An excerpt from Alwyn Cosgroves article: Releasing the Brakes

Imagine that a guy walks into my gym, and he’s looking to add 10 pounds of muscle — a simple and straightforward request. The first thing we do is go through a short checklist:

1. Is he lifting?

2. Is he eating enough, and eating enough protein?

3. Is he lifting often enough, heavy enough, and with good technique?

Obviously, if someone wants to gain size and he isn’t lifting weights, there’s no mystery about the first step. We get him on a training program, introduce him to the magic of progressive resistance, and watch him grow.Since nobody is confused about the need to lift in order to gain muscle, let’s move on to the next two points.  You’d be surprised how many people lift weights but don’t eat enough total calories to reach their goals. Same with protein intake: It seems obvious, but some people do need to be told to eat more. So once we figure out what he’s eating and when, fixing the problem is relatively straightforward.

“Heavy enough” and “often enough” are subjective, of course, but once we understand what he’s been doing, these are easy variables to manipulate. Technique? Well if you’ve been to any commercial gyms recently, you’ll see a lot of underdeveloped guys lifting with really bad form. If our guy’s form on the squat and deadlift leaves a lot to be desired, we might be able to add size just by teaching him to use the right muscles on basic lifts.  But what if the problem isn’t so easy to detect and fix? What if he’s doing everything we expect him to do with his training and nutrition, but he’s still not making the gains he wants to make, and that we’d expect him to make, given the effort he’s putting in?

Our next step is to release the brakes.  When Pushing Harder Doesn’t Help.  I got the “release the brakes” idea during a conversation with Dax Moy, a British trainer and gym owner. We were talking about “accelerating” client progress, and came to an interesting conclusion:  All of us in the fitness industry, trainers and trainees alike, have been brainwashed into thinking that the only way to improve results is to push harder. If you aren’t making gains, it’s because you aren’t training hard enough or often enough. Doesn’t matter if we’re talking about systemic gains in muscle size or body composition, or strength in particular lifts, or the size of individual muscles or muscle groups. The answer to every problem is to punch down harder on the accelerator.  But think of a car with the parking brake on. If you push harder on the gas pedal, you’ll only run out of fuel quicker, right? But if you take off the brake, the car will go farther and faster, and probably use less fuel in the process.

This leads to two important conclusions: First, removing the impediments to your progress will probably help more than adding another set of squats, bench presses, or sprints. Second, it’s pointless to increase load and volume while those impediments are in place.  So What’s Holding You Back?

A friend of mine went to see a chiropractor for a back problem. The problem: misaligned vertebrae in his lumbar spine. The culprit: heavy Romanian deadlifts.  My friend is strong as hell — he was using close to double his body weight in the lift. His glutes and hams could handle the load, but his lower back couldn’t. Since my friend’s goal is to get even stronger than he was before the injury, what’s his best strategy? Keep pushing, despite the fact his injured back has already shown it can’t handle bigger loads? Or design a program that releases the brakes by strengthening his weakest link?

We switched to a heavy emphasis on core training that allows direct loading of his lumbar area, along with heavy single-leg RDLs, which maintained the strength of his glutes and hams without the risk of a lower-back injury.  Core strength is often the underlying issue, whether we’re talking about something major like misaligned vertebrae or something that’s annoying but minor, like a lagging body part. The core muscles need to stabilize and protect the spine, particularly when the extremities are in motion. If those muscles aren’t strong or stable enough, the first clue could be a lack of size or strength somewhere else.

Quick experiment:

Stand up and hold a single dumbbell out to your right side, as you would in the finishing position of a lateral raise. What muscles are working? Obviously, it’s your right deltoid. If you’re a trainer or otherwise knowledgeable about exercise physiology, you can probably name a few other muscles in the shoulder girdle that come into play, but we can all agree that the prime mover here is the deltoid.  But think about how your torso stays upright with that dumbbell hanging out in space. Your center of gravity has been thrown off, so something besides your right deltoid must be working pretty hard to keep you from listing to the starboard side. In this case, it’s your left oblique. It’s working to stabilize your spine, allowing your right deltoid to lift that weight and hold it out there away from your body.

Now imagine that the oblique on your left side is weak, or recently injured. You wouldn’t be able to lift that dumbbell, since the muscles charged with protecting your spine aren’t prepared to do their job. Your body cares more about the health and safety of your spine than it does about the size of your shoulders.  Your best strategy, then, is to rehabilitate and strengthen your obliques, thus releasing the brake on your muscle development. Stomping on the accelerator by increasing the volume of your shoulder training wouldn’t do any good, and might make things considerably worse.

Let’s assign some completely hypothetical numbers to this example, and say your right deltoid can lift 30 pounds for 10 reps. To achieve overload and force growth, we have to train the deltoid to do one of two things: lift 31 pounds for 10 reps, or 30 pounds for 11 or more reps.  But let’s say your core muscles, either because of injury or disuse, can only handle 29 pounds for 10 reps.  A bodybuilder might say the solution is to find a way to overload the delts while bypassing the core. Maybe he’d use machines designed for that purpose, or wear a lifting belt for his lateral raises, or do something else that wouldn’t occur to me. Ultimately, the strategy is counterproductive; even if it works, it only exacerbates the imbalance, which makes the brakes work harder to slow your body down and keep your spine safe.

See more at alwyncosgrove.com

Get Strong! Stay Strong!

Chris

It seems like so many people this past 3 months have come to me with questions on nutrition and telling me, “I have been exercising more and eating less, but I’m not losing weight, in fact, I’m gaining! I think I need to exercise less.”

Ok, WRONG. You defiantly don’t need to work out less, you need to EAT MORE.

The whole thought process of eating more to lose weight is backwards to so many people, but that’s the truth, eat more often, lose more weight.

While the Battle of the Bulge Weight Loss Competition was going on, I remember specifically one instance where this was happening. It was about the 4th week of the contest and we had had 3 of the 4 weigh-ins. A young lady came up to me  and said, “I have been staying the exact same since the second weigh-in, I don’t get it and i’m frustrated.” I asked her to break down her average day of nutrition for me. This is what it looked like.

Breakfast – Bagel or Oatmeal

Lunch – Sandwhich or salad

Snack – Popcorn

Dinner – Chicken and veggies

Not too bad really, but could be better. I told her that I wanted to see her add a high protein snack between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. That’s all she had to do for right now. This was a Thursday we spoke, she came in the next Monday and she was already down 4 pounds, she was in shock!

What happens when you increase you activity and decrease your calories is that you are not allowing your body to take in the needed amount of calories (energy) so your body has to hang on to your fat to make certain that it has energy to survive from. So, when you limit your intake you are basically shutting down your metabolism and saying, “I need fat to survive because there is no food”. I know that is not what you are literally saying, but that’s the message your body hears and acts on.

Make sure you are listening to your body, if it tells you that you are hungry, then you need to eat. That’s your bodies way of telling you what it needs.

Here are my Top 4 Nutrition Suggestions to make sure that you get the energy you need to feel and look your best this Holiday season.

4. False Hunger. When you feel that you are hungry, drink a glass or bottle of water before you grab a snack. This will be a tester to find out if you are actually craving food, or just craving water. Often our hunger is actually our body telling us we are dehydrated and that we need water. Make sure you test which it is first.

3. Eat the majority of your calories before noon. Food is fuel, that’s all it is meant to be. Everything that is found in nature is meant to be an aspect of perfect nutrition and perfect health. We have changed the way its used. However, the underling issues stays the same, Food is fuel. To that end, we need to eat the majority of our food before noon fueling our bodies for the rest of the day. Most people eat their biggest meal at night and tell me that in the morning they don’t want breakfast. Well, that’s because you are still full from dinner! If flip it, and make sure that we get a good breakfast, and a large early morning snack, you will notice that you will be less hungry for lunch, your evening snack, and your evening meal. Then when you wake up, you will be hungry and you will be able to keep the cycle going!

2. Eat protein and fiber after lunch. Protein after noon will help your body begin to repair and recover early, making your sleep better and more sound. Protein and fiber are also the two most complex food types to breakdown, making your metabolism raise and your stomach work harder and longer (burning more energy). This will also keep you from eating too many grainy carbohydrates in the evening, which will keep you from storing those carbohydrates you do not use.

1. Eat a snack between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner and make them both high in protein. Eating often, or grazing is a great way to keep your metabolism from slowing throughout the day, allowing your body to burn off fat, and keeping your system fueled an high energy.

Give this a try and you will be seeing a sleaker, slimmer you just in time for the holidays.

Ian McGriff

Another great interview with Alwyn Cosgrove.  The part about Lance Armstrong was particularly interesting.  He makes some great points about targeting muscular demand over the cardiovascular system for fat loss.  I’d also recommend checking out Alwyn’s blog: www.alwyncosgrove.blogspot.com

Lance didn't exactly dominate the New York Marathon.

Here’s an interview I just did with Mike Roussell:

Mike: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. First so we all have some perspective, how long have you been a trainer?

Alwyn Cosgrove: I started training people in 1989. Actually 1987 if you count teaching martial arts classes.

In 1995 (after college) I went full time. Since day one I’ve been very particular (i.e. ANAL ) about what I do. I track and tweak everything. When we opened Results Fitness in 2000, we really started to gather a lot of data. We currently have 250 members and we track all their workouts and body comp changes week in and week out.

Mike: So it is like you run your own fat loss studies at your gym?

Alwyn: Exactly. We had read all the studies showing interval training to be superior for fat loss than steady state training. This confirmed what we were seeing with our clients. But I am a big believer in that there is no physiological limit to the amount of weight a person can lose in a week, month, or year so I kept tweaking and tracking the results.

Mike: What has been one of your biggest breakthroughs lately?

Alwyn: One day it hit me — cardiovascular programming is an ass-backwards concept.

I don’t know when I first thought this – but it was confirmed to me when viewing Lance Armstrong’s performance in the New York Marathon.

I’d been taught through my college education and countless training certifications and seminars that cardiovascular exercise was necessary to improve the cardiovascular system and subsequently aerobic performance.

But there seemed an inherent flaw in that argument….

Why didn’t Lance Armstrong – with perhaps one of the highest recorded VO2 max levels in history – win the New York Marathon? Or beat people with lesser aerobic levels than himself?

The greatest endurance cyclist (and possibly endurance athlete) of all time – the seven time Tour De France winner – finished 868th and described the event as the “hardest physical thing” he had ever done.

Runner’s World Magazine actually examined Lance’s physiology (and VO2 max which was tested at 83) and compared them to the numbers of Paul Tergat (the World Record holder and defending NYC Marathon Champion at the time).

They concluded:

 

“This figure wouldn’t mean much if it weren’t for the pioneering research of famed running coach Jack Daniels, Ph.D., who first published his Oxygen Power tables in 1979– According to Daniels, who’s rarely off by more than a smidgen or two, a max VO2 of 83 is roughly equivalent to a 2:06 marathon”

 

Based on his other physical qualities the magazine suggested that Lance was capable of running 2:01:11.

The world record at the time was 2:04:55

Lance ran 2:59:36 (and don’t misinterpret me – that’s still a great time). But it’s clear that the physiology didn’t transfer the way the running community expected.

The flaw in this thinking was looking solely at aerobic capacity — VO2 max – the “engine” as it were. And it’s fair to say that Lance had a “Formula One” engine.

But he didn’t have the structural development for running. Lance was a cyclist – his body had adapted to the demands of cycling. But NOT to the specific demands of running (in fact Lance had only ran 16 miles at once EVER prior to running the marathon). Lance had developed strength, postural endurance and flexibility in the correct “cycling muscles” – but it didn’t transfer to running the way his VO2 max did.

From this example we know that cardio training doesn’t transfer well from one activity to another – and it only ‘kicks’ in because of muscular demand – so why don’t we program muscular activity first – in order to create a cardiovascular response. Makes total sense.

So how does this relate to fat loss? We have found that our most successful fat loss programs center around stimulating the muscles to burn more calories – not ramping up and down the cardiovascular system. What matters is total caloric burn and how much you can increase the person’s metabolism. It is a total shift in thinking.

Mike: Wow. So it is this the death of intervals and cardio? How to you put this into action with clients?

Alwyn: What we have found is so great about this approach is that you burn more calories, lose more weight, while putting a lot less stress on your joints.

Here’s how I like to think about it. Let’s look at traditional interval training which uses running.

Depending on stride length – walking a mile takes about 2000 repetitions and running takes 1000-1500 and will burn on average 100 calories or so.

So if we use an interval training model of running and walking – we’re looking at around 1500 reps to burn 100 calories.

If we take traditional models of caloric burn – this means we’d need to do 35 miles to lose one pound of fat from our interval training efforts (discounting the metabolic afterburn for now).

So we have a problem. It’s a very poor “rate of return” on our “rep investment”.

Additionally – running applies a vertical force of 2x bodyweight on the joints of the lower body.

So now we have a dilemma.

Let’s choose a 180lb deconditioned overweight client.
1500 reps x 360lbs = 540,000lbs of force to burn 100 calories. (The 360lbs is 2x 180lbs)

That’s a LOT of stress on the joints. Literally – TONS!
Now no one was getting injured, but it seemed like there had to be a better way. A better “return”…

So — we started to think of how we could use different interval training methods other than running to get the same metabolic effect without stressing the joints so much.

We used the airdyne bike, other bikes in order to create a training effect with less load. But whenever you take the bodyweight out of the equation in cardio – you have to work harder to burn the same calories. So this usually needs more reps. So that didn’t seem like a much better idea.

At this point we started using metabolic training with weight training implements/kettlebells and bodyweight exercises in the same interval format.

So a circuit of five exercises, performed three times round (15 total sets) would actually burn more calories than the same time spent doing traditional cardio. That was a plus.

But we could also do sets of just 10-15 reps. So we’re looking at 225 total reps (with a force LESS than your bodyweight) as opposed to 1500+ reps at double bodyweight.

We gave it a try. Clients loved it (which was a huge plus), and actually started to get better results than we were getting with intervals.

So we get more fat loss, less stress on the body, and happier clients. It is a win-win-win. Currently we don’t program traditional interval training our regular fat loss clients anymore.

So, yeah…it is the death of traditional intervals.

You can get a sample workout using this kind of training program at:

http://warpspeedfatloss.com/workout.php

Mike: This is great stuff. Thanks for taking the time. I definitely recommend that everyone go to:

http://warpspeedfatloss.com/workout.php

and pick up the workout to try.

If anyone is familiar with the “Warped Speed Fat Loss” program, then I want to let you know that its new version (2.0) is being released tomorrow.  The training is given by elite trainer Alwyn Cosgrove  while meal plans are done by Mike Roussell (www.nakednutritionnetwork.com).  This program is NOT for those who are obese and overweight.  It is a program designed for those who have a little bit of fat to lose… that last 10-20 pounds.  It is a 4 week program but can be extended up to 16 weeks.   Here’s a little blurb about it on video.

First, let me tell you that I did the “Warped Speed Fat Loss 1.0″ program for 8 weeks.  It was a program given to me as a gift because I did not want to spend anymore money on “programs” that just didn’t work.  I was not overweight by any means, but I did have 10 pounds of fat I wanted to lose.  I am 5 feet and 5-1/2 inches tall.  Prior to beginning the “Warped Speed Fat Loss” program, I weighed 138 pounds and had 17.5-18 percent body fat.  After 8 weeks of the program, I weighed 128 pounds and had 15.5-16 percent body fat. 

When I first looked at the program, my thought was that it would not work for me.  The weight exercises were in circuit style, and it just didn’t seem to be up to “my level.”  The HIIT and HIIT/SS targeted fat loss protocol seemed interesting.  But, the 28 day meal plan that was included was what really got my attention.  I knew that there was something in my own personal programs that was not working as I could tear it up in the gym and still not lose those last few pounds!  So, it had to be my meals. 

What I learned just in the first week of the program is that the weight training was actually pretty challenging.  It was due to the circuit style and using more compound exercises, and that will definitely get your heart pumping!  The cardio portion was definitely challenging, and I learned so much about the “HIIT/SS targeted fat loss protocol” as I was having difficulty losing a bit of that stubborn fat that we ladies like to call “saddlebags.”  LOL!  The meals were tremendous!  This is the only program that has ever taught me how to eat correctly.  Not only was it nutritious, but it taught me portion control… how to group my foods together… and how eating 6 meals a day doesn’t have to be so complicated.  Woohoo!!!  I love the program, and I’ve become a great fan of Alwyn Cosgrove and Mike Roussell since I’ve listened and used what they have taught me. 

So… I want to introduce them to you by giving you a sample of the new “Warped Speed Fat Loss 2.0.”  The program will be released tomorrow.  If you’re having difficulties in losing that last 10-20 pounds, I challenge you to give this a try.  IT WORKS!!!!

Warped Speed Fat Loss 2.0 Sample Workout

Great post by Fitness Professional Wizard Alwyn Cosgrove. Good for all of you individuals out there that believe you need to run to burn fat.

As most readers of my articles will know I’m a huge believer in using metabolic circuits and routines for fat loss and conditioning.

If you consider the normal statistic that jogging a mile burns approximately 100 calories, takes around 1500 reps to perform, and involves plyometric forces of 2-4 x bodyweight you can see where there can be some potential joint issues with using jogging as your primary metabolic training.

Let’s say our 150lbs client runs a mile in fifteen minutes. That’s at least 300lbs of force going through the knees, hips and ankles, 1500 times in order to burn 100 calories. . That’s a lot of volume, potential joint stress for really, not a lot of return. We’d need to do that 35 times in order to burn enough calories to lose a pound of fat

Contrast that with a full body metabolic circuit we can get the same metabolic conditioning effect (or probably more) with less total reps, less total volume, less joint stress and spread it out over the entire body (as opposed to just the lower body). Nick’s circuit will burn way more than 100 calories, and takes about the same time as the jogging described above.

You could even do a circuit of squat, push ups, lunges in place and inverted rows or band rows for 10 reps each and repeat that for 4-5 rounds – giving you 50 total reps per circuit, at less than bodyweight loads, spread over the entire body – while still burning more calories than the same amount of running.

So unless you are training for a sport-specific running event (such as a 5K etc), consider some type of metabolic circuit as a solid change-up or addition to your routine.

–
AC
PS – For more ideas for this type of training – check out the Metabolic Acceleration Training DVD.

I was forwarded this through an email by the amazing and legendary Alwyn Cosgrove. Read the synopsis of the study as well as Alwyn’s question at the bottom. Interesting and through provoking questions. What do you think?

Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM.
Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC): implications for body fat management.
Eur J Appl Physiol 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7

This group looked at the effects of circuit weight training on EPOC. EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) is defined scientifically as the “recovery of metabolic rate back to pre-exercise levels”

The exercise routine consisted of three exercises (the bench press, the power clean and the squat), performed with 10RM loads as a circuit. The circuit was performed four times (i.e. twelve total sets) and took 31 mins.

EPOC was elevated for 38 hours post workout (possibly longer as this was when the researchers stopped measuring). The duration and magnitude of the EPOC observed in this study indicates the importance of the role of high intensity resistance training in a fat loss program.

This type of information should go a long way in helping fitness professionals design and implement effective fat loss programs. It’s not the workout – it’s the effect of that workout on caloric burn over the other 23 hours of the day.

This ties in with some of the interval training studies we’ve already looked at. They showed that despite burning less calories during the session (when compared to other workout), more calories were burned by the body outside of the workout – which quickly added up and resulted in more real world fat loss.

I call this post-workout phenomenon Afterburn – the post workout period that results in metabolic disturbance, elevating EPOC, fat burning enzyme activity and total body fat oxidation to maximize caloric burn for the other 23+ hours per day.

Is there much of a real world effect of burning 300 calories per workout (e.g. aerobic work) if I don’t create some form of ‘Afterburn‘?

If we could elevate metabolism even an apparently insignificant 1/4 of a calorie per minute for the 38 hours that the study showed, then that 31 minute resistance training workout would burn X calories during the session plus an extra 570 calories over the next 38 hours. That becomes significant.

As a side note – this was a pretty simple workout plan with fairly profound results. The study itself was designed to look at the effect of a simple weight training workout (4 sets of 3 exercises) on EPOC.
But what if we actually designed a metabolic resistance training program that was designed to create an afterburn effect? A workout that was designed to create fat loss in the first place – not as a side effect?

And then we combined that program with a cardio routine that did the same – and added a nutrition program that in and of itself resulted in significant fat loss? Everything would combine synergistically for a better effect overall.

The key is to look at the programs effect on the entire 24 hours, week, or several months on a program. Ignore the acute effects and look at the long term results.

In the past – fitness professionals and researchers have looked at how much fat is burned during the exercise session itself. This is extremely short-sighted.

As my colleague Alan Aragon said:

“Caring how much fat is burned during training makes as much sense as caring how much muscle is built during training.”

Think about that. If we looked at a weight training session that started at 9am and finished at 10am – how much muscle would we see built if we stopped looking at 10am? None.

In fact – we’d see muscle damage. We could make the conclusion that weight training does not increase muscle – in fact it decreases muscle right? It’s only when we look at the big picture – and look at the recovery from the session – that we find the reverse is true – weight training builds muscle.

Fat loss training is the same way. Someone talking about the benefits of the “fat burning zones” or “fasted cardio” is a sure sign that the individual has stopped looking at the end of the exercise session. They have come to the conclusion that fasted, lower intensity steady state exercise burns the most fat and made a massive leap of faith to suggest it is best for real world fat loss.

Using that same logic these same people would suggest avoiding weight training if you want to grow muscle.

Take home message – focus on the Afterburn effect not just what happens during the exercise session.

–
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

PS – My question is – could we get ANOTHER boost if we trained again using a similar or different workout routine less than 38 hours later? Could we raise an already elevated metabolism further? These are the questions that keep me up at night….
AlwynCosgrove.com

There is no nicer weather than what we are having right now, and that means that there is no better time to take your workouts outside than right now. The weather is getting cooler, the air more crisp, the conditions are better for your body to handle being outdoors.

Using the open space of the great outdoors is a fantastic way to challenge your body, your mind, and immerse yourself in the great outdoors. Next time you can’t stand the thought of staying indoors to workout, try this awesome outdoor workout.

Equipment Needed: TRX, Kettlebell, Heart

If you can find a place to do this next to a hill, even better.

5 Minute Jog

10 Kettle Bell Clean Right

5 Kettle Bell Clean and Press Right

5 Kettle Bell Snatch Right

(Consecutively with no break)

12 TRX Power Pull Left

12 TRX Power Bicep Curl Left

2 Minute Run

10 Kettle Bell Clean Left

5 Kettle Bell Clean and Press Left

5 Kettle Bell Snatch Left

(Consecutively with no break)

12 TRX Power Pull Left

12 TRX Power Bicep Curl Left

2 Minute Run

16 Kettle Bell Clean and Press (Alternate)

12 TRX Atomic Push Up

15 TRX Reverse Fly/Row Combination

15 TRX Hip Press

2 Minute Run

16 Kettle Bell Clean and Press (Alternate)

12 TRX Atomic Push Up

15 TRX Reverse Fly/Row Combination

15 TRX Hip Press

2 Minute Run

I have been unable to post the last two weeks, but I am back today with some awesome information about Countdown Power Training. Countdown Power Training is a great way to train for endurance athletes, people focusing on weight lose and “toning”, creating muscle confusion for heavy lifters, or just a great calories burner. These workouts are focused on increasing your weight per exercise as you reduce your repetitions. EVERYONE, including women, should be using a weight that is CHALLENGING for them to lift, push, or pull. Just using five pound weights for 800 reps is not going to get you anywhere because it only activates 3% of the muscle. You have to use weights and exercises that you may only be able to do 5 repetitions and build that muscle stronger.

Have you ever noticed that the women who do insanely high amounts of cardio, lift as light a weight as possible, and talk most of their time in the gym get nothing out of their time in the gym? There’s a reason….it’s no good.

For these workouts, we are either reducing the time or the number of repetitions per exercise: Example:

Clean and Press 1:00, :45, :30, :15  OR 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 OR 20, 15, 10, 5

Lunge 1:00, :45, :30, :15 OR 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 OR 20, 15, 10, 5

Push Up 1:00, :45, :30, :15 OR 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 OR 20, 15, 10, 5

Pull Up 1:00, :45, :30, :15 OR 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 OR 20, 15, 10, 5

Hanging Knee Raise 1:00, :45, :30, :15 OR 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 OR 20, 15, 10, 5

And as you decrease the reps or time, increase the weight or the difficulty of the exercise.

Instead of doing just regular lunges, as a plyo to them to make it more explosive, raise your heart rate, and develop power.

Instead of a traditional pull up, use Olympic rings or hold on to towels as you pull.

There are a number of variations that you can create with these exercises to make them more challenging.

I just got down working with my client, Jeanie. Jeanie is over 50 and post-menapausol and in the best shape of her life. She runs at an 8 minute mile pace, and today she did this very workout. She moved from 30’s to 35’s to 40’s on her chest press, single arm rows, and lunges. She has amazing arms and is shining example that challenging yourself with the weight you lift changes your body and makes you look good! Great job Jeanie.

There are a select few that are ahead of the curve in regards to TRX training. These are people who are in the tops of the field and who have changed the face of TRX and helped to make the TRX and Fitness Anywhere so well known and so well worth getting involved in.

Here are my list of Top 5 TRX Professional YOU should be following. Whether it be Newsletters, Twitter, Blogs, or Conferences, these are the best of the TRX best.

Top 5 TRX Trainers:

Fraser Quelch -

Fraser Quelch is the founder of the successful personal training and coaching business, Storm Training Systems, where he focuses on using a cutting-edge approach to guide his clients and athletes to their goals. Besides competing in marathons and ironman distance triathlons, Fraser is a sought-after endurance coach. His athletes consistently post personal best results with many of them qualifying for World Championship events.

As the Director of Programming and Education for Fitness Anywhere Inc., Fraser has brought a whole new category of functional training to the industry. His suspension training techniques are being used by professional sports teams and renowned trainers worldwide to produce peak results in their clients and athletes.

Fraser is also a featured fitness author, has presented extensively throughout North America, and has appeared as a featured guest instructor in the Les Mills program, RPM. Known as an innovator in the fitness industry, he uses his deep knowledge of endurance athletics and functional training to create cutting edge training programs such as TRX Suspension Training™ and Storm Cycling™.

Todd Durkin -

Todd Durkin is a strength, speed, & conditioning coach, personal trainer, bodyworker and motivational speaker/coach. He is the 2004 IDEA and 2005 ACE Personal Trainer of the Year. Men’s Journal has named Todd one of the top 100 trainers in the United States and top 5 in Southern California. Todd owns and directs Fitness Quest 10, a premier, cutting-edge center for health & human performance in San Diego, CA, that focuses on personal training, strength & conditioning, therapeutic massage & bodywork, Pilates, yoga, nutrition, and Success Coaching. He works with a high-profile athlete clientele of elite professional athletes from both the NFL and Major League Baseball as well as the normal, everyday population that is looking to improve their health and fitness. Todd is the author of 27 DVD’s on strength & conditioning, functional fitness, massage/bodywork, and business/personal growth. He is the Head of the Under Armour Performance Training Council and has appeared in a national commercial with Under Armour/Sports Authority featuring some of his performance techniques.

Todd’s degrees and certifications are numerous, but it is his passion, focus, commitment, leadership, and experience that allow him to get the most out of people. As a football quarterback and athlete his entire life, he captained the football squad at The College of William & Mary and later went on to play in NFL Europe. It is there that he suffered a serious back injury that ended his playing career. He took a proactive role in his recovery, beginning a long journey that eventually led him to earn his Master’s Degree in Sports Medicine/ Biomechanics from San Diego State University. He than fulfilled his dream by creating a center that combines elite athlete performance training, personal training, and massage & bodywork under one roof. His philosophy incorporates a holistic approach to performance. He believes one must be aligned physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to maximize full potential. Todd is a master trainer and coach that incorporates all of these facets into his work. His staff of 33 employees assist in the mission to offer cutting-edge, personalized health & fitness programs designed to positively impact the lives of people around the world. Through commitment, connecting, and conditioning, Todd and his staff empower clients to transform their lives and achieve great results.

Todd Durkin is often recognized as promoting one’s physical conditioning through his functional fitness approach that he now uses and teaches internationally. It is here that he trains his athletes and clients to be strong, powerful, fast, flexible, and balanced. He is strongly respected in the NFL community where he works with over 30 superstars, such as the likes of 2006 NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Carson Palmer, Aaron Rodgers, Kellen Winslow, and a host of other professional athletes, including 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist snowboarder, Shaun White. He has worked with thousands of other professional, collegiate, high school, and youth athletes. He has been called a “guru” for his eclectic approach and his ability to get the most out of his clients. Additionally, Todd created Optimal Performance Bodywork (OPB), a powerful hands-on technique that incorporates several flexibility approaches, structural bodywork, along with myofascial release techniques, to maximize improvements in one’s elasticity, fascial length, and overall flexibility.

Through Todd Durkin Enterprises, a corporate spin-off of Fitness Quest 10, Todd and his team of instructors travel the world delivering motivational speeches and programs to teams, companies, and conferences. Whether it is speaking on balance in one’s life, Optimal Performance, stress reduction, personal growth, wellness, or fitness, Todd Durkin is determined to motivate people to healthier living and reaching a more abundant life through stress reduction and an active lifestyle. Some of the companies he has worked with include The Ken Blanchard Companies, Wells Fargo, Bath & Body Works, MPI, UBS Warburg, Behr Paints, Kaiser Permanente, Torrey Pines Bank, Administrative Professionals, Life Care Solutions, and the San Diego Chargers, to name just a few. Todd travels the world delivering motivational talks on human performance, leadership, and success.

Todd earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. He continued his education earning a Master’s degree in Exercise and Nutritional Science with a specialty in biomechanics/sports medicine from San Diego State University. He has certifications as a strength and conditioning specialist, personal trainer, massage therapist, neuromuscular therapist, and has his teaching credential in health and physical education.

Todd has been featured on 60 Minutes, has appeared in Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, The Sporting News, ESPN The Magazine, BusinessWeek magazine, Men’s Journal, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Stack Magazine, appeared on ESPN, The NFL Network, MSNBC.com and is a contributor to Fitness magazine, Shape magazine, and Self magazines. He has been featured on Fox Morning News, CBS’ Exercise and Nutrition Special Report, ABC’s Being Healthy Report, NBC’s Friday Morning News, KUSI Morning News, and several other local morning news programs. He is a spokesperson for Under Armour, the American Council on Exercise, IDEA, Perform Better, EFI Sports Medicine, Fitness Anywhere (TRX), and serves on the board for the Titleist Performance Institute. Todd has been published in many magazines and journals, and presents at fitness conferences internationally.

Alwyn Cosgrove -

For the past fifteen years Alwyn Cosgrove has been committed to achieving excellence in the field of fitness training and athletic preparation. Specializing in performance enhancement, Alwyn has helped countless individuals and athletes reach their goals through sound scientific training.

Alwyn has an honors degree in Sports Science from Chester College, the University of Liverpool, is certified with distinction as a strength & conditioning specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association and has been recognized as a Master of Sports Sciences with the International Sports Sciences Association.

Alwyn is also recognized and certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the American College of Sports Medicine, the British Association of Sports And Exercise Sciences, Kingsports International Australia, the Society for Weight Training Injury Specialists, USA Weightlifting and the Chek Insitute of Corrective High Performance Exercise Kinesiology.

A former Taekwon-do international champion , Alwyn has utilized his personal experience as an athlete and combined it with the advanced theories of European Sports Science and the principles of modern strength and conditioning systems.

Through the years in this field Alwyn has been recognized as a specialist in Athletic Preparation by The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and has studied extensively each country’s approach to athletic preparation.

During his career as a strength and conditioning coach, Alwyn has worked with a wide variety of clientele, including several Olympic and national level athletes, five World Champions and professionals in a multitude of sports including boxing, martial arts, soccer, ice skating, football, fencing, triathlon, rugby, bodybuilding, dance and fitness competition.

A sought after ‘expert’ for several of the country’s leading publications including Men’s Health magazine, Alwyn is available to develop physical preparation programs to take you to a new level of development.

Jonathan Ross –

Jonathan is unquestionably one of the best personal trainers, receiving awards for his work from the fitness industry and from the media.  He is a master of fitness motivation, and possesses a rare combination of deep fitness knowledge and a terrific ability to communicate that will change your perspective on fitness.  His personal experiences with obesity, (see 800 Pounds of Parents for more details) make him a professional that brings empathy and understanding to his charismatic fitness information delivery.

His insights are highly-valued by the media, and his presentations are not to be missed.  He is an expert at keeping the “person” in personal training and can quickly identify the most important parts of a fitness routine.

Education and Certifications

• Certified Personal Trainer - American Council on Exercise (ACE)
  National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)
• Integrated Flexibility Specialist - National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
• Bachelor of Science, Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
• IDEA PFT Recognition System (Elite Trainer)

Awards

2008 “Best Personal Trainer” in Exercise TV’s Top Trainer Contest

Current ACE Personal Trainer of the Year

Personal Fitness Professional Magazine’s Personal Trainer of the Year

• 2003 Personal Training Director

Men’s Journal Magazine’s Top 100 Trainers in America

Media

2008 Discovery Health – National Body Challenge Fitness Expert

Media:  Jonathan is a frequently quoted fitness expert in the following publications:

• LifetimeTV.com
• WebMD
• Women’s Health and Fitness
• Better Homes & Gardens
• Fitness Magazine
• Tennis Magazine
• Washingtonian Magazine
• The Washington Post
• Cooking Light
• IDEA Personal Trainer
• ACE Certified News

Leigh Crews -

Follow these 5, and me of course, and you will always have a datebase of great TRX and overall fitness knowledge. Education yourself to break through to your best body ever.

You know the ones.  Those fully formed, spherical mass o’ muscles you see behind powerlifters, sprinters and female fitness models (mmmmm, fitness models).

Their butts defy gravity while they sit high up on their perch as if they somehow KNOW they’re better than all the other glutes.

…And they are.

So why is it that some butt-iss-ee-moes (as “Body by” Jake Steinfeld refers to ‘em) hang, sag, droop and flop around in the breeze?

I’m glad you assed. (not a typo, I just couldn’t resist)

When muscles aren’t challenged, they effectively ’shut down’.

Forget to contract.

Lie dormant.

The contractile fibers are still there, but once they’re off, they’re off – until you turn ‘em back on.

As good as squats, lunges, running up hill and numerous other exercises can be, when a muscle can’t do its job, other muscles are called into play to create the movement.  In the case of ‘gluteal amnesia’ (that’s an Alwyn Cosgrove-ism if there ever was one), it’s often the hamstrings which become dominant (and overused… and injured) while your butt just sits there.

Want to find out if your glutes are taking a nap?  Try lying face up on the floor and lift your hips into a “bridge” position with your feet flat, knees bent.

Do it.

Right now.

Did your hamstrings cramp up on you?  They shouldn’t.  If they did, they’re working too hard.  Your glutes should be the main players in this simple exercise.

Even if you consider yourself “old” and aren’t all that concerned with the look, shape or feel of your posterior, you be wise to consider the function (or lack thereof) of these all important muscles you’re sitting on right now.

If you really want to see me make an ass of myself, be sure to watch Grand Rapids Fox 17 this Friday morning (around 8.40am) where I’ll be taking Smita Kalokhe through as many variations of glute re-awakening exercises as we can squeeze into a 4 minute segment.

Can’t catch it because you’re not in the Grand Rapids area?  I got you covered.  Check back in after the show and I’ll post a link to the video plus some additional strategies to give you some shake to go with those fries.

What does that MEAN?

Don’t ever question Bruce Dickinson.

For those of you who follow his work, you are aware that Alwyn Cosgrove is a leader in strength and conditioning.  I have had the opportunity to listen to many of his presentations at conferences through out the year.  He, along with many others that I follow, has a straight forward way of coaching and presenting.  In a recent post, he discusses results from a recent training study that was targeting abdominal fat.

The findings report…train harder to remove the belly fat.

I always look amazed at people when they say that they can’t see results from their conditioning programs.  It usually is the people who insist on doing 30-45 minutes of steady state conditioning.  Break it up!!  Throw some intervals in there…:30/:30’s, :20/:10’s…whatever you’d like.  But remember, if you change up the intensity and the intervals your body will begin to burn more calories over the same period of time.

A friend asked me this question a while back and I really didn’t know how to respond. My instinct was to immediately answer this question with a resounding “no”, but I felt that I needed to do a bit more research.

I Googled my heart out and came across an article where Alwyn Cosgrove specifically addressed this question.

To those of you not familiar with Alwyn, he is a Tae kwon-do international champion and has worked with a wide variety of clientele including several Olympic and national level athletes, five world champions, and professionals in a multitude of sports such as boxing, martial arts, soccer, ice skating, football, fencing, triathlon, rugby, bodybuilding, dance, and fitness competition.

Alwyn points out that while physiologically there is no difference between men and women, because women tend to weigh less then men, they do need to find ways to a means for extending energy expenditure from exercise.

The example Alwyn gives is as follows:

Client A: 200 lb male. Maintenance calories = 2500.
Client B: 130 lb female. Maintenance calories = 1560.

Goal: To decrease body fat for each individual by 10 lbs. A typical guideline is to start with a 500 calorie deficit or 20% of maintenance, whatever is smaller.

If we cut Client A’s caloric intake by 20%, we get 2000 calories per day (and a 500 calorie deficit). When we add in the calories burned from exercising, we can expect him to reach his goal in about 5 – 10 weeks.

But, if we take our female client down 500 calories, that would be 1060 calories per day. Being that we don’t want a woman to take in less than 1200 calories, we would cut her calories by 20% to around 1250. That’s a 310 calorie deficit which means we’re looking at 12 – 16 weeks for the same results.

As such, for the female to attain the same fat loss as the male client, she would need to accelerate fat loss by including additional training, which may include cardio.

Great answer Alwyn! Thanks.

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan
]]> http://chriskolba.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/hacking-your-strength-training/ Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:57:42 +0000 chriskolba http://chriskolba.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/hacking-your-strength-training/

By Alwyn Cosgrove

When I started out in the fitness-training field, the average client tended to be an active person who used gym exercise to augment the other types of activity he got outside the gym. Few of us specialized in fat-loss training, simply because it wasn’t the primary goal of the majority of our clients. It was a nice side-effect of solid workouts and a good diet, but it wasn’t the main reason our clients came to work with us. Today, it’s the opposite. What we do with our clients in the gym may be the only exercise they get in a typical week. We regularly see clients who work 50 hours a week, not counting the two hours a day they spend commuting. Many of them can’t train on weekends because of work-related travel, or because it’s the only chance they get to spent time with their spouses and kids. Since opening our facility in 2000, we’ve measured the body-fat percentages, abilities, range of motion, and posture of all our beginning members. I can say this unequivocally: The average beginner today arrives fatter and in worse shape than the average beginner just nine years ago. That presents a huge problem for us. We have to address posture, strength, mobility, flexibility, elasticity, and cardio-respiratory endurance simultaneously. And we’re lucky if we get three hours a week to do it. A traditional program won’t work for this population. Now, before anyone counters with “dedicated people make time,” let me assure you that I’m talking about people who are dedicated. Let me describe two of my former clients:

Client #1: a professional motocross rider • Races 45 weekends a year • Flies out to the race site on Friday, competes Saturday and Sunday, and flies home on Monday • Practices Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday • Trains with me Tuesday and Thursday • Starts all over again on Friday This is a guy who’s married, with two young sons. Is he not dedicated? Do you see any additional room in his schedule that would allow him to train more than he does?

Client #2: a doctor • Works 60 to 70 hours a week, and is often on call longer than that • Commutes an hour to work each way • Married with three kids • Attends his kids’ soccer games, and tries to spend to spend as much time as possible with his family • Trains with me three times a week Is he not a dedicated person? Should he devote more hours to the gym, at the expense of saving lives or spending time with his family?

The solution: To give these dedicated but time-challenged clients the best possible results, we need to hack traditional training down to its most basic and fundamental elements. Hacking 101 You may be familiar with the term “life hack.” Basically, it’s a time-management system in which you hack away the unessential stuff in your life to increase productivity. If we define productivity as “maximizing results per unit of time invested,” we can see the benefits of it. The goal is to spend less time doing things that bring us little if any benefit, and more time doing the things that improve our income, prospects, pleasure, and quality of life. Another way to look at it: maximize productivity by minimizing redundancy. As a fitness professional and owner of a training facility, I realized I had to hack our training programs if I had any hope of keeping pace with the rapidly changing needs of our clients. For example, it’s not uncommon to see programs that include three exercises or more for each body part. So for biceps, you might see the barbell curl, EZ-bar curl, and seated dumbbell curl — three exercises that are more similar than different. Barbell curls, EZ-bar curls, and seated dumbbell curls are essentially the same exercise. Our first hack would be to switch to barbell curls and incline dumbbell curls. Now we’ve reduced the total number of exercises by a third, and we’ve also chosen a non-redundant exercise — the incline curl — to give us a different angle of pull and allow us to hit more muscle fibers. A second hack would choose one of those exercises as our sole focus. A third and final hack — the “max hack” — would eliminate the isolation work completely. Instead, we’d do close-grip chins, which would target the biceps effectively enough while also recruiting lots more muscle and building total-body strength.

Body by Pareto The Pareto principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, is an important key to successful hacking of any type — whether we’re talking about training, running a business, or the overall management of our lives. It’s named for Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who in 1906 observed that 80 percent of the wealth in Italy (and every country he subsequently studied) was owned by 20 percent of the population. After Pareto published his findings, many others observed similar ratios in their own areas of expertise. In the early 1940s, an industrial-efficiency expert named Joseph Juran applied Pareto’s ideas to project management, describing the principle of “the vital few and trivial many.” Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, popularized the idea for my generation of entrepreneurs when he observed that 80 percent of his income came from 20 percent of his clients. So he hacked off 80 percent of his clients, effectively reducing his workload by 80 percent, and focused on the clients who accounted for 80 percent of his income. Yes, at first he took a 20 percent pay cut, but his productivity and income soared on a per-hour basis. You can apply the Pareto principle to workout hacking with the assumption that 80 percent of the consequences come from 20 percent of the causes. Or, put another way, 20 percent of the exercises you do produce 80 percent of your results. Let’s say you have a total-body workout with 10 exercises. If we hacked out eight of the 10 exercises, and just kept squats and chin-ups, would you expect to get just 20 percent of the results? Chances are it would be the opposite — you might get 80 percent of the results by focusing on just 20 percent of the exercises. So most of your results come from just two exercises, and relatively few results come from the other eight. It’s easy to see why. Compound exercises recruit more muscle, allow you to use bigger loads, and burn more calories than isolation exercises. That’s why you want to build your program around them, and why your workouts should start with exercises like deadlifts or squats, the ones that produce the best results on a rep-by-rep basis.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you’ll get 100 percent of the results you want with a hacked program. The goal of hacking out what’s unessential from your training program is to free up more of your time without significantly diminishing your results. Don’t hack for the sake of hacking; you want to eliminate redundant or trivially beneficial exercises so you can accomplish other goals, in or out of the gym. In the next few sections I’ll show you examples we’ve used successfully with clients in our facility. As you’ll see, there’s a sound basis in science for most of these hacks.

The Frequency and Volume Hack Back in 2000, a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research compared equal-volume resistance training over one day or three days per week. [1] The participants in the study were experienced lifters. Group one performed the entire workout — three sets of each exercise — on one day. Group two performed the same volume of work, but spread it out over three days. So they did one set of each exercise in each workout. The researchers found that the once-per-week group achieved just 62 percent of the strength improvements of the three-times-per-week group, and also gained less muscle. The men in the second group put on nine pounds of muscle, vs. four pounds for those in the first group. This gives us an idea of how to start our training hack: It’s better to reduce volume per workout than it is to reduce frequency. So if you work out three times a week, it’s better to make those workouts shorter than to do longer workouts less often.

A review published in Sports Medicine in 2007 looked at several studies on strength training and hypertrophy across different populations.[2] It concluded that, for hypertrophy, it’s better to train each muscle group three times a week. Anecdotally, we know that a lot of bodybuilders use an increased frequency to bring up a lagging body part. If the problem is that every body part needs to be brought up, then three total-body workouts should work better than a series of split routines in which body parts are hit just once or twice per week. The Sets and Reps Hack Now that we’ve settled on three total-body workouts a week, we have to figure out how to hack unessential elements of those workouts to keep them at a reasonable length. But we still want results, so we have to figure out how best to employ sets and reps to increase size and strength.

A study published in JSCR in 2002 compared two different types of periodization.[3] Traditional linear periodization works something like this: In weeks one to four, you’d do eight reps per set of all your exercises. In weeks five to eight, you’d do six reps, and in weeks nine to 12 you’d do four reps. So you’d progress from a hypertrophy protocol to one that emphasizes pure strength. Undulating periodization aims to achieve those goals simultaneously, so on Monday you’d do four reps per set, on Wednesday you’d do six reps, and on Friday you’d do eight reps. The researchers found that undulating periodization was better than linear periodization for strength gains. Thus, we’ll use three distinct ranges of sets and reps in our three total-body workouts each week. That brings us to the next big question: Which exercises should we use?

Exercise Hack At the 2000 annual conference of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, researchers at Ball State presented a study that compared the effects of two different workouts on upper-arm circumference.[4] One group did four compound upper-body exercises in each workout, while the other did those four exercises plus biceps curls and triceps extensions. Both groups increased their strength and arm size. But in 10 weeks of training, the additional arm exercises provided no additional benefit. So if you’re going to hack your training program to make it as efficient as possible without sacrificing benefits, you can eliminate direct arm training with isolation exercises. Big arms, no curls. Workout Duration Hack Sir Charles Scott Sherrington won the Nobel Prize in 1932 for his contributions in physiology and neuroscience. Sherrington’s law of reciprocal innervation states that “for every neural activation of a muscle, there is a corresponding inhibition of the opposing muscle.” This means that when you work your chest muscles, the opposite back muscles are forced to relax, thereby resting. It’s easy to apply this one: Instead of waiting two minutes between sets of bench presses, for example, you can perform one set of the bench press, rest for one minute, and then do a bent-over row. After you finish, you’ll rest for one minute, then repeat the sequence until you complete all sets of both exercises. In an average workout, this technique saves at least eight to 10 minutes without sacrificing performance.

“If you could only do one exercise … ” I hate questions like this. But I do have an answer: The snatch-grip deadlift probably works more muscle through a bigger range of motion than any other single exercise. (In other words, I’m not comparing the snatch-grip deadlift to a combination exercise like the clean and press.) So we’ll start with that as our primary exercise. Our secondary exercise will be the front squat. I also like to do single-leg exercises, so we’ll create a second total-body workout in which we use dumbbell Bulgarian split squats to target our quads, with step-ups as a hip-dominant counterpart. For upper-body exercises, we’ll stick to the ones that use the most muscle and avoid single-joint exercises.

The big four here will be chin-ups, dips (or dumbbell bench presses), dumbbell rows, and barbell push presses. We’ll do two of them in each of our total-body workouts.

Program A 1) Snatch-grip deadlift 2) Dumbbell Bulgarian split squat 3a) Dip 3b) Dumbbell row

Program B 1) Front squat 2) Step-up 3a) Barbell push press 3b) Close-grip chin-up Here’s how we’ll alternate programs A and B:

Week one: Mon: Program A Wed: Program B Fri: Program A Week two: Mon: Program B Wed: Program A Fri: Program B

Sets and reps for A and B work like this: Mon: 4 sets of 4 reps of each exercise. Rest 90 to 120 seconds between sets. Wed: 3 sets of 8 reps of each exercise. Rest 75 to 90 seconds between sets. Fri: 2 to 3 sets of 12 reps of each exercise. Rest 60 to 75 seconds between sets.

Select a load that’s appropriate for each exercise, given the rep range. You want to stop one or two reps short of failure on each set. Try this system as written for up to six weeks. You’ll do each program nine times, but only three times at each rep range. Final Thoughts Is this the perfect program? Absolutely not — the perfect program doesn’t exist. It’s just one way to hack out the unessential, trivial, and redundant exercises from your program, replacing them with the most effective exercises, and employing them in the most time-efficient way I know. Does it work? Let me put it this way: I wouldn’t still be in business if it didn’t.

Great Stuff!

Get Strong! Stay Strong!

Chris

I have a few friends who have started using TRX for their own training as well as training their clients.

For those of you not familiar with the TRX System, it’s based on an extremely simple yet effective concept – suspension training using your own body weight to develop strength, flexibility and core stability.

It is the original “gym in a bag” and still considered tops, as it has been voted by both Women’s Health and Men’s Health magazine as the best total body training tool of 2009.

Master trainer Alwyn Cosgrove has put together two killer circuits using the TRX System. If you currently own TRX, give these a try and please post your feedback! I’d also love to hear about your own TRX circuits!!

Alwyn Cosgrove’s TRX Circuit 1:

Perform as many sets of 6 – 8 reps you can in 15 minutes.

Exercise 1 – TRX Single Leg Squat (perform on each leg)
Exercise 2 – TRX Inverted Row
Exercise 3 – TRX Chest Press

Alwyn Cosgrove’s TRX Circuit 2:

Perform as many sets of 6 – 8 reps you can in 15 minutes.

Exercise 1 – TRX Suspended Lunge (perform on each leg)
Exercise 2 – TRX Atomic Push-Up
Exercise 3 – TRX Power Pull

Ok, TRXers, I’m looking forward to your feedback on these two circuits!!

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

Alwyn Cosgrove, one of the leading personal trainers in the world has something to say about that.

[via]

Leg Training Myths Exposed
Quick Answers to Common Idiocy
by Alwyn Cosgrove

You know the guy who floats around the gym nit-picking everybody’s technique? The guy who offers constructive criticism without being constructive? Well, we got sick of listening to his pseudo-knowledge about leg training, so we had Alwyn Cosgrove respond to some of the most common “tips” you hear.

The Parallel Universe

Myths:

“When doing leg presses, don’t go more than half-way down.”

“When squatting, don’t go below parallel.”

Real-World Response

Have you ever watched kids learn to stand? They begin in a full squat. In fact, the fetal position is a full squat. That’s how your knee actually developed — in the full squat position.

Deep squatter from day one.

Don’t come back at me saying that a fetal position isn’t loaded. That statement actually proves my point. It’s not the position itself that’s dangerous. If you’re an idiot and don’t know how to load properly, then we have big problems.

Ask any orthopedic surgeon or physical therapist at what degree of knee-bend one performs the “drawer test?” It’s at 90 degrees. In this position, the knee joint is most unstable. If you’re trying to assess the integrity of the ligaments, you want minimal interference from other structures.

The drawer test: If it tickles, you probably aren’t doing it right.

Bend the knee to full flexion and check how much the tibia moves on the femur anteriorly or posteriorly. It’s very little. However, do the same test at 90 degrees of flexion and you’ll get considerably more movement.

You can imagine how much force is on the knee ligaments if the athlete descends with a weight and then at the most unstable point (90 degrees), reverses momentum and accelerates in the opposite direction. Couple this with the fact that nearly everyone is capable of squatting more weight to parallel than to the full squat position, and you set your body up for a problem.

Warning: The following stunt is not to be attempted by anyone wishing to remain bipedal.

Scientific Response

Squatting to parallel with legs bent at 90 degrees not only makes the exercise less effective, but increases the risk of injury. By not squatting through a full range of motion, you can’t maintain proper lumbosacral body mechanics.

When performing the squat, the sacrum undergoes a process known as nutation. It tilts forward relative to the two ilia on either side of it. At approximately 90 degrees of knee bend, the sacrum tilts back in a process known as counternutation. These two functions, nutation and counternutation, basically describe the movement at the sacroiliac (SI) joint.

However, proper SI joint mechanics help to ensure optimal functioning of the rest of the spine. For example, some literature links SI dysfunction with lower back pain in up to 80% of cases.

In order to perform a full squat, flexibility and range of motion must be maintained in the lumbar spine and SI joint, as well as in muscles such as the iliopsoas, hip external rotators, piriformis, and gemelli.

If a client can’t squat past 90 degrees of knee bend without their heels raising or their body bending excessively forward at the waist, but they can squat all the way to the floor while holding onto something, we know there are muscle imbalances and stability issues around the pelvic/lumbosacral region as opposed to a knee or ankle dysfunction.

Great for testing your squat depth and great for keeping out the land shark.

Additionally, improper pelvic, hip, and/or lumbosacral mechanics could manifest down the kinetic chain as recurring knee or ankle problems. Thus, regular performance of the full squat offers a “screen” of the athlete’s pelvic and lumbosacral flexibility. This could prevent injury or muscle imbalances long before they become chronic.

Gray Cook’s Functional Movement Screen is a reference for using the squat as a screening tool.

As far as studies go, Salem and Powers (2001) looked at patellofemoral joint kinetics in female collegiate athletes at three different depths of knee flexion — 70 degrees (above parallel), 90 degrees (at parallel), and 110 degrees (below parallel).

The researchers found that “…peak knee extensor moment, patellofemoral joint reaction force and patellofemoral joint stress did not vary significantly between the three squatting trials…” There was no support for the idea that squatting below parallel increased stress on the patellofemoral joint.

To Boldly Go Where No Knee Has Gone Before

Myth:

“Don’t let your knee pass your foot during lunges.”

Real-World Response

This one is really easy. My answer is, what about the other knee? In a lunge, it’s apparently too dangerous for the knee of the front leg to extend past the toes. Meanwhile the knee of the back leg is past the toes the whole time.

I’ve had people respond by saying that there’s no load on the back leg during a lunge. Okay then, put 135 pounds on your back and go down to the bottom of a lunge. Now lift your back foot off the floor. I rest my case.

The shirt may be optional, but using both feet to lunge is mandatory.

Scientific Response

When talking about knees going forward, one study jumps out. Fry, Smith, and Schilling (2003) examined joint kinetics during back squats under two conditions.

The first condition placed a board in front of the participants’ shins, which restricted forward displacement of the knee. In the second condition, movement wasn’t restricted at all. They squatted normally and the knees were allowed to pass the toes.

The researchers found that restricting the forward excursion of the knees during the squat increased anterior lean of the trunk and promoted an increased “internal angle at the knees and ankles.”

The results showed a 22% decrease in knee torque and a 1070% increase in hip torque! That stress has to go somewhere. Keeping the knees behind the toes definitely reduces the forces on the knee, but those forces were transferred more than tenfold to the hips and lower back.

You can be guy number one or guy number two. Your choice.

Obviously this study was in regard to squatting. However, the knee angle in a lunge would be similar and we could expect similar findings.

Wrap-Up

• For strength and joint health, using the full range of motion on squats is more beneficial than squatting to parallel.

• Squatting deep isn’t any more hazardous to the knees than squatting shallow. So stop being a puss and go low.

• Performing an unloaded, bodyweight squat is an excellent assessment tool and can be used often as a “body check-up.”

• Keeping your knees behind your toes when squatting or lunging is a little better for your knees, but much, much worse for your hips and lower back.

More great stuff from Cosgrove!

Get Strong! Stay Strong! (and train smart!)

Chris

(An excerpt from Alwyn Cosgroves Newsletter Dec 16 2008)
I’m a huge believer in using the “alternating set” system when training in the gym. For time management reasons, I tend to do exercise one for a set, rest 60 seconds or so, do exercise two for a set, rest 60 seconds or so, and continue. This allows me to increase work density while still getting “true” rest.

In other words, I perform a set of squats, rest 60 seconds, perform a set of push-ups, rest 60 seconds, and repeat. So in effect, I’ve almost tripled the rest period between squat sets (60 seconds plus the time taken for push-ups plus 60 seconds) as opposed to using a straight set system. And for fat loss training, it’s unparalleled.

However, the biggest problem or complaint I get from clients who use commercial facilities is that it’s really hard for them to tie up two pieces of gym equipment at peak hours. I have my own facility, but I realize this can be a real problem elsewhere. So I started experimenting with a few things–doing dumbbell lunges and push-ups for example or step-ups and dumbbell bench presses where I could use one set of dumbbells and one piece of equipment.

It was an okay compromise, but it started to somewhat limit my exercise selection. And to be honest, it still had the issue of people working in and possibly disrupting your rest periods.

So I went a step further. What if I created a fat loss or conditioning program based around one piece of equipment where you stayed in the same spot, using the same load for the entire duration. So I tried it. At first it was awkward, but after reading Istvan Javorek’s work and talking with über strength coach, Robert Dos Remedios, I started to implement different variations of combination lifting.

I just hoped that it would work as well as alternating sets for fat loss and conditioning or at least close enough that it wasn’t too much of a tradeoff. As it turns out, it worked better! In fact, it worked so well that it became a cornerstone of my conditioning programs with several athletes.

Part two
Part two of the evolution of our fat loss programs came shortly after. I have always recommended interval training as a superior form of fat loss over steady state cardio. Interval training is essentially periods of hard work alternated with easier periods of work using a cardio exercise.

The problem–running a mile doing intervals involves about 1500 repetitions. For someone looking to cut body fat, and hit total body weight training two to three times a week, that is a lot of extra volume and potential joint stress. So I started thinking. Interval training is similar to weight training in that it involves sets (and reps) followed by a rest period (albeit active). What if I used a lighter version of traditional strength training and created metabolic circuits?

Timed sets

This is the simplest variation of metabolic work. Pick a load that is about 80% of your 10RM. Perform as many reps as possible at a constant tempo for a period of time (e.g. 60 seconds) and try to perform as many repetitions with as good form as possible. Rest for 15-30 seconds and perform another exercise.

Example #1

Barbell reverse lunge, left leg, 60 seconds
Rest 15-30 seconds
Barbell reverse lunge, right leg, 60 seconds
Rest 15-30 seconds
Barbell push press, 60 seconds
Rest 15-30 seconds

Repeat three times for a 12-minute routine.

Example #2

Kettlebell swings, 30 seconds
Rest 15 seconds
Push-ups/burpees, 30 seconds
Rest 15 seconds
Prowler push, 30 seconds
Rest 15 seconds

Repeat for five rounds for a 12-minute finisher.

Alwyn always has great info.

Get Strong! Stay Strong!

Chris

Alwyn Cosgrove

Alwyn Cosgrove is an in-demand speaker, writer, and personal training coach. He is highly respected in the fitness industry. He currently owns Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, CA.

Alwyn is also a two-time Stage IV Cancer Survivor and underwent a stem cell transplant in June 2006.

Warp Speed Fat Loss provides you with the very latest in research in both diet and exercise.

Mike Roussell

Mike Roussell received his BS degree in biochemistry from Hobart and William Smith Colleges (magna cum laude with high honors).

He then attended the University of Vermont Medical School before pursuing his passion of nutrition. Currently, Mike is doctoral candidate in nutrition at Pennsylvania State University. Mike is an expert of the highest order.

Every once in awhile something comes along that has the ability to alter our perception. We have preconceived notions on most things in life: diet and exercise are no different. We believe we understand what is possible and what is impossible.

Up until recently, my perception was that one could only lose weight so quickly. Exaggerated claims of weight loss always left me suspicious. That is until now. Warp Speed Fat Loss has altered my view of what is possible through a diet and exercise program.

Is it really possible to lose 20 pounds or so in only 28 days? Prior to running into this product I would have said no. Now I can say, not only is it possible but it has happened in the lives of many people.

I am not going to kid you. Warp Speed Fat Loss Program needs to be followed to the letter. There will be no cheating allowed. You need to buckle down and follow the well laid out instructions. After all, it is only 28 days long. If you make the sacrifice you will be astonished by the results.

The program is based on the fancy scientific term homeostasis. Homeostasis is the process where the body attempts to maintain a balance. The type of exercise in Warp Speed Fat Loss (interval training) creates an imbalance in the body by burning a particular type of energy that the muscles use and need. In an attempt to maintain the correct balance the body seeks a new source for that energy and seeks out fat cells. It burns the fat cells at a rapid rate and puts a big smile on your face.

Below I have included a video for you to view by Mike Roussell, one of the authors of Warp Speed Fat Loss.

Alternative Methods of Progression
by Alwyn Cosgrove

Are you on exercise autopilot? After every set do you add a 10-pounder to each side of the bar before you can say, “Please spot me, Jamie Eason?” Then it’s time to consider some new ways to step up your workout. Alwyn Cosgrove has got some great ideas about the subject.

The Path To Progress

Most people use a single variable to progress in their weight training — load lifted. There’s nothing wrong with that, but eventually you reach a ceiling when you simply can’t add more weight to an exercise.

In a typical training program, we have exercise order, exercise selection, sets, reps, tempo, rest period and load. Here’s a small sample workout below. Let’s go over three progression methods and see how each changes the workout.

Sample Workout

1A) Squat — 3 sets of 6 reps (3×6) with 90 seconds rest, using 200 pounds

1B) Dumbbell bench press — 3×6 with 90 seconds rest, using 50 pounds

Workout Volume (sets x reps x weight): Squat 3600 pounds. Dumbbell bench press 1800 pounds. Total 5400 pounds.

Assuming each set takes a minute, the workout is done in 15 minutes.

Most people would just increase the load each week. But instead, we could add an additional rep next workout. Or add an additional set. Or maybe we cut the rest period down, and with the extra time we can add more exercises or even back-off sets.

Method #1: Add Reps

Add one rep to each set of each exercise.

1A) Squat — 3×7 with 90 seconds rest, using 200 pounds

1B) Dumbbell bench press — 3×7 with 90 seconds rest, using 50 pounds

Workout Volume: Squat 4200 pounds. Dumbbell bench press 2100 pounds. Total 6300 pounds.

You can always get one more rep.

Method #2: Add Sets

Add one set to each exercise.

1A) Squat — 4×6 with 90 seconds rest, using 200 pounds

1B) Dumbbell bench press — 4×6 with 90 seconds rest, using 50 pounds

Workout Volume: Squat 4800 pounds. Dumbbell bench press 2400 pounds. Total 7200 pounds.

Do a little more work than the next guy.

Method #3: Reduce Rest Periods

Decrease the rest between each set.

1A) Squat — 3×6 with 75 seconds rest, using 200 pounds

1B) Dumbbell bench press — 3×6 with 75 seconds rest, using 50 pounds

Workout Volume: Squat 3600 pounds. Dumbbell bench press 1800 pounds. Total 5400 pounds.

Assuming each set takes a minute, the workout is now done in 13.5 minutes.

Workout’s done already? Whatcha gonna do with that free time?

Let’s Put It All Together

Week one: Workout as described. 3×6 with 90 seconds rest.

Week two: Increase the reps on each set by one. 3×7 with 90 seconds rest.

Week three: Maintain the reps, add one set per exercise. 4×7 with 90 seconds rest.

Week four: Reduce each rest period by 15 seconds per set. 4×7 with 75 seconds rest.

This will take us from week one’s total volume of 5400 pounds in 15 minutes to a total volume of 8400 pounds in 18 minutes, with an increase in workout density from doing those two extra sets. That’s 55% more work in only three more minutes, or over 100 pounds of additional work per minute training.

Obviously this is a huge increase in the total work done without having to add any weight to the bar. So even if you’re in a situation where your home gym doesn’t have any extra weight, you can still make great progress. I haven’t even changed exercise order, exercise selection, rep tempo or load, yet I still managed to create a more challenging workout.

This would not be a more challenging workout.

In Conclusion

Hopefully you see the benefits of implementing different methods of progression rather than just increasing load all the time. The key to progress is overload and there are various ways of getting there. Just make sure you’re moving forward every step of the way.

Get Strong! Stay Strong!

Chris

By Alwyn Cosgrove

As a trainer, I’ve witnessed some amazing things in the gym, most of which involved 300-pound powerlifters moving weight equal to that of a small SUV. (There was also the adult-film star I trained who had an orgasm every time she did hanging leg raises, but that’s another story.)

The most impressive feat I’ve ever seen, though, came courtesy of a 160-pound guy named Steve Cotter. Steve’s a martial artist, and one day he did a dozen single-leg squats while holding an 88-pound kettlebell in each hand. If that doesn’t sound particularly jaw-dropping, try doing one – without any weights.

And there lies an important point: Despite the plethora of gym equipment available, some of the greatest exercises remain the ones you can do with just your body weight — for instance, the single-arm pullup and the handstand pushup. Or the lower-body version, the best leg workout to build leg strength and improve athletic performance: the full-range, rock-bottom, single-leg squat.

So, while you may not be the strongest guy in the gym, you can still turn heads by banging out a set of single-leg squats. And the attention is just a side benefit. Master this one leg workout and you’ll see gains in strength, speed, and balance. You’ll squat more weight, jump higher, and discover athletic ability you never had before. The best part: You can do it all without setting foot in a gym.

Test your best

To determine your leg workout training plan, do as many single-leg squats as you can. If you aren’t able to perform at least two repetitions flawlessly, note the spot during your descent at which you can’t control your speed of movement. This is your “breaking point” — and you’ll need to know it to complete the routine. Once you’ve finished the test, proceed to the leg workout here that most closely matches your maximum effort. 

SINGLE-LEG SQUAT

Stand on a bench or box that’s about knee height. Hold your arms in front of you and flex your right ankle so your toes are higher than your heel. Keeping your torso as upright as possible, bend your left knee and slowly lower your body until your right heel lightly touches the floor. Pause for 1 second, then push yourself up. That’s one repetition.

YOUR BEST EFFORT: 0 TO 1 REPS

THE PROBLEM: Individually, your legs aren’t strong enough to support your body weight through the entire range of motion.

THE FIX: A two-pronged attack using “negatives” and “partials,” both of which help you challenge your weak spots and lower your breaking point. Do this workout once every 4 days until you can perform at least two single-leg squats with perfect form.

Step 1

NEGATIVE SQUAT

Stand on your left leg, facing away from a bench. Holding your arms and your right leg in the air in front of you, slowly lower your body until your butt is slightly higher than your breaking point. (Ideally, this should take 5 to 7 seconds.) Sit, then stand up using both legs. That’s one repetition. Do six reps with your left leg, then six more  with your right. Complete a set. Rest for 2 to 3 minutes and move on to step 2.

PARTIAL SQUAT

Stand on a bench holding a pair of 5-pound dumbbells. As you perform a single-leg squat, simultaneously lift the dumbbells in front of you to shoulder height. (This helps counterbalance your body, making the movement easier.) Again, lower your body until you’re just above your breaking point, then pause for 2 seconds before pushing yourself back up. Do 10 repetitions with each leg, pausing for 10 seconds instead of 2 on the last rep with each.

YOUR BEST EFFORT: 2 TO 5 REPS

THE PROBLEM: Because you can’t adjust the weight you’re using, as you can with free weights, your muscles give out quickly — and that limits the total number of repetitions you can perform, a key factor in increasing strength.

THE FIX: A technique called escalating density training, or EDT. Popularized by Charles Staley, author of Muscle Logic, this method helps you slow the onset of fatigue, so you can complete more total repetitions than usual. Instead of doing as many reps as you can in each set, you’ll do more sets of fewer repetitions. In addition, you’ll further increase the challenge to your legs by adding two other single-leg exercises: the Bulgarian split squat and the high stepup.

Step 1

Determine your starting point

Take the number of single-leg squats you can complete with perfect form and divide it by two. That’s how many repetitions you’ll do each set. (If your best effort is three, round down to one.) Perform the 4-week EDT routine below once every 4 days, doing the number of sets indicated and resting after each for the prescribed amount of time.

Step 2 

BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT

Stand with a bench about 2 feet behind you and place the instep of your right foot on the bench. Keeping your torso upright, lower your body until your left thigh is parallel to the floor. Your left lower leg should remain perpendicular to the floor. Pause, then push yourself back to the starting position as quickly as you can. Do 12 to 15 repetitions, then repeat, this time with your left foot resting on the bench and your right foot in front. After you’ve worked both legs, immediately (without resting) complete step 3.

Step 3 

HIGH STEPUP

Stand facing a bench or step that’s about knee height. Lift your left foot and place it firmly on the bench, push down with your left heel, and push your body upward until your left leg is straight and your right foot hangs off the bench. Lower yourself back down. That’s one rep. Do 12 to 15, then do the same number of reps with your right leg.

YOUR BEST EFFORT: 6 TO 9 REPS

THE PROBLEM: You have poor endurance.

THE FIX: Training your muscles to resist fatigue. Perform the following routine once every 4 days for 5 weeks.

Step 1

Do as many single-leg squats as you can, then rest for 60 seconds

Step 2

Repeat until you’ve completed twice the number of reps you achieved in your first set.

So, if you do seven reps in your first set, you’ll do as many sets as needed to complete 14 reps. For each subsequent workout, this will be your repetition goal.

Step 3

Each workout, try to reach your repetition goal in fewer sets. For instance, if you need five sets in your first workout, aim for your goal in four sets in your next session. After 5 weeks, repeat the entire process. But in order to keep improving, do the exercise while holding dumbbells at your sides.

Get Strong! Stay Strong!

Chris

I’ve been completely immersing myself in information about health and fitness and fat loss and muscle building and nutrition and ALL of that kind of information for the past 8 weeks. This has led me to a LOT of interesting websites, books, and blogs.

My current favorite is Alwyn Cosgrove. He is a world renown fitness trainer, and transformation specialist and the author of my NEXT 16 week program after I finish Body for Life in 4 weeks. His program is called Afterburn. It’s a SUPER INTENSE 16 week bodybuilding and nutrition program, that in my opinion makes Body For Life look like Child’s Play.

Alwyn posted a blog recently that really got me to thinking. I’m posting it below here so you guys can read it too. I think what he says here makes TONS of sense and explains a lot of the things that have taken place in my brain over the past 8 weeks.

Circle Of Influence
By: Alwyn Cosgrove

It has been said that your income is the average of the total income of the five people you spend the most time with.

I think I agree with that. I’d say in general that “birds of a feather, flock together” etc.

I think it’s also important to think about your “circle of influence” in all aspects of your life – not just finances – it’s not a huge leap of faith to realize that your way of thinking, your attitude towards success, your relationships, your business and pretty much your life are all essentially influenced by the average mindset of the people you converse or interact with the most.

Sports psychologists call it “leveling” and “sharpening”. Leveling refers to when the average person in the “circle of influence” has less skill than you – then your skills tend to diminish and “level” out. If the average person’s skills are above yours – then you tend to “sharpen” your abilities. It’s one of the reasons why finding a good training partner or crew can elevate your workout. And why surrounding yourself with successful people is one of the fastest ways to ensure success.

For example – Rachel and I had a small party at our house last weekend where we watched the Olympics and the UFC. At this little gathering we ended up having a training discussion with fellow fitness professionals, Robert Dos Remedios, Valerie Waters, Chad Waterbury and Jason Ferruggia.

…quite a list eh? And it’s definitely fair to say that all of the names on that list are smart people, and are all very successful at what they do.

My abilities can only be elevated by the influence of people like those guys. I’m not the most skilled at training or business, or the highest earning amongst that group — so I’m being “sharpened” – just by knowing these guys. (Plus it was a fun party!)

So how is your circle of influence looking? Are you surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals with similar goals and mindsets? Does your circle contain people who earn more, and know more than you do? Are you learning every day as a result of your interactions?

Or are you surrounding yourself with negative people – who tell you that “you can’t do that” or who’s entire life consists of looking forward to Friday night Happy hour. Get a picture in your head of the people you associate and interact with the most. Is that group something that most would aspire to be part of? Or are you being “leveled” by association?

Bill Parisi once told me that his goal is always to be the dumbest person in the room – it’s the fastest way to get smart. Make sure that you are in a position to “sharpen” just based on who you associate with. This is a little concept that will reap big rewards for you.

Isn’t that AWESOME and SO TRUE?? It really made me think about the kind of people I surround myself with on a day to day basis.  My entire life has been transformed inside and out over the past 8 weeks. My body is in better shape than ever, my mind is sharp and clear, and I am FOCUSED. It’s truly one of the most amazing feelings I can even imagine. And I still have 4 weeks to go in this challenge!! That’s 4 more weeks to REALLY kick it up a notch and finish STRONG!!

Since I went back to Gold’s Gym I have met so many amazing people who are like minded as I am. Their whole existence is centered around making their body and mind the strongest and leanest they can possibly get. I never thought in a million years I would be training for a marathon or lifting the weights I’m lifting and LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT.

And this is JUST THE BEGINNING!!

I was talking with one of the trainers at the gym the other day and we were talking about an upcoming competition that’s 6 months away. I am seriously considering signing up. It made me feel so AWESOME that she thought I should even consider it..  I mean come on….isn’t that something to aspire to? Wouldn’t it make me push myself even HARDER to know that I was going to compete against other women who have been lifting for YEARS? SO WHAT if I don’t win..I’m building my “Circle of Influence” these are the people who are going to “sharpen” me and not “level” me. That’s what I want more than anything.