Better Is Better

Snow Fort Fitness: a great way to end 2008

It’s the last day of 2008. Outside it’s -20° Celsius. I’m in our nice warm kitchen. My wife is rustling up one of her famous deserts for our New Year’s Eve dinner party. A perfect way to wrap up a killer session of snow fort building with my daughter.

Earlier in the day, my daughter was very insistent that we go outside and play. With the cold temperatures, and recent days of rain, the snow is dry and cake-like; rubbish for building snowmen or having snowball fights. But the idea of building a tunnel fort suddenly came to me. I haven’t done that since I was a kid!

So we got out all the shovels, picked the biggest mound of snow, and started digging. After an hour of digging and scraping we ended up with a pretty cool snow fort. We pretended it was the underground stronghold from the Prince Caspian movie (my daughter loves the Narnia stories).

It struck me as I was digging, and sweating, that snow fort building is pretty good exercise. Sometimes we forget that the little things like playing with our kids can make a significant contribution to the bottom line when it comes to our fitness goals.

And for those of us “above the snow line,” it can be even easier to forgo the hassles of bundling up to go outside for some good clean fun. But once you’re out there you don’t notice the cold. You get to spend quality time with your family. And you get some extra physical activity while you’re at it.

So go build a snow fort or a snowman. Have a snowball fight. Go snowshoeing or walking in the woods. Go sledding. And for those of you that live in the heat (I’m slightly jealous by the way), go build a sandcastle - or do whatever it is you folks do in the winter…

If you’re still not convinced, I have one more side benefit to mention. Getting outside in the winter will help you kick your vitamin D producing engines into action. You won’t get the same effect as during the summer, when the sun is stronger, but every little bit helps. Sufficient levels of vitamin D are linked to a whole host of beneficial effects linked to health and overall mood and well being.

May you all ring out the end of 2008 in style. I’ve been blessed with an excellent year. I’m grateful to all of you who have been following this blog and my newsletter. I’m looking forward to even bigger things in 2009, and I want to wish all of you much happiness, health and success in the year to come!

Cheers, Adam

Clubbell Bruiser: Pre-payment plan and penance

The Holidays are well underway.  And the "legacy" is already starting to be built.  Yes, overindulgence takes its toll.  Pounds are being packed away for later use.  But I am enjoying myself and I am staying within striking distance.

One of the strategies I like to use during times of feast is attempting to shuttle excess nutrients to starving muscles instead of having it make a beeline for the fat cells.  One of the best ways to do that is to make a "pre-payment."  By engaging in a tough training session before the feast you will help turn on the sensitivity of the muscles to receiving at least their fair share of the spoils.

On Christmas eve my pre-payment consisted of various gymnastics-based strength training topped off with 100 Bruiser Clubbell Clockwork Squats.  This was mopped up with a few rounds of Forward Pressure and a couple flows through Spider Monkey from Coach Sonnon's Prasara DVD.  After that, I felt pretty deserving of my traditional Christmas Eve sushi extravaganza.

On Christmas day, my training was relegated to a role of penance rather than pre-payment.  With a belly full of eggs benedict and my wife's world-famous baked goods, I hit the Bruiser Clubbell again for a menu of one-handed Swipes.  I'm doing what I call a "heavy density" cycle with these at the moment.  I'll save the details for another time, but this particular session consisted of sets of 4 Swipes per arm starting at the top of every minute for 6 minutes.  I then followed up with 130 Clubbell Swipes with the 25 pounders.  Then it was off to turkey dinner (so I guess it was a bit of penance and a bit of pre-payment).

Of course, no amount of exercise can undo nutritional over-indulgence.  But we live in the real world and I believe in enjoying the pleasures of life.  With a few tricks we can mitigate some of the potential damage and keep ourselves within a comfortable range, ready to attack the new year with renewed vigor and excitement for our eating and exercise plan.

I hope you all continue to enjoy the Holidays.

Intermittent Fasting: One more round before the feast begins

It's the 24th of December.  This evening, the festivities begin.  I've decided to dedicate this day to one last reminder of self-denial and discipline before I allow myself to fully enjoy the delights of Christmas in all its culinary splendor.  This means a day of Intermittent Fasting.

Although I generally follow Brad Pilon's approach of 24 hour fasting, today's fast will end up being in the 20-22 hour range.  I ate an early diner yesterday and will break my fast with a big salad and some bison meat this afternoon.  Breaking my fast with a bunch of veggies and protein before the feast will help reduce the tendency to over-compensate for the fast (polite way of saying it will prevent me from totally pigging out...).

You don't need to actually fast, but try to think about balancing out your caloric intake over the coming days.  Feast when it is time to feast, practice a little denial when it is not.  Eschew a few things that you might normally indulge in.  Save it up for when you are in the company of good friends and family.

And most importantly, tell someone about your plan.  Why do you think I am writing this post?  Now it's out there for everyone to see.  That means I am ultimately much more likely to follow through.  So tell someone about how your day or week is going to unfold.  Divulge your plans for training and your nutritional strategy for the coming days.  Chances are that just by telling someone how you plan to enjoy the holidays and stay within striking distance of your health and physique goals, the likelihood of success will be much higher.

It is early morning here.  There is a beautiful white snow falling softly.  The scene outside my window is lifted straight from a Christmas card.  Enjoy the holidays and everything they have to offer.  Practice balance and shun guilt.  Merry Christmas!

Control holiday fat gain: stay within striking distance

 When I raced Lasers, an Olympic class one-man dinghy, I used to enjoy being in second or third place and keeping myself within striking distance of the lead.  This strategy often turned out well for me.

As we head into the big feast days of Christmas, perhaps the same strategy would be helpful.  Although some experts would have you abstain from the culinary delights or somehow alter them to become paleo friendly spreads, I just don't think it is a very practical approach.  We live in the real world and I think from time to time we should enjoy the more indulgent pleasures in life.  That said, make sure you stay within striking distance of your ideal weight.

When you stay within striking distance, psychologically you are in a good spot.  You are happy because you had a great time with friends and family while indulging in excellent fare.  You are not too dismayed because you know that you can easily get back to your ideal weight.  Everything is good.

But when you let yourself go too far, things start to get bleak.  Instead of considering your feasting with joy, you are infused with feelings of guilt.  You can't believe your pants are so tight.  You ask yourself why the heck you let yourself go so far.  Some have estimated the average American gains 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's!  When staring at an extra 10 pounds on the scale, dismay can set in.  But half that and things don't seem too bad.

The actual numbers are irrelevant.  The important thing is that you feel like you are still within striking distance.  Here's what you'll have to do:

• Weigh in: Here's one of the big drawbacks of this plan.  You'll have to weigh yourself every day or so.  Scale weight is not a great indicator of body composition, but for a short-term strategy like this I find it useful.  It's not like you are going to go have your skinfolds taken every day over the holidays...
• Find balance: Just because you feast for part of the day, does not mean you must feast the entire day.  Cycles of feast and fast are natural to us.  Use that to your advantage.  You don't literally need to fast.  You just need to limit calories, and ideally carbohydrates, during windows when you are not partaking in the merriment with others.
• Eat in good company: A good rule to use in creating a feast and fast cycle is to only "feast" in the company of good friends and family.  The rest of the time, deny yourself.  I know we are not big on denying ourselves, but you'll have to if you want to stay within striking distance.  Besides, it is a skill that we should develop anyway.
• Timing is everything: Try saving up your high-intensity training sessions for the hours preceding any big feasting you know you'll be doing.  You can't write yourself a blank cheque with this technique, but you will encourage what is known as "nutrient partitioning," whereby a larger portion of what you consume will go towards repleting resources in your lean tissue instead of going preferentially towards shoring up your stores of fat.

So go ahead, enjoy your feast days to their fullest.  But make sure you stay within striking distance of where you would like to be (or at least where you were before the season of girth started).  That will make it so much easier to get back on the wagon when the feasting is done.  The further you slide, the harder it is to dig out. 

You can try the tricks above.  Or perhaps you have your own that you could share with the rest of us.  If so, leave them in the comments below.  Every little bit helps.

CST joint mobility and health for when you're sitting on your butt all day

[Note: Visit this post for the Top 5 Mobility Exercises For Desk Jockeys]

Unfortunately, my butt has been glued to my desk chair much more than I would like in recent days as Ryan Murdock and I try to pull together the last details for the launch of our new eBook; The Bodyweight Exercise Revolution.  It is the first volume of our series entitled The 4x7 Wave, which explores the principles of varying waves of intensity within a 28-day cycle of exercise.  The original 4x7 program was developed over years of observation by Coach Scott Sonnon of the Circular Strength Training (CST) system.

At any rate, I noticed that with my seat spending so much time supporting my butt lately, that I started to detect little warning signs in my hip and pelvic regions.  So the first thing I did is hit the Intu-Flow drills.  Specifically I've been doing lots of pelvic circles and hip openers.  The following video clip should give you some ideas of things you can do at work to keep your pelvic region mobile and healthy. 

The hips and pelvis are a key link in every movement you make throughout your day.  They transfer force up and down through your body.  And if they are not calibrated right, like a bike rim with a loose spoke, then extra stress is going to cause something to give.  Moving the pelvis through its full range of motion will keep it greased up but will also help you develop full muscular control over the area.  This means not only mobility but stability, two ends of the joint health spectrum which are totally interdependant.

Intermittent Fasting Tips

I've mentioned recently that I've been delving back into Intermittent Fasting after taking a little break from it.  It was tough to get back into the swing of it, but it is getting easier again (though not without effort).  I find IF particularly useful around the holidays, since I must admit that I enjoy partaking in the feasting that is going on around me.

But as I say, it ain't always easy.  So I'd like to share a few of the tips which have come back to me as I dive back into Intermittent Fasting as part of my overall wellness strategy.  First off, I prefer to use the 24 hour fast touted in Brad Pilon's Eat-Stop-Eat.  It is the most flexible plan in my mind and allows me to feel like I'm not on some kind of extreme fasting regimen.  Some of the "daily window" fasting protocols just don't work for me, but that is a personal choice.  I know a lot of people really like the LeanGains approach, which is a daily window program.

Now, to the tips.

Do...

• Start with the end in mind: And by this I do not mean your long term goal.  I just mean that it helps me to think about how I will feel at the end of the 24 hours.  By projecting into the future and reminding myself that when it is over it never really seems like it was all that tough, it makes it easier.  I also like to think about how happy I will be with my mini-accomplishment when I make it to 24 hours.
• Avoid idle hands and mind: Nothing reminds you how hungry you are like idleness.  I find that I absolutely must keep busy while fasting.  This does not have to be physical.  Engrossing yourself in any task will do the trick.  Last night, I had my nose buried in the computer screen trying to finish the Bodyweight Exercise Revolution ebook that I am launching any day now with my colleague Ryan Murdock.  The next thing I knew it was time for bed (way past time actually) and I had not once noticed any signs of hunger.  And I had been fasting since noon.

Don't

• Finish your fast at a buffet Christmas party: Yes, I am guilty!  Today my family attended a buffet Christmas lunch.  I broke my fast at the party (yes, I realized even beforehand what a dumb idea it was - but hey, you get to learn from my stupidity...).  It's not a bad idea to fast when you know you are going to feast, but break the fast with an enormous salad and some high quality protein before you head to the party!
• Get too hung up on time: Brad suggests a 24 hour fast.  It is a nice round number and a cool thing to shoot for.  But the benefits seem to peak from about 18 hours on (check out the ebook if you like to know all this kind of geeky stuff).  So if a 20 or 22 hour fast is most convient or most achievable for you, go with that.

Cycles of fasting and feasting are a perfectly natural part of the human experience and have been throughout our history.  But in this day and age the feasting is easier than ever and the fasting is pretty much non-existent unless you actively seek it out.  If you haven't tried it, do some research and see if it is for you.  There is a lot of information out there to be had.  For a small investment you can pick up Brad's book and save yourself a lot of headache though.  He pretty much lays the whole thing out for you.  Actually, I read and enjoyed it even though at the time I had absolutely no intention of trying Intermittent fasting.  It wasn't until a couple months later that I actually decided to give it a try.  Click here if you want to check it out.

If you do try it, or if you have tried Intermittent Fasting in the past, drop a comment below and let me know what your experience has been like.  Sharing tips will help us all get more benefit form it.

Cheers,
Adam

PS Visit this post if you would like to listen to Brad Pilon speak about Intermittent Fasting.

Tim Ferris Trial by Fire - Could he handle the Clubbells?

Trial by Fire Swipes in Singapore

Those who follow this blog know that I have a masochistic relationship with the Clubbell challenge which we in the Circular Strength Training community call the Trial by Fire.  It consists of 130 Clubbell Swipes, 130 Clubbell Mills with each arm and 130 Clubbell Hammer Swings, all performed with the 25 pounders.

One of my favorite bloggers and authors, Tim Ferris, has a new show which just happens to be called Trial by Fire.  And the whole concept of the show fits perfectly with the philosophy of this blog and with the Circular Strength Training System.  In short, Better Is Better!

Shorten your learning curve!

Tim Ferris isn't content to accept that it takes years of painful study to learn a new skill.  He believes that there are certain "hacks" which can be used to learn something new quickly and efficiently. 

CST espouses a similar idea.  By respecting certain universal principles we can have more consistent access to both our innate and our trained skills when it counts the most.  Some of the CST learning and performance tools are:

The 7 Key Components of Structure: although the fine points of biomechanics can be made very complicated, most human movement can be filtered through 7 Key Components: spinal alignment, shoulder pack, arm lock, grip confirmation, core activation, hip recruitment and leg drive.  The 7 points will take on different configurations depending on the skill you are trying to learn.  And by focusing on these points you can cut the time it takes to learn a skill and improve the efficiency of skills you already own.

Incremental Sophistication: The body has a way of shutting down any activity that it feels might be injurious, dangerous or is outside of its current capacity to execute.  However, by systematically progressing in small digestible steps you can fly under the radar of these defenses and make incredible progress.  Every skill in CST is examined with this principle in mind so that it can be broken down into the appropriate building blocks.

The Training Hierarchy Pyramid (THP): The ultimate goal in learning any new skill is to achieve a state of Flow.  This sounds esoteric, but it just means that you want to get to that point where you are able to "get out of your own way" and allow the full expression of your skills.  I think we've all been in situations where our skills have failed because of nerves or pressure.  The THP is a very deliberate form of training periodization which takes us through successive phases of General Physical Preparedness, Specific Physical Preparedness, Activity Specific Preparedness and Mental / Emotional Preparedness.  I've blogged about in more detail here.

By respecting the way our bodies and minds learn and work, we can take years off the learning curve.  Often, conventional approaches to learning and training encourage you to grit your teeth and learn despite these laws and natural tendencies.

Could Tim Handle the Clubbells?

So it seems like a perfect fit.  In fact, from everything I've read from and about Tim Ferris, I think he would absolutely love the CST system.  But I wonder how quickly he could tame our own particular brand of Trial by Fire?  The current record with 25 lbs Clubbells is 22 minutes and 6 seconds.  And there are literally only a handful of CST athletes who have managed to sneak below the 25 minute mark.

Would you like to see what Tim Ferris can do with a Clubbell?  If so, head on over to this post on his blog and leave a comment.  Tell him you would like him to try the Clubbell Trial by Fire.  You can leave this link for him to check out - www.squidoo.com/trialbyfire (just copy and past it into the comments).  Or you can just copy the following text and leave it in the comments of his blog:

Dear Tim,

The use of the club as a training tool stretches back milenia.  Physical cultures around the world have used it to hone their strength and skill.  Most noted of these athletes are those of the Pahlavani traditions of Iran and the wrestlers of the Indian Peninsula.  In the modern era, practitioners around the globe have rediscovered these ancient practices through the popularization of the Clubbell as part of the Circular Strength Training system.  The ultimate test of the Clubbell athlete is called the Trial-by-Fire (visit www.squidoo.com/trialbyfire to learn more).  It seems serendipitous that your show would bear the same name.  Please consider trying your hand at this ancient and challenging discipline as part of your adventure.

In the meantime, here's a look at the YouTube promo for the show.  Looks very cool!

Buiser Clubbell Clockwork Squats: You can quit your cardio class now...

Lately, I've been doing Century Sets of Bruiser Clubbell Clockwork Squats.  A Century, as the name implies, is a set of 100 continuous reps.  If you don't know what a Clockwork Squat is, you can visit my Clubbell page (scroll down to the Monthly Clubbell Feature module).  Now imagine doing that 100 times straight!  All I can say is thankfully the body has a way of walling away the memory of pain and discomfort.  Otherwise I probably would not do this more than once.

The funny thing is, it always starts off feeling so easy.  Then by about rep number 40 I start to wonder why the heck I think I can do 100 of these.  But those mental gremlins are part of the game when you are looking to create a real metabolic boost.

Give your fat burning a boost

When I refer to a metabolic boost, I'm talking about pushing yourself with enough intensity that your body has to spend time after exercise finishes to work itself back to a "normal state."  That means you keep on burning calories even when the session finishes.  The fancy name for this is EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption).  Conversely, when you stop exercising you also stop burning fat.

And that is why you can dump the slow, boring cardio.  It has been clearly demonstrated that short intense training will give you improved levels of both anaerobic and aerobic fitness.  The same is not true of slow cardio.  All you get is the aerobic benefit.  Plus, with slow cardio, the fat burning stops the moment you step off the treadmill.  But when you elicit a metabolic disturbance through intense exercise the fat burning metabolic boost can last as much as 78 hours!

However, going 100 reps with a challenging exercise can be a bit of a stretch at first.  So the best way to start the ball rolling is with a Density Cycle.  Essentially, this takes your target number of repetitions, in this case 100, and breaks them into sets.  You start a new set at the top of every minute until all your reps are done.

Each session, you increase the number of reps you perform per set.  This obviously decreases the number of sets and has you reaching your target more quickly each time.  Thus, the workout becomes more dense each time.  The caveat here is that your Rate of Perceived Exertion should fall below a 7 on a scale of 1 - 10 before you increase the number of reps per set.  So if you feel you are still working at an RPE of 9 on a given session.  Do that same session until you get your perceived effort level down.

Make big things happen with Density Training

Here is a sample of how your progression could look:

• 10 sets of 10 repetitions in 10 minutes
• 9 sets of
• 8 sets of
• 7 sets of
• 6 sets of
• and so on...

You can start with more sets of few repetitions as well.  Once you get to the point where you only have 10 to 15 seconds rest between sets and your Rate of Perceived Exertion is below a 7, you are probably ready to give the Century Set a try.

Pick an exercise that you find tough and give it a try.  Post the comments back here once you accomplish your Century Set.  And if you've already done one, share your experience here for others.

Holiday Weight Gain - Tips for December Damage Control

The holiday season is in full swing.  Occasions to make merry are aplenty.  And temptation to deviate from your nutrition and exercise plan lurks around every corner.  In fact, it’s Sunday morning and I’m currently suffering from the aftereffects of a rather indulgent Saturday.  Yes, fitness professionals fall prey to the holidays too!

I think it is more a question of when you will fall prey rather than if.  Unless you are much stronger than most, you are going to break from your clean eating and perfectly timed exercise.  The trick is getting back on track quickly.

But getting back on the wagon the day after a slip can be a challenge.  I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.  Just a little bit of this and a touch of that wouldn’t hurt today would it?  I’m already off track, I might as well just take advantage of it for a while longer.  Maybe I can just ease back into my regular routine later.  I could put my training off until tomorrow, right?  It’s a slippery slope that we’ve all been on before.  What you might not know is how much of it is due to the hormonal aftereffects of everything you pumped into your body the day before.  And it takes a monumental act of will to press the reset button and get your engine running right again.

The real danger is to just let yourself go through the holidays with the idea that you will make everything right in the new year.  And if you are a guy, you might even listen to that little devil on your shoulder who whispers the suggestion that December would be a good time to embark on the mythical “mass gaining phase” (in other words - the “let yourself get really fat” phase).  I should know, I came within a hairs breadth of succumbing to this very idea this morning in the shower.

Chances are you won’t be losing much weight for the next month or so.  But you can put a plan in place to ensure that you limit the damage as much as possible.  A few simple rules can help you weather the storm and come out on the other side of the holidays ready to forge ahead rather than spending time lamenting all that you have squandered.

Tips For December Damage Control

90/10

This one is pretty straightforward, eat impeccably 90% of the time, do whatever you want with the other 10%.  Generally, this should keep you from doing too much harm over the season of mirth (and girth). 

What don’t you eat?

Usually I find it is most helpful to concentrate on the things that you do and should eat.  But there are certain times when you must concentrate on what you don’t and won’t eat.  During the 90% of your time that you are “eating clean” over the holidays you should make some resolutions about what you will not indulge in.  For example, if your weakness is cheese or macadamia nuts, strike them from your list.  Even though they are whole and healthy foods, you have to be ultra-disciplined during your 90% right now because the other 10% is likely to be a total washout.

On/off switch

At most times, the “all things in moderation” motto is entirely applicable.  But when you are trying to execute a damage control strategy, I believe in the “all or nothing” approach.  So when you are not indulging, you are eating perfectly.  Make a plan and stick to it.  The simplest strategy is to go paleo when you are in your 90% phase.  That means if it did not recently walk, run, swim, fly, or if it’s not green and from the ground , don’t eat it.   Pretty simple, huh?  But not necessarily easy.

Law of averages

This one takes a little more calculation, but if you like running numbers it can be useful.  For those who keep track of their daily caloric needs, averaging out daily calories can be a valid approach.  If you generally need 2400 kCal to maintain a stable body composition, and you estimate that you ate 5000 kCal on the day of your office Christmas party, then you would have to eat somewhere in the ballpark of 2000 kCal the day before and 1500 kCal for the two following days in order to maintain a stable intake and avoid fat gain.  Obviously this is just a crude example, but it gives you the idea.  Of course, fat gain is a lot more complex than just calories, but calories definitely do still count!

Partition your calories

This is not a science, but if you train intensely before eating you increase the chances that at least some of those building blocks you are consuming will be used to replenish muscle stores and rebuild tissues instead of going straight for the fat cells.  If you pig out, you’ll still store lots of it as fat, but every little trick counts.  So if you know you are going to be indulging later in the day, try to schedule one of your more intense training sessions for the hours directly preceding the event.

Hit the reset button

One final strategy that I sometimes use is Intermittent Fasting.  The other day, I fasted for the first time in about a month or so.  And it was much tougher than it was when I was doing it regularly!  So if you are not used to it, I don’t necessarily suggest that you start now.  Wait until you stabilize your diet in the new year and then give it a try if you are interested.  But if you have played around with it in the past, the holidays might be a good time to use it to good advantage.  I prefer the 24 hour fasting approach promoted by Brad Pilon.  Not only can it help you with the Law of averages, but it can also provide you with a reset for your hormonal balance and with a break for your digestive system.  But be careful in how you break your fast, or you can start a whole new swing of hormonal mayhem in very short order.

Even with a solid strategy in place, you may still gain a few pounds of fat over the holidays.  Don’t beat yourself up about it.  Enjoy the season.  Enjoy the food and drink.  Enjoy the company.  Stressing out about weight gain will just make you gain more weight (there are hormonal and biochemical mechanisms at play behind that statement that I won’t get into here…).  As long as you keep things reasonable, you’ll quickly drop the extra weight once you get back on a regular schedule of exercise and solid nutrition.

Great Abs with the Clubbell Flag Press

We've been trained to think of the abs primarily as flexors that "crunch" the ribs towards the pelvis.  But this has led to neglect of a much more functional role played by the abdominal musculature.  In life, and in sport, the abs often act more as a stabilizer or "anti-extender" than as a flexor.  Exercises like the plank take advantage of this role.

Another side-effect of concentrating on the flexing action of the abs is the danger of overcompensation.  Because training the core in this way causes us to constantly pull the rib cage down towards the pelvis, significant imbalances and postural deviations can occur.

Although planks are a great way to develop abs which are both aesthetically pleasing and functional, there are other ways to spice things up.  Handling weight at a distance from your body incites the abdominal musculature to work as a harmonized unit to stabilize the core and transfer force up from the legs or down from the arms.

The Clubbell Flag Press is one such exercise.  Take a look for yourself.

Clubbells work best for this exercise, but if you don't have any there are many alternatives that you could use.  You are limited only by your imagination.