CategoriesFemale Training mindset mobility

Yoga: For People Who Lift

I lift. You lift. We all lift. Raise your hand if you do yoga?

[Cue crickets chirping]

Chances are not many of you raised your hands. I can count on one hand the total number of times I’ve been to a yoga class. In fact, I wrote about taking one HERE.

It was okay, but it’s never been my cup of tea. Because, you know, yoga.

Copyright: alexandralexey / 123RF Stock Photo

 

If only there was a style of yoga that was quick, not boring, and designed with meatheads in mind.

Egads, here comes Neghar Fonooni to the rescue.1She sent me a copy of her Wildfire Yoga resource last week and made sure to include this note (as if she knows me or something):

“I know what you’re thinking, yoga. But even meatheads can’t afford to not do this. This isn’t your standard yoga, but more along the lines of “flow series” that can be done in 5-20 minutes. The idea is to take the minimal effective dose and DO this shit.”

She had me at meathead.

Check it out HERE. But also read Neghar’s guest post below. If I can’t convince you she certainly can.

Yoga: For People Who Lift

The first time I stepped into a yoga class I was 18 years old. I’d been lifting weights for a few years as part of my high school sports requirements, and I had recently started working at the local YMCA—which meant I could try all of the classes free of charge.

And try them I did, which is how I ended up in this yoga class in the first place—the youngest, least flexible person in the room by a landslide. I remember watching these women, most of whom were 10-20 years my senior, get into positions I couldn’t even wrap my head around. It wasn’t so much that I wasn’t flexible, as I’d always stretched and mobilized while playing sports, but I sure wasn’t “yoga flexible” by any means.

Copyright: dimol / 123RF Stock Photo

It was during that extremely uncomfortable hour that I decided I couldn’t allow that physical discrepancy to stand. A competitive athlete all my life, I just couldn’t accept the notion that these “older” women could do something I couldn’t—which is absolutely comical when you consider that I sit here today in that age bracket I once considered old.

In response, I spent the next several years straddling both the lifting and yoga worlds, learning how to down dog and deadlift, and more than anything, learning how to be at home in my own body. At some point in my mid-twenties I officially became a meathead, chasing strength goals and worshipping barbells—and in that process, I lost touch with my yoga practice.

I was training 1-2 hours a day, and I just couldn’t find the time for yoga practices. Not to mention, I’d gotten so into lifting that yoga began to feel…superfluous. Unimportant, even. It wasn’t until a few years later, while seeking emotionally and mental balance, did I realize what a disservice I’d done myself by abandoning my yoga practice.

Sure, deadlifts and squats were great—but something was missing.

I’d gotten so serious about training to the extent that I’d actually lost touch with my body. It became a tool to lift things up and pick them down, and as a result, I often felt like a stranger in my own skin.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that yoga was the missing link. But, having completely immersed myself into the meathead world, I simply didn’t have the time to dedicate to a yoga practice. Not to mention, I’d gained a lot of muscle in my yoga off-season, making it a little trickier to get into some of those poses.

I found myself uncomfortable and intimidated in most of the yoga classes I attended, not having a typical “yoga body” and finding resistance in certain poses due to my delts of doom and my Quadzilla legs. I also found that during 60-90 minute yoga classes I would get bored, distracted, and even anxious.

I wasn’t really a yogi, at least not like the yogis I saw around me. But I knew I wasn’t only a meathead either, because yoga felt like something I needed in my life. I was, in fact, a meathead yogi—the most flexible person at my gym, yet the least flexible in my yoga class.

I had a unique perspective in this role, one that allowed me to see the beautifully inverse relationship between the two practices. But I couldn’t balance them with my schedule—at least not completely. I was a single mom, a full time personal trainer, and a blogger—all while taking night classes to finish my degree. I didn’t have time for 60-90 minute yoga classes, but I could carve out space for the minimal effective dose.

We talk about this a lot as it pertains to strength training; we know that we don’t necessarily have to dedicate hours in the gym in order to get strong, and that by being consistent with a minimal effective dose, we can make major strides.

Copyright: jtrillol / 123RF Stock Photo

We know that a 20 minute workout is better than no workout at all, and we know that by giving ourselves permission to do these shorter workouts, we’re more likely to build momentum when it comes to our training.

In contemplating this lesson I’d spent years teaching my clients, I realized that, just as I could get a lot out of a 20 minute training session, I could really benefit from just 5-10 minutes of yoga as well. Was a 60 minute yoga class going to be effective? Absolutely. But I didn’t have that kind of time, and I knew that I couldn’t afford not to do yoga.

I was spending so much time in the gym, lifting heavy weights, doing serious, strenuous movements, and I had nothing to balance me out. I was all yin and no yang, all hustle and no flow. But once I gave myself permission to do the bare minimum with regards to yoga, everything changed.

I started spending 5 minutes per day on my mat, and that 5 minutes eventually increased to 10, then 15, then twenty. Today I fluctuate between 5 minute morning flows and 20-30 minute flows on Sunday. I still consider myself a yogi but I rarely make it to a yoga studio. And despite that fact, I enjoy the myriad benefits that come with a yoga practice.

If you’re anything like me, you love to deadlift too. You probably like to squat, maybe even bench. Me? Pull-ups are my absolute favorite. And by doing just a few minutes of yoga per day, I’ve improved all of those lifts. My lifting regimen has benefited immeasurably from the addition of a short yoga practice, and in ways I’d never even imagined.

Here’s how…

More Active Recovery

Yoga is an effective and low impact way to move on your non-lifting days without compromising recovery. Rather than take a full day “off,” you can keep your movement momentum going every single day by doing just a few minutes of yoga.

Plus, if you’re feeling sore from a particularly intense training session, a short yoga flow can help redistribute blood flow and in recovery. If you could help your body recover in just 5-10 minutes per day so that you felt better going into your next training session, wouldn’t you say that’s a no-brainer?

Kinesthetic (Body) Awareness

Flowing through poses while barefoot and without a mirror requires a great deal of control. Yoga requires you to listen to your body, tapping into your trunk, your feet, your legs, and your hands to enter and sustain postures without visual aid.

This process increases kinesthetic (or body) awareness and can help when moving through compound lifts at the gym such as squats and pushups. Because yoga carries such an internal focus, it can encourage you to practice more intuition during your lifts.

Balance

And I don’t mean stability, although you’ll certainly get your fair share of that from yoga. I’m referring to the balance of activity that yoga provides to meatheads like us. Lifting sessions are typically aggressive and weighted, while yoga is intrinsic and uses the body as leverage. This can create a balance between Herculean and Buddha-like activities, which in turn, encourages balance within your daily life.

If you’re anything like me, you find that you’re more hustle than flow—yoga helps you add more flow into your life, which actually benefits your hustle.

Mobility and Flexibility

No matter how many times someone tells us that we need to spend more time stretching our muscles or mobilizing our joints, we would just rather lift, wouldn’t we?

I mean, who has time to do all that flexibility work when we have to make sure we snag that open rack for a squat sesh? But, improving your mobility and flexibility will increase your movement efficiency-benefiting your lifts exponentially.

Yoga is a fun way to get bendy that won’t take up valuable gym time. By doing 5-8 minutes of yoga every day, you’re building a foundation of mobility that doesn’t require you to do lengthy warm-ups at the gym, or add time to your already time-consuming lifting sessions.

Breath Control

I cannot tell you how many times I have helped someone out of shoulder pain by teaching them to breathe from their diaphragm or coached a client into a stronger overhead press just by cueing them to BREATHE. Yoga places significant emphasis on the breath, which will keep you aware of your breathing during your training sessions.

Note from TG: while not quite the same thing (it’s close) here’s me explaining what it means to get 3D expansion of rib cage which is all about keeping diaphragm and pelvis aligned for optimal stability.

 

The Goldilocks Principle

Understanding when to hold back on your lifts and when to push through is a delicate dance.

You can sometimes set down the weight and think, “I could’ve done more.” Inversely, you might be wishing you hadn’t pushed through that last ugly rep. Yoga teaches you how to feel free within your body, accomplishing challenging poses while fostering ease of movement.

You can’t force the poses if you intend to do them correctly, but you are encouraged to work with the body you have in that moment, and access what abilities you can find. It’s a beautiful balance of just right that can aid you in your lifting endeavors.

Bodyweight Strength

When I started bringing yoga back into my life, I realized that my strength training had some critical holes in it. Being able to move heavy iron relative to your bodyweight is awesome, but then discovering that you have little ability to leverage that bodyweight? Well, that was a revelation.Yoga improves bodyweight strength, and puts you in positions that you might not otherwise put yourself in at the gym.

Noncompetitive Environment

Most of us who lift regularly have an inherent competitive nature. We compete with ourselves to set PRs, compete with friends at the gym, or even compete in an organized environment such as powerlifting, CrossFit games, or sporting events.

This is a personality trait I see in most of my gym buddies, and it’s something that can certainly benefit us. However, even when this competition is friendly, it’s still competition and can sometimes blind us.

Yoga is a noncompetitive environment that can bring you back to your center when your hunger for big lifts gets ravenous. You’ll have to learn to accept your progressions and avoid comparing yourself to others.

There is no “PR” in yoga, just a commitment to show up on the mat and move.

Bigger Lifts

You might not typically think of yoga as something that can make you stronger, but it sneaks up on you like that. Yoga poses can translate to lifting strength by waking up muscles you don’t often use, encouraging cooperative multi-joint movements and giving you wicked upper body strength. I can deadlift over twice my bodyweight and perform multiple sets of 10 pull-ups-but there are yoga poses that absolutely humble me.

With all of these amazing benefits, you cannot afford not to do yoga. Give yourself a few minutes on the mat per day, and I guarantee your training—and your quality of life—will improve drastically.

Wildfire Yoga

Can you get all of these benefits in just 5 minutes a day? Of course you can! Chances are you’re not doing any yoga right now. You’ve decided it’s not for you because:

  • It takes too long
  • You’re not good at it
  • Yoga studios are not your jam
  • You don’t want to spend money on classes
  • You’d rather lift

And I get it, trust me. I can totally relate to all of those things. But what if I told you that you could use the minimal effective dose of yoga to get you all of these benefits and more?

Enter Wildfire, the 21-day yoga program designed for people who would rather lift…

CategoriesExercise Technique Female Training Strength Training

How the Kettlebell Can Improve Your Deadlift

I had an interesting conversation with my good friend and fellow strength coach, Ben Bruno, not too long ago.

He and I like to catch up every now and then to 1) discuss our mutual affinity for JP Licks ice-cream and 2) talk some training and fitness shop.

He’s originally from New England and worked as a coach at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning for a handful of years before moving out to LA last fall for a change of pace and to pursue some other opportunities.

His typical clientele now out in LA resembles a litany of Hollywood A-listers and a “who’s who” of gossip magazine covers, as well as those people who have a bit more of an aesthetic bias towards training.

While he loves LA and the people he works with, a small percentage of his heart is still back in Boston, working with athletes and helping people get strong.

In one of our last conversations he made the comment that there’s a stark contrast in training mentality between the west and east coast. But a little context comes into play.

Whereas at Cressey Sports Performance, someone nails a 400+ lbs deadlift and no one bats an eye, out in LA someone hits that same lift in a commercial gym and it’s assumed they’re on steroids.  And then given their own reality tv show!

Similarly, with regards to female training, and especially with regards to female celebrities and the “Hollywood” mentality as a whole (my apologies with the gross generalization here), barbell training is almost considered taboo.

Ben noted that whenever he’s tried to get some (not all) of his female clients to train with free-weights they were a tad skittish and reticent to place any appreciable load on the barbell.

Truth be told, while the tide is slowly turning for the better (more and more women are reaping the benefits of strength training. See: CrossFit), there’s still a “barbells are scary” vibe that pervades the female psyche.  It’s slight, but it’s still there.

Ben noticed a funny thing, however.  He noted that whenever he had his female clients use kettlebells they were more than eager to “get after it.” It was almost as if they didn’t think kettlebells counted as strength training.

Whether he had them squat, deadlift, push, pull, swing, carry, or anything else you can think of to do with a KB, seemingly, they’d be more than willing to do whatever Ben told them to do. And then some.

Plus, they’d do it with some heavy ass weight.

I too have noticed this same phenomenon with some of my past and current female clients. Ask them to perform a barbell deadlift and you’d think I asked them to shoot Bambi. Of course, this notion doesn’t surprise me when you have female professionals like THIS ONE telling everyone how dangerous deadlifts are.

Idiocy notwithstanding, switch to a KB deadlift and it’s on like Donkey Kong.

Lets be honest:  KBs are just a smidge less intimidating for some people (guys included), and they’re actually more useful and better than barbells in some cases.

I mean, not everyone has access to a state of the art gym and kettlebells don’t take up a lot of space, so they’re a fantastic option for quick and efficient home workouts.

In addition they’re great in terms of their versatility and “user friendliness” in general.

And get this……

The Kettlebell Can Actually Help Improve Your (Barbell) Deadlift

More to the point, the kettlebell swing can help improve your deadlift.

But before we get into the nitty gritty, it would behoove us not to at least discuss proper technique with the swing.

To that point I have two go-to sources.

1.  Iron Body Studios’ own Artemis Scantalides and Eric Gahan

2.  Neghar Fonooni

If you watched both videos (and why wouldn’t you?), you can see that both camps mirror one another in terms of how they coach and cue the swing.

With that out of the way, lets discuss how the KB swing can help improve your deadlift.

1. It’s All About the Hip Hinge, Baby!

The biggest mistake I see most people make with the swing is thinking that it’s more of a squat swing as opposed to a hip snap swing.

The swing, when done correctly, helps groove a rock-solid hip hinge pattern. And as any competent strength coach or personal trainer will tell you, the deadlift requires a ROCK SOLID hip hinge pattern.

This is non-negotiable.

Learning to push the hips back and engaging the posterior chain (namely hamstrings and glutes) during a swing will undoubtedly carry over well to the deadlift

 2.  Staying “Tight”

Look at this picture below of what the setup looks like for a KB swing.

Yeah, yeah the model is dashing. But other than that does anything look vaguely familiar?

It should, because it’s pretty much a dead-on image of what the set-up for a deadlift looks like (with the exception that with a barbell deadlift, the bar itself will be closer to the body and directly over the mid-foot, if not right up against the shins).

With the swing I like to cue one of two things to ensure tightness in the upper back:

1. Pretend like you’re squeezing an orange in your armpit and you’re trying to make orange juice.

2. Put your shoulder blades in your back pocket. This is a non-nerdy way of telling someone to posteriorly tilt their scapulae and to activate their lats (as well as the thoraco-lumbar fascia).

In short: promote more spinal stability.

Maintaining this “tightness” is key to the KB swing as well as a deadlift.

3.  Maximal Force Production

Remember above where I said the KB swing should resemble more of a hip SNAP.  That point cannot be overstated. 

The swing is an excellent way to help develop maximal force production. Think I’m full of it? Here’s what Strong First instructor and recent “I-made-the-Iron-Maiden-Challenge-My -Bitch” graduate, Artemis Scantalides, had to say on the matter.

“The purpose of the kettlebell swing is maximal force production.  Therefore, if the correct force is applied to an 8kg (~18lbs) kettlebell, that 8kg kettlebell can weigh up to 80lbs. 

If an 8kg kettlebell can weigh up to 80lbs with the correct force applied, imagine how much a 24kg (~53lbs) kettlebell can weigh if the correct force is applied??  

Subsequently, the kettlebell swing helps to improve deadlift strength because it allows you to use the lowest system load for maximal results. You are getting the most bang for your buck, by using less weight. 

As such, if you do not have a heavy weight available to you for deadlifts, then just do a few sets of perfect kettlebell swings and apply maximal force, and you just worked towards a stronger deadlift.”

Artemis: 1

Internet Gurus: 0

Final Thoughts

Kettlebells have a ton of merits, as I think we’ve covered. While they’ll never replace barbells for the big lifts, I like them because of all the ways they assist everything else. Obviously, they can help increase the deadlift, which I love.

I mean, being able to work on your deadlift when you’re not working on your deadlift? Doesn’t get much better than that.

But kettlebells are also an amazing tool for active recovery, conditioning, or just as the mainstay in any great home-based program. If you’re looking for an awesome program featuring kettlebells, there’s really no reason to look any further than Lean & Lovely, the new program from the aforementioned Neghar Fonooni.

It’s obviously geared towards women, but let me tell you, if you use a 28kg bell and do any one of the workouts, you’ll very quickly see how guys can benefit from every single page of the book.

It’s 12 weeks of dedicated program, 25 extra bonus conditioning type workouts, and a ton of other stuff.

Most importantly: something like 40% of my readers are actually other trainers. People look to this blog to find ways to get better for themselves and their clients; to become better at their jobs.

I take that responsibility very seriously–so when I say that I think Lean & Lovely is a resource that ANY trainer can use, I mean it. If you pick up just one coaching cue to teach the swing, it’s worth it. If you pick up just one new way to communicate more effectively with your female clients, it’s worth it. And if you read through the book and it gives you ideas you can use to design workouts, it’s more than worth it, 10X over. 

That’s the best part about continuing education. Small investments pay huge dividends. So, again, Lean & Lovely is pretty much a no brainer.

One final note, about “marketing.”

I caught some flak on Facebook the other day for recommending L&L. Which is crazy. It’s a good product, and one I think will help people. Does my article help move some units? I sure hope so. But consider this.

In the back end of my blog, my metrics indicate that, including this one, I have now published 1373 posts. Of those, if I had to take an educated guess, less than 30 have mentioned or “promoted” some type of program or product. Less than 30. That comes out to about 2.25%. And that isn’t counting any of my articles published elsewhere, which, like my blog, are a FREE resource.

So, really: it’s mathematically unarguable that I only “promote” stuff I believe in. Programs and products that I really and truly think will add value to my readers or the fitness community and industry over all. Lean & Lovely is absolutely one of those programs, so I absolutely feel comfortable telling your to order it. It’s as simple as that.

If that’s not cool with you…well, my bad.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 8/1/14

Holey moley can you believe it’s already August!  Where does time fly?

I’d love to sit here and chat about that (and the weather), but I have some laundry to do.  Totally not kidding.

Here’s hoping I can get through the process without ruining one of Lisa’s shirts.

Cotton doesn’t shrink, right?

Enjoy this week’s list.

The Paleo Problem: Examining the Pros and Cons of the Paleo Diet – Brian St. Piere (via Precision Nutrition)

Listen, I’m all for people taking more of an initiative to eat less processed junk and to focus more on whole, natural, nutrient dense, minimally processed foods.

I don’t think anyone could argue with that mentality.

In a lot of ways the Paleo Diet is a perfect fit, given it places a premium on meat, other animal products such as eggs, roots/tubers, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds.

And then there’s Primal “Paleo” which allows things such as dairy, oats, legumes, etc.

It’s not a bad place to start, and “get” why many health conscious people gravitate towards it. But in recent years some people (and organizations) have grown to become very dogmatic with their stance on how to properly follow the Paleo lifestyle.

On one side of the fence you have those who feel Paleo is the ONLY way we should eat and that humans haven’t had enough time to assimilate to a more agricultural/grain based diet.

On the other side of the fence you who have those who feel no one even knows how our Paleolithic ancestors really ate and that their diet not only was much more diverse than we give them credit for, but that the whole idea of “Paleo” differed depending on where in the world one was located.

In any case, I felt this was a baller article written by my boy Brian and I think it would benefit many people to take the time to read it…..objectively.

The Art of the Deload – Adam Bornstein

“How often should I deload” is a question I hear a lot at the gym, right after “how much weight should use?” and “Tony, why are you coaching without a shirt on?”

Loved this post by Adam which helps shed some light on a concept that many people over-complicate.

Lean & Lovely – Neghar Fonooni

I’ve been singing its praises all week, and I’ve been doing so because I truly feel this program goes out of its way to separate itself from the masses.  I love Neghar’s approach to training, as well as the message of self-acceptance and empowerment she portrays.

You only have less than a day (Saturday, August 2) to take advantage of the introductory sale price (50% off!!) for her Lean & Lovely program. Trust me, it’s worth every penny.

CategoriesFemale Training

What’s Wrong With Female Fitness?

I love fitness and I love the fitness industry. Fitness has always been a part of my life.

Photo Credit: Bobby Gallant

Ever since my parents (er, I mean, Santa…wink, wink) got me my first weight training set when I was 13 – you know, one of those benches with the leg extension/leg curl attachment that came with a few bars and about 150 lbs worth of plastic covered cement circles, along with the complimentary black & white poster of some ripped dude performing all the various exercises which served as the “program” to follow.

Remember that? 

Yeah, that one  – I was hooked.

It only made sense that, once I was finished with my baseball career, that I’d gravitate towards a career in fitness. I majored in Health Education and after “surviving” my student teaching experience – it really wasn’t all that bad – I decided that spending my days teaching prepubescent students the food pyramid and the difference between boy-down-there-parts and girl-down-there-parts wasn’t my gig.

That and I didn’t want to have to wear a tie everyday.

So once I was done with my internship at a corporate gym (as part of my concentration in Health/Wellness Promotion) I decided that helping people get more fit, healthier, and stronger was more my bag and I became a personal trainer and strength & conditioning coach.

That was twelve years ago.

In the years since I’ve grown as a coach and as a person. I’ve seen how the fitness industry has changed, evolved, and rolled with the ebbs and flow of coming and going fads.

Ahem, Thigh Masters and Shake Weights anyone?

All in all, however, I recognize that as a whole the fitness industry is saturated with well intentioned people wanting to help people in any way they can to lead healthier and more meaningful lives.  I’m proud to be a part of that.

As with any industry, though, there’s always the outliers that bring the “douchey” to the douchiest power.

Much like how the judiciary system is rife with shady lawyers who give all other lawyers a bad reputation by hanging out in emergency rooms passing out business cards (and bad advice), the fitness industry is equally as much of a culprit.

One of the biggest problems I’ve noticed (and have tried my best to curtail) has been growing bigger and bigger for some time.  And now, it’s gotten so big a lot of people aren’t sure we can actually fix it.

And that problem is pretty obvious: the way women are portrayed, packaged, and marketed when it comes to fitness. And there are finally some people who are ready to push back.

Lemme explain…

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve definitely seen what I’m talking about. If you open any magazine, whether it’s fashion or fitness or anything else, you see women in hyper-sexualized ad campaigns who are photoshopped beyond all recognition. (<— Exhibit A).

And not just “regular” women. I’m talking about women who are models or professional athletes, beautiful women who are being subconsciously told they aren’t good enough as they are, so they need to be digitally enhanced.

 

As if the false imagery weren’t bad enough, the subliminal (and I’d argue they’re not so subliminal) messages that much (not all) of the mainstream media regurgitates towards women is borderline tragic.

Key words such as “toned” and “sexy” and any other equally as nefarious adjectives used to sell people an often unattainable look are used ad nauseam by the fitness industry.

Worse still is that you have women becoming fitness celebrities because they have a bubblicious derriere (or what I like to call a metric shit-ton of anterior pelvic tilt) and are able to market themselves and build a cult following on Instagram.  And even worse still, they’re seen as health and fitness authorities.

It’s unfortunate, and it sucks.

And it needs to stop.

Many of you may recall this past weekend I shared a “special edition” guest post by my friend, Neghar Fonooni, titled A Woman’s Journey of Strength: How Lifting Changed My Life Forever. It was amazing and received a ton of love on social media.

Neghar is someone who “gets it.”

By that I mean that she isn’t just helping women get into amazing shape; she’s helping them realize that they’re beautiful before they step into the gym, and that while losing weight is great if that’s what you want, it’s not the key to happiness.

This is a really, really important point. Neghar is not one of those “anti-fitness” or “anti-weight loss” fitness professionals who thinks that anyone who wants to change their body is making a mistake.

Instead, she thinks that anyone who wants to change their body should do it the right way, and for the right reasons: because YOU want to, not because you’re trying to conform to some societal standard, or because you think it will make you happy.

Which is why I’m more than happy to introduce everyone to her Lean & Lovely program.

Whether you’re a woman who trains or someone who trains women, this is a fantastic 12-week fat-loss program comprising of three phases lasting four weeks each, with each phase having a slightly different focus in terms of training, nutrition, and mindset.

The overarching concept is based on kettlebell training (which is Neghar’s wheelhouse), but everything from bodyweight exercises to barbell training is included.

The long and short of it is that it’s an amazing program that will help women get fit and gain confidence all while loving their bodies and not hating them!

Unlike a lot of program out there this one does NOT sell sex or use target terms to make a woman feel she’s not sexy enough or has to look a certain way to feel sexier.

Rather, the message of Lean & Lovely is for women to meet their body where it’s at, and to be more mindful of the transformation – both physically and mentally.

Every part of this program is incredible, and every part will help you in some way. Here’s just a few pieces…

  • Firstly, as mentioned before, there are 12 full weeks of amazing, fat burning workouts
  • Then there’s the comprehensive Nutrition Handbook, which will teach you how to lose fat without dieting
  • There are over two dozen bonus “sweat session” workouts to do whenever you like, with minimum time and equipment
  • Instructional videos to teach you how to do every exercise in the program.
  • A series of MINDSET exercises and strategies to help you be happier, more positive, more productive, and make the program more effective

The L&L program is on sale THIS week only for 50% off, which is a STEAL given the numerous other things offered in the program.

And there’s much, much more.

Also, to sweeten the pot I’m going to offer everyone who purchases the L&L program through this site my 75 minute webinar Training Jane from Joe: Do Women Need to Train Differently Than Men?

I’m actually releasing this as a stand alone product in a few weeks, but am going to hand it to you – FOR FREE – by sending me your L&L receipt.

Just send me an email (make sure to include the receipt!) with the title “L&L Giveaway” to: [email protected]. Okay, that’s it. Click below to see for yourself what I’m talking about.

—-> Lean & Lovely <—-

CategoriesFemale Training Motivational

A Woman’s Journey of Strength: How Lifting Changed My Life Forever

Note from TG: Today I have a special weekend edition post from fitness & lifestyle coach, and writer, Neghar Fonooni.  Neghar was someone I featured on my “go to” female resources last week and she’s also the wife of my good friend, John Romaniello, which basically makes them the fitness equivalent of Beyonce and Jay-Z.

I don’t typically post on the weekend, but I felt this article deserved some special attention. It’s flippin fantastic!

I’ve been lifting weights, seriously and consistently, for eight years. That’s eight years of deadlifting, squatting, pressing, swinging, and even pull-ups. It’s been an incredible journey, but it actually started with a great deal of frustration.

Let’s go back to 2006. I had just given birth to my son, Isaac, and after gaining 50 pounds during my pregnancy, I was feeling pretty out of shape. I’ve always been active, playing sports since I was a kid, and having (and using!) a gym membership since senior year of high school. In fact, I exercised throughout my entire pregnancy, running 3 miles a day until I was 7 months pregnant and switched to walking for comfort purposes.

But until those first few months post-partum, exercising for me had always consisted of running, yoga, and machines.

Don’t get me wrong, running and cardio have their place in a well-balanced fitness regimen—especially if you participate in endurance sports. Plus, well-programmed cardio has a lot of benefits, including mental and emotional health. And, as an avid yogi, I have developed a very advanced practice over the last 14 years, and am no stranger to how challenging bodyweight workouts can be. I’m not ripping on yoga and cardio here, as I utilize both regularly and I think, with the appropriate application, they are invaluable tools.

What I am saying is that all I was doing was running and yoga—to no avail.

I didn’t feel as though I was in control of my body, and I felt weak and defeated. Add to that the inevitable stress of raising a beautiful infant, and I was just fed up. 

Discouraged with my body and my lack of progress, I knew that if I continued exercising the way I had that nothing would change. But, like many who have never embarked on a journey of strength, I lacked guidance and education, and was lost in the endless sea of exercise information. I’m embarrassed to say that even as a certified personal trainer, I would often pull workouts out of women’s fitness magazines and rarely followed an intelligently designed program.

So, out of sheer frustration, I began to delve deeper into the world of strength training, reading every book I could get my hands on, and learning from great coaches like Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle, and Gray Cook.

I started by following their programs, and eventually learned to write effective and efficient programs, no longer looking to Shape or Self for quick fix workouts. I learned how to properly squat and deadlift, was introduced to Olympic Lifts, started sprinting instead of taking long runs or spending 60 minutes on the elliptical, and my yoga practice even benefited from my jaunts in the weight room.

I lifted weights initially with the intention of losing fat and transforming my body, but eventually shifted towards lifting because it was good for my soul. I was empowered, and felt truly capable of anything, for the first time in my life.

Six months post-partum I’d lost all the baby weight, but perhaps more relevant is how different my body looked and felt than it did pre-pregnancy. I was more muscular, athletic, lean, and strong, even though I weighed the same as I did before the baby. My body and mind had completely transformed, all through lifting weights.

Today, while I practice yoga regularly, take leisure walks on the beach, stand up paddle board a few times a week, and do fun things like trampoline jumping and salsa dancing, the heart of my exercise regimen is still (and always will be) smashing weights. It’s the firmest foundation of any fat loss program, and its benefits are vast and undeniable. While an exercise program can be comprised of a myriad of activities, lifting weights is at the top of the fat loss and fitness hierarchy.

Muscles and Metabolism

Lifting weights regularly promotes the growth of lean mass, which is an integral part of any fat loss journey. Put simply, muscle helps cultivate a healthier metabolism because the more muscle your body has, the more calories it will burn at rest. In addition to increasing metabolism, lifting weights promotes natural growth hormone production, which in turn helps reduce insulin sensitivity.

In my time as a coach, I often hear ladies afraid that lifting weights will make them “bulk up.” They can sometimes be deterred from lifting weights for fear of being “manly” or “too muscular” so let me go ahead and allay your fears: lifting weights won’t turn you into She-Hulk overnight (although I would argue that She-Hulk is pretty much the best Super Heroine ever, as she promotes body acceptance and self-love).

You’ll build muscle through strength training, of course, but you won’t pack it on in absurd amounts and it won’t happen instantly.

Simply put, women do not have the testosterone necessary to support that kind of muscle growth. If gaining muscle were so easy, body builders wouldn’t spend hours in the gym for years on end in an effort to bulk up.

Genetics, nutrition, and training methodology all play a part in how your body will transform, but if you train to be strong, and eat to support that, you’ll end up with an athletic, feminine physique.

Not to mention, that although you can certainly lose fat and gain strength doing a number of things, only lifting will allow you the most bang for your buck. As a busy mom and entrepreneur, I understand deeply how precious time is. It’s our only non-renewable resource, and we must use it wisely, especially when we’ve got multiple commitments and obligations.

I don’t always have a lot of time to devote to exercise, but if time is limited, I always prioritize lifting.

You can easily make use of 20, 15, 0r even 10 minutes of weight training to maximize your time, by speeding up the rate at which you lift or ramping up the intensity. Utilizing training methods such as Metabolic Resistance Training, Complexes, Density Training, and what my good friend Jen Sinkler calls “Lifting Weights Faster” you can burn fat and build strength even when time is of the essence.

Meaning that you don’t have to spend an hour doing cardio, and another 30 minutes on the machines, followed by 30 minutes of stretching. You can save time and attack your fitness goals, all by choosing to prioritize weights. “I don’t have time to exercise” can be a statement you never utter again. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of setting a timer for how much time you do have, and then doing as much as possible in that time frame.

If you utilize the right training programs, you’ll build a strong, athletic, lean physique—provided that your nutrition is on par with your fitness intentions.

You’ll want a good mix of strength training and metabolic resistance, paired with a nourishing diet packed with protein, fresh produce, and healthy fats. If done correctly, lifting weights will help turn your body into a fat loss machine—making the weight room one of the most important stops on your fitness journey.

The Power of the PR

I remember the first time I performed an unassisted pull-up.

It was early 2008, and I was (unfortunately) awaiting knee surgery for an old sports injury. The extend of my infirmary kept me from doing any lower body training, which although it was frustrating, encouraged me to focus more on strengthening my upper body.

So, strengthen my upper body I did, paying special attention to things like pull-ups, pushups, and overhead pressing.

One day I had an “I wonder if I can do that moment,” deciding to forgo the band, and try my hand (or my lats) at an unassisted neutral grip pull-up. Astonished at my body’s ability to get my chin over the bar, I hopped down and looked around the crowded gym; “did anyone see that?!” I wondered. To this day, it remains one of my proudest moments.

Note from TG:  Oops, obviously the video I posted right before that last paragraph doesn’t jive. You get the idea folks.  Carry on.

Every single time I workout, I get better. I lift heavier, or faster, or even more efficiently. I might be able to stick a handstand more easily, manage a heavier squat, or do one extra pull-up.

Sometimes it’s not a matter of more, but simply better.

Other times, my progress is more intrinsic, lying in my ability to give my body a break when it needs one. Regardless of the exactitudes, I find myself consistently improving in some way, shape or form. This is what my friends at The Movement Minneapolis have termed “PR every day.”

Breaking records, or setting PRs, is incredibly mentally rewarding. It keeps you coming back for more, and creates a sense of purpose in the weight room. While aesthetic goals, such as losing a few inches on your waist, are certainly worth pursuing, performance goals are notably more sustainable.

It really wasn’t until I shifted my intentions towards performance, and away from aesthetics, that I was actually able to significantly change my physique.

What I didn’t realize completely the moment I performed my first pull-up, was how much that simply act would profoundly affect the rest of my life.

That pull-up, as benign as it seems, sparked a greatest sense of self worth, an escape from feeling defined by what my body looked like, and instead taking pride in what it could do.

If I can pull myself up over a bar, without any assistance, what else can I do? Feats of strength in the gym began to translate to strength outside of the gym—the intrinsic strength needed to thrive and excel. When I crushed it at the gym, I felt more capable of crushing it at life. And without stressing out over my weight or my body composition, my body changed as a result.

Lifting weights helps boost confidence like nothing else I have ever seen. I’ve helped timid, overweight, stay-at-home moms go on to crush feats of strength and then start their own personal training businesses. I’ve seen beginners afraid of lifting a kettlebell move on to chasing a double bodyweight deadlift while breaking out of their comfort zones.

Physical strength contributes to strength of character, which in turn boosts confidence—and there’s just no downside to that.

Being strong makes everything else easier

Moving furniture? Carrying multiple bags of groceries? Hoisting a heavy carry-on into an overhead compartment? Keeping up with your kids? All of these things are not a problem when you’ve got strength on your side.

When my son was in kindergarten, I visited his class to speak about the importance of exercise and proper nutrition. I’ll never forget an adorable little kindergartener named Lizzie, with her long locks and her matter of fact demeanor. I asked the class why they thought exercise and strength were important, and Lizzie said, “because it makes everything easier.”

Lizzie was one smart little 6-year-old. Exercising to be strong, mobile, and fast makes every day tasks less cumbersome.

I spent many years as a single mom, unable to rely on another adult in the house to accomplish household tasks. It’s because of the strength I’ve gained from lifting that I was able to carry a sleeping child from the car with minimal effort, and move a twin sized bed into the apartment with no help whatsoever.

Bottom line: Strength reigns supreme.

From fat loss to empowerment, there isn’t a downside to lifting weights. All you need is a willingness to learn and listen to your body, and a program that will support your intentions.

Note from TG: Neghar’s Lean & Lovely program is something I can’t recommend enough to any woman looking to improve her health and fitness in a way that DOES NOT fall into the “I’m not sexy enough” trap that the mainstream media often conveys.

It’s not about being “sexy” anything.  It’s about making the best version of YOU possible.

The long and short of it is that it’s an amazing program that will help women get fit and gain confidence all while loving their bodies and not hating them!

Unlike a lot of program out there this one does NOT sell sex or use target terms to make a woman feel she’s not sexy enough or has to look a certain way to feel sexier.

Rather, the message of Lean & Lovely is for women to meet their body where it’s at, and to be more mindful of the transformation – both physically and mentally.

Every part of this program is incredible, and every part will help you in some way. Here’s just a few pieces…

  • Firstly, as mentioned before, there are 12 full weeks of amazing, fat burning workouts
  • Then there’s the comprehensive Nutrition Handbook, which will teach you how to lose fat without dieting
  • There are over two dozen bonus “sweat session” workouts to do whenever you like, with minimum time and equipment
  • Instructional videos to teach you how to do every exercise in the program.
  • A series of MINDSET exercises and strategies to help you be happier, more positive, more productive, and make the program more effective

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. For more info click HERE.

About the Author

Fitness & lifestyle coach, writer, veteran and mom, Neghar Fonooni is passionate about empowering women through strength.

A Los Angeles native with 14 years experience in the fitness industry, Neghar believes that a positive mindset is the most important aspect of a fit lifestyle. Through her blog, Eat, Lift & be Happy, she teaches women how to embrace their bodies and enrich their lives with food and exercise.

Neghar is a contributing blogger to several sites, including My Fitness Pal and Schwarzanegger.com, and is the author of the 12-week total transformation system, Lean & Lovely.

An unabashed sci-fi and fantasy nerd, Neghar snorts when she laughs and loves lifting weights, yoga, red wine, dark chocolate, travel, fashion, and reading and collecting books. She resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband, son, and two silly bulldogs.

 

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There’s a Time and Place For Everything. Kettlebells Included.

I like to consider myself as an even keeled person who tries to see the comedy in life and not to take things too seriously.

I’m originally from Middle of Nowhere, NY where I grew up in a small town with no traffic lights and no fast food restaurants.  Just to be clear though, yes, we had running water. And the internet for that matter. But barely.  My parents had been using a dial-up connection up until last year, which is considered child abuse in some states.

Love you mom!!!!!

Anyways, life moves a bit differently where I’m from.  Where I’m from people don’t slam on their car horn and go bat shit crazy if you don’t move within one-hundredths of a nanosecond of a red light turning green. Here in the city?  Different story.  Everyone is the most important person in the world, and is apparently in some dire emergency to get somewhere.

Likewise, there aren’t many things that really bother me.  Okay sure, some people can go out of their way to be “kinda douchy” and do something really irritating like talking, going to Maroon 5 concerts, or taking up two parking spots and blocking me in.

Hey dude: this isn’t Dukes of Hazzard, and I don’t drive the General Lee, so I shouldn’t have to do a window stunt just to get into my own car. Capiche?

But those are usually few and far between.

The internet, though:  now THAT’S a whole new ball game, and a place where my pet peeves seem to increase exponentially.

Given the safe domain – not to mention the anonymity – that the internet provides, it’s not surprising how it often brings out the “inner expert” in people.

And why not?  One of the advantages of the internet is the profound profoundness of it all.  Never has information been so easily accessible. And never has there been a time where people can learn everything on anything with just a simple click of a button.

Which is also it’s drawback.

Just yesterday I read an article over on Livestrong.com by a buddy of mine who described a brief, albeit effective, metabolic type workout that could easily be followed by the masses and maybe provide a nice change of pace to someone looking to shed a little fat.

As is the case with any “universal” article geared towards the general public, it had to be watered down to the lowest common denominator so that the information could be easily followed. It was a slideshow piece which provided still-frame pictures (and descriptions) of each exercise.

For those interested, go HERE.

Apparently PJ (the author) made the mistake of using dumbbells in his pictures – which makes sense given that the majority of people out there don’t have access to kettlebells.

I thought it was great and provided a solid routine for a lot of people reading.

But wouldn’t you know it, the first comment – as well as a few others that followed – were from the kettlebell nazis, trying to convey to the world that kettlebells are the only form of exercise everyone should be doing.  EVER.

The very first comment:

The swing is a great exercise………when performed CORRECTLY…….WITH A KETTLEBELL! Do not use a dumbell as it is a different and less effective move and more likely to recruit the low back for power production.

The same person, then finished with these great words of wisdom:

nice technique………..NOT!

For starters:  it’s a freakin STILL FRAME picture.  Lets get off our high horse for a second.  How can you judge one’s overall technique by one still frame shot?

Here’s a picture of Jim Wendler squatting:

Using the same logic, we could argue that his squat technique sucks because he’s not hitting at least parallel.  We all know this is bullshit, because this is a STILL FRAME shot of him either descending or coming out of the hole during a max effort attempt.

Going back to the article, I have full confidence that a dude who trains HUNDREDS of people a month, has been published in several reputable magazines, and not to mention has a pretty smart editor at Livetrong who’s job it is to make sure that high quality content makes it to the site – knows how to perform a proper swing.

Relax.  Deep Breaths.  The World Won’t End.

Secondly, while I won’t argue that using a kettlebell over a dumbbell “feels” better when performing a swing, as I noted above, not everyone has access to kettlebells in their gym.  Using a dumbbell is fine.

No, really.  It is.

And since when does a dumbbell recruit more of the lower back?  I have a hard time figuring this one out.  If one is performing a proper swing pattern, snapping their hips, “attacking their groin,” and keeping the weight close to the body, I don’t see how if someone uses a dumbbell that it’s somehow is more detrimental to the back.

Further down the comments section, there are several other readers who state that the same workout is, like, waaaaaaay more effective if done with kettlebells.

Kettlebell squats are better than dumbbell squats.  Kettlebell rows are better than barbell rows. Kettlebell swings cure cancer. Kettlebells make the best salt and pepper shakers!!

Okay, I get it already:  you like kettlebells.

And that’s cool.  I do, too.  I consider coaches like Pavel, Dan John, Mike Mahler, and Gray Cook (all of whom are “kettlebell guys) mentors. Moreover, I have a high respect for people like Neghar Fonooni, Jen Sinkler, Steve Cotter, and Batman (I think) – all of whom utilize kettlebells to a high degree as well.

I use them myself – heck, I’m even contemplating going for my HKC.  I use them with all of my athletes and clients.  But as with anything else, and I think all the peeps I mentioned above would agree – whether we’re talking about  kettlebells, TRX, yoga, deadlifts, or anything else you want to throw into the mix – they’re a tool in the toolbox, and need to be used at the right time, with the right person, for the right job.

People are entitled to their opinion, of course. Everyone shouldn’t have to sing Kumbaya and hold hands on everything, and I think it’s great when people from different view points can have a civil discussion – even if all they do is agree to disagree.

But I just get flabbergasted (yep, that’s right: flabbergasted) when people go on and on and on and on and on*about how kettlebells are the shiznit (and they can be) and have to be used for E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. That’s not necessarily the case.

End rant, exit stage left.

Anyone agree?  Disagree?  Am I off base?

 

* = and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.  You get the idea.