Holiday thinking time...

A bit of a random collection of thoughts today. I've been on holiday this last week so I've had some time to get caught up on some reading, get some training done (new gym, so it's been a nice change of scenery). Also had the usual tedious household chores, all while my lovely girlfriend has been in Dublin for a few days with her best friend! Still I've had a bit of peace and quiet so I'm not complaining (too) much.

A book I'm reading at the moment is "Do it Tomorrow" by Mark Forster, who also wrote "Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play."  Some interesting thoughts so far, about thinking about what you are not going to do as well as what you are going to do in order to complete a project or task. I'm going to find this useful I think as I'm great at procrastinating, (I was going to write this yesterday...) Also in the differences between rational (Thought - Decision - Action) and reactive (Stimulus - Reaction) thought processes. Made me realise just how I tend to think and act in certain circumstances, and how I can change my thought process to become so much more productive.

Also reading "Athletic Body in Balance" by Gray Cook. Not far into it yet, but already starting to think more about how to get clients to feel the movement and positioning when I instruct them rather than just showing ar telling them how it should be.

Just finished listening to the latest Strengthcoachpodcast with an interview with Nick Grantham. Some really interesting stuff on there about recovery strategies.  A lot to think about there, more than the blanket approach to recovery that a lot of people use. So I'll be investigating that to a greater detail too.





Also I just cooked up some of these and they smell and look amazing! 

As usual I'm on the Facebook and the Twitter, Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

The Linkz 25th April 2011

Be prepared to get your learn on! Since I'm on holiday this week, its even bigger than usual, and we all know bigger is better...

Tony Gentilcore has Jason Bonn guest on his blog on keeping it simple

Tony also shows an exercise you should be doing. I get loads of great ideas from these posts...

Angelique Kronebusch with some simple advice on getting lean

Mike Robertson gets random on your ass

Alwyn Cosgrove has a guest post form Mike Boyle

Eric Cressey on why your mum is the only one reading your blog. (Thanks ma! Now get back to your deadlifting!)

When is a salad not a salad?...

Joe Dowdell on dynamic warmups from Bodybuilding.com

Eric Cressey clears up the rotator cuff controversy.

John Romaniello on the "ideal" fat loss day. I dont agree with it all but its effective!

A video treat...Dave Tate and the mountaindog have another day in the gym

Dave Tate on the relentless pursuit

Dave Tate again with an old post but it still rocks!

Tom Venuto on obesity paradoxes

Shelby Starnes on T-Nation gives you the cheat meal manifesto

Nate Green on going from scrawny to brawny

Do you know what your calories look like? no? Let Leigh Peele help you out.

Tom Venuto on the surprising metabolic effects of too much cardio.

Caffeine effects on muscle glycogen resynthesis.

And while we are on the topic of caffeine...

Molly Galbraith third installment on Tips for looking good Naked. Part 1 and Part 2.

Bret Contreras with a great post on helping clients to form healthy habits

Dean Somerset on how to achieve your goals part 1, and part 2.

Jason Ferruggia on an "easy" way to gain the respect of your athletes

The Renegade has a great post on evolution, grow or die...

Ben Brunos always awesome "For your viewing pleasure"

Charles Poliquin on why we need supplements...take from it what you will.

Kevin Larrabee with a good post on why you (yes you!) keep failing on your diet.

For the ladies, Jen Comas Keck on the female psyche. Any insight is helpful!

Daniel Schneider on what power lifting means to him. Great article.

Great interview with Jim Wendler on T-Nation.com

When Eric Cressey suggests something to read, you should definitely read it.

Cressey drops a knowledge bomb on why its good to be stiff. Get your mind out of the gutter!

That will do for now. Go, read, enjoy, learn.

And if you want to, I'm on facebook and Twitter

Easter update,

Its holiday time! I have 2 weeks off. 16 days to be exact. To say I'm happy about this would a major understatement!
I feel like I've been going non stop since before Christmas and I'm tired. Its all going to be worth the effort though. Far from being a 2 week laze around, I'm aiming to spend a lot of time on setting up my personal training business, plus its the Royal wedding next week and I'm soooo excited! I've already picked up most of the not-at-all tacky souvenir merchandise (can you feel the sarcasm?)

I've been reading a lot on business, marketing and all the related stuff that goes into it. Damn. Its a lot to think about but I'll find somewhere quiet, get some nice coffee and spend a day getting the basics into place. I've found the Alwyn Cosgrove section on the Strengthcoachpodcast really useful, the way he looks at things is great. Plus, he's also from Scotland, which makes him even cooler. I'll definitely be picking up a few of the books he has talked about to help fill in some of the gaps!

 I'm still reading a lot and I'll be putting up another edition of the links on Monday, and since I'm on holiday, it'll be even bigger than normal! I've read 2 books so far this month and I'm working on the third. I say working, because unlike the 1st two (The Moon is a Balloon- the autobiography of David Niven, which is excellently written and so entertaining, and The spy who came in from the Cold by John Le Carre) this is an anatomy book. I'm trying to become more knowledgeable on how the body works in order to make my clients as awesome as possible! So the book pile that has been stacking up for a while is getting lower, but there are more books on the way...

I've also been training. I'm coming to the end of phase 2 of Eric Cresseys "Maximum Strength" so its deload week for me! Thank goodness, because, as I may have mentioned, I'm tired. Next week will be good though, as I'm joining a new gym here in Edinburgh, Pure Gym. It seem to be relatively well kitted out. Typically for a commercial gym there are rows of cardio crap-ola, but there is a decent looking free weight section, power rack and Trx's ( amazingly, the UK is always behind the US in bringing in new equipment, TRX is still relatively unknown over here, I asked a trainer in my current gym if they had 1, and he hadn't even heard of it...) So everything I need to continue to work my ass off whilst getting concerned looks from the cardio crew as I lift heavier than 30% of my max and squat ATG. And if anyone even thinks of curling in the power rack...

Anyhow, thats enough of the randomness for this week. As always, I'm on facebook, here. And Twitter, here.

Enjoy your Easter weekend, don't eat too many chocolate bunnies...

The linkz 18th April 2011

Another week, another selection of my favourite articles and posts of the last week...

Mike Robertson on experience being key

Mike Robertsons dirty dozen of recovery tips

Harold Gibbons asks the ladies to quit with the girly weights, lift heavy dammit!

Jedd Johnson drinks from the goblet of squat...

Coach Dos' metabolic circuit via Davis fitness blog

Martin Rooney insists that you train like a man. 

Goddamit! He said train like a man! Part 2

Kelly Baggett gets all hip flexor on us

Ben Bruno takes a big step back

Dean Somerset drops a knowledge bomb on scapular stability part 1, and part 2

John Romanello on carbs, fat and protein

Zach Moore regresses the hip hinge

Julia Ladewski on the need for accountability in your training

Ted Perlak on Elite FTS gives 10 tips on programming success

Rachel Cosgrove on the importance of weight training to minimize the risk of osteoporosis

Nick Tumminello interviewed by Judd Borakove, with the added bonus of hot sauce and stevia...

Jen Comas Keck with a kickass brownie recipe

Come fly with me...

This past week had flying down to London for work, staying overnight and flying home the following evening. While this was kinda fun, getting out of the store for a couple of days, flying through the skies in a big metal bird, staying in cheap nasty hotel that didn't have a toilet in the room (I mean, what hotel in a major city doesn't have a toilet in the freaking room?) - there was a down side.  Food when you travel kinda sucks ass...

This was the offering on the flight down. 2 rashers of bacon, a sausage, 4 button mushrooms, some kind of tomato sauce, and you see right behind the bacon in the corner? Right behind the bacon? That yellow stuff peeking out is egg. Apparently. Add to the mix, a tiny white roll, some butter, a tiny carton of orange juice and a coffee, and there you go, a hearty breakfast to set you up for the rest of the day!

It doesn't stop there. No sir! The airport, the train station, underground and most of the shops on the route, sell nothing but processed crap that give you loads of extra carbs, some taste and nothing in the way of nutrients. If you do find healthy options, they cost the price of your first born child and come in tiny packets.

 So, you  have 2 options, take the carby, sugary, nutrient free crap that makes you more sluggish than your typical tourist within a few hours, or plan ahead. Take enough snack sized packs of nuts, fruit, and decent food with you that you don't need to take option 1. I am getting better at this, my first couple of trips with work, I ate on the run most of the time, and by the end of the trips, I felt crap. Now I plan ahead, I took a couple of wraps made up of grilled chicken, peppers, guacamole and spinach with me. I had a couple of apples and a banana with me along with a bag of almonds and a bag of brazil nuts. I picked up a couple of cartons of low fat milk when I was thirsty, (not to mention a coffee or 3!) and plenty of water when I was at work. With this, I felt so much better at the end of the first day, the couple of beers I had when I briefly met up with friends after work on the Thursday night were pretty good too!

Next day, breakfast at the hotel looked pretty abysmal. More of the processed carb offerings that would have done me no favours at all for the upcoming day, not to mention costing an arm and a leg for the privilege! So on the way to the tube station, I found a supermarket, where I loaded up on fruit, nuts, a couple of wraps of falafel and humous and a bottle of water, and had me a good start to the day.

Due to the nature of the day, and the pain in the behind time I had to leave to get back to the airport, I ate lunch kinda late at the airport. I had a chicken salad, when I asked for no dressing I think the waitress was gonna call security on me, as I was obviously a crazy!  It was good though. Kept me going till  I got home and then we had a pizza... Come on! It was late and I'm only human...

By the way, if you want a good snack to have in your bag on the go, get some unsalted mixed nut, a small amount of salted peanuts and some high cocoa dark chocolate squares, divide them all into smallish portions and bag them. When you are hungry they do a great job in filling the gap and keeping you going till chow time!

You can get me on facebook, or on twitter.

The linkz - 11th April 2011

Another week, another 20 or so articles/ posts that have rocked this past week. Enjoy!

Jason Ferruggia looks at how deep squats should go.

Michael Ranfone explains how to improve movement capacity, i.e. looking powerful and moving athletically

Nick Tumminello talks about his top 3 mistakes as a trainer and those of clients

Tony Gentilcore supplements your knowledge of supplements...part 1 and part 2

Mike Robertson on corrective exercise

Part 2 of Molly Galbraith showing us how to look good naked

Great article from Alwyn Cosgrove on thinking outside of the fitness industry

Zach Moore on the hip hinge

Kevin Larrabee on maximising your results part 1, part 2 and part 3 

Joe Meglio does a guest post on the Diesel Crew site on Nutrition for Athletes

Angelique Kronebusch on awesome breakfasts to adequately break your fast!

Mike Reinold on why you shouldn't fatigue your R.C.  

Joe Hashey breaks down muscle fibre types on the Synergy Athletics site

Squat clean or power clean? Erik Rokeach shows us the difference. 

Mike Robertson interviews Molly Galbraith and Jen Comas Keck 

Brad Schoenfeld at workout 911 interviews Nick Tummuinello

Jeff McDole Jr looks at periodization at Elite

Smitty looks at warm ups to negate all the bad stuff you put your body through away from the gym

Enjoy your reading time , learn something!

Facebook or Twitter?

The results are in...

The end is in sight! I got the email today telling me I had passed the 3 exams I recently sat. I did pretty well, 90%, 87% and a pass. (The last one was a simple pass/fail result, no mark was given. Its not like I'm too embarrassed to tell you what i got in it!)

So, thats that then...

1 of my friends asked me a couple of weeks ago, while I was studying over lunch at work, "I bet you'll be glad to be done with the studying once your exams are done?"
"Huh?"
"Well, once you have passed, you won't need to do all this reading anymore."

I couldn't get across to her, that I will, forever more, reading on the topics of health and fitness. That the learning doesn't just end once you get certified. And that is what I love about this, I will never stop learning, because this is what I want to do, not only "do," but excel at. I want to be the guy that people come to because they know that they will get the results they want, I want to be the best at what I do.

Now I know that that is a tall order. There are a lot of trainers out there that are very very good at what they do, but I want to reach the level that they are on in terms of knowledge, experience and results, and I'm willing to put in the work necessary to get there.

So, the learning will continue, I will get better, and will be sharing the info and my thoughts on it all on here as I go.

On another note, did anyone not see the world record deadlift? If you didn't, Where the hell have you been? watching the biggest loser? Here it is...

Now thats strong! I love the control on the way down...awesome.

I'm on Facebook (dave ballantine) and Twitter (B_FAST) for those who may be interested... I'm gonna get buttons for these eventually, seem to be getting trouble getting them to work!

The linkz...4th april 2011

I read a lot. Lots of articles, blogs, forums etc, I'm reading more books, both fiction and non-fiction alike. I've set myself the challenge of 2 books a month on top of all the rest of it. So, in my benificent way, I'm going to share on a weekly basis, the articles that have caught my eye and that I have taken something from.

It may be new exercises, better techniques, coaching cues, something entertaining. Whatever it is that caught my attention, hopefully you will be able to take something from it too.

Without any further ado...
Leigh Peele hows how to read research
The renegade Jason Ferruggia explains why we should cut out sugar from our diet
Nick Tumminello looks at the 12 worst supplements and 11 you should consider
Molly Galbraith on how to look good naked
Chad Waterbury on how to improve your squat in 30 secs
Jason Ferruggia posts on the 27 tips for healthier shoulders, part 1, part 2 and part 3.
Tom Venuto looks at the 7 biggest mistakes for fat loss relapse.
Eating on the run? No problem with these snacks from bodybuilding.com
Typically high quality from Mike Robertson on stability
A great blog on learning to help you become a better coach from Zach Moore
Tony Gentilcore makes you bulletproof
Matt Kroczaleski on how to flip on your "confidence switch"
Nick Grantham on his 10 commandments of training
The Glute Guy on spinal rotation
Dean Somersets women kick ass
Brian St Pierres nutrition tip no. 4
Leigh Peeles food finds
Mike Reinold waxes lyrical on the 2 exercises you should be doing every week

Enjoy!