You're last work out. And your last work out is only as good as your last repetition. This means you carry along the residue of your last work out. If all your work outs are good, you will get into phenomenal shape. If you exerted everything in your last repetition then you know you deserve a good rest. A lot of people have mindless, long, and low impact workouts. It's better to have quality work outs infrequently than to have low quality work outs frequently.
If you had a great work out, then rest and food is not your enemy, it is your friend.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Nature of Fat
People think fat is just whats subcutaneous. Meaning right below the skin. It is not. The hidden fat, the dangerous fat is the visceral fat that is in around your organs and in your arteries. Just because someone may look lean, is not the total picture. I too at one point was very skinny, but had very high cholesterol and fat around my organs. I was skinny but ate very poorly. The term used now is called skinny fat. Even more reason not to base health just on appearance.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
New Years Tip
Because it is officially 2011 I wanted to start updating my blogs more often and give some tips for the coming year. Here is another food for thought. People become vegetarians for moral reasons but a lot of times its for health reasons. In general vegetarians live longer than non-vegetarians.
But it's not because they do not eat meat. I know a lot of unhealthy, obese, sickly vegetarians. Vegetarians do better not because they don't eat meat, but because they eat more vegetables in general. It's not the absence of one thing, it's the abundance of another. Because typically people who eat meat do not eat enough healthy vegetables.
Balance is always the key. In health, diet, exercise, philosophy, logic, science, and zen.
But it's not because they do not eat meat. I know a lot of unhealthy, obese, sickly vegetarians. Vegetarians do better not because they don't eat meat, but because they eat more vegetables in general. It's not the absence of one thing, it's the abundance of another. Because typically people who eat meat do not eat enough healthy vegetables.
Balance is always the key. In health, diet, exercise, philosophy, logic, science, and zen.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Can We Blame Genes For Everything?
In a previous post I stated that sometimes it's just genetics. But that is just also part of the equation and meant we all have a designed body and frame. This does not mean we can't lose weight, get lean, or reach our goals. The thing people too often say is, that their parents are fat so they are predestined from birth to also be fat because they have "fat genes."
Let me give you some examples to think about. People who have lung cancer also have parents who have lung cancer. Parents who smoke also have kids who smoke. Is this genetics or passing down of habits? Fat parents most often have fat kids. But fat parents also have fat pets. Does this mean they gave their dogs their "fat genes?" Or is it most likely they overfed their kids and their pets. Most likely they passed down their poor eating habits to their children.
Even if genetics is a factor, there are so many other variables involved that it is nowhere near the explanation of the total picture. You may not have the genes to be a body builder but you still have the genes to be fit. Your lineage survived this long for a reason.
Let me give you some examples to think about. People who have lung cancer also have parents who have lung cancer. Parents who smoke also have kids who smoke. Is this genetics or passing down of habits? Fat parents most often have fat kids. But fat parents also have fat pets. Does this mean they gave their dogs their "fat genes?" Or is it most likely they overfed their kids and their pets. Most likely they passed down their poor eating habits to their children.
Even if genetics is a factor, there are so many other variables involved that it is nowhere near the explanation of the total picture. You may not have the genes to be a body builder but you still have the genes to be fit. Your lineage survived this long for a reason.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tips On Running
When you walk, you step on your heel. When you jog, you step on your midfoot. When you sprint, you step on the balls of your feet. Stay upright, chest proud, arms loose, lift your knees and kick back.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Fueling Our Bodies
A popular trend in a lot of diets athletes are using lately is eating one big mega meal a day. There are several different diets that do this with several different hokey names. The idea is that our ancestors, from cavemen to warriors. They typically just ate one large meal a day. Sure the meal was by design was all organic, raw, and sometimes cooked foods.
So a lot of athletes are doing this now. Why? Because they are working out so much and burning so many calories they want to eat in a way to either maintain their weights, or even gain weight.
So eating one mega meal a day will not only load up their body with calories, but they can't absorb all of it at once forcing their bodies to store all the excess carbs. Not only that because you are only feeding it once a day, the body learns not to burn and to slow down it's own metabolism. This gives the athlete energy stores for their 2nd or third work outs for the day.
I do not recommend or condone this diet but I use it to make the opposite point. The enemy of them maintaining or gaining weight is doing the opposite. Which is to basically graze and eat small meals a day. For them they would emaciate themselves because that would supercharge their metabolisms and their bodies would keep burning up fuel.
I am pretty lean. For me it makes more sense to eat a few large (really large) meals a day. Days when I eat small amounts throughout the day is when I notice on the scale I lost a few pounds. Someone who wants to lose weight needs to do the opposite and constantly eat a little throughout the day.
Eating once and starving yourself is counter-intuitive. Whatever you thought was right about weight loss and exercise may be wrong. Be open to that idea, and the idea that anything that makes your body suffer is good for you.
So a lot of athletes are doing this now. Why? Because they are working out so much and burning so many calories they want to eat in a way to either maintain their weights, or even gain weight.
So eating one mega meal a day will not only load up their body with calories, but they can't absorb all of it at once forcing their bodies to store all the excess carbs. Not only that because you are only feeding it once a day, the body learns not to burn and to slow down it's own metabolism. This gives the athlete energy stores for their 2nd or third work outs for the day.
I do not recommend or condone this diet but I use it to make the opposite point. The enemy of them maintaining or gaining weight is doing the opposite. Which is to basically graze and eat small meals a day. For them they would emaciate themselves because that would supercharge their metabolisms and their bodies would keep burning up fuel.
I am pretty lean. For me it makes more sense to eat a few large (really large) meals a day. Days when I eat small amounts throughout the day is when I notice on the scale I lost a few pounds. Someone who wants to lose weight needs to do the opposite and constantly eat a little throughout the day.
Eating once and starving yourself is counter-intuitive. Whatever you thought was right about weight loss and exercise may be wrong. Be open to that idea, and the idea that anything that makes your body suffer is good for you.
The Hype About The Bench Press
Anyone who's ever been to the gym has heard this question: "How much can you bench bro?"
People have the idea that going to the gym is all about bench pressing. They even design their work outs around the bench and the ab crunch. A lot of women don't want to lift weights because they think weight lifting just means bench pressing and they don't want to make their chest muscular. A lot of people think strength is all in the chest. I can go on and on about the hype and misunderstandings of this exercise. Let me do some corrections here.
The bench press is not that important! I rarely have my clients do it and I almost never do it myself. WHAT???
First of all training, weight lifting, is not about the bench press. Well it shouldn't be. True power and athleticism comes mostly from the hips, the core, and the legs. You look at any sport and where is the drive coming from? Their legs. When a football player tackles all his power comes from the legs, the arms more direct the force. Same with basketball, the jump comes from the legs. Anyone who throws anything, the power comes from the hips and core to generate that torque. The arms just directs that force and most of that is done by the shoulders not the chest. Why do you think people blow out their shoulders or legs in sports? When do you ever hear someone blow out their pectoral muscle? Rare. Because it's almost non-consequential in most athletic endeavors. The back and shoulders are more important most of the time.
You ever see any strong animals in the wild with a big chest like humans like to create? If anyone thinks true strength is measured in how much they can bench is sadly mistaken. The squat and dead lift are much more accurate measures because those are exercises where you lift something straight up with the weight loaded onto your whole body. Look at football players, they have tree trunk legs. Now bench press isn't totally useless. We need to be able to push, pull, squat, lunge. But a lot of out ability to push something comes from our roots. What do we plant on the ground to push? Our legs right? We want to be multifunctional and we want the movements to be dynamic and realistic. Do we want to look like a meathead or do we want to look athletic? Do we want to just be big or do we want to be as lean and as strong as possible?
Why do a lot of so called gym experts, gym rats and guys who think they know a thing or two about lifting, and a lot of personal trainers have it all wrong? Because they are not scientific. Their ideas are not based in any science and not at all based on physics which is the key to any lift and the most important part of sports science or anything that evens movement, moving parts, and kinetic energy. To state simply, if I was an architect and was designing a building that was supposed to carry heavy load, would I want to focus on the foundation of the building or would I want to focus near the top of the building and make that as big and as wide as possible? I would know nothing about structure, design, and physics if I chose the latter. A lot of times guys get in good shape on accident. And a lot of times experts are gain their clout from personality and charisma more than science. When was charisma ever a big part of real science? You expect them to be stuffy and know what they are talking about.
So guys if all you do is bench press, it's time to modify your work outs and focus on the key strength areas. And ladies weight training is not all about the bench press and getting a muscular chest.
Now don't get me ever started on how often I see people do bicep curls... I see trainers all the time. A girl walks in and wants to lose weight and tone up and the trainer has her doing a million bicep curls...geez. Will she be happy that months of training and not only is she the same size as before but her arm measurements are now bigger?
Most overused exercises are the bench press, the crunch, and the bicep curl. Do not do this typical work out: treadmill, crunches, bench, and bicep curls.
About the Author:
Sam Y. is a Personal Trainer, Coach, Performane Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook at his personal fitness page.
People have the idea that going to the gym is all about bench pressing. They even design their work outs around the bench and the ab crunch. A lot of women don't want to lift weights because they think weight lifting just means bench pressing and they don't want to make their chest muscular. A lot of people think strength is all in the chest. I can go on and on about the hype and misunderstandings of this exercise. Let me do some corrections here.
The bench press is not that important! I rarely have my clients do it and I almost never do it myself. WHAT???
First of all training, weight lifting, is not about the bench press. Well it shouldn't be. True power and athleticism comes mostly from the hips, the core, and the legs. You look at any sport and where is the drive coming from? Their legs. When a football player tackles all his power comes from the legs, the arms more direct the force. Same with basketball, the jump comes from the legs. Anyone who throws anything, the power comes from the hips and core to generate that torque. The arms just directs that force and most of that is done by the shoulders not the chest. Why do you think people blow out their shoulders or legs in sports? When do you ever hear someone blow out their pectoral muscle? Rare. Because it's almost non-consequential in most athletic endeavors. The back and shoulders are more important most of the time.
You ever see any strong animals in the wild with a big chest like humans like to create? If anyone thinks true strength is measured in how much they can bench is sadly mistaken. The squat and dead lift are much more accurate measures because those are exercises where you lift something straight up with the weight loaded onto your whole body. Look at football players, they have tree trunk legs. Now bench press isn't totally useless. We need to be able to push, pull, squat, lunge. But a lot of out ability to push something comes from our roots. What do we plant on the ground to push? Our legs right? We want to be multifunctional and we want the movements to be dynamic and realistic. Do we want to look like a meathead or do we want to look athletic? Do we want to just be big or do we want to be as lean and as strong as possible?
Why do a lot of so called gym experts, gym rats and guys who think they know a thing or two about lifting, and a lot of personal trainers have it all wrong? Because they are not scientific. Their ideas are not based in any science and not at all based on physics which is the key to any lift and the most important part of sports science or anything that evens movement, moving parts, and kinetic energy. To state simply, if I was an architect and was designing a building that was supposed to carry heavy load, would I want to focus on the foundation of the building or would I want to focus near the top of the building and make that as big and as wide as possible? I would know nothing about structure, design, and physics if I chose the latter. A lot of times guys get in good shape on accident. And a lot of times experts are gain their clout from personality and charisma more than science. When was charisma ever a big part of real science? You expect them to be stuffy and know what they are talking about.
So guys if all you do is bench press, it's time to modify your work outs and focus on the key strength areas. And ladies weight training is not all about the bench press and getting a muscular chest.
Now don't get me ever started on how often I see people do bicep curls... I see trainers all the time. A girl walks in and wants to lose weight and tone up and the trainer has her doing a million bicep curls...geez. Will she be happy that months of training and not only is she the same size as before but her arm measurements are now bigger?
Most overused exercises are the bench press, the crunch, and the bicep curl. Do not do this typical work out: treadmill, crunches, bench, and bicep curls.
About the Author:
Sam Y. is a Personal Trainer, Coach, Performane Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Enhancement Specialist, and holds multiple certifications. He is also an avid Martial Artist, training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA. He is also the author of the popular fitness blog All Out Effort as well as the popular martial arts blog Inner BJJ. You can find him in the Los Angeles area personal training his clients, or at home annoying his wife, or on Facebook at his personal fitness page.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Genetics Has A Lot To Do With It
I used to go to this big commercial gym. I would see the same guys there every day lifting, drinking shakes, drinking gallons of water. They are there religiously, I'm sure you all have seen them too. Every gym has them. Some look in great shape, but most look just...okay.
At this commercial gym, this homeless guy used to come in. He had a cheap plan and it allowed him to come in and clean up. He lifted weights sometimes but mostly he just slept. Why I bring this up is; though he didn't eat or sleep well or work out often he had the body of an Adonis. He looked like a body builder, without doing anything. Actually he was hurting his body with his lifestyle, imagine what he would look like with the right nutrition and training? And yet those guys who were there every day drinking their shakes and lifting mass amounts of weights will never look like him.
You can train strength, skills, even talent can be cultivated. But for the most part how you look, you exterior is determined by genetics. It can surely be optimized but after a certain point it just is what it is. If this were not the case, there would be no use of steroids or surgery to get the right look. Some guys no matter what they do can never be as big or as cut as the next guy so they use a drug or get surgery. Same with the ladies who want the perfect abs, buns, chest, etc. It's just the truth, I don't care what any trainer, dietician, celebrity, DVD, or ab commercial tells you.
We can push the limits of our performance and our athleticism but we can't push the limits of our looks. And ultimately why should we? It only makes us mentally weaker. Just get lean and strong and be happy with that.
At this commercial gym, this homeless guy used to come in. He had a cheap plan and it allowed him to come in and clean up. He lifted weights sometimes but mostly he just slept. Why I bring this up is; though he didn't eat or sleep well or work out often he had the body of an Adonis. He looked like a body builder, without doing anything. Actually he was hurting his body with his lifestyle, imagine what he would look like with the right nutrition and training? And yet those guys who were there every day drinking their shakes and lifting mass amounts of weights will never look like him.
You can train strength, skills, even talent can be cultivated. But for the most part how you look, you exterior is determined by genetics. It can surely be optimized but after a certain point it just is what it is. If this were not the case, there would be no use of steroids or surgery to get the right look. Some guys no matter what they do can never be as big or as cut as the next guy so they use a drug or get surgery. Same with the ladies who want the perfect abs, buns, chest, etc. It's just the truth, I don't care what any trainer, dietician, celebrity, DVD, or ab commercial tells you.
We can push the limits of our performance and our athleticism but we can't push the limits of our looks. And ultimately why should we? It only makes us mentally weaker. Just get lean and strong and be happy with that.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Goal is Always Simple
Be as lean and as strong as possible. Never try to get so lean or skinny where you undermine your strength or you are weaker than before.
The Inner Game
"In every human endeavor there are two arenas of engagement: the outer and the inner. The outer game is played on an external arena to overcome external obstacles to reach an external goal. The inner game takes place within the mind of the player and is played against such obstacles as fear, self-doubt, lapses in focus, and limiting concepts or assumptions. The inner game is played to overcome the self-imposed obstacles that prevent an individual or team from accessing their full potential."
- From The Inner Game of Tennis
- From The Inner Game of Tennis
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
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