Strength Part 3: How you Get Strong!!

To get the most out of this post you really need to read the one before it about the pieces, parts, and characteristics of Strength. Otherwise the analogies used in this part may not make a whole lot of sense. This post is going to be about how we can attempt to train all those pieces of strength in order to make you a stronger and more capable individual.

Strength training, like all other types of effective training, works according to a few distinct principles, and if you're familiar with them then strength programming will hopefully make more sense to you. The first principle is the acronym SAID, and is arguably the most important principle in training. It stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands, and basically states that your body will respond in kind to each and every imposed demand you place upon it. If you apply this principle in the right ways your body is capable of truly amazing things. However, if you apply this principle by half assing your workouts and spending a lot of time on the couch eating doritos your body will be happy to "Specifically Adapt" by becoming a worthless pile of goo. Don't Impose that kind of Demand on your body!!

The second principle is that of Progressive Overload. This principle really just means consistently applying carefully planned, and responsible, degrees of overload to the body to bring about those specific adaptations, through changes in the level of resistance, tempo of repetitions, number of repetitions, volume of repetitions, length of rest periods, and quite a few other variables. Basically as long as you continue to consistently overload your system in new ways it should reward you with the adaptations you wish to see. In terms of these last couple posts the adaptation we're shooting for is enhanced levels of strength.

So now I'll go through a few of the adaptations you can attempt to bring about using the analogies and terms from the last post, namely the behavior of all your little Amish dudes in raising that barn frame.

First off are Absolute and Maximal Strength. Since these two are just measurements of your strength they're not really adaptable except to say that with proper training your Absolute Strength level will rise a bit, and your Maximal Strength will be a greater and greater percentage of that Absolute level.

FIBER TYPE: This is the type of little dudes you have available, the 5 year olds and the Vikings. Through training with power and strength in mind you're going to hope to tax your Vikings much more than your 5 year olds simply because they're capable of pulling harder and faster. Your 5 year olds will still get worked, but just aren't capable of that much improvement in this area. However, there ARE certain fiber types you possess that can alter themselves depending on the training you give them. Meaning if you train for endurance activities they're likely going to start acting more like 5 year olds, which is good if you're going to run a marathon. They'll also begin to act more like Vikings if you train them that way. So if you train consistently using heavy loads and fewer repetitions you'll hopefully get as many of these variable dudes to grow into Vikings, and increase the speed and strength you have to pull up bigger and bigger barn frames.

RECRUITMENT: This is the number of total dudes your brain is able to call up at once to pull on that barn frame. Strength training will simply increase the number of dudes your brain is able to call up at once. It'll probably still never hit that 100% mark, but if you train consistently and raise that number from 50% to say 70% of your dudes, that's quite a big increase in the amount of barn frame you can pull up right? Overall this is just increasing the percentage of your total muscle you can activate all at once. And the level of recruitment of somebody fresh off the couch is extremely small when compared to elite strongmen like Olympic Weightlifters or Track athletes. After all, it may not be that a 187 pound Greek guy has any more dudes than any other 187 pound guy walking the earth, but a certain 187 pound Greek guy named Pyrros Dimas was able to recruit enough of his dudes to lift damn near 400 pounds straight over his head in a single movement at one time. Now THAT's some pretty amazing muscle recruitment eh?

FREQUENCY: The adaptation here is that your brain can begin to recruit your dudes faster and faster until that full recruitment is lightening fast! Some strength training is in very fast motions, like olympic lifting, sprinting, highland games type sports, and other training is for slower motions like traditional powerlifting (weird name for sure), strongman sports, etc. Training fast will drive up this frequency adaptation, whereas training slower won't as much.

EFFICIENCY: The fastest, strongest dudes ever can still pull in a fashion that isn't as strong or as fast or efficient as it could be. Training will help your brain to recruit your dudes in a way that's more cohesive and coordinated in order to pull in exactly the fashion it wishes to, instead of a chaotic mess where every dude is pulling at his own pace whenever he wants to. In addition your brain will become better at calling only the perfect number of dudes for each particular frame, meaning it'll use just enough, but not too much energy every time. If explosive speed is what your after, your brain can call upon your dudes in a way that will have them pulling all at once extremely fast. Higher levels of strength demand that your dudes pull in more of a series, applying their force in a steady acceleration applying the perfect amount to move some seriously heavy objects. For times when you'll have to lower and re-raise that frame multiple times (repetitions) your brain becomes very good at rotating the groups of dudes it calls upon for each consecutive lift so that they all get to rest as much as possible between lifts. So even if you're only using 20% of your dudes per lift, it'll probably be a different 20% each time so that no dude gets more tired than he has to to get the entire job done.

So these are the basic ways you become stronger when training for such. As you may or may not have noticed, most of these adaptations are on the Neural side of things, meaning they're all dependent on how your brain interacts with your muscles, and not necessarily the muscles themselves. This is one of the reasons that an individual can become much much stronger without having to get bigger in the process. With that said, there are certain adaptations that will probably take place that will affect the look and feel of your muscles. First off the connective tissues within and around your muscles will become thicker and stronger, yet also more elastic and pliable, leading to muscles better able to transfer their forces to the bones needed for movements, while also being more resistant to stretching or high intensity reflexive forces. Secondly your muscles will begin to store more carbohydrate fuel for those intense workouts. These carbs, called glycogen, like human starch, carry with them some extra water so your muscles will gain a bit of volume. However, these two adaptations will generally add just a bit of shape and/or "Tone" to your muscles.

Let me add to this last paragraph by saying that certain types of strength training can lead to growth and thickening of the muscle fibers themselves, a style of training used most exclusively by bodybuilders. However, in order to gain the type of muscle bulk these individuals are shooting for takes a great deal of time, effort, discipline and the perfect dietary, and in some cases hormonal support. It's fairly difficult to do past a few months, so those of you not wishing to gain that extra bulk need not worry in most cases, especially you lady-types. So I wouldn't worry too much about this. If you are worried about it however, be sure to get programming from somebody who knows what they're doing, as magazines and online forums don't know your story, and can't see you train from day to day.

All in all, strength is your friend, making your day go a bit easier, and adding a bit of extra sex-appeal to your physique. After all, as you may have heard, Strong is the New Sexy!! Go get em tigers!!

Strength Part Deux: Pieces and Parts

In trying to keep my last post readable I realized I left out a lot of the fundamentals of what makes up a person's strength. So I'll attempt to break them down into a couple posts and hopefully give you all a bit better idea what you're working with.

Today's post will be about the characteristics involved in measuring strength levels depending on the training status of the individual in question. Next post will be how strength training will cause different adaptations to those characteristics.

Throughout the next two posts I'm going to be using an analogy that I hope makes sense to most of you: an Amish barn raising. For those of you who haven't seen one of these, it's basically a bunch of guys with ropes tied onto the bigass frame of a barn, and they work together to pull it up to a vertical position to fit together with other frame sections. Multimedia Learning Tool  Skip ahead to about the 2 minute mark for a good example, or watch all the way through to get a bit cultured up!

So to start breaking things down, the barn frame is going to represent the bone(s) your muscle(s) is going to be pulling on to move a certain load. That frame may be lighter or heavier, may need to be raised at different speeds, and may need to be raised and lowered for a number of repetitions as well, and the actions of the dudes on the ground will change depending on these criteria.

ABSOLUTE STRENGTH: Depending on the number of total dudes on the ground available to raise that frame, and the amount of barn raising training they've been doing, there is a certain absolute maximum size of frame that they can possibly lift. However, it's highly unlikely, and usually impossible, to get all those dudes to pull as hard and efficiently as they can except in times of dire emergency or extremely abnormal condition. So this absolute strength is somewhat irrelevant, we'll only ever be able to achieve certain percentages of this strength.

MAXIMAL STRENGTH: This number is the highest number of dudes you can get to pull in real life under normal circumstances all on your own. This number can change depending on how long you've been making these dudes raise barn frames, and under what conditions. Generally speaking, athletes who train with very heavy loads, or those that move those loads extremely fast will have a Maximal Strength that's a higher percentage of their Absolute Strength than those that train in longer duration endurance types of exercise.

FIBER TYPE: Within your available group of dudes (individual muscle) there are different types of dudes, capable of raising barns in different ways. Type I, or Slow Twitch dudes, are like 5 year olds. They're not capable of pulling very hard or very fast on their rope, but they can do it over and over without getting very tired. On the other hand, there are Type II, or Fast Twitch dudes, which are more like giant viking strongmen dudes. These dudes can pull extremely hard and/or extremely fast, but can only pull a couple of times before they need a while to rest. There are other types in between these two, but these are the main types. So picture that you've got a field full of mostly 5 year olds and Vikings ready to raise that frame.

RECRUITMENT: Your brain is very aware of exactly how many Kiddos and Vikings it has available to raise that frame, and it's so smart it will only call on the perfect number of each of them to do it. If you need to raise the frame more than once (repetitions) or raise frames on consecutive days (sets) your brain even monitors which of your dudes are fresh and ready to go, and which ones need to rest before they can be called on to pull again. In addition, any time your brain calls upon a dude to pull, they will pull as hard as they can or not at all. This is the All Or None principle, and has to deal with a bunch of big scientific neurological words that won't really help with our story for now.

FREQUENCY: In pulling up a frame, your brain can also change the speed at which it screams at your dudes to pull. The higher the frequency, the stronger and/or faster your frame can be raised. Generally speaking, your 5 year olds aren't capable of being yelled at to go faster as much as your Vikings are, meaning those Vikings are going to be called on much more often if you have a very large frame to raise, or it needs to be raised very quickly. However your 5 year olds will still be there to help out as much as they can. 60 5 year olds can still move quite a bit of frame.

EFFICIENCY: This refers to how coordinated your dudes are pulling when your brain tells them to pull. If they're all pulling at their own pace then they won't be able to pull with as much force as if they all pulled in a more efficient fashion. Picture rowers rowing at their own cadence instead of rowing in perfect unison.

These are some of the basic characteristics of an individual's strength. Many can be altered to a certain extent depending on the type, frequency, and intensity of your training. My next posting will center around those types of adaptations, and how they may affect the next barn you try to raise.

Have fun guys! And have fun picturing all those little dudes the next time you're hoisting some iron!!

Strength: it isn't just for gym rats anymore!

Towards the end of the last century the fitness industry (not that there really was one at this point) took an interesting turn. Whereas before individuals trained their bodies according to the functions it needed to perform, farmers, hunters, construction workers, etc., after this turn people became more and more certain that aerobic exercise was the end all/be all of physical fitness. This was a paradigm shift that many in the world of health and fitness see as a double edged sword. On the one hand, this explosion of aerobic fitness probably got quite a few people interested in exercise that weren't before. I can't say this is a bad thing, of course. But on the other hand, all the extra attention, both monetarily and in the form of "scientific" propaganda, shifted the entire fitness world away from what was, up until this point, a pretty important aspect of being a "Fit" person. That aspect is Strength Training.

When people hear the word Strength, quite a few images are likely to come to mind. Meat-heads in the gym flexing and yelling at each other. Giants on ESPN throwing around stones and pulling airplanes. Crazy little people from obscure countries putting hundreds of pounds over their heads in the Olympics. Now granted, these are absolutely good examples of the word Strength. But how about carrying that giant bag of dog food into the house after finding a bargain at Costco? Ever moved your old couch out front once you've found a new one? And from what I've heard, lugging kids around all day is quite the exhausting ordeal as well (the only experience I have is with a Bulldog...). You see, strength doesn't have to mean moving hundreds of pounds around, it can mean just making your day to day life a bit easier.

Before we go too far, let's discuss what the word Strength even means. The word strength, according to the All Powerful Webster means: capacity for exertion, or endurance. You're probably making a weird face right now, and I understand, because that definition won't do anybody much good. One of the more common definitions used by those of us in the fitness world is: The ability to produce force. Now this also might not mean much until we go a little deeper into what it means to you as a human. The world is full of forces, many created by gravity, others by momentum. Strength for us means being able to resist and/or counter those forces to enable us to move either ourselves, or other objects through space. Very simply, the more force you yourself can produce and apply to the outside world, the greater forces you're able to resist or counter. In English, the greater your level of strength (and technique in applying that strength) the larger/heavier objects you can move, and the easier you can move objects of relatively smaller size and heft.

That said, every one of us is capable of different measurements of strength, that I'll mention because a few of them are relevant to our discussion. Absolute strength, is the amount of force your muscle(s) can theoretically achieve if every single muscle fiber was activated and the muscle was in its exact line of pull. However, that type of perfect situation is not likely to happen any time soon A) because your nervous system probably isn't capable of recruiting every single muscle fiber you have, and B) because individual muscles still work together with other muscles to create movement, and it's extremely rare that every muscle and joint in your body will be in the exact position necessary for this. A more relevant measurement is what we'll call Maximal strength, meaning the peak level of force you can voluntarily produce during a certain movement.

The next question of strength is what type of strength you want to train. There are numerous ways to train different levels of strength, but for right now we'll concentrate on only 3 broader categories, since they're the ones most often desired. The first is training a high level of strength, meant to increase that maximal strength level, and is accomplished with very heavy loads and a lower number of repetitions. The second category is training a certain level of strength with relatively heavy loads and a middle range of repetitions, but more for the increase in size that it elicits rather than just the strength increase. The last category is training with lighter loads but for a great number of repetitions, to increase strength in more of an endurance fashion.

Now I realize that not all people who want to get stronger want to get bigger, and the stigma involved with strength training is that it'll make you "Bulky" or "Hyuuuge". However, I'm here to tell you that strength in and of itself is a function of the nervous system much more than just the muscles. The nervous system and muscle tissue you already possess can be trained to become much stronger and more efficient depending on how you want them to perform. If you want to train simply to push that maximal number higher and higher you can do just that, and if so I'd suggest you check out Olympic style lifting.

However, I realize being the strongest human alive might not be for everybody. But let me explain how raising that maximal strength level a bit may help you out, no matter the endeavour. Remember that aerobic exercise craze I mentioned? While it's a decent way to improve aerobic conditioning, in many cases it's actually detrimental to a person's strength if that's the only way they exercise. Long duration endurance exercise can lead to muscle breakdown, which besides the obvious immediate issues, can lead to strength and stability problems later in life. Even though you're not pumping iron when you're running, cycling, swimming, etc., it's still muscle tissue that's getting you down that road, up that hill, or across that lake. And if you continue to get rid of it, how can you hope to keep performing at a meaningful level? Strength training will ensure that you're preserving that ever important muscle tissue as well as joint stability and bone strength. In addition, if you're competitive at any level strength training can improve many aspects of your sport. From increasing stride length, power, and turnover rate in running, to improving strength, power, and upstroke in cycling, to even improving effective range of motion and joint stability/mobility in swimming.

For my CrossFit, MMA, or other intensity sporting friends, increasing your maximal strength can make any movement requiring less than maximal force easier, and more repeatable. Increase your maximal thruster strength/power and just imagine how much easier your dear Fran would be. Boost your strength and power in something like an atlas stone or hang clean and see how much more devastating your arm bar is. Training strength endurance will only compound these effects by making these lighter movements easier and more powerful once again. Broadening your range of strength makes your performance of all movements, both heavy weight, body weight, and longer duration endurance movements that much stronger and more powerful.

So do yourselves a favor, a couple days a week, hop off that treadmill or elliptical, hope out of the pool, and wander over to that other side of the gym, with all the weird heavy stuff and grunting dudes. You might even ask one of those grunting dudes for a tip or two in how to get started, quite a few of them are really great people to talk to. And while you're at it, you may be able to get one or two of them to join you on the cardio side once in a while, because there's a pretty good chance their endurance is in pretty rough shape.

Lift big, eat big, and have fun!!

Better Endurance through Intensity

Over the course of human evolution our bodies have developed the ability to perform in a wide range of movement types and intensities. From moving massive amounts of weight extremely fast, to moving our own mass a long long way, our bodies are extremely capable biochemical machines. During those early days of hunting and gathering, all the way up to the very different lifestyles of today, our bodies have maintained these  amazing capabilities, even if they may not always be realized. With that in mind, most people find that some type of exercise really gets them going, and many will pursue this exercise far past the level of a mere hobby, into the realm of competitive training and some may even base their entire lifestyle around this one aspect of their lives.

One category of exercise that's probably more popular than others is that of endurance training. Whether long distance runners, cyclists, tri-athletes, or other forms, many people find a lot of joy in these types of physically as well as mentally challenging endeavors. One unfortunate drawback of these types of exercise is that they can be very detrimental to the body if not done in a responsible manner. Many long distance runners can cover over 50 miles or more in a typical week. And while this can provide them with a very aerobically efficient body, it can also lead to some pretty severe injuries and/or chronic orthopedic issues. Many competitive athletes train this way simply because that's the way people have traditionally trained, and it just makes sense that in order to compete at longer distances, one should also train at longer distances.

However, I'd like to provide a bit of an alternative to including only long distance endurance type of training. From a strictly performance standpoint, an individual becomes a more efficient endurance athlete by eliciting certain adaptations in their body through training in addition to improving technique and form. These adaptations include improved respiratory volume and enhanced oxygen uptake, improved heart strength, volume and efficiency, higher concentrations of capillaries in and around muscle tissue, increased stores of intramuscular triglycerides (fats used for energy, a good thing), and many other enzymatic changes that make the body function more efficiently for such long periods of time. These are just a few of the changes that take place in the body in response to consistent endurance exercise. Quite obviously Exercise is some pretty powerful stuff!!

Now what if I told you you might not have to log quite so many hours and miles each week, and still be able to achieve these adaptations?? These days any extra hour here or there is worth a great deal, so let's see if we can't save you all some time, and improve your training at the same time. Many studies have shown that exercise durations of around 20-30 minutes can elicit very similar aerobic adaptations and improvements as longer sessions of 60 minutes or more. This means there's a good chance you're not making any more improvements exercising for 2-3 hours than you are in just 20-30 minutes. Now before you jump on me for implying that there's never any reason to push farther than 20 minutes, let me be clear that if planning to accomplish a long distance event such as a triathlon, marathon, or century ride, you'll still need to include some longer duration training to ensure that the necessary structural and mental conditioning is still taking place. All I'm saying is that you can make the necessary adaptations in much less time, while at the same time reducing your chance of over-training or debilitating injury.

In addition to the aerobic adaptations, there are a number of other changes that may improve your performance if you choose to turn up the intensity during these shorter sessions. Most notably is a question of energy systems. During long endurance type exercise your body will, for the most part, be functioning by way of the Aerobic energy pathway, utilizing oxygen to convert fat to energy. Higher intensity exercise will drive past the capabilities of this aerobic pathway into the Anaerobic zone, utilizing stored forms of carbohydrate for energy without the need for oxygen. Working in this anaerobic zone has its own quirks and adaptations attached, but we'll just concentrate on those that should improve endurance exercise performance. First off, as I just explained, when working anaerobically, your body's aerobic energy system will be working at maximum capacity trying to keep up with what your doing. This is important, because during a 2-3 hour session you'll be functioning at a significantly lower percentage of this aerobic capacity (often referred to as some percentage of your VO2 Max). The problem here is that if you're not pushing your body to its limits (meaning pushing beyond the level of that VO2 Max), it has no real reason to want to respond by changing. So by working at a higher intensity you'll consistently hit that magic VO2 Max range, and your body should respond by becoming even more efficient aerobically than it might by performing aerobic exercise only, as weird as that may sound.

Now even though aerobic capacity and efficiency are obviously very important to an endurance athlete, there are a few more adaptations that'll have a great deal of impact on an athlete. First, in order to turn up the intensity, an individual will have to increase the amount of resistance or workload placed on the body. This could be done, from a runnner's perspective, by performing sprints or sport specific weight training. This additional resistance causes the body to increase it's level of strength. If done properly this will make the athlete more efficient by improving power and effective range of motion, as well as raising the intensity level at which the body must rely on the anaerobic energy system, therefore once again improving aerobic efficiency. The second adaptation I'll cover may not be one you're likely to notice outright, but trust me it's there. This adaptation concerns your hormones, and can make a huge difference in your training. One problem with long duration exercise is that it drives up your level of stress hormones, namely Cortisol. You've likely heard of this hormone, but may not know what it does. Its job in the body is to break down molecules to be used for energy during these long exercise sessions. The problem is that it has a tendency to break down muscle tissue to provide that energy. This is type of cannibalism is obviously not a good thing, as it puts your body in a destructive mode, and through other mechanisms can actually encourage fat storage in the wrong places, like your waistline. So while cortisol does perform a necessary function, it can also be kind of a jerk. Now, on the other hand, higher intensity, more anerobically powered exercise can cause increases in both Testosterone and Growth Hormone. Unfortunately, thanks to a few bad apples in the world of professional sports these hormones have come to have kind of a bad name. But I assure you, they're both perfectly safe, natural, and floating around in each and every one of your bodies right this instant. Yup, even you ladies, for these two perform extremely important functions. From an exercise standpoint, Testosterone will support the recovery and repair of muscle and bone tissue, and improve neuro-muscular drive and efficiency. Growth Hormone is an extremely effective fat burner, and also has wide-ranging recovery effects, allowing the body to more easily rejuvenate itself, and support all those adaptations we've been discussing.

Again these are just a couple of the changes that shorter duration, higher intensity exercise can bring about. And chances are I'll get around to covering the others eventually. Obviously I don't expect every one of you to immediately adopt the training regimen of an olympic sprinter, and if any of you have a race coming up soon this may not be a great time to rearrange your training. But, should you have a couple months in the off season to experiment, give this a try and see what kind of improvements it can bring. And as always if you're at all unsure about designing this type of program change, PLEASE ask somebody to help!

Go Harder, Go Faster, and Go Longer!!
(10 burpees for anybody that just smirked)

A Calorie is a Calorie?? Not exactly...

We here in America always talk about calories this, calories that, 100 calories in these cookies, 200 calories in that smoothie, 3500 calories in a pound of fat. But can you tell me what that even means?? The way we talk about calories is almost like the word itself refers to something tangible, that you could actually put in your hand and look at. But it's not necessarily the case. When we say a certain substance, let's just go with something pure like table sugar, has a certain number of calories, say 100, what we're actually saying is that substance has the ability to produce 100 calories of heat energy. The word Calorie is a metric measurement of heat, and is only somewhat relevant in the human body.

The way scientists determine the number of calories in a certain substance, food for our purposes, is to put it into an instrument called a Blast Calorimeter, which is for all intents and purposes an incinerator. Inside its sealed chamber a measurable amount of heat is applied until the substance has been reduced to ash. Whatever extra heat produced is the amount of caloric energy contained in that substance. In this case a calorie of fat is the same as a calorie of sugar, protein, fiber, etc.

However, your body isn't a blast furnace, it's a very complex biochemical system. One in which different types of substances act very differently. And in this system, no substance acts exactly the same as others, even from person to person. Ideally, and in a blast calorimeter, 1 gram of Carbohydrate material contains 4 calories of energy, Protein has 4 also, and Fat has 9. Oh by the way, Alcohol counts too, and contains 7 calories per gram. If only it were this simple. Each of these macronutrients have different classes and categories that all act a bit differently in the body, and may act differently when being taken in and spent as well.

As far as carbohydrates are concerned there are a few things to remember when checking out that food label. First off, because Fibers are technically a carbohydrate in structure, they're counted on food labels and will add to the total calorie count. But as we've discussed before these fibers are not digestible, so you're not going to be able to take in and/or expend or "burn" those calories. So don't go counting them toward your calories for the day. As far as the ones that Do count, we have complex and simple categories. Unfortunately this isn't enough of a distinction to give us all the info we need. Complex carbs, or starches, such as breads, pastas, or potatoes and the like quickly break down into glucose in the body, just like if you were to eat pure glucose or dextrose. Once your intestines get a hold of either starch or pure glucose it releases it straight into the blood which raises your insulin levels and generally all this energy is either quickly burned, or more likely stored. And except in certain cases this storage will be into fat cells. Other types of carbs, like fructose or galactose, don't have the same effect on insulin levels, so they may be utilized differently and may or may not be stored. Fructose is converted by the liver into triglyceride, which will circulate in the blood for a bit before being stored, making it available for a longer period of time to be used for energy. Galactose is converted into glucose, but not fast enough to raise insulin levels very fast, so similarly it allows a higher available level of energy to circulate in the bloodstream before being stored. Aside from how it's stored, glucose that circulates in the blood is much more easily used by your body to produce energy, either throughout the day or during exercise. So if you can hold off the storage of these carbs, through different methods, you may be able to convert them into energy a bit easier than if they're gobbled up by those fat cells. So here is one example where 100 calories may be either quickly stored, or slowly and steadily burned off before it creates a problem.

Fats are next, and aren't quite as tricky. All fats, from saturated to poly-unsaturated, have 9 calories per gram. Some different types are more easily used for energy, such as MCTs, or Medium Chain Triglycerides. One common source of these is Coconut Oil, which is technically a saturated fat, although it's melting point is in the 70's, meaning it can be a bit smoother for the body to work with since it's generally a liquid in the body. Most fats, however, form Long Chain Triglycerides. Obviously the body stores fats, at least the ones it doesn't immediately use. Since mono and poly unsaturated fatty acids tend to flow a bit more freely in the bloodstream, since they're not all globbed together, your body may be able to utilize these fats for more productive means more easily than saturated fats. One more reason to start incorporating more oils into your diet. One more bugger about those carbs from the last section: that insulin spike that causes the body to store that glucose, causes the body to store much more fat also. So once again, that insulin spike may be robbing you of a few calories that your body would otherwise expend. The final interesting thing about taking in fats is that you may not have to burn them to get rid of the calories. Since the body utilizes fats for many structural and biochemical processes, many of those calories may also be absorbed and converted by the body, meaning they're taken out of the whole Calories In/Calories Out equation.

Similarly to that last scenario is how the body treats Proteins. Proteins contain 4 calories of energy per gram. But the crazy thing about proteins, is that if you're leading a good active lifestyle you're not going to be using the protein you take in for energy. Instead you'll be using it to build/repair/replace all the structures in your body. You see, almost all structures in the body (meaning the ones that aren't specifically formed by phospholipids or fatty acids) are made up of proteins. Proteins are just chains of individual Amino Acids linked together in varying lengths. Through all the different activities we go through during the day, and even just breathing and pumping blood, these proteins break down or need to be replaced with a different protein.  The protein you take in from food will be broken down and used for this purpose, ideally. In fact, if you don't get enough of whichever Amino Acids you need for this maintenance and rebuilding process through your diet, your body can and Will break down existing muscle in order to find them. This fact alone can make things tough for vegetarians, who have to vary their food sources in order to ensure they're getting all the necessary aminos. Now assuming your body gets all the aminos it needs from the diet, any extra proteins can be converted for storage as fats, or can be used for energy as well, but the oxidation (burning for energy) of amino acids is a bit of a rough process, and your body would much rather use sugars or fats.

So that's the big three, and how calories of each are used/stored by the body. As you can see, those 2500 calories per day you're taking in can cause very different things to happen in your body depending on what they consist of. Carbs are different than Fats, which are different from Proteins. So please don't go thinking you can replace that 500 calories of fruit, veggies and lean meat you were going to eat for lunch with 8 Twinkies without some pretty hefty consequences, storage wise. Hopefully this sheds at least a little light on what all those numbers on your food labels might end up meaning once you get your grub on.

All in all: You're not a blast furnace. Don't eat like one!!

"I've Had It!! This is the year I Lose The Weight!!" Hope you brought your A-game...

Ask 10 people for their #1 New Year's Resolution and at least 6 or 7 will say they need to lose some weight. Fair enough. About 70% of Americans are now considered overweight, with at least half of those being considered Obese. How's that sound?? About 1 out of 3 Americans now considered Obese. That should sound bad. Like really bad. The problem is that the majority of those that say they want to lose weight this year A) Have no idea how to go about it efficiently, and B) Won't ask anybody what an efficient way might be. This makes me sad. Many of these individuals will end up joining a gym and spending really inappropriate amounts of time on some piece of steady state cardio equipment working at an intensity level that might have them breathing once or twice more a minute than they normally would. This will continue for a few months, along with making only minor, and probably inconsequential changes to their diet, before they get frustrated with the results their not getting before they decide that their destined to be this way and quit to spend their time doing something less strenuous and more enjoyable, like watch TV or play video games. Bravo. This is how a country of 300 million people gets to a point where half of them are overweight to the point of early demise.

Clearly the issue of weight loss is one that can't be fixed with a few paragraphs on a blog. At least not all at once. But I'm going to attempt to break this down over a few of these to give you or somebody you know a few more tools to throw at this problem and finally get some results. The first thing I want to talk about is the relative intensity of your workouts, from an energy production and recovery standpoint. Your body has in place a series of systems to produce energy from both the food you eat, and the energy you have stored (hopefully fat). The one it utilizes most of the day and night is your Aerobic energy system. This system uses the oxygen you breathe to convert Fats, Sugars, and even Proteins into energy, and is extremely efficient at doing so. The other main energy system is your Anaerobic system, meaning that it does Not use oxygen, and is nowhere near as efficient. So why it even around you ask? Because it works much much faster than the Aerobic system does. (For those waiting for a discussion about the Creatine Phosphate or Lactate shuttle systems, I may touch on them in a different post, but it's not as relevant to this one.)

So we have one system that's very fast, but not very efficient, and another system that's not quite as fast, but extremely efficient. Efficiency in this case means how much energy you're getting out of a molecule of Fat or Sugar. The aerobic system gets a whole lot of energy out of that single molecule, whereas the anaerobic system gets just a little bit. Now in every day life, when you're just looking to survive, the efficiency of your aerobic system is perfect. However, when looking to burn fat, that efficiency is not what we're after. The harder your body has to work to produce energy, the more calories you'll end up burning. If the intensity of your exercise session is low enough that the aerobic system can cover it, you'll only end up burning a certain amount of calories. Generally at this level of intensity you're done burning calories as soon as you stop moving. However, if you drive up the level of intensity to the point at, or beyond where your anaerobic system has to kick in and start burning up a lot more fuel to keep you going. When this happens, your body begins to go into an "Oxygen Debt". When you finally stop exercising, your body will be forced to continue burning energy (fat for the most part) for as long after your workout as necessary to bring you back to an even status. The intensity, and duration, of your workout will determine how long this "Afterburn" will continue, but some studies have shown this effect to last up to 36 hours or more under the right circumstances.

So the choice here is to continue on doing the steady state cardio, and only burning calories while you're moving. Or turn up the intensity and continue burning calories for up to a day and a half afterward. If you're looking to lose weight, one of these options should look a bit more attractive to you than the other. Now just like anything else, the actual implementation of a good program based on this principle takes a bit of work, and necessitates the help of a knowledgeable fitness professional to design a plan just for you (or this one buddy of yours...) based on your current status and overall goals. All I want you to think about for now is how hard you've been working during your workouts, and how it's been turning out for you?? If any of you have heard of, or even tried, High Intensity Interval Training, or perhaps CrossFit, there's a reason why people can lose a lot of weight doing it. Done properly, these workouts are designed to tax your entire body extremely hard, driving you into a very very deep Oxygen Debt. In addition to some decent strength gains, your body will also have no choice but to burn off some of that stored energy around your midsection in order to restore your body's equilibrium, and perhaps your sanity.

Main point here, if you really want to make a drastic change in your body composition, you're going to have to work your ass off to do it. After all guys, Nothing in this life that's worth having comes easy. So this year, make the choice, harden up, and kick some ass!!

Befriend your Fats, your body will love you for it!

I was born in the 80's. Barely...  And though there were many totally radical things that came out of this crazy decade (Transformers and Hair Ballads just to name a couple) one of the more horrible contributions was the nation's war on Fat. It didn't matter what else came along in any of the products we bought during the 80's as long as they were Low Fat!! And in many cases this opened up groups of food scientists to unleash some pretty hellish new concoctions on the American people. Go Capitalism!! Anyhow, why was this Low Fat thing such a bad idea?? As consumer electronics began to become more prevalent and our lifestyles began to become more sedentary (sound familiar??) people began to get heftier. And in order to help combat this situation, the nation's think-tanks (read: high ranking businessmen with too much power and not enough knowledge) figured that it's the Fat that everyone's eating that's making them Fat. Which, I'll imply again, is not exactly the case. So policy makers made some policy, marketers jumped on the band-wagon, and we got stuck with a lot of Low Fat food with a bunch of extra shitty carbs and very strange chemicals in order to make them palatable. Quick, take a look around you and tell me how well that ended up for everybody?? Ooops...

So why was all the Low Fat stuff no good all of a sudden? Hadn't people been eating Fats for upwards of a few hundred thousand years?? I'll try to stick to science here and leave my penchant for conspiracy theories aside and just say that it was a colossal misunderstanding of human physiology. The fact is, Fat(s) are an absolutely essential component in the human diet. Fats are responsible for proper nerve cell function, cell wall construction/repair, absorption/usage/storage of a number of vitamins, and as a vital and extremely efficient source of energy. Many fats can be created and synthesized by the body itself. But a certain class of fats are Essential Fatty Acids, that cannot be produced by the human body, and Must be attained through the diet. The two most important of these are Linoleic Acid which when deficient can lead to severe skin problems and inability to heal wounds, and Alpha Linolenic Acid (ALA) which is vital for proper nervous system function, with deficiencies being linked to depression and other psychological maladies. Others are Gamma Linolenic acid, Lauric acid, and Palmitoleic acid. These specific fatty acids also belong to categories based on their chemical structure depending on whether or not their molecules are "Saturated" with hydrogen atoms or not. 

Saturated fatty acids contain all single bonds with complete hydrocarbons. Unsaturated fatty acids contain one or more double bonds in their structure that cause them to be shaped differently and act differently in the body and in nature. Saturated fats generally come from animal sources (though there are exceptions) and are solid at room temperature. Think of butter or the marbled fat in meats. This is usually the most vilified type of fat due to its supposed link to heart disease and other vascular conditions, which isn't quite fair since these conditions depend on a hell of a lot more than just the presence of some fat. So don't sleep with garlic around your neck or anything to try and get away from these guys, they're not that bad all on their own. The other category, Unsaturated fats, tend to come from vegetable and nut sources, and are liquid at room temperatures. These are most of your oils; vegetable, olive, almond, walnut, peanut, etc. One nice thing about these guys is that they're generally liquid in the body as well, which means they don't bind together quite as thickly as the saturated types. 

Another categorization of fats that I'll talk about briefly here is the whole Omega-3, Omega-6, Omega-9 moniker. These are all unsaturated fats, and the numeral just denotes where in the molecule the double bond is. As far as chemical structure, the 3, 6, or 9 shouldn't mean much to you. The one thing I want to get across is the different way your body reacts to them. Generally speaking, Omega-3 fatty acids have an Anti-Inflammatory effect on the body. Think of them as natural Ibuprofen if that helps. The most prevalent of these found in the diet are ALA, EPA and DHA. There are really long names associated with these acronyms that you can look up if you want, but any food label will list them this way. When taking Fish Oil (and I say this because you all currently ARE taking fish oil right? Right? Okay good) EPA and DHA are the two fatty acids you're looking to maximize. The other side of the story are the Omega-6's. These generally have a Pro-Inflammatory effect on the body. This is not good. With all the added stresses we face from day to day, any extra fats running around in our bodies supporting inflammation aren't exactly helping things. 

Right, so no Omega-6's ever right?? Not quite. There are still Omega-6's that you need, so they're a necessary evil. What you can try to do though is ensure that you balance your 3's and 6's as much as possible, and try to add some extra 3's when you can (ahem.. fish oil). It used to be pretty easy to get that balance, as most of our fat sources, lean meats, used to eat the proper diet and would naturally have a ratio of 3's to 6's of about 2-3:1, which is pretty easy to overcome with the addition of fish and healthy oils. The problem these days is that our animals are not fed what they're designed to eat, and we instead fill them with corn and other grains that fattens them up and shoves them towards a ratio more like 20-30:1. Obviously it's much harder to fix this level of imbalance.

So obviously make sure you eat enough of these essential fats. That's easy enough. But from a body composition standpoint shouldn't you still lay off the rest of them?? I'd rather you didn't. Fact is, these days, it's not the Fat that's making you Fat. Generally it's the relatively safe amount of fats you're taking in being magnified by all the crap carbs we're taking in. Especially since the 80's when Wonder Bread became all the rage. Like I mentioned a couple days ago, when you take in a bunch of extra carbs your insulin spikes, making your body want to store as much as it can, and your fat cells (lipocytes) actually convert those extra carbs to fat and store them. Fats all by themselves might be stored, but will more likely be used for energy and other functions, assuming you're living a good active lifestyle. In addition to that, think about this scenario. Your body is programmed to survive starvation. And therefore doesn't like to readily get rid of stored energy, even though it still will given the proper diet and exercise conditions. However, you'll find that if you starve your body of fats from dietary sources it'll be much less likely to let those stored calories of yours go. Give it plenty of fat intake and it won't feel so much like it's starving and will actually work with you to achieve those aesthetic/performance goals of yours. Once again, don't try to trick your body, it's much smarter than you are.

So, what to do will all this craziness?? First, don't be afraid of fat. You need it. Your body craves it. And more importantly it's designed to function on it. Secondly, make sure you're getting a balance of fat intake from all categories. Meaning get equal amounts of Saturated, Mono-unsaturated, and Poly-unsaturated fats, as well as getting plenty of Omega-3's along with the 6's that aren't as hard to find. Fish and Olive oils are your friends. And just like getting a variety of protein sources and fruits and veggies, get a variety of fats and oils as well. Different meats, nuts, and plants have different fatty acid profiles, and your body may need a little extra something different from time to time.

So suppress that nagging 80's commercial for Low-Fat Everything playing in the back of your head all the time, and enjoy some of the more delicious foods that happen to be a little fatty. After all, I've been told that half the reason She-Ra was such a babe was the fact that she ate an entire plate of bacon for breakfast every morning. And who are you to tell She-Ra she's wrong??

Impossible is Nothing

Quick, think of something at the gym that you "Can't Do" and then watch this video.

Now give me a reason why you "Can't", that this guy would accept.

It's all in your heads folks. Impossible is Nothing.

Gunning for that Six Pack?? Better skip that Hawt Abzz class

Name 10 friends real quick and think about how many times you've heard any one of them talk about wanting that bangin 6-pack or a slim sexy midsection??? Probably heard it more than once or twice? Most people these days concerned with their physique are either openly or covertly chasing this goal, and with good reason. A slim midsection is clearly one of the more popular ways for prospective mates to weed out the persona non grata among large groups of people. One great way for guys to demonstrate power and physical fitness is to have that strong, ripped core. And of course the ladies looking to stick out in a crowd will look to maintain a slender, albeit shapely, waist/hip area.

So we've established that an attractive core is something we'd like to have. So, why skip the Abs class at the local globo-gym?? Though studies can be found to support either stance, the better studies tend to show that reducing extra fat around the mid-section by performing high repetition exercise with only that group of muscles is fairly ineffective. Meaning that hundreds and hundreds of even the most perfect, TV-gadget-assisted crunches aren't going to get you to your goal. Why you ask?? Because that's just not the way the body works unfortunately. This method of burning fat from specific areas using exercise for just that area is commonly known as "Spot-Reduction", and is pretty much a myth.

The way the body burns off extra stored fat, from anywhere and everywhere, is to be in a state of caloric deficit over long periods of time. Caloric deficit means that the body is expending, or burning, more calories than it's taking in. To put it into an exciting, grade-school style word problem: If a person was completely balanced and taking in 2000 calories per day and expending exactly 2000 calories through the normal everyday activities of breathing, pumping blood, digesting food, and exercise necessary to fill in the rest, they would be at a level of Maintenance. This means they wouldn't gain or lose any weight while staying at these levels. A caloric deficit would happen if this person would eat say 100 calories less in food, and burn off an extra 100 calories in exercise per day. This would be a 200 calorie deficit per day, and result in a slow loss of extra weight. **Disclaimer** Do myself and every other fitness professional you know a favor and don't take what I just said and do something stupid with it. Achieving a 2000 calorie deficit by only eating 500 calories and spending 8 hours on a treadmill will not only lead to dangerous weight loss, but may also kill you. Don't piss off your body, it's smarter than you are. Okay done. Back to our SLOW, RESPONSIBLE caloric deficit. When your body burns off extra calories like this, it's going to take them from places all over your body, because it's more efficient to do it this way. So even though you may want it all to come from right behind your belly button, it ain't gonna happen. Sorry, that's science, and that's life.

Now will doing a few thousand crunches not accomplish anything at all?? Of course not, you're still burning expending energy and therefore burning calories. So this can lead to fat loss. However, the relative strength and range of motion of the abdominal and core muscles doesn't really allow them to perform a lot of actual Work, from a physics standpoint. You can burn some calories this way, but nowhere near as many as you can burn with a more full body approach using the right amount of intensity and resistance. Don't believe me? Quick, do 100 repetitions of a crunch, and then do 100 repetitions of a burpee. Which one feels like you might be doing more work??

Aside from the caloric expenditure, any type of core exercise that you can do for that many repetitions is only going to improve the muscle's endurance. So any type of real strength or power gains just aren't going to happen. You'd be much better off in this case choosing exercises that allow you to use much more weight and/or faster movements, that you can only do for a few repetitions. By changing your core routine to higher resistance, higher power, exercises, and pairing them with more full body exercises you'll do two things: train a much more powerful, and "toned" midsection, and burn off more calories, which will get you to that slim waistline much much sooner. Plus, you won't have to suffer through whatever poppy bubblegum crap music they tend to play in those Hawt Abzz classes these days.

Long story short: Ditch the crunches, and start working the rest of your body. Burn a little, or burn a shitload. Up to you kids!

The Carbohydrate Debacle

So if there's been one overall diet mandate during the last 10 years what would you say it is?? Most people will say LOW CARBS!!! And for good reason. For the last 10 to 15 years, the old Carbohydrate has had as bad a reputation as Fat did in the 80's. The problem is, Carbs, just like Fats, are an essential part of your diet. The main problem with Carbohydrates is that a lot of different types of foods fit into this category. Many of them good, many of them not so good. I'm never one to say that one or another thing is evil by definition (although some things really are), and some of the not so good members still have a very important place in the diet if eaten responsibly.

So what exactly is a Carbohydrate?? The word Carbohydrate is really the definition of a certain type of molecule, made up of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen. Generally there are two overall types of Carbohydrates found in nature, and in the diet of a walking talking human: Sugars/Starches, and Fibers. One of these is digestible, and the other is not (I'll let you go ahead and guess which is which). Fibers are basically the parts of plants that the human body cannot break down, and because of this they're very good at both slowing down food digestion, and helping to keep the digestive tract cleaned out and running smoothly. Fibers are an essential part of the diet, and you should try to eat as much as possible. The USDA recommends that an average adult get from 25-35 or so grams of fiber per day. Feel free to eat more than this of course if you so choose. The average American unfortunately eats about 5 grams per day. Failure.

The other form of carbohydrate comes in the form of different types of sugars. There are quite a few different types, including monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, etc. However those terms probably don't mean much of anything to you. Don't worry, it's not necessarily important that you know all the specifics. Basically sugars can be found alone, all by themselves, grouped with another sugar, or in large groups of sugars. The two individual sugars I want you to remember are Fructose, and Glucose. Chances are you Have heard of these two, which is good, because these are the important ones that you'll see and eat most regularly.

Fructose is generally known as fruit sugar, which is accurate since fruit does have fructose in it. However, overall fruits tend to be about 50/50 Fructose AND Glucose. And these days thanks to food scientists, fructose is found in a whole lotta places that it shouldn't be. Enter High Fructose Corn Syrup. The other place you'll find it is in actual Sugar, as in table sugar. Table sugar is a refined and purified form of Sucrose. Sucrose is a molecule combining both Fructose and Glucose. So again, not usually found in nature, but very easy to find in America. The real trick with Fructose is that when taken in by the body it's first shuttled to the liver and converted into Tri-glyceride, which is then either used for energy, or if in enough abundance can be stored as fat. This may sound bad, and in the case of a 32oz bucket of cola, very much is. But if you're getting your fructose from healthy fruits and veggies then you're not only not getting a whole lot of actual calories, you're also getting a bunch of Fiber, as well as vitamins and minerals. So if you're really concerned about fructose, just make sure it's coming from plants, and not a can or bottle.

The main culprit in the Carb problem is Glucose. Glucose is Everywhere, from fruits and veggies, to grains, breads, and pastas, and of course in all the sweets. When Glucose is digested in the body it passes directly into the bloodstream. In order for your body to use this glucose it has to release insulin into the bloodstream as well. This causes a certain sequence of events that is a bit too long for this particular post, but I promise I'll get back to it soon. The overall need for glucose is as a source of energy for your body, so it is an important part of your diet. But it's pretty easy to go overboard on the calories as well. Remember that 32oz bucket of cola? When your glucose comes from fruits, veggies, and extremely UN-refined grains, it comes with a lot of fiber to slow down digestion, and all those vitamins and minerals as well. However, many times it's found in the form of refined breads, baked goods like bagels or muffins, cereals, and pastas. Foods like these contain densely packed glucose molecules that form what we call Starches. While it seems like these aren't as bad as pure sugars, the fact is starches are very easily broken down in the body, and are also very calorie dense, meaning you'll get a whole lot more sugar from that bagel or bowl of cereal than you ever will an apple or bunch of spinach. Another unfortunate reality is that when these carbs are refined in order to be more palatable and easier to eat, they also have many of their natural vitamins and minerals removed.

So after all that, what's my point? The Carbohydrate is not in and of itself a bad thing. What matters is where it comes from, and what it comes along with, or without. When looking at your daily caloric intake if your 2-300g or so of carbohydrate comes from fruits, vegetables, and unrefined grains, then you're likely getting a ton of essential nutrients at the same time. But if it comes from breads, pastas, cereals, and/or beverages, chances are you're only getting empty calories with no actual nutrition. Extra calories taken in by your body will be stored. That's just how the body's supposed to function.

So, morale of the story: Don't be afraid of Carbs, just make sure they're the right ones!

All Show, or All Go??

In the past decades, roughly since the 60's and 70's much of the fitness culture has changed its emphasis from training for functional goals like strength, power, or endurance, to more aesthetic goals like a slim midsection, 6-pack abs, or maybe Boulder Shoulders. One cause for this change was the rise in the bodybuilding craze that emerged from the beach towns of California. All of a sudden a muscular physique became all the rage for the guys, and the beach bunnies on their arm became the ideal body for women across the country as well. One could make an argument for the Media's roll as well in perpetuating some generally unattainable body image ideals, but that's a different post altogether. For this post I want to instead talk about the goals we all set for ourselves before we begin a training program.

Most people, upon starting a physical fitness program, will have a set goal in mind (and if you need help with this let myself or another educated buddy of yours know). However many people will have a goal in mind without knowing exactly how to train for it. Many go after that slim midsection or 6-pack abs simply from an aesthetic point of view, and I don't want to come across like there's anything wrong with wanting to look a certain way. Afterall our brains are programmed from birth to be attracted to certain attributes of strength and vitality. If this is the case, ensure that your training program is designed to achieve exactly these results. Aesthetic goals are somewhat different to train for than other goals.

If you'd rather achieve a certain level of strength and/or power, either for sports or competition, or even just to feel a bit better throughout the day, you also must ensure that your training program is designed for this type of goal. Many times training for strength or power can end up looking pretty damned awesome, afterall those physical attributes of strength and vitality are more of a Form Follows Function type of adaptation. However, it may take longer to achieve that aesthetic body shape while training for more functional goals simply because your diet and lifestyle will be geared towards supporting a very strenuous lifting routine, and more importantly, recovering from that routine. Generally these specific dietary and lifestyle routines don't support a chiseled bod with 4% bodyfat. It's been known to happen of course, but due to genetics or other individual quirks most people have a hard time holding on to both goals. Ever see a world class powerlifter?? Not usually the most aesthetically pleasing individuals eh??

So whether you want to train for Show, or train for Go, make sure your lifting and nutritional plans support that goal. Trying to train for too many things at once ends up in a Jack of All Trades, Master of None type scenario. Achieving goals in fitness and health take as much focus and dedication as goals anywhere else in life. Don't forget, however, that you don't have to pick just one goal for the rest of your life either. Many gym rats and athletes train for strength or power during one part of the year and switch gears towards the spring and summer months, and accomplish great things in doing so. But at the same time this needs to be done in a focused and responsible manner. Think about what you've been doing in the gym the past few months, and then ask yourself if it's supporting that goal you want. If so, outstanding, keep up the good work. If not, and you'd like some help in narrowing your focus a bit, ASK SOMEBODY!!! Don't waste any more time in the gym than you need to folks, there are plenty of knowledgeable individuals who'd love to help you out!!

Don't just train to train. Train for your Goals!! Kick some Ass guys!!

Balance - In Fitness as in Life

Everybody's got that friend or two that go to the gym religiously every single day, every single week, and every single year. But ask yourself, would you describe that person as Healthy? or Fit? One common mistake many gym-goers make these days is focusing on only one area of fitness, generally either Strength/Size, or Cardio-Respiratory. The majority of fitness enthusiasts spend all their time on one side of the gym, either pumping iron, or tolling away on a treadmill or elliptical machine. Don't get me wrong, both strength and cardio endurance are vital aspects of physical fitness. But one must make sure to get a full balance of these aspects to really get the most out of a true fitness regimen.

To really consider the body fit for anything it has to be able to move heavy loads as well as be able to loco-mote itself around for significant periods of time. And don't go thinking that "Heavy Loads" has to mean giant boulders or pick-up trucks (although now and then those scenarios do come about), but how about moving that refrigerator of yours during annual spring cleaning? Or how about hoisting a pack to go camping with your family during the summer? Or even just carrying in an unusually massive load of groceries? Strength is vital in as many ways as you can think of, and has to be trained in order to continue to be a part of your physical repertoire. And it also doesn't need to be complicated. Barbells, Dumbbells, Benches, Racks, and Cables may seem intimidating at first, but let me assure you they are simply tools with which to do work. That's it. Used correctly they're no more harmful than the spoons in your kitchen. And as frightening as the Ogres that dwell there can look on the outside, most of them are extremely pleasant people that would love to help you use their favorite toys properly in order to reach your goals.

While I've got the meathead crowd nodding smugly (and as a former meathead I say this with all due respect), let me discuss the other side of the coin, Cardio-Respiratory Endurance. Ooops, they just stopped smiling didn't they. Fact is Cardio Endurance is just as important as strength. This is the one that comes in handy when your car breaks down (inevitably on some dark back country road) and you need to hoof it to the nearest service station. Or when that dang elevator at work breaks down and you get the opportunity to see how fast you can climb 8 flights of stairs in order to make it to the weekly staff meeting. Your Cardio Endurance is what lets you do things for a fairly long time without keeling over, and makes your ticker tock as efficiently as possible. The fun thing about cardio is that it doesn't have to be done on a treadmill or stationary bike if that's not your cup of tea. It can be done out in the beautiful world around you, and can even be done with those weights from above, as anybody who's ever completed a Crossfit class or two can tell you. Any time you're getting your heartrate up for an extended period of time you're going to make improvements to this type of fitness. And just as you can find thousands of ways to improve your levels of strength, you can find just as many ways to improve your cardio fitness, and you may even have fun doing it!

So there's my two cents on the matter. Make sure you're getting an equal balance of these two styles of training in order to ensure you're making as many positive changes in your body as possible. Neither can stand without the other, and each will make the other shine even brighter! If you have any questions on how to go about including these into your existing program, or about how to get started in the first place there are plenty of knowledgeable individuals who would love to help (Yours Truly included).

Have fun kids!! Get Strong, Get Fast, and Get Fit!!

Two Things to Keep in Mind for the New Year's Resolutions

The beginning of each year brings along with it a huge jump in promises people make, to themselves as well as others, about how they're going to attempt to change something about their self for the better this particular year. And one of the most prevalent, and usually terribly unsuccessful, of these Resolutions is to get in better shape, lose weight, eat better, or some combination or tangent of these. And very unfortunately it IS fairly unsuccessful for most people. And while there are plenty of reasons for this, that would take a VERY long blog to cover. So instead I'd like to cover just two simple things that I'm hoping will help those, or friends/family/significant others of those, make that change they've been thinking about for so long.

The first thing to keep in mind is this, and it's very simple: EVERYTHING COUNTS. Every extra step from the car to the office, every extra flight of stairs taken in lieu of the elevator, every 5 minute walk during your lunchbreak counts towards your goals. Weight loss and fitness don't happen only within the confines of a gym. If you can't make it to a gym, then find another way to get up and get moving. It doesn't have to be rock climbing in the Alps, or running an ultra marathon in the Sahara. Find an activity you enjoy, and go do it!! Every calorie burned counts, even if it's only 5 at a time. It all adds up in the end. Get up and MOVE, it's the only way to get it done.
Along with this first fact, is it's inevitable evil twin: EVERYTHING COUNTS. Every extra mini-muffin in the break room, every extra beer in the evening (no matter how light, lite, or Ultra), every extra french fry with your Paleo Style Grilled Chicken sandwich from wherever. Every extra bad decision, no matter how minute, counts just as much as those extra stairs and steps. Be respectful of yourself, your goals, and all the hard work you're putting into this resolution and push that crap away from your face. Don't make the excuse that you didn't know it was that bad, or you don't know how to eat right. Every human knows how to eat right, just as every human knows that a triple quarter pounder and a bucket of cola AIN'T IT. Don't lie to yourself.

The second point piggy backs on the first one. As much as every calorie burned counts, if you want to make real changes, you're going to have to BUST YOUR ASS to do it. While the human body is capable of amazing things, it's also extremely lazy if you allow it to be. To lose a great deal of weight, or transform yourself into any kind of decent athlete, you're going to have to put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. And don't think I'm being cliche here. If you're not pushing yourself to the point of collapsing when you work out, then don't bullshit yourself by thinking you're gonna have that six pack before resolution season Next Year. If you want it, and I mean really want it, you're gonna have to prove it. Not to me, not to your friends or coworkers that might try to cut you down for wanting to make a change, but to YOU. At the end of the day any success or failures you experience affect You, and You alone. Don't blame others for you missing a workout. Don't blame a bad night's sleep on slacking during your jog. If you really want to change, you're going to have to be the one to do the work. Nobody else will do it for you. So tomorrow morning when you get up and look yourself in the mirror, don't let all the negative bullshit that's stopped you before creep up and sabotage you again. Look yourself in the eye, decide then and there that it's time to make a change, dig deep, and do the work! More people than you'll ever know believe in you and your ability to make that change. Don't let them down, but most importantly don't let YOU down.

Best of luck Friends, and Happy New Year!! Time to Kick some ASS!!