Boot Camp Review Core Training and Yummy Muffins

Welcome to newsletter issue #55. In part 1 we're going to get into the meat and potatoes of developing a strong and healthy core. In part 2 you'll hear about Day 2 of Your Beach Body Boot Camp from guest blogger Katy Sinha, and in part 3 you'll get my super healthy muffin recipe.

Enjoy!

Part 1

Question:

I’ve had low back pain in the past and I suspect it has to do with my not knowing how to lift properly, and that I have a fat tummy and probably very little abdominal strength. So (1) how do I turn my fat tummy into hard muscles, (2) work my abdominal core, and (3) not hurt my back in the process?

From Steve, Midland, ON

Answer:

Hi Steve,

You’ve listed three great questions there. With respect to not knowing how to lift properly, to fully answer that question is a full article in itself, which I will leave to a future newsletter. So without going in to the mechanics of how to lift properly, knowing how to protect your back when you lift or train your abs or back is vitally important, so let’s get into it.

Protecting Your Back While Training

When you stand with good posture, the natural lordotic curve of your spine is the same curve you should maintain while you lift. When you train your abs, depending on the movement, you want to maintain either the same lordotic curve or a slightly flexed spine.

To make sure your spine is protected when you’re lifting or training abs or back, you need to brace your whole midsection using the Val Salva manouever. Essentially, you take a deep breath, bear down hard, lock up your abdominal muscles and actually apply pressure outward against your abs. Do NOT pull your navel towards your spine as is frequently but incorrectly taught.

Protecting your back while training the abdominals is really not that difficult, but there is so much confusion, and a lot of it really comes from a lack of education as to what the muscle groups are and how they function. So let’s get a little bit of anatomy going here.

First, there are four abdominal muscles.

1. Rectus Abdominus

2. External Oblique

3. Internal Oblique

4. Transverse Abdominus

The (1) rectus abdominus helps you flex your spine like when you do crunches (which is a waste of time by the way). The (2) external and (3) internal obliques help you to twist, and more importantly help you to resist twisting. They can also help you to flex your spine too. The (4) transverse abdominus, when used correctly, braces your midsection making it stiff, solid and able to resist forces that would flex, extend, or twist it, and finally transmit external forces towards the extremities.

The transverse abdominus (TVA) is the muscle that gets people so confused. First, we get silly fitness instructors yelling out “Recruit that TVA!” to their participants. Get real man! Who the heck is going to know how to flex their transverse abdominus anyway?!?

Some smarty-pants then went and looked up the anatomy and function of the TVA and came back with the then-wise, but now-not-so-wise instruction to pull your navel towards your spine.

This is the problem with text-book ONLY education. Yes, the TVA does attach in part in the front to the linea alba, and in part in the back to the thoracolumbar fascia, which means that yes drawing your navel towards your spine does activate the muscle.

But folks, simple “activation” of this muscle is not what we’re after when trying to protect your spine. We’re after an inborn, instinctive, maximum effort recruitment of every single muscle fiber in your TVA. We’re talking about generating massive, life-saving muscle tension if necessary. While it is an instinctive process when needed, the key is to learn how to apply it day-to-day when lifting or carrying heavy objects or, of course, working out.

So whether you’re flipping heavy tires at my boot camp, doing a heavy deadlift or squat in the gym, or picking up your kid, trust me on this one.. do the same thing every time! Brace hard, and use the val salva manouever.

If you’re concerned about the safety of the Val Salva manouever, better not let your wife deliver your baby vaginally, as she’ll be engaging the Val Salva manouever for 10-15 seconds at a time for up to 2 hours to push your baby out.

It’s quite simple. If you’re not using abdominal bracing and the Val Salva manouever, start, or risk injury. Your choice!

Turn Your Fat Tummy Into Rock Hard Muscles

The truth is, unless you’re Jesus, just like you can’t turn water into wine, you can’t turn fat into muscle. But, you can burn off your fat tummy and turn your soft, thin, weak abdominal muscles into slabs of rock hard beach-ready abs!

Burning off your fat tummy is simply a matter of expending more calories than you consume. I’ve covered this quite a bit recently so I won’t get into it too much here, but 2-3 good hard sessions of weight training each week, plus 2-3 sessions of metabolic fatigue training such as www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com will do it.

Turning your soft, thin, weak abdominals into slabs of rock hard beach-ready abs requires the right training.

Before you think we’re going to have you jumping into hanging leg raises, and dragon flags, or any other crazy abdominal exercises, you have to understand the types of contractions you should and shouldn’t be doing and the progressions required to train your abs safely.

Static Contraction

The first exercises that need to be learned are exercises in which you use your abdominal muscles to resist externally applied forces.

Simple examples of Static Contraction exercises include:

- Front plank

- Side plank

- Reverse plank

- 1-Arm heavy dumbbell holds

In these exercises you are using your abdominal muscles to resist the force of gravity. Intra-abdominal pressure is maintained via the Val Salva manouever. Gradually build the length of time you can hold them. Once you can hold each of them for at least one minute, you can move into your first progression.

During any static contraction exercise, obviously you aren’t going to hold the Val Salva manouever for the entire duration. Instead, you allow short but shallow bursts of air to escape, and then you quickly pull it back in. The reason for the short, shallow breaths is to keep at minimum the movement of your midsection. Under a heavy load, if you were to exhale fully, you would be unable to maintain tension in your muscles. By allowing just enough air to escape, and then rapidly pull enough back in you are able to maintain the stiff position of your body.

If you ever feel dizzy from this, rest some, and then try again. Your cardiovascular system adapts quite well to this, allowing for significant and safe intra-abdominal pressure to protect your spine.

Progressions

Your first progression would include using other externally applied forces such as a plate on your back; your training partner pushing sideways on your hips; or even lifting a hand or foot just an inch or two off the floor. Make sure whichever progression you use, you maintain the same strict position as before. Do not let your body sag or shift out of place under the external force.

Stabilizing During Dynamic Movement

Now that you have a pretty good ability to brace your abs and resist externally applied forces, the next stage of abdominal training is to learn to brace your abs during dynamic movement of your extremities.

Simple examples of such exercises include:

- Floorclimbers

- Mountainclimbers

- Farmer’s walk unevenly loaded

- 1-Dumbbell front squats

- Dumbbell suitcase deadlifts

- 2-Arm Kettlebell pulls

These exercises teach you to use your abdominals to brace your spine during fast and forceful movements of your arms, legs, and hips.

Dynamic Stabilization During Dynamic Movement

Finally, exercises in which you actually use your abdominals to create movement as well as to stabilize your midsection are the next ones you will learn.

Simple examples include:

- Hanging leg raises

- Dragon flags

- Incline reverse crunches

- Incline leg raises

- Band crunch-downs to floor

- Blast Strap fall-outs

- Blast Strap oblique planks

- Kettlebell or 1-Dumbbell clean & press

During all of these movements your abdominals are always providing dynamic stabilization while helping to create the necessary movements of the spine. At all times, intra-abdominal pressure is maintained via the Val Salva manouever.

Here’s a sample 8 week abdominal strengthening program that a beginner could use. By the end of the 8 week program, this person will have significant abdominal strength and abdominal muscle thickness. Don’t worry, this type of abdominal muscle thickness, doesn’t make you look “thick” around the waist, instead, when body fat levels drop enough, it gives you the nice etched midsection look.

Sample abdominal Exercise Program

The prescribed exercises would be done 3 times per week, and could be tagged onto the end of your regular exercise routine.

Week	Exercise	Sets/Reps/Time	Progressions
1	Front plank Side plank	2 x 20 seconds 2 x 15 seconds
2	Front plank Side plank Reverse plank	2x40 seconds 2x30 seconds 1x20 seconds
3	Front plank Side plank Reverse plank	2x30 seconds 2x40 seconds 2x20 seconds	10lbs added
4	Front plank Side plank 1-Arm heavy DB hold	3x40 seconds 2x50 seconds 2x30 seconds x 20lbs	10 lbs added & lift alt. feet
5	Floorclimbers Side plank Reverse plank	2x20 reps 2x60 seconds 2x30 seconds
6	Floorclimbers T-Twists 1-Arm heavy DB hold	2x25 reps 5-10 ea. side 2x45 seconds x 25lbs	Increase weight
7	Floorcilmbers Farmer’s walk	3x25 reps 2x60 steps x 15lbs + 30lbs	Increase weight
8	Mountainclimbers 1-DB Farmer’s walk Reverse plank	3x20 reps 3x60 steps x 30 lbs 3x30 seconds	Add weight

This is just a sample 8 week program, and while it is good and effective, it is far from all inclusive. There is so much more to complete core training than can possibly be covered in just a newsletter.

Last year a client of mine stumbled upon an abs program called Combat Core by Jim Smith, CSCS, and my client asked me if it was any good. Well it was so good, I ended up buying my own copy. If you like the information I’ve provided in this article on abdominal training, but you want even more information and more great abdominal training programs, you won’t find anything even remotely as good anywhere as Combat Core.

Jim Smith, the creator of Combat Core has worked with thousands of athletes of all different sports, and most recently helped prepare UFC competitor Tom Lawlor for his victorious fight at UFC100 last month.

Anyway, if you’re looking to get arguably the best information on abdominal training anywhere, Combat Core is for you.

Go HERE! to grab Jim’s Combat Core product.

Just a quick note: I've had enough people ask me for a really comprehensive product on abs, but putting together something like Jim's Combat Core would take me probably a year with the time I can commit to it. And truthfully, it would be tough to put together a better program myself. So if you don't want to wait for my product, get Jim's.

Part 2

Guest Blogger Katy Sinha on Day 2 of

www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com

OK! I am impressed. Just finished day 2 of boot camp this morning and 7am did not seem as early as the first day.

The Battling Ropes of Death

As I expected, Shane gave us all a sense of what we can expect in future sessions. Each boot camp session will be getting progressively tougher. He's good... here we are all returning because we're feeling good... at the same time, we're getting tougher, both mentally and physically.

Throughout camp this morning, I could hear cheers of support and words of encouragement when the drills were getting tougher. 'Cause it's true, I wouldn't be doing this alone! Such 'grunty' drills... it's fun to do it with a group though.

I even heard someone mention that we should celebrate the end of boot camp with a martini party! So, we must be having fun!!

More after DAY 3

Katy

Part 3

Awesome Protein Muffins

If you’re expecting the taste of those super heavy, junky, sugar and fat laddened muffins you can buy at commercial bakeries, then this recipe is not for you.

But if you want a muffin recipe where each muffin by itself is a healthy, nutritious snack, that still tastes good even with all the healthy stuff in it, then you’ll love it!

A couple things about the recipe.

1. If you find it a little dry, add a bit of water or milk. Start with an oz at most and then make adjustments the next time depending on your preferences. We had to make the recipe about 4 times before we found the exact combination we liked the most.

2. If you want more protein, add more eggs or protein powder. (protein powder makes it drier, so use less oats and/or add some milk or water to compensate.

3. If you want less carbs, use less oats.

4. If you want less fat, use less butter and/or coconut oil

Wet ingredients

¼ cup of soft coconut oil

¼ cup of soft butter

8-10 ripe bananas

6 eggs

1 tbsp Vanilla extract

3 Dry ingredients

3 cups of oats

7 scoops protein powder

1 cup chopped walnuts

¼ cup ground flax seed (grind in coffee grinder)

½ cup dried coconut (unsweetened)

1 pinch salt

1 tsp magic baking powder

1 cup frozen raspberries or blueberries or 1 cup of chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. In separate dishes, thoroughly mix wet and dry ingredients, then combine.

3. Bake at 350 for approximately 25minutes

Makes 24 muffins

Nutrition Facts per muffin:

Optional Ingredient:	1 Cup Frozen Berries	1 Cup Chocolate Chips
Total Calories (kcal)	226	296
Protein (g)	13	15
Carbohydrate (g)	18	29
Fat (g)	11	15

So that’s it for issue #55

If you have any questions, or comments, please leave them below in the comment section.

Until next time,

Shane Miller, CPT,CSN

Your Strength and Fat Loss Coach

www.your-beach-body-boot-camp.com

www.your-strength-and-fat-loss-coach.com

Fat Loss Supplements Are Dangerous

Hydroxycut fat loss supplements are dangerous! There I've said it! I've been hesitant to outwardly state it, but now there's finally proof. The company that makes the Hydroxycut products has removed 11 products from the shelves of stores in Canada plus an additional three products not sold in Canada after 23 reports of serious liver damage and one death of a 19 year old boy after use of the Hydroxycut products in the US.

PRODUCTS RECALLED IN CANADA:

• Hydroxycut Regular Rapid Release Caplets
• Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Rapid Release Caplets
• Hydroxycut Hardcore Liquid Capsules
• Hydroxycut Max Liquid Capsules
• Hydroxycut Regular Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut Caffeine-Free Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut Hardcore Drink Packets (Ignition Stix)
• Hydroxycut Max Drink Packets
• Hydroxycut Liquid Shots
• Hydroxycut Max Aqua Shed Capsules
• Hydroxycut 24 Caplets

I get no satisfaction from saying so, but "I TOLD YOU SO!!". If you've known me for any time, you'll know that I have never promoted fat loss supplements to my clients or to anyone asking for my advice on how to lost fat.

Whatever small advantage supplements can give is largely negated by the horde of nutritional mistakes most people who seek out these products are making anyway, so to me it's a complete waste of money.

It works something like this. If you choose to continue to skip breakfast (my number one most important fat loss rule is to have a good breakfast), then you will undoubtedly make poorer food choices all day long including over-eating at dinner and in the evening. So yes, you could take some fat loss supplement like Hydroxycut that costs you $5 a day and maybe, just maybe, it might help counteract this nutritional mistake, but folks, this is a $5/day band-aid for poor eating habits. It doesn't even begin to help you actually lose fat, it's just possibly reducing how much fat you are gaining by how poor your nutritional choices are.

This is presuming that Hydroxycut or any other fat loss supplement actually works. A few years ago legislation passed that made ephedrine illegal in the U.S. Ephedrine is probably the only substance that actually has a half decent fat burning effect that in small enough doses in relatively healthy individuals won't cause any health problems. But of course, marketed to everyone, including severely obese people who have cardiac issues in the first place, ephedrine can be problematic, hence the legislation against it.

So with ephedrine largely off the market, any fat loss supplement that you're spending your money on likely doesn't do anything other than burn a hole in your pocket book. And if you haven't checked, some of these fat loss supplements like Hydroxycut are ridiculously expensive!

If you are serious about fat loss, here are some important rules that you must adhere to. If you can't manage to stick to these rules, then fat loss just isn't in your life trajectory!

1. MOVEMENT
If you aren't moving, you aren't going to lose fat PERIOD! And you don't have to spend hours on end on boring cardio machines to make it happen. But you do have to work hard enough to generate a serious sweat. Two to three 20-30 minute high intensity fat loss intervals a week is enough.

2. INCREASE YOUR METABOLISM
Strength training, whether using weights, or bodyweight exercises like pushups, chin-ups, and lunges can all help you to build muscle. Muscle uses more calories than any other tissue in your body (except the brain) so the more muscle you have the more calories you burn 24 hours a day!

3. BREAKFAST
Have a sensible breakfast that includes a protein, fat, and carbohydrates from healthy sources. For example:
2 eggs (whole... yes including the yolk!!!)
1/3 cup oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 banana
2 tsp Udo's oil or a few walnut pieces

4. BALANCED SNACKS
Research has shown that to maintain energy levels throughout the day and to prevent overeating at main meals, having a small nutritionally balance snack, mid-morning, and mid-afternoon is the key. Snacks should consist of fruit, vegetables, and dairy products, although the limit is your imagination.

Healthy examples for mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks are:

Handful almonds
1 apple
1 oz 2% cheddar cheese

or

Handful walnuts
1/2 cup organic plain yogurt
1/3 cup blueberries

How much you eat at your snacks depends on your activity level and your bodyweight. Smaller people generally need to eat less and if you're nursing a desk all day long, then opt for vegetables instead of fruit if possible.

Example:

Chicken salad with spinach, pine nuts, tomato, and a low fat dressing

4. HEALTHY MAIN MEALS
I already covered breakfast, but the same principle applies for lunch and dinner. Start with a protein choice, add a healthy fat choice, add unlimited vegetables, and finish with appropriate carbohydrates depending on your energy requirements.

If you're going out to play hockey in the evening, then eating chicken and spinach isn't going to provide you with much energy to play. So be sure to have a serving of brown rice or sweet potato. You could even have a mixed bean salad with dinner which would provide you with enough carbohydrate energy to last you through your hockey game.

If your evening activities are limited to helping the kids with homework and making their lunches, then your dinner can skip the starchy carbs (if fat loss is your main goal) and focus solely on a variety of vegetable sources.

5. DESSERT
It seems for some that dessert is just part of the day. Some people eat dessert every single night. I think it starts as a kid, and depending on whether or not your parents gave you dessert every night, many people carry this throughout their lives.

Folks... you don't HAVE to have dessert every night! Yes, it's nice.. I enjoy it too. But if you have fat to lose, daily dessert is guaranteed to keep your bodyfat right where it is, and possibly even increase it. Think of it this way. Eating a dessert is like not doing 30 minutes of exercise. So if you want to eat a dessert each day, you'll need 30 minutes of exercise daily to counter it so that you don't gain any bodyfat. So if you actually want to lose bodyfat then you need to do even more.

It's much easier to skip the dessert 4 or 5 nights of the weekk, enjoy it the other two or three nights, get your 2-3 sessions of cardio in, and lose the bodyfat!


6. ELIMINATE LIQUID CALORIES FROM YOUR DIET
Other than milk, if you drink soft drinks or juices (sugar free or not) you can forget about losing body fat. It's just that simple. Liquid calories are one of the main causes of increased body fat. Diet soft drinks in very small quantities are ok, but if you're putting back more than one can of diet soft drinks a day, then you will also have a hard time losing body fat. Your brain recognizes the sweetness of the artificial sweeteners in these products and releases insulin in much the same way as it does in response to actual sugars! Can't trick your brain!

FAT LOSS NIGHTMARE

7. WATER
I can almost guarantee that everyone who has too much bodyfat drinks too little water. Get your water consumption up and you'll be surprised what it can do for your fat loss efforts. Starting with reducing your cravings for junk, much of the time people confuse the early signals for thirst with hunger.

One to two hours after each meal, drink 250-500ml of water and notice a reduction in cravings for junk food. It's a free, no brainer! Mess this one up.. and well.. stay as you are! Your choice!

8. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Alcoholic beverages like wine have a somewhat culturistic place in our society it seems, and some people feel like it is an afront to their righs and dignity to suggest that they shoudn't have their wine with dinner. And while for folks who are lean, and who exercise and eat a generally healthy diet, their wine consumption isn't a problem. But if you aren't doing everything else right (diet & exercise), then wine is just like dessert... extra calories!

Beer, mixed drinks, and wine all contribute to increasing calories. Don't fool yourself into justifying yourself out of getting the fat loss results you seek. Trust me, once you get rid of the body fat, you can re-introduce these pleasures with little effect, but until then... their consumption is your choice to not change your body!

I know.... I'm mean!

Well I hope this information helps give you some concrete steps you can take towards getting rid of any unwanted body fat without the use of harmful (and mostly useless) fat loss supplements!

Please remember, my job is to help you, so if there's anything I can do to help you, please comment below or send me an email at shane@spectrumfitness.ca

While I can't personally reply to every email I get, I will take all your questions and answer them in a future Frequently Asked Questions post.

Have a great week!

:)
Shane Miller, CPT, CSN