Archive for March, 2011

“Someone who knows the state capitals of 17 of 50 states may be proud of her knowledge. But someone who knows 47 may be more likely to think of herself as not knowing 3 capitals.”
-Chip and Dan Heath discussing ‘gap knowledge’
Made to Stick

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Twenty-four years ago I passed my first degree black belt exam. The day I actually received my belt – my instructor tied it on me and told me – “Now, you start learning”.

I was confused at the time, but as usual, he was right. I learned more in my first six months as a black belt, because of the sparring partners I now had, the opportunities that were open to me, and my ability to absorb information at a higher level – than I had in all my previous years of training.

Then in the next six months – my knowledge and ability continued to develop rapidly — I learned more than I’d learned in all of my years of training again. It was like my knowledge level was doubling every six months. The black belt wasn’t the end — it really was the beginning.

I think being a fitness professional is the same. If you’ve been a trainer for five years, and you are still actively learning, attending seminars, reading — you’ll learn more in your sixth year than you’ve learned in your entire career so far. Your ability to filter good information from bad, to interpret research, and to know who to listen to, who’s work to read etc is so vastly improved that you can actually improve exponentially. As long as you are still studying of course :)

I’ve read 30 books this year so far, attended six seminars, read countless journal articles and business magazines, listened to audios and watched educational DVD’s. I don’t think I read 15 books the first year I was training people. I maybe didn’t read more than 30 books in my entire college education.

Craig Ballantyne told me that he has spent more money on education this year than he made his first year as a trainer – in fact he’s spent more than most trainers make in a year. I bet he’s learned more this year than he did back then. And I know he’s earned more (tip – that’s not a coincidence).

Keep learning.

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AC

Some Saturday inspiration….

Click here for more about TRX and the Challenged Athletes Foundation

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AC

The gap between where you are, and where you want to be – is called FRUSTRATION.

Frustration is eliminated by Education and Action.

Step one: EDUCATION
What do you need to know to get to the next level?

Make a list and start learning.
What books do you need to read?
What seminars do you need to attend?
DVD’s to watch? Audios to listen to? Mentors to meet? People to learn from?

Make a list and then start marking them off.

If it’s a personal fitness goal – it’s the same. Figure out where to get the education you need, whether it’s fat loss, muscle building, cardio fitness etc.

Step two: ACTION
Math problem: Five frogs are sitting on a log next to a pond on a hot day. One frog decides to jump in and cool off. How many frogs are left?

FIVE. Because deciding and doing are two different things.

You have decide what you need to DO with that information. And do it.

“You can’t follow up a million dollar idea with only ten dollars worth of action”
- Jonathan Sprinkles

Education + Action = Results.

All the business knowledge or fat loss knowledge or nutrition knowledge won’t help you until you get off the couch and DO SOMETHING.

It’s not even a matter of working hard, or working smart – it’s a matter of working RIGHT.

Close the gap and get to the next level.

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AC

Special thanks to fellow geek :)  Craig Ballantyne for letting me know about a couple of these:

Knab et al.
A 45-Minute Vigorous Exercise Bout Increases Metabolic Rate for 14 Hours.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011 Feb 8.

These researchers had subjects undergo a bout of cycling at approx 73% of VO2 max (approximately 84% of max heart rate) for 45 mins.

The subjects burned on average 520 calories in the 45 min training session. The following day their resting energy expenditure was increased an average of 190 cals compared to normal. Basically – the subjects burned an additional 37% MORE calories than the workout itself in the 14 hour post workout period — meaning that a single high-intensity session, when including the post-workout metabolic boost could burn up to 710 cals in total.

A second study

Heden et al.
One-set resistance training elevates energy expenditure for 72 h similar to three sets.
European Journal of Applied Physiology. Volume 111, Number 3, 477-484, Mar 2011

The subjects were put on a very simple resistance training routine – full body training, either 1 or 3 sets per exercise of ten exercises.

The researchers then examined the subjects resting energy expenditure at 24, 48 and 72 hours post workout.  Both groups showed an elevated metabolism (afterburn effect) of around 100 cals per day.

But there was no difference between groups. It seems that it’s intensity that determines how many calories are burned post-workout, not volume (obviously a higher volume program would burn more calories during the session than a lower volume program.

A third study confirmed this:

Scott et al.
Energy expenditure characteristics of weight lifting: 2 sets to fatigue.
Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2011 Feb;36(1):115-20.

The researchers looked at the caloric expenditure of bench pressing using three different loads and concluded “As more work is completed (i.e., lower weight, more repetitions), aerobic and anaerobic exercise energy expenditures appear to increase accordingly, yet absolute EPOC remains essentially unchanged”. In other words – the post workout caloric burn (in this case measured aerobically)

One more:

Astorino et al.
Effect of acute caffeine ingestion on EPOC after intense resistance training.
J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2011 Mar;51(1):11-7.

This study showed a 15% increase in post-workout calories burned after the ingestion of caffeine as a pre-workout supplement. The total extra calories burned as a result of this only added up to around 27 cals in the hour after the workout. Not a lot but still something to consider. Plus I like iced coffee :)

As usual my questions/ideas for real world application are:

What if we trained every 24-48 hours? Would we see a compounding effect of the additional calories burned post-workout?
What if we did full body training using free weights and multiple planes of movement instead of machines?
What if we paired exercises (studies have shown enhanced calorie burning during training with supersets)? Would that change things?
What about full body ground based exercises (the last study used a bench press )? Does that change anything?
What about exercises using tools such as the TRX where not only the prime movers are being worked, but also the entire core (all the time!)

Right now at Results Fitness our fastest fat loss results are coming from a combination of resistance training and metabolic circuit training (or intervals) – two sessions per week of each). The term we use for our resistance training is “metabolic resistance training”, really just to differentiate what we are doing from traditional strength training. It can be characterized by:

* Full Body Routines
* Paired or circuit based sequencing
* Incomplete recovery periods or rest intervals
* Free weight or bodyweight based (no fixed axis machines or seated work)
* strong emphasis on “self limiting” exercises

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AC

I’ve helped (or tried to at least!) a lot of fitness professionals and others with their careers. I’ve been lucky enough to have been sent thank-you letters and/or emails from several guys – Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, Zach Even-Esh, Kevin Larrabee and Nate Green to name a few.

They’ve always said something along the lines of “thank you and I’ll pay you back one day”. And I’ve always told them that’s not what I want. I want them to “pay it forward”.

I think the concept originally came from Benjamin Franklin (from wikipedia):

I do not pretend to give such a Sum; I only lend it to you. When you [...] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro’ many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money.

One of those guys that I was fortunate enough to help -  Nate Green just wrote and published a very cool e-book on “Becoming Your Own Hero”. Here’s what he wrote about the “Pay it Forward” idea:

When I first started training clients and writing for magazines, Alwyn Cosgrove was one of my most infuential mentors.

Alwyn, if you don’t know, is one of the world’s top coaches and a two-time cancer survivor. I first met him at a seminar where I walked up to him, handed him a book, and said, “You don’t know me, but I want to thank you for all that you’ve done to help me.”
(His articles and interviews were a big reason I started getting better results with my clients.)

From that point on, I could call or e-mail Alwyn whenever I needed training, business, or life advice. He’s the reason I got my first quote in Men’s Health magazine (which led to more work for MH and other magazines), and his advice helped my personal training business prosper.

Through it all, Alwyn never asked for payment or a favor of any kind. His only request for helping me was this:

Pay it forward.

Help trainers and writers who were beginning careers in the ftness industry. Help other people get in better shape and live better lives.

Over the past few years, I’ve tried my hardest to pay it forward through my blog, my interviews and articles, and meeting with people at seminars.

It feels damn good to pay it forward, which is why I’m encouraging you to do the same.

Hopefully you’ve picked up some tips in this book to help live a better life and build a better body.

I firmly believe that we have to take care of ourselves before we can help anyone else. Despite what people say, it’s not selfish to do what you need to do to live a good life. It’s not selfish to become your own hero. In fact, it’s selfish not to.

When you’re strong and motivated, you can help other people become strong and motivated.

When you’re capable of setting goals, adopting behaviors, following habits, and accomplishing those goals, you can help others do the same.

So let’s not forget that part of being a hero is helping people who are in trouble. (Trouble, by the way, can mean a lot of different things.)

Maybe there’s someone at the gym who’s not quite sure what to do. Offer to show them a new exercise or answer a few workout or nutrition questions.

Maybe you have a friend who’s in debt and could use a few tips on how to get out. Tell him about the envelope system and give him some advice about paying off one card at a time.

Whatever you do, find a way to pay it forward.

Find a way to help someone else become their own hero.

Here’s the very cool part. Nate isn’t just giving lip service to the idea. He’s doing it. The “Hero Handbook” is available at absolutely zero cost (no money, not even your email address) – HERE

Your job? If you learn anything from me, or any of the other guys, you don’t need to pay us back.

Pay it forward.

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AC

Been posted before – but this remains one of the best motivational clips I’ve seen. Check it out:

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AC