2015 fitness rules of engagement

The new year is coming and the influx of fitness, health and weightloss resolutions is at it's highest point. Motivation to start needs to come from want, not need. If you say I need to lose weight, need to join a gym or need to hire a trainer then you'll probably fail by that mindset alone. Want has to come from the desire for change, growth and improvement. Let's begin...

1. Make a list of goals. It will open your eyes to what you really want. Once you've established a list then research what fulfills those goals. Just joining a big box gym isn't going to cut. If you like dancing find a Zumba studio, if you like hardcore old school stuff look for a CF or small studio that lifts kettlebells and flips tires. Get it!

2. Don't expect, earn results. Most people fail because they think sweating and breathing hard should equate to magic results. NO. A trainer or facility must provide structure, format and programming. That's the secret SHEEPLE. This archaic BS of jump around, jump on, bastardized techniques and overtraining are recipes for injury, pain and set back. Train smarter, NOT harder.

3. Seek a mentor, coach or trainer. I'm an expert and rely upon better experts to enhance and support my knowledge. I attend high level training seminars and workshops to be on the cutting edge. Seek online coaching or consult with a trainer once a month or so for ideas, feedback and new training methods. It's worth the investment.

4. You are what you eat. Nutrition/food choices are 75% of the game. Ya gotta learn to eat protein that supports your lean muscle, actually learn that fruits and veggies are your friends and high fiber whole grains aren't the enemy. Focus on grassfed and organic meats and dairy. Organic fruits and veggies are best but that's a consumer $ choice. Whole grains are not whole wheat. Sweet potatoes, quinoa, steelcut oats etc... Food pairings. Aka a protein and carb together work well. Learn what the glycemic index is and how carbs breakdown and trigger hormone release/response. Leptin, ghrelin, insulin and cortisol. Do some ReadSearch. My word!

5. Always focus on strength training as your foundation. It'll build and support your health better then any other activity. Muscle equals metabolism.

A great training program for building lean muscle & healing some wear n tear. CONTRAST TRAINING

    The priamry goal of anybody who engages in strength training is muscle hypertrophy. One of the best training methods for achieving this gained popularity in the 80's and 90's. This method was titled the PUSH-PULL training principle. Joe Weider was the main force behind this training system. It fundamentally involves using a push or extension exercise followed by a pull curl exercise. This can be be done set for set or exercise for exercise. The main benefits of this type of training where incredible pumps into muscle because of the blood flow, the ability to work multiple muscles repeatedly and increase capillary and type 2a muscle fiber activation. 

    As training research and science have expanded over the past 20 years many other training systems have been discovered and developed. Another training method that can be utilized to maximize muscle hypertrophy is TEMPO training. Strength Coach Charles Poliquin brought this type of training to the mainstream. This involves setting a timed or count for each phase of your repetitions. Conentric, pause and Eccentric. This type of training enables you to focus the exact stimulus any athlete or fitness participant desires. The basic breakdown would look like this for each rep 4-0-2, 3-1-3 and so on. These are just examples for tempo. For each and every muscle group, exercise and desired training goal a tempo can be designed to enhance the training outcome. The priority of muscle growth would dictate slower eccentric tempos of 3-5 seconds, power, speed or explosive training would use a 1-2 second tempo primarliy on the concentric part of a lift and of course the variation can be adjusted towards other training goals.

    This brings us to the concept of CONRAST training. This is the hybrid usage of both of these methods. Again this a fundamental approach to primarily increase lean muscle mass. Contrast training is highly utilized in sports conditioning for speed training. Here our focus will involve muscle growth. Think in terms of pairing compound movements together with the Push-Pull method while specifically using Tempo to maximize your training. I've also found this to be highly effective at helping reduce wear and tear to soft tissue while even promoting some healing to tendons and ligaments. These secondary benefits occur with the controlled form and technique of executing the exercises along with the enourmous pump that this type of training induces. Over many years working with hundreds of athletes and personal training clients this type of training is best done right after a heavy lifting period, pre season or during the peak of off season training to really benefit and promote muscle hypertrophy and healing.

Some really good examples of how to use Contrast Training for Chest and Back training are below.

Dips with a 3-1-2 tempo (eccentric, pause and concentric). 

Pull Ups with a 2-1-3 tempo (concentric, pause and eccentric).

* If these exercises are difficult for your individual fitness level you can substituteIncline Push Ups with TRX Pull Ups.

* If you are able to perform 10 full ROM reps with strict tempo then start to use sandbags or a weighted vest/belt to keep the training level appropriate.

Prone DB Row on a bench with a 3-1-3 tempo (concentric, pause, eccentric). 

Supine Incline DB press on a bench with a 3-1-3 tempo (concentric, pause, eccentric).

* Set the bench at 45* for both exercises.

    Implementing this type of training offers a new and fresh intense muscle stimulus. I always prepare athletes and clients to be sore after the first few workouts. Rest intervals should be 30-60 seconds between sets to maximize the results. It is most effective when planned and scripted out. Don't attempt to do multiple set after set. Pick a few few compund exercises that work oppossing muscle groups and focus on the effort and execution. The training volume takes care of itself.

The #1 failure of the Fitness industry

To much opinion with ONLY, BEST AND TOP 1-10 reasons. #rxtfittip I saw an article today from a very good training source stating "the #1 reason your diet is failing" DIET,REASON! That's your failure right there in a headline. DIETS DONT WORK AND ABSOLUTES ARE OPINION. Learn to eat to optimize/stabilize insulin, leptin, ghrelin and cortisol. That'll pretty much take care of it SHEEPLE. #fitfluential

The foundations of fitness must be rediscovered

This blog will not be pretty nor nice. I will bring the truth from the trenches. Its time to decipher, clear up and break down all the BEST, ONLY, HAVE TO and SECRETS to Fitness. To many theories and opinions and not enough basic science, experience and research based plans of action. Get ready for some simple but fundamental truths to be broken down. Clear, concise and honest. I've been in the sports and fitness realm since 1984 and will bring every bit of me to this blog.