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Guest Blog from Michael Boyle

Anyone who knows me knows how much I like analogies. One area that continues to frustrate me is talking to trainers about programming. Often the conversation goes something like this, “I use a little of your stuff, a little of Mark Verstegen’s stuff and mix in a little of …”. In trying to describe how this works or potentially doesn’t work I’ve decided that a food analogy may be the best route. Some people can really cook, others need cookbooks and recipes. Some people write cookbooks, others read cookbooks. Even in the restaurant world, there are cooks and there are chefs. Cooks follow the recipes, chefs create the recipes. Even those who know anything about cooking understand that every ingredient in a recipe has a purpose. You wouldn’t bake and simply leave out flour would you? The key is to figure out if you are a cook or a chef. Here are some basic guidelines.

If you are writing your first program, you are probably a cook. You should find a recipe and follow it exactly.

Think about it this way. If you were making something for the first time would you take two recipes from two different cookbooks and combine them? Would you add ingredients from one of the recipes while subtracting ingredients from the other? If you did this, would you expect the end product to taste good? What if you took two pancake recipes and both called for pancake mix and eggs but, you decided to double up on the pancake mix and simply omit the eggs. The end result would probably be pretty lousy pancakes, correct? What if you said, “I don’t like water, I’ll just put the dry powder in the pan and see if it will cook?” All of this seems foolish doesn’t it.

Unfortunately, when it comes to program design, this is exactly what many coaches do. I have athletes who have trained with me for years and then become coaches themselves. Instead of using the program that was so successful for them, they alter it. Then they email me the program and say “can you look this over?”. Invariably the program is a little of mine and a little of theirs, with maybe a touch of third party. A combination of recipes if you will. Also invariably the program is poor. These are not experienced “chefs” yet they have chosen to alter the recipe to suit their taste. The better choice is to choose a recipe designed by a chef and then do a great job of making the meal. In other words, coach the heck out of the program.

If you have been writing programs for few years, perhaps you are a sous-chef.

The sous-chef is the second in command in the kitchen. Many third and fourth year coaches are sous-chefs. They have developed the ability to alter the recipe without spoiling the meal. They understand that ingredients can be altered but that there should be a plan and it should be followed. The sous chef also understands that the ratio of ingredients matters and that you don’t simply cook to your own taste.

After five years of successful program design, you might now qualify as a chef.

At this point you can contemplate bold changes to the recipe because you have extensive experience “cooking”. Vern Gambetta used to say “it’s OK to break the rules, just make sure you understand the rules first”. After five years you should no longer be looking at a DVD and abandoning your whole program. Chefs don’t abandon their chosen cooking style after watching an episode of Hell’s Kitchen, instead you are now making small changes to what should be a system.

The purpose of the strengthcoach website is found in the saying “give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”. However, what I am beginning to realize is that some readers need more direction. Figure out if you are a cook or a chef. Don’t be afraid to copy if you are a beginner. In fact, I would encourage you to copy rather than to mix. We are adding more programs so that many of you can in fact copy. I have said in previous writings that it is a mistake to copy programs. I guess what I should have said is it is a mistake to blindly copy programs. It is a mistake to copy bad programs. However, it may be very beneficial to copy good programs. I would rather you copy my program than attempt to add bits of my recipe to the recipes of others. If you are not confident yet in your ability to create a program, feel free to copy. I guess cookbooks were created for a reason.

The idea is that eventually we all can become chefs but, we all start out as cooks.

–
AC
PS – for more articles from Michael – check out the Strengthcoach website.

Today is January 20th. That means a little over 5% of the year has passed already.

So let’s do a quick “goal review” or a Resolution recall.

Are you 5% towards your goals?

If your goal was to lose 50lbs of fat – you should be down 2.5lbs right now if you’re on track. If your goal was to increase your income by $10,000 this year – you should already have made an extra $500.

Now I know goals are not always achieved linearly – particularly not fat loss or financial goals — but you’ll hopefully see my point. Track everything.

An easy goal that I always set is just a specific number of workouts that you are going to do. Then you just mark them off. One goal for 2011 was to perform 200+ workouts. In 2012 I plan on doing the same.

I also set a goal of twenty training sessions in January (as my facebook followers know).
So to be on track – I need to have performed around 14-15 training sessions (hit number 17 this morning)

I am also planning to launch a couple of new product and services  this year.
The fat loss programming manual and Metabolic Training DVD‘s are already available , and very soon we’ll be launching a new Results Fitness Programming seminar, a sales seminar for fitness pros and our March mentorship is already sold out!

For one of our business projects – as of yesterday we’re at 5.3% of my annual goal. For another I’m at about an 11% increase over the same point last year (which is slightly behind schedule).

And I’m WAY behind on my newsletter schedule :)

The point is – you need to constantly assess where you are in relation to your desired outcomes.

Are you on track?
Are you headed in the right direction?
Have you even moved off the starting line?
Yes? Congratulations – 2012 is shaping up to be a great year for you.

No? Don’t worry – just step up your ACTION a little bit and catch up.

If it’s your fitness business that needs an overhaul – then check out the Reps to Revenue courses coming up later this year (these WILL SELL OUT so reserve your spot early).
We have designed the course that we wished were available when we opened our facility twelve years ago.

If your own goal is to get leaner – get on a fat loss program
If it’s to gain muscular size then check out the Muscle Gaining Secrets Program.

Remember – even if you’re off course – you can still get there. A plane traveling cross country is off-course 80% of the time and still makes it to it’s destination because the pilot knows where the destination is, and makes constant corrections.

5% down – 95% to go. You’ve still got time to make some major changes in your life this year.

–
AC

PS – And don’t forget to follow me on facebook…

This weekend at Perform Better LA, I presented on some of the challenges that today’s client faces. Obesity is at an all time high, fitness might just be at an all time low and postural issues just compound the issues. Add to that the fact that we live in a more automated society than ever before yet people have less time than they have ever had.

The challenge: deliver a COMPLETE training session that covers ALL the qualities that a client needs to have trained in today’s world and provide a cardiovascular stimulus without performing sloppy repetitions or moving fast, or against the clock just for the sake of it. (The attendees are probably sick of me and my team yelling ‘clean repetitions, clean repetitions’). And get it done in under 30 mins….

Here’s the workout:

R.A.M.P. (Range of Motion, Activation, Movement Preparation) – 6 mins

Hip flexor stretch
Half kneeling thoracic rotation
Glute bridge with mini-band
Mini band forward and back walking
Mini band sidesteps
Jogging
High Knees
Butt kicks
Side shuffles
Carioca

Core – 4 mins

Side Plank with row combo (sets of 10)

Power – 3 mins

Squat Jumps – 5 reps every 45 seconds, for 4 sets

Resistance – 8 mins (4 mins each pairing)

RFE Goblet Split Squat paired with 2 point band row (12 reps of each)
Lateral lunge with touch, paired with running push ups (12 reps of each)

Metabolic – 3 mins

Reaction ball with partners

With transition time and explanation time – this workout took exactly 30 mins.

Here’s something else – the groups all performed isometric holds, regular speed repetitions and explosive reps.
They trained sagittal plane movements, frontal plane movements and transverse plane.
We also squatted, lunged, pushed, pulled, twisted, bent and worked the single leg stance.

In other words – they trained the full contractile spectrum, and every movement that the human body was capable of. The sequencing and intensity of the exercise selection meant that there was a cardio demand the entire time, without having to do anything “against the clock”. It was truly a complete workout.

Well done to all the attendees and thanks again to the Perform Better crew.
Next up on the 2012 tour is San Francisco in two weeks.

–
AC

 

1) After a holiday season of too much beer, food, chocolate, beer, late nights, junk and beer (!) a great start is to systematically just completely eliminate all the junk from your diet. There are an entire category of diets and plans out there but my favorite is from Dax Moy – and is entitled simply the “Elimination Diet”.This involves eliminating caffeine, alcohol, wheat, red meat, sugar, artificial sweeteners and dairy amongst others. It’s tough but you’ll feel great at the end. Couple of bonuses – you’ll probably lose 4 or 5lbs during the first week, and more importantly it’s completely free here!

You can even pick up a useful Elimination diet cookbook, which will make it a lot easier here.

2) If fat loss is your goal — Make a real commitment to lose the unwanted pounds. Write it down and make it specific. Saying that you want to lose weight is not enough. Saying how much and how you are going to do it by when is far more powerful. And WRITE IT DOWN.For example: I am going to lose 12lbs of fat by March 1st 2012

• I will do this by exercising six days per week for a minimum of 30 mins
• This will include metabolism boosting resistance training three times per week for a minimum of 45 mins.
• I will meet with a trainer at least once a week for my resistance training sessions.
• I will then continue on a three times per week program including 30 mins of resistance training and 30 mins of cardio for the next 6 weeks.
• I will cut 500 calories from my diet and track this using fitday.com

3) Maximize your cardio training by using a heart rate monitor. You wouldn’t lift weights for a completely random number of sets and reps with an arbitrarily chosen weight – but many people follow up their resistance training with a cardio program that involves just riding the bike or running on the treadmill. Get specific with a good heart rate monitor and work at a given heart rate intensity. A good rule is to use the Karvonen formula (220-age-resting heart rate= HRR – heart rate reserve). Work at 85% of your max (0.85 x HRR + resting heart rate) for 60s and then recover until your heart rate is below 60% of your max (0.6 x HRR + resting heart rate). Repeat that for 4-6 rounds.

4) Work on the quality of your muscle tissue. A regular stretching session from a trainer or sports therapist is a great investment. Failing that making a commitment to stretching regularly on your own is never a bad idea. Ideally though – a regular massage will do wonders for the health of your musculoskeletal system – but if that’s not economically viable – then pick up a foam roller.

5) Hire a coach. Outside expertise allows you to focus on your job and commitments and literally just “show up” and let them take care of it for you. Studies have shown that people exercising when a trainer only supervises (no instruction or coaching) work up to 30% harder than they do on their own. 30% more work translates to significantly faster results – imagine what you could do if that trainer actually pushed you through to harder workouts and designed a program that would work better?If you can’t afford a coach three days per week, then hire the best coach in your area once per month and use him or her as a consultant to design your monthly workout and provide third party accountability.

One last tip — plan the whole year in advance. Writing down your goals and your plans to achieve them can greatly help.

Make 2012 a great year!

–
AC

Thanks to all of you for “tuning in” to my blog, reading my newsletter or magazine articles this year or attending one of the seminars I taught.
Have a great holiday season!

And remember — it doesn’t matter what you eat or how you exercise between Christmas and New Years…..

….it matters how you eat and exercise between New Year’s and Christmas !
Best wishes to all.

See you in 2012.
–
Alwyn

One of my goals for this year was to complete 240 workouts – which translates to about 5 workouts per week on average or 20 per month.
Unfortunately, I was a little short – today I hit workout 220. I’ll end the year with around 225 workouts performed which I’m not too unhappy about.

My goal for 2012 will be 200 workouts. My travel schedule is busy, and with work commitments increasing, I’ll be very happy averaging four solid training sessions each week or around 16 each month.

This is what I call a process goal — it’s not an outcome that I’m looking for (e.g. lose 10lbs, increase my chin-up reps), although they are just as important – it’s a simple “do this” goal that I can make constant progress towards.

Goal setting is still hard for some people. I’ll often meet clients who are interested in losing fat and decide that they will start daily cardio, weight train four times per week, eat six small meals, cut calories by 20% and reduce their carb intake.

These are great goals — but most people are trying to do too much at once. John Berardi has said that studies show that if you want to make one change in your life, you have an 85% chance of success. However if you try to change two things at once, your chances of success drop to around 35%. Three things at once? Almost zero.

The solution to this is to use the goal snowball, an idea I first heard of from Chris Shugart. Here’s how to do it:

1) List five or six behaviors you need to improve or change to reach your goals. What do you need to be doing that you’re not doing? What bad habits do you need to kick? What good habits do you need to instill?

2) List these things from easiest to hardest.

3) “Maintain” all your other goals and focus your attention on the first thing on your list (the easiest one.) Spend two weeks just focusing on achieving that goal so that it becomes a habit.

4) Once that change has been made and ingrained, move up to the next item on your list and focus your efforts there.

5) One by one, knock out these changes and/or goals.

For example: Maybe you sleep late. First goal might be to get up 30 mins earlier every day.
Second goal might be to go to the gym as soon as you wake up – and go four times a week instead of three.
Third goal may be to make sure you always eat breakfast.
Fourth goal? Reduce portion sizes at 3 out of 5 meals…and so on.

So in 10 weeks or so – you’re getting up earlier – never missing a workout, have done an extra ten workouts, and eaten breakfast everyday (which is a key factor in fat loss) while consuming less calories overall. These goals would “snowball” into a bigger overall effect with long-term success whereas trying to do all things at once would likely result in short term failure.

–
AC