It’s no secret that the majority of people who begin a fitness program, do so to look better neked. Sure there are plenty of people who do it for ulterior reasons, such as performance enhancement, increased strength, or for general health purposes. But lets not beat around the bush-for most trainees, there’s only one reason, and one reason only they step foot in the gym- to make people of the opposite sex want to hang out with them.
If I had to guess, about eight out of ten clients I work with, list “fat loss” as their main goal when they fill out their initial evaluation. As well, they’ll go on and on about how they’ve tried everything, from spending endless hours on the treadmill to well, spending endless hours on the treadmill. Here’s something to ponder- if something doesn’t yield optimal results, why do we insist on doing more of it? And if I hear one more person say, “well Jillian MIchaels says that’s the best way to burn fat,” I swear to god I’ll hunt you down and one nut punch you. Don’t think I won’t do it!
I don’t blame people for drinking the Kool-Aid. Thanks to the mass media (magazines, the interwebz, television), we’re essentially programmed to think that doing copious amounts of “cardio,” and following diets that have us eating nothing but seaweed, and I don’t know, camel dung, are the best way get lean.
Furthermore, it’s no coincidence that the most popular pieces of equipment in every commercial gym are the elliptical trainers, recumbent bikes, and the selectorized machine circuits. Weird how they also happen to be the easiest.
I’m willing to bet that if you were to actually watch those people in your local gym who happen to have a physique you admire train- they’re doing the exact opposite of what you’re doing. I call it the 180 Rule. Which is to say, their program probably consists of things like squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, rows, bench variations, and a healthy dose of single leg training. Not to mention they’re probably lifting heav(ier) weights, incorporating things like complexes and circuits, as well as steering clear of the elliptical trainer and flat screen televisions. You know, cause they’re there to train, not to watch E! True Hollywood Story: Perfect Strangers. Don’t laugh, you know you watched it!
To make a long story short, every week we get a fair share of dvds sent our way at Cressey Performance to check out. As you can imagine, sometimes I end up wanting to swallow my own tongue while watching some of the stuff (i.e they’re not very good). However, every now and then I come across a product that I really like and have no issues recommending to people.
One such product is fellow t-nation contributor Nick Tumminello’s new dvd Strength Training for Fat Loss and Conditioning.
Nick is a very bright guy and someone who I respect because he “gets it.” He doesn’t fluff anything, and isn’t scared to go against the grain and tell people what they really need to do in order to get into phenomenal shape. In his new dvd, he covers well over 100 new combinations, complexes, and circuits that will undoubtedly get you into the best shape of your life.
As a strength coach/personal trainer, I’m always looking for new and innovative ways to get my clients to hate me, and I would highly recommend this product to any fitness professional looking to take their fat-loss programming to the next level. Check it out here.
