Personal Training by Bear

08/11/2015

TO BULK OR TO CUT THAT IS THE QUESTION?

Men say it and women say it, all in different ways.

You here it for men seasonally. They are bulking to gain more muscle or cutting for a competition or the beach.

Women on the on the other hand say "I don't want to get bulky" "I just want to get trimmed", at least most of the time.

Would you believe me if I told you that only what you eat effects that??

Well, too stinking bad. Because that's the truth.

There is only one type of exercise that makes you lean, that's max weight and minimal rest.

There is only one type of exercise to cut, that's max weight and minimal rest.

There is only one type of exercise to bulk, (say it with me) that's max weight and minimal rest.

Doing all the high reps may give you more endurance and may help build/maintain some muscle and strength, but if you want to be a healthy person, toned, and capable then I think you heard me the first time.

So.... how do they get bulky?? That comes down to one of three reasons: You either get fat from eating too much (the American way), You already have a large frame, or you take steroids.

You can control two of these, but if you have a large frame there is nothing you can do, so deal with it.

In fact stop reading all those dumb magizines or watching those shows that tell you every woman should look like a toothpick. Truth is most men prefer an athletic figure. This is because biology tells us that this would create strong offspring. Making you a good mate (in an Australian accent).

Remember women, everyone has said that you are more pain tolerant. If that's the case, you should have no problem picking up heavier weight.

Now for the GENTLEmen.

The same exercise routine applies across the board, for bulking or cutting. You might notice that the major difference in your routine for both is the type and amount of food you eat. Notice that alot of you are on the seefood diet for bulking (see food you eat it) and during cutting season you eat only measured portions of high quality food.

DUHH

That's everyone's fitness trick.

The only workout that works effectively is high weight, under ten reps, minimal rest (30-60secs). The diet should fit your goal, if you need more energy for workouts eat more (but healthy) if you need to cut for something like a competition then cut your intake, but more importantly, don't change the exercise.

You got it, NOW DO IT!!

08/06/2015

FAT, YOUR SOLUTION

Yes, yes I know
We have all heard it a million times
Fat is bad for you
BUT, why??
Where and what is the proof to support such a theory?

I always love to go back to the basics when it comes to reality.

So here are the basics:
-You are what you eat
-Eat what your made of

So....What are you made of??

Most can easily figure this one out. Most of what were made of is water, in fact 60-80% water.
So, what is every cell made of? Protein, every cell in your body is a protein. That's why we use terms like heart muscle, or say that the most important muscle to flex is our brain.

Because they are all protein based

And that's why we taste so good, muahahaha

Your brain to your skin to your toes is protein.
After that comes fat. It coats all your cells, it provides protection, it provides nutrient retention, water retention, thermal (heat or cold) regulation, hormone response, energy production.

Aka, fat does alot.

So, where do carbohydrates fit into the equation??

Your brain and spinal cord. Your brain swims in maple syrup (carbohydrates) it primarily fuels those areas. However, not alot of the nutrient is needed.

It has the ability to fuel the muscles, we call this type of storage glycogen. Using carbohydrates this way is not a good thing. Because, this is fats job. If carbohydrates are used it steals from the brain.
Vegans lost 5% brain matter over five years because of it.
Archeology has shown that agricultural societies have smaller brains and bigger guts.

Fats are the solution

Why are fats considered bad? Really it comes down to one mans study. Ancel Keys, and the Seven Country Study. This study led to acceptance of the Lipid Hypothesis which is the idea that Fat/Cholesterol causes a build up of plaque in the arteries causing heart attacks.

The hypothesis was never proven, but because of this study US policies made major changes. The food pyramid based around carbohydrates were made, Fat was taken off the market. Food companied were expected to remove fats. Restaurants stopped using beef tallow (fat) to fry and resorted on vegetable oils (which led to trans fats), foods on the shelves had no flavor so they relied on more sugar to make them taste better, the fat in milk was removed, even the coconut oil that was used for popcorn was switched to substitutes.

The end result was a society driven on sugar and transfat.

It's not hard to say that this is worse.

Lets break it down, what is the most dangerous section of the food pyramid? Sugary sweets at the top. What are trans fats? A conversion of transformed vegetable oils to a much unhealthier version of fat.

What are fruits, vegetables, grains made of? All of it is sugar. It breaks down into sugar as its final absorbed form. Know that when I say sugar I mean all forms: starches, complex carbs, and simple carbs. They all break down into sugar.

Here are some simple facts that end up in an obvious conclusion.
We know high sugar diets end up in diabetes
We know trans fats end up in weight gain
We know most sweet eaters are glued to a couch.
We know more kids are eating sugary cereals and sugary/energy drinks and that more kids are experiencing ADD, ADHD, or Obesity.
We know high blood sugar can kill
High sugar diets are correlated to higher inflammation.
We know sugar causes our blood sugar to spike and our levels of energy to fluctuate extensively.
High sugar diets are known to raise LDL

It should be easy to see at this point.

The solution is easy, sugar is not a good source of energy and should not be the staple of our diet.

What you might find very interesting is that animals may eat plants, but the food actually ferments inside their body until the end result is lower sugar/higher fat. They definitely don't eat corn.

So, why was Ancel Key study bogus? It was based off of data that was hand picked. There were societies that had high fat consumption with high heart disease and societies that had low fat consumption and high heart disease. He threw out all the countries that didn't fit his hypothesis.

The problem with the Lipid Hypothesis is that it never looked deeper. Cholesterol is a highly used substance in our body and is hugely important. It does not cause plaque in the arteries. It does get oxidized by inflammation, so when it goes to heal the arterial wall it becomes oxidized and penetrates that wall and forms plaque. If inflammation in the body stays controlled, LDL cholesterol does its job of healing then gets picked up by HDL'S. During the time of all these new policies to accept the Lipid Hypothesis, scientist were disproving it. But, we don't really care about them, do we??

Now as to why fat is the bomb:
Fat keeps insulin levels low
Higher fat content is associated with lower levels of depression
Higher fat diets are associated with higher HDL'S and lower LDL'S
Fats contain more energy per gram
Fats are one of the only ways to retain nutrients
And the most important of them all, Fats taste awesome.

07/12/2015

THE PERFECT WORKOUT

This isn't exactly about the perfect workout as it is about how you can program to get the most benefit out of your workouts.

We all exercise to get some kind of benefit. The amount of time that people waste on exercises because of stubborness or lack of knowledge is tremendous. It's like being trapped on a hampster wheel.

If you did it right you could gain more in 20 minutes than someone working out for two hours.

The main term to know is - Progressive Overload.

That means you are always increasing some part of the volume in your workout. That could be one more pound on a barbell or one more rep on an exercise.

Now lets look deeper by the use of studies.

In one study three groups were used: one performing 2-3 reps of an exercise, on performing 5-6, and one performing 9-11. Every group was performing those reps to failure. That means the weight was heavy enough that they would not be able to perform another rep. Only exercise was used and the rest period was 30-60seconds. The end result was a large jump in HGH levels which translated as both large fat loss and muscle gain.

In another study of three groups the reps were set to 1-10 in the first group, 30-50, and 100-150 all done to failure. The end result was that the 1-10 group had significant hypertrophy and strength, the second group built a large amount of muscular endurance (the ability to increase reps and to do it easier), and the 100-150 group only had a small difference (increase) from the second group.

There are more studies out there done on this subject (some mentioned in my previous posts), but lets sum it all up.

If you want to gain muscle and lose fat:
You exercise at a moderate to high intensity. Keep the rep range from 1-10 reps done with a weight you will go to failure with. Breaks in between are optimally at or around 30 seconds and no longer than 60 seconds.
Use the opportunity to super set (do another exercise) with either another strength building exercise or a muscular endurance building exercise. It's not necessary to go more than 3-5 sets, as that can lead to overtraining.

From a more competitive side if you need muscular endurance:
Stick to 30-50 reps, 30-60 breaks

Most importantly, continue to add the principle of Progressive Overload to your exercise.

Now to address more along the world of bodybuilding. There is this idea of cutting and bulking. This only has to do with food.

Doing higher rep schemes does not give a cut/toned look.
Doing higher rep schemes with a typical low carb/high protein diet gives that look.

Notice that during cutting and bulking seasons the main change that happens is that the person either eats everything in sight (bulking) or eats a healthy and controlled diet (cutting). You woul be better selved to change the diet for competition, but not the rep schemes.

07/11/2015

Whenever a trainer or certification program tells you not to deep squat, they all cite Dr. Karl Klein. Unfortunately, what they quote is not what he actually said. He believed in the deep squat, read for yourself.

http://startingstrength.com/articles/squat_klein_suggs.pdf

07/09/2015

10 gym myths you've probably been doing


http://www.mensfitness.com/training/pro-tips/10-things-you-got-wrong-about-working-out

06/28/2015

06/28/2015

OVERHEAD PRESS – THE ORIGINAL FLAVOR

Before the Bench Press, ages ago. Men took heavy things all the way from the ground a put them overhead.

The women went crazy for any man that could put them over his head, Like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

The original strong men made a show out of it by competing on who could lift the barbell over their head with one arm. Eventually, this became an Olympic event. There were three lifts involved: The Sn**ch (wide grip, bar directly from floor to overhead), the Clean & Jerk (bar to shoulders, then a drive of the bar up with a dip underneath), and the Clean & Press (bar to shoulders, then a press to overhead).
The Olympic Press that was used was not a strict press, and did have bending in the knees and lay back. It is because of this that it was considered too hard to judge.

Along with the Olympics, the Overhead Press was also one of the original Odd Lifts/ Powerlifts (Which from here on I will refer to StrengthLifting and not Powerlifting).
The switch from the Overhead Press to the Bench Press began to happen first with the invention of the bench. Before that the bar was rolled over the head while lying on the floor and pressed up.
The next big event was when the Bench Press was officially added to the roster in the first national Strengthlifting competition in 1960.

Popularity will grow around any exercise that allows you to lift heavier weight.

AND…

That’s exactly what happened. The heaviest recorded press I could find was 507lbs, whereas of lately the max Bench Presses are somewhere in the 1,000lb+. So the desire became greater to Bench.

That does not mean it’s a superior exercise and also depends on how you choose to classify it.
The Overhead Press uses less equipment, exercises more areas of the body, builds muscle, and has a record of being a much safer exercise than the Bench Press.

Now let’s go into the movement
The bar starts from the shoulders (resting on the delts). Your grip is relatively just outside the shoulders. With the bar resting on the shoulders your elbow will be up in front of you, this allows the bar to rest on the shoulders instead of the collar bone.
Next, you move your head slightly back as you press the bar overhead. When the bar passes your head you place your head forward where it was originally.
Last, you lock out your arms completely overhead with the traps pushed up (so as not to allow the shoulder girdle to grind against the arm).

There are a lot of questions that arise from this exercise and that is simply because of BroScience and a lack of real science. Some of the questions are:
Isn’t it bad for the shoulders to go all the way down or to go to full lock out?
Your shoulders arn’t activated at the bottom?
But, it doesn’t work out the chest?
But, what about the back?

Let’s start with this
Have you ever placed an item over your head in the cupboard, on top of the fridge, or in storage?
Where does that object start and where does it end? It usually starts from the floor or a countertop at waist height. Then you have to take the object to your shoulders and press it above your head usually to full extension.

Is this movement not meant to be natural??

Of course it is, but like all exercises it has to be done properly. The main areas of injury are mid back from hyperextension (bend your back too much) and injury to the shoulder girdle for some populations when the shoulder is not activated (traps pushed up). Think about it? How often do you hear a person complain of pain after they do Overhead Press? Now how often do you hear people complain of pain from Bench Pressing?

For the case of muscles worked and the range of motion.
One study they used an Electromyographic (EMG) machine placing electrodes on the pectoralis major, all three sides of the deltoid, the long head of the tricep, the upper and middle trap, and the teres minor. Then they had three groups: One starting the bar from 90 degrees (around the ears), one from 135 degrees (around the chin), and one at 180 degrees (from the shoulders). They found significant activation in every muscle on the group that started from the shoulder (180) and only little activation from the other two groups.

The beauty of the Overhead Press is that it strengthens and supports all the musculature of the upper body. You have core stabilization and you have a strengthening of the rotator cuff, which will all help prevent injury.

06/23/2015

This is my transformation.The first photo is 2011(155lbs), the second 2013(165lbs), the third 2015(175lbs). 5'10 and a small body frame.

06/23/2015

POWERLIFTING PROGRAMMING

It's time to go over the top programming in powerlifting from the best. I'm going to keep the styles between the USA and Russia.

So let's begin with the American Scum (Russian Accent)

------The top program used for a long period of time is the Westside Barbell Method.

This breaks down into two categories:
Maximum Effort and Dynamic Effort

Two days are Maximum effort and two are Dynamic, One of each being for upper body or lower body. The Maximum Effort is the first exercise and is a choice between a variation of Bench Press, Box Squats, Deadlift, or Bent-Knee Good Mornings.
These are done at 1-3 Reps for 8-12 Sets, the weight gets progressively Heavier every set until you reach a literal max.

After this follows 4-5 accessory exercises to support the main muscles, like triceps and shoulders to support the bench press.

Dynamic Effort, follows Maximum. This is still training on the main muscle group. These are done at 1-3 Reps for 6-12 Sets at about 40-60% effort, sometimes with 20-30% added weight from bands or chains attached.

After this follows 4-5 accessory exercises to support the main muscles.

-----The New top American program seeing the greatest results is the Wendler Method.

Four days a week you pick one of four exercises:
Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, or the Overhead Press

Each training cycle is four weeks long and the first cycle you remove 10% off of all total weights.

1st week - The first week for each exercise is 5 Reps for 3 Sets.
2nd week - The second week is 3 Reps for 3 Sets.
3rd week - The third week is 5 Reps for 1 Set, 3 Reps for 1 Set, then 1 Rep for 1 set.
4th week - The fourth week is a deload week.

So.... to break it down further.
Week1 W2 W3 W4
Set1 65%x5 70%x3 75%x5 40%x5
Set2 75%x5 80%x3 85%x3 50%x5
Set3 85%x5+ 90%x3+ 95%x1 60%x5

plus means as many reps as possible.

each cycle you add 5lbs for upper body and 10lbs for lower body to the total weight.

Now for ya'll Ruskies (Southern Accent)

-----The Classic training method (The "Russian" Program) is as follows:

It is a six week program where the first three weeks stay at 80% of 1RM. Every day the Bench Press, Deadlift, Squat are performed. As stated for the first three weeks 80% is used at 2-6 Reps (progressively increasing) for 6 Sets. The last three weeks move up to 85% and make their way to the last week being 105-110% at 1 Rep of your 1RM.

-----The next and program is the Pavel Method.

His method is five days long and consists of Deadlift 1x per week and Squat & Bench 2x per week. All this is done with 1 heavy Deadlift, Bench, and Squat; Then 1 light Bench and Squat. One lift per day.

The main platform is 5x5 (5 Reps x 5 Sets). You continue to use the same weight until you can complete all 5 Reps and 5 Sets. If you do complete them you move all weight up 10lbs and start over.

-----The last is the "Sheiko" method, which had had a high turnout of great athletes.

Unfortunately, because of trouble with translation we only have a small snippet of understanding as to how he trained his athlete. We do know it was a very complex system.