Fitness is rented.

By Pete Ryan

We’ve all see older guys and gals, they often used to be fit or were in incredible shape, even just a few years ago. These people ‘achieved fitness’, they may have even reached amazing heights. The trouble is that fitness should not be thought of as a goal you achieve, fitness is process you move towards or away from on a daily basis. While one day may not make a difference, you may only move an inch in either direction, the process continues every day, and it is the summation of these days added together that give you the result. Worse than that, if we think of training as a bank account that you save into, or draw upon, then older savings are worth less and less as time goes on.  This can be negative if you used to be fitter, but it could be good if you used to be very unfit.  It is also more like rent, you need to make regular ‘payments’ or you lose the right to own fitness, most days you should try to move towards fitness. 

We all have celebrations or special days when we forget about fitness and enjoy an event, but generally we should try to make choices that move us towards fitness and health, and we need to do this regularly to achieve our goal. This does not mean take a 30 day challenge, fitness is not a 30 challenge, it is a lifelong challenge and one we need to grasp firmly and decide we are going to battle for every day. These battles need not be excessive, it may be walking up the stairs and not using the lift, getting to the gym once or twice a week, it may be not adding high calorie dressing to your meal. Whatever the battle, however small the victory, it inches you closer towards fitness.  Remember you do not ‘achieve’ fitness, you move towards or away from the goal in an undulating pattern throughout your life. At some points you may get very fit, while at other times, you may have moved some distance from fitness. It is virtually always possible to regain lost fitness, it is also very easy to let fitness slip through your fingers. It is time to forget about the goal of fitness and look at the process of fitness, it should be a goal to maintain fitness in the on-going journey through life, not to simply achieve it, then move onto the next challenge.

How to plan for success

The first idea you should get away from are the ‘challenge’ style of dieting, or short term dietary fixes. These ideas may be ok to kick start a lifestyle change, but your aim needs to be to make lifestyle changes that you can live with, but still move you towards fitness. I suggest making small manageable changes. Add more greens into your diet, eat fruits and vegetables every day, drink more water, buy a smaller plate (so you can fit less food on it) if you need to lose fat. Make one or two changes every few weeks. Each change will take a while to become a habit, but if the changes are small, then they should not be so hard that you cannot maintain them.  The good thing is these small additions and subtractions can accumulate over time. First you can add more greens, this will fill you up more, so you eat less, so your fat levels will drop. A few weeks later you could increase your intake of water, this will full you further and so more fat is lost, it will also hydrate you, so your body starts to function better and your skin looks healthier…The process continues, and if you do not back slide, before too long you will move towards fitness and health.  The secret is to constantly maintain the habits you add, if you can keep the exercise you introduced and the dietary changes these will keep you on the right track, even if you fail to add more things you think you need for a while, still hold onto the things you have already started to do.  There is always time later to add more things, but never drop a fitness improving facet of your life as long as increasing fitness is your goal.  Obviously there are special occasions or events that mean plans must change, but generally try to keep those actions as habits that are a normal part of your life.

If you always remember that you do not ‘achieve fitness’, that it is rented, and every month you need to tally up your ‘rent’ and see if you have earned enough to have it, or if you are drifting away and need to work more on it. Hopefully, if you can stay consistent you will maintain a fit, healthy body throughout your life.

 

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New year Squat frenzy (or why I'm not strong..yet)

 See note at the bottom about this picture

Today I finally realised something that has on the edges of my mind for a while. ...I’m not strong!  Now let me qualify that a bit, strength is kind of hard to define, you can be strong at say pull-ups, or deadlifts, or whatever, but being ‘strong’ means being able to do your chosen skill well, with a decent amount of weight.

For a short while I’ve been moving over from a powerlifting style training routine to a more weightlifting-esque style of lifting.  That has proven somewhat more difficult than I expected as I’m reasonable at the powerlifts (2 x bodyweight deadlift, 1.5 x bodyweight bench), but the stiffness I developed in those endeavours is just what I do not need for doing Olympic style lifts.  For example overhead squats touching glutes to calves I have to work up to even lifting bodyweight.  From standing to parallel I’m pretty good, below parallel I suck!  It’s like I have to fight myself down, I’m kind of weak & stiff at the same time in that portion of the lift!  It’s the same with the other squat variations, but not quite so bad weight-wise, I’m not strong in the bottom part, I’m also not fast.  Those are two things you need to really do reasonably well at Olympic lifting being fairly strong & fast at just the place I’m weakest & slowest, it’s a pain.

So, far this year I’ve worked out 6 days this year (every other day & some sessions have been twice a day) & every session has included squats.  This is NOT a powerlifting style of squatting.  We’re talking high bar back, front or overhead & basically the sets have been short of max so far.  I am going to say now this is going to change, I’m moving to working out squats every day for several weeks, sometimes twice a day – it will be basically this: Work up to the daily max, then done, or on harder days followed by some lighter higher rep sessions.  I will do variations that will affect the max lifted like pause squats (if done using overhead squats these are extremely brutal, but I’ll do pause variations on all forms of squats that I do) & other techniques to keep everything going.  I will be doing other exercises, but squats will play a big part.  I will be backing off of squats once it becomes obvious the cycle is done, but I really want at least this month of consistent squatting on a daily basis.  After that I’ll have a short recovery then still hit the squats several times a week, but hopefully my numbers will be more tolerable after a cycle or so of really focussed squat training.

 Not used in this cycle, but chains are cool :-)

This may not be the kind of training you’ve heard about before, it is a very ‘Olympic lifting’ style of training & one I’m not used to following either, so it’s nearly as new to me as it is to you.  I have no idea how I’ll fare using it as up until now I’ve used totally traditional bodybuilding &/or powerlifting styles of training that insist on resting bodyparts or movements between sessions, not hammering & hammering the same thing day after day, so I thought I’d try it out using these first few sessions to slide into it, then going daily from now until I really hit a wall either physically or mentally - Squatting is mentally TOUGH, it’s in the top % of tough exercises to burn out the mind.  I’d go so far as to say squatting is more mental than physical, you are frightened of being crushed, overhead squats are even worse than the rest, you could drop a weight onto your head!

 Hopefully we'll be lifting all this 

& more by the end of the cycle

So back to the not being strong – To clarify I’m not strong at these lifts YET!  That’s the important point, I know I’m not up there quite yet, but it will come, so far I’ve managed to get from not being able to touch my glutes to my calves to being able to get down (yes I started with a stick!), now I’m going to be grinding out a daily recipe of squats (various back, front & overhead, with or without pause & maybe even some unstable versions if I feel I can do them safely – using discs hanging from the bar using bands NOT standing on an unstable surface). 

 Hanging discs from a bar using bands

So, that’s the plan for the first part of 2013.  It may, or may not work out as this is a pretty new method to me & goes against a lot of what I’ve learnt before, but then so is letting your knees go over the front of your toes, holding the bar overhead with the shoulders shrugged, cocking the wrists when lifting overhead, wearing heeled shoes when squatting, moving quickly when lifting.  All of this I’ve had to adjust to over the last few months, it’s been a steep learning curve, but has opened up a whole new vision about what you can do when training.  That isn’t to say the other things I’ve done are wrong, that bodybuilding, powerlifting or functional style training routines are wrong, far from it, I love doing them.  It’s just I’m exploring a new pathway for a while & see where it can lead me & if my legs do happen to get super-strong I won’t be too upset as they always been my weakest part!

So, let’s hear what you’re trying out for 2013, pop it below & we can maybe give the readers a whole pile of ideas for the new year, how about it?

[NOTE: I didn't have any pics of my recent training sessions so I grabbed a few random pics just to make it a bit more exciting for you.  I am not using a box for squatting as shown in the pic for example, it's all glute to calves]

The secret of success - giveaway!

 As we're getting close to Thanksgiving in the US I thought I'd give away THE secret to successful training.  It's only known to a few, but if you put this into practice you are virtually guaranteed to achieve great results!
If you can follow the real secret to training success, your gains will skyrocket & your results will improve beyond anything you've seen before.  If you do this between now & summer 2013 (for example) & if your goal is getting a beach body, you will have a real chance that you will stride onto the beach looking like an Adonis (from the neck down, exercise can't do much above that).
So, onto the real secret to successful training...."Showing up"
Yep, it sounds stupid, but for most people the hardest thing is actually getting there & doing the work.  Most people are happy to plan it, but rarely do they follow through & do it.  If you choose the other path though, if you commit to hitting the gym every planned session between now & summer 2013 (I'll let you have time off if you're ill), then you are so much more likely to achieve that goal.  So, why not really set aside that time, hit the gym every day you plan to.  Sure, go lighter if you feel a little burnt out, go heavier when you're feeling like a Kryptonian, but turn up, get into your training gear & have at it without fail & the goal will be achieved.  As a nice side effect often getting strict with the training leads to other positive traits developing, like better dietary choices (as you need to fuel those sessions), better rest (you will need that rest trust me!) & taking better care of yourself.  So, if you can do one thing, I'd say just show up, it will make the rest fall into place so much more easily!
I hope everyone in the US has a wonderful Thanksgiving & then get to the gym! SHOW UP!!!

Losing fat & training:sucking it up

 This could be real 'training life' saver - a way to squat!

 

Here is a little training update - Today I actually measured my waist (Oh yea! Feeling that bodybuilding pump dudes - actually I was measuring someone else & it came up :-).  I am at 29 inches around the waist, which is down by around a 1 & a half inches.  I did zero cardio, so you want the secret?....ok here's what I have been doing.  Basically I filled my plate with huge amounts of mashed potato (mashed with a whole avocado, a little soya milk & some raw spring onion mixed in - also a protein source & veggies), besides that I've been having a whole coconut every day or two (& of course all my other meals).  Just ignore the fact I'm an outlier & high fat &/or high carbs ramps up my metabolism to a ridiculous degree.  I can up my calorie intake & I can lose fat.  Sure my weight stays the same, or goes up a little, but I can eat a lot more & lose fat.  So, to be honest my 'eating system' would make 99% of you dough-boys...I was honestly not bothered about fat levels, actually the opposite.  I've been focussed more on trying to get my head around my limitations & 'sucky' exercises.
Today I found a way to squat!  That may not sound like a lot to you, but at the moment I fighting against some functional scoliosis - that is a muscular imbalance that pulls the spine over, it is not the permanent kind, but something you get if your back muscles get REALLY jacked up - I've had it on & off for a couple of years now.  I have tried a few therapies to sort it out, but basically it is finding that 'key' that will balance out the issues & things will get back on track (I can go into this more if you like, but we'll leave it there for now).  I think a lot of the reason the issue has lasted this long is that you need to do a load of 'sucky' exercises to help fix it.  I'll be frank, in training terms I am a 'meat & potatoes' type of trainee.  Give me squat, deadlift, bench, shoulder press, row & chin & I'll be happy.  Alternatively give me planks, side planks, shoulder bridges & endless stretching & I am unhappy.  That is just the way it is with me, so I have not been 100% happy going to the gym to hit a load of planks for time, then stretching out like a yoga guru.  At times the mood hits me I will 'just test out' something heavy & be back to square one, so today I decided I really had to get this fixed by 2013 so I can go for goals of seriously increasing my deadlift & possibly trying out Olympic weightlifting before the joints get too worn to consider it.  So, I have been playing around with versions I might like better of these exercises.  I have been doing planks in all four directions off of a bench (I hook my feet under a squat rack safety bar set at the correct height & do timed holds facing directly upwards, facing directly downwards, to each side & I experimented at also doing them with the body at 45 degrees, so think facing 10 O'clock, 2 O'clock, 4 O'clock, 7 O'clock, those were tough I had to learn how to support my weight at the unusual angles, I barely managed 30 seconds the first go), so I've got those to work with.  I'm going to include more things like ab roll-outs as those are kind of interesting, maybe work up to standing as at the moment I am on the knees.  As I mentioned earlier (see picture at the top) I also found a way to squat.  I own an ironmind squat squat hip belt which is an awesome tool, but the only way I've found to use it is to drag two benches together & use a loading pin in a rack, it's also tough getting up on the benches with the necessary weight (for a guy with back issues this causes REAL issues), today I experimented using bands & a jumpstretch platform, using this method doesn't involve climbing with weights around your waist onto a pair of benches, I did get stuck at the bottom as I underestimated the strength of the bands a little, but once I had that sorted I could do it ok.  Sure, the 'weight' ('tension' if you want to be more accurate) is a little light at the bottom, but the top it is tough & zero back involvement, also lightening up at the bottom is kind of good for now as I have issues towards the bottom, so I can live with that for now.  I will still keep trying out various weighted versions on the belt & see if I can get a floor based version that works, if I do that will be included in a month or so.  I'm also practising the position at the bottom of the snatch (a snatch squat stance with a stick for timed holds at various heights) & once I get better at those I'll begin including a 'snatch squat press' (think of being at the bottom of a weightlifting squat - rock bottom - then using a snatch grip pressing a very light bar overhead.  Again this will NOT be for strength, but kept light so you are doing what would be a form of dynamic stretching.  That won't be for a while yet. 

For the stretching I'm honestly still not sure of the best way to go?  Maybe I'll have to buy a yoga video or something?  I hate stretching, it's slow, it's dull, you don't lift big metal stuff..it's really no fun for me, but it needs to get done.  I suppose 'sucking it up' is all about that.  Lifting heavy isn't so much about sucking it up if you want to do it, but stretching is all about it to me as I really loathe it & so I really do not do enough of it (or sometimes ANY of it!).

So, my training hasn't been heavy or consistent enough, but that will change from today (well the consistency, the heavy will have to wait a few more months).  I will be hitting things very regularly, until the end of the year.  It won't really be heavy weight training for a while yet.  I need to get the all-clear on the back before I can even consider a bar on the back or heavy overhead work, but stuff like inverted rows (Australian pull-ups to some of you), bodyweight pull-ups are ok, but weights around the waist causes too much traction & can cause issues, but I may test out a weight vest later in the year, that might just be ok as the traction moves from waist focus (which is bad for me right now) to shoulder traction (which is fine), I can also do push-ups, bench press (without an arch), ab work (flexion style) will be there as well as even with a bad back (no offence to Dr McGill here) flexion seems to be good for my back in moderation.  I've not got anything like a programme right now, nor really a progression pattern, which is very unusual for me, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what works & what doesn't, so this is an ongoing experiment.  I am really hoping the experience will make me better at coaching others & it certainly has given me a better perspective on people when they say they hate doing stuff.  The answer isn't always "I hate doing stuff, so do something else", sometimes the answer is "suck it up".   If you have a goal & that goal involves  doing a small part of 'sucky stuff' to reach the 'good stuff', then you either forget the goal or wade through that sucky mess you hate & drag yourself towards that good stuff on the horizon!  So, my answer to that has actually changed, like Captain Kirk, I always thought you could avoid the decisions you wanted to avoid (star trek reference!), but sometimes you have to take the hard, long windy route to get to your goals & this is one of those times.  My goals will hopefully be met in 2013, but from now until then I have a serious battle to fight.  If I truly want to make those goals I have to strip off & wade through the 'mess' of stretching daily (or several times daily), doing boring timed holds, grasp the brief pleasure with the band squats & a very few other selected exercises that will be my 'bread & butter' for a few months (I'm using a lot of very un-vegan references on this today, sorry!).  So I'll be 'sucking it up' for those months, but even after that I think I'll have to change to include a lot more of these things to keep myself healthy as I push towards a three times bodyweight deadlift & possibly an experiment with some Olympic style weightlifting (assuming I ever find a coach in the area that's any good & not just some guy who did a weekend course & got a 'cert' to teach O-lifting...really?...oh yea, there are a load of them out there!).

I thought you might be interested in what was going on as I've been kind of quiet of late about my actual goals & thought this might help you if you are going through issues of some kind.  Hopefully we can all work towards a 2013 that will give us awesome results!  So, if you know you have been avoiding stuff you should be doing, let's all get down doing the stuff that needs to get done.  Time to suck it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stress & training

Today I am going to talk about some factors that are often overlooked in training.  You know how you can be going along nicely, all those gains are coming like clockwork & that new PR seems just around the corner, then suddenly WHAM! the gains dry up, the strength goes down & you are like a shadow of yourself just a week ago?  There are obviously a multitude of reasons for this to occur, but I would like to talk about one.
I would like to talk about stress.  Stress is a misunderstood term in many ways.  When you train you are in fact causing stress, every action or inaction results in a 'stress load' & each human has a unique 'stress threshold' which they cannot rise above, or can only do so briefly & with dire consequences.
Below I am going to use a really oversimplified example to get the idea across, so do not take this as literal, but as a means to get the idea lodged in your head.
First off with stress the body does not appear to differentiate between physical & mental stress, it appears to be lumped under one 'stress' banner.  This means that worry about a debt can be as hard on the body as say a serious deadlift session.  Secondly you have a set upper limit to the amount of stress you can recover from, if you go above that you will then cause serious repercussions to both your physical & mental well being.
So, let's move on to our hypothetical trainer called Bob.  Bob training 3 days a weeks pretty heavy & has made some decent gains, his job is ok, his relationship is ok & so is his life in general.  You could say if you had to draw it out the stress in his life would look something like:

His total stress is such that he can hit it hard in the gym & still recover really well.  Remember things like lack of sleep & partying can be stress (these can be piled into 'Life Stress'), but Bob doesn't party hard very often & is generally ok with his sleeping.  So, Bob trains, he makes gains slowly, but fairly steadily, obviously there are ups & downs, but generally Bob is doing ok.
Unfortunately Bob is in for a bit of bad news.  Bobs wife suddenly announces she is leaving him.  Bobs is shocked, he didn't expect this!  Suddenly, the 'Relationship stress' is through the roof!  If Bob tries to continue with his usual routine he may for a while be able to push through, but more than likely something will give!  He knows he has to continue with his job, possibly his 'Life stress' will go up as some things they shared, Bob now has to do.  The only thing that can really give is the training, so Bob's new stress pie chart could look something like:

Notice in this example Bob now has much less capacity to hit it in the gym. We used the simplified version where his work stress remained the same & so did his life stress, just to make this simple idea to understand, but obviously everything changes.  If you think about it this pie chart actually changes everyday.  There is also some spare capacity built-in to the system as you are not working with 100% of your maximum stress load everyday, but you get the idea - if stress increases in one area, it can adversely effect another area.  So, sometimes, during times of crisis (high stress) it is not only ok to back-off, but fairly vital.  You can create a basic, abbreviated routine using a couple of compound movements & work just on those.  I would not suggest quitting training, but modify them to suit times of stress.  If you have an exam, or a vital deadline, then working out out quickly can be a double bonus as you'll have more time to get the vital thing done.  If it's a death in the family or a divorce then you could find that you have little option other than backing off as the strength may be well down.
Remember higher stress also affects sleeping, eating & focus, so your training can be hit badly from multiple effects & it can seem that you fade to nothing in a week or so.  You just have to remember that this is just a temporary thing, you have not 'lost' that strength in one week, you have just put that capacity into recovery from another issue.  Once you are back on track you can regain & supersede that strength, but you have to give yourself time to get past the present issue.  Take things slowly, try to hold onto what strength you can, but do not 'stress it' (that will make things worse), it is better to crush 75% of your previous best & still be a winner in the gym, than fail at 90% & feel that extra stress of failure.  Lightening &/or shortening your routine will keep most of your strength during stressful periods & keep you ready to hit new highs when circumstances change.
Hopefully you can refer back to this the next time you hit a stressful patch in your life, or if you have friends who are going through this, then help them sort out their training, reassure them that this is not a permanent situation & advise them on ways they can survive & still come out with their training intact ready to fore fill new, exciting goals.
Finally there are ways you can lower stress.  Taking walks in nature, meditation, massage (not deep tissue), relaxing hobbies, sometimes reading, you know the sort of thing that calms you down & relaxes you, or find some new things that may lower that overall stress.  Lowering overall stress will aid your training goals, so take the time to discover a few ways you can ditch the stress & those gains will come in leaps & bounds!
So let's stay calm out there :-)

REVIEW: How to give a shit about your health (book)

As far as I know Karina Inkster is new to the field of health writing, at least I've never come across her before.  The book title might be a bit off-putting to some of you, but remember having names like "Skinny bitch" didn't do that book much harm, so if the name isn't to your taste, just ignore it & get into the what the book is all about.
The book is 100% plant based dietary information & is obviously written by someone who eats & trains, so they know our goals & understand the best ways to achieve them.  It is more of a 'getting started' book, but even for those of us who have been into it for a while it's still nice to read someone else's take on what needs to be done.  She advocates basic vegan wholefoods, nothing too weird or wonderful, covers basic foods you'll need to get you started, ways to avoid falling for sugary drinks cravings, covers the essential fatty acids issue, even includes recipes & of course basic training.  The only issue I found missing was I don't remember reading about the importance of B12 (which should, in my view be added to every athletes diet whether they are meat eaters, veggies or vegan). 
One other fact is the book is cheap.  Karina obviously wanted the book 'out there', so priced it in a way that means, you can easily buy one for yourself & a couple of friends who may be interested in moving towards a healthier lifestyle (that can either be a vegan in need of some health tips, a non-vegan in need of diet &/or health advice).
I would recommend this as a good starter pack if you want to move towards a healthier lifestyle.  I would actually say this is a much more sound program than say the 'Skinny bitch' approach, this program will actually get you heading towards optimal health.
To get the book click here & to check out more about Karina go to here site here (just a hint she also does personal training & nutritional advice if you need it).
As usual I get nothing for reviewing this, I just read the book & liked it & hopefully you will too!

Power: Are we missing something?

I've been considering 'power' in the same way you can break down strength.  You know you can have absolute strength (think powerlifting 1 rep max lifts), low volume strength (think 6-12 reps bodybuilders typical range) & strength endurance (doing a fair amount of reps needing strength, but repping out - think push-ups etc).

Well I was thinking of power in the same way.  Wouldn't it make sense that there is (& I'm still working this out):

Heavy implement power (think barbell movements like O-lifting variations)

 Joni snatches his way to power

Light implement training (thin med ball, kettlebell etc) 

 Not just for get-ups.  Kettlebells can also be used 

explosively in swings, snatches or other movements

  

Bodyweight power (think of plyometric work & other explosive actions like sprinting & some extreme callisthenics). 

   Dan show us some extreme callisthenics

I believe that power may be at least as important as strength in many ways - power goes more quickly than strength for a start, as you age you can lose power up to 50% faster than strength!  Power is often the key to healthy living, if the power is there, the strength HAS to be there.  Strength is the base of power to be sure, but power sits on top kind of like the king when everything else is in place. 

So, how should we include power training into our training?

I’d consider cycling in all the forms of power mentioned about, heavier O-lifting variations at some points, lighter implement training like kettlebells at another time, mid-range dumbbells or med-ball work & some times when plyo or sprinting hit centre stage.  The best time to do it is to do your foam rolling & warm-up stuff then do the power stuff, then the strength stuff.  One caution here;  Only add power once you have some strength, adding power to a weak body doesn’t work, it is the quickest way to injury so spend a while building up to reasonable strength first, then add in the power work.

You do not have to stick to conventional plyometrics  work, power can also come from some extreme callisthenics like muscle-ups, clapping push-ups, even clapping handstand push-up.  When starting begin with easier power work then move on to harder movements, medball work can be started fairly easily & jumping onto (not off of) low boxes or short sprints can also work (uphill sprints might be an easier start on the joints), but start much easier than you think & work into it very, very slowly.

Anyway these are my first thoughts in this direction.  I imagine if you became pretty good at some heavy, some light & some bodyweight power production then you will become a great all-round athlete & be in a better position to fight off the aging process as well.

Final point, I’m not sure you need power training year round, it may be that you can drop most for some of the off-season, or if you are not an athlete drop it at certain times of the year, but certainly you should pick times of low stress & focus on building up the power if you wish to maintain maximum physical performance.  I know I am now thinking more about types of power & how I should fit them into my training & I hope you are as well.  I’m sure we’ll return to this as I start to put together my thoughts & I’d love your input & views on this subject; do you think the type of power matters (heavy, light, bodyweight)?  Do you think you can do it all the time or should cycle it?  Would you arrange power differently to my categories?  Have you found specific forms of power training particularly beneficial?  Anything else you think we should have covered? I know this is only the opening look at this, so I look forward to your input as well as spending some time pondering this myself.