stronger and smarter

The Linkz 11th Feb 2012

2012-02-11T14:17:00.002-06:00

How is everybody doing? Hope your weeks are going great! Mine has been pretty great, I did a DiSC profiling session at the start of the week. If you don't know what that is, and I'll be honest, I had no idea either! Its totally worth looking into. Its a behavioral analysis that is frighteningly accurate! I was a skeptic but Anne the profiler was amazing and really helped me understand how to get the best out of myself and others. Its an ongoing process but I see an amazing change already! If you are in the Edinburgh area and might be interested in finding out more get in touch with me and I'll forward the details!

Anyhoo, on with the best of the Linkz!

A great article from Mike Roussell on T-Nation on carb cycling, the only cycling I ever do...

Molly Galbraith has a great new site, and wants you to ask "Whats your Why?"

Dean Somerset gets Thoracic on your ass. Part 1, part 2 and part 3. Fantastic!

10 awesome shakes from Elite FTS. Nom nom!

Neghar Fonooni has a new 6 letter dirty word for you... A clue?? It begins with car, and ends in dio...

Tony Gentilcore revisists a classic.

John Romaniello breaks Intermittent Fasting down. Hot topic, great post!

Charlotte Ord looks at the Biggest Loser style of fat loss.

Bret Contreras has some randomness for you.

Mike Robertson knows knees...

6 from 6, tips from coaches that is, Ben Bruno on T-Nation

Let Marianne Kane guide you through your first time. With a kettlebell that is...

Interview with Girl Gone Strong Julia Ladewski on Driventrainingsystems.com

Enjoy!

Stay healthy.

Single leg training, if you don't, you should...

2012-02-08T08:32:00.000-06:00

I love single leg work. Its a challenge, it demands greater levels of stability, helps create strength and its absolutely necessary in my opinion. Think about it, you spend a whole load of time on 1 leg...
Walking down the street? Yes.
Going up or down stairs? Yes.
Fancy going for a jog? All one leg.
I could go on but I'm sure you get the point. You spend a whole bunch of time on one leg and to do that successfully, you need stability and strength.

This isnt gonna do it...

When you take a step, on the flat, going up or down a staircase, taking a stride during a run your body needs to create stability at the knee, hips and core. Without the strength to stabilise the hips theres a bunch of ouch in your future!

When you take a step, your weight goes on to 1 leg and your other leg lifts off the ground. Without stability, your hips on the unsupported side would drop stressing out your lumbar spine.

(A) is good. (B) isn't...

To stabilise the hips, the hip adductors and abductors need to be strong enough to keep the hips level.

The adductors are the adductor longus, adductor magnus, adductor brevis, pectineus and gracilis.

The abductors are the muscles that pull the legs apart, the gluteus minimus and the gluteus medius.

When a step is taken, the adductors contract to shift the hips over the supporting leg, and to counter the tendency for the unsupported side of the hips to drop, the abductors on the supporting side contract to hold the hips up and level. Weak abductors allow the hips to drop on the supporting side and if the hips tilt puling the lower spine to the dropped side. Not good...

So, single leg training helps to enhance the internal stability by forcing these muscle to work to stabilise the hips increasing the strength and ability of these muscles to keep you on the level.

In its simplest form, single leg training could be standing on one leg. Seriously. Try it. Stand on 1 leg, you'll notice that your feet, thighs and hips start working overtime to stabilise your upper body as it balances on the single stick that is your supporting leg. As your hips tire, you start to lean further over your supporting leg, taking the load off the abductors and you start to rely on balance.

Now most of us can manage to do this relatively easy task, so how do we progress? Well, I wouldn't advise going all Ben Bruno straight of the bat (seriously, this guy is crazy strong!)

Option 1
Static lunge. Starting with your feet shoulder width apart, take a big step forward keeping your feet shoulder width apart, now drop your hips straight down keeping your torso as vertical as possible. At the bottom you should be in a 90/90 position i.e. a 90 degree bend at your front knee, your back leg should be going straight down from your hips and bent at 90 degrees at your knee. From this bottom position (your knee should be just above the ground, not touching it), contract the glutes and quads to drive your hips back to the starting point. The further you step out initially the more your glutes will be worked, and the shorter the step, more quads. Complete your reps on one side then switch to the other.

Option 2
Reverse lunge. starting in a standing position, step back to achive the lunge position, and drop vertically to the bottom position (90/90), again remaining as vertical as possible. From the bottom position, drive up using your glutes and quads, this time come all the way back to the standing position. Going backwards into the lunge takes the deceleration force out of the movement i.e. you don't have to resist the forward movement with your front leg, so those with knee pain may find that they can do reverse lunges even though forward lunges hurt their knees. You can either do all reps on 1 side before switching or alternate legs since you are coming back to the start point each time.

Option3
Rfess. I love this exercise! Start a short distance from a bench, facing away from it. Reach one leg back and place it on the bench with the top of the foot on the bench surface. Keeping a vertical torso, bend the front leg and drop the hips straight down until the trailing knee is just above the ground, you should feel a greater stretch in the hip flexors and quad of the trail leg than in the first 2 options. Drive through the heel of the the front foot and return to the starting position. Complete all reps on one side, then switch to the other leg.

Front foot on the box allows a deeper drop. From the floor initially is fine!

Option 4

Step up. stand in front of a box or bench that is high enough to put the crease of your hips just below your knee when your foot is on the bench. Now drive through the heel of your foot on the box to straighten your leg and pull you up onto the box, pause at the top and control your descent back to the ground keeping your working leg on the box throughout. Complete all reps on one side before moving onto the other.

Now. This is only 4 options. There are limitless options for progressing from these 4 options, not only that but there are bunches that I've not put in here because:
1. There are so many options that this post would be stoopid long,
2. I plan on doing a follow up post where I'll look at other single leg exercises and I need to save a few!

Needless to say, you can add weight, change the height of the front foot to give a greater range of movement, have your weight in one hand only so as to create a offset load to challenge your stability etc.

I really feel that single leg training is hugely important to your training and you should, if you don't already, look to begin incorporating it into your training. You will create more stability and strength than you otherwise might. And that can only be a good thing!

Oh, and before I forget...I mentioned Ben Bruno earlier...

Thats 300lbs on 1 leg...

Stay healthy!

The Linkz 4th February 2012

2012-02-03T14:07:00.000-06:00

The end of another week has arrived, must be time to share some linkz with you...

Mark Young looks at whether cardio is bad for you...(spoiler - it won't kill you...)

If you haven't tried the Sexy Challenge from Bret Contreras yet, give it a go, I got 67. Moderately sexy...

Not losing fat? Jason Ferruggia has 12 probable reasons why.

Dean Somerset talks snoozies, that is, he talks about how much sleep is enough, not some kind of Canadian dialect...

You need to deload once in a while...Jeff Barnett guest post on Mr Gentilcores site tells you the how and the why.

And Tony Gentilcore himself speaks about the similarities of program design and hosting dinner parties...stick with it, trust me!

Awesome post from Jim Smith on next level thinking. Great interview with Martin Rooney.

Nia Shanks has a great post about feeling better if you are seated for extended time (ie 90% of the folks out there) and an awesome rant!

Guest post from Jon Goodman at Mike Robertsons site, all about improving your coaching cues.

Nick Tumminello sets out the perfect meal, whatever your goals.

Harold Gibbons on push: pull ratios. Pull wins. Sorry to spoil the end...

Martin Rooney on what you don't need to be doing in order to get stuff done...

Great interval workout from Marianne Kane, not for the faint hearted...

John Romaniello breaks down intermittent fasting.

Jim Wendler takes a good look at the bench press.

Ben Bruno wants you to consider whats holding you back?

And there we have it for another week. Get your February off to a great start with some great reads!

Stay healthy.

Randomness to kick February off!

2012-02-01T11:48:00.000-06:00

Hi Folks,

I hope all is well and with the first month of 2012 already in the books, I hope you are 1/12th of the way to the levels of awesome that you had planned for yourselves!

I thought I'd put out some random thoughts/ status report to start the month off. So here goes...

I started the week with this challenge from Bret Contreras' site. I scored 67. I learned that my incline press was pretty lacking (5 reps at 90kg), my pullups were average (10), front squats need work(10reps), but my glutes and hamstrings saved my score from being totally unsexy! Hip thrusts got me 15reps (only the second, but definitely not the last time I've done them!) and RDLs got me 27 before my grip gave out. Overall not bad. What did you guys all get? I'd love to hear...
Since January is over, the N.Y.R.s (New Year Resolutionists) have all but disappeared...Got to the gym on Monday morning, around 645 as usual, the car park was eerily quiet, the cardio machine were barely being used and there was no queue at the adductor/ abductor machines... Obviously didnt read any goals setting and achievement posts...
I've been reading a lot this last month as always, for Jan my reading list was:
The first 2 Jo Nesbo books, Described as the next Steig Larsson
F*@k Calories ebook by Krista Scott-Dixon
Intermittent Fasting ebook by Dr John Berardi
re-read the nutrition section of Scrawny to Brawny by Dr Berardi
The Leader in You by Dale Carnegie
about 30- 40 blog posts
a shit ton of atrticles online about performance, coaching, nutrition and leadership
Been doing a lot to try to always keep a positive mindset too. It gets a bit tricky while I'm still doing a job i hate while I get the personal training off the ground. Unfortunately I need the money it gives me to pay the bills while I build the PT career. So I always focus on the positives, keep moving forward and I know I'll get where I want to be soon!
I've been working on getting a lot stronger, my big lifts (bench, deadlift and squat) are all pretty low numbers, so my aim for this year is to boost all those significantly by the end of the year.
I joined fitocracy.com and I've been logging all my workouts there, its great for tracking progress. I also always have my notebook with me in the gym to log my training along with how each lift feels and any other notes I feel important.

There we have it. Ill be back at the end of the week with a new edition of the Linkz, until then, stay healthy!

The Linkz 20th January 2012

2012-01-20T17:47:00.000-06:00

Hi!

Hope everyone is doing great, hope all your 2012 plans are on track and all is well!

Heres some reading to keep you going over the weekend, enjoy!

A great random thoughts post from Bret Contreras, theres so much good stuff in here!

Great strength exercise of the week from Eric Cressey

Improve body image, improve your body by Helen Kollias on Precision Nutrition, Interesting read.

Guest post from Ben Bruno on re- re-building the reverse hyper, from Mike Robertsons site.

Tony Gentilcore with his choice in daily supplements.

Harold Gibbons shares some cool TRX exercises.

The Contreras files, in case you missed the link in Brets random thought post above!

Alli McKee with Eat and Train to thrive

Some chocolate protein ice cream, courtesy of Kelly Booth on Elite FTS

Great post from Dean Somerset on Paula Deens stoopid comments regarding Diabetes.

Thats it for this week folks. Hope you enjoy!

Stay healthy.

The LInkz - Friday the 13th edition!

2012-01-13T11:06:00.000-06:00

Friday the 13th, bad luck day - if you happen to believe in that sort of stuff...

Anyways... on with this weeks links to excellent stuff!

First up, a great 2 parter from Eric Cressey on how much rotator cuff training is too much? Parts 1 and 2.

Nick Tumminello on a critical mistake in corrective exercise.

Tony Gentilcore on the differences between box squats and squatting to a box.

A couple from Mike Robertson, 1st - 3 reasons he returned to power lifting and then 5 tips on how to do less in 2012, but enjoy more!

A great coaching tip from Zach Moore at iFast

An inspiring post from Jason Ferruggia.

Some great exercises you've never tried from Ben Bruno

What the efff from Dean Somerset, followed with the 80/20 principle for programme design.

John Romaniello on 3 hormones important when addressing fatloss.

Chad Waterbury asks if you should bench?

Jen Grasso has some bison meatloaf for ya!

You eat loads right? No you don't, Chris Carter tells you what a natural bodybuilder eats in a day.

Not fitness related, but I got a lot out of this older post from Carl Kingdom on introverts.

Jonathan Goodman on gym etiquette and the NO LIFT ZONE!

Hope you enjoy these and learn something, even a little thing, from these!

Stay healthy.

1 week down...

2012-01-09T11:33:00.000-06:00

So here we are, a week in to 2012 and I hope everyone is doing great and all your plans and goals are still on track!

Hopefully you are all tracking your progress and ticking off the mini goals that are stepping stones to achieving the major goals you have.

Breaking down those big goals you have set will do a number of positive things for you:

1. "Big" goals can appear daunting, they seem too large to possibly be achievable, you feel you are never gonna manage to do whatever that big task is so you lose confidence and ultimately give up. breaking it down into bite size chunks gives you manageable "mini"-goals to tackle. Want to lose 40lbs of fat? Big goal, but if you aim to drop just over 3lbs per week, in 12 weeks job done!

2. Track all your progress, as you reach certain points along the way reward yourself. It might be treating yourself to a CD (download?), new clothes, or a Ferrari. By tracking your progress and rewarding positive outcomes (results) as well as positive behaviours, as you go, you will create positive attitudes to your new habits making them easier to continue with.

3. Put a date on the big goals and mini goals. Stick to them. It becomes surprisingly easy to let them slip into the gutter and quickly become forgotten about. Set yourself deadlines, tell someone about them who will keep you accountable. Make them hold you to it. Its easy to lie to yourself and say you'll catch up later, its much harder to justify that to someone who wants you to succeed.

Hopefully you are all still working hard on getting the results you want and deserve this year, I wish you all the success you deserve!

Stay healthy

The Linkz - 6th of January 2012

2012-01-06T13:13:00.000-06:00

Wow! Almost a week of 2012 done already! Hope those new year resolutions are going strong! I've got a bunch of awesome links for ya to get your teeth into!

Eric Cressey up first with 5 great coaching tips

Debbie Martell on coreperformance.com with a great recipe for quinoa.

Harold Gibbons on weighs in on whey

Squat with chains? No? Mike Robertson on why its a good idea to!

Tony Gentilcore has 4 tips for becoming more awesome

Charlotte Ord has 10 predictions for 2012. (The end of the world is not one of them...!)

Nia Shanks with 11 tips for beginner strength trainees

Bret Contreras with a 5 set full body program along with a list of reason why exercise is necessary.

Jen Comas Keck on how to eat an elephant...

Anthony Mychal on T-Nation with 11 tips on training if you are a skinny fat ectomorph.

Interview with Marianne Kane from Girls Gone Strong on Driventrainingsystems.com

That should keep you going for a while!

Stay healthy.

How to survive the new years resolutionists in the gym from Dean Somerset.

New Year Nutrition

2012-01-04T18:29:00.000-06:00

How are we all today?

I'm writing this in a different location to my normal writing desk, since we live on the top floor of our building and the successor to Hurricane Bawbag (Scottish humour - love it!) has pulled a bunch of tiles of the roof and dumped a ton of water onto the now unprotected roof, there are leaks in 3 of our rooms including my study/ office/ place where we dump stuff! So I've moved through to a drier area to get this done...

Anyhoo... Since this is the time of the year when everyone and their granny is making new years resolutions, gonna get fitter, gonna eat better, gonna give up smoking, gonna, gonna, gonna... I thought I would do a couple of posts giving some tips on the nutrition/ fitness/ being more awesome resolutions being made.

A load of people I've spoken to have decided that getting fit and eating better are the goals for this year, so first up some basics about nutrition.

Nutrition is one of those things that derails a lot of fitness, fatloss goals. It gets over complicated. Nutrient timing, supplementation, supplement timing, macro ratios, no carbs on a full moon, blah blah blah... It all gets way more complicated than it needs to. Simple works.

You just have to know the rules.

1. If you are eating for fatloss or muscle gain, the amount of calories you consume matters. You want to get rid of some fat? Eat less. Want to get bigger? Eat more. Simple.

2. Eat a portion of protein at every meal. Protein gives you a fuller sensation for longer, meaning you snack less, and is vital for retaining ( or building muscle) whilst shedding fat.

A good rule, is for men - 2 palm sized portions per meal, for women - 1 palm sized portion per meal.
Choose from chicken, turkey, lean beef, fish, beans, tofu, tempeh, protein powders. Any of these will do, "chicken" nuggets won't!

3. Eat veggies. Lots of em. With every meal. They are high in fibre, low in cals, high in nutrients and they taste great! Raw, steamed, baked, juiced, you name it (ok, except deep fried...or microwaved) they taste great. ( I like spinach in with my morning shake, you dont even taste it once its blended, and you get a green shake! How cool is that!?)

4. Cut back on the starchy and sugary carbs. Carbs are kinda necessary. They are great for refueling post-training. Thats about it... Once you replace the energy stores in your muscles and liver (as muscle glycogen) the rest has to go somewhere and that somewhere is onto your hips, ass, stomach and bingo wings as fat. We don't want that to happen, so if you are having some carbs, opt for unprocessed types of paste, rice, bread. The processed options are basically just sugar with no redeeming nutrients.
Guys - 1 fist sized portion is good for you,
Ladies - 1/2 a fist sized portion is good.

5. Eat good fats. What!? Eat fat? Really?? Yup, but they can't be any old fat, I'm talking, healthy, unprocessed fats.
A lot of processed foods are full of processed fats, which are bad for your general health and can lead to fat gain. Healthy natural fats are important for a number of reasons, storage of certain vitamins, cell insulation, healthy skin and hair amongst many more.
Sources of these oils include raw nuts and seeds, olive oil, avocados, oily fish and omega 3 rich fish oil supplements.

Fats should make up about 30% of your total calories each day, try to keep the unhealthy fats (saturated fat typically from red meat and processed fats) to less than 10%.

Use these guidelines, and you will see great strides in your general health and body compositon, use them to get the best out of your training.

Stay healthy

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-02T11:26:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope it was a great Christmas and New Year holiday for everyone. I hope you got all you hoped for and had a safe and healthy New Year.

Now we are at the time of year where the obligatory review our lives and goal setting and lists of resolutions for the upcoming year happens.

I'm not all that different, I set goals, have ambitions and work towards them, ticking them off as I go.

The problem most people who set resolutions, or any goals set at any time, is that by 2 or 3 weeks in to them, they give up. They run out of steam, lose motivation, weren't clear enough about what they want, how they will go about getting it and when they plan on having achieved whatever it is they want.

So whether you plan on setting a PR in your lifts, eating healthier, dropping fat or becoming more awesome, your strategy is always the same.

So,
1. For the love of all that's holy, be specific! All well and good having a goal of losing weight, for example, but decide what you want to lose. Be it 10lbs, 20lbs, whatever...find the number you need to lose and write it down.

2. Set a date. Be realistic with both the amount you want to lose and the time in which you wish to lose it. 100lbs by the 1st of February may be a tad unrealistic, 20lbs by the end of February though is more achievable and will lead to a healthier and longer term weight loss result.

3. Decide how you will achieve it:
     1 - Eat a more balanced diet.
     2 - Reduce starches and sugars.
     3 - Increase protein intake.
     4 - Exercise 3 times per week, using a structured plan, set with the help of a trainer.
     5 - Remove negative influences and create a support network.
     6 - Log your activities, calorie intake and progress daily with fitday or mydailyplate.

Whatever you have planned this coming year, breakdown your specific goals, and set about getting them done.

I have the utmost faith in you!

Stay healthy.

You can follow me on Facebook, or on Twitter.
And if you have the time, and you would like to "like" my Facebook page for Ballantine Fitness and Strength training page that would be appreciated!

The Linkz - 30th December 2011

2011-12-30T11:45:00.000-06:00

The last linkz of the year is here! 2011 is almost gone so enjoy the links I've got for you today (needless to say there are a fair number of top 10s of 2011)!

Ben Bruno presents to you the 2011 Bruno Video Awards!

Eric Cressey on the 6 characteristics of a dynamic warmup.

Mike Robertsons top 10 blog posts of 2011

Nate Green on some of what he learned (and remembered) in 2011.

Jen Comas Keck on her 2011.

Eric Cresseys picks for the best videos of 2011. And his top 10 articles of the past 12 months.

Tony Gentilcore has 12 (that's right 12, this guy doesn't stop at 10!) pieces of awesomeness from 2011.
Part 1 and part 2.

An interesting view on the past year from Dean Somerset as he shares his biggest mistakes of the past year.

Top 25 articles from Elite FTS

Thats your lot for now. I hope everyone has an awesome New Year celebration and I'll see you in 2012!

Stay healthy.

On the 12th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-23T02:49:00.000-06:00

Day 12. The last day of this run of posts, I've enjoyed doing them. I realised a couple of things,

1. I need to be better organised than I was, I had planned these posts but should have thought them through a bit better and

2. I really need to get better at this writing thing! But hey, I'm a personal trainer not a writer!

Anyways, for the last day, I've got a 12 round circuit for you. I used this with my bootcamp guys on Monday as an end of year/ happy Christmas for me workout! They did me proud!

The exercises:

1. 10 sec plank
2. 10 sec side plank (each side)
3. Divebomber pushup
4. Inchworm
5. Glute bridges
6. Pushups
7. McGill crunch
8. Bird dogs (4 each side)
9. Squat jumps
10. Jumping Jacks
11. Burpees
12. Reverse lunge (6 each side - I was feeling generous...)

The circuit:

Do round 1 - 10 sec plank

Round 2 - 10 sec plank each side, 10 sec front plank

Round 3 - 3 Divebomber pushups, 10s side plank each side, 10s front plank.

Round 4 - 4 Inchworms, 3 divebomber pushups, 10 s side planks, 10s front plank.

Round 5 - You get the idea...

Do these with as little rest as possible between rounds right up till you complete the 12th round.

Great quick blast for you midweek if you are looking for something quick and intense to get you through the mind numbing and endless re-runs of crappy movies and Christmas specials...

Hope everyone has an amazing Christmas!

Stay healthy.

On the 11th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-22T02:48:00.000-06:00

11 days in, second last post for you...

Today I've got 11 websites I can't go more than a day without checking in on. Great resources for all thing health related!

T-Nation -The Intelligent and Relentless Pursuit of Muscle. With an awesome forum and post written by everyone from Dave Tate, Mike Robertson, Jim Wendler, Bret Contreras, John Meadows, Chris Shugart etc etc etc If what you are looking for isn't here then you don't need it!

Elite FTS - Alwyn Cosgrove, Ben Bruno, Jason Pegg, Jen Comas Keck and Molly Galbraith all put up great articles here, along with their training logs and some awesome nutrition info and recipes.

Facebook - Bear with me on this one! There are some awesome links to articles that I would otherwise miss. Not to mention posting up anything I stumble upon and find interesting!

Precision Nutrition - The most bestest nutrition info on the web, in my opinion anyways. Dr John Berardi and co put up a wealth of info on all facets of nutrition and go in depth with it.

StrengthCoach.com - Mike Boyles Strength coach website is a pay site but its so worth it you shouldn't even think twice about signing up! The sheer volume of info contained here is fairly overwhelming, between the forums and the articles, you'll be able to find anything you need.

Google.com - More specifically the RSS reader. All the blogs I follow on a regular basis I have linked to here, helps keep me up to date. I don't like to miss out on anything! I'm an information junkie...

Livestrong -The articles are good, but the main use is actually the calorie counter on the Daily Plate section of the site. Its amazing how hard it is to estimate 4500 cals without a tracker...

Twitter - Same as with facebook, I check in here every now and again, following as many in the strength and conditioning, nutrition, fitness etc fields as I can and theres loads of links to great articles and blog posts to be found here.

Bodybuilding.com - a huge site with loads of resources for your pursuit of muscle. From nutrition and supplementation info to a load of training articles, it can all be found here.

FunctionalMovement.com - A load of stuff on the functional movement screen, articles, corrective strategies, forums, research etc. Lots of really interesting stuff here.

Itunes Movie Trailers - I know, nothing to do with health and fitness, but I like movies, so I like to know whats coming!

Have an awesome day, hope all your shopping is done!

Stay healthy

Last day tomorrow, so check back for the 12th day!

On the 10th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me....

2011-12-21T10:47:00.000-06:00

4 sleeps to go! On this the 10th day of Christmas (thats right, Christmas, not winterval dammit!) my top 10 favourite articles of the year. This was hard to boil down to 10 but these are all great articles that I got a lot from. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

1. From Jan 2011, Dan John on minimalist training. I love Dan Johns writing, its simple, clear, packed full of goodness!

2. From Feb, Nate Green released The Hero Handbook, the ultimate guide to becoming your own hero. Download it, read it, get heroic.

3. From March, Leigh Peele breaks down how to read a research paper, how to know what to look for and start making sense of it all...

4. From April, Dean Somerset talks anti-abs.

5. From May, Mike Robertson on coaching the neutral spine.

6. From May, Roger Law on the power of you!

7. From June, Bret Contreras and Elsbeth Vaino gave us the Best Damn Pushup Article!

8. From July, Tony Gentilcore on the deadlift.

9. From August, Bret Contreras on the 50 commandments of gym etiquette.

10. From October, Nia Shanks amazing post on her struggles with disordered eating. Must read!

2 days to go, check back for the 11th day and have an awesome day!

Stay healthy.

On the 9th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-20T10:32:00.000-06:00

Wow! Its the 20th already, I'm almost done with my gifts, just a couple to go... Why do I always leave it so late?

Anyhoo, its day 9 of the 12 days, and today I've got 9 tips for a healthy christmas...

1. Have fun. Relax and enjoy the time with your family and friends. Stress isn't healthy, take some time for yourself and chill. Theres the whole of next year to worry about stuff...

2. Don't beat yourself up over what you shouldn't have eaten. That said, don't pack yourself full of sweets and crap for the next 7 - 10 days either.

3. Eat a good breakfast. Don't go skipping arguably the most important meal of the day just so you can "treat" yourself later.

4. Christmas dinner is great, I love it, all that turkey, veg and trimmings. But think about what you eat. Its Christmas, not "eatasmuchcrapasyouwanttillyouburstday" Load up on turkey, veggies and keep the potatoes and stuffing etc to a minimum. Healthy and tasty!

5. If you are gonna have an alcoholic drink, try not to go overboard with it. I'm not gonna get all preachy about this, I like a couple of beers every now and again too, just know your limits and since alcohol has as many calories per gram as fat, keep your intake moderate.

6. You eat smart all year (more or less..) eat your meals, and snack healthily when you need to. Why change that now? Just because there are chocolates and crisps being passed around doesn't mean you have to have them, pass them on. Don't feel guilty for doing it either.

7. Get out for a walk. As tempting as it is to stay in with a selection of sweets and mince pies, watching whatever movie is being re-run on tv, get up, get dressed warm and get out for a stomp. Fresh air and exercise is a great way to burn off some those calories consumed over the xmas period.

8. Learn to say no once in a while. Everybody wants to get round to see everybody at this time off year, usually ending in all involved being totally stressed, rushing about and not really enjoying the time they have with anyone. Put a couple of things off until after the holidays and it'll give you a little breathing space and let you enjoy the holidays. You'll go into the new year feeling more refreshed and ready to kick 2012s ass!

9. Take the down time to think about your year ahead. Set some goals and write down how you are going to go about achieving them. Make some plans so that next year is your absolutely best yet!

Day 10 tomorrow, check back in then...

Stay healthy.

On the 8th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-19T13:31:00.000-06:00

8 days in... hope everyones festive period is going smoothly so far!

Today I've got 8 great videos for your viewing pleasure!

Motivation first: I've watched this video about a dozen times this year.

Number 2 is an amazing world record deadlift set this year.

No.3 Lifting heavy does not equal bulky...

No.4 Master bodyweight first...

No. 5 Inspired...

No. 6 Whats stopping you?

No. 7 Back to the old skool...

No. 8 A little comedy value...

There we go, enjoy!!

Check back tomorrow for day 9...

Stay healthy.

On the 7th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-19T02:22:00.000-06:00

Over half way now! so I'm gonna begin the second half of the 12 days by giving you the gift of power! Well, kinda anyway. Since we all know that knowledge is power, then you can get your learn on with these awesome blogs by some of the smartest in the strength and conditioning/ personal training game!

Bret Contreras - Super smart dude, (as all these folks are!) Scientific approach, the guy actually conducted hundreds of electromyography experiments on himself to find the best exercises for each muscle group. He developed the hip thrust, he's an expert on glute development, great at explaining biomechanics. Currently studying for his Phd in New Zealand.

Jim Smith - Co founding member of Diesel Crew (along with Jedd Johnson), published in loads of magazines, as well as the author of a huge number of great products. As well as all this, he is super motivated, always positive and inspirational.

Tony Gentilcore - Co-founder of Cressey performance with Eric Cressey, is one of the most entertaining bloggers around. Not to mention really smart. His blogs are really easy to read but contain a great amount of info on all things training.

Nia Shanks - This woman is the perfect example of why women should lift heavy, excellent posts on her site and a great example of how doing more than tricep kickbacks with that cute little pink dumbbell set isn't gonna get you "bulky."

Nate Green - As much a lifestyle blog as a lifting blog, Nate always has awesome content. Great workout and nutrition stuff (he work with John Berardi over at Precision Nutrition), he also has loads on becoming your own hero!

Dean Somerset - Strength coach, kinesiologist, post rehab specialist, physiologist, Canadian. His ability to put even the most complex info into an easy to read, and not to mention, humourous format makes this a must read.

Harold Gibbons - Harold is always putting out great posts through his blog, great content on all aspects of health and fitness, great info and always a good read!

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I had to limit it to 7 so there a big bunch of folks who I read almost daily that I've not put on the list. If you start with these, you'll be doing alright to start with!

Come back tomorrow for day numero 8....

Stay healthy.

Ps since I'm an idiot and forgot to post this on Sunday as I should have, this is going out on day 8 in the morning, and later today I'll post up day 8s actual intended post!

I'm sorry, it won't happen again! Probably...

On the 6th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-17T03:20:00.000-06:00

So we are at the 6th day, half way to Santa day. So still time to get some of those last minute pressies, and since I'm such a nice guy, I have half a dozen ideas for gifts for the folks you've ~~forgotten~~, not got round to yet!

1. TRX - Awesome piece of kit. Take it anywhere, do almost anything with it! Easy to pack and with the door anchor you have no excuse not to get your workout in wherever you may find yourself!

(U.K.) (U.S.)

2. Minimalist shoes - New Balance are my shoe of choice at the moment. The best thing I've ever done for my feet, super comfy, no heel lift and they look pretty good too. Taking away the heel lift and getting your feet back into the position they have evolved to be in. thats got to be a good thing right?

(U.K.) (U.S.)

3. Egg poachers - I love eggs, especially poached, mmmmm! Since they are one of the best whole foods you can have, you should probably be eating more of em! These little silicon pods are easy to use (and just as importantly, easy to clean). (U.K.) (U.S.)

4. Foam Roller - Not just for in the gym you know! great to use on off days to help with recover and ease those tight muscles. (Also useful for working the core in a different way, see Bret Contreras post here) (U.K.) (U.S.)

5. Training gear - shorts, t-shirts, hoodies, track bottoms, all useful stuff. I used to be the guy in the scruffiest gear, but now I have to look a little smarter so I go for Under Armour. I like the feel of it and it performs really well. (U.K.) (U.S.)

6. Personal training sessions - Slightly shameless plug, but a good trainer can help motivate you and get you over any plateaus and help you take your training down a more focused route. There are loads of trainers out there, but if you are in the Edinburgh area, give me a shout!

All links are to amazon.co.uk or amazon.com, I'm not affiliated in any way, I just found it easier to link there than anywhere else! Likewise for the Under Armour links.

Check back in tomorrow for the 7th day...

Stay healthy.

On the 5th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-16T02:30:00.000-06:00

5 gold rings? Nah!

5 of the best motivational quotes if found this year.

"Its never too late to be who you might have been" - George Elliot

"If you don't see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.” - Zig Ziglar

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." - Yogi Berra

And as a bonus, since its Christmas...!

A good day in anyones book!

Tomorrow is day 6, so come back and see what I've got for you!

Stay healthy.

Stay healthy!

On the 4th day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-15T02:18:00.002-06:00

4 days in, feeling full of the Christmas spirit??

Today I have my 4 favourite exercises. These are the 4 exercises that I not only enjoy doing, no matter how beat I feel after performing them, but also that I feel give me, and probably you to, the best bang for your buck!

Pull ups A strong upper back is an absolute must! Most folks concentrate on training what they can see in the mirrors, chest, biceps, chest, abs, chest... you get my point! But in order to maintain good posture, balance must be made between the front and back of the body. Pull ups (or chinups) will help maintain that balance, and they look badass! Check out Neghar Fonooni busting out some weighted pull ups.

Deadlift While we are on the subject of working the muscles you can't see, we can't forget the deadlift. I love this lift. It hits everything down your back, through your glutes, hamstrings, calves and into your feet. Not to mention you arms, grip and core! But for the love of god, get someone who knows what they are doing to give you proper technique coaching, don't be this guy...

TRX body saw I love this exercise as it really focuses you into keeping the whole front of your core tight, and I mean from the chest right down to your knees! Having a slight hip hinges helps keep your core tight and saves your lower back sagging and stressing your poor lumbar spine.
To perform this movement, get in a face down position, feet in the TRX (which should be about mid shin height when you set it up), feet directly below the anchor point. Raise yourself up on your elbows, which should be directly under your shoulders, Push back with your armsso your body moves backwards while you hold it straight and tight, once your get back to a point about 8-12 inches behind your starting point, pull yourself forward to the start point. The video shows it better than I can describe it...along with an awesome tune!

1 arm Dumbbell press I wasn't gonna leave you without a pressing movement of some kind! It is almost Christmas after all! The difference with this one is the core component is there, because your loading is asymmetrical, you have to work that bit harder to stabilise your shoulder and torso. The added core component probably means that initially you'll have to go a little lighter than your normal DB bench load, once you are stronger and more easily able to stabilise the movement then you can work on increasing the load. Eric Cressey shows how its done.

Share and enjoy!
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the next part of the 12 days of Christmas!

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-14T02:56:00.000-06:00

So here we are, the 3rd day of Christmas.
Santa day is getting closer, and I have 3 great festive breakfast ideas for you. These will give you the energy you need to battle through the Xmas madness and keep you fueled for success over the festive period, or at least till lunch!

Protein porridge with banana - I love porridge, especially in the winter, its hot, nutritious and verstile.

1 cup of oats
1 cup of semi skimmed (2%) milk.
Put both into a saucepan, put on the heat, keep stirring until it thickens and then add 1 scoop of protein powder, stir it in, and add a chopped banana, and eat!

You get:
34g protein
79g carbs
11g fat
3g fibre
and 585kcals.

Breakfast shake - great if you are in a rush!

Into a blender put, 250g yoghurt, top up with fresh orange juice (ideally not from concentrate), handful of mixed berries, 1 scoop of protein and a little squeeze of honey (about 2 teaspoons worth).

Blend, pour and drink!
You get:
38g protein
64g carbs
6g fat
8g fibre
and 425kcals.

Spicy scrambled eggs with veggies.

Dice up a couple of spring onions, a tomato and half a bell pepper, and put them into a hot pan with a little coriander and a little tumeric. Put your eggs into a bowl and whisk them up, adding about a tablespoon of Greek style yoghurt. Add this to the veggies and keep them moving while they cook.

Heat a tortilla for about 30 sec under the grill, spoon the egg mix onto the tortilla and wrap it up and eat!

You get:
15g protein
33g carbs
10g fat
2g fibre
and 333kcals

Enjoy!

Remember to come back tomorrow for the 3rd day of Christmas...

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-13T02:17:00.000-06:00

Day 2, For you today I have 2 book suggestions for ya!

I've read a lot this past year, books, blogs, articles, newspapers, food packages, twitter feeds, facebook posts, clocks, post, DVD covers, graffiti. You get the drift, I read a lot!

Narrowing it down to give you guys 2 suggestions of books has been difficult!

However...

The first is Michael Mejia and John Berardis' Scrawny to Brawny. (U.K.) (U.S.)
I really enjoyed this book, its well laid out and easy to read with a load of info. The training section is a good intro but my own training has gone a little further on now. However the nutrition section is fantastic and is a great resource.

The second is The New Rules of Lifting for Women (U.K.) (U.S.) This is the book I recommend to any woman coming to me about starting to lift. Both the nutrition and training info contained in here is excellent and is as valid for men as it is for women and I can't recommend it highly enough!

If you are looking for last minute gifts or just something to give your training a boost these are great options.

Have an awesome day, hope you are enjoying your build up to Santa day!

Stay healthy

Facebook

Twitter

On the 1st day of Christmas, my trainer gave to me...

2011-12-12T02:33:00.000-06:00

Here we are, once again its the run up to Christmas. Time flies!!

Over the next 12 days, I have 12 posts to give you ideas covering Christmas food, gifts, training and motivation to help keep you going in the busy run up to Present day!

To begin, I have not a partridge in a pear tree, but... the number 1 best tip I can offer give you to ensure that 2012 is your absolute, without doubt best year yet!

Set your Goals

That's all. Sounds simple right? It is! Kinda...but it is completely vital for you to achieve what you want to. If you don't have a goal, a clearly defined, written down goal, how on Earth will you know if you have truly reached it?

"Goals that are not written down are just wishes. " - Unknown

And we all know, "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." - English proverb

I've read a lot lately, on various topics - training, anatomy, business, self development etc and one of the common themes I've picked up is that of having clearly defined goals. I also have listened to the goals series by Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker and master at goal setting and achievement. By following some of his suggestions and becoming more goal oriented I have achieved more in the last 2 months then I had in the previous 4! I would strongly advise you start to setting clear goals and start working on em! Its an ongoing process but well worth it.

1. Decide what you want.
2. Write it down.
3. Write down why you want it.
4. Write down who you need to talk to and what you need to do to achieve it.
5. Go do it!

It really is that simple, but, and there is always a but...

1. Be very clear about your goal. Fuzzy goals = fuzzy results.
2. If you don't write it, its a dream, its a wish. Write it down and put it somewhere you see it everyday.
3. If you can't say why, in 1 concise sentence why you want to achieve your goal, you don't want it. Not right now at least. Put it aside for later.
4. You need a plan, who can help you, what steps are needed and how do you go about achieving it.
5. Go do it!

Whether your goals are fat-loss, muscle building, financial, personal, job based, family, whatever they may be, set your goals, and go get em!

(And if you can get a hold of the Zig Ziglar "Goals" series, I highly recommend listening to it!)

Remember to come back tomorrow for the 2nd day of Christmas...

Stay healthy.

The Linkz - 9th December 2011

2011-12-09T15:54:00.000-06:00

On this coming Monday its 12 days to Santa day, So I'll be posting 12 blogs, 1 on each of the 12 days of Christmas covering food, training, gifts and more!

In the meantime, an issue of the Linkz to keep you learnin!

So, here we go...

Ben Bruno has a request, he's doing an experiment comparing pushups and inverted rows. If you haven't done so, check out the post and send your results...

A short post from Charlotte Ord on strategies for growing old well.

Tony Gentilcore visits Diesel Strength.

A great set of links from Chris Beardsley at Thegaragegymonline.com

Jedd Johnson over at Diesel on simple grip training. Check out his other stuff on grip training, great stuff!

Nia Shanks, strength training for confidence.

Great advice from Jen Comas Keck on ways for the Ladies out there to feel more comfortable in the weight room.

A guest post from Jonathan Goodman on training women, on Neghar Fonoonis blog

Nate Miyaki has some food for thought on T-Nation

A typically great post from Dean Somerset on training through an injury.

Great interview with Joel Jamieson from Mike Robertson, great stuff in here including a free report.

Hope you enjoy these links. Remember to check back on Monday for the start of my 12 days of Christmas posts!

Have a great weekend.

The Linkz - 2nd Dec 2011

2011-12-02T17:28:00.000-06:00

A new month, a new edition of the Linkz!

Courtesy of T-Nation, John Romaniello has the stats for looking awesome!

Pull ups are awesome, you (probably) need to get better at them. Heres how, from Mike Guandango

Mike Robertson knows deadlifts, and knows how to help you to lift heavy too!

Charlotte Loa with the secret for hard losers...(spoiler alert! There is no secret!)

Tony Gentilcore on setting up the deadlift properly.

And while we are with Mr Gentilcore, his birthday edition of "stuff to read while you're pretending to work.'

Jason Ferruggia has 14 important notes for your programming, you should read them, then implement them...

Cool exercise for the whole back side of the body at one go from Ben Bruno.

Jen Comas Keck - Beauty lies in strength. Yup!

Nia Shanks has an great interview with her Mum. Fantastic.

Martin Rooney asks if you are daily or occasionally?

Great biceps workout from Diesel crew

Rachel Cosgrove on giving up caffeine. Thinking of trying to do this, but i REALLY like coffee...

Bret Contreras on the Glute march.

Nick Tumminello on your deload/ recovery week.

John Romaniello with another 15 min session, this time hitting the legs!

Read, enjoy, learn and share!

Stay healthy.