Need to get back to blogging!

Soooo..... Long time, no chat!

I've really been pretty damn poor when it comes to maintaining this here blog. Not really got a good excuse, just been busy at the gym, trying to build a client base and keeping on top of everything that needs doing!

But here I am, back again. Ive been working hard to try to block my time better and build better structure into my days. The better I am at doing this, the more time I can free up to do what I'd like to be doing. Not always easy, but worth putting the effort in for!

I thought I'd put down a few thoughts and get the ball rolling on this again.

1. While most people in the gym are looking for fatloss, most are going about it entirely the wrong way. Endless hours on cardio, then the girls go half heartedly lifting teeny tiny weights for endless reps so they dont get bulky and guys do endless bicep curls.

NOT GONNA GET THE JOB DONE!!!!!

If its fat loss you are chasing, you need to lift something heavy enough to challenge you for around 8 - 12 reps, for 10 to 12 total sets, then finish with some kind of interval training. You'll create a fat burning sh!t storm that will last for hours after you finish your training session.

And for the love of all that is holy, tidy up your diet!

2. Mirrors should be banned from the gym floor. If I see another semi-ripped dude lift his shirt to check to see if his ripped abz are still there, I'm gonna hit him with something...

3. Lots of people don't really understand what Personal Trainers actually do. No we don't stand over you shouting at you to do 1 more rep! with some random exercise selection thatll get you nowhere while we pocket your hard earned cash.
We motivate, encourage, guide, congratulate and help you correct all the imbalances you have whilst creating a better, stronger, leaner and generally more awesome version of you!

Not so good, its this type of thing that give us a bad name...

4. Time management is important, regardless of what you do. The more planning you do for your days, the more time you will free up. Sounds odd but its absolutely true! Plan your day, stick to it and enjoy the freedom it'll create. I would highly recommend Craig Ballantines' Time Management ebook. Some great tips in there and I have no issue recommending it highly!

5. I've been stalling on some of my lifts, deadlifts have plateaued at 175kg, squats are brutal, bench is stalled at 100kg for 4 and my military press is shameful. What to do? Jim Wendlers 5, 3, 1. Thats what. 1 week in and all is going well so far. That said, I'm only 1 week in...we'll see where it leads but its forcing me to evaluate my weeknesses and start attacking them.

6. When it comes to fat loss, 2 factors matter more than anything:

Intensity

Intensity over duration...every single time!

and, Nutrition

And thats it. For now....I am gonna try to be better at posting to here.

In the meanwhile,

Stay Healthy.

If you are struggling to drop body fat, or find you have reached a sticking point consider the following...

You are eating carbs at the wrong time...

For most people any time is the wrong time. I would recommend lots of veggies and some post workout rice, pasta or potatoes. And  once per week on your cheat day.

Otherwise limit carb consumption to post workout and night time. You don’t want to load up on starchy carbs during the day to avoid the post carb crash and stay alert throught the day. Save for them for your evening meal so you can improve serotonin production and enhance your bodys ability to recover.

You’re Not Eating Enough Protein

Generally women are more guilty of this but guys can make this mistake as well.
Most resources would recommend around 100 grams of protein per day, if not a gram per pound, so for a 9 stone woman for example, that would be 126g protein per day.

People who eat a sufficient amount of protein usually end up having an easier time getting lean than those who don’t.

Your liver is over worked

 Everything that goes into your body has to be processed by the liver.
That means piece of chicken, tomato, biscuit, pringle, alcoholic drink, juice or glass of water that enters the body puts a stress on the liver.   If you are constantly eating and drinking less than optimally and overstressing the liver, fat loss will become that bit more difficult. Reduce or cut out alcohol, eat more organic, grass fed (as opposed to grain fed) meats, and try periods of intermittent fasting to reduce the stress on your liver and fat loss should become easier. For a guide to Intermittent Fasting, check out this awesome link.

You’re eating too much fruit and/ or nuts.

Huh? What about my 5 a day?? Fruit is great, I love it, but fruit is sugar, and while its great in limited amounts, fructose (a sugar found in fruit) is sugar and excess amounts can lead to fat gain.
Fructose can only be processed by the liver and once liver glycogen stores are full the excess gets converted to triglycerides and stored as body-fat. If you want to get lean cut fruit out for a while or limit it to one or two servings per day. Make sure you maintain your 5 a day habit (5 is really a bare minimum, I personally would aim for double figures, its easier than you think!) by increasing your veggie intake to ensure you get all the necessary nutrients these provide.

You are doing too much cardio...

Typical cardio training sessions are pretty much useless for fat loss.
Excessive amounts of cardio (anything above about 15 mins of steady state cardio) leads to an increase of cortisol which in turn leads to more abdominal fat.
 And no-one should ever find themselves on an cross trainer. Ever.

Best use of a cross trainer ever...

funnydayswithmommyandmaddie.com

You’re not getting enough sleep.

When you’re short on sleep your insulin sensitivity decreases and your cortisol goes up. Both things lead to less than optimal fat loss.
You also miss out on the critically important Growth Hormone boost that comes each night during deep sleep. If you want to lose more fat you have to get more sleep. Most people ignore this factor when it comes to fat loss, unfortunately this just might be the most important factor of all of the above.

What I've learned from my time in the happy land that is retail...

So, one of my dreams is about to come true. I'm gonna be able to do what I love full time!

happygrafitti.com

 

A bit of background...I fell into the world of retail by chance. I'd lost my job and bumped into an old friend who was a department manager in store in Edinburgh and he got me a temporary contract. I thought it would be a way to tide me over for a while so I took it. To cut the story short, I got kept on and fell into the retail trap. One thing led to another and got into a couple of luxury stores and BAM! 8 years later, my soul was gradually being sucked out.

So I took the chance to try and make my passion into my career. Throughout my while time working in retail, my hobby of training and fitness developed into my passion. I went andstudied for the qualifications over an 18 month period, and started to formalise my learning. The more I learned, the more I loved it and the more I realised I was on the right track. That the decision to follow my dream was the right one! Surprise surprise huh?!

So, after starting out with a few clients on my own, I'm about to start in a commercial gym full time as a Personal Trainer. I cannot wait!

Seriously, I've not been this excited in a loooooooooong time!

But  my time in retail hasn't been wasted completely. I've made some good friends, learnt a lot and improved my communication skills and selling abilities. Not to mention I've gotten a few really nice suits... :)

So, a few things I've learned from selling rich folks expensive clothing that will be of use in the future...

• Customer service is really really important. You may well have the best product on the market, but if you treat your customers like crap, they will go elsewhere.
• While the customer is always right, more often than not don't know what the hell they are talking about or looking for. 
• You have to know your product in order to be able to sell it to the right person. 
• The further up the management tree you look, the less in touch with reality the people you find are.
• If you go the extra mile for a client, they will always come back to you.
• You have to listen to the client, then use your smarts to figure out what exactly it is they want. They usually have no clear idea what that actually is.
• You can't judge a book by its cover. A cliche I know, but talk to everyone the same way and you get a better reaction and build a better relationship than if you try to judge before you choose who to speak to.

I feel all the above points will help me in the personal training career I'm about to embark on,  I would love to say I've enjoyed life in retail, but I would be lying. I can't wait to take my learning to another level, and put my knowledge and skills into practice. I can't wait to see where this will take me!
I'm glad I've found a way to make my dream a reality. Wish everyone could be so lucky!

Stay healthy.

Which body type are you?

If you are dutifully plodding along to the gym, doing a cookie cutter program from a magazine or website, eating well, you might be overlooking a factor that will have a pretty big effect on your success in the gym - your body type. Thats right, your body's basic shape and traits will have pros and cons when it comes to bulking up and slimming down.

This overview will give you an idea of how to tailor your training, nutrition and supplements to maximise results.

There are 3 body types:

•  ectomorph - the skinny guy, the hard gainer.
•  endomorph - the chunky guy, the hard loser.
• mesomorph - The lucky guy, hard luck to the rest of us

Here's a look at the pros and cons of each...

 

ECTOMORPH

An ectomorph is a typical skinny guy, this is the guy who can eat all day and their super fast metabolism burns through it all like wildfire. Generally ectos have a smaller build with small joints and lean muscle.Usually they will be long limbed with narrow shoulders. Think Will Smith or Angelina Jolie ( although in my opinion she has gone way too skinny recently...)

Msn.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pros of being a hard gainer:

Fast metabolism
Can lose fat very quickly

Cons of said hard gainer:

Hard gainer
Narrower shoulders
Hard to gain weight
Smaller bone structure
Fast metabolism (thats right, I put it in both, gift and a curse!)

Ectomorphs find it very hard to gain weight. They have a fast metabolism which burns up calories very quickly meaning we need a huge amount of calories in order to gain weight. Workouts should be short and intense focusing on big muscle groups. Cardio can be cut back as gaining weight is difficult enough.
I would definitely recommend supplements.  Generally, ectomorphs can lose fat very easily which makes cutting back to lean muscle easier for them.

MESOMORPH

A mesomorph has a large bone structure, large muscles and a naturally athletic physique. Mesomorphs make for great body builders, their natural shape and ability to put on muscle is a great place to start! They find it quite easy to gain and lose weight. They tend to be naturally strong which is the perfect base for building muscle.

Think Daniel Craig or Gabrielle Reece.

Pros of being a mesomorph:
Naturally athletic in shape
Strong
Gain muscle easily

Cons of being a mesomorph:
Gains fat easily
Need to watch their calorie intake 

The mesomorph body type responds the best to weight training with gains usually seen very quickly, especially for beginners. The downside to mesomorphs is they gain fat more easily than ectomorphs. This means they must watch their calorie intake. Usually a combination of weight training and cardio works best for mesomorphs.

ENDOMORPH

The endomorph body type is stockier and generally soft. Endomorphs gain fat easily and are usually of a shorter build with thick arms and legs. Generally they are strong, especially the upper legs, usually are naturally strong in leg exercises like the squat.

Think  Russell Crowe or Dita Von Teese

Pros of being an Endomorph:

Usually naturally strong
Gain muscle easily


Cons of being an endomorph:
Gains fat easily
Shorter limbs
Harder to drop fat
Slow metabolism

When it comes to training endomorphs find it very easy to gain weight. Unfortunately, a large portion of this weight is fat not muscle. To keep fat gain to a minimum, endomorphs should watch their calorie intake and train cardio as well as weights. Supplements may not be needed as long as the person has a high protein intake in their diet.


There it is, a basic look at body types.These are general guides to somatotypes and you may find that you are a mix of two. But if you are aware of your body type and know what the pros and cons are then you know how to tailor your training and nutrition to maximise your results.

And remember that regardless of your body type, your genetics won't hold you back from an awesome body if you take care of your nutrition and train hard!

Stay healthy.

A little common sense

Sometimes things are too good to be true. And generally if something sounds too good to be true, it is.

A pill that will strip all that fat. Nope.
30 sec abz. Not gonna happen.
Getting bitten by a radioactive spider that gives you superpowers. Erm... 

Unfortunately, if you are out of shape, got a body fat percentage double what it should be and the eating habits of Homer Simpson, the only "magic" solution is consistent, directed hard work, both nutritionally and with your training.

Sorry, but thats all that is gonna get the job done. You can certainly mix things up a little and some fun with it,  but you have to be willing to put in some effort to get what you want!

What you need is a solid training plan. Then you need to follow it. All the way through. Program jumping is only gonna leave you frustrated and no further forward than where you started.

You need a good nutrition plan. And guess what? You need to stick to it.

Slashfood.com

You need to set your goals. Then get about ticking them off.

So, your mission is this -

• pick a program from a coach you know gets results, or
• start working with a trainer with a reputation for getting great results.
• See the program through to the end
• find a solid nutrition plan which isn't gimmick based, and stick to it!
• get great results!

And you know what? The results will come. Work hard and stay dedicated past the novelty stage and they could come quicker than you thought possible.

But if you rely on the quick fix, the magic bullet or something suspiciously too good to be true, then you'll be spinning your wheels and throwing good money after bad.

So, next time you think of trying super abz 3001 or super phat burn3r magic pill. Ask yourself if it sounds too good to be true.

It probably is...

Stay healthy

The Linkz 12th March 2012

I suck.
This was supposed to go out on Friday of last week and I get a little good news and BAM! my brain goes and forgets to do stuff!
Since you ask, I got a job with Virgin at one of their gyms here in Edinburgh, not only do I get to build more experience training folks, but I get to go to work in trainers and get access to a shit ton of continuing education! Win-win if you ask me.

So, a couple of days late but here are the best of the linkz from last week (with a couple of bonuses from the weekend to make up for the lateness!)

First off Harold Gibbons on front squats and SLDLs

Tony Gentilcore has a couple of the things that bother him about the fitness industry

Zach Moore with a great interview with Rick Kaselj, and zach has moved over to zmoore.com

Scott Hansen guests on Dean Somersets blog, 3 simple fixes for common problems

Chad Waterbury with an awesome interview with Dr McGill on T-Nation

Ben Bruno is a strong strong dude, despite supposedly suspect genetics.

Elite FTS comes with an awesome 3 parter on techniques for advanced lifters, part 1, part 2 and part 3.

John Romaniello has a knack for coming up with clever article titles...

Jason Ferruggia hits you with 50 renegade nutrition tips

Nia Shanks follows up Lift like a girl with Lift like a girl part 2.

Molly Galbraith and the art of the deload

Neghar Fonooni apparently is a nut butter nut... 

Marianne Kane gets motivated

Precision Nutrition asks why are you still using a microwave? 

Tony Gentilcore with miscellaneous Monday.

John Meadows brings chains and bands from powerlifting to bodybuilding

And since you are reading all this (and you are reading this stuff right??) Mark Young has some advice on what you read on the Personal Training Development Centre

Read, enjoy and use some of this stuff!

Stay healthy.

Top 5 supplements

I love to eat. I really do, and I eat a lot!
But its often necessary to add to what you eat by using supplements. Here are my top 5...

Whey protein

Our bodies need proteins and their component amino acids to produce the enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, and antibodies that alllow our bodies to function optimally. Without an adequate protein intake, our bodies just can’t function well. Protein helps replace worn out cells, assists in transporting various substances throughout the body, and importantly for us gym junkies, aids in growth and repair.

How much protein you ask? Well it, like so many other things, depends, mostly on your activity level.
The minimum recommendation for protein intake is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight for untrained, generally healthy adults.  This amount will only prevent protein deficiency however. For those of us who train regularly and hard, the optimal amount is higher. For people doing high intensity training, protein needs might go up to about 1.4-2.0 g/kg of body weight. To use me as an example, at 94kgs, I take in between 131 and 188g of protein each day.

This is the one I use, the vanilla is great!

Creatine

First a quick science lesson...
For quick and powerful movements lasting fewer than 10 seconds, such as a sprint, the energy demands are met by the phosphate energy system. This system uses ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which provides energy to the working cells. Muscles have an existing amount of ATP ready for action, but only enough for a few seconds work. ATP is broken down by removing a phosphate, which turns it into adenosine diphosphate (two phosphates). The energy released during this reaction is what fuels the muscle contractions.  To make more ATP, the muscles need to get the missing third phosphate from somewhere. Creatine, or more exactly creatine phosphate, is that somewhere.
It gives up its phosphate so that ADP can once again become ATP again, ready for the cycle to begin again and allow you to continue with the sprint etc

This is the pack I use.

Fish oil

It’s rich in two groups of omega-3 fatty acids (DHA and EHA), also found in things like flax and walnuts.
Omega-3s are very important for health, including

• cardiovascular function
• nervous system function and brain development
• immune health
• cell membranes
• DHA and EPA, can increase metabolism.

Since we can't make omega 3 (or 6) fatty acids in our bodies, they need to come from our diet. Omega 6 is the easy one...plant oils,  corn fed animals and vegetable oils which are in almost all processed foods mean that our omega 6 levels are often close to 20 times the levels of omega 3, when we should have a 1:1 ratio of omega 3:omega 6.

I use this one.

Vitamin D

Studies show that low vitamin D levels are associated with:

• Increased loss of muscle strength and mass as we age
• Increased risk of cancers
• Lower levels of immunity
• Higher blood pressure
• The development of neurological disorders
• The development of diabetes 

First of all, you should know that vitamin D isn't really a vitamin, we don't need food to get it. Sunlight allows the body to create vitamin D. Sunshine will give most of it, (glass and sun cream will block most of it) and since we are not in the sunniest climate we need an alternative source...1000 - 2000 IU per day is recommended.

I use this one.


Caffeine

Ah caffeine. Love it!
Its the worlds most commonly used drug and its effects are well known. After about 30 mins of consumption, alertness and awareness are improved peaking about 60 mins after consumption. Around 3 mg/kg of body weight are recommended, so for me at 94kgs, 282mg is the dosage to achieve performance effects (around 3 cups of instant coffee at 95 mg/cup) although 3 cups of coffee before a workout is only gonna end in a puddle on the floor... A caffeine tablet or energy drink would work too.

More than 400mg/day is considered too much, as it'll start to give you the shakes and lead to anxiety and irritability.

Try to only use it when you need it as consistent use will cause you to become less effected by it and you lose the potential benefits.


Bonus!!


I always try to over deliver (or under promise...) so here is number 6 on the list!


Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)

The BCAAs  (leucine, isoleucine, and valine0 are, which are the only amino acids not degraded in the liver. All other amino acids are regulated by the intestine and the liver before distributin to elsewhere in the body. BCAAs are burned for energy during exercise,making them an important source of fuel during exercise and are key to the synthesis of protein.

To encourage protein synthesis and therefore muscle growth, you need to have an adequate source of BCAAs in your bloodstream (particularly leucine) in your system during and/or after your workout.

A carb, protein and bcaa drink during and after your training session is hugely important if you want to not head down the slippery slope of catabolism!You can add BCAAs into your post workout shake at around 5g /hour of training.

I use these

I would just like to say that I don't receive a penny from my recommendations of any of the above products, but if anyone from Myprotein.co.uk reads this...I wouldn't complain if some supps were to find themselves coming my way...

Stay healthy.

The Linkz 2nd March 2012

The Linkz are here again! Some of the best links out there on the interwebz...

  

Nia Shanks gives us 3 reasons women make the best Olympic weightlifters.

Tony Gentilcore with a 3 parter on chin up progressions for women. Part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Jesse Irizarry on proper core training on T-Nation.

Mike Robertson drops knowledge bombs regarding training around upper body pain.

Bret Contreras with the third Contreras Files

Jim Wendler on conditioning

Charlotte Ord with 5 mins to a sexy stomach

Molly Galbraith with some great conditioning options

Charles Poliquin on how to get lower in your squat.

John Romaniello with 15 mins to strong and sexy arms.

Tim Henriques on why you really, really should be keeping a workout log.

Adam Bornstein asks if the gym is making you fail?

Awesomeness from Smitty Diesel.

Enjoy. Have an awesome week!

Stay healthy.

The Linkz 25th Feb 2012

Its that time of the week again, The Linkz are here!

First off, a double header from Mike Robertson - An interview with Dean Somerset, and 34 quotes from the Charlie Weingroff seminar.

 Harold Gibbons has some wise words from Wooden and Wolf

Precision Nutrition comes up trumps with an awesome multi-part compliance series, part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.

Ladies should be doing chin ups. Tony Gentilcore shows you the way.

Ben Bruno has 8 great tips for putting more pull in your program

Dean Somerset takes a look at the leg press, spoiler alert! Its not totally worthless.

He also has 5 (count em!) types of awesome for you.

Ben Bruno again, this time with can vs can't

Marianne Kane with an evil awesome 500 rep kettlebell challenge

Neghar Fonooni asks if you are using the right tools?

Charles Poliquin on the awesomeness of coffee

Jim Smith gets back to the old skool...

John Romaniello looks at complexes

An interview with Joe Dowdell

There you have it, Enjoy!

Stay healthy.

The other 166...

The are 168 hours in a week, thats quite a lot...

If you are doing 3 sessions in the gym - well done, but lets face it, most of you will be doing 2 or less. I actually found out today that the average weekly attendance for gyms in the U.K. is 0.82 visits per week!

Shocking!

So assuming you are doing a little better than twice the national average, that leaves 166 hours that you have free to sabotage the hard work you are doing. You are working hard right? Right??

Lets assume that you are getting 8 hours sleep each night, that's a big assumption I know (most are probably less), but just go with it. That's 56 hours of sleep, 110 left...

Now, most of you will be working on your asses, no not on making them biggKer (though that will be happening for some of you...) I mean in a seated position. For about 8 hours a day. Now I know there isn't a lot you can do about that, but we'll get to that.

Theres another 40 hours, and we'll call it an hour and a half round trip to and from work. so add in another 7.5 hours, probably seated on a bus, train or car.

There we are, 62.5 hours left. 28 of those are, you guessed it, drum roll please... 28 hours on your ass in front of the tv! Thats 4 hours each day in front of the goggle box. 34.5 to go...

Thats 5 a day roughly, take an hour for dragging yourself out of bed and out the door in the a.m. and another hour in the evening messing around doing "stuff." Some time preparing dinner/ calling for takeaway food, maybe a shower, read a little, some family time and before you know it, times up.

Now, I'm not saying that all this a big useless waste of time...but kinda really is. But lets be honest, 2 hours of gym time isn't gonna reverse the effects of 70+hours of sitting and general wasting of time.

Butt (see what I did there...?) its really pretty straight forward to help your self out:

1. When you are at work, get up ever now and again, at least once an hour. Even if its just going to get a quick drink of water, or just standing to stretch out yourself, do it. Your body will thank you for it and you'll feel a whole lot better for doing it. And while you are at it go for a walk around the building to to the park at lunch.
2. Do you really need that 4 hours in front of the tv? Guess what, you don't. If there is something you really can't do without, by all means watch it or Sky+ it. Go out, put 1 or 2 of those hours into an extra gym class, go for a walk, play outside with your kids if you have them. But go do something!
3. When you are in the gym, for the love of all that is holy, steer clear of the sitty down machines. You've sat all day, probably had to sit in the car to get to the gym, don't add sitting on machines at the gym to the list. Its long enough!
4. Use compound lifts, complexes, sprints, carries, bodyweight exercises to get the biggest bang for your buck that you can.
5. Foam roll, get a good warm up with plenty of dynamic stretching and mobility to get your body moving.

If you work with a trainer or you just train on your own or with a friend, its up to you to look after those "other" hours to make sure you aren't just using the gym as a place to hang out and shoot the sh!t. You owe it to yourself (and your trainer if you have one) to help yourself as much as you can.
So go do something (now that you have sat on your rear long enough to read this...)


Stay Healthy

The Linkz 19th Feb 2012

Another week is about to begin! Hopefully you've had a great weekend and are ready to totally dominate the week ahead!

To help you out and keep you learning and motivated, I present this weeks Linkz!!

Mike Robertson kicks things off with a look at stretches

Eric Cressey had been getting his learn on in 2011.

Molly Galbraith on cheating or not...with food that is...

Getting long and strong with Tony Gentilcore

Jen Comas Keck on the importance of Recovery, thats with a Capital "R", cause its important!

Nia Shanks talks eating habits and triggers.

Jim Smith on warmups and foam rollers

And follows it with some inspiration, awesome read!

Great article from Duncan Ogilvie  on the misconceptions around female training

Jonathan Goodman with a glimpse into his desk...

Badass Roger Law on challenges

Another great post from Jen Comas Keck on the food police and making choices.

Charles Poloquin on 10 factors to live longer and stronger

Dean Somerset on getting crazy prison fit...

Todd Hargrove on the myths surrounding toning.

Martin Rooney wants to know if you love Mondays?

There we have it, go, read, learn!

Have an awesome week.

Stay healthy!

The Linkz 11th Feb 2012

How is everybody doing? Hope your weeks are going great! Mine has been pretty great, I did a DiSC profiling session at the start of the week. If you don't know what that is, and I'll be honest, I had no idea either! Its totally worth looking into. Its a behavioral analysis that is frighteningly accurate! I was a skeptic but Anne the profiler was amazing and really helped me understand how to get the best out of myself and others. Its an ongoing process but I see an amazing change already! If you are in the Edinburgh area and might be interested in finding out more get in touch with me and I'll forward the details!

Anyhoo, on with the best of the Linkz!

A great article from Mike Roussell on T-Nation on carb cycling, the only cycling I ever do...

Molly Galbraith has a great new site, and wants you to ask "Whats your Why?"

Dean Somerset gets Thoracic on your ass. Part 1, part 2 and part 3. Fantastic!

10 awesome shakes from Elite FTS. Nom nom!

Neghar Fonooni has a new 6 letter dirty word for you... A clue?? It begins with car, and ends in dio...

Tony Gentilcore revisists a classic.

John Romaniello breaks Intermittent Fasting down. Hot topic, great post!

Charlotte Ord looks at the Biggest Loser style of fat loss.

Bret Contreras has some randomness for you.

Mike Robertson knows knees...

6 from 6, tips from coaches that is, Ben Bruno on T-Nation

Let Marianne Kane guide you through your first time. With a kettlebell that is...

Interview with Girl Gone Strong Julia Ladewski on Driventrainingsystems.com

Enjoy!

Stay healthy.

Single leg training, if you don't, you should...

I love single leg work. Its a challenge, it demands greater levels of stability, helps create strength and its absolutely necessary in my opinion. Think about it, you spend a whole load of time on 1 leg...
Walking down the street? Yes.
Going up or down stairs? Yes.
Fancy going for a jog? All one leg.
I could go on but I'm sure you get the point. You spend a whole bunch of time on one leg and to do that successfully, you need stability and strength.

This isnt gonna do it...

When you take a step, on the flat, going up or down a staircase, taking a stride during a run your body needs to create stability at the knee, hips and core.  Without the strength to stabilise the hips theres a bunch of ouch in your future! 

When you take a step, your weight goes on to 1 leg and your other leg lifts off the ground. Without stability, your hips on the unsupported side would drop stressing out your lumbar spine.

(A) is good. (B) isn't...

To stabilise the hips, the hip adductors and abductors need to be strong enough to keep the hips level.

The adductors are the adductor longus, adductor magnus, adductor brevis, pectineus and gracilis.

The abductors are the muscles that pull the legs apart, the gluteus minimus and the gluteus medius.

When a step is taken, the adductors contract to shift the hips over the supporting leg, and to counter the tendency for the unsupported side of the hips to drop, the abductors on the supporting side contract to hold the hips up and level. Weak abductors allow the hips to drop on the supporting side and if the hips tilt puling the lower spine to the dropped side. Not good...

So, single leg training helps to enhance the internal stability by forcing these muscle to work to stabilise the hips increasing the strength and ability of these muscles to keep you on the level.

In its simplest form, single leg training could be standing on one leg. Seriously. Try it. Stand on 1 leg, you'll notice that your feet, thighs and hips start working overtime to stabilise your upper body as it balances on the single stick that is your supporting leg. As your hips tire, you start to lean further over your supporting leg, taking the load off the abductors and you start to rely on balance.

Now most of us can manage to do this relatively easy task, so how do we progress? Well, I wouldn't advise going all Ben Bruno straight of the bat (seriously, this guy is crazy strong!)

Option 1
Static lunge. Starting with your feet shoulder width apart, take a big step forward keeping your feet shoulder width apart, now drop your hips straight down keeping your torso as vertical as possible. At the bottom you should be in a 90/90 position i.e. a 90 degree bend at your front knee, your back leg should be going straight down from your hips and bent at 90 degrees at your knee.  From this bottom position (your knee should be just above the ground, not touching it), contract the glutes and quads to drive your hips back to the starting point. The further you step out initially the more your glutes will be worked, and the shorter the step, more quads. Complete your reps on one side then switch to the other.

Option 2
Reverse lunge. starting in a standing position, step back to achive the lunge position, and drop vertically to the bottom position (90/90), again remaining as vertical as possible. From the bottom position, drive up using your glutes and quads, this time come all the way back to the standing position. Going backwards into the lunge takes the deceleration force out of the movement i.e. you don't have to resist the forward movement with your front leg, so those with knee pain may find that they can do reverse lunges even though forward lunges hurt their knees. You can either do all reps on 1 side before switching or alternate legs since you are coming back to the start point each time.

Option3
Rfess. I love this exercise! Start a short distance from a bench, facing away from it. Reach one leg back and place it on the bench with the top of the foot on the bench surface. Keeping a vertical torso, bend the front leg and drop the hips straight down until the trailing knee is just above the ground, you should feel a greater stretch in the hip flexors and quad of the trail leg than in the first 2 options. Drive through the heel of the the front foot and return to the starting position. Complete all reps on one side, then switch to the other leg.

Front foot on the box allows a deeper drop. From the floor initially is fine!

Option 4

Step up. stand in front of a box or bench that is high enough to put the crease of your hips just below your knee when your foot is on the bench. Now drive through the heel of your foot on the box to straighten your leg and pull you up onto the box, pause at the top and control your descent back to the ground keeping your working leg on the box throughout. Complete all reps on one side before moving onto the other.

Now. This is only 4 options. There are limitless options for  progressing from these 4 options, not only that but there are bunches that I've not put in here because:
1. There are so many options that this post would be stoopid long,
2. I plan on doing a follow up post where I'll look at other single leg exercises and I need to save a few!

Needless to say, you can add weight, change the height of the front foot to give a greater range of movement, have your weight in one hand only so as to create a offset load to challenge your stability etc.

I really feel that single leg training is hugely important to your training and you should, if you don't already, look to begin incorporating it into your training. You will create more stability and strength than you otherwise might. And that can only be a good thing!

Oh, and before I forget...I mentioned Ben Bruno earlier...

Thats 300lbs on 1 leg...

Stay healthy!

The Linkz 4th February 2012

The end of another week has arrived, must be time to share some linkz with you...

Mark Young looks at whether cardio is bad for you...(spoiler - it won't kill you...)

If you haven't tried the Sexy Challenge from Bret Contreras yet, give it a go, I got 67. Moderately sexy...

Not losing fat? Jason Ferruggia has 12 probable reasons why.

Dean Somerset talks snoozies, that is, he talks about how much sleep is enough, not some kind of Canadian dialect...

You need to deload once in a while...Jeff Barnett guest post on Mr Gentilcores site tells you the how and the why.

And Tony Gentilcore himself speaks about the similarities of program design and hosting dinner parties...stick with it, trust me!

Awesome post from Jim Smith on next level thinking. Great interview with Martin Rooney.

Nia Shanks has a great post about feeling better if you are seated for extended time (ie 90% of the folks out there) and an awesome rant!

Guest post from Jon Goodman at Mike Robertsons site, all about improving your coaching cues.

Nick Tumminello sets out the perfect meal, whatever your goals.

Harold Gibbons on push: pull ratios. Pull wins. Sorry to spoil the end...

Martin Rooney on what you don't need to be doing in order to get stuff done...

Great interval workout from Marianne Kane, not for the faint hearted...

John Romaniello breaks down intermittent fasting.

Jim Wendler takes a good look at the bench press.

Ben Bruno wants you to consider whats holding you back?

And there we have it for another week. Get your February off to a great start with some great reads!

Stay healthy.

Randomness to kick February off!

Hi Folks,

I hope all is well and with the first month of 2012 already in the books, I hope you are 1/12th of the way to the levels of awesome that you had planned for yourselves!

I thought I'd put out some random thoughts/ status report to start the month off. So here goes...

• I started the week with this challenge from Bret Contreras' site. I scored 67. I learned that my incline press was pretty lacking (5 reps at 90kg), my pullups were average (10), front squats need work(10reps), but my glutes and hamstrings saved my score from being totally unsexy! Hip thrusts got me 15reps (only the second, but definitely not the last time I've done them!) and RDLs got me 27 before my grip gave out. Overall not bad. What did you guys all get? I'd love to hear...
• Since January is over, the N.Y.R.s (New Year Resolutionists) have all but disappeared...Got to the gym on Monday morning, around 645 as usual, the car park was eerily quiet, the cardio machine were barely being used and there was no queue at the adductor/ abductor machines... Obviously didnt read any goals setting and achievement posts...
• I've been reading a lot this last month as always, for Jan my reading list was:
• The first 2 Jo Nesbo books, Described as the next Steig Larsson                                 
• F*@k Calories ebook by Krista Scott-Dixon                                                               
• Intermittent Fasting ebook by Dr John Berardi                                                            
• re-read the nutrition section of Scrawny to Brawny by Dr Berardi                             
• The Leader in You by Dale Carnegie                                                                           
• about 30- 40 blog posts                                                                                                
• a shit ton of atrticles online about performance, coaching, nutrition and leadership   
• Been doing a lot to try to always keep a positive mindset too. It gets a bit tricky while I'm still doing a job i hate while I get the personal training off the ground. Unfortunately I need the money it gives me to pay the bills while I build the PT career. So I always focus on the positives, keep moving forward and I know I'll get where I want to be soon!
• I've been working on getting a lot stronger, my big lifts (bench, deadlift and squat) are all pretty low numbers, so my aim for this year is to boost all those significantly by the end of the year. 
• I joined fitocracy.com and I've been logging all my workouts there, its great for tracking progress. I also always have my notebook with me in the gym to log my training along with how each lift feels and any other notes I feel important.

There we have it.  Ill be back at the end of the week with a new edition of the Linkz, until then, stay healthy!

The Linkz 20th January 2012

Hi!

Hope everyone is doing great, hope all your 2012 plans are on track and all is well!

Heres some reading to keep you going over the weekend, enjoy!

A great random thoughts post from Bret Contreras, theres so much good stuff in here!

Great strength exercise of the week from Eric Cressey

Improve body image, improve your body by Helen Kollias on Precision Nutrition, Interesting read.

Guest post from Ben Bruno on re- re-building the reverse hyper, from Mike Robertsons site.

Tony Gentilcore with his choice in daily supplements.

Harold Gibbons shares some cool TRX exercises.

The Contreras files, in case you missed the link in Brets random thought post above!

Alli McKee with Eat and Train to thrive

Some chocolate protein ice cream, courtesy of Kelly Booth on Elite FTS

Great post from Dean Somerset on Paula Deens stoopid comments regarding Diabetes.

Thats it for this week folks. Hope you enjoy!

Stay healthy.

The LInkz - Friday the 13th edition!

Friday the 13th, bad luck day - if you happen to believe in that sort of stuff...

Anyways... on with this weeks links to excellent stuff!

First up, a great 2 parter from Eric Cressey on how much rotator cuff training is too much? Parts 1 and 2.

Nick Tumminello on a critical mistake in corrective exercise.

Tony Gentilcore on the differences between box squats and squatting to a box.

A couple from Mike Robertson, 1st - 3 reasons he returned to power lifting and then 5 tips on how to do less in 2012, but enjoy more!

A great coaching tip from Zach Moore at iFast

An inspiring post from Jason Ferruggia.

Some great exercises you've never tried from Ben Bruno

What the efff from Dean Somerset, followed with the 80/20 principle for programme design.

John Romaniello on 3 hormones important when addressing fatloss.

Chad Waterbury asks if you should bench?

Jen Grasso has some bison meatloaf for ya!

You eat loads right? No you don't, Chris Carter tells you what a natural bodybuilder eats in a day.

Not fitness related, but I got a lot out of this older post from Carl Kingdom on introverts.

Jonathan Goodman on gym etiquette and the NO LIFT ZONE!

Hope you enjoy these and learn something, even a little thing, from these!

Stay healthy.

1 week down...

So here we are, a week in to 2012 and I hope everyone is doing great and all your plans and goals are still on track!

Hopefully you are all tracking your progress and ticking off the mini goals that are stepping stones to achieving the major goals you have.

Breaking down those big goals you have set will do a number of positive things for you:

1. "Big" goals can appear daunting, they seem too large to possibly be achievable, you feel you are never gonna manage to do whatever that big task is so you lose confidence and ultimately give up.  breaking it down into bite size chunks gives you manageable "mini"-goals to tackle. Want to lose 40lbs of fat? Big goal, but if you aim to drop just over 3lbs per week, in 12 weeks job done!

2. Track all your progress, as you reach certain points along the way reward yourself. It might be treating yourself to a CD (download?), new clothes, or a Ferrari. By tracking your progress and rewarding positive outcomes (results) as well as positive behaviours, as you go, you will create positive attitudes to your new habits making them easier to continue with.

3. Put a date on the big goals and mini goals. Stick to them. It becomes surprisingly easy to let them slip into the gutter and quickly become forgotten about. Set yourself deadlines, tell someone about them who will keep you accountable. Make them hold you to it. Its easy to lie to yourself and say you'll catch up later, its much harder to justify that to someone who wants you to succeed.

Hopefully you are all still working hard on getting the results you want and deserve this year, I wish you all the success you deserve!

Stay healthy