Archive for December, 2010

In Part One, we covered the reasons we wrote NROL for Abs, and you explained your core-training philosophy and methodology. But core training is maybe one-fifth of the program in our book.

Let’s start with mobility, since that’s the way readers will start all the workouts. Pretend I’m a reader who picks up this book with the goal of finding a bunch of exercises that’ll help me get ripped abs. How do you convince me that the mobility exercises are just as important as the core training? What do I lose if I don’t work on mobility?

AC: Take a look at most 70 year olds and get back to me! That should be reason enough.

Let me illustrate this with a story. When I got out of the hospital in 2006 I was struggling to regain fitness. As part of my “comeback” training I was doing multiple sets of push ups. I think I had worked up to 4 when my Dad came to visit from Scotland.

Watching me struggle, my Dad dropped to the floor and banged out 10 “marine style” push ups (where you clap your hands in front of you between each rep). He was 64 at the time!

About 18 months later I was visiting him and challenged him to see how many he could do. At this point my Dad was unable to get into the push up position.

What had happened in the 18 months?

He’d retired. My Dad had a physical job all his life. Since retirement he’d become sedentary and lost mobility faster than any other qualities..

Mobility is the one thing we take for granted that can enhance all our other training, and our overall quality of life the most.

So I’ve done the mobility exercises, and I’ve done the core training. I finally move on to the weight room. But once I get there, the strength workouts in NROL for Abs have me doing all kinds of things I’ve never done before.

There’s a bench press where my shoulders are on the end of the bench and my feet are on the floor, with my torso completely off the bench. There’s a one-arm row where I have one hand on a bench, my feet on the floor, and my body in a plank position. And there are some squats and deadlifts that are so evil I can’t really describe them to a family audience.

People who know you know that you do everything for a reason – every exercise is part of an overall training mechanism. Take one part out, and you’ve changed the entire program.

So why these exercises? What do they offer that you can’t get from the basic movements?

AC: My goal was to present an athletically challenging program where we are training core “all the time”. Of course there are some traditional exercises in there, but in order to provide a new stimulus I wanted to provide some more challenging exercises for people, rather than just say “Add 5lbs and start over”.

Once you get past Phase One of the program, the workouts finish with 5 to 10 minutes of metabolic training. The exercises themselves are pretty simple – burpees, kettlebell swings, body-weight squats, push-ups. But they kicked my ass. I started doing the metabolic training at the beginning of the workouts because if I waited until the end, I didn’t have the energy for them.

Even so, I got leaner on this program than I’d been in years. This isn’t really a question so much as an observation that if you want to get lean, you have to get way the hell out of your comfort zone at least once or twice a week.

AC: I think everyone needs direct metabolic training. The problem is that for years we’ve prescribed traditional cardiovascular exercises (jogging, cycling etc).

If we think about jogging, one mile is around 1500 plyometric reps with forces of 2-4 times bodyweight. If our goal is just to challenge the metabolism and cardio systems of the body – that’s a ton of joint stress. Cycling reduces the loads obviously, but of course there are more repetitions involved.

So the way we do “cardio” at Results Fitness is to do high intensity metabolic circuits where we take something like the kettlebell swing and perform density circuits. Studies came out of Truman State last year showing kettlebell swings to have an oxygen cost higher than running (with similar heart rate responses), but with about 20% of the reps performed when compared to a mile run.

Basically it’s a more effective and safer option than traditional cardio when the goal is purely cardio conditioning and calorie burning.

The downside, you’re going to have to work!

–
AC
PS – You can pick up a copy of the New Rules of Lifting for Abs – HERE .

The latest book in the New Rules of Lifting training series is now available! You can pick it up HERE .

This is the first book that I feel really reflects the programming that we do at Results Fitness.

The first two books had great programs in them, but I was brought in as a fitness consultant for these books.
In other words – the original books weren’t what we’d do if you joined Results Fitness.

This book is as close as it gets to being a member of our gym, without actually living in Valencia, Ca.

Here’s part one of an interview that I just did with my co-author Lou Schuler:

Alwyn, let’s talk about the origins of our book. In the Introduction, I tell readers why I had to change the way I trained. Short version: I hurt my shoulder playing lumberjack in my back yard, I reinjured a knee in the gym, and I got a hernia. There was a point in the summer and fall of 2008 where I could barely walk. Running was completely out of the question. I was forced to rethink not just the exercises I did or the way I did them, but the goal of training itself.

As it happens, around that time you and Rachel changed the way you trained your clients. What was different about your clients circa 2008, vs. earlier clients? And how did you change your programming strategy to address those differences?

AC: Well the changes came around long before 2008 Lou. Probably closer to 2002 we started noticing it, and in 2004 or so we’d made a massive switch.

Simply put, our new beginner clients were arriving in worse shape than beginners maybe 5 years previously had arrived.

We’ve tracked the posture, range of motion, functional movement screen scores and initial body fat percentage of every new member at Results Fitness since we opened almost eleven years ago. We have more data on exercise than most peer-reviewed published studies have collected. People were arriving in worse condition than ever before.

A fitness program could have consisted almost entirely of weight training and cardio in the past. Now we had to address muscle imbalances, core strength and stability, dynamic flexibility, direct power training alongside strength and cardio.

As a result – our programming started to change around 2004, but we’re constantly tweaking. Each year we sit down and revamp the entire programming.

I’m excited because this is the first time I’ve been able to share exactly what we do at Results Fitness with the general public. The first two books in our series were good of course :) , but this more accurately reflects the training experience that our in-house clients are familiar with.

When I decided I was going to invest time for core training at the beginning of each workout, I didn’t really have a plan. I mean, that was my plan – to do core exercises. So I would do some stuff I got from McGill, some stuff I got from different articles, and some stuff I picked up from who knows where. I would just do stuff, then make it harder, then move on to new stuff.

I was genuinely excited to realize you had a systemic approach to core training. I could try to explain it to the readers, but I would just end up repeating what you told me.

AC: If it weren’t for dead guys, we’d probably never have started doing crunches. That’s because for years, much of our knowledge of the way muscles work was  based on the study of human cadavers. By looking at the anatomy of corpses, modern scientists figured that the function of our abdominal muscles must be to flex the spine. Which is exactly what you do when you perform a crunch, a situp, or any other move that requires you to round your lower back. As a result, these exercises were popularized as the best way to work your abs.

But the reality is that your abs have a more critical function than flexing your spine: Their main job is to stabilize the spine. In fact, your midsection muscles are the reason your torso stays upright instead of falling forward due to gravity. So your abs and lower back actually prevent your spine from flexing.

The upshot is that if you want better results from your core workout, you need to train your abs for stability.

LS: Now let’s get specific. When we talk about stabilization, we’re talking about static exercises. Some people will look at that and think, “Planks? Side planks? Why do I need a book for those?”

But once you get past those basic exercises, the stabilization exercises in NROL for Abs get really hard, really fast. Even our models for the photo shoots couldn’t hold a couple of them longer than it took for the photographer to snap off a shot.

So explain how you progress within the stabilization category, and why it’s important to take those steps one at a time.

AC: The purpose of the core (not just the abs) is to stabilize the spine. That’s the basic level we begin at. But when we examine more closely – the reality is that the core functions to stabilize the spine while the extremities are moving and producing or receiving force.

So stage one is pure stabilization. That’s our entry level – the ability to stabilize the spine without any change in forces or loading.

LS: The next category is dynamic stabilization, where you’re moving a load around the core. This category includes a lot of exercises that people have seen before, like cable lifts and chops, Swiss-ball rollouts, and Valslide push-aways.

But I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen them done the way you want them done. Just to pick one example, the cable lifts and chops, you tell readers to do them from kneeling or half-kneeling positions, with the shoulders and hips facing forward throughout the movement. If you can’t turn your shoulders and hips, it’s a much harder exercise, and most of us have to cut the weight in half to get it right.

Explain your thoughts here – why not let readers do those exercises the fun way, with full-body rotation?

AC: Level two is what we call “Dynamic stabilization”. It’s kind of a misnomer I suppose. The purpose of this phase is to maintain spinal stability while moving an extremity and changing force and center of gravity. For example – instead of merely holding a plank – we’d do a plank with a mountain climber or a pulldown to really challenge stability.

Gray Cook was the one who really brought the chops and lifts to my attention. Now if you use your full body to pull the weight stack – you’ll definitely use more weight – but at that point it’s a core strength exercise – the core is moving. We want core stability – make the extremities move and challenge the core to resist rotation.

The final category is integrated stabilization. Readers are doing lunges, squats, and walks with unbalanced and offset loads. You also have Turkish get-ups in this category. I’m sure a lot of the people reading this – coaches and experienced lifters – will want to start with those exercises, and skip the first two exercises.

What will they get out of the exercises by building up to them with weeks of preparation, vs. jumping right in?

AC: Level three is integrated stabilization where we do traditional exercises with a twist – for example using one dumbbell instead of two in a lunge, or shoulder press. Basically we offset the center of gravity and force the core to work harder than it would with a traditional exercise.

Now of course someone can jump in and train anywhere they want. But that shows a real misunderstanding of the programming. If you aren’t used to this type of training then you’ll progress faster by following smart progressions.

Training is a process. Just follow the recipe. And besides – we give enough variation of even a simple plank that will challenge most people. Try a one arm plank wearing a weighted vest with your hand on a medicine ball and your feet in the TRX straps if you’re not convinced !!

–
AC
PS – You can pick up a copy of the New Rules of Lifting for Abs – HERE .

Guest blog by Nick Grantham

What’s wrong with a traditional warm up anyway?

Jogging, cycling or jumping rope doesn’t prepare you to perform.

You’ve heard the phrase you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Every training session is a bit like that. It’s vital that you set the tone straight from the off! I’m amazed at just how little thought seems to go into most warm ups. We’ve all seen it, the coach sending the team off to jog some laps, or the personal trainer sitting the client on a bike for 5 minutes before the training session. It’s just not good enough.

Traditionally warm ups are considered a necessary evil and a bit of a hassle, ‘let’s just get through this so that we can start training properly’.
Most traditional warm ups focus mainly on the temperature-related mechanisms and involve basic activities that require movement of the major muscle groups of the body, such as jogging, cycling, or jumping rope (skipping).

However, preliminary exercise should prepare the body not only physiologically but also psychologically. Forget About Warm Ups…from now on I want you to think in terms of Movement Preparation.

Movement preparation encompasses technical reinforcement of fundamental movement patterns, promotes cognitive thought processes that are critical to body awareness, emphasizes the expression of movement speed on the force-velocity continuum, and finally it creates variety and interest that will engage athletes/clients. Oh….it also increases your core temperature and gets a bit of a sweat on!

Physical Responses to Movement Preparation

Movement preparation initially increases tissue temperatures throughout the body, which in turn causes a rise in whole body core temperature. This increase in temperature is brought about by:

• friction between muscle fibres during muscular contraction
• dilation of intra-muscular blood vessels
• redistribution of the circulation, and finally
• he breakdown and metabolism of fuels during exercise.

An increase in whole body temperature allows the muscles and joints to move optimally, reduces the resistance to blood flow throughout the body so that blood can then be easily distributed to the working musculature and improves nervous activity leading to improvements in the rate of muscular contraction, reaction times, and the overall control of whole body balance and motor function. Finally, from a cardiovascular perspective, temperature is central to the rate at which oxygen can be released from the blood and delivered to the working muscles.
And you thought it was just about getting a sweat on!

Psychological Responses to Movement Preparation

Peddling on a stationary bike, jogging round a football field, or sitting down performing static stretches are not particularly mentally stimulating activities! However, I still see athletes and gym-goers alike adopting such approaches to their pre-exercise preparations on a regular basis. These activities are ‘easy’ to perform and in most cases don’t require much thought.

I personally want my athletes and clients mentally ‘dialed in’ and ‘switched on’ at the start of the training session. It’s an absolute must in my books to work on elevating the cognitive function of the body, placing value on developing the alertness, acuity, and mental arousal needed to focus the athletes mind.

Complex tasks used as movement preparation can serve to promote a number of cognitive functions.

• Neural activity within the brain is elevated, and the higher centres of the brain are stimulated above resting levels.
• Activation of the brain centres required for motor function gives a cognitive focus to kinaesthetic feedback. As an athlete begins to become aware of what a given movement feels like, he/she can then go about changing components of that motor function in order to execute the motor task more efficiently or effectively. Kinaesthetic movement patterns can then be rehearsed, with the mind becoming intimately associated with the quality of the performance outcome.
• Stimulating the mind through more complex movement preparation tasks often allows for ‘technical reinforcement’ of an activity and/or movement patters that will be experienced in an ensuing activity.
• Effective use of the movement preparation time will elevate the psychological focus of an athlete, allowing them to enter into their training session with a mental state that is conducive to optimal performance. Performing semi-complex movements, such as those utilized in the P2P approach to movement preparation will promote this mental focus.

Be it physiological responses or psychological responses, movement preparation activities should serve to elevate all the systems of the body to heightened levels, where they will then promote optimal performance standards. Gone are the days jogging round a field or a court and then performing static stretching prior to training or competition.

Prepare 2 Perform: Olympic Movement Preparation represents a new approach to Movement Preparation!!

The use of Weightlifting techniques by athletes and gym-goers alike is widespread. Performing Olympic weightlifting movements requires balance, coordination, and proprioceptive feedback from the whole nervous system. In order that they be performed correctly, weightlifting variants require the correct sequencing of explosive/ballistic muscle actions. What is more, due to the dynamic nature of this type of exercise, the weightlifting movements can also elevate cardiovascular and metabolic systems above resting levels.

It’s time to move with the changes.

Prepare 2 Perform

If you spend the first 10 minutes of every session just getting your clients muscles warm, before you do the ‘serious work’, then you are wasting a massive portion of your time.

Prepare 2 Perform: Olympic Movement Preparation represents a novel strategy to movement preparation and warm-up. It removes athletes from the proprioceptively-starved environments of traditional warm-up routines, and challenges all the physiological and psychological systems that are critical for ensuing activity. The Olympic lifts are dynamic, whole body movements, and activate a large number of muscles in gross motor actions. All in all, Olympic Weightlifting activities represent an fantastic way to perform movement preparation, and by their nature they fit in with the P2P philosophies.

Nick Grantham

–
AC
PS – The Prepare 2 Perform program is on sale until midnight UK time Dec 24th.
Check it out ==> Prepare 2 Perform

–
AC

What is it that separates you from your goals? Or from being at the very top?

If you want to be a World Class fitness trainer or business owner – what is it that is keeping you from accomplishing that?

Is it education? If so – what books do you need to read? What DVD’s do you need to watch? Who do you need to meet or consult with ? What audio CD’s do you need to listen to? What seminars do you need to attend? What mentorships are you  going to?

Is it experience? If so – who can you study under to fast track that experience? How many clients would you need to train to get more experience? If you currently train 20 sessions per week, if you got up to 25, that would be an extra 250 sessions per year (or over ten extra weeks of experience by comparison).

What about a personal goal of fat loss or muscle gain? What if you want to lose 20lbs? What foods would you have to eat on a daily basis? What training would you have to do? How much cardiovascular work? How many sets, reps, exercises in your weight training program? Should you even have a weight training program?

Who is the best trainer in your area that you can hire? What sort of time commitment is needed?
Is that time commitment realistic for you?

Are you just lacking the information?
Are you lacking a plan?
Or do you know what to do and just aren’t doing it?
Are you supposed to take a 6am spinning class and sleep in instead?
Are you just not taking action?

I bet most of you have never even figured out these factors. Most people prefer to stay the same, yet complain about where they are, and how hard it is, and how it’s “different” for them or in their gym/town/city/state/country…

As we wind up 2010 – are you where you wanted to be 12 months ago? What about 12 months from now? What steps do you need to take?

If it’s a lack of information – then get that information and then take action.
If it’s a lack of action – then get off your butt and DO something.

If you can answer these questions make a list and start moving towards your goals.

–
AC

Here’s a guest article from fat loss expert, Craig Ballantyne:

3 Problems with Fat Burning Workouts

While interval training is better than cardio, “generic” interval training is not as good as *they* make it out to be.

Seriously.

By *they*, I mean the brand new trainers and generic fitness magazines who don’t really know what they are talking about.

In fact, the advice they’ll give you can cause a LOT of problems with your interval training — including the BIG 3 I’m about to share with you…

After all, you’re probably already doing some form of interval training, but what kind of RESULTS are you getting?

Are you truly enjoying your workouts?

And when is the last time you did an interval training workout where you thought ‘wow, that was really fun’?”

Trust me, you CAN have fun, fast, proven, and powerful interval training workouts. I’ll show you how in a second, but first…

The 3 Problems With Interval Training

1) Intervals can stop working if you do the same workout over & over

Yes, you MUST switch up your interval training every 4-6 weeks.

If you continue to do the same interval workout, you’re results will slow down.

So if you’re doing intervals and you’re stuck at a fat loss plateau, then it is time for a new interval workout.

2) Intervals can be dangerous if you don’t know w hat you are doing

Jumping into an advanced interval program on the treadmill or with kettlebells is a bad idea. That’s why you need to start safely.

However, most people don’t realize that even beginners can do interval training if they get a professionally designed program.

Fortunately, there are beginner interval workouts in the new 31 Interval Training Workouts manual and holiday home fat burning workout package.

3) You don’t know what else to do for intervals

Okay, great, now you know that you need to do a different interval program every 4 weeks, but what are you to do?

Well, the great news is that there are dozens and dozens of ways to do intervals. You can do the 30-60 method, Adrenaline intervals, Tabatas, and even aerobic intervals (perfect for runners who want fat loss).

(PLUS, you’re about to discover the power of bodyweight cardio circuit training. A strange name, for sure, but a powerful way to burn fat at home WITHOUT equipment.)

There is absolutely no reason you should ever be bored of interval training or wondering what type of intervals you should do next.

BUT WAIT…One more problem: You don’t have any fancy equipment

Most people think you need a treadmill or bike to do interval workouts, but that can’t be further from the truth.

In the 31 Interval Training Workouts manual, you’ll discover how to do intervals with kettlebells, hill sprints, and even bodyweight exercises (including a NEW bodyweight cardio 5×5 circuit).

In fact, I’ve spent the entire spring of 2010 in my Turbulence Training lab creating the Ultimate Interval Training Guide, featuring over 31 different interval workouts and replacements…

…including NO-equipment bodyweight cardio circuits, kettlebell intervals and “ladders”, hill sprint workouts, and much, much more.

And then I followed that up with more time in the lab to create the “TT Bodyweight Cardio” program, without using any equipment!

I then combined those two programs along with an extra special workout for you to create the COMPLETE Holiday Fat Burning Workout package.

=> Holiday Fat Burning Workout

(But hurry, this offer is only available until Thursday.)

With these workouts you’ll have the exact prescription for fast fat loss from intervals. No more of that generic “get on the treadmill and then go fast and then go slow” advice you get from uneducated members at the gym or at work.

This is the real deal.

You’ll soon be boosting your metabolism with proven, powerful interval training workouts from one of the first trainers to introduce fat loss intervals to the world.

I’ve been using and preaching intervals and bodyweight exercises for over 13 years now, and having trained thousand of clients – in person and online – I know exactly what works.

Fixing intervals to help you lose fat fast,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Men’s Health Contributer

=> Holiday Fat Burning Workout

PS – Get all of those new interval workouts here before they are gone on Thursday at midnight.

To discover the research-proven workouts that DO work for holiday fat loss while often not requiring any equipment at all, please read my article on “home fat loss training” here:

=> Holiday Fat Burning Workout

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AC