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1985 Called. It Wants Its Pointless Fitness Accessory Back.

This is a picture I came across last week of actress Lisa Rinna. Many will recognize her as a past participant of “Dancing With the Stars.” To be honest I’ve never watched an episode of that show. However, back in the day I did watch “Melrose Place” religiously every week where she played a character called Taylor McBride. While some may think it’s silly that I would ever admit to watching that show, I’ll have it be on the record that everything I know as far as how to treat women I learned from “Melrose Place.”

For instance, sleep with as many as possible within a one block radius. If one happens to get knocked up and starts asking for alimony, all you have to do is come up with a diabolical scheme such as blow up her apartment; preferably with her in it. Another option would be to remove the breaks from her car so she drives off a cliff. Either way, problem solved. WHEW! That was close. Hey did you happen to catch the episode where Billy and Allison end up together? I totally called that from the start. They’re so cute together.

Anyways, I don’t know what disturbed me more about the picture above. The fact that she looks like the Queen of the MerPeople (hello Botox) or that she’s running with pink dumbbells in her hands. I’d ask her where her leg warmers are, but she already succeeded in bringing back women’s fitness about 20 years. $10 says she listening to “Let’s Get Physical” on her iPod.

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Is It Worth It?

Major League star, and first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers Prince Fielder stated last week that he is now a vegetarian.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel:

“It wasn’t always this way. Fielder used to enjoy a stacked burger or a juicy steak as much as any carnivore, but a few weeks ago he received a book from his wife, Chanel, that changed his outlook on what he puts in his massive frame. The book described how certain animals are treated and slaughtered for food.

“After reading that, (meat) just didn’t sound good to me anymore,” Fielder said. “It grossed me out a little bit. It’s not a diet thing or anything like that. I don’t miss it at all.”

All I have to say is men love to eat meat. The statement, “I don’t like to eat meat” is a more verbose way of saying, “I have a vagina.” Figuratively speaking of course. For the record, I know plenty of women who love to eat a variety of small, furry animals. Lets just say Prince has been asked to kindly leave the “man” table where he can join the others like him who probably drink Zima and watch musicals with their girlfriends. Don’t forget your Jazz hands!

Alright, that was kind of mean. I can respect Prince’s decision to stop eating meat. More power to him. But it does raise an interesting question: is it worth it?

Without getting into a discussion on the moral issue of vegetarianism, I want to briefly discuss the different types. On one end, you have the less “extreme” individuals who will still eat things such as fish, chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, and other types of dairy. Lacto-ovo vegetarians are those who consume milk and eggs, but no fish, chicken or red meat. The most radical are Vegans, who won’t allow any animal source into their diet what-so-ever.

Depending on which type of vegetarian we’re talking about, it’s safe to say that most can still get sufficient protein in their diets from various other food groups. Those who just eliminate red meat from their diet, can still easily acquire protein from other animal sources such as chicken, fish, etc. Lacto-ovo vegetarians are still ingesting milk and eggs, which is “doable.” Not to mention utilizing various sources protein powder (whey, casein, soy, milk, pea, hemp, rice) helps tremendously. Vegans on the other hand are often going to have to consume massive amounts of “bulk” in order to obtain the protein required in their diet (this is especially true for those who are athletes or live an active lifestyle).

Additionally, as several highly respected authorities in the fitness industry have noted time and time again, it’s been well documented that those who are non-meat eaters tend to have a lower body weight and less lean mass than those who eat meat. Not necessarily an ideal situation for a professional athlete who needs to perform at an elite level day after day. That’s not to say that it can’t be done, it just throws a monkey wrench in the grand scheme of things.

As well, when referring to vegetarians, there are other “issues” that have to be dealt with. Mainly the fact that when you go out of your way to eliminate a macro-nutrient from the diet (in this case, protein), you’re going to encounter what Susan Kleiner, author of “Power Eating,” calls nutritional danger zones- namely, iron, zinc, and B12 deficiencies. These deficiencies can hurt exercise performance. So what can one do? Again, I reiterate that this will all depend on what “degree” of vegetarian someone is.

1. Include more Heme Iron sources in your diet: all animal protein sources contain the more easily absorbed form of iron, heme iron. Red meat is by far the most abundant source of heme iron. However, for those that don’t eat red mean, chicken and fish also contains heme iron, albeit to a lesser extent.

2. Consider Iron and Zinc Supplements: unfortunately, our bodies do not absorb the iron that comes from vegetables as well as the iron that comes from animal foods. Nonmeat eaters (especially the more active you are) would be wise to include an iron supplement daily. The same can be said for Zinc

3. B12 deficiency can lead to irreversible nerve damage, due to the fact that the body needs trace amounts daily in order to manufacture red blood cells and nerves. Including more foods with fortified B12 or supplementing with a B12 vitamin would bode well for many vegetarians (especially vegans).

4. Another thing to note is creatine. Creatine is typically low in vegetarians. Supplementation for those who are athletes and compete in strength/power sports and/or activities is definitely recommended.

I think from a performance and/or body composition standpoint, oftentimes (read: not all) vegetarians shoot themselves in the foot. In the case of Prince Fielder, clearly body composition is not at the top of the list. But performance is, and I give him two months before he reverts back to his old ways. Matter of fact, I think his wife even mentioned that if she notices any decrease in his power production, she’s going to feed him a steak.

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The Day After

This is Steph, a client of Cressey Performance who is in the midst of preparing for her 2nd Boston Marathon. As our resident Fashionista, it’s safe to say that Steph has an impeccable fashion sense based on the types of shirts she wears when she comes to train during the week.

While most people preparing for a marathon would gasp at the thought of strength training, Steph has embraced it as an integral part of her programming. In the past, she would do nothing but log endless miles on the road or treadmill thinking that the only way to improve was to run till the cows came home. For those of you not from Upstate New York like myself, that’s a long time.

As I blogged about a few weeks ago, the majority of endurance athletes tend to follow a particular cycle:

Train (run)………..Get Injured……….Rehab/Physical Therapy. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Before she started training with us at Cressey Performance, Steph was no different. She would typically run 4-5 times per week, only to re-injure herself not long thereafter. You can imagine her frustration.

Being the trooper that she is, she started training with my good friend Eric Cressey prior to her first Boston Marathon in 2007. With only a few months to prepare, he was able to fix her up and she completed her first marathon in memory of her mother who tragically died during the attacks of 9/11. Afterwards she vowed she would never run another marathon.

That lasted all of a couple of months, and Steph decided that she wanted to do it all over again. However this time, she’s doing it the right way. While she still gets her tempo and distance work in, she cut down her overall mileage considerably and replaced it with lifting heavy stuff and other tomfoolery:

The above video is Steph the day AFTER running 18 miles performing glute ham raises at our satellite facility in Saxonville, MA. How bad ass is that?

Coincidentally, the last time I ran 18 miles, the city of Boston held a ticker tape parade in my honor and I totally made out with Giselle Bundchen afterwards. True story…………………………………………..in my dreams. PS: I hate you Tom Brady.

All in all, Steph has never felt better (she’s injury free) and she’s a perfect example of what hard work and dedication can do. She works her tail off and always does it with a smile. She’s totally going to dominate her time from last year.

Side Note: This year Steph is running in the spirit of things that her mother dedicated her life towards. She’s raising money for the Boston Medical Center. You can visit her donation page here

Any help would be immensely appreciated.

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“But I Don’t Want To Get Big and Bulky”

Are your ears bleeding yet? Cause mine do every time I hear a woman utter those words whenever someone mentions strength training.

Note: much of the post below was part of an article I originally wrote for t-nation.com last year titled “4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know.”

Newsflash, ladies: You will not get “big and bulky” just because you’re strength training. That statement is akin to me saying, “Eh, I don’t want to do any sprints today because I don’t want to win the 100m gold medal next week.” Getting big and bulky isn’t easy, just like winning the 100m gold medal isn’t easy.

If anything, it’s an insult to all those people who’ve spent years in the gym to look the way they do. It didn’t happen overnight, which is what you’re assuming by saying something so absurd.

Besides, getting “big and bulky” actually entails lifting appreciable weight. Or in the case of J-Lo, looking like you’re going to give birth to two twin 747’s.

Let’s be honest, most people (men and women) won’t work hard enough to get “big and bulky” in the first place. It’s hard enough for a man to put on any significant amount of muscle, let alone a woman. Women are physiologically at a disadvantage for putting on muscle due to the fact that they have ten times less free Testosterone in their bodies compared to men.

That being said, you still need to get the most bang out of your training buck, and that includes ditching the glute-buster machine and focusing more on the compound movements. Joe Dowdell, owner of Peak Performance in NYC, trains many of the top female models in the city and their programming includes squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, bench variations, sled dragging, and tons of energy system work.

Yes, Victoria’s Secret models are doing squats and deadlifts. And yes, that’s completely hot. Guess what they’re not doing? Watching Oprah every day while walking on the treadmill for 60 minutes.

Just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you can’t train like a man and lift some serious weight. I never bought into this whole mindset that women are these delicate creatures that can’t hang with the boys.

UPDATE: Apparently J-Lo’s uterus doesn’t defy the laws of human nature and she actually gave birth to two twins (one boy and one girl) last night instead of two 747’s. Bummer, I was totally going to try to use up my frequent flyer miles.

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Carbohydrate Conundrum

Q: Tony, I know you always tend to advocate that people fluctuate their calorie (and as a result, their carbohydrate intake) on training days compared to non-training days. Can you elaborate on this a bit? I am trying to lose some fat and don’t know how many carbs I should be eating per day?

A: You’re absolutely correct. I do HIGHLY advocate that people try to fluctuate their caloric intake to correlate with their daily activity, especially if one’s goal is fat loss. For a quick primer on my thoughts dealing with carbohydrates, check out this article that I wrote for wannabebig.com.

The Carbohydrate Conundrum

However, if you have the attention span of a kid with ADHD (it is a long article), here are some quick thoughts:

1. It makes no sense to me to keep calories the same on non-training days as on training days if one’s goal is fat loss. You need to provide some sort of caloric deficit in order to burn fat. It stands to reason that you won’t be expending as many calories on non-training days, so you won’t “need’ as many calories.

2. For fat loss, low(er) carbohydrate diets trump high(er) carbohydrate diets in every way; even if caloric intake is kept constant. That is, given the same caloric intake (say 2000 calories per day), a diet that is lower in carbohydrates will lead to greater fat loss compared to a diet that is higher in carbohydrates. Assuming of course that 2000 kcals constitutes a deficit. Technically, low carbohydrate diets would entail any diet where carbs are kept to under 100 grams per day, but I think people tend to be a bit too carb-phobic anyways. This is where nutrient timing comes into play. To keep it simple:

Non-training days: keep the bulk of your carb intake to the first 1-2 meals of the day. Rest of the day should be focused on green veggies and protein/fat.

Training days: Pre/Post training drink, followed by some starchy carbs (oatmeal, sweet potato, pasta, bread, etc) with your next 1-2 whole food meals.

It’s important to realize that the body is going to burn whatever fuel is most readily available. If you’re eating carbs all day, your body’s ability to burn body fat is nilch (that’s a nice way of saying you’re going to stay fat). This is why I find it so absurd when clueless dieticians still advocate diets that are upwards of 60% carbs for fat loss. They don’t take into consideration the hormonal effect that it has on the body. They also don’t take into consideration the probability that I’ll want to punch them in the face with a brick. ***For those mathematically challenged, read below.

3. As I stated last week, substrate utilization has been shown to not be effected during the post-training window, even when carbohydrates are ingested. Read: your body will still be burning body fat even if carbs are ingested post training.

*** Probability: very high

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Scientist Are Really Smart?

According to this story published in Reuters Health a few weeks ago, researchers in Italy discovered that an individual’s body fat determines need for weight loss.

“Measuring body fat, rather than body mass index (BMI), appears to more accurately identify people who need lifestyle interventions to lose weight, study findings suggest.”

Wow, that just blew my mind. Fat people are fat? It may be a good idea for them to lose some weight? No way! And here I thought scientists were wasting time performing studies that concluded with things we already knew. I guess the jokes on me.

In a related story: Amy Winehouse likes her crack.

All kidding aside, I think it’s great that people are FINALLY catching on to the notion that the BMI is a complete farce and should not be used as a tool to categorize adults as “healthy” or “not healthy”. As Dr. Ottavia Colombo of the University of Pavia in Italy stated:

“The use of BMI alone does not discriminate between fat mass and fat-free mass, nor reflect the fat mass distribution.”

Colombo and colleagues recruited 23 men and 40 women, aged 20 to 65 years, to undergo body composition analysis in the Human Nutrition and Eating Disorders Research Centre at the university. The volunteers were healthy, but led sedentary lives and were not following a low-calorie diet.

Using the standard BMI, the study identified only 11% of the participants as needing strong recommendations to lose weight. Conversely, when waist circumference measurements were taken, 25% would need strong recommendations to lose weight.

In a nutshell, when used with an “average” population, the BMI tends to underestimate those people who would normally need to lose some weight to improve their health profile. Additionally it tells people who are 6-1, 145 lbs that they’re “normal” when in fact they need to eat.

Conversely, when BMI is used in a unique population such as elite athletes (the NFL for example), it OVER-estimates. A 5-9, 210 lb tailback (albeit with 11% body fat) would be considered “obese” according to the BMI chart. Heck, I’m 6-1 and 205 lbs and am considered “slightly overweight.” This despite the fact that my abs can deflect bullets and my arms have been registered as lethal weapons in 23 states. My case is still pending in Wyoming.

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The Sweet Taste of Victory

As a scholarship athlete, Jon works a few hours per week at the facility doing odd jobs for us. Some of his duties include cleaning equipment, picking up weights, and building stuff like our “crash wall” for the sprint track. Each day that he comes to work, there’s a list of “things to do” for the day. One day last week, one of his tasks was to go to the local Subway and finally ask the girl behind the counter for her number. You see, Jon had been going to Subway everyday for two straight weeks just to see this girl in action. And for two straight weeks all we would hear is “she’s perfect. I’ve never seen a girl handle roast beef like that before. It’s amazing.”

Needless to say, we took matters into our own hands and told him to go down to Subway and ask for her number. We even gave him money to buy his sub. I secretly recorded the conversation as it went down:

Hot Subway Girl: “May I take your order?”

Jon: “Yeah, I’m really hungry today. I just spent all day rescuing kittens from trees and helping old ladies cross the street. I’ll take my usual. I’ll also have a side order of your phone number.”

Hot Subway Girl: “Extra pickles?”

Jon: “That’s how I roll.”

10 minutes later we took this picture:

In Jon’s right hand is hot Subway girl’s number. Not only do we build strong athletes at Cressey Performance, but we mold them into charming bastards as well.

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Exercises I Hate (The Leg Press)

Lets be honest. People tend to gravitate towards the leg press because, well, it’s easy.

Warning: the video below is 32 seconds of your life that you will never get back and you may have a strong urge to pour battery acid over your eyes.

I don’t know which made me laugh more. The fact that the woman performing the leg press was wearing an ankle weight or that she was using a six inch ROM on each repetition. Either way, it’s downright absurd and just solidifies why I haven’t included the leg press in any of my client’s programming in over three years.

While the leg press does allow for certain individuals who “think” they’re strong to stroke their ego a bit, it also serves as a great tool for those training to become efficient at pushing a weight up an incline. Which as we all know, has a plethora of “real world” carry over to everyday life events. I used the word plethora, so you know I’m being totally serious here. See mom, I used my big boy words!

While many will state that the leg press is a safer alternative to squat variations, I will counter that argument by quoting Dr. Stuart McGill, who in his book “Low Back Disorders,” states: “the leg press sometimes causes the pelvis to rotate away from the back rest when the weight is lowered. The resultant lumbar flexion produces herniating conditions for the disc!” Translation: you’ll end up with an oowie.

Why anyone would want to go out of their way to reinforce a faulty motor pattern that will more than likely end up promoting disc herniations is beyond me. It makes about as much sense as Tom Selleck shaving off his mustache.

Personally I’m not a big fan of mustaches. However, recent research indicates that global warming can be attributed solely to the effects Tom Sellecks’s mustache has on women. I think I read that on Wikipedia. Either way, no man should ever give up that kind of power. Ever.

Long story short, from a cost-benefit perspective, I feel that leg presses just aren’t worth it. A trainee’s time would be much better spent learning how to squat properly. Not only will you have greater strength gains, improved bone health, and lean muscle gain….but squats will carry over very nicely in terms of everyday life events.

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Post-Exercise Carbohydrates

Many people ask what I like to do in my spare time. While my days are typically jam packed helping baby seals find their mothers, teaching orphans how to read, and reciting poetry in Boston Common with my shirt off; I also like to set aside a few minutes each day to discuss some common myths in the fitness/nutrition world.

One such myth that still tends to be quite common is the notion that ingesting carbohydrates around training will inhibit fat loss. For those who are trying to lose some body fat this has implications. What should you do? Lets keep this short and sweet.

1. Both resistance and endurance exercise up-regulate muscular insulin sensitivity. Without getting too much into the boring science (GLUT-4 receptors permeate to the cell membrane so that they can bind to glucose), this is often the reasoning behind the saying “take advantage of that post-training window.”

In a nutshell, following training, skeletal muscle is primed to take up nutrients at an accelerated rate. You could think of your muscles as a sponge just waiting to absorb all those nutrients you take in after training. What’s important to note is that during this post-training window, most (if not all) nutrients taken in will be shuttled to muscle and not fat cells. As a matter of fact, following glycogen depleting endurance exercise, research has clearly shown that ingested carbohydrates go towards glycogen storage while the body still continues to rely on fatty acids for fuel.

Granted the above refers to endurance exercise, but the same can be applied to those who only participate in resistance training as well; just to a smaller degree.

2. One cool study showcased the above points exactly. In terms of De Novo Lipogensis (DNL), or the making of new fat cells, it was shown that DNL did not occur in subjects who ingested 500 grams of CHO after 90 minutes of moderate exercise. As a matter of fact, the body continued to burn fat in the post exercise period.

Folch, N. Metabolic response to a large starch meal after rest and exercise: comparison between men and women. Eur J Clin Nutr. (2003) 57(9): 1107-15.

The basic gist of all of this? When glycogen levels are depleted (as they are in INTENSE exercise…a key point to remember), incoming carbohydrates go towards glycogen storage while the body continues to utilize free fatty acids for fuel. Ingesting some carbohydrates post-training (thus raising insulin levels) does not interfere with this.

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3D Stretching

If you’re like me, whenever someone mentions “3D” you automatically think of how awesome it would be if IMAX ever decided to release a full length feature devoted entirely to Kim Kardashian’s badonkadonk.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, a badonkadonk is a noun used to describe buttocks of exceptional quality and bounce. Used in a sentence it would go something like this: Is that Kim Kardashian’s badonkadonk or a solar eclipse? Hahahaha. See what I just did there? I referred to her “booty” as something large enough to be mistaken for a solar eclipse. Get it? The sun is kinda big and well, so is her………shut up! It was funny dammit. Barack Obama has nuthin on me when it comes to word-play.

Now for those who don’t have the maturity level of a 14 year old, the notion of “3D Stretching” has grown in popularity in recent years. When most people think of “stretching” they generally think of static stretching, where one hoists their leg up onto a table and stretches his or her hamstrings for example. There are a few issues I have with this approach:

1. It’s archaic. That’s not to say there isn’t a time and place for static stretching, because there certainly is. However, exercise is dynamic (we move), so it only makes sense that we should warm-up by moving as well.

2. Using the above example, static stretching only stretches the hamstrings in one plane (saggital). As trainers and coaches, we don’t tell people to train in one plane, so why do we miss the boat and stretch people in only one plane?

This is where 3D stretching comes into the picture.

Saggital Plane

First and foremost let me just say that it’s incorrect to round your upper back when stretching the hamstrings. In doing so, you’re just stretching the lumbar spine and NOT the hamstrings. Big difference. That being said, while maintaining a neutral spine, simply lean forward with your chest till you hit your “sticking point.” Hold for a split second and return back to the starting position.

Frontal Plane

To stretch the hamstrings in the frontal plane, simply move your hips side-to-side (left to right).

Transverse Plane

And now for the transverse plane (rotation), you need to “open up” your hips. The key here is to rotate THROUGH THE HIPS and not the lumbar spine. Also be sure that your toes are pointing straight ahead on the plant leg (ie: the leg that’s in contact with e floor).

Include these 3D stretches as part of your dynamic warm-up, and I guarantee your hamstrings will feel ten times better.