Tag Archives: workout

Are words making you fat or lazy?

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I’m not a huge fan of scapegoats, the blame-game, or not being responsible for your own life and behavior, but let’s face it, there are factors that are simply out of our control.

Or are they?

Some of them are. Genetics, anyone?

I love the old bodybuilding question – “I have small calves, how do I get them bigger? I’ve tried everything.”

I know people for whom this is literally true. And you know what, I’m not sure if there’s a solution out there for them. They’re just always going to have small calves. Sorry guys, your lineage just didn’t store a lot of meat on the lower leg bones. Oh well. But look on the bright side, that leaves more time to focus on developing other things in life.

Sometimes genetics can be a serious hurdle. But genes almost always require an environmental trigger that switches them on.

That is, if you have the “fat gene,” it just means you’re more likely to get fat than the person who doesn’t have it. But it doesn’t mean that you HAVE TO GET FAT.

Knowing your genetic tendencies can be a huge help to guide your action.

Got the fat gene? Stay the hell away from refined carbs of any sort forever. FOREVER.

And that’s the point – If we KNOW about the things that are influencing our behavior or development, we can ACT to use that knowledge to our advantage.

That is – there are a lot of things that ARE within our control…if we can recognize them and act on them.

The big one that hit me today, and that spurred me to write this post, is LANGUAGE.

We all have habitual patterns we live through. Most of us tend to put our clothes on in exactly the same way every day. We use the same hand to hold our toothbrush. We get into the car the same way, we do the same things, AND…

We talk about and listen to the same stuff almost all the time.

Within our relationships – at home, work, or play – we tend to use language the same way. We tend to use the same words all the time, in the same patterns.

Since “birds of a feather flock together” we can safely guess that our friends, families, and probably coworkers, do the same thing.

So what does that have to do with being fat?

Well, before we talk about fat, let’s give a more extreme example.

If you work in a gym, or you’re a personal trainer, your vocabulary is probably full of anatomy and physiology terms. You probably tend to speak in action-terms (DO this, DO that, PULL, PUSH, GO, etc.). Most of your friends are likely involved in health and fitness to some degree, so they have a similar way with words (or can at least understand your way).

This “action logic” spills over into your very being. Or maybe it’s vice versa…maybe your very being spills over into your language. It’s probably a little of both.

Now let’s imagine someone who has a weight problem. I can recall a particular family I knew that would always talk about how FAT they were. Their language was PASSIVE. “We’re so fat. We need to do xyz, BUT…” insert excuse.

Within that family, everyone pretty much used the same words to describe their condition, and their relationship to their condition.

Other people might even have a VICTIM language about being fat and lazy – as if their condition is being done to them.

Want to change your condition? Want to change your “shape” (or get “in shape”)? Want to “get fit?”

Check your language, and the language of the people you hang out with.

Since “the way you do anything is the way you do everything” – it probably needs to change as much as your “habits” or whatever else you’re focused on.

NOTE: I realized this is about the third or fourth post that hinges on MINDSET, so I’ve created a mindset category. If you want to see all of the posts about mindset or mindframes related to fitness, just click on the Mindset category on the right hand side of the page.

NOTE 2: It is not unhealthy to have extra body-fat!

Smolov Switching Microcycle – Last Day

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Friday was the last day of the Smolov Switching Microcycle.

The workout was slated for 12 sets of 2 reps of box squats with 270 pounds on the bar. I was feeling good, so I bumped it up to 275, and hit all of the lifts with good speed, with only a minute of rest between sets.

The only side comment I have about the program at this point is that I can feel my aerobic capacity dwindling. I’ve thought about adding one or two days of aerobic work, but am concerned about overloading my self to the point of no return.

I’m pretty sure the final mesocycle (which starts Monday) is about six weeks long, so I’ll hold off on aerobic conditioning for another six weeks!

The one secret to fitness motivation

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I’ve read the psychology books. I’ve read the sports psychology books. I’ve worked with clients, friends, and family who want to start or continue an exercise program.

And I’m here to share my secrets with you.

So first, a question – what is motivation?

What does it mean to you?

When you think about something you’re motivated to do, what comes immediately to mind?

I guarantee you it most likely has something to do with one of the following four things:

  • Sex – need I explain?
  • Status – affiliation, being “in,” etc.
  • Safety – shelter, food, water, etc.
  • Risk – danger, fun, excitement

And that it’s one or more of the following:

  • Comfortable
  • Easy
  • Tasty (especially fatty, sweet, and/or salty)
  • Fast
  • Cheap
  • Orgasmic

What’s “motivating” is usuallly hitting your evolutionary-behavioral necessities (to have sex/reproduce, to be safe, and to have and understand some sort of status in your group); AND your dopamine receptors – fast, easy, cheap, fun, tasty, comfortable, orgasmic, etc.

For most people “fitness” or working out doesn’t satisfy any of those needs.

Let’s face it, you are perfectly fit enough to “live” and/or “survive” in today’s world.

If you get too fat or broken-down, there’s always the Rascal!

If you get diabetes, there’s insulin shots for the rest of your life. And even those have been automated into a monitor/pump that automatically injects you with insulin.

Cardiovascular system burnt out from too little exercise and/or too much smoking? Get an oxygen tank and mask.

 

What I’m saying here is that motivation has nothing at all to do with necessity.

In today’s world, you don’t need the things you’re motivated to do, and you aren’t motivated to do the things you “need” to do.

I know a lot of people who like to read and/or talk about fitness and health stuff, but who never seem to do anything. For them, thinking, talking, and any “mental” activity is used as a replacement for actually doing something.

Another aspect of motivation that makes it really difficult for people to harness is that it’s almost entirely individual. It’s one of those rare places in life where we can’t just go along with the rest of the pack. If you’re motivated to work out (i.e., exert effort, which is not cheap, easy, fast, etc.) – it’s your motivation.

It’s not like buying the new pair of jeans that you saw in your favorite fashion magazine. There’s a reason they’re in the magazine. There’s a reason 100 or 1000 stores across the country are carrying those jeans in every size imaginable.

Because it’s not about you as an individual. That’s about you conforming (i.e., wanting to fit in  – status/safety), and about you caving in to the addictive dopamine rush you get when you buy something new.

So what’s the secret to being motivated to work out?

The secret is this – To find the one reason that turns fitness into a necessity for you.

Whatever the “reason” is doesn’t really matter. Create one.

For instance, some people want a “deeper connection” to their body. Some people want to hang out with friends. Some want to look like a certain celebrity. Others want to be able to move a certain way (dance, sports, martial arts).

It doesn’t matter. That reason is up to you. It’s all yours.

If you can’t find a reason, that’s okay. You don’t have to. Medicine is advancing at a rate that you should be fine in your Rascal with your oxygen tank and mask…as long as the power doesn’t go out.

When you do find that reason, ride it for all its worth.

After that, “hard” doesn’t matter anymore. You want it to be hard, or it isn’t a good workout. The meaning of the word “hard” changes. “Hard” becomes pleasurable, enjoyable. And yes, you can get your dopamine fix from it instead of those $300 jeans.

If someone else’s reason works for you, for now, that’s okay too, but realize that that will wear off soon enough. Recovering addicts of yo-yo diets and DVD fitness workouts pay attention – You need your own reason.

I’ll tell you this – if you have your reason, everything else falls into place and nothing else matters.

If you don’t, nothing falls into place, and everything else matters.

Simple as that.

NOTE – This post is NOT an attack against people who enjoy participating in culture, who have diabetes and are consciously engaged with it, who are incapacitated, or who have to use oxygen masks. It IS a demand for accountability and self-responsibility.

Smolov – Switching Mesocycle

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Today started the 2-week “switching mesocycle” in the Smolov Squat routine. It’s a 3-day-per-week program with a 1-rep squat negative (the eccentric or lowering portion only) on Monday, 8 sets of 3 reps of power-cleans on Wednesday, and a 12 sets of 2 reps in the box squat on Friday.

After last week’s re-test in the squat, I took the rest of the week off, which was a much-needed rest from the volume of the Smolov program prior to that. My knees had become a little sore, which completely disappeared by Friday of last week.

With my “new” 1-rep max in the squat set at 335 I had a 1-rep negative with 345 on the schedule for today’s workout. Again, taking things back a few notches to work on proper form and technique has really helped me a lot, and the 1 rep negative felt really good!

A Stretching Routine that Works

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Stretching is critical to maintaining limber tissues. One of the things that happens “naturally” as we age (especially if we become less active) is that the elasticity of our soft tissues decreases.

A lot of this has to do simply with lack of use. Getting good exercise that involves full ranges of motion in your joints is critical to keeping things lubricated and flowing. Using resistance of some sort helps to increase bone density. Doing ballistic (throwing) or “plyometric” (rebounding) type exercises helps to maintain the ability to produce power (the main strength quality that fades as we grow older). Keeping in good cardiovascular shape can be done by exercising a couple of times a week near or at your VO2-max.

But flexibility drills themselves have a lot to offer, especially if done the way I’ll discuss below.

Here is a video of the lower-body portion of the stretching routine I do every night:

Below I’ll tell you about how I’m doing these stretches and why I’m doing them that way! But first…a word from the BRAIN.

Mindset
As you can see, I’ve developed a good level of flexibility.

If you’ve read my other blog posts, or worked with me personally, you know I stress mindset as one of the key factors to success.

So be careful to catch yourself if your internal voice is saying “Well, I’m just not flexible…” and/or “I’ve never been flexible…and I never will be!”

Such an inflexible mindset leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy! How many years have you told yourself you aren’t and/or can’t be flexible? How many years have you tried to become more flexible? I’ve been working at it for roughly 20 years off and on. So don’t think it happens automatically!

Post-Isometric Relaxation
By pulling with my hamstrings I’m creating an isometric (same-length) contraction in my hamstrings, where the muscle temporarily contracts but cannot shorten (the ground prevents my foot from moving).

When you do an isometric contraction of about 5-10 seconds (or shorter, if you’ve trained this ability for a while), the contracted muscle automatically relaxes more deeply post-contraction. You can contract the muscle anywhere from 20-90% and see this result. Once you’ve relaxed, try to go right up to the end-range of motion and hold for a few (maybe 30) seconds.

I also use the Post-Isometric Relaxation principle when I flex my quads against the ground in that “stripper stretch” position.

Reciprocal Inhibition
The other main principle I’m using is “reciprocal inhibition.” That basically says that for any muscle you are using, the opposite muscle will automatically relax (to allow the working muscle to contract completely and move the bones through the complete range of motion).

When I get into the “relaxed” position in the hamstring stretch (for example) after the isometric contraction, I’ll contract my quads on the front of my leg. This sends a signal to my hamstrings saying “relax.” Normally, I’ll contract the quads for up to 5 seconds, and then see if I’ve gained any further range of motion in the hamstrings.

Moving the Joints
There are a host of joint receptors that tell your body where you are in space, how fast your joints/limbs are moving, and what amount of tension is happening within them.

By moving my legs as if I’m “walking,” I’m feeding these joint receptors information about the position of my body. This helps my body to feel “safe” in a somewhat abnormal position, and tells the body it can relax into the stretch.

Breathing to Relax
There are plenty of ways to breathe to create different physiological effects in the body. During stretching, I’m using breathing to help me. Here’s how:

When I am leaning forward into a stretch, especially one where my abdomen is compressed, I’m exhaling as I lean forward. This allows my abdomen to compress further, increasing my potential range of motion.

When the spine has to bend backward (in the “stripper stretch” for example), it is often helpful to breathe in before/during the stretch, rather than out. Why? The air helps to stiffen the abdomen (when the diaphragm pushes down on the abdominal contents), which again makes the body feel “safe” to bend the upper part of the spine backward.

I also tend to use “sighs” as I stretch. The sigh (“aaaaah”) gives a deep exhale from the mouth. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth lowers blood pressure. The sigh itself is a relaxation-inducing, so try it out.

Meaningful Movement
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, movement is the best medicine for flexibility. There are two “types” of flexibility – static and dynamic. Many people exhibit vastly different levels of dynamic flexibility from what they exhibit in static positions. Most of it has to do with what I described above. Remember – dynamic movement automatically uses the principles of reciprocal inhibition and post-isometric relaxation.

Static stretching (where you get into the stretch and just sit there at the end range of motion) tends to have complications for most people. If you’re using a static-stretching program, rather than something like the more dynamic program shown here, be sure that you’re feeling the stretch in the body of the muscle and not at the ends near the joints. Feeling the stretch near the joints can mean that you’re stretching tendons (and possibly ligaments), which can become dysfunctional if their length changes too much.

Also, I only do any sort of stretching routine right before a weightlifting workout or other exercise when I know I have some sort of length/tension imbalance and I want to help to correct that before I get going. Stretching changes the proprioceptive information coming from your muscles and joints – it changes your body’s idea of where it is in space. It also “turns off” the muscles that you’ve stretched or lengthened (unless you re-activate them). Obviously that will change the way your body functions, which is not good when you want to lift heavy things or function at optimal levels.

Treat your stretching as therapeutic and/or restorative. If you know you have a muscular length/tension imbalance, you can help to fix it right before you train. Otherwise, I’d keep stretching to after a workout session, or to its own completely different session.

I do this sequence every night. Depending on how long I’m devoting to each stretch, it takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes. I always practice at night. It helps me to focus inward and wind down after a busy day.

Want to be flexible? Practice every single day. It’s the only way.

Hope this was helpful in some way! If you have other questions about flexibility, let me know in the comments below!

Smolov Week 3 day 3

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My workout update…the Smolov Squat Program, week 3, day 3.

Today was a nice 7 sets of 5 repetitions with 260 pounds on the bar.

As I mentioned in my last post on this workout, I intentionally put a low number as my starting 1-rep maximum squat. The Smolov program spreadsheet from StrongLifts automatically fills all of the percentages for the program based on your 1-rep max.

Having a new baby boy at home and a few other responsibilities to manage, I figured it would be good to start a little lower than my true 1-rep max.

The boy himself!

Sleep is at a premium in my home these days, so recovery requires a lot of other tricks like eating plenty of protein (two scoops of Muscle Milk Naturals immediately post-workout, or immediately upon waking on off-days), eating plenty of greens (plus a scoop of my favorite greens-drink every day), occasional fish-oil supplementation (I’m not super-consistent with this), Tiger Balm on sensitive spots right before bed, and plenty of STRETCHING!! Yes, STRETCHING! (more on that in another post)

Anyway, today was 7 sets of 5 with 260. Since I underplayed my 1-rep max, I’ve really been focusing on FORM and SPEED with this series. I’ve also kept my rest-periods low (below two-minutes per set) on all workouts.

As Erik Blekeberg says – Mastery is practicing the basics.

The Smolov program is nothing if it is not that – constant repetitive practice of the basics. I’ve felt my form improve SIGNIFICANTLY since starting the program, which has also improved my speed and endurance.

Tomorrow is 10 sets of 3 with 270. In tomorrow’s post, I’ll share some “secrets” I’ve been using in addition to those recovery practices listed above.

Mixed-methods resistance training increases power and strength of young and older men.

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Here’s an old article for you – “Mixed-methods resistance training increases power and strength of young and older men” by Robert Newton and a bunch of other folks.

The ability to generate power is the main muscular capacity that adults lose as they age (I would argue that all “strength” is actually different expressions of “power,” but that’s another issue).

These researchers built a very simple and effective power-building program, and I want to share it with you:

“Each training session included the squat, knee extension, and knee flexion exercises on machines; trunk extension and trunk flexion exercises using free weights; and/or bench press or calf raise exercises on machines. During each week, the day’s training protocols…were broken down into a ‘hypertrophy day,’ a ‘strength day,’ and a ‘power day.’ For the hypertrophy session of the week, the subjects performed sets of 8-10 RM [repetition-maximum] with 1-min rest periods. This format of resistance training has been demonstrated to elicit a large response by the endocrine system and is hypothesized to provide a greater stimulus to increasing muscle size. The strength session concentrated on high-intensity resistance training using sets of 3-5 RM. Performing sets of low numbers of repetitions and using a resistance close to the subject’s 1 RM has been shown to produce gains in maximal strength. The third training session of the week was designed to specifically increase maximal power output. For this session, the subjects performed the squat and the knee extension exercises with lower loads, but for these exercises the subjects were instructed to complete the concentric phase of the movement ‘as fast and powerful as possible’ for 6-8 reps per set. All the exercises were performed using concentric muscle actions [shortening the muscle] followed by eccentric [lengthening] actions performed in a controlled manner during the ‘lowering’ phase of the movement. Each session the subjects performed 3-6 sets of each exercise. The volume of training [sets x reps] progressively increased throughout the 10-wk of training…During the 10-wk training period, the subjects continued taking part in physical activities, such as waling, jogging, or biking, one to two per week in a similar manner to what they were accustomed to before this experiment” (pg. 1369).

For those familiar with a “Westside-style” Powerlifting program, this is roughly similar to that.

If you were going to do this sort of program, here are the exercises I’d recommend:

Hypertrophy Day and Strength Day (increasing the resistance)
Squats (weighted or bodyweight)
Pullups (assisted or not)
Pushups or Bench Press
Glute-ham raises (assisted)
Hanging knee raises

Power Day
Medicine Ball Squat-Throws
Medicine Ball Chest-Passes
Band Snapdowns
Kettlebell Swings
Medicine Ball Side-Throws

ENJOY!!

A Relatively Simple Workout Paradigm

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I want to give a brief explanation of the reasoning behind the workout paradigm I did a video of yesterday. Here’s the vid:

Now here’s the rationale.

There’s something called Henneman’s Size Principle (I know, right?). It says that motor units are recruited by the nervous system from smallest (slowest) to largest (fastest).

The small/slow muscles, because they are used all the time, are more fatigue-resistant. The bigger/faster units aren’t able to sustain contractions for very long, but when they do contract, it is very powerful.

The only way to recruit those large/fast/powerful motor units is through very intense (high-tension) work. Things like jumps, explosive/ballistic movements, and very heavy lifting will recruit more of these fibers.

Typically, those types of movements require greater stabilization assistance.

So, if you do endurance stuff before heavy lifting, 1., you won’t have any energy for it, and 2., you may be injured because your synergists (assistance-muscles) are too fatigued to help you maintain form/posture.

Therein lies the rationale for the sequence. Warmup (get things loose/fluid, neurologically prepared), Explosive or Ballistic movements (get those fast/large fibers, and the nervous system amped up) without weight, Max Effort (work up to a 3RM maybe), then Endurance or Hypertrophy work. If you want to do Isometrics, do them at the very beginning, in the warmup, at the very end, or at a different time.

That said, I only briefly mentioned the importance of good skeletal structure/alignment, and good movement patterns in the video. I’ll do another session about this topic later this week, but for now – make sure your posture is good, and you have good range of motion and control in your joints before doing any of this stuff!!!

Pay particular attention to the pelvic girdle, shoulder girdle, and neck…and then the peripheral joints (elbows/knees, wrists/ankles)…

more soon!