Well, the results are in from this Saturday's CPO Nationals. It was a very large meet with many Canadian and World records set, and took a total of 13 hours to get through. Congratulations to everybody who competed, and especially to everybody who won or set a record!
I ended up taking home 4 Canadian records in the Amateur/Raw 148lb division: 303lb squat, 242lb bench press, 341lb deadlift, as well as an 885 pound total.
The "Amateur" designations refers to the fact that competitors may be subjected to random drug testing as steroid use is prohibited. "Raw" refers to the exclusion of assistance ("support") equipment such as lifting suits, benching shirts, or knee/elbow wraps or grip straps (which are prohibited everywhere anyway.)
I haven't had a chance to edit them, but here're the final record videos from yesterday:
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Words of wisdom.
I'm back after my posting hiatus to share a few words of widsom from Steve Weinberger I read earlier today in FLEX magazine:
"That's the problem with people. People constantly take kindness for weakness."
On an unrelated note, I'm going to be participating in the CPO National Powerlifting Championship this Saturday. I haven't trained as a powerlifter, but I did perform the power lifts in training, so I dicided earlier in the year to give it a shot. Unfortunately my training and preparation hadn't gone as well as I would have liked, with limited time to prepare. We'll see how it goes.
"That's the problem with people. People constantly take kindness for weakness."
On an unrelated note, I'm going to be participating in the CPO National Powerlifting Championship this Saturday. I haven't trained as a powerlifter, but I did perform the power lifts in training, so I dicided earlier in the year to give it a shot. Unfortunately my training and preparation hadn't gone as well as I would have liked, with limited time to prepare. We'll see how it goes.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Finding the time to train.
I haven't updated the blog in a few days as I'm currently transitioning between locations, going from my rehabilitative training job back to athletic training and regular personal training and am working 12+ hour days. While this will normalize to something a little more reasonable within the next week or so, it got me thinking about finding the time to work out.
I constantly hear from people that they have no time to get themselves to the gym to work out to achieve their fitness goals. There's just no time to dedicate 4-5 hours a week to take care of yourself. Yet in many instances there ARE 20 hours a week to watch TV. I guess you have to have your priorities...
In any case, what also happens is that when they enter the fitness industry for the first time, many new trainers focus so much on training their clients and building up their business that they stop training themselves. There is no need to get into the nitty-gritty details of why this happens, but as an industry we should strive to keep up with our own workouts and physical conditioning and nutrition.
'Cause, really, what excuse are we gonna use? Can't get to the gym?
Despite working for 12 hours today and having 9 training hours, I managed to squeeze in 2 workouts. Admittedly this is unusual as I virtually never train more than once a day. However, working with the schedule that I had, I did 2 workouts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, 20-25 minutes each. I also had 6 meals.
What quality of workout can you have in 25 minutes? A pretty damn good one, thank you very much. I've done 15 minute workouts to great effect in the past. It's just a matter of your imagination.
Today was nothing fancy and I did a pretty straight forward shoulder workout in the morning, with standing barbell shoulder presses, dumbbell lateral raises, and a special type of bent over row that I designed to specifically hit the posterior deltoid heads.
The afternoon workout was a little more intense as I did 120 non-stop snatches with a 16kg (35lb) kettlebell, followed by 3 sets of walking lunges, 20 steps each, 20 one arm swings, and a set of deep squats followed by two hand swings, of unknown repetition count. I didn't care to count at the end.
Both of these workouts were pretty intense and are sufficient to not only keep one in shape, but to also keep making progress.
All of us have a few times a week when we can squeeze in a workout. While scheduling breaks for yourself to train and have lunch at is important, you can always get something done before, after, or in between clients.
I constantly hear from people that they have no time to get themselves to the gym to work out to achieve their fitness goals. There's just no time to dedicate 4-5 hours a week to take care of yourself. Yet in many instances there ARE 20 hours a week to watch TV. I guess you have to have your priorities...
In any case, what also happens is that when they enter the fitness industry for the first time, many new trainers focus so much on training their clients and building up their business that they stop training themselves. There is no need to get into the nitty-gritty details of why this happens, but as an industry we should strive to keep up with our own workouts and physical conditioning and nutrition.
'Cause, really, what excuse are we gonna use? Can't get to the gym?
Despite working for 12 hours today and having 9 training hours, I managed to squeeze in 2 workouts. Admittedly this is unusual as I virtually never train more than once a day. However, working with the schedule that I had, I did 2 workouts, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, 20-25 minutes each. I also had 6 meals.
What quality of workout can you have in 25 minutes? A pretty damn good one, thank you very much. I've done 15 minute workouts to great effect in the past. It's just a matter of your imagination.
Today was nothing fancy and I did a pretty straight forward shoulder workout in the morning, with standing barbell shoulder presses, dumbbell lateral raises, and a special type of bent over row that I designed to specifically hit the posterior deltoid heads.
The afternoon workout was a little more intense as I did 120 non-stop snatches with a 16kg (35lb) kettlebell, followed by 3 sets of walking lunges, 20 steps each, 20 one arm swings, and a set of deep squats followed by two hand swings, of unknown repetition count. I didn't care to count at the end.
Both of these workouts were pretty intense and are sufficient to not only keep one in shape, but to also keep making progress.
All of us have a few times a week when we can squeeze in a workout. While scheduling breaks for yourself to train and have lunch at is important, you can always get something done before, after, or in between clients.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Lose fat, not "weight!"
It's right there in the language that we're being inundated with day in and day out by the media, doctors, friends and relatives, telling overweight people that they need to "lose weight." What people really need to lose is body fat, and there's a distinct difference.
There is no problem with "weight" in and of itself. The simple act of analyzing your body mass by stepping on a scale is not the way to judge whether you're healthy or not. The real issue at hand is how much of your body mass is comprised of fatty tissue, since this is the real culprit in diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other illnesses. So the goal is to decrease body fat, not simply drop weight.
Lets look at an example.
Say you have two women who are both 5'3" and weigh 150 pounds. Now lets assume that one of them has 12% body fat, and the other has 33% body fat.
Since 12% is a very normal body fat percentage for a woman there is no problem. This woman has mostly lean tissue (muscle, tendons, bones, organs, etc.) and a very small percentage of fatty tissue and the fact that she's 150 pounds is not a detriment to her health at all. Should she lose weight? That is a matter of personal preference, but looked at purely in terms of her health -- no.
On the other hand, 33% body fat is very high. It means that 1/3rd of the body's mass, 50 pounds, is comprised of fatty tissue. This means that there's extra strain on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and there's increased risk of developing Type II diabetes and cancer, amongst other diseases. Should this woman lose weight to achieve better health? Yes, but that should be achieved by reducing the body fat percentage, and not just looking at the numbers on the scale.
Here's what I mean. Say this woman goes on a diet that makes her lose 20 pounds in 4 months and she's now down to 130 pounds. All's good now, correct? Well, not exactly. When most people try to lose weight they're not concerned with maintaining or increasing their muscle mass. They just want to see the pounds come off.
So lets say that of the 20 pounds lost 10 were fat and 10 were muscle, since there was no effort made to preserve muscle mass (and this is a very realistic split. In fact, she might've lost even more muscle). Now this lady has 40 pounds of fat and 90 pounds of lean tissue, compared to 50 and 100 before, respectively. Even though her weight decreased 20 pounds, her body fat percentage only dropped 2 points to 31%. She still has all of the health risks she had back when her body weight was 150 pounds.
Worse yet, the ratio of fat:muscle has worsened considerably, since the 90 pounds of remaining "lean tissue" are mostly comprised of bones, organs, bodily fluids and an ever dwindling amount of muscle.
I think that you're begining to see that it's important to make sure that you maintain, and often increase, your muscle mass as you try to lose "weight" to improve your health or aethetics. Muscles act as a "furnace" for calories within the body, increasing your metabolism and making you burn more calories at rest, when you're doing nothing.
On top of that, when you exercise you stimulate your muscles and this increases your muscular metabolism as well, causing the stimulated tissue to burn more calories for several more hours or days. Eating sufficient protein to maintain and increase your muscle mass is also important.
Basically, the more lean tissue, and specifically muscle, you have, the better your body is at burning calories and the easier it is to be lean and stay lean.
Going back to our example of the lady who lost 20 pounds, lets assume that instead of just trying to lose weight, she exercised and had sufficient protein consumption to maintain and increase muscle mass. During the same 4 month period she'd now probably lose 24 pounds of fat and gain 6 pounds of muscle, resulting in a bodyweight of 132 pounds, but the ratio would be 26 pounds of fat and 106 pounds of lean tissue, making her now 19.7% body fat (26/132*100), as opposed to 30.7% when just trying to lose weight.
So stop worrying about losing weight and concentrate on losing body fat. You'll be healthier, feel and look better, have more energy, be stronger and will be setting yourself up for long term success.
There is no problem with "weight" in and of itself. The simple act of analyzing your body mass by stepping on a scale is not the way to judge whether you're healthy or not. The real issue at hand is how much of your body mass is comprised of fatty tissue, since this is the real culprit in diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other illnesses. So the goal is to decrease body fat, not simply drop weight.
Lets look at an example.
Say you have two women who are both 5'3" and weigh 150 pounds. Now lets assume that one of them has 12% body fat, and the other has 33% body fat.
Since 12% is a very normal body fat percentage for a woman there is no problem. This woman has mostly lean tissue (muscle, tendons, bones, organs, etc.) and a very small percentage of fatty tissue and the fact that she's 150 pounds is not a detriment to her health at all. Should she lose weight? That is a matter of personal preference, but looked at purely in terms of her health -- no.
On the other hand, 33% body fat is very high. It means that 1/3rd of the body's mass, 50 pounds, is comprised of fatty tissue. This means that there's extra strain on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and there's increased risk of developing Type II diabetes and cancer, amongst other diseases. Should this woman lose weight to achieve better health? Yes, but that should be achieved by reducing the body fat percentage, and not just looking at the numbers on the scale.
Here's what I mean. Say this woman goes on a diet that makes her lose 20 pounds in 4 months and she's now down to 130 pounds. All's good now, correct? Well, not exactly. When most people try to lose weight they're not concerned with maintaining or increasing their muscle mass. They just want to see the pounds come off.
So lets say that of the 20 pounds lost 10 were fat and 10 were muscle, since there was no effort made to preserve muscle mass (and this is a very realistic split. In fact, she might've lost even more muscle). Now this lady has 40 pounds of fat and 90 pounds of lean tissue, compared to 50 and 100 before, respectively. Even though her weight decreased 20 pounds, her body fat percentage only dropped 2 points to 31%. She still has all of the health risks she had back when her body weight was 150 pounds.
Worse yet, the ratio of fat:muscle has worsened considerably, since the 90 pounds of remaining "lean tissue" are mostly comprised of bones, organs, bodily fluids and an ever dwindling amount of muscle.
I think that you're begining to see that it's important to make sure that you maintain, and often increase, your muscle mass as you try to lose "weight" to improve your health or aethetics. Muscles act as a "furnace" for calories within the body, increasing your metabolism and making you burn more calories at rest, when you're doing nothing.
On top of that, when you exercise you stimulate your muscles and this increases your muscular metabolism as well, causing the stimulated tissue to burn more calories for several more hours or days. Eating sufficient protein to maintain and increase your muscle mass is also important.
Basically, the more lean tissue, and specifically muscle, you have, the better your body is at burning calories and the easier it is to be lean and stay lean.
Going back to our example of the lady who lost 20 pounds, lets assume that instead of just trying to lose weight, she exercised and had sufficient protein consumption to maintain and increase muscle mass. During the same 4 month period she'd now probably lose 24 pounds of fat and gain 6 pounds of muscle, resulting in a bodyweight of 132 pounds, but the ratio would be 26 pounds of fat and 106 pounds of lean tissue, making her now 19.7% body fat (26/132*100), as opposed to 30.7% when just trying to lose weight.
So stop worrying about losing weight and concentrate on losing body fat. You'll be healthier, feel and look better, have more energy, be stronger and will be setting yourself up for long term success.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Technique, Technique, Technique.
The one thing I always try to instill in all of my clients is the use of proper technique.
Too many people sacrifice good technique and exercise form for the sake of doing a few more repetitions or lifting a little bit more weight. While this may seem like a good idea to speed up your progress, it is in fact the worst thing you can do.
Using proper technique when training allows you to more directly recruit the target muscles, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of the exercise. It also prevents injuries, creation of faulty movement patterns, bad posture, and looking like a goofball.
And I know, you're saying all that's nice and well, but what comprises good technique? Well, here're some basic pointers that will get you started on the right path.
Neutral Spine: Chest up, shoulders back and down.
For just about every exercise you care to do, with some exceptions, you want to have a "neutral spine." What this means is that you bring your chest up, rotate your shoulder blades back and down (scapular retraction and depression), while keeping your lower back slightly arched and your abs tight. This allows for the most "core stabilization" safeguarding you from injury. It also places your joints in the correct position to perform most movements and allows your muscles to have the proper range of motion.
Proper range of motion:
Using a proper range of motion is extremely important. Your muscles are meant to work through a specific range, and you want to make sure that they become strong through the entire range as this increases overall strength, muscular balance, and also safeguards you from injury.
This also makes sure that your muscles stay flexible and pliable through their entire range, laying waste to the myth that if you lift weights you're going to lose your flexibility. This only happens if you do partial movements and don't allow your muscles to get stronger through their entire range of motion.
Squat:
Keep a neutral spine. Initiate the squat by bending at the hips and then the knees, as if you're sitting back and down. Keep your foot flat on the floor throughout. Maintain a slightly arched lower back and tight core, with your chest up and your shoulder blades retracted.
Assuming your flexibility and joint health allows this, squat to below parallel. What this means is that your hip goes down below the level of the knee. While there is a myth that this is bad for the knees, it is not so. In fact, the greatest shear force through the knee is found in a parallel, or just above parallel, squat position, making it the most stressful to the knees.
Try to look ahead as you squat, as if you're maintaining eye contact with yourself. Don't look down, and don't look up, either (despite what many like to advise.)
Once you've reached the low point of the squat, start going up by driving through your heels into the floor as if you're trying to push the earth away, and simultaneously straighten out your keens and hips.
Chest press:
As you lie on the bench make sure that your chest is up, shoulders are down, with your shoulder blades in contact with the bench (chest up, shoulders back - start seeing a pattern here?). Make sure your shoulder blades are in constant contact with the bench throughout the movement - no lifting of the shoulders as you press up! Lifting your shoulders up will take the stress off the pecs and transfer them onto the deltoids and can also result in injury.
Utilize a full range of motion. Ignore all the bodybuilding magazine bull about "keeping constant tention on the muscles" by doing a 1/3 range of motion press. Refer to the "full range of motion" section.
Training arms:
Keep your chest up, shoulders back, core tight. Same deal as everywhere else.
When training biceps, make sure you don't swing the weight or generate momentum. This takes the stress off the biceps and puts your spinal integrity at risk. Don't rotate the shoulders forward when you initiate the curl from the bottom position, this can lead to a shoulder injury.
Don't move your elbows up or backward. Try to keep your elbows steady by the sides and just in front of your body (when curling with a bar).
When training triceps using a cable pushdown, make sure that you keep your elbows steady, not moving them back and forth or up and down. Also, perform the movement by starting with your forearm roughtly parallel to the floor and then finish by locking out your elbows, then bring your forearms back to a parallel position. Overextending the elbows on this exercise can lead to tendonitis which is very painful and takes a long time to heal.
Back rows and pulldowns:
Too many people sacrifice good technique and exercise form for the sake of doing a few more repetitions or lifting a little bit more weight. While this may seem like a good idea to speed up your progress, it is in fact the worst thing you can do.
Using proper technique when training allows you to more directly recruit the target muscles, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of the exercise. It also prevents injuries, creation of faulty movement patterns, bad posture, and looking like a goofball.
And I know, you're saying all that's nice and well, but what comprises good technique? Well, here're some basic pointers that will get you started on the right path.
Neutral Spine: Chest up, shoulders back and down.
For just about every exercise you care to do, with some exceptions, you want to have a "neutral spine." What this means is that you bring your chest up, rotate your shoulder blades back and down (scapular retraction and depression), while keeping your lower back slightly arched and your abs tight. This allows for the most "core stabilization" safeguarding you from injury. It also places your joints in the correct position to perform most movements and allows your muscles to have the proper range of motion.
Proper range of motion:
Using a proper range of motion is extremely important. Your muscles are meant to work through a specific range, and you want to make sure that they become strong through the entire range as this increases overall strength, muscular balance, and also safeguards you from injury.
This also makes sure that your muscles stay flexible and pliable through their entire range, laying waste to the myth that if you lift weights you're going to lose your flexibility. This only happens if you do partial movements and don't allow your muscles to get stronger through their entire range of motion.
Squat:
Keep a neutral spine. Initiate the squat by bending at the hips and then the knees, as if you're sitting back and down. Keep your foot flat on the floor throughout. Maintain a slightly arched lower back and tight core, with your chest up and your shoulder blades retracted.
Assuming your flexibility and joint health allows this, squat to below parallel. What this means is that your hip goes down below the level of the knee. While there is a myth that this is bad for the knees, it is not so. In fact, the greatest shear force through the knee is found in a parallel, or just above parallel, squat position, making it the most stressful to the knees.
Try to look ahead as you squat, as if you're maintaining eye contact with yourself. Don't look down, and don't look up, either (despite what many like to advise.)
Once you've reached the low point of the squat, start going up by driving through your heels into the floor as if you're trying to push the earth away, and simultaneously straighten out your keens and hips.
Chest press:
As you lie on the bench make sure that your chest is up, shoulders are down, with your shoulder blades in contact with the bench (chest up, shoulders back - start seeing a pattern here?). Make sure your shoulder blades are in constant contact with the bench throughout the movement - no lifting of the shoulders as you press up! Lifting your shoulders up will take the stress off the pecs and transfer them onto the deltoids and can also result in injury.
Utilize a full range of motion. Ignore all the bodybuilding magazine bull about "keeping constant tention on the muscles" by doing a 1/3 range of motion press. Refer to the "full range of motion" section.
Training arms:
Keep your chest up, shoulders back, core tight. Same deal as everywhere else.
When training biceps, make sure you don't swing the weight or generate momentum. This takes the stress off the biceps and puts your spinal integrity at risk. Don't rotate the shoulders forward when you initiate the curl from the bottom position, this can lead to a shoulder injury.
Don't move your elbows up or backward. Try to keep your elbows steady by the sides and just in front of your body (when curling with a bar).
When training triceps using a cable pushdown, make sure that you keep your elbows steady, not moving them back and forth or up and down. Also, perform the movement by starting with your forearm roughtly parallel to the floor and then finish by locking out your elbows, then bring your forearms back to a parallel position. Overextending the elbows on this exercise can lead to tendonitis which is very painful and takes a long time to heal.
Back rows and pulldowns:
Chest up, shoulders back. When rowing, whether seated or standing, make sure that you maintain a tight core, with a slight arching of the back. Let your shoulders come forward while keeping your upper spine straight and then pull them back for a nice contraction between your shoulder blades before you continue the pull by bending your eblows.
When performing a pulldown make sure you maintain the chest up, shoulders back posture. Let your shoulders come up while keeping your upper spine straight and then pull your shoulder blades back and down to initiate the movement and complete by bending your elbows. Try to touch the bar to your chest.
Avoid doing pulldowns behind the head as most people don't have the shoulder flexibility for that and will eventually earn themselves a few injuries using this technique.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Put your weights away!
When I started lifting weights regularly in 1996, the standard practice in the gym was to put your weights away. While some people didn't, it was the exception rather than the rule, and most people took care to put their dumbbells away or unload their own plates off machines or barbells when they were done.
Now as I look around the gyms I see plates and dumbbells piled everywhere. While some people are still obviously taking their weights off, many do not. This shows a general lack of courtesy and concern towards your fellow gym goers. If you've got the strength to load up a barbell or machine with plates, you should be able to take them off. Same for dumbbells.
I'm sorry to say that I also see trainers not puting away weights after their clients or themselves. We've got to set a better example during our time in the gym.
So, everybody, treat the gym with respect, be courteous towards others, and don't be a douchebag -- put away your own weights.
Now as I look around the gyms I see plates and dumbbells piled everywhere. While some people are still obviously taking their weights off, many do not. This shows a general lack of courtesy and concern towards your fellow gym goers. If you've got the strength to load up a barbell or machine with plates, you should be able to take them off. Same for dumbbells.
I'm sorry to say that I also see trainers not puting away weights after their clients or themselves. We've got to set a better example during our time in the gym.
So, everybody, treat the gym with respect, be courteous towards others, and don't be a douchebag -- put away your own weights.
On group training and helping each other
One of the most effective ways to stay motivated to get to your workouts and train hard is to train with a training partner or in a group (or, in fact, working with a professional trainer!) Many people swear by this method and insist they have never trained any other way, including the all-knowing all-rulling God of bodybuilding, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Some research has also been done that proves the effectiveness of group vs solo training.
I see a very great deal of partner/group training (and have taught both small, like 2-person personal training, and large group, like bootcamps, training.) While some people are just goofing around the gym, others are working hard and are using the group training concept very effectively.
One group that I see all the time is specifically good at encouraging and motivating each other, and together they train much harder than when I see them individually. On top of that, they're training outside of the mold by using such tools as kettlebells, weighted vests, and circuits that mix in the above with cables, barbells, and bodyweight exercises. Good stuff.
One thing not to forget, however, is for the more experienced members of the training group, whether it consists of 2 people or 8, to help guide the others in terms of exercise technique, load selection, and the like. Something that seems like second nature to an experienced trainee and comes naturally will most likely not be so for a person new to working out. Learning proper technique is easier from the start than trying to learn it once the body has adapted to faulty mechanics.
So when training with a partner or in a group, watch out for each other, help each other, and reap the benefits.
And of course, don't forget about fitness professionals. After all, teaching proper technique, workout progression, load selection and intensity levels is our direct area of expertise.
I see a very great deal of partner/group training (and have taught both small, like 2-person personal training, and large group, like bootcamps, training.) While some people are just goofing around the gym, others are working hard and are using the group training concept very effectively.
One group that I see all the time is specifically good at encouraging and motivating each other, and together they train much harder than when I see them individually. On top of that, they're training outside of the mold by using such tools as kettlebells, weighted vests, and circuits that mix in the above with cables, barbells, and bodyweight exercises. Good stuff.
One thing not to forget, however, is for the more experienced members of the training group, whether it consists of 2 people or 8, to help guide the others in terms of exercise technique, load selection, and the like. Something that seems like second nature to an experienced trainee and comes naturally will most likely not be so for a person new to working out. Learning proper technique is easier from the start than trying to learn it once the body has adapted to faulty mechanics.
So when training with a partner or in a group, watch out for each other, help each other, and reap the benefits.
And of course, don't forget about fitness professionals. After all, teaching proper technique, workout progression, load selection and intensity levels is our direct area of expertise.
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