Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training, Weight Loss
This past week was one of the craziest of my entire life. I felt like I worked virtually around the clock to get everything done. Fortunately everything worked out, got done on time and in a quality manner.
Now you could say that sleep was not a huge part of the equation this week (getting up a 3am to get work done will do that to you), however I slept in until almost 8am this morning. Since then I have relaxed, eaten breakfast and read some interesting blogs that I wanted to share with you guys. So check them out.
Transitional Speed Training – by Kevin Neeld. Kevin has just released his Ultimate Hockey Training System which I was fortunate enough to contribute the Nutrition Guide for. As a former junior hockey player I can tell you first hand this video and the product are fantastic and will make a huge impact on your on-ice performance. As a strength coach I can also tell you that I have seen Kevin coach in person way back in the day when he interned at CP, and he is phenomenal. Watch the video and tell me you don’t agree!
Mistakes Skinny Guys Make: Flipflopitis – by Tony Gentilcore. This is a fantastic ongoing series over on Tony’s site that you should check out. In this installment Tony expounds on a great Dan John quote “The goal is to keep the goal, the goal.” He applies it to skinny guys always bouncing from program to program and always trying the next best thing rather than actually following a plan through to completion. In reality this applies to the ENTIRE population, so definitely give this one a read.
Losing Fat With Simple Food – Two Reader Anecdotes – by Stephan Guyenet. Two readers of wholehealthsource provide their stories on a low-reward diet. This is a simple yet fascinating read to see how they responded to the lifestyle change and how it affected their weight and body composition. They also point out numerous times that low-reward does not equal low-palatability, which is a very important disctinction.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
For those of you who enjoyed Eric Cressey’s fantastic video, The #1 Reason You Aren’t Getting Better,the other day, I have some great news for you. Eric has just released another webinar video entitled My Top 10 Strength & Conditioning Mistakes.
Personally, I love videos like this. When top-notch guys that I look up to share the mistakes they made and how you can avoid them it provides some key insights into how to be successful in this industry. It is not always about what you do, it is sometimes about what you don’t do, and EC gets that.
According to EC, virtually all programs he sees make at least 3-4 of these mistakes, so if you want to avoid these pitfalls in your own training (or coaching), you need to watch this webinar for sure.
Eric really clears up a lot of training and programming misconceptions in this webinar. Things that are common practice in many training programs, he identifies as mistakes and tells you why, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to dramatically improve your programming.
—> My Top 10 Strength & Conditioning Mistakes <—
On another note I received an unsolicited email from an appreciative blog reader recently that I thought was worth sharing with you guys. As you know I certainly have my opinions when it comes to vegetarians/vegans (here and here), and it is nice to hear from one who has “figured it out” and goes about this dietary lifestyle the right way. Check it out.
Hi Brian,
I have been meaning to reach out to you for a while now. Your blog is an outstanding resource. I come to it with a different perspective. I have been a vegetarian for 8 years, 7 of which where strict vegan. Coming out of college as an impressionable 23 yr old, I soon made the drastic decision to become a vegan. I was convinced it was the healthiest, more sustainable, world saving diet…blah blah blah.
Along the way I made several dietary mistakes, but never stopped exploring the alleged health benefits and or drawbacks. Over the past 2 years I began playing the devils advocate to my very own diet. Your blog has helped me tremendously with that.
2 years ago I tested low for vitamin D and B12, and I’m sure my omega 3 to 6 ratio was horrible, not to mention I was 6’3″ 170lbs (yikes). I have since significantly increased my fat consumption, mainly coconut and avocado,flax,chia, and algae DHA, and more recently pastured eggs from a local farm as well as pastured butter. I soak all of my legumes,grains, and stick with potatoes and Ezekiel products. I feel better than ever. My strength and weight are consistent (currently 215lbs), and not to mention I’m not hungry all the time.
Years ago I used to rely on processed soy “fake meats” and the like. Now I avoid those entirely. I’m still very much concerned about unnecessary animal cruelty, and the ecological issues involved with less sustainable farming, however, that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be eating real food. From a nutrient perspective, it’s now clear to me that eggs from a humanely raised, pastured hen, are a more sensible compromise than highly processed imitation protein.
I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate your work. There are so many misconceptions in the field of Nutrition, and it’s so helpful when someone like yourself filters through it for the rest of us.
Keep up the great work.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
Eric Cressey has just created a new video entitled The #1 Reason You Aren’t Getting Better. As usual from EC it absolutely fantastic stuff! The best part is, it is completely free. No pitch, no opt-in, just pure, original, top-notch content from one of the best strength coaches in the world.
Eric will show you why you are not:
- Stronger
- Leaner
- Adding Muscle
- Becoming More Athletic
Sound like a plan?
—> The #1 Reason You Aren’t Getting Better <—
On an entirely different note I have been getting absolutely hammered in fantasy football this year. I am 3-3 in the Cressey Performance League, and an abysmal 2-4 in a league with my long-time friends from home. Plain and simple, I did not do enough research or preparation for the draft this year. It simply was not high on my priority list.
However the point of this isn’t to discuss my futility in drafting football players. The point is that sometimes there are things in life that must take the backburner. It doesn’t mean you abandon them, it just means that they are not something that consumes a large portion of your life.
For example lifting used to completely consume my life. In college I built my class schedule around my training and rugby practices. It was one the most important things in my life.
Today things have changed a bit. I am getting my Master’s, in an internship full-time, have a wife, pets and 5 month old daughter (who is just a doll) in addition to blogging and working with my stable of online clients. My own training (and fantasy football unfortunately) is no longer paramount.
Training is still important to me, it is now just lower on the food chain. I still manage to lift 2-4x/wk (let’s be honest, rarely 4, usually 3), and ensure that those lifts are as efficient as possible. Not a whole lot of fluff in my training. Most days I am training by 6:15am, and I have about 45 minutes to foam roll, warm-up and go. I am also active on the weekends as we go for family walks and hikes, just not quite the same intensity as it used to be.
While my fitness and health are incredibly important to me, being the strongest guy in the gym no longer is. I still enjoy training for strength, but I am content merely be strong, rather than the strongest. Some may call this soft, I simply call it recognizing that my life and my priorities have changed, and my training with it.
The whole point of this post is make clear that though we are all busy, and even the most fitness-oriented of us find it a challenge to exercise as much as we would like, it should still be an integral part of your life. You must MAKE time for it, because I can promise you that you won’t be able to find the time for it. While I certainly understand if you don’t build your daily schedule around it like I once did, it should still actually be in your schedule.
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Recipes
A friend sent me a great recipe that I thought you would all love. It combines a delicious combination of chicken, apples, curry and raisins. Absolutely fantastic stuff. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Ingredients
- 1/2 C chopped onion
- 2 Tbsp grass-fed butter
- 6 Tbsp whole wheat flour
- 1/4 Cup curry powder
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Cups fat free low sodium chicken broth
- 2 Cups whole-fat grass-fed milk
- 2 Cups chopped cooked chicken breast
- 1 Cup raisins
- 2 apples, chopped
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
In case you missed it, check out Part 1 of this series. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
The Story of the Kitavans
I want to highlight one more culture that I think disproves once and for all the notion that somehow carbohydrates in and of themselves are causing all of our health problems today – The Kitavans.
The Kitavans are an isolated people in the Melanesian islands, and they were studied in multiple ways by Dr. Staffan Lindeberg and company.
Their diet consists primarily of starchy tubers (yam, sweet potato, taro and cassava), fruit, vegetables, coconut and fish, in descending order of calories. This provides them an estimated 69% of their 2,200 daily calories from carbohydrates, 21% from fat (17% of total cals are from saturated fat, mostly from coconut), and 10% from protein.
Due to their high fish consumption and no industrial vegetable oils, they have an omega-6:omega-3 ratio of 1:2. Compared to the Standard American Diet (SAD), their intake is high in carbs, and definitely high in saturated fat, though low in total fat and protein.
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
In the past 10-15 years or so there has been an ever increasing focus on carbohydrates and the possibility that they are causing so many of the metabolic problems we face today. Problems such as metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, overweight, obesity, cardiovascular disease and more.
First there was the Atkins craze, which while effective was certainly not an enjoyable diet for the majority of the people on it. This was soon followed by South Beach, which was slightly more enjoyable but still did not provide a sustainable lifestyle. Then came the Paleo movement, eschewing grains, legumes and more, which still seems to be gaining steam and has zealots extolling its virtues to the point of being more like a religion than a diet.
Fueling this fire was Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories. While I feel this book was excellent at dispelling the diet-heart hypothesis as the cause of heart disease, its simplistic focus on carbs and insulin as the actual cause of our health problems is short-sighted and incomplete.
This switch from pointing all of the blame at fat, to now pointing all of the blame at carbohydrates is making the same mistake as the diet-heart hypothesis. You are taking health outcomes, which are highly complex issues affected by a huge array of factors, and trying to pin the problem on one element. It just isn’t that simple.
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition, Training
Here is a list of recommended health and fitness information from around the interwebz:
Squat – by Mike Robertson. This is 8500 words covering everything you could ever imagine on what is undoubtedly one of the most effective exercises known to man. Anything you ever wanted to learn about squatting, any questions you have ever had, Mike has it all covered! This is a can’t miss post!
What an Elbow Alone Can Tell You About Strength and Conditioning Program Design – by Eric Cressey. Eric is really smart. I mean really smart. He showcases it here, but he does so in a manner that easily understood. If you want to learn more about the why’s and how’s of programming based on proper assessment, this is a good read.
Humans on a Cafeteria Diet - by Stephan Guyenet. Stephan is one of my favorite writers, and always provides topnotch work. This piece is no exception. Stephan presents some very interesting research on how industrially processed food causes spontaneous overfeeding.
Don’t forget that Mike Robertson’s Complete Core Fitness is on sale through midnight tonight. It comprises seven webinars that covers functional anatomy, Mike’s assessment process, and the four phases of core progressions that he uses with clients. I’d strongly recommend you check out Complete Core Fitness.
Filed under: General Health, Training, Weight Loss
Training the core is one of the most controversial topics in the entire fitness industry. It ranges from some people doing almost all sit-ups, crunches, side-bends and other forms of spinal flexion vs others doing only plank variations where they draw their stomach in towards their spine and then everyone in between.
The question is – Who’s right?
Well Mike Robertson has decided to answer that question with the most comprehensive core product the industry has ever seen – Complete Core Fitness. Mike covers a bunch of research, breaks down the anatomy and the kinetic role of the core musculature and the unit as a whole, and relates this into a proper core training philosophy and protocol.
In his usual manner Mike provides this incredible info in an easy-to-understand slideshow, interjected with a little humor and anecdotes from his vast training experience that makes this product worth every penny. If you are a strength coach, physical therapist or a fitness enthusiast then this is a must have for your training library!
Let’s break down again what makes this product so awesome:
- Complete Core Fitness includess 7 webinar modules, for 3 hours of total content covering everything about the core.
- Topics include Mike’s philosophy on core training, functional anatomy, his assessment process, and then the four phases of core training he uses with clients and athletes.
- Everything is covered here – assessment, program design, coaching, cuing, the works. Literally it’s step-by-step in nature.
- There are four bonus products (including one 2-hour webinar by Evan Osar) and then you also get the Powerpoint slides and an additional 80 minutes of audio Q&A to download.
- 60-day, no questions asked money back guarantee
I have personally watched the entire webinar (I got an early release version) I can tell you that it is absolutely fantastic. I have pages worth of notes as Mike just had so many valuable little tidbits of information even though a lot of what he teaches is what I believe and learned at Cressey Performance. Even with similar ideas and philosophies, I found a ton of info and tips were invaluable. Some were just little ideas that made a few things click, others were ways of saying things or coaching cues that I felt would work well with clients.
Mike really covered it all and taught me a bunch of stuff in the process! Which I know maybe doesn’t sound that hard, but considering again our similar philosophies on the topic as well as the fact that I have seen Mike give seminars on this very topic, I was still able to walk away armed with a more information to make me better at what I do, and that is always the measure of a good product.
So again if you are a strength coach or a personal trainer this is an absolutely must-have, no questions asked. If you are a fitness enthusiast or one of the 80% of Americans who suffers from low back pain, then this product will also be invaluable to you. This week only the Complete Core Fitness is on sale price for $30 off the usual price, so act fast!
—> Complete Core Fitness <—
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Magnesium is an important mineral for those looking to build a better body.
Magnesium plays a role in over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, many of which are directly related to muscle function and protein synthesis. Yet most Americans don’t get anywhere near enough magnesium, and the problem is amplified in hard training athletes and muscleheads.
To make matters worse, magnesium is slowly disappearing from the modern diet. Industrial agriculture and food processing methods literally strip magnesium and other valuable minerals right from our food supply, making it harder to consume enough nutrients from even a seemingly “healthy,” varied diet.
So what can we do about it? First, let’s take a closer look at why magnesium is so critically important.
Continue reading my newest article on t-nation.
—> Magnificent Magnesium <—
Filed under: General Health, Nutrition
Most of you long time readers are well aware of my dislike for artificial sweeteners. Whether they have been found to drastically alter gut flora (sucralose, in rats), are on the EPA’s new but unfinished list of potentially dangerous chemicals, increase risk of pre-term births and caused cancer in rats (aspartame) I am not a fan.
This is especially true since there other options that are not synthetically made in a lab and have been consumed by humans for possibly thousands of years. In this case, we are talking about stevia.
Stevia rebaudiana is a plant from South America that is native to Paraguay and has long been used by the indigenous people there to sweeten beverages and make tea. While most of us, myself included, use the word stevia to refer to the sweetener, this is in fact referring to the plant, of which only some components are actually sweet, called steviol glycosides.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on October 22nd, 2011 by Brian St. Pierre
9 Comments »