Archive for the 'strength training' Category
A Low-Carb Primer
My friend and LA-based nutrition expert & trainer, Joey Emont, recently posted on his facebook page something he titled, “A Low Carb Primer”. My clients hear me talk about eating low carb all the time but why exactly does it work? Mark Mcdonald, who founded Venice Nutrition, and Gary Taubes, author of “Why We Get Fat” both have helped thousands of people see the light by stating that regulating insulin – stabilizing your blood sugar – is the best and quickest way to lower body fat.
Joey’s short but concise reasoning is a great addition to anyone wanting to know exactly how to start eating low-carb and doing it correctly. With his permission, here is Joey’s “Low Carb Primer” in it’s entirety. Be sure to check out Joey’s Facebook page and let him know what you think!
A Low Carb Primer:
Seems like everyone these days are running to jump on the low carb bandwagon. You must know that for most individuals this WILL be the fastest and easiest way for people to lose body fat. In fact this approach works longterm for about 75% of the general population just based upon genetics, and food commonly available to the masses. Our “crap food” nation has really done a number on our ability to be sensitive to insulin, a hormone that gets elevated by carbohydrates. A travesty that unfortunately forces most of us to swing the pendulum back the other direction in order for there to be balance.
Granted your metabolism is relatively healthy (and I use relatively extremely loosely) ,you are not too toxic, and you have adequate digestive capacity;
Low carb works.
First off there is a 300-500 calorie metabolic (as yet unexplained) advantage in the literature that shows when individuals eat an excess of 300-500 cals over RMR, they still manage to loose bodyfat.
It also trains and forces your body to utilize the fats stored on your body for fuel.
That being said, these nutrition plans still have to be approached in the right way.
1. A low carb diet CANNOT be low fat as well if you want it to be sustainable moderate fat is fine but make sure not to eliminate all of it. Choose healthy fats from this family
2. Carbohydrates in the form of fibrous vegetables dont really count as calories and should be consumed in unlimited amounts.
3. Depending on how low carbohydrate you choose to go will determine how high or low your protein is. the lower the carbohydrate the higher the protein should be set at since carbs are protein sparing, you need the extra protein during this time. Set protein around 1-2g protein per lbs Lean body mass
One thing that will tend to happen on a low carb diet is you will have down regulation of many of the hormones that kept your metabolism humming along quite nicely all along.
For instance, after a while active form thyroid hormone T3 goes down lowering metabolic rate (some argue this isnt a problem because it’s just a sign your body is becoming more efficient). IGF-1 can also down regulate as well as Leptin (the mother hormone) which is the master governor of your metabolism.
This is why high carb “refeeds” must be included every so often. this “every so often” will be very different based upon your genetics, enzyme function, hormonal status, current bodyfat percentage, muscle mass etc… but a good general rule of thumb is this: if you are very lean you could have a refeed day every 5 days but for someone who is very obese a refeed day may not be necessary for a month or 6 weeks. everyone else will be somewhere in the middle (every 2 weeks etc…)
On your carb refeed day: choose to lower fats as much as possible, lower protein by 25% of normal and use starchy carbohydrates in the form of “gluten free” oats or sweet potato (other sources can be chosen as well but for the sake of simplicity…) at the level of 1.5-2g/lbs of bodyweight for the day. so for a 200 lbs male this number would be around 300-400 grams of carbohydrates for the day. for extremely active individuals this number could be even higher, or for heavier individuals this number may have to be a bit lower, experimentation is key.
This will restore metabolic balance and make the rest of your low carb days (which continue immediately the day after) work that much better, and keep your metabolism humming along.
this much controversial way of eating must be done right. but I guarantee you if you put some of these practices into play and really stick to it, you will find that fat loss comes quite easily.
Lithuania Blog Post #3
We have 3 days left of camp. The guys have been so open to this new style of training and have worked so hard they are already seeing results. They all walked to lunch yesterday with their shirts off. Yes, it’s warmer this week but I took that as a sign of confidence that they are feeling bigger & stronger. Klemensas made the comment as well that they all look bigger to him. The coach who was here had to leave yesterday as well and since Klemensas went with our one guy to the tryout it’s just me for these final three days. So I’ll be doing the weight room and basketball workouts. I did the basketball workout last night and it was fun to do that again. As much as I love my job I also miss coaching basketball. And since we lost some players as well (we are down to 9 players from 20 at the highest point) it will be a bit easier to manage by myself.
I just finished my breakfast. I had an omelette with ham, fresh veggies on the side and a (European) latte. It cost me about $4. Ya’ gotta love exchange rates.
I spent last weekend in Klaipeda with my friends Laimas, Mantas & Valdas. Moose (Mustafah), the pro player from France came with me and Bonnie arrived in town on Saturday. Some other of Laimas’ friends joined us and we picked some other friends up over the weekend. All in all it was a great time. We went out each night and both mornings I taught them what a mimosa was. Yes, I am responsible for brining the mimosa to Lithuania. We didn’t take many pictures but here’s one:
You can check out my facebook page for more pictures from the weekend….including Mantas with his shirt off and Lenus in his boxers!
Weekend In Klaipeda Pics
We will be 1RM strength testing the players today and tomorrow to see the results of our training program. Saturday morning will be our last practice and we will be heading to Vilnius that afternoon. I will train the 3 French players there as well as maybe 1 or 2 more players next week. Me & Bonnie will also be able to do some sightseeing.
It’s totally different here than coaching my clients in Orange County for general fitness. I will be with them very soon and will be excited to train with them again. But I will miss these guys. They have all been special to work with and have seen such tremendous gains. I have also had the chance to share my personal story with them which has been a great opportunity as well.
Thanks for reading. I’ll check back in in a few days.
Lithuania Trip Day 1
My first weekend in Lithuania is almost complete. It’s already been a fantastic trip. I stayed with Klemensas in his apartment in Vilnius the first night here. My flight was delayed from Frankfurt which made the total time of my trip here over 29 hours! Here is a picture out front of his apartment in old town Vilinius:
“I love this town!”
I was surprised with the fact that the U17 Boys Basketball World Championships is going on right now in Kaunas, Lithuania. This is where we spent the night last night. I had the opportunity (and took it!) to watch Argentina play the Czech Republic then the two semi-final games: USA vs Spain & Croatia vs. Australia.
It was great to see how athletic our players are.
Spain held close till midway through the 3rd quarter and we ended up winning by 30. We play Australia in the final today.
It has been years since I’ve been able to watch 3 basketball games in one day – even on TV! It was a great experience. I will miss the title game today as we are leaving for Klaipeda soon. I also made connections with another Lithuanian agent, a sports psychologist from Ireland and a basketball coach from Romania.
My jet lag is in full effect. It’s now 9:35a and I’ve been up for 4 hours already. It’s been great though because I had a great breakfast, had my devotion/meditation time, read the news online and am now blogging! I need to do more research into the food as my stomach does not mind the food or coffee here as it does in the states. I already knew there was differences from traveling in the past but now being PICP, CHEK and BioSig trained my level of curiosity is heightened.
I will find out later today what type of equipment I will be dealing with while working with the players. I asked several times but my connection here was unable to get confirmation of gym equipment before I came. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. This day is off to a great start and I can’t wait to see what else it will bring!
Get Enough Sleep To Get LEAN!
Summer is here and many of you want to get lean bodies that look amazing in your swimsuit. Here is a tip I learned from a Charles Poliquin blog post: Get eight hours of sleep and try to go to bed at the same time every night.
This will regulate your hormones and neurotransmitters influencing fat storage and energy usage in your body! Oh and of course, everyone loves getting more sleep. So get to bed early people!!!
Here is the first paragraph:
Get enough sleep to lose weight for summer—you’ll improve cardiovascular health too! Getting adequate rest every night is one of the simplest and most dramatic ways to improve body composition quickly. If you make one change to get lean for summer, make it a habit to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night by establishing a consistent sleep schedule. I guarantee that with adequate rest you will improve body composition and just feel all around better.
To check out the full article click here…
Until next time, it’s more than personal training, it’s NewportFit4Life.com
Detox Done Right!
I’ve talked to my clients many times about detoxification. (I was just talking to some of them about that today actually!) If you want to lose fat you will have to detoxify and if you are detoxifying you are probably losing fat as that is where toxins are readily stored. My one client Dave, the class clown, says, “sweat is fat crying”. Well, I can’t really back that with science. But sweating is a good way to detox because of the toxins released. On a side note, shower – or at least rinse off – after, as your skin can re-absorb some of these toxins.
Ironically, yesterday’s blog post from Charles Poliquin was about sweating and detox so I thought I would share it.
Here is the first paragraph:
Train hard and make sure you do some serious sweating to detoxify the body and prevent disease. Research shows that people who perform regular intense exercise detoxify more heavy metals through a variety of mechanisms than the less active population, and sweating is one of the best ways to regularly remove toxins.
Recent media reports have incorrectly suggested that helping the body to detoxify is not necessary, and that sweating won’t remove toxins. They’re wrong. The bad news is that everyone must support the body’s natural detoxification by any reasonable means because we are constantly and overwhelmingly exposed to heavy metals, petrochemical toxins, and pollutants that mimic hormones. The good news is that if you eat right, train hard, and make sure you sweat regularly, you can significantly improve the detox process.
To check out the full article click here…
Until next time, it’s more than personal training, it’s NewportFit4Life.com
The Challenge For A Healthy 2012…And Beyond!
The Challenge For A Healthy 2012…
To kick off the New Year I thought about what better way to start than to start the year off right with the proper nutrition. Being a personal trainer here in Orange County I am always asked about what to eat. Fitness is not just about working out. So many factors come into play regarding proper health. Nutrition & diet is a HUGE part of it.
So many of my clients here in Orange County have struggled with what to eat over the years that I’m going to make it REALLY simple. I’m reducing all of our diets…yes, I am doing this as well…to the bare minimum – To the macro and micronutrients that we need to survive and operate at our peak level, and nothing else.
Paul Chek talks about the 3 choices we always make: the optimal, the suboptimal, and the indifferent.
-The optimal always produces the best outcome for everyone involved.
-Suboptimal often produce what we want, but create friction in relationships with others. They cause pain, but they are still useful choices because they produce life experience, which is necessary if we are to evolve.
-The indifferent choice is choosing to do nothing. It is almost always the worst decision we can make because it halts our own self-evolution.
So for the month of January I am choosing to only eat meats, eggs, above ground vegetables, olive oil, coconut oil & avocado. Organic is preferred and HIGHLY recommended. Veggies served raw are also HIGHLY recommended (although I’m sure I’ll cook some as well).
Many people call this the “Paleolithic diet” as it is the way our prehistoric ancestors ate. It basically is the scientific way we are supposed to eat for the peak performance of our bodies. We weren’t meant to eat sugar, gluten, alcohol and the like.
The results you will experience will be greater than you expected. How you will feel and the energy you will have will be off the charts. What we are doing is eliminating all of the common food allergies and detoxifying our bodies by focusing on what it REALLY needs and not filling our bodies with things that harm it. No gluten. No grain. No soy. No dairy. No caffeine. No alcohol. No corn.
Science has taught us that it is not fat that causes us to get fatter. It is carbohydrates. Insulin is the hormone that causes fat to stay on our body. I wish all personal trainers taught this belief. They do not. Many health professionals (personal trainers, strength coaches, nutritionists, dieticians, weight loss experts, etc) teach the “calories in vs. calories out” mantra. That if you burn more calories than you consume you will lose weight. Science tells us that this is simply not true.
***Do NOT count calories.
This month long diet will eliminate carbohydrates (except for the fibrous type found in some above ground veggies). Some people may feel a loss of energy for a week or so. Fear not. This will go away and your energy levels will rebound even higher than before you started this diet challenge.
***I have done this challenge in the past and people have had some questions. So to clear up some things that ARE acceptable:
Butter-I recommend and use KerryGold. They use
dairy from grass fed cows. Do NOT use margarine.
Raw nuts- these are encouraged as a snack.
Salt/Pepper-used in moderation are ok. I only recommend Himalayan or celtic sea salt, NO table salt should be used.
Just try it…
If you’ve been struggling with getting rid of fat what is it that is keeping the fat on? Whatever you are doing it isn’t working. It’s time to try an alternative method to fat loss. What’s the worst that could happen? The science has shown that eating a paleo style diet will cause the fat to melt off. It is simply the right way to eat.
I challenge everyone reading this blog post to participate with me and see how great your body can look AND feel in just 30 days. But I’m guessing that after the 30 days are up you will want to continue to eat this way because of what great strides you have made in your health. If you want to eat any of the “banned substances” after 30 (or more) days then we’ll reintroduce ONE AT A TIME to see if you are intolerant to it AS WELL AS show you how your body reacts to it. Right now you can’t tell how it reacts because it’s been desensitized over the years.
Your gut wall will be in better shape making food more digestible by the body. You won’t experience dips in your energy (like after lunch) as often.
Your sense of smell and taste could even improve!
The two other things that are necessary that I’ve preached since day one are:
1. Drink 1/2 your bodyweight in ounces of water per day! (So if you’re 150lbs you drink 75oz/day) Drink more on days you work out.
2. Be in bed AND ASLEEP by 10:30pm. NO EXCEPTIONS. This will allow proper rest for the muscles (the most metabolically active organ in the body) and reduce stress-inducing hormones like cortisol (promotes belly fat) and raise stress relieving hormones like melatonin.
Please pass this blog along to anyone who you think would want to join us…
Let’s all get lean, healthy and strong in 2012 and let’s do it together!!
Healthy Fat loss – The Scientific Way
The Challenge…
A Really Cool (and difficult) Turkish Get-Up
I thought it would be fun to show all of you a “show-off” move I did a few months back while training with some other personal trainer friends from my old gym. Showing off happens sometimes when we get together and lift weights…and since I LOVE turkish get-ups I figured I’d show them a really cool version I can do.
You exercise or kettlebell fanatics may enjoy it…
Kettlebells, Anyone?!?!
http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/kettlebells012010.pdf
Golf, anyone???
Hi everyone! I hope February has been a great month for you so far. Dr. John DeWitt has graciously offered up another great post for this blog. Since he works with a lot of golfers he thought golf correction would be a great topic for this post.
If you are a golfer or know a golfer, read on, pass it along and enjoy!!!
Improving your golf game by addressing 4 common problems
By Dr. John DeWitt DC
Golf Injury Certified, Advanced Sports Nutrition Specialist
“Coming over the Top”
How many golfers do you know that top the ball? This problem is often believed to be caused by not keeping the head down during the swing. What causes the head to lift prematurely? It may be an anxious golfer eager to see his shot or it may be something else. Adductors muscles in the legs are activated during the transition of weight transfer from the top of the backswing to the start of the downswing. These help pull the hips through while the upper body follows behind. Tight adductors will cause the golfer to be unable to pull his hips through and force the swing around prematurely which results in “topping the ball”.
“The Slice”
One of the most common problems in golf is the slice. Golf Pros often point out that the back foot should be perpendicular to the plane line of the ball. An “open stance” causes the club head to stay open on contact leading to the shot going right of target. Sometimes golfers aren’t able to comfortably keep their foot in the correct orientation due to tight external hip rotators.
“Narrow Swing Arc”
Almost all golfers want more power and distance in their drives. They mistakenly believe that swinging harder at the ball will achieve this. The actual power of a golf swing comes from the physics of it. This involves lever arms and swing arcs. A golfer with a wide swing arc doesn’t have to swing hard because of the longer lever involved. A nice smooth stroke with the proper arc width will actually cause the club head to move at a higher velocity than a “muscled” swing with less accuracy. Narrow swing arcs are most commonly caused by shoulder tightness leading to the forward elbow bending which narrows the swing arc. The four muscles of the rotator cuff (Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Minor and Subscapularis) must all be working in conjunction with each other for a wide swing arc to be possible.
“Inconsistent Spine Angle”
The angle of the spine at address should remain constant throughout the stroke. Lack of flexibility will cause this to be impossible. The spine itself must be flexible to allow the rotation, extension and flexion necessary to maintain the spine angle. Even the muscles of the lower leg (calves and soleus) must be flexible in order to allow the spine angle to remain constant.
