Lean Bodies Consulting

Yesterday was back to the gym after what was basically a two-week break.

Flat Bench Press
I’m reintroducing this to my regular training as I’ve found myself frustrated with the strength drop after not having benched for about three months.

Worked up to 305 for my last warm up single and then did 255 x 6 + 3 + 2

Seated Military Press
Worked up to 155 x 7 + 3 + 2

Cable Overhead Triceps Extensions
Worked up to 50 x 10 + 5 + 4

Assisted (Neutral) Pull Ups
Worked up to 80 X 7 + 4 + 3

Paused Deads
Worked up to 475×5, 495×1, and 415×8

It’s good to be back. I’m going to finish out the year trying to eat big and put on a few more pounds of muscle, before I start to diet back down. Currently sitting at 235lbs which I guess isn’t too bad considering I started my bulk at around 222lbs (but was as low as 218lbs).

240 is the pre-diet goal.

So it’s back to the daily grind now. Today is my first full day back after being out of town for 12 days. It really didn’t feel that long for some reason. I had a great second half of my trip as my wife and I spent the week with Noel and her family at their lake house in Alabama.

Here’s a shot of the great view they have.

In total there were 12 of us, including the 5 children. It was a nice, relaxing week. I got a couple lackluster workouts in, ate lots of garbage, probably gained some fat and just flat out enjoyed myself.

I had planned and hoped to have a few days doing absolutely no work, but I ended up doing at least something every day. On the plus, I didn’t come home to a monster To Do list of work, so I’m feeling pretty good.

The week’s activities included eating, learning how to play cribbage, getting spanked, or rather, skunked repeatedly. I also learned how to play Idiot - and fortunately I was only the Idiot once. Go figure. We played Chicken Foot and Balderdash too. Lots of laughs. We also did this crazy 1000-piece puzzle that in total over the course of the time we were there had at least six people working on it. And it’s finished.

Here’s a shot of Scott and Laura hard at work.

Saturday morning we headed back to Atlanta for the highly anticipated Auburn/Alabama game. Of course, I have to cheer for Auburn or risk getting kicked out of the Clark house before my stay was up. And even more fortunately, they won.

Sunday night we met up with Atlanta’s Dynamic Duo (two other friends/clients) of mine - Cindy and Ileen (and spouses) for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.

All in all a very fun trip. Thanks to Noel and Scott for being such great hosts.

We took a couple big group shots but for one reason or another, they didn’t turn out. Laura’s eyes are closed in one, and the other didn’t get approval by all parties either. LOL

So, you’ll have to settle for a picture of me and three of my favourite girls out on the pier.

I was going to write a blog post today about post-holiday cardio and how this kind of compensatory behaviour is simply a waste of time. But rather than write out my thoughts about why you shouldn’t waste even a minute doing this as well as why it reinforces bad habits, I’m going to post a blog post from my friend Craig Ballantyne that summarizes my thoughts on this very well. It’s called the Cardio Confessional.

The Cardio Confessional
Only minutes ago I stepped off a plane from Palm Beach to Toronto, back from the best fitness seminar I’ve ever attended. And as we left the plane, the stewardess from US Airways wished me a Happy Thanksgiving.

Of course, as a Canadian, I celebrated our Thanksgiving over 6 weeks ago.

However, for our American readers, the big day for giving thanks is this Thursday. Followed of course, by Black Friday - the day many men and women spend on the Cardio Confessional.

That’s my term for people who think that an hour of cardio will make up for the previous day’s dietary indiscretions. But nothing can be further from the truth.

For the next two months, millions of bloated men and women will be stepping on stairmasters, mounting elliptical machines, and parking their butts on bikes for hours while repenting their sinful pumpkin pie indulgences and other holiday feast transgressions.

Unfortunately, they will do all this with little return for the investment of their time.

Just take a look at the two most shocking research studies in the last year.

First, from Australia, came the study showing us that cardio did nothing for female fat loss, while interval training helped burn belly fat.

And second, an American study showed that even doing 300 hours of cardio in a year led to less than 6 pounds of fat loss in men and women.

So to sum up the big findings of this year…

- The cardio confessional is a waste of time.

- A mindset that involves “exercise as punishment for overeating” is unhealthy and ineffective.

- Resistance training is the only way to build muscle and burn fat at the same time.

- Short burst Turbulence Training workouts are the best way to lose your belly fat and sculpt your body.

- The interval training workouts you’ll find on pages 36-39 of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss manual will help you burn belly fat in only 20 minutes per session.

Click HERE to start Turbulence Training

Get with the program,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS - Turbulence Training Beats Cardio for Fat Burning Effectiveness.

Hey, two PRs in one week. Been a long time since I could say that.

Hit a gym here in Alabama yesterday. It was a little hardcore gym called Kramers. I’ve got no training plan this week so I just went in and worked on my front squats and then fooled around with some other exercises.

I’ll tell you one thing; I hate going to the gym without a plan. Far too random for me.

Worked up to a smooth 295 with a little left in the tank. So my 315 front squat goal is right around the corner. Pretty happy about that.

Happy Thanksgiving. I’m about to go play Connect 4. LOL

So my wife and I are down in Atlanta celebrating the US Thanksgiving with Noel and her family. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving when you’re supposed to - in October. However, I’m not one to pass up an opportunity for a second Thanksgiving feast, hence stopping off in Altanta after my weekend conference in West Palm.

Thanksgiving is a great holiday, although it seems far bigger in the US than it does in Canada. I hear that today is the busiest travel day of the year in the US.

Regardless of whether you’re in the US or in Canada, it’s a time to reflect on all the great things you have in your life. I’ll certainly be counting all the blessings in my life this week.

My advice today is to make sure that you do enjoy your Thanksgiving time with your families - including all the great food. Remember, nutrition isn’t about dieting. It’s about making healthy eating a lifestyle, which means enjoying and incorporating the holidays into that lifestyle.

However, one of the biggest mistakes people make during this time of year is turning each holiday into a multi-day eating fest. Now that’s not necessary and probably not such a wise idea. Like I said, enjoy yourself with your family, but keep it to Thanksgiving Day.

It’s back on plan for Friday.

Yesterday I had my first workout in 5 days (after 4 days of undereating). We planned to just go in and train ‘instinctively’ - basically do whatever we felt like doing.

First off this gym was like an absolute sauna. Brutal.

Anyway, after a few sets of bench and hammer pulldowns, we did some push presses. I haven’t done this movement in about three months, so I thought I’d just try to work up to a single.

Much to my surprise, I hit a 20-lb PR with a 225-lb push press. That felt pretty good.

Training this week will continue along the same lines - I plan on just doing whatever I feel like.

So the first leg of my trip is now complete. I was down in West Palm Beach, Florida at a 3-day conference. It’s been a lot of information to soak up, but definitely a fun time to date.

It’s been neat to hook back up with some old friends and meet some new ones as well. I landed in Florida around 6:30pm and was hoping to get to the hotel and checked in in time for the 7pm meet and greet. Unfortunately for me, the cab hit some massive traffic on the way. Of course it doesn’t end there; once he got through the traffic, he just drove slooooow. You know how when you get off the planeand you’re on your way, you just want to get to your destination now? Add to that, as we’re sitting completely still in the traffic, I’m watching the meter just keep rising and rising. That seems shady to me. We’re not even moving, and you’re charging me. I think you should only be charged per unit of distance.

Anyway, I asked the cab driver why he kept slowing down (he’d drive, then put his foot on the brake, and repeat - with no one in front of him). He didn’t like the question …

From that point, he didn’t know where the hotel was, so that took a bit more time. Then I realized that I didn’t know where the hotel was either.

Eventually I made it in around 8pm. Then, he had problems processing my credit card - his machine was causing problems. So I had to stand outside his cab for another 10 minutes patiently waiting. Not so patiently mind you.

Thursday evening I had a chance to mingle, meet some new people, recount some funny stories from the past with some old friends. Fun evening overall.

Overall, a great 3-day seminar. Made some good contacts, some new friends and came away with some new ideas to apply to my business.

Now I’m in the second leg of my trip -Hotlanta for Thanksgiving.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

There once was a time way back in the day when I hated benching. Why? Because quite simply I sucked at it. Who likes to do things they suck at? I used to be that way with squatting too. Fast forward a few years and benching and squatting are two of my favourite exercises. I’m not great at either mind you, but I’m decent. Or was, as is the case with the bench.

I haven’t benched in oh, probably three months now. I’ve been doing some incline work, some Hammer Strength stuff, etc. Tonight, I thought, ‘hey, I think I’m going to reintroduce bench pressing’. I figured, I’m about 10 or so pounds heavier, stronger on all the movements I’m currently doing, so I should be good to go.

Boy, was I ever wrong.

Lied down to warm up with 135 and I had no groove at all. Anyway to make a long story short, I worked up to a sad 245×10. That put me in a bad mood for the rest of my workout. LOL

So one of two things has happened:

1. I suck at benching again and I have lost strength.
2. I simply am out of the groove and have to get used to the exercise again (if so, I should still be able to lift some good weight after a few workouts)

It’s #2. Remind me to not cut it out for three months again.

On the plus, I got killer a pump from benching.

Anyway …

Flat Bench Press
Worked up to 245×10

Machine Shoulder Press
Worked up to 140 x 9 + 4 + 3

Close-grip Bench Press (on a heavy smith)
Worked up to 175 x 8 + 4 + 3

Hammer Pulldowns
Worked up to 235 x 11 + 5 + 3

(I improve on this every time - started out at 195 on this).

Barbell Rows from the floor
Worked up to 205×8

I talk a lot about nutrition being the key to successful fat loss and how weight training and/or cardio fall a distant second to nutrition when it comes to maximizing your results. I’ve also said many a time that you can’t ‘out exercise’ a bad diet. I think most of us who’ve been in this game long enough share the same sentiments.

Fat loss is all about nutrition.

So if it’s all about nutrition, that basically means it’s all about nutritional compliance, or adherence to your plan. A plan is only as good as the degree to which it is followed. I’ve heard it said that plans don’t fail, people do. I wouldn’t go that far, as poorly designed plans sure can fail, but a well designed plan is only going to be as effective as the person following it allows it to be.

I also have borrowed a page from John Berardi’s book with his dietary adherence grid and the emphasis on the importance of adhering to your plan a minimum of 90% of the time. This is key. Both in terms of meals eaten per week and the size of off-plan meals. When adherence falls below 90% on a regular basis, results tend to be compromised. I’ve seen it time and time again.

Keep it above 90% and you’re going to be doing alright. Now that brings me to my point of this post. I had a client submit a biweekly to me recently with great two-week results. She had mentioned that she took my advice in a response to a recent biweekly to buckle down and give it a little extra effort and it paid off with a better than average biweekly.

So, while I certainly don’t believe one needs to be 100% to get great results, I think striving for close to 100% as opposed to being happy with 90% can make a difference. I have seen this time and time again. Those with the better dietary adherence are those with the best biweekly results.

That little extra focus on your diet for a few weeks could be just the difference needed to take it to the next level. So? Try it for yourself. Dig in and strive for 100%. See what happens.

MONDAY’S WORKOUT

Alternating DB Curls
Worked up to 55s x 6 + 2 + 2

Alternating Hammer Curls
Worked up to 40s x 12

Calf Press on Hack Slide
Worked up to 50×12 (15s pause in stretch)

Standing Leg Curls
Worked up to 40x 10 + 5 + 3

Front Squats
I wanted to work up to a heavy single to see how far away I am from a goal I set (315lb front squat), but I only made it to about 265 before I called it. I haven’t been front squatting in a couple months and as a result, my wrists aren’t accustomed to the Olympic grip. The weight was still smooth so I’ll keep working at it.

Hack Squats
Worked up to 255×8

Worked up to 165×20

Pretty good workout all around. I got to watch one of those funny ‘gym characters’ between sets today. You know the one - bodybuilder pants, sleeveless shirt, big headphones, frown on his face, lats locked and arms out, big belly. Have I painted a good enough picture for you yet? If I saw this guy in the mall, I wouldn’t think he trained. I watched him load up the bar for set after set of shrugs. When he hit 315 he was moving the bar about an inch. Then came 4 plates and then 5 plates, and then 5 plates and a 10. This set, I don’t think he moved it at all. Like at all. LOL Oh, and he had no trap development either.

Gym comedy. Always fun.