselves to get strong and in crazy shape!

And for all of you guys who know and understand this...

It's Roo Roastin' Time!

Be Strong,

Shane

P.S. I do believe I mentioned previously how organic grass-fed Kangaroo is one of the best sources of CLA, a potent anti-cancer, anti-heart disease, anti-inflammatory nutrient. If you missed the article, you can read more by clicking the link below.

Roo-Roastin' for Health

Supersets and Exercise Pairings

2010-05-18T10:18:00.001-07:00

I went to visit a client at their gym on the weekend. She was training her bench press, and was really pushing her limits with a 5x5 protocol, so although her first set wasn't an all out effort, by the last few sets, she was definitely seeing stars as she was grinding them out!

I'm there with her, spotting her, and coaching her through her workout, and a guy walks over and introduces himself as a "certified" trainer and proceeds to suggest that her workout would be more efficient if she were to superset a set of bent-over rows in between each set of bench press.

The funniest thing... is that I saw this guy coming from the other side of the gym, and I knew exactly what was going to happen... and I was right.

So first, before I say whether he had a good suggestion, I seriously doubt he could bench press 5x5x125 which is what my client was doing. This guy barely had any facial hair let alone any muscle on his frame.

That said, I can't be upset with him, as I used to do that all the time. Yep.. I was the annoying kid who had to teach everyone everything I learned the moment I learned it.

It all comes down to perspective. When you're young, when you learn something, you think the world should know it, and that they probably don't already know it.

So did he have a good suggestion?

It really depends on the goals of the training session. If "Jill" was doing 5x5x125 and her 1RM was 155, making her 5x5x125 at 80% 1RM, as was the case, then I would say no. But if Jill's 1RM was 175, then she's training at around 70%, which means her 5x5x125 would not be too taxing.

In other words, if the weights you're going to be lifting are going to be close to your limits for a given repetition range, you don't want to superset other exercises in as it will interfere with your ability to give 100% effort to the exercise you're trying to focus on.

High CNS involvement multi-joint-compound movements take way more out of you than other less demanding exercises, so pairing them up isn't always a good idea.

The main key is to decide what your main purpose is for the exercise. If you want your bench to go up.. then you don't want to be supersetting it with another exercise. But if your goal is just general strength and overall conditioning, and getting more weight on that bar Goddamnit.. is NOT the end all be all for you, then you can superset with another exercise.

Good Exercise Pairings

Vertical Push + Vertical Pull

ex: Military Press + Wide Grip Pull-ups

Horizontal Push + Horizontal Pull

ex: Bench Press + Inverted Rows

Vertical Push + Horizontal Pull

ex: 1-DB Push Press + Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows

Horizontal Push + Vertical Pull

ex: Dips + Chin-Ups

For lower body work, since both squats and deadlifts work both quads and hamstrings it would rarely be advised to superset quad/ham. Instead, and only if maximum strength is not your goal, you could superset another non-competing exercise.

Quad Dominant + (Biceps, shoulders)

Squat + DB Curls or dumbbell shoulder press

Hip Dominant + (Chest, shoulders, triceps)

Deadlifts + Pushups, Military Press, DB Tricep Extensions

There are many options, but these are just some.

Always bear in mind your goals, and construct your program with pairings that are suitable if any.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below.

Low Back Pain Solution

2010-05-18T10:17:00.001-07:00

Is this YOU at any point of your day?

Any solution for low back pain must of course fit the cause of the pain, of which there are many. But a common cause of low back pain is excessive lumbar flexion when bending forward. There are cases where some people have tremendous lumbar flexion without problems, but just because they can, doesn't mean you can or should even try.

Don't Try This

Just Because Some Other Silly Twat Can Do It!

When you have to bend over for whatever reason, you should be trying to get as much movement at your hips, otherwise you your lumbar spine usually takes up the slack.

This is tough for many simply because the mechanics of flexing at the hip are unfamiliar. An excellent exercise to help develop good posterior chain strength and good hip flexion/extension mechanics is the 45 degree back extension.

The 45 degree back extension is also good for those who are not strong enough to do normal flat back extensions.

Key Technique Points:

1. Maintain neutral arch throughout movement.

2. Brace abdominals firmly throughout.

3. Pull into top position with glutes, not lower back.

4. Avoid lumbar flexion on descent.

5. Mental focus should be on maintaining rigid torso through abdominal bracing and moving only at the hips.

Progressions for 45 Degree Back Extensions

1. Add external resistance using dumbbells, barbell across shoulders, or plates at your chest.

2. Use accommodating resistance such as bands or chains.

3. Use one leg only. (this provides additional benefit due to additional torque from rotational forces which must be resisted - this is an advanced technique)

4. Reduce rest between sets.

VIDEO: 45 Degree Back Extensions

Other Considerations:

If your hamstrings are too tight or too short, your range of motion may be very short forcing you to round your back to make much of a descent. If this is the case, resist the urge to go deep, and only do the range of motion possible with the neural lumbar arch. And of course, a good deal of hamstring stretching is on order as well.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section!

And as always.. please "LIKE" my video on the YouTube page! Helps with ratings!

Ginger Kills Cancer

2010-05-18T10:16:00.001-07:00

So then they invented this...

"Hey mom, yes I'm feeling much better! I had cancer, but the Doctor made me drink 12L of Ginger-ale and I'm cured!"

Obviously this isn't exactly the case, but pay attention because it is important for your health!

For many, ginger is just a spice used in Thai food or eaten with Sushi. It has such a strong, distinct taste that it's difficult to add ginger in any significant quantity to most dishes without it becoming the focus flavour of the dish.

Can you imagine everything tasting like gingerbread? Yuck! Sure gingerbread is great, but for me it's a little too intense to think of having it outside of Thai or Sushi.

That said, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that there's something in ginger that's good for us. It almost tastes like "natural" medicine.

Thankfully this is not mere conjecture. It's actually backed up by science. It has long been known to have strong anti-bacterial, anti-viral properties, and anti-inflammatory properties. (2)

But there is also substantial research pointing to the ability of certain substances in ginger to kill cancer cells. (1,3,4,5)

Dr J. Rebecca Liu of the University of Michigan medical school found that ginger kills ovarian cancer cells in lab studies. Results were presented to the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

Now before you get your pants tied in a knot and run down to the health food store to buy ginger pills, as I've shown you before, it doesn't quite work that way. You can't harness the power of certain compounds found in foods and put them into pills and get the same benefits as you would if you ate the intact food in it's natural state.

So the big problem is how do you get enough ginger in your diet when it has such a strong and often unwanted flavour.

(Hint: It's not by drinking Ginger-Ale!)

Solution:

Of course you'll think I'm crazy, but this is great! Trust me!

When you make your morning shake, add some fresh chopped organic ginger (skin and all) into the blender before you blend it all up. Believe me, that super strong ginger taste turns into a very likeable hint of ginger that you are sure to enjoy.

As an aside, if you think you don't have time for a morning shake it doesn't take long to get it ready. Check it out: http://tiny.cc/zdxsx (now just imagine me adding some ginger too!)

When we were in Australia in March, staying with some friends, they had a juicer and made us some fresh juice. I watched as it was being made and I shuddered watching how much ginger was going into the juice. But knowing how good it is for you, I downed the glass as fast as possible to get it over, expecting my eyes and throat to be burning afterward. But it never happened. I was amazed at how the expected sharp pungent bite was much more mellow and tolerable.

The moment we arrived back home I started adding it to my shakes every morning. Haven't missed a morning yet!

Hope you like it as much as I do!

Supporting Research

1. Katiyar SK, Agarwal R, Mukhtar H. Inhibition of tumor promotion in SENCAR
mouse skin by ethanol extract of Zingiber officinale rhizome. Cancer Res. 1996
Mar 1;56(5):1023-30.

2. Mascolo N, Jain R, Jain SC, Capasso F. Ethnopharmacologic investigation of
ginger (Zingiber officinale). J Ethnopharmacol. 1989 Nov;27(1-2):129-40.

3. Park KK, Chun KS, Lee JM, Lee SS, Surh YJ. Inhibitory effects of [6]-gingerol,
a major pungent principle of ginger, on phorbol ester-induced inflammation,
epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and skin tumor promotion in ICR mice.
Cancer Lett. 1998 Jul 17;129(2):139-44. Erratum in: Cancer Lett 1998 Sep
25;131(2):231.

4. Surh YJ, Lee E, Lee JM. Chemoprotective properties of some pungent ingredients
present in red pepper and ginger. Mutat Res. 1998 Jun 18;402(1-2):259-67.

5. Murakami A, Tanaka T, Lee JY, Surh YJ, Kim HW, Kawabata K, Nakamura Y,
Jiwajinda S, Ohigashi H. Zerumbone, a sesquiterpene in subtropical ginger,
suppresses skin tumor initiation and promotion stages in ICR mice. Int J Cancer.
2004 Jul 1;110(4):481-90.

Psycho-Body-Rocket-Fuel

2010-02-07T16:48:00.000-08:00

DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING
YOU HEAR!

As you know, I'm a firm believer in healthy eating habits, over diet tricks, and most nutritional supplements.

As I've mentioned before, as far as supplements go, a basic protein powder, an essential fat supplement, a basic "cover all your bases" multi-vitamin & mineral supplement, and as far as performance enhancement, CREATINE is excellent too.

Other than that, most of what is sold on supplement shelves is totally unnecessary if you have good solid nutrition habits.

So what's this crazy "PSYCHO-BODY-ROCKET-FUEL", I've been blabbing about?

Well, don't worry, I'm not trying to sell you any new supplements...

But I am trying to sell you on something...

Find out what it is below...

CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW...

If the video takes too long to load just...

============================
PSYCHO-BODY-ROCKET-FUEL <--- CLICK HERE
============================

Now... you'll have to excuse me, while I was filming the video, I didn't realize that you wouldn't be able to hear my voice at a certain part.

Basically, I was saying that the you have to blend a bit longer to get rid of the chunkiness of the shake. I like it a bit chunky, but most people would probably want a spoon to eat it because it's so thick. So just blend longer.

I also realized after I watched the video that I forgot to add the oats... LOL... I don't have the greatest multi-tasking abilities... "CAN'T TALK AND MAKE SHAKE AT SAME TIME"

To recap on the quantities in my shake:

1250 kcal

64 g PRO (28% of Total Calories)
96 g CHO (42% of Total Calories)
68 g FAT (30% of Total Calories)

To adapt this to your own needs, maintain the approximate ratios of Pro, Carbs, and Fats, but either reduce or increase the quantities.

Example:

If you want a roughly 600 or 300 Calorie shake reduce the quantity of each of the ingredients below by half or a quarter.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Organic 2% milk
1/2 Cup Organic Oats
4 Tbsp Udo's Oil
4 Heaping Tbsp Ground Flaxseed
4 Heaping Tbsp Liberte Organic Plain Yogurt
1 Scoop Protein Powder (30g Protein)
1/2 Cup Frozen Berries (Rasp, Blue, Straw)
1/4 Cup Frozen Cranberries
1 Small-Med Banana

After you try this shake, I'd love to hear what you think about it. Please leave your comments below.

How Not to Start Your Day

2010-02-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

WARNING: IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR ME USE THE WORD "FATSO"... LEAVE NOW!

I won't beat around the bush... I' m not psychic, but I am the man who knows!

And I'll bet my bacon that if you're not feeling full of energy, you probably had a BREAKFAST FAIL!

Maybe I was being a bit misleading with the title of the email I sent you, but I think the way you start your day is one of, if not THE most important things to get right.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A BREAKFAST FAIL?

Here's a few examples...

BREAKFAST FAIL #1

THE FATSO WHO'S "TRYING" BREAKFAST!

Unfortunately this person will always be fat, and will never succeed. Because deep down inside, they know this isn't healthy.

But since they like it, and the yogurt container says, "Heart Healthy Low Fat", and their muffin is low fat also (they think), and they have an apple, they feel safe to not be hounded for eating an even worse breakfast.

If this is your breakfast, you're seeking safety of not having everyone come down on you for eating crap. You feel if anyone notices what you're eating, they'll commend you for at least making an effort right?

Hey.. at least you're not eating a Poutine for breakfast!? Right?

Keep it up, and it's not the only thing that's gonna stay up!

BREAKFAST FAIL #2

THE "LAZY FATSO BREAKFAST"

Give me a fricken break! If you're overweight, and have no energy, the last thing you should be doing is being lazy with your breakfast. Ok, so it's not as bad as BREAKFAST FAIL #3, but come on... you can do better than this.

You've got a bowl of raspberries (good), almonds (good), and GARBAGE CEREAL!

JUST USE OATS!!!

As if you couldn't pop some oats in the microwave for 60 seconds... Jeez!

BREAKFAST FAIL #3

DESTINATION FATSO BREAKFAST

If this is your breakfast, and you're not already fat... you will be! If you already are... WTF are you still eating this crap for?

I know.. you're busy... WE ALL ARE... but skipping breakfast at home for this... is just plain old dumb! Do you have any idea what is in this garbage?

Here's the ingredient list: Fatso, dihydro-fatso, di-hommo-gamma-fatso, di-estryl-tetra-butylene-fatso, di-terephthalylideno-FATSOnic acid, ethylhelxyl-di-decoheptrexynolo-fatso, 1-2-octocryleno-fatso, 4-carbonic-methoxy-cinnamatalic-fatso, 3-4-7-methyl-diesterase-butoxylinamic-fatso...

As the saying goes... YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!

BREAKFAST FAIL #4

DESTINATION QUINTUPLE BYPASS SURGERY BREAKFAST

Ok, I'm sorry, but this is like BREAKFAST FAIL #3 on STEROIDS

If you are eating this as your daily breakfast, then you have a death wish!

BREAKFAST FAIL #5

DESSERT FOR BREAKFAST???

I like dessert, I really do. But I eat it only on occasion. NOT TO START MY DAY!

And honestly.. what the hell is with the sausages? Oh, right, protein. Yes, you need protein at breakfast... but on a daily basis, trust me on this one... sausages is not where you want to get it! Tons of chemicals.

Bone up pal... get some oats, fruit, nuts, milk... what your grandparents ate!

BREAKFAST FAIL #6

BUT MY KIDS WON'T EAT
ANYTHING ELSE BREAKFAST

THEN THEY'LL GROW UP TO BE A FATSO LIKE YOU!!!

Nuff said!

BREAKFAST FAIL #7

ATKINS LOW CARB DIET FAIL

Yes, low carb diets like the Atkins diet work. But they only work if you follow them properly!

What's that? You heard that you can eat all the bacon and eggs you want, and you'll lose fat, clean out your arteries, and avoid cancer and heart disease and live to be 900 years old like Noah?

Without getting into the merits of the Atkins diet in any detail, yes, following this kind of diet can do wonders for your health. But the reason so many people had poor results on the Atkins diet is that it was so restricting of foods people like, that eventually, what was supposed to be eggs, fresh pork, and a variety of vegetables, turned into this plate of food! Note the token tomato and baked beans on top of the ketchup!

Point is... highly restrictive diets don't work... so stay away from them!

Now that you know what constitutes some serious BREAKFAST FAIL... the question is, what should you be eating?

The answer... tomorrow.

Hint... it's called "PSYCHO-BODY-ROCKET-FUEL"...

I've got a great video for you, all ready to show you what it's all about!

And it will make you into a crazy-energy-fiend!

--------------------------------------------------------

My YouTube Channel is set-up, and I'll be slowly adding instructional exercise videos to it. You can check it out at any time here:

===================
COACHSHANEMILLER
===================

Hip Mobility Video - How to Warm up Properly

2010-01-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

YOU ARE GOING TO GET INJURED!

It's Just A Matter of Time Before it Gets You!

If you are pushing yourself, what you do (or don't do) will eventually lead to an injury!

It could be something minor such as a grade 1 muscle pull, or something serious like torn quadriceps, ruptured disc, or a torn ACL.

Regardless, they all put the breaks on your training, and that's the last thing you want if you're serious about packing on the beef!

Don't be too alarmed though. By incorporating a proper warm-up into your routine, you'll not only reduce your chances of getting injured, but your posture will improve, and without injuries, you'll be far ahead in your training while everyone else is sitting back watching until they heal up.

Why you need to Warm Up

We are adaptive mechanisms. But whether you like it or not, our ability to adapt -- which evolved over thousands of years, is to help us survive, not look buff.

Strength training produces high levels of mechanical tension in the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Combine these high levels of tension with the goal of building bigger muscles and you have relatively high levels of tension for prolonged periods of time.

What does this give us? Increased size of the contractile proteins (sarcomeric hypertrophy) as well as increased fluid accumulation inside the muscle fibre (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy), improved tendon and ligament strength, along with improved neural efficiency.

So where's the bad?

Even with a completely balanced training program, muscle tissue still loses its extensibility with strength training, developing adhesions, which produces muscle length/tension relationship issues. And at the heart of the problem is shortening and stiffening of soft-tissues.

This happens as I mentioned even WITH a balanced program. But what are most of you doing? Lots of bench press, lots of leg press, lots of leg extensions and leg curls.

You're using less than full-range movements, and very likely not getting your core temperature adequately increased before getting into your training.

Couple all that with any previous mobility limitations, movement compensation patterns, and further increases in training load and volume and eventually you exceed the physiologic limits of the soft-tissues.

Where does that leave you?

Ever see a penguin walk? If that doesn't scare you enough into doing a proper warm up.. maybe the reaction you get from having to ask someone in the gym shower to pick up your soap bar will!

Now that we're on the same page... that is... we don't want an injury... here's what's involved in preventing injury through warm-ups.

General Warm-Up (GWU)
- increases core temperature
- increases peripheral heart blood flow (flow of blood to the heart muscle itself)
- increases production of synovial fluid to lubricate the joints
- improves extensibility of soft tissues

Specific Movement Preparation (SMP)
- soft-tissue work
- dynamic stretching (before exercise)
- activation work (before and after exercise)
- mobility drills (before and after exercise)
- exercise specific warm-up sets (before strength training work sets)
- static stretching (after exercise)

Before strength training or conditioning workouts, you'll have both GWU and SMP work, and after you'll have some SMP work as well. You'll also need to do some daily SMP work as well.

More for you to learn?

Yes!

Think it's a pain in the ass and that you don't have time?

Sorry... but that's a load of crap!

Might it mean you have to stop reading the paper or magazines while you're training and actually engage yourself in your workouts?

Absolutely!

Ask any of my athletes and they'll tell you straight up, the time it takes each week in total is just a little over an hour, but it can save you weeks or months of lost progress that you get from an injury.

When does a proper warm-up NOT apply to you? There are some conditions.

If you do this at the gym...

Or this...

In general, any wearing of cheap knock-offs of expensive designer sunglasses, with headbands, talking on your cellphone and spend more time looking at yourself in the mirror than you do training, then by all means, please ignore all this, and hopefully injuries will keep you out of the gym so the rest of us can train!

Also, if you're out in the spotlight sometime and you ever do this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJTb991H2h0

Forgetting all about the hot girl in your arms in favour of flexing your muscles for the cameras like this guy, then you can forget about doing the warm-ups. You'll probably get hit by a car long before your bad form and lack of warm-ups ever hurts you.

So if you're not making any of THOSE mistakes, then you definitely don't want to screw up on your warm-ups. The consistent use of a comprehensive warm-up including dynamic stretching, activation and mobility exercises prior to and after your strength training sessions will dramatically affect your long-term gains and overall health of your joints as well as very likely helping you put up higher numbers on the bar!

Video Demonstration of proper warm-up for lower body training

Soft Tissue Work
Foam Roller: Quads
Foam Roller: IT Bands
Foam Roller: T-Spine
Foam Roller: Lats (Upper body... but important during Squats)
Tennis Ball: Piriformis
Tennis Ball: Glute Medius
Tennis Ball: Rectus Femoris
Tennis Ball: Tensor Fascia Lata

Pre-Activation Dynamic Stretching
RF & TFL
Quads
Iliopsoas
Rectus Femoris & Tensor Fascia Lata with Reach

Activation Exercises
Glute Bridge Isometric
Glute Bridge Repetitions
Glute Bridge with Twist & Reach

Mobility Exercises
Striders
Striders into Glute Stretch
Squat to Stand
Cossack Squats
Horizontal Adductor
Fire Hydrant into Extension

When I filmed this video, I filmed it as one continuous shot so you could see exactly how long it takes to do it. Unfortunately my Youtube account only allows uploads of 10 minutes, and the video was 11:52 minutes. A few hours later and a fair bit of frustration, I got all the editing done.

Do this to properly warm-up before a lower body workout.

And what would be more cool than anything else would be if you would take a few minutes to sign yourself up for a free Youtube account (which allows you to rate videos), and then if you would rate my video!

5 Stars will bring lots more goodies where this one came from!

Thanks tons!
:)
Shane

Don't Screw It Up Again

2010-01-12T21:21:00.000-08:00

Don't screw it up again this year!

Already, millions of people are screwing up on their New Years' Resolutions.

The reason?

You're Doing It Wrong!

They have no PLAN!

They get all fired up over their goals as the new year approaches, but without a plan to make it happen, failure is inevitable.

Goals are great to have, but they don't happen by themselves.

Life throws us curves, and often it's simple things that mess it up. A good example is procrastinating your workout until a "later" opportunity that you think would be better. Only problem... shit happens... and when it does, you'll kick yourself in the ass for not having done it before.

A plan contains specific tasks that fit on a timeline. Today's
tasks need to be completed TODAY!

Not tomorrow. Tomorrow has it has it's own tasks.

If you don't even have a plan, you're flirting with sameness.

Is that how you want to be tomorrow? And the day after? The same?
Always the same?

If so, that's your choice, so be it... but I don't and I won't,
because I have a plan, and it's in action each and every day!

If you don't have a plan... you need one. Don't even bother with
anything else until you have one.

Create Your Plan NOW!

Here's what you need to do to reach your strength and fat loss goals
for 2010:

1. Write out your goals.

e.g. I will gain 15-20 lbs of muscle over the course of the year, and drop 10 lbs of body fat.

2. Break them down into smaller goals.

e.g. I will gain roughly 1-1.5 lbs of muscle each month, and I will drop about 1 lb of body fat per month.

3. Assess whether the goals are realistic.

Not all goals are good ones. If you've been a complete couch potato your whole life, deciding to drop 30 lbs of bodyfat in a month is not too smart. If you actually try, you'll burn out on the way, and even if you succeed, you'll likely regret it later when you regain it all back and then some!

A 1-2 lbs gain of muscle per month is realistic for most people with a serious, focused commitment. And a 1 lb of body fat loss per month is normally not too difficult, but with a goal of 1-2 lbs of muscle gain each month it becomes a bit more difficult, although not impossible.

4. How will you measure progress?

e.g. use scale to track body weight, and use skinfold calipers to measure fat loss, or a scale that does a bioelectric impedance measurement to get a body fat measurement.

5. Get your hands on a good strength and conditioning program and diet advice from a trusted source. If you missed it, I put together a great article on how to build a great strength training program, and you can access it here:

http://spectrumfitness.blogspot.com/2009/11/choosing-right-training- program.html

And my 7-Day Fat Loss Jumpstart Guide contains some of the best nutrition advice you'll find anywhere.

You can access it for free here:

http://spectrumfitness.blogspot.com/2010/01/7-day-fat-loss-jumpstart-guide.html

6. Take action!!

So what's it gonna be?

Is 2010 going to be your year?

Your Strength and Fat Loss Coach,
Shane Miller, CPT, CSN

http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com
http://www.your-strength-and-fat-loss-coach.com

7 Day Fat Loss Jumpstart Guide

2010-01-12T14:33:00.000-08:00

I wrote this 7 Day Fat Loss Jumpstart Guide last year and it contains some of the best information available anywhere for how to lose body fat. The best part is that it also really tackles the mindset required for success as well.

If you haven't read it before, it should be part of your 2010 plan for success. If you have read it before, but you still haven't really applied it, give it another read over. You may be surprised to learn a few new things you didn't catch the first time.

Day 1: http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com/7-day-jumpstart/day-1.php

Day 2: http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com/7-day-jumpstart/day-2.php

Day 3: http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com/7-day-jumpstart/day-3.php

Day 4: http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com/7-day-jumpstart/day-4.php

Day 5: http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com/7-day-jumpstart/day-5.php

Day 6: http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com/7-day-jumpstart/day-6.php

Day 7: http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com/7-day-jumpstart/day-7.php

Bonus:

Day 8: http://www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com/7-day-jumpstart/day-8.php

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year

2009-12-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

It's been an absolute madhouse around here the past few days... we're hosting 16 people for Christmas Eve dinner, which is just about to start.

I've been neglectful of getting out my newsletter on a regular basis over the past few months as I have a couple big projects under way that have been eating up so much time.

But I absolutely refused to let Christmas come and go without a quick (and awful) video of myself, my wife Tanya, and our new daughter Alexava who's almost 11 months old!

So here's the video... don't expect too much, the battery died and my two nieces were screaming at a few points so I had to cut a bunch of stuff out! LOL

Have a wonderful Xmas and I"ll be back with a little post- Xmas goodie for you in time for New Years!

:)
Shane & Tanya & Alexava

How To Do More Chin Ups

2009-12-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

Want to know who's serious about getting stronger at the gym? Where do you think you should look? The Bench Press? The Squat Rack? Nope... The people who are the most serious about getting strong at the gym are those who are doing chin-ups.

Of course the bench press and squat are absolute must exercises when it comes to building serious strength, but they're also easy to cheat on. It's pretty easy to pile on more weight, reduce your range of motion, bounce the bar off your chest if you're benching, or do "budgie" squats! So you can't count on finding the most serious strength seekers there. Only at the chin-up bar will you find them.

What's a "budgie" squat? Gee, I thought you'd never ask!

Ever See A Budgie Squat?

Budgie Squat

The problem of course is that with chin-ups (or pull-ups), depending on your starting strength, once most people increase their reps by a few in the first few weeks of training them, they get stuck and most never see any further increase in reps.

This is mostly because of a lack of understanding of how to train for it. Think for a moment about how you train to increase an exercise like dumbbell presses. You do sets of 5, sets of 8, sets of 12 or whatever it may be.

The key is that you employ varied load and volume progression methods. Training to improve your chin-ups is no different. Most people repeatedly try to do more chin-ups each time they train them, but that would be like just trying to squat more every time you squat. It's just not going to happen after your initial period of adaptation.

Additionally, doing more pull-downs won't help, even though you can easily manipulate the load and volume with them. The mechanics of chins and pull-ups are completely different from pull-downs of all varieties, and the effects will only marginally transfer over to chins and pull-ups even if you get stronger on pull-downs.

You'll need to get some bands. They're damn cheap for how effective they are at helping you. So they're a complete must if you're serious about strength training. If you get the Iron Woody Bands, I recommend getting yourself one of each of the mini-band, light-band, and average-band. If you get the Jumpstretch bands, I recommend getting one mini, one monster mini, one light, and one average band. This should be enough to help anyone regardless of your weight get some good volume variations on your chins.

If you live in out in the east end of Ottawa, you should get them from my good buddy Curd Hos from Fitness Warehouse at 613-830-9300. If you live in West or South Ottawa, I recommend getting your bands from my good friend Mike Bade out at The Fit Shop at 613-224-1238.

And if you want to order them online and have them shipped right to you, visit this link: http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?SearchPhrase=bands&x=0&y=0&m=SR

And if that link doesn’t work, just go to www.elitefts.com and use their product search tool, and search for BANDS. EliteFTS only sells the Jumpstretch bands, so once again, you’ll want one each of their average, light, monster mini, and mini. The Jumpstretch bands are slightly different strengths and I recommend getting all four. They’re so cheap though that the difference between omitting the mini-band is only $8. So get them all!

Sample Chin Up Progression Plan

Armed with your new bands, here's a sample of how you might use varied load and volume progressions to increase the number of chin-ups you can do. Let's say you're a 160 lb male who can do 5 chin ups when you're fresh.

Day 1
Chin-ups 3x3
Band-assisted chin-ups 3x8

Day 4
Chin-ups 3x4
Band-assisted chin-ups 2x7, 2x12

Day 6
Chin-ups 5x3
Band-assisted chin-ups 4x8

Day 9
Chin-ups 3x4
Band-assisted chin-ups 3x8, 2x15

Day 11
Chin-ups 2x5, 2x4
Band-assisted chin-ups 2x10

Day 14
Chin-ups 5x4
Band-assisted chin-ups 4x8

Day 16
Chin-ups 7x3
Band-assisted chin-ups 3x10, 2x15

Day 19
Chin-ups 4x5, 3x3
Band-assisted chin-ups 3x8, 3x15

Day 21
Chin-ups 3x3, 3x2

Rest chin-ups 2-3 days then after appropriate warm-up, do one all out set of chins to see what your new max is. Guarantee there's going to be at least 3-5 new reps on there. And this is for someone who was absolutely stuck at 5 reps before.

When employing load and volume manipulations such as those above, it also always pays to look at where your weaknesses are. If you find your weakness is in your forearms, then varying your grips on a lot of your band-assisted work and some of your actual chin-up workouts will be very useful.

Progressions to help include: Wide grip, Over/Under grip, narrow grip, narrow grip pull-ups.

More advanced progressions include towel chins, fat bar chins, 1 towel chins, 1 arm assisted chins.

Another form of progressions with chins can include loaded chins, where you actually add weight, via a waist belt, or isometric holds, and even loaded eccentrics. In a future article we'll use unloaded eccentrics and isometric work to help those of you who can't yet to even one chin-up to get your first chin-up!

Band-Assisted Pull Ups

And further still advanced progressions can include varying the actual movement such as side-side chins, L-Sit Chins, Elbows to Knees Chins, and even Gorilla Chins, and Muscle-ups!

Of course, if you can do a muscle-up, you probably don't need any help doing more chin-up reps as you can probably already do 20 plus chins!

A final key element is keeping a clear and easy to read logbook of all your training plans and current and past logs. Let me ask you this much. Without looking back, can you recall exactly the Day 1-21 outline I provided above? Not likely, so you need to have your plan WITH you at the gym.

Additionally, if you go in with it printed in hand, and you find you can't quite get the numbers I outlined above, what would you do to ensure you still made excellent progress? For starters, if you don't have a logbook that you journal absolutely everything in, you can just forget about it! In fact, I doubt you're even serious about strength training if you don't have a journal. If you ARE serious and don't have a journal.. just get one damnit!@

So now with your journal, if you can't manage the numbers I outlined above, you keep the same relative sets, but drop all your reps to where you can manage and that forms your new starting point. Although chances are if you can't manage those numbers it's because you couldn't correctly do 5 reps with good form.

Which brings me to the last but certainly not least important point...

Exercise technique.

If you've been reading my articles, you know how important it is to use safe and correct technique when you do your exercises. You wouldn't dare go over to the squat rack and try to bust out 5 heavy deep reps with your knees all buckling in and your back hunched over. Nor would you shove your butt up in the air and bounce the bar off your chest to try to get a few more reps on the bench press.

So why would you allow your legs and body to fly all over the place while trying to get more reps in the chin-up? A key point to remember is that when you "cheat", essentially what you're trying to do, is get around your weak link by jerking while in a stronger position. Either generating momentum, or calling on other muscle groups to act prematurely or to keep certain muscles involved longer than they're supposed to.

So when you're struggling to get more chin-ups, remember, your goal is to try to KEEP your weak links working as hard as possible. So cheating is completely pointless.

This isn't to say that some momentum at certain points of certain exercises isn't useful. In fact it is, and it's even a part of some exercises. In the case of Olympic lifts, generating momentum is the whole point. But when it comes to getting stronger and building muscle, when your weak point is holding you back, you need to focus MORE on it, not try to get around it.

There is definitely something primal about chin-ups. Only those who are serious about strength training do them. They pit you against gravity, and while you'll never beat gravity, you can definitely up your chins with sound application of basic load and volume variations.

If you have any comments on this article please leave them in the comments section below.

Your Strength and Fat Loss Coach,

Shane Miller

Finally A Meat That Vegans Can Eat

2009-12-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

Scientists have finally done it! They've been at work long hours in their labs, trying to create the perfect meat that vegans can eat. Of course I'm saying this a little tongue in cheek, but in essence this is exactly what researchers from Eindhoven University in the Netherlands have created!

Described best as "soggy pork", the researchers say that what they've created is a sort of "wasted" or very atrophied muscle tissue. One of the things they'll be working on is trying to find ways to "work" the meat.

Can you imagine? A little petrie dish strength training session for a hunk of artificial meat?

Scientists have taken live muscle cells from a live pig, and plopped it into a petrie dish and the cells grew, multiplied and essentially turned into pig muscle.

No one has volunteered yet to taste the meat, but the researchers feel that their pork, could be on sale in as little as five years.

Animal rights groups have had only positive comments so far. Citing that so long as the meat doesn't come from a dead animal, or that no animal was harmed in the production of the meat, then they have no ethical issue with it.

Additionally, considering the continually increasing greenhouse gas emissions from raising animals for slaughter, the idea of growing a steak with zero emissions is definitely interesting.

If the meat is biologically identical to what would come from an animal, is safe and healthy to eat, reduces pollution, and pleases environmental and animal rights groups, then folks, it seems to me like we'll have a winner!

Although it's just in it's discovery stage, since it's not genetically modified or engineered, there would be a guarantee of no pesticides or hormones, and if they say it tastes as good as a pork tenderloin... I may have to try it!

What about you? Would you try it?

Love to get your thoughts on this!

Please leave you comments below.

Source: http://www.sphere.com/article/scientists-create-lab-grown-pork-bacon-industry-unmoved/19262314

Did Tiger Woods Build Muscle With Steroids

2009-12-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I've noticed more than a few media releases as of late putting Tiger back in the spotlight about whether he's using or has used steroids to help him build all his muscle.

I've always held the belief that he has never used steroids, as his physique just doesn't seem to have the kind of lean bulging muscularity with a puffy face that steroids tend to give athletes.

Anyone can achieve a physique like this WITHOUT steroids!

I guess in light of Tiger's recent transgressions against his wife and marriage, there is renewed interest into the question of his relatively squeaky clean image. Truth is, even if he comes out and admits to any infidelity, this doesn't necessarily mean that he's lied about using steroids.

Athletes use steroids for a number of reasons. First and foremost, anabolic steroids improve recovery from strenuous training. This is the number one reason why athletes cross the line and use steroids. If they can train harder and still recover effectively, then their sports performance will be enhanced via the increased strength they acquire.

Normally, when someone lifts weights and eats more to build muscle, their muscles will grow, and while their facial muscles may thicken marginally, it would be barely visible. So generally the face doesn't widen to any significant degree no matter how much someone lifts weights. If the amount of food that an athlete such as a powerlifter or bodybuilder needs to eat to build muscle results in an accumulation of body fat, then their face may also appear slightly rounder, but this is due to body fat accumulation.

So when an athlete all of a sudden appears significantly more muscular with the same or relatively lower body fat levels, but their face appears bigger, rounder, or puffier in appearance, this is usually the result of drug use.

Here's a few pro baseball players who've all been alleged to have used steroids. Unless they've admitted it or tested positive for it, then the final jury is all out. But ultimately there should be no real reason other than steroids that a face will appear bigger relative to the body, when bodyfat levels are the same or lower, when muscularity is increased.

Judge for yourself? Steroids or Abnormal Facial Fat Distribution Patterns

Barry Bonds

Mark McGwire

Sammy Sosa Before and After

Another Sammy Sosa Before and After (in this case "after" and "before")

Most professional athletes earn enough money to have their own chef, a great strength and conditioning coach, and typically have enough time to do all the training required to change their body in whichever way would best suit their sport. So it makes sense that PRO baseball players who are good at hitting home runs will want to get as strong and muscular as possible to help them hit more home runs. The same too could be said for Tiger Woods. Anything that makes him stronger is going to help him hit the ball further.

However, Tiger hardly sports a physique that resembles even the PRO baseball players let alone bodybuilders who use steroids, which are the most obvious group of steroid abusing athletes.

In the end, I don't believe Tiger has used performance enhancing drugs.

What do you think? Please leave your comments below.

I'll be back with a post on how to get better at chin-ups tomorrow!

Your Strength and Fat Loss Coach,

Shane Miller

Kirsten Sardelis - 1st Place Women's Figure Medium - Ottawa Figure Championship

2009-11-23T19:55:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Kirsten Sardelis for her first place finish at the Ottawa Figure Championships held earlier this month. Kirsten placed first out of five women in the Women's Figure Medium Height class.

KIRSTEN SARDELIS

2009 WOMEN'S FIGURE MEDIUM CLASS WINNER
OTTAWA BODYBUILDING AND FIGURE CHAMPIONSHIP

Stay tuned for a detailed post on how we got Kirsten into winning shape in just 9 short weeks!

Choosing The Right Training Program

2009-11-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

So you’re heading to the gym and ready to rock it! But what are you going to do?

A full body workout like this:

Bench Press 3x8
Incline Dumbbell Press 3x10
Seated Barbell Press Behind The Neck 3x12
Wide Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Seated Rows 3x8
Shrugs 3x10
Squats 3x10
Leg Extensions 3x15
Leg Curls 3x12
Smith Machine Calf Raises 3x20
Seated Calf Raises 3x20

Or a workout from a body part split routine like this:

Day 1: Chest, Biceps, Triceps
Day 2: Quads, Hams, Calves,
Day 3: Back, Shoulders, Abs
Rest
Repeat

With either, you’re heading down the road to nowhere! A regular full body routine that you do every second day has the advantage of giving you more frequent stimulation to grow and get stronger, but with so many exercises and relatively low intensity you’ll quickly adapt to this workout.

There isn’t really a way to increase the stimulus without increasing the total volume through more sets, reps, or weight… and the volume is already too high to sustain a decent intensity.

Many people figure this much out on their own and progress to a body part split routine. However, the higher frequency of training stimulus afforded by full body training programs generally delivers superior results to split routines except for the most advanced (and usually steroid using) bodybuilders.

With steroids muscles grow even if they’re not being trained, and consequently hitting a body part just once or twice a week is enough stimulation to elicit a growth response.

Body part split routines recruit the lower threshold motor units which have less potential for strength and mass accumulation, although they’ll pump up pretty nice and you’ll look like you’re growing in the mirror. Unfortunately once the pump disappears you’ll be no further ahead.

If your training age is less than a year, on a body part split routine you’ll grow initially, but that growth will quickly taper off except for the genetically gifted who may continue to see gains with this type of routine. But chances are, those folks will grow and get stronger with any routine.

If you insist on using body part split routines, you’ll likely burn out or get injured frequently, precluding any significant accumulation of muscle mass. And if you don’t, then you probably
aren’t training hard enough to grow on any routine.

Enter The Full Body Split Routine

A full body workout involves all muscle groups of the body. But each muscle group can be trained with different movements, and consequently a full body split routine is a program that has multiple training days, and each training day trains the full body but with a different emphasis each time.

Obviously if your goal is to get a huge bench press, and you try to lift heavy on the bench every two days, you’re going to be in for trouble. But substituting overhead presses, pushups, dips, and various other angled pressing movements you can get a serious strength training program each and every time you hit the gym without baking any of your joints.

To set up this type of workout, we pick full body, compound movements. The general template is laid out as follows:

Full Body Split Routine Template

Main Quad or Hip Dominant Lower
(ex: Squat/Deadlift/Cleans)

Main Horizontal or Vertical Push 1
(ex: Bench Press, Military Press, Barbell Press Behind The Neck)

Supplemental Quad or Hip Dominant Lower 2 (optional)
(ex: Step-ups/Split Squats/Good Morings/Romanian Deadlifts)

Main Horizontal or Vertical Pull 1
(ex: Barbell Rows, Pull-Ups)

Horizontal or Vertical Push 2(optional)
(ex: Dips, Dumbbell Military Press, Incline Dumbbell Flyes, Suspended Push-Ups)

Horizontal or Vertical Pull 2 (optional)
(ex: Rope Face Pulls, Dumbbell Pullovers, Straight-Arm Pulldowns)

Hip Abduction or External Rotation (optional)
(ex: Sideways X-Band Walking, Seated Band-Resisted Abduction, Side-Lying Clams)

Core work (static, dynamic, bilateral, unilateral, isolateral)
(ex: Front Plank, Side Plank, Roll-outs, Leg Raises, Floorclimbers, T-Twists)

Shoulder Prehab (external rotations, internal rotations, etc…)
(ex: Side Lying External Rotations, Kneeling Band-Resisted Internal Rotations, Swiss ball IYTWA)

Below I’ve given you a sample program with three workouts, and I’ve listed which exercise each one is from the template above. With a few small exceptions, each workout fits into the template pretty well. The Kettlebell clean and push press and the Suspended Atomic Pushup are both hybrids involving upper and lower or upper and core and the same time.

Day 1 (Monday)

Squats 5x5 (Quad Dominant Lower)
Incline Dumbbell Press 4x6 (Horizontal Push 1)
Glute & Ham Raises 4x8 (Hip Dominant Lower)
Bent-Over Barbell Rows 4x10 (Horizontal Pull 1)
Weighted Side Plank 3xmaxtime (Core static)
Side Lying External Rotations 3x15 (Shoulder external rotations)

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Deadlifts 5x3 (Hip Dominant Lower)
Weighted Pushups 5x10 (Horizontal Push 1)
Split Squats 3x12 (Quad Dominant Lower)
Wide Pull-Ups 5xmax (Vertical Pull 1)
Mountainclimbers 3x20 (Core dynamic, isolateral)

Day 3 (Friday)

Kettlebell Clean & Push Press 4x6 (Hybrid – Hip Dominant Lower & Vertical Push 1)
Front Squats 4x6 (Quad Dominant Lower)
Suspended Inverted Rows 4x12 (Horizontal Pull 1)
Sideways X-Band Walk 3x12 (Hip abduction)
Suspended Atomic Push-up 3x20 (Hybrid – Horizontal Push & Core dynamic, bilateral)

As you see just because it’s in the template, we don’t necessarily do it every time. But over the course of time as you modify your program you drop one and add another. If you try to do everything from the template every single workout, it starts to look like the typical full body training program, similar in many ways to the pretty useless workout I listed at the beginning of this article.

What !? No Arms???

You may notice there’s no direct arm work listed, but if you are training both pushing and pulling exercises three times a week with the higher intensities this type of training allows, you should notice that your arms get all the training they need.

However, if you are gun-hungry, and you insist on training those arms separately, the best way to do it is to incorporate it into the template by substituting a bicep movement in place of your Horizontal or Vertical Pull 2, and substitute a triceps movement in place of your Horizontal or Vertical Push 2. Choose exercises like Dips, Close-Grip Bench Press, Bodyweight Triceps Extensions, or Skull Crushers for best results.

If you need your workouts to be as short as possible, still targeting your whole body, and insist on throwing in arm training, then choose only one horizontal or vertical pushing movement, and then do a biceps exercise in place of a horizontal or vertical pulling movement.

On the subsequent workout you switch it around and do only one horizontal or vertical pulling movement and then substitute a triceps exercise for your horizontal or vertical pushing movement.

This allows you to train push + biceps on one workout, then pull + triceps on the next. While not optimal for over all growth response, it will deliver slightly more biceps/triceps value at the expense of over all size and strength growth.

If you want to include a bit of direct shoulder work such as Incline EZ-Bar Raises or Dumbbell Bent-Over Rear Lateral Raises, substitute them for either the Horiztontal or Vertical Push 2 and the Horizontal or Vertical Pull 2.

And again, if you’re really strapped for time but feel it important to get in some direct deltoid work, make your template modifications like this:

Day 1: Horizontal or Vertical Pull + Incline EZ-Bar Raises
Day 2: Horizontal or Vertical Push + Dumbbell Bent-Over Lateral Raises

Of course you could always keep it all pushing one workout and all pulling the next such as:

Day 1: Horizontal or Vertical Pull + Dumbbell Bent-Over Rear Lateral Raises
Day 2: Horizontal or Vertical Push + Incline EZ-Bar Raises

There is really no limit to how you combine the exercises so long as you generally move from high CNS (compound movements) to lower CNS (isolation movements) throughout, and keep core and rehab work until the end.

As always, your feedback, questions, and comments are most welcome and encouraged, whether in agreement or critical.

You know I love it!.

:)
Shane

Creatine Ethyl Ester - Bang or Bust

2009-11-23T19:36:00.000-08:00

As you know I’m a big proponent of creatine for it’s ability to increase the anaerobic alactic energy system’s (phosphagen system) time to depletion. In the body, Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) is the the ultimate energy compound that all cells of the body use.

In producing energy, ATP is reduced to Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP). ADP can then be reconverted into ATP when it receives a P molecule from Creatine Phosphate (CP). So a greater pool of CP in the body allows this reaction to continue for a longer period before glycolysis is started.

Supplementing with Creatine Monohydrate (CM) supplies the body with additional Creatine which joins up with P molecules which have been released in the reaction where ATP converts into ADP.

Creatine Monohydrate has been studied exhaustively for more than 20 years. It’s safety and effectiveness has been well documented.

Companies looking to cash in on the effectiveness of Creatine as a nutritional supplement are always looking for a new compound that can bind to Creatine and be sold as safe and effective. Unfortunately most of these new products reach the market long before they undergo sufficient testing to be proven to be safe and effective.

Creatine Ethyl Ester

A relatively new entrance to the Creatine market is Creatine Ethyl Ester (CEE). CEE has been marketed and sold under many names including:

BSN CellMass
Xyience NOX-CG3
Higher Power Creatine Ethyl Ester
Controlled Labs Green Bulge
Universal Animal Pump

If the names of the products above weren’t enough to scare you off, check this out… at www.criticalbench.com, a supposedly well respected website on strength training, they have an article entitlted “Creatine Ethyl Ester Review & Information”.

You can check out the article for yourself here: http://www.criticalbench.com/Creatine-Ethyl-Ester-Review.htm

In this review they start off with a subtitle “Creatine Ethyl Ester Guide: Absorbed Better Than Regular Creatine Monohydrate!” This sounds like a fact to the uneducated reader. The article then goes on to discuss the well-known benefits of Creatine Monohydrate (CM). The article then suggests that a limiting factor in the effectiveness of (CM) is it’s absorption.

To clear up any confusion as to whether other more expensive and potentially dangerous forms of creatine are more readily absorbed than CM, a study comparing new forms of creatine in raising plasma creatine levels was published in the Journal of International Sports Nutrition on November 12, 2007; Volume 4, Page 17.

In this study which compared CM, Tri-Creatine Citrate, and Creatine Pyruvate, it was stated “Differences in bioavailability are thought to be unlikely since absorption of CrM is already close to 100%”, and in this study, CrM is the acronym for Creatine Monohydrate.

In essence, they’re making it clear that CM has a nearly 100% bioavailability, which basically means that www.criticalbench.com is full of MALARKY!

If you don’t know what “malarkey” means…

click here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/malarky

Anyway…

The article goes on into some absolutely unrelated pseudo-whacky-mumbojumbo part-this, part-that science that tries to make the reader feel like the info is beyond their comprehension, so “obviously”, it’s important scientific stuff.

At this point they quickly come back to earth, speak in English, and tell the reader that whatever they were just speaking about means that “the dosage requirements will be lower and the esterified creatine will be absorbed better (that’s the MALARKY again), and that the infamous “creatine bloat” will be eliminated.

The article continues with some other garbage, but then the real unbelieveable part… you’re not going to believe this… they list a slew of scientific references to “support” their article on Creatine Ethyl Ester.

GUESS WHAT?

Not even a single reference of the nine listed references are about Creatine Ethyl Ester!!!!

Yes, you read that correctly!

Every single reference is about the effectiveness of Creatine Monohydrate!

So they’re trying to pass off the “Hypey” pseudo marketing science as real science to sell Creatine Ethyl Ester, and then when they actually list the “real” scientific references to supposedly support their position, they’re actually listing science that only supports Creatine Monohydrate.

What does this tell you? It shows that most people don’t read the references, but believe that if the company has listed some, then they “must” be telling the truth!

Rest assured, references that I list in support of THIS article actually support my position.

The latest information about Creatine Ethyl Ester to make you re-consider whether you would buy it or not was published just a few days ago and clearly demonstrates that Creatine Ethyl Ester is a pronutrient exclusively for CREATININE, not Creatine.

The study suggests, “that there are no physiological conditions that would result in the production of creatine from Creatine Ethyl Ester.”

For this reason, once again, I will reiterate the value of Creatine Monohydrate over all other forms of Creatine available on the market.

The following is a list of chemical-ish sounding names that are found in various products marketed and sold to be better than CM. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it will at least give you a few to watch out for:

Creatine Ethyl Ester
Tri-Creatine Malate
Tri-Creatine Citrate
Creatine Malate
Creatine Pyruvate
Creatine Ethyl Ester Malate
Creatinol-O-Phosphate-Malic Acid
Creatine Alpha-Amino-N-Butyrate
Creatine Gluconate
Creatine Ethyl Carbonate Ester
Tri-Creatine Orotate
Magnesium Creatine Chelate
Creatine Pyroglutamate
Creatine HMB

Of this list, not all are completely useless, but most are just significantly more expensive ways to get slightly less than you get from Creatine Monohydrate. The exception is Creatine Ethyl Ester, which as I’ve mentioned above turns into Creatinine not Creatine in the body.

Creatinine is a naturally occurring compound in the human body and is in fact a marker of kidney function. Eleveated levels can indicate kidney damage, however it is uncertain as to whether ingestion of substances that elevate Creatinine levels is safe or not.

Now that I’ve bashed all these other creatine products I will admit that CM is not perfect. In doses over 5g some people experience stomach upset, it doesn’t mix well in liquids, and roughly 30% of those who use it don’t find much benefit from it at all.

Personally, I’ve used it off and on for over 15 years in doses of 5g at a time, with sometimes as much as 20g in total per day without any stomach upset, and with great results. When I haven’t used creatine for a while 6-8 weeks, I can start up and usually get an additional lean mass gain of about 5-10 lbs depending on my calorie intake. I give CM a full 5 stars for effectiveness and bang for your buck. The prices are rock bottom these days. Just make sure you look for “Creapure” on the label. That’s the company that supplies the best powder to the supplement companies.

If you decide you want to try it, you should notice that you get an extra rep or two out on many of your sets. Over time this increases the training effect and you can experience significantly greater increases in strength and muscle growth.

The brands I trust for Creatine Monohydrate powder are Ultimate Nutrition, AllMax, ProLab, and Optimum Nutrition. They all use the Creapure product, and they all offer a micronized powder. Micronization reduces the size of the particles making it much easier to mix in liquids compared to the non-micronized powder which when added to water will just sit at the bottom.

In the end, if you choose to continue to dump your hard earned money into the hands of the people who manufacture these other forms of Creatine, be my guest… it’s your money, not mine!

References:

1. Spillane M, Schoch R, Cooke M, Harvey T, Greenwood M, Kreider R, Willoughby DS “The effects of creatine ethyl ester supplementation combined with heavy resistance training on body composition, muscle performance, and serum and muscle creatine levels.”, J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009 Feb 19; 6:6

2. Jäger R, Harris RC, Purpura M, Francaux M. “Comparison of new forms of creatine in raising plasma creatine levels.” J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2007 Nov 12;4:17

3. Giese MW, Lecher CS. “Non-enzymatic cyclization of creatine ethyl ester to
creatinine.” Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Oct 16;388(2):252-5

4. Giese MW, Lecher CS. “Qualitative in vitro NMR analysis of
creatine ethyl ester pronutrient in human plasma.” Int J Sports Med. 2009
Oct;30(10):766-70

The Truth About Co-Q10

2009-11-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

In my career to date, I have worn a number of hats. I’ve been a sought-after strength and conditioning coach for athletes, a coach, trainer, and diet-guru for bodybuilding, fitness, and figure competitors, a boot camp instructor, and a nutritionist for all of my clients. Today I'm going to tell you the truth about Co-Q10.

Nutrition for my clients generally involves education on how foods affect the body and how to construct their ideal diet for their individual circumstances—that have generally been about getting stronger, faster, muscular, and leaner.

I’ve also had a few clients who weren’t in great health and have counseled them on nutritional practices that have significantly improved their health.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, the nutritional changes do not involve nutritional supplements because improved and varied whole-food consumption solves most people’s problems.

As with anything, there are exceptions, and this article will provide you with the Truth About Co-Q10.

Co-Q10 is a vitamin-like substance present in the mitochondria (furnace) of every cell of the body. It is a co-enzyme involved in a number of key energy production pathways and has important anti-oxidant properties. Our bodies naturally produce it, and it is found in many foods we eat.

Interestingly Co-Q10 is found in the highest concentrations in heart muscle tissue. When the heart has sustained damage, or where heart disease is present, there is a significant drop in Co-Q10 content.

Many studies have shown a beneficial effect of Co-Q10 supplementation in people with compromised heart function, however, the unfortunate effect of politics in medicine and science to this day prevents a positive conclusive stance by any major medical association or institution. That there is no profit for big pharma in the equation is the leading reason for the lack of backing of Co-Q10.

There have been enough studies showing significant positive results to merit further research, unfortunately while science must do further studies to prove it’s effectiveness, many people will miss out on the benefits of this very safe compound.

Of all the research done, a number of factors are well agreed upon:

1. Vegans and those avoiding consumption of red meats often have very low Co-Q10 levels.
2. Statin and beta-blocker medications can lower Co-Q10 levels by as much as 40%.
3. Low levels of Co-Q10 are often found in high-volume endurance exercise trainees.
4. Heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and low HDL cholesterol, are common conditions in those with low Co-Q10 levels.
5. Low levels of Co-Q10 are common in people forty and over.
6. People in their twenties and younger generally have healthy Co-Q10 levels.

Considering that optimal function of all cells requires sufficient Co-Q10, and that deficiencies in this extremely important compound are commonplace in those taking medications for so many conditions that reduce Co-Q10 levels in the first place, it just makes plain sense to supplement with this important compound.

Additionally, the safety of Co-Q10 is indisputable.

In the end, it might be decades before Co-Q10 is endorsed by any medical association as a potent tool in the arsenal against many diseases. Fortunately, it is low cost, very safe, and you have the right to exercise your own choice to take it if you fit into any of the categories where deficiencies are common.

If you have any comments, I would love to hear them!

References:

1. Söderberg, M. (1990). "Lipid Compositions of Different Regions of the Human Brain During Aging". Journal of Neurochemistry 54: 415–419

2. Sarter B. ”Coenzyme Q10 and cardiovascular disease: a review”. J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2002 Jul; 16(4):9-20. Review.

3. Kishi T, Watanabe T, Folkers K. Bioenergetics in clinical medicine XV. “Inhibition of coenzyme Q10-enzymes by clinically used adrenergic blockers of beta-receptors”. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 1977 May;17(1):157-64.

4. Ghirlanda G, Oradei A, Manto A, Lippa S, Uccioli L, Caputo S, Greco AV,
Littarru GP. “Evidence of plasma CoQ10-lowering effect by HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study”. J Clin Pharmacol. 1993 Mar; 33(3):226-9.

5. Kalén A, Appelkvist EL, Dallner G. “Age-related changes in the lipid compositions of rat and human tissues”. Lipids. 1989 Jul; 24(7):579-84.

6. Thibault A, Samid D, Tompkins AC, Figg WD, Cooper MR, Hohl RJ, Trepel J, Liang B, Patronas N, Venzon DJ, Reed E, Myers CE. “Phase I study of lovastatin, an inhibitor of the mevalonate pathway, in patients with cancer”. Clin Cancer Res. 1996 Mar; 2(3):483-91.

Workout Of The Week

2009-10-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

Warm-up
5 minutes of skipping

Soft-tissue work
Foam roller: Quads/ITB/T-Spine/Hams/Lats
Tennis ball: Piriformis/Glute Medius/Infraspinatus

Activation Exercises, Mobility, and Dynamic Stretching
1. Glute Bridge w/medicine ball adduction 20 sec isometric hold + 20 reps
2. Serratus pushups 15 reps
3. Rectus Femoris/Tensor Fascia Lata stretch (required to open anterior hip)
4. Pec major stretch (required to allow for squats)
5. Wall slides 10 reps (help activate lower traps)
6. Band pull-aparts

Strength Work

KB Clean & Push Press
6x16kg, 4x20kg, 3x24KG, 3x3x28KG

Cambered Bar Squats
Work up to 5x6x(Bar+110 lbs)

Blast Straps Pushups (BTR)
5x18, 16, 15, 15, 13

Glute & Ham Raises
1x10x&, 1x10x12, 2x10x15, 1x14x&

Chest-supported Dumbbell Rows
12x30, 12x35, 3x12x40

Weighted Plank
1x75 sec x 25, 1x75 sec x 35, 1x65 sec x 45

Seated Hip Abduction With Band
3x20 x mini jumpstretch

Time 90 min.

Garbage Cereal - Rant

2009-10-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

If my mom is reading this, she'll get a good laugh because she knows just how much I love good old Golden Grahams cereal. As a kid, if I could have chosen to subsist solely from one "food" source it
would have been Golden Grahams cereal hands down!

Why? Well I was a kid for one, and even if you'd told me how bad that stuff is I wouldn't have cared. I mean, as a kid, you're invincible. And the idea of "nutritional value", just didn't exist to me as a kid.

Fortunately I've grown up... at least in that regard! LOL

My beef with the cereal companies is how they market their products. I was at the supermarket last week and I had the "lovely" experience of watching a kid pressure his mom into buying him four utterly garbage-filled cereals.

I am going from memory here, but they were:

1. Lucky Charms
2. Count Chocula
3. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
4. Fruity Cheerios

As a (relatively) educated adult, that list sounds like a dessert list to me. But this mother gave in to her sons pressure and bought them all. I actually had to pretend to be deciding between a couple other products on the opposite wall so I could stay and listen in to the whole fiasco.

The mother said she wasn't sure if the cereals were nutritious enough, and it was actually the boy who pointed out a number of marketing and labeling facts that eventually convinced the mother to buy them.

From my recollection, there was mention of:

1. "Low in fat"
2. "Whole grain"
3. "Fruit has vitamins&minerals"
4. "Heart Healthy"

The cereals chosen were all low in fat, but really, who cares? More than anyone else, kids need fats. Of course they need healthy fats, not the kind you WOULD see in cereals if fats were not so taboo these days.

Whole grain. This is about the biggest joke ever. Just because you start with a WHOLE grain, doesn't mean after pulverizing the hell out of it that there's much left of any nutritional value. That's actually the whole point of cereals. Take Cheerios for example. Made from Whole Oats. Wow.. that's great. But if you take 1/4 cup of actual oats, after all the processing that General Mills does to them you get a whole BOX of Cheerios. So the cereal companies are basically diluting the nutritional content of the WHOLE grains in their products.

Of course they have to fill it with something, so what do you suppose that would be?

JOKE INGREDIENT LIST

Check out the ingredients list of this Berry Burst Cheerios garbage cereal. Can you believe they have the gall to put a little heart right square in the middle of the page that says "May reduce the risk of heart disease".

Read the ingredients list and you tell me if you think this cereal "might" reduce your risk of heart disease, or flat-out CAUSE you to get heart disease!

Here's another one...

As if being filled with corn starch, corn syrup, and corn meal wasn't bad enough, they even use corn as their "WHOLE GRAIN" base from which to make the cereal. It's absolutely abominable!

IMPORTANT VIDEO

Check out these VIDEOS I found on the GENERAL MILLS GARBAGE CEREAL website. These videos are short--basically because there isn't much to say that takes longer than 3 seconds about their cereals when it comes to health--and are designed to make you feel confident that you're serving your family healthy foods. They have a registered dietitian speaking in effort to boost your confidence in the health of these products.

First of all, as a registered dietitian, talk about prostituting oneself out to the highest bidder. Technically, everything she says is correct. But it does nothing to change the fact that those cereals are nothing more than vitamin fortified desserts that "start" with a WHOLE grain base.

Have I not made it clear enough that GRAINS aren't the end all and be all of nutrition? Yes they have lots of fiber when you eat them in the form they grow in or with minimal processing, and they do have some vitamins and minerals, but grains' biggest component is starch. Like we need any more of that!

Check this out... good old Cheerios, which used to be the cereal my mom would buy us all the time because she said it was the healthiest, has now sold out to the sugar demons. How many different sugary Cheerios cereals are there now?

Cheerios Variety

There are ten varieties of Cheerios, and seven of them have an image of fruit on the front of the box. Of the seven that have an image of fruit:

- Regular Cheerios and MultiGrain Cheerios actually have no fruit in it at all

- Berry Burst Cheerios has freeze-dried fruit (near zero nutrition)

- Banana Nut Cheerios has banana puree in it (can you imagine what that looks like when it is poured out of the massive drum at the factory... it's gonna look and taste like a grey sludge... no yellow colour) another near-zero nutrition

- Apple Cinnamon Cheerios has apple puree concentrate in it, which did come from apples, but no longer bears any semblance at all to the original fruit (another near zero nutrition)

- Fruity Cheerios has pear puree concentrate in it, which is basically no different than apple puree concentrate, it's just a sugary liquid with trace vitamin and mineral content (another near zero nutrition)

- Yogurt Cheerios has dried strawberries in it, which I would like to think may be somehow better than the others, but I just know it's not (another near zero nutrition)

So as you can see the marketing practices of these companies try to present their cereals as healthful with fiber, fruit, vitamins and minerals, when in the end they deliver virtually nothing.

Don't get me wrong, I could enjoy a bowl of cereal, I do have a sweet tooth, but if I were to do so it would be a 10% meal, and truthfully, so long as Hagen Daaz exists, they'll be my 10% meals!

At least Hagen Daaz doesn't try to be "Healthy"!

As always I welcome and encourage your comments, both good or bad.

Better Fat Loss, Fight Cancer, and Prevent Heart Disease with Trans Fats

2009-10-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Who Else Wants To Know How To Get Better Fat Loss, Fight Cancer, and Prevent Heart Disease with Trans Fats

Trans fats have been condemned to hell by the media, and while man made trans fats are definitely not good for you, not ALL trans fats are created equal. In this article I will show you how specific trans fats will give you better fat loss, help you fight cancer, and prevent heart disease.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) is a type of trans fat that has been studied extensively due to its huge potential for helping with obesity, cancer, and heart disease.

Trans fats are produced naturally in the stomachs of ruminant animals such as deer, moose, kangaroo (not a true ruminant, but an exceptional source of CLA), bison, beef, sheep, and goats.

One particular trans fat called t-10, c-12 CLA has been shown to reduce fat mass and increase lean muscle weight in a number of different studies, while a number of other studies have shown the trans fat called c-9, t-11 CLA has effects that reduce inflammation and risks of cardiovascular disease.

Interestingly there are other studies that show the direct opposite to be true. Does this even surprise you? The one thing we should all know by now is that whatever science studies and proves is true, will often be found to be false in a subsequent study. This has happened numerous
times with studies on vitamins.

However, when both types of trans fat CLA are studied together, most studies showed reduced body fat mass, increase lean muscle tissue, and reduced incidencs of both cancers and heart disease markers.

The key element is that when science tries to isolate the effects of different substances, often the study methods influence the outcomes. But left to it's own devices, the human body will reap the benefits without experiencing the negative effects noticed in the studies.

Interestingly, when studies of the effects of CLA consumption involve its natural form INSTEAD of taking it as a nutritional supplement, once again, the health benefits are shown, with little to no adverse affects. (see I'm not writing this to sell any magic pills or potions to you!)

Another very important fact is that grass-fed animal meats contain between 300%-500% more CLA than their supermarket grain-fed counterparts.

So don't touch the stuff you find at your regular supermarket, unless it is clearly marked to be "GRASS-FED". If your local supermarket doesn't carry grass-fed meats, try your local butcher or health food stores.

One final study that I'd like to bring to your attention found that mothers who ate and drank organic grass-fed cows' meat and milk had 50 % higher rumenic acid (a type of trans fat) levels in their breast milk. In humans, rumenic acid is converted into CLA, which is responsible for the above noted effects.

The jury on this one, as always, is clear. Eat what nature provides for you in the form it exists in in nature, and you will reap the benefits. Try to put it into a magic pill, and you can't be sure that you will get the effects you seek, and you may even get some you don't want.

Over time science will study various nutritional substances and show that one thing works and another doesn't, and then later their studies will show the opposite. The incredible human body always knows exactly how to use all the nutrients in exactly the right way to get the best possible health benefits.

When selecting foods always choose organic if possible, choose fresh whenever possible, choose pasture raised forage and grass-fed meats, and in general, be wary of foods that require a big label that tries to convince you of their health benefits.

References:

Banni S, Angioni E, Murru E, Carta G, Melis M, Bauman D, Dong Y, Ip C (2001). "Vaccenic acid feeding increases tissue levels of conjugated linoleic acid and suppresses development of premalignant lesions in rat mammary gland.", Nutr Cancer 41 (1-2): 91–7

Donnelly C, Olsen AM, Lewis LD, Eisenberg BL, Eastman A, Kinlaw WB. (2009), "Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) inhibits expression of the Spot 14 (THRSP) and fatty acid synthase genes and impairs the growth of human breast cancer and liposarcoma cells.", Nutr Cancer. 61 (1): 114–22

Amarù DL, Field CJ. (2009), "Conjugated Linoleic Acid Decreases MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cell Growth and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Receptor Levels.", Lipids 26

Lee Y, Thompson JT, de Lera AR, Vanden Heuvel JP. (2008), "Isomer-specific effects of conjugated linoleic acid on gene expression in RAW 264.7.", J Nutr Biochem 26

Ha YL, Grimm NK, Pariza MW (1987). "Anticarcinogens from fried ground beef: heat-altered derivatives of linoleic acid.", Carcinogenesis 8 (12): 1881–7

Fite A, Goua M, Wahle KW, Schofield AC, Hutcheon AW, Heys SD. (2007), "Potentiation of the anti-tumour effect of docetaxel by conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) in breast cancer cells in vitro.", Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. (Scotland, UK) 77: 87

Kritchevsky D. (May 2000), "Antimutagenic and some other effects of conjugated linoleic acid.", Br J Nutr. 83 (5): 459–65

Belury, M.A. (October 2002). "Inhibition of carcinogenesis by conjugated linoleic acid: Potential mechanisms of action.", Journal of Nutrition 132 (10): 2995–2998

Ip C, Scimeca JA, Thompson HJ. (1994), "Conjugated linoleic acid. A powerful anticarcinogen from animal fat sources.", Cancer 233 (3): 1050–4

A C Watras, A C Buchholz, R N Close, Z Zhang and D A Schoeller, "The role of conjugated linoleic acid in reducing body fat and preventing holiday weight gain.", International Journal of Obesity (2007) 31, 481–487

Pariza MW, Park Y, Cook ME. (Jul 2001), "The biologically active isomers of conjugated linoleic acid.", Prog Lipid Res. 40 (4): 283–98

Tricon S, Burdge GC, Kew S, et al. (September 2004). "Opposing effects of cis-9,trans-11 and trans-10,cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid on blood lipids in healthy humans.", Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 80 (3): 614–20

Lukas Rist, Andre Mueller, Christiane Barthel, Bianca Snijders, Margje Jansen, A. Paula Simoes-Wust, Machteld Huber, Ischa Kummeling, Ursula von Mandach, Hans Steinhart, and Carel Thijs. (2007). "Influence of organic diet on the amount of conjugated linoleic acids in breast milk.", British Journal of Nutrition 97: 735–743

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2009-10-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

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