It is the duty of the strength and conditioning coach to prepare each athlete to perform at his/her best when it matters the most. In other words, we are here to help athlete's perform their best and win games and championships. We need to have a relationship with each sport's coach that is expressed in the design of our programs. We must also share the goal of the sport's coach-to win games. We should not be here to set records with the strength level of our athletes, or to merely create weight room specialists. We are here to help win. We must do whatever we can to help each athlete prepare to perform and win the games, and ultimately the championship.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Sports Specific Training: Balanced Programs
There are mixed opinions among strength and conditioning coaches about designing 'sports specific training programs.' I think that there needs to be a balance between the general and specific exercises, and the athlete must first develop the proper foundation with performance fundamentals. Some coaches suggest that athlete's should be trained to be stronger and more explosive, with no regard to specificity, while other suggest that general strength and power needs some specificity in the weight room to best carryover to the sport.
Again, I think there needs to be a balance between sports specific training and athlete specific training. Each athlete should be training to get stronger and more explosive and this new strength and power needs to be trained to be applied to his/her sport. I don't think that heavy back squats, box squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are the end-all, nor do I think that totally functional bodyweight movements are the end-all. I think there needs to be a delicate balance specific to the sport, the individual, and the time of year. It doesn't matter if an athlete can squat 1000lbs if he can't use that strength to his advantage in his sport, or better yet, if he can't do 90 bodyweight squat in 90 seconds, or his vertical jump is less than 20". All strength and functionality needs to be relative to his/her sport.
Again, I think there needs to be a balance between sports specific training and athlete specific training. Each athlete should be training to get stronger and more explosive and this new strength and power needs to be trained to be applied to his/her sport. I don't think that heavy back squats, box squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are the end-all, nor do I think that totally functional bodyweight movements are the end-all. I think there needs to be a delicate balance specific to the sport, the individual, and the time of year. It doesn't matter if an athlete can squat 1000lbs if he can't use that strength to his advantage in his sport, or better yet, if he can't do 90 bodyweight squat in 90 seconds, or his vertical jump is less than 20". All strength and functionality needs to be relative to his/her sport.
Training Specificity: Metabolic Conditioning
One area where a strength and conditioning coach can get very sport specific is metabolic conditioning or energy system training. Here, the coach can train the athlete to be conditioned not only specifically to his/her sport but also to his/her specific position, based on the specific energy systems used during the sporting event. Conditioning can be designed to train the muscle tissues and anaerobic or aerobic energy systems specifically for the time frame (shifts, play drives, etc) of the athlete's sport. A good strength coach will always have his team(s) fully prepared for their next season.
Sad But True
Today, about one in three American kids and teens is overweight or obese, nearly triple the rate in 1963. Among children today, obesity is causing a broad range of health problems that previously weren’t seen until adulthood. These include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and elevated blood cholesterol levels. There are also psychological effects: Obese children are more prone to low self-esteem, negative body image and depression. And excess weight at young ages has been linked to higher and earlier death rates in adulthood.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Girls And Gym Use Your Head
Admit it: Sometimes you go to the gym to meet women. After all, it’s a sneaky-smart way to find a date: You already have a shared interest with her, she doesn’t have her guard up at the gym like she does at the bar, and you can’t help but enjoy sneaking a peek at fit chicks in sports bras.
And yet, men manage to constantly blow the art of picking up women at the gym. So we consulted with top female experts to find the five worst flirting faux-pas you make, and how you can avoid each one.
DON’T:
1. Look like a slob. It’s possible that you’ve screwed up before you even walked out your front door. Many dudes figure a ratty T-shirt and mesh shorts they’ve owned since middle school make the perfect gym outfit. Not so much. “Dirty white T-shirts are definitely not a conversation starter,” says Amanda Sanders, an NYC-based image consultant who has worked with the likes of Chris Rock and Jamie Foxx. “It shows he’s a man who doesn’t take care of himself.” Among Sanders’ other no-nos: Swiss-cheese-like holes in your shirt, too-short shorts, black socks paired with white sneakers, and ’80s-era track suits. You don’t have to show up to the gym dressed to the nines, but don’t leave the house looking like a hobo.
2. Stare at yourself. Sure, when you’re shoulder-pressing heavy dumbbells, it helps to look at the mirror to make sure you don’t drop a 50-pound weight on your head. Women understand that. What they have less tolerance for, however, is vain gym rats who keep flexing in the mirror. Save it for the privacy of your own home. Staring at your guns too much at the gym shows you’re either egotistical or insecure, says Jennifer Zucher, a matchmaker who stars on Bravo’s Love Broker. “Either way, it’s not positive,” and makes you look way too serious, she laments. Eye contact is critical to gauge a women’s interest. Don’t waste those gazes on yourself.
3. Sweat like a stinky pig. Of course, everyone who’s getting a good workout sweats. But the gym towels are there for a reason, says Lori Zaslow, Zucher’s fellow matchmaker on Love Broker. ”Save what you’re going to look like in bed for the bed,” she says. Rachel Buschert Vaziralli, an NYC group fitness instructor, notes that several men in her cycling classes put on cologne to try to cover up their inevitable stench. “That doesn’t work because then you just have the b.o. and bad cologne,” she says.
4. Offer unsolicited fitness advice. You may have a decade of squats in your rearview mirror, but that doesn’t mean everyone at the gym wants the benefit of your wisdom. Buschert Vaziralli says giving a fitness correction out of the blue is oftentimes a big fail. “No one wants to feel like they’re doing something wrong,” she says. And even if you’re not offering advice, let her at least finish her set before you approach, says Diana Chaloux, a personal trainer and fitness model in Kansas City. And be advised: A woman who’s listening to music or watching TV is probably in no mood to talk.
5. Discuss a woman’s body like a piece of meat. You might think it’s bold and beautiful to approach your gym crush and say, “Wow, you have a terrific body.” But commenting on her bod is a “pretty big mistake,” says dating coach Tracy Steinberg. “Most women have decent bodies at the gym, and they know it. It makes you seem like you’re only interested in their body if that’s the first sentence out of your mouth.”
So, how do you score her digits at the gym? Keep these tips in mind the next time you’re looking for someone more than just a fitness buddy.
DO:
1. Engage in random acts of kindness. Women like feeling as though a man is taking care of them, says Steinberg. Try gently approaching her and say, “I’m going to fill up my water bottle—do you want me to fill up yours?” Steinberg suggests. Chaloux, who’s married to a fellow fitness model, says it’s important to “be nice to everyone around you. Don’t walk around throwing weights, acting like you own the place. There’s a fine line between confidence, which is attractive, and just being a douchebag.” And chivalrously asking a woman if she needs a spot is a “guarantee to make the girl at least smile,” says Zucher.
2. Dress to impress. Ditch the white T-shirts, which easily stain and turn unappealingly transparent with sweat, advises Sanders. Go for darker colors, like navy or black. Shorts should graze the knee. Socks should hit the ankle, or slightly above. Toss out old sneakers, Sanders adds. You’re at the gym. Sweat is expected. Just don’t forget to wipe it off. And remember: Deodorant and gum are made for a reason, Zaslow adds.
3. Offer humble and sweet praise. Instead of arrogantly telling a woman the proper way to do crunches, why not offer your compliments on her terrific form, suggests Buschert Vaziralli. She recalls a man who once offered her a backhanded compliment: “Wow, your workout is almost as hard as mine.” Oof. Instead, try “‘Whoa! That’s crazy hard. I can’t even do that’ and show that you’re impressed,” Buschert Vaziralli says. Or, if a woman is going all Usain Bolt on a treadmill, something simple—once she’s done, mind you—like, “Wow, you’re a really fast runner” can get the conversation started.
4. Get a little help from the help. If you’re feeling shy, there’s no harm in doing some reporting before you go in for the kill, says Zaslow. It’s okay to ask a trainer or gym receptionist if they know if a particular woman is single. “The gym is a small community. People gossip.” And better to know in advance before you go hit on a married woman and enrage her muscle-head husband, who’s just ten feet away benching 250 pounds.
5. Suggest meeting away from the gym. Once you’ve successfully engaged a woman in conversation, mix it up, and show there’s more to you than the gym. Suggest getting a cocktail or coffee for a first date, Zaslow suggests, because those dates are more intimate and involve more eye contact.
20 Minute Workout
Circuit training is short bursts of resistance exercise using moderate weights and frequent repetitions, followed quickly by another burst of exercise targeting a different muscle group.
Because the exerciser switches between muscle groups, no rest is needed between exercises. This gets the heart rate up, which usually doesn’t happen during resistance exercise. Sometimes, to up heart rate further, aerobics are sprinkled between the resistance exercises.
This workout is a 20-minute workout that will take you to your maximum physical effort as well as your maximum heart rate. The object of this workout is not to rest in between exercises. You will see that one minute of a particular exercise will burn out the targeted muscle group as well as increase your heart rate to a fat and sugar burning zone. Try the 20 minute workout below – if it is not challenging enough for you try it again, totaling only 40 minutes of your time in the weight room.
20 Minutes Circuit Workout
(*choose light weights for max reps)
1) Bench press* or pushups – max in 1:00
2) Squats – max in 1:00
3) Pullups or pulldowns – 1:00
4) Bike or jog – 3:00
5) Military press* – 1:00
6) Lunges – 1:00 each leg
7) Bicep curls – 1:00
8) Bike or jog – 3:00
9) Tricep extensions.- 1:00
10) Leg ext – 1:00 (requires leg machines – or repeat squats with weights)
11) Leg curls – 1:00 (requires leg machines – or repeat lunges with weights)
12) Situps – 2:00
13) Crunches – 2:00
14) Stretch
2) Squats – max in 1:00
3) Pullups or pulldowns – 1:00
4) Bike or jog – 3:00
5) Military press* – 1:00
6) Lunges – 1:00 each leg
7) Bicep curls – 1:00
8) Bike or jog – 3:00
9) Tricep extensions.- 1:00
10) Leg ext – 1:00 (requires leg machines – or repeat squats with weights)
11) Leg curls – 1:00 (requires leg machines – or repeat lunges with weights)
12) Situps – 2:00
13) Crunches – 2:00
14) Stretch
There is an unlimited number of ways to organize a circuit workout. The above workout is organized with upper body, lower body and cardiovascular exercises. By simply doing the above upper body and lower body exercises in such a way, you will be able to rest your upper body muscles while you workout your lower body muscles, but you will never rest your heart. This is how you make the circuit workout challenging to your cardiovascular system as well as your major muscle groups. Studies have shown that mixing a resistance training regimen with a cardiovascular element will increase your metabolism, therefore burning fat and building muscle. The result is a decrease in body fat percentage.
So, if you are looking to lose inches and body fat, workouts like this coupled with 4-5 smaller meals and 3-4 quarts of water everyday will help you achieve your goal. The best thing about this diet program is that you do not need a single dietary supplement – just good old fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and other lean meats. The key is to burn more calories than you take in and this workout will help you with that – promise.
Circuit Training Is Efficient
Circuit training is an efficient and challenging form of conditioning. It works well for developing strength, endurance (both aerobic and anaerobic), flexibility and coordination.
Its versatility has made it popular with the general public right through to elite athletes. For sports men and women, it can be used during the closed season and early pre-season to help develop a solid base of fitness and prepare the body for more stressful subsequent training.
A well-designed circuit can help to correct the imbalances that occur in any sport played to a high level. It can also be one of the best types of training for improving strength endurance – be it for a sport such as soccer or a classic endurance event like the triathlon.
If you haven’t quite reached “elite athlete” status yet, circuit training is superb for general fitness and caters for a wide variety of fitness levels. A great time saver, it can be a refreshing and fun change from the more monotonous types of exercise.
Circuit training in itself is not a form of exercise per se, but the way an exercise session is structured. Routines can be developed purely for strength development or for improving endurance or some combination of the two.
Circuit Training Workouts for All-Round Fitness Conventional circuit training workouts combine various exercise stations to develop both strength and stamina… Circuit training is popular amongst fitness enthusiasts for its challenging nature and individuals pushed for time find it can be a great way to develop a good all-round level of fitness in minimal time.Circuit training is also used by athletes to develop muscular endurance
Quote of the day
You get out of life what you put into it don't let it catch you sleeping and realize its past you by
Friday, June 28, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Lose Bodyfat By Going Gluten-Free
A groundbreaking new study confirms what we’ve thought for years: You can lose body fat by eliminating gluten from your diet. Going gluten-free is not just for people with celiac disease and wheat intolerances. It may benefit EVERYONE. This study was performed on mice, which means that naysaying dietitians and wheat industry lobbyists will be certain to discount the value for humans. Check out the results for yourself. Researchers fed two groups of mice a high-fat diet in order to induce fat gain, but one group was gluten-free and the other ate 4.5 percent gluten. Results showed that the gluten-free animals had lower body fat, less belly fat, less inflammation, and better insulin sensitivity and blood sugar tolerance. The study authors were struck that the gluten-eating mice didn't gain fat because they ate more calories than the gluten-free mice. Rather, the fat gain was due to the gluten having disrupted hormone function, leading to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Simply eating gluten set the mice up to develop diabetes. They also had a severe inflammatory state in the gut. Researchers suggest that the data is applicable to humans and it supports the beneficial effect of gluten-free diets for fat loss and diabetes prevention. This study also shows that even if you don't have celiac disease, gluten can mess with your gut. It causes widespread digestive problems, and enhances production of something called zonulin, which can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause brain inflammation. Of course, if you're reading this you are probably well aware of the dangers of gluten. The general population is catching on: A new report by The NPD Group, a global information company, found that 30 percent of adults want to eat gluten free. However, many people take the suboptimal approach to a gluten-free lifestyle, adopting processed gluten-free foods that still contain grains, and in some cases, artificial chemicals. If you decide to eliminate gluten from your diet, get best results by eating whole foods (meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, seeds, eggs, organic yogurt). Avoid gluten-free baked goods like crackers, cookies, and breads, and consider going grain-free if your overall goal is optimal body composition.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Losing Pounds in Just Five Weeks
How can you Lose Pounds in 5 weeks?
Week 1: Add real fruits and real vegetables to each meal. Now fruit chews, fruit roll ups and fruit or veg juice doesn’t count. You need the real deal here to get the natural fiber to grab the fat cells out of your body. Plus the natural vitamins and minerals in these foods does a body good.
Week 2: No more fast food! This includes pizza, favorite mochas and boxed processed food! Get back in the kitchen and learn to make delicious meals for yourself and your family.
Week 3: Give up white breads and grains. Switch out to whole wheat bread, brown rice and whole wheat pasta. Why? My mom use to give this example, would you buy a tube of white glue? Because once that white bread gets through your intestines it looks like white thick glue in there. Nothing nutritious is going through your body, it is just gunking your body up. Just some food for thought there.
Week 4: Use a fruit or veggie as the base of a snack. For example apples with a little peanut butter.
Week 5: No more soda or sugary drinks, cut back on candy eaten too. Sugar causes insulin spikes therefore not allowing your body to burn the sugar that has turned to fat stored. If you want to get rid of your stored fat in your body you have to keep your body on a plateau not a continuous state of peaks and valleys with sugar spikes.
You would be amazed how many pounds you can lose when you cut back on excess sugary products or processed foods. After the birth of my son I was trying to lose my baby weight. I sat down and looked at my diet. I realized if I cut out the fast food and pizza every week, along with only one Dr. Pepper a day I cut out a lot of calories, sugar and fat from my diet. In a month I dropped almost 10 pounds. I increased my water and vegetables. I had never counted calories before so I was still not doing that at this time. The next month I looked for even more ways due to some new found motivation and I figured out cutting my favorite mochas size from a venti to a grande and then replaced the milk with non-fat and no whip crème. I then lost almost another 10 pounds that month and that was huge for me! Simple easy steps that are do-able when starting out with weight loss; it is a lifestyle change not a temporary thing. These steps listed above are a great way to start seeing results to get you going on a good path.
Week 1: Add real fruits and real vegetables to each meal. Now fruit chews, fruit roll ups and fruit or veg juice doesn’t count. You need the real deal here to get the natural fiber to grab the fat cells out of your body. Plus the natural vitamins and minerals in these foods does a body good.
Week 2: No more fast food! This includes pizza, favorite mochas and boxed processed food! Get back in the kitchen and learn to make delicious meals for yourself and your family.
Week 3: Give up white breads and grains. Switch out to whole wheat bread, brown rice and whole wheat pasta. Why? My mom use to give this example, would you buy a tube of white glue? Because once that white bread gets through your intestines it looks like white thick glue in there. Nothing nutritious is going through your body, it is just gunking your body up. Just some food for thought there.
Week 4: Use a fruit or veggie as the base of a snack. For example apples with a little peanut butter.
Week 5: No more soda or sugary drinks, cut back on candy eaten too. Sugar causes insulin spikes therefore not allowing your body to burn the sugar that has turned to fat stored. If you want to get rid of your stored fat in your body you have to keep your body on a plateau not a continuous state of peaks and valleys with sugar spikes.
You would be amazed how many pounds you can lose when you cut back on excess sugary products or processed foods. After the birth of my son I was trying to lose my baby weight. I sat down and looked at my diet. I realized if I cut out the fast food and pizza every week, along with only one Dr. Pepper a day I cut out a lot of calories, sugar and fat from my diet. In a month I dropped almost 10 pounds. I increased my water and vegetables. I had never counted calories before so I was still not doing that at this time. The next month I looked for even more ways due to some new found motivation and I figured out cutting my favorite mochas size from a venti to a grande and then replaced the milk with non-fat and no whip crème. I then lost almost another 10 pounds that month and that was huge for me! Simple easy steps that are do-able when starting out with weight loss; it is a lifestyle change not a temporary thing. These steps listed above are a great way to start seeing results to get you going on a good path.
Kids And Weight Training
It still amazes me that parents won’t hesitate to get their young children (6-7 years old) involved in sports such as football, gymnastics, basketball and soccer, yet they feel that participating in a strength-training program is damaging to their children’s bone health and will stunt their growth. Nothing can be further from the truth.
The fact of the matter is that running, jumping and tackling can create loading on a child’s body which is up to ten times greater than most strength training exercises. In other words, the physical demands on a child’s body are far greater on the athletic field compared to the weightroom. Parents who don’t let their children participate in resistance training are actually increasing their children’s risk for injury on the athletic field.
There have even been position stands by such organizations as the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggesting that children can benefit from participation in a properly designed and supervised resistance training program. Position stands recommend that prepubescent children shouldn’t lift maximal weights; they should lift weights that can be lifted for at least six repetitions with proper form.
Strength training in this manner can be the most potent exercise stimulus for bone growth and development. In fact, research has shown that young weightlifters have greater bone densities than individuals who don’t lift. Thus, the positive benefits of resistance training for bone health, injury prevention and improved athletic performance are far greater than the risks
The fact of the matter is that running, jumping and tackling can create loading on a child’s body which is up to ten times greater than most strength training exercises. In other words, the physical demands on a child’s body are far greater on the athletic field compared to the weightroom. Parents who don’t let their children participate in resistance training are actually increasing their children’s risk for injury on the athletic field.
There have even been position stands by such organizations as the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggesting that children can benefit from participation in a properly designed and supervised resistance training program. Position stands recommend that prepubescent children shouldn’t lift maximal weights; they should lift weights that can be lifted for at least six repetitions with proper form.
Strength training in this manner can be the most potent exercise stimulus for bone growth and development. In fact, research has shown that young weightlifters have greater bone densities than individuals who don’t lift. Thus, the positive benefits of resistance training for bone health, injury prevention and improved athletic performance are far greater than the risks
Plyometrics Get On Board
Athletes and coaches who are serious about achieving athletic superiority are continually looking for the latest exercise tool or training program that will make them faster, stronger or more agile. Likewise, those who are interested in being as physically fit as possible – and gym owners who are seeking to attract such people – often experiment with the latest training fads, everything from super calisthenics to dance classes from Colombia. Let’s focus on a training method that has been around a long time but is often misunderstood: plyometrics.The person who popularized plyometric training to improve sports performance was the late Yuri Verkhoshansky, a Russian exercise scientist and coach who specialized in the jumping events in track and field. Verkhoshansky’s first article about this training method was published in 1964, and his pioneering work in this field earned him the nickname “The Father of Plyometrics.”Let’s start with a basic description of plyometrics, or what could be referred to as classical plyometrics. The dynamic nature of plyometrics creates two effects: (1) a reflex increase in muscle tension and (2) the release of elastic energy stored in the muscles and tendons.A true plyometric activity is one that involves a rapid stretching of a muscle (eccentric phase) immediately followed by a rapid shortening of that muscle (concentric phase. The time between the eccentric and concentric contractions should be extremely short, no longer than .25 seconds. A longer time between contractions would allow the energy stored during the eccentric phase to dissipate, so it would not be available to assist the muscles during the concentric phase. For example, it’s estimated that a 4-second pause with the barbell on the chest eliminates nearly all this stored energy.One example of a lower-body plyometric exercise is a depth jump, which involves stepping off a platform (the height dependent upon the strength level of the individual) and immediately rebounding upward upon landing. An example of an upper-body plyometric exercise is the Marine Corps push-up, in which trainees clap their hands between repetitions.If your main goal is physical fitness, be aware that plyometrics has little benefit because it doesn’t have a significant effect on body composition. It will not create a strong metabolic response and will not effectively develop muscle mass. You could certainly make such exercises extremely challenging, such as by jumping on and off a sturdy box for 10 sets of 10 reps with a short rest interval, but such a protocol reduces the quality of the movement (i.e., slowing down the transition between the eccentric and concentric contractions) and therefore it will not be plyometric.In any activity you undertake to prepare for a sport, you have to consider the nature of the sport. For example, consider basketball players or figure skaters. At an elite level, these athletes train year-round and their joints undergo considerable stress. Adding plyometrics could push these athletes over the edge to injury. When young athletes are ready to perform plyometrics, they should be gradually introduced to each training cycle – and during the highest-intensity phases an athlete may only need to perform 20-40 depth jumps, twice a week, for maximum benefit. That’s a start. Also, this type of training needs to be performed year-round, alternating between preparatory and classical plyometrics.The key to effective plyometrics is good coaching. How do you find a coach who has a good grasp of plyometric training? Good bets are gymnastics and track coaches. Coaches who have not practiced plyometrics themselves may find it difficult to understand how to coach their trainees to perform the movements, monitor their performance and adjust it accordingly.Also, consider that athletes mature at different rates – in a class of 13-year-olds some may have the physical maturity of an 11-year-old and others may have the physical maturity of a 15-year-old. As such, a qualified coach needs to assess each child individually to determine if they are ready for plyometrics; this assessment should also take into account the child’s level of maturity, as plyometrics are high-stress exercises that require discipline to perform safely and effectively.Are plyometrics an effective method of physical fitness training? Simple answer: No. Are plyometrics an effective method of athletic training? Not-so-simple answer: They can be, for some athletes. Do the benefits associated with plyometrics outweigh the risks? For some athletes, but only if they have access to good coaching.
Accountability A lost Moral
Don’t know what that is for you my friends. And I don’t think any life coach or guru can give you some magical formula to figure it out.More than giving you any awesome diet or training plan, it would be my greatest pleasure in the world to be able to provide that answer for you. Unfortunately, I can’t. I don’t think even the great Ray Lewis could beat it out of you.Ultimately, you’re going to have to take some personal accountability, look at your life, look inside yourself, and come to your own conclusions.As a matter of fact, part of finding your fighting spirit is realizing that you can’t always rely on someone else, or wait for a savior to solve all of your problems. You have to solve them for yourself.What I can do is tell you what has motivated others over my career. Maybe that will give you some ideas.For some, it really was about survival. They had a health problem they had to fix, and their life, or quality of life, was suddenly on the line.
For some, their sport was how they made their living, and food on the table was dependent upon victories.
For some, it was to give them a competitive edge in a career outside of sports. Working out and eating right gave them better energy, cognitive function, and focus behind the desk, allowing them to push harder than the competition, and ultimately crush it. For some, it was about being picked on as kids, and if the world wasn’t going to give them respect, they were going to build themselves up and take it. For some, it was just like what martial arts can be to others – a way to channel negative energy into positive, to learn lessons that translate to life, to find some kind of deeper meaning through physical challenges. Some used nunchucks; others used dumbbells. No matter, either served to fulfill their purpose. For others, it was about getting to be a dick. By flexing their literal muscles in the gym and figurative muscles online, they take great pleasure in making themselves feel important, or making others feel bad about themselves. Although I don’t necessarily agree with that approach, whatever works, man. But don’t let that hate fester in your heart like a bad, covered-wagon fart. It could become toxic and lead to your own undoing. I can tell you some of the things I’m fighting for. I know you don’t really give a shit about me personally, but it’s just to give you ideas.
It’s because I think we’re all searching for the same three things in life: a passion, a sense of purpose, and peace of mind. We just go about it in different ways. It just so happens that I’ve been lucky enough to find all three in this game, and don’t think I could find it anywhere else. I might not be able to tell you how to find your fight. But I can certainly tell you how you’ll know when you’ve found it. There will be no more beginnings or getting back on track. There will be no defined ends as some 90-Day programs promise. There will only be putting one foot in front of the other, in the next step of a never-ending journey.
Days will run into months, months will run into years without ever having to start over. You’ll just keep moving forward. You won’t complain of the struggles. You’ll embrace them, because you’ll know that your ability to push through is what will ultimately separate you from the rest of the pack.
There will be no more New Year’s resolutions, only daily ones. And sticking to them will not be an option. It will be a necessity. You will not find excuses. You’ll find ways.
You’ll stop looking for short cuts and quick fixes, because you’ll know that a worthwhile mission lasts a lifetime. You’ll stop training for gym or virtual high-fives, but rather for personal satisfaction and accomplishment. You won’t have a sport or a hobby. You’ll have a way of life
All of a sudden those 20 different diet and training programs that didn’t work in the past, will all work.
I’m not saying it’s going to make the road any easier. Excellence is never easy – that’s the point. There will be ups and downs, adversity, and setbacks. There will be days where you will absolutely want to quit.
But when you know what you’re fighting for, you will find a way to persevere. The path to success lies in the purpose, not the person. We’re all capable of great things. Ordinary men that had a purpose have achieved great things. Extraordinarily gifted men with no mission have chronically underachieved. Society provides plenty of examples of both.
For some, their sport was how they made their living, and food on the table was dependent upon victories.
For some, it was to give them a competitive edge in a career outside of sports. Working out and eating right gave them better energy, cognitive function, and focus behind the desk, allowing them to push harder than the competition, and ultimately crush it. For some, it was about being picked on as kids, and if the world wasn’t going to give them respect, they were going to build themselves up and take it. For some, it was just like what martial arts can be to others – a way to channel negative energy into positive, to learn lessons that translate to life, to find some kind of deeper meaning through physical challenges. Some used nunchucks; others used dumbbells. No matter, either served to fulfill their purpose. For others, it was about getting to be a dick. By flexing their literal muscles in the gym and figurative muscles online, they take great pleasure in making themselves feel important, or making others feel bad about themselves. Although I don’t necessarily agree with that approach, whatever works, man. But don’t let that hate fester in your heart like a bad, covered-wagon fart. It could become toxic and lead to your own undoing. I can tell you some of the things I’m fighting for. I know you don’t really give a shit about me personally, but it’s just to give you ideas.
It’s because I think we’re all searching for the same three things in life: a passion, a sense of purpose, and peace of mind. We just go about it in different ways. It just so happens that I’ve been lucky enough to find all three in this game, and don’t think I could find it anywhere else. I might not be able to tell you how to find your fight. But I can certainly tell you how you’ll know when you’ve found it. There will be no more beginnings or getting back on track. There will be no defined ends as some 90-Day programs promise. There will only be putting one foot in front of the other, in the next step of a never-ending journey.
Days will run into months, months will run into years without ever having to start over. You’ll just keep moving forward. You won’t complain of the struggles. You’ll embrace them, because you’ll know that your ability to push through is what will ultimately separate you from the rest of the pack.
There will be no more New Year’s resolutions, only daily ones. And sticking to them will not be an option. It will be a necessity. You will not find excuses. You’ll find ways.
You’ll stop looking for short cuts and quick fixes, because you’ll know that a worthwhile mission lasts a lifetime. You’ll stop training for gym or virtual high-fives, but rather for personal satisfaction and accomplishment. You won’t have a sport or a hobby. You’ll have a way of life
All of a sudden those 20 different diet and training programs that didn’t work in the past, will all work.
I’m not saying it’s going to make the road any easier. Excellence is never easy – that’s the point. There will be ups and downs, adversity, and setbacks. There will be days where you will absolutely want to quit.
But when you know what you’re fighting for, you will find a way to persevere. The path to success lies in the purpose, not the person. We’re all capable of great things. Ordinary men that had a purpose have achieved great things. Extraordinarily gifted men with no mission have chronically underachieved. Society provides plenty of examples of both.
MMA TRAINING BY EDDIE WINELAND
KO Power From the Ground Up – 5 Exercises to Build Your Foundation
By Tom Barry | westside-barbell.comEddie Wineland’s strength and conditioning training is just as unconventional as his appearance. Applied Strength & Conditioning coach Jason Gus carefully utilizes the training principles taught by Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell to develop Eddie’s absolute strength, explosive strength, and dynamic muscle endurance. The goal of these five exercises is to develop these strength types by targeting the muscles (hips, lower back, and glutes) that give Eddie his knockout power and his never-ending gas tank.
1. Resistance Band GrapplingSets: 2-3, Duration: 5 Minutes
2. “Gus Grapples” Medicine Ball DrillSets: 1, Duration: 5 Minutes
The goal of this exercise is to train Eddie’s overall muscular endurance as well as his ability to recruit his explosive strength at any stage during a fight. To perform correctly, focus on maximal acceleration as you take three steps forward, while simultaneously throwing the medicine ball. It is vital that constant tension is kept on the bands at the start and finish of every movement.
This exercise mimics the central nervous system demands that occur during grappling exchanges against the cage and helps to train Eddie to keep constant forward pressure with his hips. To avoid adaptation, numerous movements with the medicine ball while varying the band tension or changing the ball weight can be implemented (super-set this exercise with sumo deadlifts and your explosive power will go through the roof).
3. Belt Squat Walk (Westside Style)
Sets: 2-3, Duration: 5 Minutes
This exercise is a tremendous hip and glute developer that provides a carryover to Eddie’s kick and knee power. While standing in a wide stance on the boxes, Eddie will “belt squat walk” by shuffling his weight from his right leg to his left leg while contracting his glutes for five minutes. To add variety, he will perform 10-15 reps of high knee strikes to a pad, or he will squat to parallel and then return to walking until the five minute duration is up. To change up the exercise, Eddie will add stronger bands, heavier kettlebells, or swing the kettlebell in order to focus more on stabilization.
4. Sled Drag with Pummeling
Sets: 1, Duration: 5 Minutes
This exercise will build up the entire posterior chain while simultaneously building muscle endurance. Attach a sled to a weightlifting belt around your waist and explosively walk forward with long strides. While walking forward, have your training partner pummel with you for one-minute-on and one-minute-off intervals for the five-minute duration. Remember to always keep walking forward, pulling from the heels.
5. Sled Drag with Atlas Stone Carry
Sets: 10, Duration: 60-Yard Trips
This exercise develops sheer brute force. The awkward position of carrying the atlas stone with a Gable grip presses against the diaphragm, making it hard to breath. This exercise is an incredible conditioning exercise. It will build muscle endurance in addition to developing strength.
Eddie will use a Gable grip (overlap hand grip) around the atlas stone, while pulling his shoulders back and keeping the core of his body tight. He will power-walk forward with a sled for 60 yards and immediately return to where he started.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
The Keys To Jump Start Success GOALS
Have you thought about what you want to be doing in five years' time? Are you clear about what your main objective at work is at the moment? Do you know what you want to have achieved by the end of today?
If you want to succeed, you need to set goals. Without goals you lack focus and direction. Goal setting not only allows you to take control of your life's direction; it also provides you a benchmark for determining whether you are actually succeeding. Think about it: Having a million dollars in the bank is only proof of success if one of your goals is to amass riches. If your goal is to practice acts of charity, then keeping the money for yourself is suddenly contrary to how you would define success.
To accomplish your goals, however, you need to know how to set them. You can't simply say, "I want" and expect it to happen. Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve, and ends with a lot of hard work to actually do it. In between there are some very well defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Knowing these steps will allow you to formulate goals that you can accomplish.
Here are our five golden rules of goal setting:
Set goals that relate to the high priorities in your life. Without this type of focus, you can end up with far too many goals, leaving you too little time to devote to each one. Goal achievement requires commitment, so to maximize the likelihood of success, you need to feel a sense of urgency and have an "I must do this" attitude. When you don't have this, you risk putting off what you need to do to make the goal a reality. This in turn leaves you feeling disappointed and frustrated with yourself, both of which are de-motivating. And you can end up in a very destructive "I can't do anything or be successful at anything" frame of mind.
Your goal must be clear and well defined. Vague or generalized goals are unhelpful because they don't provide sufficient direction. Remember, you need goals to show you the way. Make it as easy as you can to get where you want to go by defining precisely where you want to end up.
Set Measurable Goals
Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can measure your degree of success. If your goal is simply defined as "To reduce expenses" how will you know when you have been successful? In one month's time if you have a 1 percent reduction or in two years' time when you have a 10 percent reduction? Without a way to measure your success you miss out on the celebration that comes with knowing you have actually achieved something.
Set Attainable Goals
Make sure that it's possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize yourself and erode your confidence.
However, resist the urge to set goals that are too easy. Accomplishing a goal that you didn't have to work hard for can be anticlimactic at best, and can also make you fear setting future goals that carry a risk of non-achievement. By setting realistic yet challenging goals, you hit the balance you need. These are the types of goals that require you to "raise the bar" and they bring the greatest personal satisfaction.
Set Relevant Goals
Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you'll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want. Set widely scattered and inconsistent goals, and you'll fritter your time – and your life – away.
Set Time-Bound Goals
You goals must have a deadline. Again, this means that you know when you can celebrate success. When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker.
If you want to succeed, you need to set goals. Without goals you lack focus and direction. Goal setting not only allows you to take control of your life's direction; it also provides you a benchmark for determining whether you are actually succeeding. Think about it: Having a million dollars in the bank is only proof of success if one of your goals is to amass riches. If your goal is to practice acts of charity, then keeping the money for yourself is suddenly contrary to how you would define success.
To accomplish your goals, however, you need to know how to set them. You can't simply say, "I want" and expect it to happen. Goal setting is a process that starts with careful consideration of what you want to achieve, and ends with a lot of hard work to actually do it. In between there are some very well defined steps that transcend the specifics of each goal. Knowing these steps will allow you to formulate goals that you can accomplish.
Here are our five golden rules of goal setting:
The Five Golden Rules
1. Set Goals that Motivate You
When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them. If you have little interest in the outcome, or they are irrelevant given the larger picture, then the chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim. Motivation is key to achieving goals.Set goals that relate to the high priorities in your life. Without this type of focus, you can end up with far too many goals, leaving you too little time to devote to each one. Goal achievement requires commitment, so to maximize the likelihood of success, you need to feel a sense of urgency and have an "I must do this" attitude. When you don't have this, you risk putting off what you need to do to make the goal a reality. This in turn leaves you feeling disappointed and frustrated with yourself, both of which are de-motivating. And you can end up in a very destructive "I can't do anything or be successful at anything" frame of mind.
2. Set SMART Goals
You have probably heard of "SMART goals" already. But do you always apply the rule? The simple fact is that for goals to be powerful, they should be designed to be SMART. There are many variations of what SMART stands for, but the essence is this – goals should be:- Specific.
- Measurable.
- Attainable.
- Relevant.
- Time Bound.
Your goal must be clear and well defined. Vague or generalized goals are unhelpful because they don't provide sufficient direction. Remember, you need goals to show you the way. Make it as easy as you can to get where you want to go by defining precisely where you want to end up.
Set Measurable Goals
Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can measure your degree of success. If your goal is simply defined as "To reduce expenses" how will you know when you have been successful? In one month's time if you have a 1 percent reduction or in two years' time when you have a 10 percent reduction? Without a way to measure your success you miss out on the celebration that comes with knowing you have actually achieved something.
Set Attainable Goals
Make sure that it's possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize yourself and erode your confidence.
However, resist the urge to set goals that are too easy. Accomplishing a goal that you didn't have to work hard for can be anticlimactic at best, and can also make you fear setting future goals that carry a risk of non-achievement. By setting realistic yet challenging goals, you hit the balance you need. These are the types of goals that require you to "raise the bar" and they bring the greatest personal satisfaction.
Set Relevant Goals
Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you'll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want. Set widely scattered and inconsistent goals, and you'll fritter your time – and your life – away.
Set Time-Bound Goals
You goals must have a deadline. Again, this means that you know when you can celebrate success. When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker.
3. Set Goals in Writing
The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible. You have no excuse for forgetting about it. As you write, use the word "will" instead of "would like to" or "might." For example, "I will reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year," not "I would like to reduce my operating expenses by 10 percent this year." The first goal statement has power and you can "see" yourself reducing expenses, the second lacks passion and gives you an excuse if you get sidetracked. Post your goals in visible places to remind yourself every day of what it is you intend to do. Put them on your walls, desk, computer monitor, bathroom mirror or refrigerator as a constant reminder.4. Make an Action Plan
This step is often missed in the process of goal setting. You get so focused on the outcome that you forget to plan all of the steps that are needed along the way. By writing out the individual steps, and then crossing each one off as you complete it, you'll realize that you are making progress towards your ultimate goal. This is especially important if your goal is big and demanding,5. Stick With It!
Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity not just a means to an end. Build in reminders to keep yourself on track, and make regular time-slots available to review your goals. Your end destination may remain quite similar over the long term, but the action plan you set for yourself along the way can change significantly. Make sure the relevance, value, and necessity remain high.Monday, June 24, 2013
Life Is What You Put Into It
Ever heard the old saying that “you get out of life what you put into it”? Better yet, how about “nothing ventured, nothing gained”? Everyone has heard these sayings at some point in their life, but what do they really mean? What exactly can you put into life? The answer to that question is up to you. Hard work, determination, and a positive attitude are a few things that come to mind. For example, if you have a goal of having a certain career and you are willing to work hard, get an education, and are determined to succeed, chances are, you will. What about nothing ventured, nothing gained? For some, going back to school may bring them out of their comfort zone, however, if you get out there, go to school, and invest the time and energy in yourself, that will give you the opportunity to be successful, and ultimately … get more out of life. The time to venture is now.
From The Bottom Of Our Hearts
I wont to say thank you to all the parents of the kids I train, because without y'all Underground Fitness would not be here. We are growing each and everyday with new athletes wonting to get better and thats because word of mouth fron the PARENTS. I have been blessed with a great wife and kids that help everyday to keep this going. UNDERGROUND FITNESS WONTS TO THANK EACH AND EVERYBODY THAT HAS HELP. THE MOTTO IS TRAIN WITH YOUR HEART, FAITH, AND GOD AND NOT YOUR POCKET ATHLETES WILL COME.
Raw Foods And Weight loss
Eat more raw foods to lose fat, get lean, and be healthier. Summer is the perfect time to incorporate more raw foods into your diet and research shows that doing so is a simple and delicious way to shed fat and improve your health. Plus, eating more raw fruits and vegetables has been shown to decrease your risk of chronic disease, cancer, and stroke.We’re not talking about eating only raw foods or abolishing your favorite grilled meats and fish. Cooking out is one of the delights of summer, but strategically adding the most unique and delicious raw fruits and vegetables to salads and other recipes is an easy way to get lean fast.
#1 Eat Raw Foods to Decrease Energy IntakeCooking significantly increases the energy available from food. We’ve known for a while that cooking increases the calories available from starches like sweet potatoes, but a recent Harvard University study found that cooking meats, eggs, and vegetables increases the amount of calories your body absorbs from those foods as well.The study compared the effect of feeding mice one of four diets for four days: raw sweet potato, cooked sweet potato, raw beef, or cooked beef. The mice maintained their weight on the cooked diets but lost weight on the raw diets, but they ate more calories on the raw diets! So, despite having higher food intake and ingesting more calories, the mice lost weight simply by eating raw.Researchers think this is due to the need to chew the raw food more and to the greater calories burned from digesting the raw foods. Cooked foods are “pre-digested” and many of the compounds are broken down, resulting in less energy expenditure from digesting cooked food. There is also less water in cooked food, making the cooked diets more energy dense.Eating more of your foods in raw or minimally cooked form will mean you decrease the energy density of the food you eat, and you will experience the various health benefits listed below. You can eat significantly more raw vegetables and fruits to get the same energy intake as if those same foods were cooked or processed, and you’ll get more nutrients and antioxidants too!
#2 Eat the Raw with the Cooked For Best ResultsStudies show people who eat strict or even mostly raw food vegetarian diets have significantly lower body mass indexes, with less body fat, less lean mass, and lower bone density. Although eating a raw diet may seem to be a great solution if you struggle with fat loss, there are some serious negative health effects. Evidence shows raw diets lead to poor fertility in both sexes and that half of women who eat raw diets have impaired ovulation. The reason is likely a combination of low energy intake and lack of healthy fat from which sex hormones are produced.Researchers suggest that raw diets are undesirable from a survival perspective. Cooking makes survival and reproduction much easier and has significantly supported human evolution. Historically, when energy was scarce, cooking increased the calories available from gathered food and it makes meat much more attractive and palatable since it becomes more easily digested, safer, and tastier.Take away the understanding that in the modern, energy dense society, eating cooked food is okay, but optimal health can be achieved by including raw foods in the diet. If you’re trying to lose fat, substituting more raw fruits and vegetables for cooked ones, while eliminating processed foods and cooked grains is a beneficial plan. Be sure to get adequate “smart” fats such as the omega-3s from fish and wild meats, and monounsaturated fats from foods like olive oil avocados for optimal reproductive health.
#3 Eat Raw Foods Instead of Packaged to Lose Fat and Avoid an Energy Imbalance Another finding of the Harvard study is that food labels are significantly underestimating calorie content of cooked or processed foods. Energy content of food is typically based on an accepted calculation of the calories in uncooked and unprocessed food. Heating or processing the food will significantly increase the calories present, but most food labels base the energy content on calculations of raw food.People who rely on these values are lowballing their energy intake, which can obviously lead to fat gain. To stay or get lean, all processed foods should be avoided in favor of whole foods, whether they are cooked or raw.
#4 Eat Raw Produce Instead of Grain-Based CarbohydratesSubstitute grain-based carbohydrates for raw produce to decrease your glycemic load and lose fat. Shifting the balance of a meal toward vegetables and away from refined AND whole grains will mean that your body experiences a much more gradual and moderate insulin response because raw vegetables take much longer to digest.It works like this: In general, grains are digested much faster than vegetables, and digestion breaks the chemical bonds down into glucose or blood sugar. The presence of glucose in the blood triggers the pancreas to produce insulin so that the glucose can be moved into your cells or stored as fat. If you eat fast-digesting grains, your body will produce too much insulin all at once when you don’t need it, which means much of the energy will be stored as fat. Plus, grains are much denser in energy than vegetables, so for every serving of rice or bread you eat, you are getting many more calories than if you ate the same serving of kale, broccoli, or salad.
#5 Eat Raw Foods Before Taking a Bite of Cooked Food—You’ll Ingest Less Energy OverallA fascinating new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine using college students found that whichever food the students ate first from their plate ended up being the food they ate the most of at that meal. So, the students who started with vegetables ate more veggies overall, which translated into them eating less high-glycemic carbs (the other choices were dinner roles and French fries) and less energy overall.The research group suggests that as long as you see and eat the same volume of food, you are likely to feel full and satisfied despite the lower intake in energy. Making it a habit to always eat raw fruits and vegetables first before taking a bite of cooked food can produce significant fat loss in the long term.
#6 Eat Raw “Water-Rich” Foods to Lose Fat & Improve Cardiovascular HealthEating more “water-rich” raw fruits and vegetables is an easy way to increase your water intake to maintain hydration and lose fat. In fact, a compelling study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutritioncompared a reduced fat diet with a reduced fat diet that included more water-rich fruits and vegetables. Participants were counseled on how to reduce fat from their diet so that they ended up eating 28 percent of their calories from fat, 54 percent from carbs, and 18 percent from protein.Results showed that the “water-rich” food group lost an average of 17 pounds, about 3 more than the reduced fat group by the end of the one year study. Since they were eating more of their diet from fruits and vegetables, they took in 113 fewer calories daily than the reduced fat group, but they ate 25 percent more food daily! They reported significantly less hunger than the other group, and improved their cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure more than the reduced fat group, indicating better overall health.
#7 Eat Raw To Make You Chew More and Improve Hormone Response to FoodIt’s well known that people who chew their food more times will eat less, but it is a surprisingly hard practice to consistently perform. Eating raw foods before any other food type is the easiest way to force yourself to chew more—just the fact that you are eating crunchy, fresh food will remind you to work your jaw a few extra times for each bite.A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutritionfound that obese people naturally chewed fewer times and ingested more food than lean participants. Chewing the food 40 times before swallowing rather than 15 times resulted in a 12 percent lower energy intake.Ingestion rate strongly correlated with the number of chews per gram of food, but perhaps more interesting, the greater the number of chews per bite was associated with a better hormone response to the food. The hormone ghrelin (increases appetite) was lower in participants who chewed more, and the hormones CCK and GLP-1 (decrease feelings of hunger) were higher when participants chewed more, regardless of body weight status. Increased chewing is thought to release nutrients from food more efficiently, which leads to this better physiological hormone response to food.
#8 Eating Raw Produce Is One of the BEST Ways to Increase Fiber IntakeStudies show that dietary fiber intake is associated with less body fat and researchers have suggested that simply getting enough fiber can be a treatment for the obesity epidemic. The average American adult fiber intake is less than half of the government recommendation, and less than 3 percent of Americans are thought to get adequate fiber! Plus, a variety of studies have shown that increasing fiber content can produce greater fat loss than a diet with reduced fat but no increase in fiber—one 2010 study showed that a high-protein, high fiber diet produced 2.2 pounds more fat loss than a standard diet with reduced fat.Eating raw foods at every meal is the easiest way to boost your fiber intake and lose fat. Fiber helps slow digestion and decrease the blood sugar response, and greater fiber intake is linked to less disease risk. In addition, if you are eating lots of protein you need even more fiber—the 2010 study mentioned above included at least 35 grams of fiber a day.
#9 Eat Raw To Get More Fruits and Veggies to Prevent Cancer & StrokeA large-scale European study found that participants who ate more raw vegetables had less risk of ischemic stroke (a blood clot in a brain blood vessel), and raw fruit intake was associated with lower rate of hemorrhagic stroke (a blood vessel in the brain becomes weak and bursts open). Overall, an intake of raw fruit and vegetables of more than 262 grams a day (roughly two cups a day) resulted in a 30 percent lower risk of stroke than a low intake of less than 92 grams a day.There’s a wealth of studies that link the intake of antioxidant-rich produce with less cancer risk (thyroid, breast, and prostate). A clear outcome of these studies is that processed produce (fruit cocktail, canned vegetables) aren’t associated with cancer prevention. Plus, raw vegetables have been shown to be much better than cooked vegetables because the cooking causes a dramatic drop in antioxidant and vitamin content.
For example, an analysis of cooked and raw kale found that cooking the kale decreased vitamin C content by 89 percent, polyphenols by 56 percent, and zinc by 13 percent. Antioxidant activity of the cooked kale dropped to 38 percent of the raw.Opt for antioxidant-rich foods such as dark red, blue, and purple fruits, and dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, chard, and collards. Deep orange fruits and veggies, tomatoes, white turnips, and grapes have been highlighted in studies as being especially high in antioxidants.
#1 Eat Raw Foods to Decrease Energy IntakeCooking significantly increases the energy available from food. We’ve known for a while that cooking increases the calories available from starches like sweet potatoes, but a recent Harvard University study found that cooking meats, eggs, and vegetables increases the amount of calories your body absorbs from those foods as well.The study compared the effect of feeding mice one of four diets for four days: raw sweet potato, cooked sweet potato, raw beef, or cooked beef. The mice maintained their weight on the cooked diets but lost weight on the raw diets, but they ate more calories on the raw diets! So, despite having higher food intake and ingesting more calories, the mice lost weight simply by eating raw.Researchers think this is due to the need to chew the raw food more and to the greater calories burned from digesting the raw foods. Cooked foods are “pre-digested” and many of the compounds are broken down, resulting in less energy expenditure from digesting cooked food. There is also less water in cooked food, making the cooked diets more energy dense.Eating more of your foods in raw or minimally cooked form will mean you decrease the energy density of the food you eat, and you will experience the various health benefits listed below. You can eat significantly more raw vegetables and fruits to get the same energy intake as if those same foods were cooked or processed, and you’ll get more nutrients and antioxidants too!
#2 Eat the Raw with the Cooked For Best ResultsStudies show people who eat strict or even mostly raw food vegetarian diets have significantly lower body mass indexes, with less body fat, less lean mass, and lower bone density. Although eating a raw diet may seem to be a great solution if you struggle with fat loss, there are some serious negative health effects. Evidence shows raw diets lead to poor fertility in both sexes and that half of women who eat raw diets have impaired ovulation. The reason is likely a combination of low energy intake and lack of healthy fat from which sex hormones are produced.Researchers suggest that raw diets are undesirable from a survival perspective. Cooking makes survival and reproduction much easier and has significantly supported human evolution. Historically, when energy was scarce, cooking increased the calories available from gathered food and it makes meat much more attractive and palatable since it becomes more easily digested, safer, and tastier.Take away the understanding that in the modern, energy dense society, eating cooked food is okay, but optimal health can be achieved by including raw foods in the diet. If you’re trying to lose fat, substituting more raw fruits and vegetables for cooked ones, while eliminating processed foods and cooked grains is a beneficial plan. Be sure to get adequate “smart” fats such as the omega-3s from fish and wild meats, and monounsaturated fats from foods like olive oil avocados for optimal reproductive health.
#3 Eat Raw Foods Instead of Packaged to Lose Fat and Avoid an Energy Imbalance Another finding of the Harvard study is that food labels are significantly underestimating calorie content of cooked or processed foods. Energy content of food is typically based on an accepted calculation of the calories in uncooked and unprocessed food. Heating or processing the food will significantly increase the calories present, but most food labels base the energy content on calculations of raw food.People who rely on these values are lowballing their energy intake, which can obviously lead to fat gain. To stay or get lean, all processed foods should be avoided in favor of whole foods, whether they are cooked or raw.
#4 Eat Raw Produce Instead of Grain-Based CarbohydratesSubstitute grain-based carbohydrates for raw produce to decrease your glycemic load and lose fat. Shifting the balance of a meal toward vegetables and away from refined AND whole grains will mean that your body experiences a much more gradual and moderate insulin response because raw vegetables take much longer to digest.It works like this: In general, grains are digested much faster than vegetables, and digestion breaks the chemical bonds down into glucose or blood sugar. The presence of glucose in the blood triggers the pancreas to produce insulin so that the glucose can be moved into your cells or stored as fat. If you eat fast-digesting grains, your body will produce too much insulin all at once when you don’t need it, which means much of the energy will be stored as fat. Plus, grains are much denser in energy than vegetables, so for every serving of rice or bread you eat, you are getting many more calories than if you ate the same serving of kale, broccoli, or salad.
#5 Eat Raw Foods Before Taking a Bite of Cooked Food—You’ll Ingest Less Energy OverallA fascinating new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine using college students found that whichever food the students ate first from their plate ended up being the food they ate the most of at that meal. So, the students who started with vegetables ate more veggies overall, which translated into them eating less high-glycemic carbs (the other choices were dinner roles and French fries) and less energy overall.The research group suggests that as long as you see and eat the same volume of food, you are likely to feel full and satisfied despite the lower intake in energy. Making it a habit to always eat raw fruits and vegetables first before taking a bite of cooked food can produce significant fat loss in the long term.
#6 Eat Raw “Water-Rich” Foods to Lose Fat & Improve Cardiovascular HealthEating more “water-rich” raw fruits and vegetables is an easy way to increase your water intake to maintain hydration and lose fat. In fact, a compelling study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutritioncompared a reduced fat diet with a reduced fat diet that included more water-rich fruits and vegetables. Participants were counseled on how to reduce fat from their diet so that they ended up eating 28 percent of their calories from fat, 54 percent from carbs, and 18 percent from protein.Results showed that the “water-rich” food group lost an average of 17 pounds, about 3 more than the reduced fat group by the end of the one year study. Since they were eating more of their diet from fruits and vegetables, they took in 113 fewer calories daily than the reduced fat group, but they ate 25 percent more food daily! They reported significantly less hunger than the other group, and improved their cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure more than the reduced fat group, indicating better overall health.
#7 Eat Raw To Make You Chew More and Improve Hormone Response to FoodIt’s well known that people who chew their food more times will eat less, but it is a surprisingly hard practice to consistently perform. Eating raw foods before any other food type is the easiest way to force yourself to chew more—just the fact that you are eating crunchy, fresh food will remind you to work your jaw a few extra times for each bite.A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutritionfound that obese people naturally chewed fewer times and ingested more food than lean participants. Chewing the food 40 times before swallowing rather than 15 times resulted in a 12 percent lower energy intake.Ingestion rate strongly correlated with the number of chews per gram of food, but perhaps more interesting, the greater the number of chews per bite was associated with a better hormone response to the food. The hormone ghrelin (increases appetite) was lower in participants who chewed more, and the hormones CCK and GLP-1 (decrease feelings of hunger) were higher when participants chewed more, regardless of body weight status. Increased chewing is thought to release nutrients from food more efficiently, which leads to this better physiological hormone response to food.
#8 Eating Raw Produce Is One of the BEST Ways to Increase Fiber IntakeStudies show that dietary fiber intake is associated with less body fat and researchers have suggested that simply getting enough fiber can be a treatment for the obesity epidemic. The average American adult fiber intake is less than half of the government recommendation, and less than 3 percent of Americans are thought to get adequate fiber! Plus, a variety of studies have shown that increasing fiber content can produce greater fat loss than a diet with reduced fat but no increase in fiber—one 2010 study showed that a high-protein, high fiber diet produced 2.2 pounds more fat loss than a standard diet with reduced fat.Eating raw foods at every meal is the easiest way to boost your fiber intake and lose fat. Fiber helps slow digestion and decrease the blood sugar response, and greater fiber intake is linked to less disease risk. In addition, if you are eating lots of protein you need even more fiber—the 2010 study mentioned above included at least 35 grams of fiber a day.
#9 Eat Raw To Get More Fruits and Veggies to Prevent Cancer & StrokeA large-scale European study found that participants who ate more raw vegetables had less risk of ischemic stroke (a blood clot in a brain blood vessel), and raw fruit intake was associated with lower rate of hemorrhagic stroke (a blood vessel in the brain becomes weak and bursts open). Overall, an intake of raw fruit and vegetables of more than 262 grams a day (roughly two cups a day) resulted in a 30 percent lower risk of stroke than a low intake of less than 92 grams a day.There’s a wealth of studies that link the intake of antioxidant-rich produce with less cancer risk (thyroid, breast, and prostate). A clear outcome of these studies is that processed produce (fruit cocktail, canned vegetables) aren’t associated with cancer prevention. Plus, raw vegetables have been shown to be much better than cooked vegetables because the cooking causes a dramatic drop in antioxidant and vitamin content.
For example, an analysis of cooked and raw kale found that cooking the kale decreased vitamin C content by 89 percent, polyphenols by 56 percent, and zinc by 13 percent. Antioxidant activity of the cooked kale dropped to 38 percent of the raw.Opt for antioxidant-rich foods such as dark red, blue, and purple fruits, and dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, chard, and collards. Deep orange fruits and veggies, tomatoes, white turnips, and grapes have been highlighted in studies as being especially high in antioxidants.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Not feeling your workout adapt
One of the worst feelings is when you thought you were psyched and ready to train, but you hit the gym floor and your warm-ups feel heavy. You feel like you’re training in water and you wonder if you can make it through this one. You have a few choices: In some cases, it may be best to throw in the towel and go home. If you’re sick, possibly on the verge of an injury, or over-tired, not training may be a good bet. This is a personal assessment and choice. If you’re actually dressed and in the gym, it is valuable to follow through with the original plan. There is value to this because it can help you develop mental toughness, and by the end you will have confidence in your ability to do something you doubted. A third solution is to modify the workout. For example, can you train outside instead? Going out and doing a strongman workout or doing hill sprints may be a good alternative. Or you could try super sets that go after one part of the body. This will only take about 20 minutes. You use short rest between sets, so you don’t have time to think about how hard it feels, allowing you to work a large amount of muscle in a short amount of time.For example, for the legs try the following:A-1. Front Squat, 3 x 4-6, 40X0, 10 seconds restA-2. Heels-Elevated Back Squat, 3 x 6-8, 30X0, rest 2 minutesB-1. Lying Leg Curl, Feet Neutral, 2 x 6-8, 40x0, 10 seconds restB-2. Romanian Deadlift, 2 x 10-12 reps, 4020, rest 2 minutes Note that you can set up the B exercises during your 2 minute rest periods. This workout only requires 10 sets total and can be done in 20 minutes. An alternative rescue workout is to pick two compound exercises—one for the upper and one for the lower body, such as a deadlift and an overhead press or chin-up. Do ten sets of each, alternating between them with maximum 30 seconds rest. Be sure to focus on proper form throughout whatever workout you do. If you have to decrease the weights to do this, go for it.
WAKE UP AND REALIZE
Do yourself a favor, and realize that there’s no technique in the world that will save you. There are no pills, no secrets, no passwords on the path to greatness. You’ve got to embrace the pain, push the threshold, and feel the suck, and then you’ve got to muster the courage to go back six times a week.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Belly Fat Go Away And STAY
An expanding waistline is sometimes considered the price of getting older. For women, this can be especially true after menopause, when body fat tends to shift to the abdomen.
Yet an increase in belly fat can do more than make it hard to zip up your jeans. Research shows that belly fat also carries serious health risks. The good news? The threats posed by belly fat can be cut down to size.
However, aging also plays a role. Muscle mass typically diminishes with age, while fat increases. Loss of muscle mass also decreases the rate at which your body uses calories, which can make it more challenging to maintain a healthy weight.
Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.
The tendency to gain or carry weight around the waist — have an "apple" rather than a "pear" shape — might have a genetic component as well.
Although subcutaneous fat poses cosmetic concerns, visceral fat is linked with far more dangerous health problems, including:
Yet an increase in belly fat can do more than make it hard to zip up your jeans. Research shows that belly fat also carries serious health risks. The good news? The threats posed by belly fat can be cut down to size.
What's behind belly fat
Your weight is largely determined by how you balance the calories you eat with the energy you burn. If you eat too much and exercise too little, you're likely to pack on excess pounds — including belly fat.However, aging also plays a role. Muscle mass typically diminishes with age, while fat increases. Loss of muscle mass also decreases the rate at which your body uses calories, which can make it more challenging to maintain a healthy weight.
Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.
The tendency to gain or carry weight around the waist — have an "apple" rather than a "pear" shape — might have a genetic component as well.
Why belly fat is more than skin deep
The trouble with belly fat is that it's not limited to the extra layer of padding located just below the skin (subcutaneous fat). It also includes visceral fat — which lies deep inside your abdomen, surrounding your internal organs.Although subcutaneous fat poses cosmetic concerns, visceral fat is linked with far more dangerous health problems, including:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Colorectal cancer
Measuring your middle
So how do you know if you have too much belly fat? Simply measure your waist:- Place a tape measure around your bare stomach, just above your hipbone.
- Pull the tape measure until it fits snugly around you, but doesn't push into your skin.
- Make sure the tape measure is level all the way around.
- Relax, exhale and measure your waist, resisting the urge to suck in your stomach.
Trimming the fat
You can tone abdominal muscles with crunches or other targeted abdominal exercises, but just doing these exercises won't get rid of belly fat. However, visceral fat does respond to the same diet and exercise strategies that can help you shed excess pounds and lower your total body fat. To battle the bulge:- Eat a healthy diet. Emphasize plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and choose lean sources of protein and low-fat dairy products. Limit saturated fat, found in meat and high-fat dairy products, such as cheese and butter. Choose moderate amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats — found in fish, nuts and certain vegetable oils — instead.
- Keep portion sizes in check. Even when you're making healthy choices, calories add up. At home, slim down your portion sizes. In restaurants, share meals — or eat half your meal and take the rest home for another day.
- Include physical activity in your daily routine. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends moderate aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, for at least 150 minutes a week or vigorous aerobic activity, such as jogging, for at least 75 minutes a week. In addition, strength training exercises are recommended at least twice a week. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals, you might need to exercise more.
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Friday, June 21, 2013
MMA Westside Style
We do lots of sled pull work with UFC fighter Matt Brown – extra weight on the shoulders, up to a half-mile, sometimes farther. This builds incredible strength in the glutes and hips, which is where punching power originates. It also builds cardiovascular and muscular endurance at the same time.
The only barbell lifts he does are basically Zercher squats or sumo deadlifts. Sometimes we'll do straddle-leg good mornings (one leg out in front) which simulates single and double-leg takedowns.
I have Matt carry a barrel – wrestlers have to get their hips to the opponent, and the only way to carry a 55 gallon barrel is to jam the hips up into it.
Matt will also carry a 100-pound med ball in a wrestler's clinch for interval training. So he'll go 100 feet down, 100 feet back, perform a series of jumps, and then repeat.
But one of the best exercises is the belt squat. Matt uses 365 pounds strapped around his waist and he'll walk with it on for five minute rounds – forward, backward, and to the side.
This builds lateral power and has made him incredibly strong. In his last fight he broke his opponent's nose, jaw, and cheekbone – and we don't do anything for arms other than one-arm dumbbell pressing.
The only barbell lifts he does are basically Zercher squats or sumo deadlifts. Sometimes we'll do straddle-leg good mornings (one leg out in front) which simulates single and double-leg takedowns.
I have Matt carry a barrel – wrestlers have to get their hips to the opponent, and the only way to carry a 55 gallon barrel is to jam the hips up into it.
Matt will also carry a 100-pound med ball in a wrestler's clinch for interval training. So he'll go 100 feet down, 100 feet back, perform a series of jumps, and then repeat.
But one of the best exercises is the belt squat. Matt uses 365 pounds strapped around his waist and he'll walk with it on for five minute rounds – forward, backward, and to the side.
This builds lateral power and has made him incredibly strong. In his last fight he broke his opponent's nose, jaw, and cheekbone – and we don't do anything for arms other than one-arm dumbbell pressing.
FAST = STRONG Louie Simmons
Number one is speed work.
All sports, including powerlifting, require speed. As weights get heavier, they get slower due to gravity. So weights are not heavy or light – they're slow and fast.
Everyone should know that the amount of force you produce in a lift is determined by multiplying the rate of acceleration by the amount of weight lifted. And since you only have so long to complete a maximum rep – 2 seconds, maybe 3 if you're very endurance minded – you have to be fast to be strong. If not, you fail.
Think of speed strength as a transmission in a car. If you take the first gear out of a Mack truck, how fast will it take off? Not very fast. Speed training is that important first gear.
Another reason you need to work speed is technique. You don't perfect technique using heavy loads; you perfect technique with light weights over multiple sets.
The key to making someone run faster is jumping. If you can jump higher you can run faster. It's straight up that simple. Jumping is explosive power.
If you want to get strong, the system is foolproof and works for anyone.
First we'll teach you perfect form, then we'll work on your weaknesses so you don't get hurt. This allows you to bring out your strengths. You'll reach your top potential while many others don't, as they'll get injured or get frustrated and quit.
All sports, including powerlifting, require speed. As weights get heavier, they get slower due to gravity. So weights are not heavy or light – they're slow and fast.
Everyone should know that the amount of force you produce in a lift is determined by multiplying the rate of acceleration by the amount of weight lifted. And since you only have so long to complete a maximum rep – 2 seconds, maybe 3 if you're very endurance minded – you have to be fast to be strong. If not, you fail.
Think of speed strength as a transmission in a car. If you take the first gear out of a Mack truck, how fast will it take off? Not very fast. Speed training is that important first gear.
Another reason you need to work speed is technique. You don't perfect technique using heavy loads; you perfect technique with light weights over multiple sets.
The key to making someone run faster is jumping. If you can jump higher you can run faster. It's straight up that simple. Jumping is explosive power.
If you want to get strong, the system is foolproof and works for anyone.
First we'll teach you perfect form, then we'll work on your weaknesses so you don't get hurt. This allows you to bring out your strengths. You'll reach your top potential while many others don't, as they'll get injured or get frustrated and quit.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Lose Belly Fat
Lose belly fat fast and improve your health by doing strength training and high-intensity intervals. Compelling research shows that the BEST way to get rid of the belly fat is to train with hard but short bursts of exercise, a style that taps into the anaerobic energy system more than the aerobic. There is overwhelming evidence that belly fat loss is best achieved when exercise is with a high, but varied intensity, and a relatively large volume. However, this does not mean you have to spend hours and hours a day killing yourself in the gym. Less than an hour a few days a week can produce dramatic fat loss if you do it right. This article will tell you why you burn more fat when you favor anaerobic-style training and give you eight reasons to favor this style of training by lifting weights and doing sprints rather than spending hours on aerobic exercise.
#1: Burn More Belly Fat with Sprint IntervalsA large number of convincing studies show that high-intensity interval training is the best conditioning strategy for losing belly fat. In contrast, one research group that has conducted a number of experiments comparing aerobic and anaerobic training for belly fat loss write, “Disappointingly, aerobic exercise protocols have led to negligible fat loss.” The reason anaerobic interval training works so much better is that it requires the body to adapt metabolically—your body is forced to burn fat to sustain the level of intensity being asked of it. It also elevates energy use for more than 24 hours post-workout, which has a dramatic effect on belly fat loss.For example, a 2008 showed that a 6-week program increased the amount of fat burned during exercise by 12 percent and decreased the oxidation of carbohydrates—obviously, a favorable result for losing fat. More impressive, a 2007 study showed that in as little as 2 weeks, active women who performed interval training experienced a 36 percent increase in the use of fat for fuel during exercise. Interval training is so effective for fat loss because it taps into different energy pathways than aerobic exercise. Simply, aerobic exercise tends to burn carbohydrates first and activate pathways that are degrading to muscle, whereas high-intensity exercise such as weight lifting and sprinting will burn a greater percentage of fat, enhance the body’s production of enzymes involved in fat breakdown, and activate pathways that lead to muscle development. The other reason anaerobic intervals are superior for belly fat loss is that they increase excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) a huge amount. A 2006 review showed that protocols that are more anaerobic in nature produce higher EPOC values than steady-state aerobic training because the trained muscle cells must rest restore physiological factors in the cells, which translates to a lot of energy expenditure.
#2: Lose Belly Fat With Sprint Intervals: The ProofThe following are examples of the superiority of anaerobic interval training for belly fat loss from the research:•
A 12-week high-intensity interval training program produced a 17 percent decrease in belly fat in overweight young men. Subjects lost 1.5 kg of belly fat and 2 kg of total fat, while building 1 kg of muscle. Fat burning was increased by 13 percent due to the 3-day a week program of 20-minutes of cycling in which the subjects sprinted for 8 seconds and then did 12 seconds of recovery, repeating these intervals for a total of 60 sprints. • The same 20-minute cycling interval program produced 2.5 kg of fat loss in young women in 15 weeks, and the majority of the fat loss come from the legs and abdominal area. The sprint intervals were compared to a steady-state aerobic program that produced no fat loss. •
A 16-week study had trained athletes perform either a sprint interval protocol or steady-state running four days a week. The sprint interval protocol varied each day, but an example of one of the workouts used was 10 intervals of 30-sec sprints with 90 seconds rest. The sprint interval group lost 16 percent or 1 kg of visceral fat as well as 2 kg of total fat, compared to the endurance group that lost no belly fat, but did lose 1.4 kg of lean mass. The belly fat loss appears to be small, but be aware that subjects were lean, trained athletes to begin with and had less belly fat to lose than overweight subjects. •
An 8-week interval program using both high- and moderate-intensity intervals decreased belly fat by 44 percent in middle-aged men with type 2 diabetes. Subjects increased quad muscle size by 24 percent and improved insulin sensitivity by 58 percent—a dramatic improvement that highlights the other mechanisms involved in belly fat loss (muscle building, insulin health & blood sugar management).
#3: Sprints Take Less Time than Aerobic ExerciseNot only do sprints help you lose MORE belly fat, they help you lose it FASTER and with LESS training time. Repeatedly, studies show that more fat loss is achieved in high-intensity programs that use 20 to 25 minutes of training time than those that use 45 or 50 minutes of aerobic training time. Scientists write that anaerobic intervals are overwhelmingly preferable to aerobics for producing belly fat loss, and that the estimated optimal dose of aerobic exercise necessary to lose belly fat appears to be 3,780 calories expended per week. This is an enormous volume of exercise that would require 1 hour of moderate intensity aerobic cycling 7 days a week to burn 550 calories a day so that you could lose even a pound a week! In less than half the time you can get better results with anaerobic training. A 1994 study is indicative of this: Participants did either 20 weeks of aerobic training or 15 weeks of intervals (15 sprints for 30 seconds each) and lost nine times more body fat and 12 percent more visceral belly fat than the aerobic group.What is so interesting about this study is that the energy cost of the aerobic program over the whole study period was 28,661 calories, whereas for intervals it was less than half, at 13,614 calories. In less time, the interval group lost much more weight—nine times more weight. How do researchers explain it? Aside from greater fat oxidation and higher EPOC, hormone response plays a major role…
#4: Sprints Improve Hormone Response for More Belly Fat LossSprint intervals and anaerobic exercise in general improve your entire endocrine system. Both training modes enhance the cells’ sensitivity to insulin, making anaerobic training a successful treatment for diabetes. Perhaps most important, anaerobic exercise also elevates growth hormone (GH) —a powerful fat burning hormone that helps restore tissue and build muscle—much more than aerobic training. GH is released by the body in greater quantities in response to physical stress above the lactate threshold, which is the reason heavy, sprints are so effective. Another hormone called adiponectin that is released from fat tissue during exercise also helps burn fat. Emerging scientific evidence shows that any time you perform forceful muscle contractions, adiponectin is released, and then your body produces a substance called PGC1 that is like a “master switch” that enhances muscle and metabolic functions, thereby burning belly fat. Naturally, anaerobic training is most effective for increasing adiponectin and PGC1 to burn fat since sprints and especially weight lifting require extremely forceful muscle contractions.
#5: Strength Train to Lose Belly FatTo get a lean, trim your midsection and lose belly fat, you need to strength train with a high volume, using large muscle groups, and short rest periods. This metabolically intense type of training is fantastic for increasing GH and aiding belly fat loss. This doesn’t mean you have to spend hours and hours a day killing yourself in the gym!You will get results from a resistance training program that includes the following components:•
Multi-joint lifts such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, split squats, step-ups, chin-ups, and chest presses in every training session. Add isolation exercises only if you have extra time. • Train with a higher volume—work up to more than 4 sets per exercise. Shoot for 24 to 32 total sets per training session.
• Train with a higher intensity—include some training in the 70 to 85 percent of the 1RM range.
• Include short rest periods (30 to 60 seconds) and always train a “finisher” that requires near maximal effort for more GH response (25 reps of squats or 2 minutes of leg presses, for example).
• Count tempo for every lift so that you apply a specific amount of tension to the muscles. In general, opt for longer (4 second) eccentric tempos and short or explosive concentric tempos.
• Shoot for 3 to 4 hours of total training time per week, which includes resistance training and a few short sprint sessions.
#6: Anaerobic Training Produces Less Cortisol For More Belly Fat LossCortisol is the stress hormone that is elevated when you are under both physical and psychological stress. Research shows cortisol is chronically higher in endurance athletes—one study found that aerobic athletes had significantly higher evidence of cumulative cortisol secretion in their hair than controls. In addition, cortisol is generally elevated more following aerobic training than anaerobic training. Part of this has to do with the fact that strength training and intervals do elevate cortisol, but they also elevate anabolic hormones such as GH and testosterone that counter the negative effects of cortisol. If GH and testosterone are not elevated, cortisol overwhelms tissue, having a catabolic effect that leads to gradual muscle loss and fat gain. By doing aerobic training without strength training, you will lose muscle, lower your metabolic, rate, and gain fat. Worst of all, high cortisol causes chronic inflammation, which lead to belly fat gain over time—all-around bad news!
#7: Anaerobic Training Is More Fun & Less Boring than Aerobic ExerciseIntervals and strength training take less time and provide much more variety than aerobic training. Not only are you doing many different exercises in a strength training session, but you are pushing yourself to reach new personal bests. When you see how it can transform a fat belly into a lean, cut midsection, you will be that much more motivated to continue!In addition, although sprint interval training can be mentally challenging, it only requires a short workout and many trainees find intervals less boring than endurance exercise. Plus, most people enjoy feeling powerful and fast from going all out. Get a training partner to help push you through the hard parts and know that by working hard but smart, you will reach your fat loss goal.
#8: Mix It Up with Modified Strongman, Varied Strength Protocols & SprintsA few more anaerobic training suggestions include the following:
• Try modified strongman training: Do sled training, tire flips, and a heavy farmer’s walk to lose belly fat fast.
• Mix up strength training protocols with circuit training and supersets that use very short rest periods. For example, do supersets with 10 seconds rest when switching from the agonist to the antagonist exercise and 60 seconds between sets. Or, do a “death circuit” of heavy, high volume deadlifts followed by split squats followed by lighter high volume squats with 10 seconds rest between exercises.
• Try a sprint training workout in which you do 20 second all-out sprints with 10 seconds rest in 4 sets of 4 intervals. Rest 3 to 4 minutes between sets.
• Try hill or stair running in which you sprint up as fast as possible and jog down—repeat immediately. Do 8 to 16 reps.
• Try a sprint-endurance workout with six to eight 200-meter sprints (about 30 seconds each) with a 3 to 4 minute recovery.
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