Bake's Blog

Tim Ferris' 4 Hour Body and Overestimating Calorie Burn

2011-04-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I have been extremely busy with work, as a lot of New Yorkers are preparing their body for the summer months. I keep putting this whole blogging thing on hold, and I wanted to get something out really quickly for anyone following.

Not long ago Lyle Mcdonald, a very good nutritionist, reviewed a study of people who overestimate calories burned, and underestimate the amount of calories that they consume. It is very enlightening, in that we really don't have any idea what we are doing when it comes to estimating exercise. You can guarantee, that a hard workout from someone who is EXTREMELY in shape will burn a maximum of 600 calories in a workout. Forget the claims of 1000 calories being burned in a workout. Many of us are not in shape enough to burn that 1000 calories in an hours worth of time. If you want to skim the article, read the background and the 'my comments' section. You can read Mr. Mcdonald's review HERE.

I have been reading a few things recently, and I can't say enough about Tim Ferris' new book, 4 Hour Body.

I am getting a lot useful tips, and Vanessa and I are going to begin his slow carb diet. I have been canvasing the Internet for reviews, and tips on starting the entire process. We will begin the "diet" tomorrow, and I will do my best to let everyone know how it goes.

My clients will also be committing to the program, once I get a firm grasp on the process.

Here is a cliff notes version of the diet:
-There are 5 rules to the diet, and they coincide with what I have learned from John Berardi's 10 Habits.
-You can find a description of the rules here...Slow Carb Diet
-If you follow the rules you can expect a pretty sizable amount of fat loss. I don't expect to lose a lot, but this will be the first "diet" ever. It should be interesting.
-I have planned ahead and purchased my lentils, beans, and proteins. They are all cooked and ready to go.

I know this isn't the most groundbreaking blog post. However, I hope to keep bringing you some kind of information on a weekly basis. You can expect more from me in the near future. Until next time!

Guess Who's Back....

2010-07-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

That's right ladies and gentlemen. I'm back in the blogesphere, or however you spell that dammed word. I have begun training people on a regular basis again so I figured it was time to give whoever is paying attention some words of my limited wisdom. A lot has changed since we were together last.

I'm a college graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology
I am training at one of the best gyms in the country, Equinox in Greenwich Village. It's quite the adventure here in the big city, especially Greenwich Village which seems like another world compared to anywhere else I have lived or been. Check out our website at http://www.equinox.com/.
The wife moved back to NJ, after a short hiatus to go back to school. She is managing at the Elysian Cafe. I'm UBER proud of her, and she is handling her business there like everyone expected her to do.
I'm learning more than I ever have before, and I'm doing my best to absorb it all and step my game up. Not only for my new clients, but for all you folks that I have trained before, and that have followed everything I am doing. Equinox requires all their trainers to go to school, and believe me its challenging, but I love it.

So, what is the plan for the blog going forward? I have no idea to be honest, I just know I want to give you people the information that I'm learning daily, and help you get to your goals as quickly as humanly possible. I am also doing some program design for a small fee, for anybody that needs a little help with their programming but I promise I am better than I have ever been so it will be worth it.

I would love to hear all of your suggestions for topics, even though there are only like six of you, at least that is six topics that you guys can learn about. So comment, email me, whatever just contact me, I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, be safe and train hard.

BAKER

I'm Still Living

2009-10-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a while folks. I have been really busy around here trying to get my school work done, and educating myself as much as I can.

I have recently changed up my training routine, because I have training ADD. For the first time in a while, I have done the same routine for a month. I am now moving on from gaining muscle mass, to losing a little fat. I gained a couple pounds in my last phase, and I am going to try and lose fat. Which means for the first time ever, I will be restricting what I eat. Today was the second day of the 1 month phase, and it is going pretty well. I haven't been grumpy, and I have stuck to the plan. Minus the burrito I got from Chipotle. That just means I will have to eat 9 more good meals, which I have stuck to thus far. The fat loss phase will last one month, not because I don't have much fat to lose but because that's how it should be. Dan John, a famous strength coach said, "Give fat loss its 28 Days. Then move on to the rest of your goals." That way you really focus for one month, and get back to getting stronger. It's something that makes a lot of sense, when you think about people being on a "diet" for years on end.

The entire plan comes from Alwyn Cosgrove's Warp Speed Fat Loss Program. It's awesome material, and he is one of the best in the business at dropping weight fast. I really wanted to give the program a real try, since it is sometimes hard to get my clients to do what I ask them. The first workout yesterday was brutal, and I will be heading to the weight room to hit the bike up for some intervals. Wish me luck.

I really wanted to just bring you guys up to date, as to what I'm doing now. I promise more content in the future. Keep working toward you goals, they are just around the corner.

AARP Workout

2009-10-12T19:17:00.000-07:00

Forgive me if the title of this post offends those that get letters from AARP, but I have a few family members that have asked for a little help on the fitness front. Basically they have some kind of ache, pain, or combination of the two that they are just sick of having. Often times, once we get into bad habits they tend to stick with us for a while. These habits include; terrible sleeping habits, poor nutrition, lack of activity, etc. Now, I am not saying that my family members suffer from all of these vices, but I would venture to say that they have at least two or more. They aren't alone. As we age our bodies basically atrophy if we don't use them. But age is no excuse, our bodies atrophy not because of our age, but because as we get older our activity levels drop to something a hibernating bear would be proud of. I hate it when, "the older generation" blames their age on what has happened to them. How many people have heard this before? "When I was your age I looked great just like you!" Newsflash! You can still look like me, its just going to take you paying attention yourself as much as you pay attention to your kids, jobs, or golf games (you know who this is directed toward!!!)

With that being said, one family member of mine, is having huge back problems. She has been in and out of the doctors office for the better half of a year, and for some reason she can't get any answers. Now I haven't really diagnosed her in person, but I am going to do my best to figure out what shakes lose, with these exercises I am going to prescribe. She will be sending me photos this evening, which will tell me a few more things as far as to what the problem is. She hasn't been as active as I would have liked, and she has a sedentary office job. On top of that, she drives an hour a day to and from work everyday. This little bit of information leads me to believe that her illiopsoas are tight, her glutes are turned off, and her back is doing a lot of work. This leads her back to being REAAAAALY cranky. Which is exactly what's happening. Another thing that leads me to believe her core needs a little work, is she had stomach surgery within the last year, and her poor tummy hasn't been worked out since George Bush Jr's first term. JOKE!! JOKE!! (But it's been almost a year. So maybe his second term.)

Enough with the background information. Here are 4 exercises that I will have her do to ATTEMPT to fix her anterior pelvic tilt.

Hip Flexor Stretch (3*20 seconds each leg). This stretch lengthens the psoas, which are chronically tight in office workers.

Glute Bridges (2*1mintues). Glute bridges activate your sleepy glutes, by doing so you will make your ass, get off your ass and do all the work your back is currently doing.

Planks (3 * as long as possible). This may come some pain, so to regress to exercise start on your knees. This exercise will strengthen your core, which is generally weak in an office population.

1/2 Turkish Get-Ups (1*25 each arm). These are an extremely difficult exercise. They are the closest thing to spinal flexion that I will prescribe. So all those crunches, and ab class bologna doesn't fly with me. The spine is meant to be kept stable, not flexed back and forth in a crunching motion.

Other considerations are doing unilateral exercises (lunges, split squats, single leg romanian dead lifts), and training your posterior chain with deadlifts and their cousins, glute ham raises, box squats. I have done my best to select videos that describe the exercsies. These are not only for the older crowd, but for any crowd that suffers from back pain. Give these a try, do them on a daily basis to alleviate your back pain.

Random Thoughts at 12 AM

2009-09-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here, and I keep finding more ways to avoid doing what I am supposed to. Here is some random stuff from the top of my dome!

Bodypart splits (doing 1-2 bodyparts a day) are borderline pointless. Especially if you are a male, with less than 1 year of lifting experience behind you, or a female that doesn't want to be a figure athlete. I would venture to say, even with 2 years of experience they would still be insanity. I don't understand the idea of lifting, THAT much in a weeks time. How many exercies can you hit your biceps, triceps, back, delts, calves, butt cheeks, inter abdominal wall, and toe nail with. Do some deadlifts, bench press, squats, chinups, and rows, and go home. 3-4 days of true lifting a week has done a lot of people good, whether they just started lifting or have been lifting for years. Lift heavy s*%t, rinse and repeat!
I just had a very close friend tell me that they didn't eat enough before they worked out and felt like crap. I'm going to put this in very simple terms. If by 4 pm you have only eaten 500 calories, and you still have an hour workout ahead of you, you will have absolutely no energy for the training session. NONE. That just makes your workout suck. Just in case some of you were wondering, you expend energy during workouts. So if you don't have any energy, how do you expect to expend any. YOU CAN'T. Dan John, who many of you don't know but I'll mention him anyway recommends at least 2 meals and 2 snacks before you workout. If you haven't eaten this much food before you lift, then you are doing yourself a disservice.
It is a damn shame what I see athletes do on a daily basis in the weight room I train in. Rounded backs and bench pressing galore. I look at everyone and I think, where in the hell do I start.
Gaining weight is hard, after over a month of trying I haven't gained anything. I'm now 201 on a good day. Maybe my goal was a little too optimistic.
Once I have the money to pay I will hire a trainer. That's right even personal trainers need trainers. To worry about my program, the programs of athletes, what I'm going to eat, how much I'm going to eat, and all the other B.S. that I have on my plate besides food, I need a little break.
Barbell complexes are not very much fun.
My athletes are working very hard out here on getting stronger. Strength work will be taking a back seat for the time being, but they are getting after it. I can't wait to own my own facility!

The End. Goodnight

Fitness Blurbs of the Day: Protein

2009-09-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Welcome back!

We spoke about carbs last week, and how many aren't bad for you. The bottom line of that post was eating more vegetables, stop eating so many processed carbs, it'll help you to fill satiated, and keep your energy up throughout the day.

On to our next macronutrient, protein. Protein has been on the opposite end of the spectrum from carbohydrates in the past. While I think the pendulum went way too far to one side, with the idea of extreme carb restriction, I think protein has received that same reaction, in that all guys and gals thought they had to do lose weight, gain muscle, and cure foot fungus was eat protein shakes, protein shakes, and more protein shakes. Well maybe not the fungus part. We have learned recently, that the pendulum has swung too far in either direction, for carbs, protein, and even fats. The fitness community now realizes that a balance is key for health, and performance.

Here are some key things about protein that you guys should know:

Protein is the building block of muscle. It's important for mass gain, and fat loss. It is the most satiating macronutrient of the three (protein, carbs, and fats).
The thermic effect of protein is extremely high; roughly double that of carbs and fats according to John Berardi. The thermic effect of food is the energy your body uses trying to digest the food you ingest. So by eating a higher protein meal, your body burns more calories, trying to digest the protein than if it were trying to digest a protein or fat. This leads to more calories burned throughout the day
1g of protein/ pound is a good place to start when training to lose weight or gain weight. I know there is a lot of debate over this number, but its minutiae. This number is just easy for people to remember, as well as calculate. It's not going to kill you contrary to what many trainers will tell you.
I have heard many sources bring up kidney dysfunction with high protein diets, and how Dr. Atkins is dead and he obviously followed Atkins, so it's dangerous. I don't buy it. Groups of people all over the world have followed high carb, low carb, high protein, high fat etc. It has all worked in the past. Those studies that showed kidney dysfunction were on patients that already had KIDNEY DYSFUNCTION. And Dr. Atkins was 72 years old. Get a clue. Now by no means am I endorsing the diet. It's not the carbs making us fat it’s all that processed crap we stuff in our mouth.
As good as protein sounds, and even with all its benefits it is not the preferred source of fuel for the body. Do not overeat protein in relation to your other macronutrients because it takes away from all the other benefits of carbohydrates and fats.

Until next time, adios!

P.S. I had a request to define a few terms that I may use, or that the readers may see or hear in the gym, magazines, etc. I will begin a post on fitness terms, and it will be placed as a link to the right side of the page. It will be a dictionary of sorts. Keep an eye out for it, and if you have anything you want defined let me know.

Fitness Blurbs of the Day: Carbs

2009-09-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

Many carbohydrates (carbs) aren't bad for you! They won't make you fat. Overeating makes you fat. So stop overeating.
Low carb diets work because they take a cornucopia of calorie dense foods off of our plates.
Low carb diets have a huge failure rate, because many dieters go right back to eating the calorie dense carbs they just gave up eating.
Some carbs are better than others, and make it really hard to overeat. Bread and pasta are great examples of foods that make it easy to overeat. They are calorie dense, and damn delicious. I could polish a bag of pasta off in one sitting. As I experimented earlier in the month, I couldn't polish a bag of broccoli in a day. Actually its been over a week and I still haven't finished the bag.
When I googled carbs for this picture above, all that damn bread came up. People forget that vegetables and fruits are carbohydrates. Like I said carbs aren't bad for you.
Replace some of your processed carbs (bread), with non-processed carbs (vegetables), and watch yourself stay full, healthy, and lean!
I want to say this again, a defecit at the end of the day is what REALLY counts for weight loss.
Please refer back to the second bullet, I used the word cornucopia. Ma who says 6 years of college, at three different schools didn't get me more EDUMAKATED!

Have a nice weekend! See you next week.

A Random Monday Post: Cosgrove, Kiki's Blog, and Cressey

2009-09-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

I just was browsing around t-nation.com and I found an old Cosgrove rant article, its classic. Check it out.

Old Cosgrove Rant

Check out my good client, Kiki's, blog she's doing really well with her weight loss. Hopefully, she'll blog about her recent experience with some old friends! ;)

Kiki's Blog

Eric Cressey has a new product coming soon, but check out his website where he explains Hand Switches. I love this exercise and use it in my client's programming as well as my own. It's great for core stability, and shoulder....Man forget it, Cressey does a much better job explaining than I ever could. Just know he's a guy I look up to, and respect, and he's one of the reasons I really started taking training seriously.

Cressey Exercise of the Week

That's it for now! Enjoy the week, and stay tuned!

Sunday Training

2009-09-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

Decided to try and get a training session in today since I had to work in the Varsity Weight Room. I haven't felt well all day and it showed in my training. Everything felt so slow, and I half assed my intensity! My training has been a lot better when I've had my partners with me, and the energy is flowing. I can't emphasize enough how much it helps. After I warmed up I thought I might be able to salvage the day but it didn't turn out that way. Here is what my session looked like:

Front Squats 4*6 185, 205, 205, 205
Feet Elevated Pushups 3*12 with the Blast Straps

Lunges 2*6/side (60 lbs) this was supposed to be 3 sets
1 Arm Standing Row 2*12 (80 lbs) supposed to be 3 sets

Farmer's Carry 2*2laps around the gym

As you can see I skipped a few things, and even with the skips it took me almost 1.5 hours to complete which is God Awful. I'll pick it up again tomorrow or Tuesday, and keep you updated.

On a good note I am maintaining my weight of 202 and not losing anything.

My training

2009-09-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, was an upper body workout for me and it went pretty well. I have a couple training partners so it makes working hard that much easier. It's my understanding that Keeks has arranged quite the squad back home. Stick together and you guys will be better for it. I wanted to give you a quick peek into what I'm doing. My primary goal at this point is strength, and I'm letting my eating take care of the mass I'm trying to gain. This is a program I am following that Eric Cressey wrote for T-nation.

Dynamic warmup

a1.) Bench Press 5*3 (255)
   I turned this into a 3Rep Max. My las set was my heaviest at 255 for 3 reps. In the coming weeks I will try and set a PR (Personal Record). Keep an eye out.
a2.) Pull Up 5*3 (24 kg kettlebell+10)
   This has gone up and is now my PR for this exercise. Last week I did the 24kg kettlebell by itselt

b1.) Seated Row 3*8 (145)
   Standard Seated Row nothing special
b2.) 1 Arm Push Press 3*8 (50, 60, 65)
   Great explosive exercise for the shoulders. I was conservative with this. I will start at 65 next week

Ab Wheel Rollout 3*8
   These were supposed to be band resisted but I didn't feel like setting them up, as I was training someone else soon after. There were a lot easier than in the past. I have been doing some kind of core training at the end of each workout and it seems to be paying off. I have been getting a lot of back pain since I got back. Mainly from the change of walking around at the gym all day, to sitting on my ass in class all day. I really notice the difference in my hip flexor tightness. I'm hoping eventually it works its way out through the stretching and foam rolling!

Check this Out!

2009-09-09T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ryan Andrews at Precision Nutrition, did something very similar to my Broccoli Experiment. And he says a lot of the same things I do about how hard it is to overeat, REAL WHOLE FOODS. For me it was Broccoli, for the author of this article it was Apples! Great Stuff, maybe I was on to something after all! The concepts are the same, stop eating garbage and good things can happen!

What are your 4 Pounds Made of?

I'm So sick of Broccoli!

2009-09-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

I woke up one morning this week with a bright idea. Before I get into what the idea I want to set up the scenario. I have a lot of clients that I have worked with in the past that are looking to lose weight, and it has become a huge epidemic in the country. So it is something that I want to continue to learn about, and educate myself on because the industry is moving toward helping weight loss clients more than ever, if it hasn't already arrived there. Anyway, one of my rules of fat loss which I can't say I came up with myself because I got them from someone that I get a lot of education from, Alwyn Cosgrove, is eat a vegetable/whole food at every meal. I have always maintained the idea that it is damn near impossible to overeat if you eat the proper foods. Now, it has always been a theory of mine because I can honestly say I have never struggled with my weight, nor had to watch what I eat to lose weight. I constantly tell my fat loss clients, that you can have as many vegetables as you feel necessary to fill you up, and you could stuff yourself to the border of gluttony and still wouldn't go over your calorie limit.

So, I'm sure you are wondering by now get to the darn point, what was your bright idea. My bright idea was to eat 1000 calories of broccoli in one day and see how I feel. I can honestly say that I thought to myself, 1000 calories no problem. So I looked it up on calorieking.com, just how much I'd have to actually consume. I get this statement a lot "I eat really healthy, a lot of vegetables and salads! I barely eat anything! I stay between 1200-1400 calories a day" A lot of the time I give people the benefit of the doubt, and believe them without really thinking how much salad that really is. I know now that statement is bologna and here is why. To eat only 1000 calories of veggies you would have to eat 6 pounds of broccoli. 6 freaking pounds. Even with that daunting number, I set out this morning to do it. I bought two 3 pound bags of the stuff and started cooking. I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day. NOTHING. I couldn't even finish one stinking bag. It's 11 pm at night in NJ, and I'm still not hungry. I estimate I have eaten 400 calories tops, for the day. I haven't had a meal since 5 this afternoon. I give up. I don't want anything to do with food for the night. I believed I could finish, but I've raised the white flag.

So, what does all this mean? I've come up with a few conclusions.

1. Instead of those stupid detox diets (lemonade, cayenne pepper, whatever), eat broccoli for a whole day. You'll drop weight like crazy I'm sure. Obviously I would add some protein, and fat in there but you'd be good to go, and probably not hungry

2. I stick by my "theory" that you can't overeat veggies. Maybe I just got sick of broccoli, but still I couldn't eat 1000 calories of veggies and still be hungry. I looked at other foods to try, and a pre-made spinach bag is like 40-50 calories, for the ENTIRE BAG. 1000 calories would be 25 bags of spinach. GO AHEAD and over eat that.

3. Vegetarian diets don't suit me well. I need meat, and more calories. I played tonight and I feel awful right now since I didn't eat very much. Granted I could have had more nuts and things like that but I will stick to my meat any day

4. Mix in some veggies, the fiber will keep you full for hours; possibly even 6 like it did me.

5. After eating that much broccoli, I smell like broccoli, I'm burping broccoli, I'm sweating it out. My breath wreaks, just make sure you don't do this diet and go on a date. You'll never see her or him again.

6. If you eat clean, and limit your processed foods overeating is tough. It would almost be safe to say, try that as a diet first, and see if you lose weight, then count calories later. Just make sure you mix up what you eat, meaning proteins, fats, and vegetables as your carbs.

7. Don't ever tell me you eat 1200 calories of vegetables and salads, I'll slap you. Granted the number of people in the study was 1, I have a firm belief that others will run into the same problem.

8. I'm done with broccoli for a few days, or weeks! It's hard to gain weight when you are full of fiber.

If anyone else gives this a try, leave a comment and let's get your take on it. For now, Adios

Today's Agenda

2009-09-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well its officially Tuesday. DAMMIT I am still up!

On today's agenda will be grocery shopping and cooking for some more meals for the week.

My shopping list will include:

John Berardi's Chili Ingredients

4 lbs extra lean ground beef (96%)
4 cans kidney beans (15.5 oz per can), drained and rinsed
2 large onions, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced
4 bell peppers - 1 green, 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 orange, cut into 1/2-inch squares
6 cloves garlic, chopped
Two 46-fl oz bottles V8 vegetable juice, spicy hot
1/2 cup cashew meal
Spices: 4 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp celery seed, 1 tsp fresh ground pepper (for a quicker version, you can use 3 packages chili seasonings mix, but it won't quite be the same!)

I will be placing all the ingredients in a crock pot and leaving it for a few hours while I am in class. It is freaking awesome and doesn't have one bad thing in it. I would suggest this for anyone looking to eat a really hearty meal, with very little prep time. Click the link above for exact directions.

Extra ground beef

Broccoli and cauliflower

garlic

and Butter

Wish me luck. Thank you for your continued support

Weight Gain Update

2009-08-31T19:20:00.001-07:00

Here is a little update on my New Weight Gain plan. I am currently 201 give or take a few pounds depending on the day. Which is up from when I started a week ago. I have finally had the opportunity to settle down some in my awesome apartment and I have been eating quite a bit, at regular intervals which is more than I can say I did back home for the last three months. I'm adjusting to the time change as well, and I have been a little tired between classes.

I had a pretty good day today, and I lifted before playing with the team this afternoon. I will use basketball as my main cardio/conditioning source for the time being until I move into a better schedule during the week. I am still feeling my way around. Here are a few results from testing I did this afternoon.

I tested my

Vertical= 35 inches (which actually went up over the summer)

1rm Bench Press=285 lbs (the rep was painstakingly slow, but I still finished it. This number actually stayed the exact same, which is great considering I didn't do much bench work for the last three months.)

3rm Chinup=32 kg. The technique of this test is to strap weight to your dip belt and do 3 consecutive chinups. I got this pretty easily and I hope to add a lot of weight to this as well. It is a great marker for a few reasons. Chinups and sprint speed have been highly correlated in the past, as well as it is great for shoulder and back health. I am a huge advocate of chinups because they are a great feat of strength that not many people, even athletes are good at.

I was happy with both tests. My goal for the bench is 300 lbs by December, and 36 inches by May. For those who aren't to familiar with the vertical jump test, it basically looks like this...

The test in the video is a freaky number, so I am about 4 inches away. Not too bad. I would love

to reach 40 but my genetic potential may be limited but we'll see. I'll try and get some videos up of me

in action.

I am training three times a week and I will begin doing some running in the following week or so!

Nutrition wise I'm not following any particular plan per se, just eating clean and trying to eat a lot. I'm

stoked about the contest my girlfriend and I have and I am ready to win the money we bet on. In the

future stay tuned for an update from my beautiful and driven girlfriend, Vanessa.

Tomorrow, I will be doing some sled dragging for recovery reasons, and playing again in the afternoon,

depending on my class schedule. Wednesday, I will test my trap bar deadlift, Broad Jump, and possibly

my box squat.

I would like to thank everyone for supporting me here at the blog, and I will do my best to keep the information

coming!

Accountability, Accountability, Accountability

2009-08-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last night was the last straw. After being a complete gluton I have decided its time for some accountability. It's time to really walk the walk. I was always a pretty skinny kid, as you can see to the left. That was until I started lifting weights in college. I have added a decent amount of weight to my frame, but recently I have gotten the itch to take it a step further. So, beginning today I will be going on a DIET. That's right! Now this isn't the normal diet and guidelines I put my fat loss clients on, but I will be following calorie guidelines, and cleaning my diet up quite a bit. I am posting all this online for accountability purposes. I think the fact that you guys know what I am doing, you will hold me accountable just like I do for you as my clients. So here are the goals, and guidelines of the new Body Composition Challenge I am putting myself through.

My goal is to be 210 pounds by Thanksgiving, I am currently 196 at around 12% Bodyfat. I will do my best to maintain my bodyfat percentage, and gain Lean Body Mass to get to that number. (Upon reaching that goal I will really dial it in, and follow similar guidelines I give to my clients to lean up, but I will save that for another day.) Now, this goal wouldn't be so hard if I did a bodybuilding type program, but I will look to not only maintain, but increase my strength, and sports performance with the new muscle I pack on.

I will be adding before photos, measurements, and when I get the time I will test my vertical, broad jump, squat, 3 rep max chinup, and 1RM bench press in the coming week. I will also outline the program I will be following, both nutritionally as well as the weight lifting regiment I will be using. It should be fun, wish me luck!

Foam Rolling

2009-08-14T08:15:00.001-07:00

I apologize for all the inactivity on the blog in the recent weeks. Work has gotten really busy. I had a recent request for recovery methods after they have just had their asses handed to them by their, wonderful, stupdendous, and handsome personal trainer (Hi, Judy!). So I figured I would put one of the best ways to recover and restore tissue health. TWO WORDS! Foam Roller. Thats right! Some of you have felt the pain and anguish of being on one of these things, and as I continue to have consistent clients we will use them more often. You can get them at performbetter.com, a short one will run you about 8.95 plus shipping, and a 3 foot foam roller will be 18.95. I have posted a couple great links and a video of how to use 'em. Check em out, get one, and feel better.

Feel Better for 10 Bucks: Written by Tony Gentilcore, who is also in the video below. Great explanation of the benefits of using the foam roller.

Mike Robertson Soft Tissue Manual-Great manual from a strength and conditioning specialist in Indiana. A large list of exercises, why you use them, and what they do.

New Food

2009-07-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

jpg">So I went to Trader Joe's, which I haven't been to in a while. I have really been into paying attention to what I eat for a little over a year now. I have really begin to eat new foods that I never eaten before, like vegetables, brown rice, and bison. A food I decided to try today, that I bought at Trader Joe's were lentils. I always thought lentils were like beans, but after trying them they really don't taste like beans at all. And surprisingly, they are extremely good. They aren't as heavy and boring to eat like beans are because they are a lot smaller.

Why did I get lentils you ask? Because Dr. Jonny Bowden said so, that's why! In his book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, Bowden states that lentils are different from beans because they do not contain sulfur, which is the element of beans that give you gas! So lentils give you all the bang for your buck without all stomach issues.

Because lentils have so much fiber, they "blunt the entry of sugar into your bloodstream". This is great for the diabetic and non-diabetic alike. Because the sugar is released more slowly, you don't get the energy roller coaster that you would receive from high glycemic foods. The fiber also aids in slowing the digestion of foods, keeping you fuller, longer. Man this fiber spiel sounds familiar!

Lentils also have about 18 grams of protein per cup, and 16 grams of fiber per cup (AWESOME). Lentils also contain iron, and manganese. Because lentils have so much fiber they should not be consumed around your workout, which would be within 1-2 hours before or after you lift. Because the release of sugar into your bloodstream is slowed down by fiber, it would make your pre, post, and Peri-workout nutrition less effective. I will explain this point more in a later post, but just take my word for it. Limit fats and fiber with a couple hours of your workouts, both before and after.

So let's review

Lentils are surprisingly good with nothing on them
They give you all the fiber and protein from beans, without the gas
They give you a nice sustained energy, when eaten in conjunction with carbs
Lentils slow the digestion of food, keeping you fuller longer
Lentils should not be eaten around your workout because of #4

Exercises you should be doing...Part 1

2009-07-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

I am going to begin another one of my many series', one of these days I'll actually finish one. LIFTS YOU SHOULD BE DOING...will be a collection of exercises that you should be doing at least twice a week. These lifts are the most basic of lifts, but also the most powerful as far as changing your body, performance, and strength is concerned. So stay tuned.

The first lift in the series is the MOST basic of lifts. It's something we did as babies, teenagers, and possibly in high school. It is physically and metabolically challenging, and if I were to vote on the best exercise of all-time it would be. (DRUM ROLL PLEASE!). The SQUAT. That's right folks. The squat is the best exercise, and it is simply the most basic of all exercises.

Wait! What's that I hear? But Michael, squats are bad for your knees! They make my back hurt! My doctor told me not to do them! I don't like to be really sore, can't we do chest?"

BULLSHIT!! Squats aren't bad for your knees, but what YOU are doing is bad for your knees. And I can gurantee you aren't doing squats. Squats are a perfect total body exercise, but like any lift if done incorrectly you can get or feel pain. On top of that if our mobility, or ability to move your joints, is bad then squats can bother the knees or the back. Mobility in the hip joint often contributes to these two problems. So if you don't have mobility in your hips, then you will get lumbar flexion, and even knee pain from your knees shooting over your toes.

Error #1- I see when squatting is not sitting the but back. So when beginning the movement, the first the to move is your knees, and not your bum.
Error #2- is letting the knees cave in, instead of pusing your knees out in the same direction as your toes.
Error #3- is not keeping your back nice and flat the entire squat. In this kind of squat, people are extremely rounded over at the bottom of the squat. This lumbar flexion will cause back pain. A lot of the time this will happen because we use too much weight too fast.

So instead of showing examples of all this crappy form, I'm going to show you a video of good frm from TheVideoFitcast. Notice how the squatter is not doing any of the above errors. This is what a good squat should look like, and in most cases it will not cause any back or knee pain. Don't rush to conslusion and decide you are one of the "special people" and squatting isn't for you. Try it first, get it critiqued by a fitness professional, but don't knock it 'till you try it.

Like I said earlier, lack of mobility can cause problems with the squat, so stretching the hips, calves, quats, and activating

the glutes will go a long way in making your a world class squatter, well at least you will squat more than all those panzies on the leg press machine.

Here is a great mobility exercise you should do as a warmup, or even on your off days.

Rules #5-#8 of Fat Loss

2009-07-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

#5 Eat whole natural foods as much as possible.

To make this as simple as possible if a caveman couldn't eat it, neither should you. So fruits and veggies good, breads and cookies bad. Lean meat good, Double Stacks bad! Nuts and beans good, hostess coffee cakes Bad. Easy enough?

#6 Take a multivitamin and Omega 3 Supplement

A multivitamin just ensures that you are getting all the vitamins and nutrients that you need on a daily basis. It's very difficult to get all these vitamins and nutrients from food alone and that is wear the multivitamin comes into play. Make sure the multivitamin is a quality one, you will get what you pay for. I firmly believe that Centrum, costco, walgreens, and wal mart are all awful multivitamins. So don't take them.

Omega 3s have been huge in recent years as a great "bang for your buck" supplement. It is a very easy way to get good fats at every meal, which is RULE #3 They do so many different things from weight loss, to cholesterol control, to joint and inflmation reduction. Just take the damn things. You can be a little cheaper with these, so walgreens or walmart brands are okay. To reduce the fish burps take them with a full meal. 1-4 pills a day will do wonders for your body.

#7 Keep a food Journal

Weigh, weigh, weigh. Weigh your food, stop guestimating. You have been doing that for the last _____ years, and look where it has gotten you. Unless you can be 100% sure of how much food you are eating, you will never know what kind of defecit you are putting your body into. You don't have to do it forever, but 2-4 weeks will do wonders for your weight loss. Once you weigh your food write it down in a journal on a daily basis and proceed to Rule #8.

#8 Track your calories with calorieking.com

Take your food journal, type your foods you have eaten into calorieking.com and get an idea of how many calories you take in on a daily basis, you should also track the amount of proteins, carbs, and fats you eat everyday as well. Typically a 50% carb, 30% protein, and 20% fat diet will do really well to start your fat loss program.

Rules #4 and #5 of Fat Loss

2009-07-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Rule #4-Eat 25-35 grams of fiber a day

Eating fiber, or fibrous vegetables will help with satiety between meals. If you find that 25-35 grams is hard to get, then a fiber supplements like glucomannan, Granny's metamucil, or fiber chewable will give you a little help. Glucomannan is an interesting little supplement, and is grat for weight loss. It is a soluble fiber made from the cognac plant, that when consumed thickens and expands helping your body feel fuller, for a longer period of time. You can find it here or in the noodle form here. All three fiber supplements above are important because they slow the release of food from your stomach helping you feel a little less miserable between meals while you are in your calorie defecit.

Rule #5-Drink .6-.7 ounces of water per pound of body weight

Drinking enough water will ensure that you are getting enough fluid for your workouts, and it will also help with hunger pangs that you may get from time to time throughout the day. People will sometimes hold onto water because they don't get enough on a daily basis. So you could lose some water weight, by drinking more water. Isn't that ironic?

Rules #2 and #3 of Fat Loss

2009-07-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Las Thursday I posted the first rule of Fat Loss, and that was to have well defined, and clear goals that you want to accomplish you can see that post here. Below are the 2nd, and 3rd rules. Give them a try for a week and let me know how it works out in the comments section!

#2 Eat Every 2-3 Hours

Eating every 2-3 hours will reduce the chances of you binge eating, or cheating from your diet. If you know that you will eat in a couple hours you won't over eat, or run to the snack machine between meals. Now these "meals" aren't your normal 3-course meal, they can also be a snack of some kind. Just keep "pumping gas into your tank" and your energy will be much better throughout the day. Here are a few snacks that would be awesome between your big meals. Make sure you measure all the items so you get an idea of how many calories you are consuming using calorieking.com

Raw unsalted nuts (cashews, almonds) and an orange
A bananna and protein powder
Greek Yogurt and berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries)
An apple and natural peanut butter
Peaches, nectarines, dates, figs, melons, grapefruit, etc.
Be creative

#3 Eat a Protein, Carb, and Fat at every meal

Eating a protein, carb, and fat at every meal ensures you are getting in all the macronutrients, and that you will maintain your energy throughout the day. It also ensures that you stay full in between meals. Here's a newsflash: Carbs are good for you and so are fats. So stop the low carb and low fat dieting. It's worthless. What you need to do is eliminate processed carbs, breads, candy, cookies, etc. Your carbs should come primarily from fruits, and vegetables. If you are going to eat bread make it whole grain, but even that should be limited as much as possible. These diets that tell you that you can't eat fruits, because they have natural sugars are bullshit. Oh yeah! And stop listening to your doctor. I know I know, but they have a degree. Well to get their degree they take very few nutritional courses, if any! Just make sure you are getting a protein carb and fat at every meal and your body will thank you, and let go of the insulation your storing around your midsection. Sample foods with each macro can be found below. Eat a large variety of these foods, and your diet will never get boring.

Complex Carbs and Vegetables

Beans

Brown Rice

EzekialBread

Oats/Oatmal

Quinoa

Wild Rice

Yams/Sweet Potatoes

AlfafaSprouts

Artichoke Hearts

Alfalfa Sprouts
Artichoke Hearts
Arugula
Asparagus
Bamboo Shoots
Beet Greens
Bock Choy
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Celery
Chard
Chicory
Chives
Collard Greens
Cucumbers
Endive
Escarole
Fennel
Jicama
Kale
Leeks
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Onion
Peppers
Radicchio
Radishes
Rhubarb
Sauerkraut
Scallions
Spinach
Water Chestnuts
Zucchini

Lean Protein

Whey Powder

Bass
Bison
Chicken Breasts
Cod
Crab (try canned, instead of tuna!)
Egg Whites (boxed work well)
Elk
Flounder
Extra Lean Ground Turkey, Chicken, or Beef (at least 95% lean)
Haddock
Halibut
Orange Roughy
Ostrich
Perch
Tilapia
Shrimp
Snapper
Tuna
Turkey Breasts

Healthy Fats

Almonds
Avocados
Coconut Oil
Flameout (personal favorite)
Flax Seeds
Flax Oil
Grapeseed Oil
Herring
Macadamia Nuts
Mackerel
Natural Peanut Butter (no oil added)
Olive Oil
Pecans
Pumpkin Seeds
Salmon
Sardines
Sunflower Seeds
Walnuts

NEW ATHLETE WORKOUTS BLOG and tip of the day

2009-07-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not liking how the blog is moving forward so what I will be doing is moving the athlete blog posts (workouts, notes, etc.) to another address http://bakershoopschool.blogspot.com/. I am going to keep the personal training related content here at Blogginwithbaker.

With all that being said I would like to offer a lifting tip of the day.

When doing any row pattern (seated, chest supported, inverted) make sure to retract your scapulae before each rep. To do this think of putting your shoulder blades in your back pocket, by pulling them back and down. Another way to help with this is to push your chest out as far forward as you can. With any exercise you do you should think to pull your scapulae into this position. In a society where everyone sits at the computer hours, our scapulae become protracted and winged forward causing shoulder tension, pain, and even headaches. Our posture is downright awful, and getting worse. So the next time you are in the gym think about pulling your shoulder blades back and down, and you will be on you way to a healthier you.

Here is perfect seated row form by Tony Gentilcore of The Fitcast....Notice in the back view how his shirt bunches up on his back. That is from him pulling his shoulder blades back and down

Add scap pushups to your dynamic warmup at the beggining of your training session and get a feel for the movement of your scaps.

Questions and Answers

2009-07-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

I hope the young lady who asked these questions doesn't mind that I answered these questions on the blog but I think they are good questions the other people may have.

Question: Which is better; weigh fruits, veggies, etc. foods or use the suggested serving size?

Answer: I would say to weigh and measure your food, and then use a website like calorieking.com or fitday to calculate the calories, protein, carbs, fats, etc. that you are getting in each food

Question: Should you weigh meats prior to cooking? I assume yes, but wanted to be sure.

Answer: With calorieking.com you can get the counts for both cooked and uncooked meats. I I would suggest you weigh before you cook it but do what is easiest. Like I said you can do both with calorieking.com

Question: What are your thoughts about Juicing and the diet 'Eat Right 4 Your Type'?

Answer: I do not know too much about either of these option so I don't really know too much about it. I have always wanted to try the juicing but I haven't had a chance to get into it. I would think that it is a good concept. You can never get enough fruit or vegetables so I would give it a shot. It'll help you get all the good stuff that is in the fruits and veggies.

Question: Where can you buy Bison here in the valley?? I really want to try the 'Badass Bison' burger.

Answer: I would say your best bet is Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's has a lot of great stuff from the Bison, to Greek yogurt which you should take a look at as well. Greek yogurt is great because it has a ton of protein, and good fat's as well. It tastes pretty good with frozen fruit.

Rule #1 of Fat Loss-

2009-07-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

I have been dealing with a lot of people at work, and the more people I see and speak to the more I realize that 80+ percent want to lose weight in some way, shape, or form. So what I am going to do over the next few posts is discuss certain rules of fat loss. Now this is by no means a dietary plan, but more or less dietary guidlines that I think everyone should follow. I think that a lot of people have heard the rules over their years of trying to "diet down" and lose but for some reason nobody really does them. They continually look for quick fixes that for some reason are never that quick, or they are so quick that once they stop doing the diet, they baloon right back to where their impatient asses started. So here we go.

Rule #1-Have clear, defined, and measureable goals

Simple enough right? Well whats the problem people? Why are do so many of you not have clear and defined goals on why you are doing whatever it is you are donig? Why when I ask you what your goals are do you tell me "tone up", "get in shape", "lose weight". Those are too broad, and for the most part unmeasurable. If you weigh 200, and tomorrow you weigh 199! Ta da you have lost weight, but how the hell am I supposed to know if that is enough if you tell me, "I want to tone up! or Lose weight". How do I know when you will be happy? I won't! Give yourself a date, a time period, a number, make a long term goal, a short term, and everything in between goal. Because otherwise you'll spin your wheels jumping from diet to diet, frustrated. Then that's when you come to me, lost and confused. So start today! Labor day is coming soon I think it's a little less than 2 months away. That's 8 weeks. At 1.5-2 pounds a week you should be down 12-16 pounds. There you go I started you off, now you finish. Make some measurable, achievable goals, and follow through with them. It'll Make a world of difference.

"I ________ will be ____ pounds lighter by Labor Day weekend!"

The Hierarcy of Fat Loss

2009-07-15T08:15:00.001-07:00

http://sbcoachescollege.com/articles/SmartCardiotoBurnFat.html

Yet another vote for interval training. In the article linked above, Dr. Perry Nickelston states that intervals are more efficient at burning fat than long steady state cardio. Why? Because steady state cardio eats all that precious muscle you want to hold onto. You see when we are dieting or even training for sports, we want to have as much muscle as we possibly can, it helps to burn more calories throughout the day, and ramps up our metabolisms. So all that hard work we have done in the weight room is now wasted because of what we do after or even worse BEFORE we train hard.

Dr. Nickelston also states that there is a hierarcy of energy usage, and to train smart and get to #4 we must plan our workouts in a certain order, and it works as follows.

1. Muscle glycogen

2. Liver glycogen

3. Blood Borne Amino Acids

4. Fat Stores

When we train cardio first and it is long steady state cardio, we use up 1-3 and finally get to #4. 1-3 are what fuel our STRENGTH TRAINING. So will our strength training be the best it can be after we have done 30 minutes on that damn treadmill?

HELLLLL NO! Because we won't have any energy left. The smarter way to do it, and I use it with all my clients, and anyone else I see that tells me cardio burns more fat, is I strength train first, and do my interval/cardio second. It just makes more sense, if you are dog tired after running for a half hour chances are you are going to not lift optimally, or you are just going to skip it all together.

Weight lifting and interval training helps us to maintain and increase that lean body mass (muscle), and gives the tone and definition that all women want. It helps burn more calories THROUGHOUT the entire day, and possibly 2-3 days after you lift. Whereas, long cardio only helps you burn more calories for the time you are on the bike, treadmill, or that dumbass eliptical.

MAKE SENSE?

Read the article above, and have a good one folks.

Workouts for the Week

2009-07-13T07:10:00.001-07:00

Your workouts will be the same for Monday and Tuesday as they were last week, however this week for Thursday and Friday you will complete the workouts that were posted today for Thursday and Friday. Let me know if you have any questions. WORK HARD! Summer is over in 6 weeks and we will be testing the first day of school.

Thursday's Workout

2009-07-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

1 Arm Snatch 3*6

Weighted Pullup 3*4

Reverse Lunge 3*6

Inverted Row 3*8-12

Prone Trap Raise 3*12

Side Bridge 3*30 seconds

Friday's Workout

2009-07-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

Pushups 3*max reps

Pull Throughs 3*8-10

DB Military Press 3*6

Hamstring Curl 3*6

Barbell Rollout/Ab wheel rollout 3*30seconds

Day 2 of New Athlete Workouts

2009-07-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

Bench Press 3*6

Single Leg Deadlift 3*6/side

Standing Barbell Military Press 3*6

SHELC 3*12

Paloff Press 3*12/side

Wall Ankle Mobilizations 3*12

Athlete Summer Workout: New Phase

2009-07-05T22:00:00.001-07:00

To all my followers its new workout time. I don't have to time to post all the days so what you are going to have to do is check back tomorrow for the days lift. Hopefully all of you are continuting to work hard and get stronger. I want most of you to start getting some running in. Basically, striders to so go to a field and run at about 80% for full field. I want you to begin building up your conditioning before school starts. I want you guys to do this 2-3 times this week. Next week I will get some more conditioning up for you. Without further adieu, here is today/tomorrow's lift. I really want you to step out of your comfort zone and add some weight to these which is why the reps are low.

Warmup as you have been normally doing. Make sure it is a dynamic warmup like I have always had you do.

1 Arm Snatch 3*3/side

Squats 3*6

Chin Ups 3*6

Walking Lunges 3*6/side

Seated Row 3*6

Face Pulls 3*12

Reverse Crunches 3*12

Doug P's New Workout

2009-06-05T06:42:00.001-07:00

Here it is Doug! Always make sure you are trying to add weight and push yourself and you will always progress. This will help you add some muscle, get your Metabolism fired up, and move you closer to your goal. For Workout B I have put links so that you can see what the exercises look like. If you have any questions just post them to the comments section or shoot me an email. Hope all goes well. You'll have to excuse the videos, none of them are mine.

Workout A

Light Warmup for 5 minutes on bike or LifeFitness

Goblet Squats 3 sets of 12 reps

Split Squats 3 sets of 12 reps

RDL 3 sets of 12 reps

Push Up 2 sets of 12 reps

Row 2 sets of 12 reps

Planks 2 sets of as long as possible

Workout B (the numbers next to the exercise is the machine number). Most of these are machine exercises.

Light warmup on bike or lifefitness cycle

Chest Press (L26) 3*12

Military Press (L4) 3*12

Lat Pulldown (L2) 3*12

Leg Extension (L12) 2*15

Leg Curl (L14) 2*15

Side Planks 2 sets on each side for as long as possible

Blogs I'm Reading

2009-06-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a few blog posts from a couple of guys I follow that really know what they are talking about check them out. Learn Something!

Joe Hashey Blog Post.....Go ahead and click the link to the left.

This is a really good post from Joe Hashey. Are you feeling tired today? As Willie James Huff would say," WAAAAAAH SHUT UP!!!"

A great trainer from Edison, NJ not to far from my school sounds off and all panzies!!!!

Zach Even-Esh

New monthly "Get In Shape" workout plan

2009-05-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

This will be the new workout for the month for D. Meleis, and anyone else that would like to change it up a bit. I will be posting the second day of the workout when I have the time. Key points to this are really amping up the intensity and trying to up your weight every workout. If you are using a weight today, and 8 workouts from now you are using the same weight, you are just spinning your wheels and not accomplishing anything. The best way to track this is write it down, everyone should have a notebook with their workouts and notes in them. Get on it, and enjoy.

1A. Front Squat/Push Press 2*10 with 75 sec. rest

2A. Step Up 2*10 with 75 sec. rest

Basic Step Up here, the higher the step the harder it will be so challenge yourself.

2B. Dumbell 1 Pt Row 2*10 with 75 sec. rest

3A. Bulgarian Split Squats 2*10 with 75 sec. rest

Make sure you are holding some type of weight. Don't do so much that you are wobbling all over the place

3B. Push Ups 2*10 with 75 sec. rest

If you can progress to the floor

4A. Plank 2*60 sec. with 75 sec. Rest

If the floor is too easy for 60 seconds try these.

4B. Cable Horizontal Woodchip 2*10 with 75 sec Rest

*****Thank you Scott White whoever you are for your video demonstration, and Women's Health for the Picture***

New Workouts for Isa and Jill

2009-05-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

There will be new workouts for the two of you. I will post them on the day I want you to do them so check back with the blog every day.

Conditioing Session

2009-05-26T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Isa here is a little something for you today....

If you can get to Stevens I want you to use the field, if the field isn't open you can use that soccer field down near the river or any field about the length of a football field.

I want you to start very slow and we will progress as you get a little better.

Warmup
30 Jumping Jacks
10 Bodyweight Lunges- Make sure you hold the stretch for a little time in between to stretch your hip flexors.
10/leg Walking Knee Hugs
10/leg Walking Quad Stretch
10 Inchworms
10 Spiderman's

After the warmup we are going to do some sprinting. I want you guys to be conditioned but I want you to wait for that until the end of this session. You are going to do short sprints. If you are at the school do them from the end line to the top of the goalie box it would be about 20 yards, or 60 feet. You are going to go as hard as you can for the sprints, and I want you to have a COMPLETE rest in between each sprint. Catch your breath, let your heart rate go down completely so you can really get all out efforts in. The rest is the key to this entire thing so don't cut it short. Take your time and do it right. So you will do 10 Sprints*20 yards with a complete rest probably 90 seconds or so. After you do these you are going to do what are called strides.

Strides are going to help you really work on your runnning form and give you the oppurtunity to get a little conditioning in. You will stride full field and a steady pace. A stride is somewhere between a jog and a full out sprint, if tha makes sense. We are going to start slow and you will do 5 today. Again these are nice and easy, you will give yourself quite a bit of a break for these as well. Catch your breath and go again.

So the workout will look something like this...........

Warmup
Sprints 10*20 yards with COMPLETE REST
Striders 5*100 yards with almost complete REST.

You will do this in addition to your workout. Do the sprints first then the lifting.

Have fun.

5 More Random Thoughts

2009-05-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

Simplified Weight Loss-

After sitting in a certification orientation all day today I realized that weight loss may be more simple than I recently considered it to be. At the end of the day, if calories that you eat are lower than calories that you burn you will lose weight. I am by no means telling people who barely eat to eat even less, but just be conscience of the amount of calories you take in on a daily basis. If you have eaten 2000 calories in the past and you eat 1500 calories for a few weeks you will lose weight. Even if that 1500 calories is big macs (3 big macs is about 1700 calories), you would still lose weight. However, chances are with the big macs your bodyfat % would go up making you look even fatter than you did before you started dieting. So in the end eating quality food, and less calories is your best route to the body you want. However, if you have been on calorie restriction, or low calorie diets for a long time, in my research I have found its best to eat more, as well as more often to give yourself the energy to complete your lifting programs

Why 4-6 meals a day

I am sure a lot of people have heard eat 6 small meals a day as opposed to 3 large meals when dieting. I think a lot of people follow it blindly without really knowing the reason why. This diet advice to eat small more frequent meals is another very simple change to your diet to maintain your daily energy, and help you lose bodyfat. Your body adapts to what you do on a daily basis very quickly. Our ancestors were built to survive long periods of time between meals, since it was so hard to get food in the stone age. Their bodies adapted by storing body fat which gave their bodies energy in between bouts of taking down a wooly mammoth for food. Because this is engrained in our DNA our bodies do the same thing, so when we eat 3 large meals a day, in between those meals our brain tells our body to store bodyfat because it doesn't "know" when it is going to eat again. When nutritionists tell us to eat small meals every few hours, we are telling our brain that, "it's ok you are going to eat again soon". Which our brain then tells our body that it doesn't have to store the bodyfat, like our cavemen cousins did.

Machine Exercises-

I am a "functional training" type of guy. I believe that most exercises should be done standing, you should be doing heavy lifting, etc. I also believe that free weights are far superior to machine exercises. I have believed that for a while now. I say that they are far superior, however when I look at the big picture not everyone I will train in my lifetime is going to be an athlete, young, healthy, or a lifting veteran. So in some situations, I think machines will be something that I use for people who have just started training, or just getting back into lifting again. I know in the future I may regret saying it, but it may be something that I use in the future just to give my clients a training effect while I slowly teach them the free weight exercises that I will use to take them to the next level. Never, will I tell an athlete to use a machine unless it is a row, or face pull like exercises. So for the athletes that may read this, disregard this message.

Progressive Overload-

Change up your workout/cardio/diet routine. I said above your body gets used to what you do, and eventually what you are doing stops working. If it ever worked in the first place! So depending on your goals you should change your routine up a bit. You can change it up in a few simple ways. You can do more sets and reps, but the real change will come when you add weight, or change your rest periods. So if you have been doing 2 sets of 15 reps of an exercise for a set, with 40 pounds. Next time you workout try dropping the weight to 8-10 reps, and lift 50-60 pounds for the sets. The stronger you are, the faster your metabolism will be from the new muscle you have added, the more weight you will lose/gain. By changing your rest periods from 2 minutes to 1 minute, you will be doing more work in a smaller amount of time, again increasing your metabolism. This is why complexes, and supersets are becoming popular in today's weight training programs.

Crunches Suck-

Your lumbar spine (lower back) was made to be in a stable, neutral position. Not in flexion. Our core was built to stablize our lumbar spine, and maintain its neutral position. When many get back pain, trainers that really know what they are doing will never have them do crunches because it puts even more pressure on their lower backs. So when people first thought of doing crunches to get a six pack they had it all wrong. Crunches shorten our Rectus Abdominus (abs), pulling us into a hunchback position, and putting more undue stress on our lower backs

Not attractive.

Because our core was built to stabilize our spine, which will reduce our back pain, replace your cruches, with planks.

***Images courtesy of Nick Tumminello, and Geico.com***

5-18 Workout

2009-05-18T00:39:00.001-07:00

Here are your workouts for May 18. It is the first official lifting day of the summer make it a good one.

Warm Up- Everyone will do this warm up

Foam Roll-5 minutes. Roll what hurts, if it isnt sore skip it. Make sure you are rolling the whole 5 minutes even if it is on one spot. Click on the exercises for videos. If you don't have a roller just make sure you really warm up.

Birddog*10/side

Ankle Mobility *10/side

Scap Pushups on Elbows*15- You are going to try and squeeze your shoulder blades together on the way down

Squat to Reach *5/side

Spiderman Walks *5/side

Make sure you stick every landing. You will do 3 sets of 5 jumps per leg. If you are having knee issues you will not jump just go to the first exercise.

A1. Bench Press 3*5-

Use a weight that will not allow you to do 5. So go heavy, if the first set was too light move up. If it was too heavy move down.

B1. Push Ups 3*10-

Use the bar height that will barely allow you to do 10. You can find these in the second video if you are unclear of what they are. If you can do 10 on the floor, elevate your feet, at about 1 minute into the first video you'll see the foot elevated version.

B2. Inverted Rows 3*10

C. Face Pulls 3*12

D. Planks 3*40 seconds-

Your goal here is 40 seconds. Go as long as you can.

****Video were provided by Joe Trinsey of Prepperformance.net****

Make sure you rss the page. Or become a follower, you'll see a link to that down at the bottom

Athlete Summer Workout Updates

2009-05-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

Summer Workouts

I haven't had the opportunity to add new content to the blog this week, I'm in the process of moving as most of you know so I won't be able to do any of this stuff for this week. From here on out we will be repeating the workouts from last week, unless otherwise stated. Here are the old workouts to make it a little easier.

For all of these workouts I want to emphasize that as, you get stronger your weights should go up. Push yourselves, as I can't do it for you anymore. If a set is easy, the next set add weight. If you find your last set is too easy, make a note, in the notebooks I know you all have, and the next time you do that workout use more weight. Start from there. Now, every workout isn't going to be perfect, but you always want to strive to move up. I will give you updates to the workouts periodically so stay tuned to the blog

Workouts/Week

If you are having a hard time getting to your workouts 4 times a week, let me know as soon as you can, and I'll put something together for you that will have you lifting 3 times a week, or even two if need be.

Prioritize

To get the most out of your training, you might want to rethink how much basketball you play for the summer. I understand that your coaches want you playing, but in order to maximize your work in the weight room you need adequate rest between workouts, summer league games, and individual workouts. So NEVER, do two weight room workouts in one day. NEVER. I don't care if you missed a day. Just do the day you missed and continue the week as you normally would.
Work on your games. Don't forget that we aren't weight lifters, we are basketball players. So that means you need to be working on your skills. By working on your skills I don't mean crap summer league games. In my opinion I think they are worthless as far as your game is concerned, unless you are really using the time to work on things that you need to work on. I think improving your game comes from deliberate practice, not 5 on 5 open gym. We as basketball players are weak, we play pickup year round thinking we are improving ourselves, when we are really just putting ourselves open to overuse injuries. That "tendinitis", jumpers knee, ankle pain, back pain, is all because we are mis-priortizing whats important.

If I were you, and you need help organizing your time here is what I would do:

Strength and Conditioning-weight room, sprints, etc.
Skill Work-1 on 1, 2 on 2, form shooting, ball handling. Whatever weakness you have! I'll also post some drills and things for you guys as well.
Rest-This is as important as anything else.
Open gyms/summer league

The first three could all be in first, but I wanted to show that open gyms and games really should be far down the list. REALLY FAR. Just prioritize, lift, rest, work on your games and you will be better by next year.

Conditioning

As far as conditioning is concerned, do not get caught up in trying to stay in game shape over the summer. We will worry about that as the summer moves on. If you have the time to get extra workouts in like a sprint, or agility workout then let me know and I will get them to you. Otherwise don't go conditioning until it gets closer to August. By no means run long distances. No 1, 2, or 3 mile runs, EVER. But like I said I will put conditioning up as the summer goes on, but don't expect any until late July, Early August. I want you to focus on your skills, and strength.

RSS

The best way to do that is through the rss feeds if you know how to use them. Otherwise just bookmark the page. I'm out of here, and I'll see you in August.

Work Hard

Shocking Fat loss Revealation

2009-05-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been measuring your food, and you trying to lose weight, it might be time to do so. The same goes for weight gain too, in a way. Make sure you watch the video if nothing else. The video is courtesy of Leigh Peele, she's a well known fat loss expert. If you are taking your weight seriously, read it.

http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2008/12/the_measure_of_your_fat_loss_s.php

The Puke Award!!!!

2009-05-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

So, I have decided I will make my very own award. The Puke Award. Now let me explain. The more I train by myself in the Varsity weight room, the more I am shielded from the absolute morons that work out in the "regular" weight room we have on Stevens fine campus. I usually go down there, and lucky for me I am the only one. However, when someone else is down there, the stupid things being done aren't quite as bad as the "cardio" room we have going on at the 3rd floor. Now don't get me wrong, a lot of the athletes do a lot of stupid things themselves and some of their habits could earn them a Puke Award in the future. But lucky for them not this week. When I happen to venture upstairs when Vanessa and I go train, I get in the pissiest mood. There are all types of dummies up there, using 5 lb weights, doing all types of bench presses, and generally just making an ass of themselves trying to heave up weight they are too puney to handle. So I am going to make an award specifically dedicated to you jackasses, and all jackasses who do things that either piss me off, make me feel bad for you, or make me laugh. Basically, the Puke Award encompasses dumb ass things that people do while they are working out, that make me want to PUKE. I will do my best to make this a weekly thing, but I have enough ammo to last me a decade, so who knows how many I hand out. Let's get on to business.

The 1st ever Puke Award winner is........(imagine a drum roll)!

The "I text on my phone in between every set of every exercise I ever do" Guy

You know who you all are. "Oh man that was a tough set, let me text Becky and find out if we can like, hook up later". I mean seriously man, is your phone that damn important that you can't leave it outside. There is only one squat rack in here, and you are taking 10 minutes of rest while you text in between your sets of 3 at 135 pounds.

1. Get off your damn phone

2. Quit being a wuss. and add some weight, wuss.

Leave the phone outside, the place is only so big, I don't want to hear your conversation of how much you drank last night. What your bench was, or where you and Jill are going in the City. And girls you aren't off the hook either because you do it too, in between your 2 hour intense bouts of cardio. If you are on a cardio machine, and have enough strength or ability to text someone, read a book, read a magazine, talk to your friend. WHATEVER. Up the damn speed, your huge ass, and those of us who have to look at it will thank you. So there you have it.

Please, next time you lift whether you are in the Varsity Weight room, or upstairs in the cardio gym, please leave your phone alone. If you are there to train, train and get the hell out of the gym. Your workouts wouldn't be 2 hours long if you stopped talking between sets. Plus, 1 hour away from your precious friends will do you some good.

Until next time, PEACE

5 Random Sunday Thoughts

2009-05-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

I'm bored so I'm posting some random thoughts for you guys.

1. Gaining weight isn't always the answer. A lot of male athletes want to gain weight because they feel it will help their athletic goals, more often than not its because they want to look good with their shirt off. But that's another day. All that is fine, but let's look at the problem without such a narrow scope. Getting stronger is not as good as getting stronger in relation to your body weight. A guy at 200 that can squat 400, is in my opinion better than a guy at 215 that can squat 400. It's simple math, our 200 lb athlete, is stronger in relation to his bodyweight than our 215 lb athlete. This is why I've ditched body building, "look strong" "get big" program, and done more lifting for strength and power. I don't want to gain weight, as much as I want to get strong as hell at my current 200 lbs.

2. If gaining weight is still your goal, because some athletes still need to, whether it be football athletes who just need the extra "meat" to pad themselves from falls and running over guys, or basketball players who need some extra weight to finish in the paint, or hold off an opposing big. (cough cough Franklin, Mcnay). Eating More is the key. I've said it before, and I will say it again because for some reason Skinny Bastards don't seem to listen. EAT MORE, EAT MORE, EAT MORE. If you aren't gaining weight, then you aren't eating enough. Plain and simple. You may be eating more than a normal person, but you aren't a normal person. You are trying to gain weight and you must eat accordingly. During days you are playing, you have to eat more than you would on a day off. If you aren't as active then you can get away with eating less. The easiest way to figure out how many calories you are eating is to really measure what you eat as much as you can. Eat more protein, eat more carbs, eat more fats. Be systematic, and eat as clean as possible because we want to gain lean body mass (muscle), not fat. Start off eating about 3000 calories a day, after your first week add an extra 500 calories a day every week until you start gaining weight. We want to eat lean meat, protein shakes, vegetables, rice, beans, etc. The less processed the food the better. What do I mean by processed? Cookies, cake, McDonald's. You want limit this crap food as much as you can. I understand sometimes it may be all you can get your hands on, but your 3000 calories shouldn't come from entire days of eating this crap. So your eating schedule would look like this:

Week 1: 2500 calories/day

Week 2: 3000 calories/day

Week 3: 3500 calories/day and so on. More than likely you will see weight gain at 3000-3500 calories a day, because your body hasn't taken in this much food in a while if not ever. Once you start seeing weight gain don't up the calories anymore, it'll start turning into fat, which like I said before we don't want. So to sum it up, add 500 calories a day each week until you see weight gain, once you see steady weight gain after a week, stay at that calorie count until you stop gaining or you get to your goal weight. Let me know how it goes, good luck.

3. Finding an extra 500 calories in a day isn't tough, one normal size chicken breast is about 200 calories. You do the math.

4. Shoot for 1-1.25 grams of protein for every pound of body weight you have. So for a 200lb person, thats about 200-250 grams of protein a day. Protein will help you gain weight, lose weight, and help you recover from exercise. EAT IT. Protein has about 4 calories/gram. So if I consume 200 grams of protein, that's 800 calories from protein. You always want to maximize the amount of protein you eat because it helps you in so many ways. In general both men and women don't get enough protein, but my guess is with the way I see women eat these days they are a lot worse off. SO eat a protein shake or something, JESUS!

5. Girls if you want to look like this....Read #4. And train hard. No matter how much you cardio bunnies run and how much fat you lose, if you don't have any muscles, you'll just be a skinnier saggier version of your heavier self. Simple. If that is what you want more power to you. Fortunately, some women are figuring this out. But for those that haven't figured it out. Lift Weights, Lift Heavy, Lift like "a man". You won't get big and muscular, you'll look better. Possibly closer to Jessica Biel, and not like the walking skeleton Madonna (I need to take a puke break). Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Cindy Crawford, they all train with weights. Don't be afraid of them, embrace them, you'll look better for it

5. Eat Breakfast. If so many people have heard eat breakfast, and how good it is for you, EVERYBODY F*ING skips it. WHY? What part of eat breakfast don't people understand.
"I want to lose weight", "I want to gain weight", "I'm tired at noon". My answer to all these gripes are, EAT Beakfast. It kick starts your day and your metabolism to keep you awake. If you are gaining, losing, or maintaining your weight. Skipping breakfast is not an option. EVER, so eat it and stop complaining.

PEACE

5-8 Workout

2009-05-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

This was the max effort lift for Friday. I'm posting it a little late. But it should still be done if you haven't done it already.

A. Squats 4*10

B. Single Leg Box Squats 3*10

C. RDL 3*8

D. Side Planks 3*30 sec/side-Place your back against a wall. Make sure your shoulders, head and butt are in a straight line. If this is too hard then go down to your elbow like we have been doing.

5-8 workout Repetition Upper

2009-05-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

This is a dynamic effort day so for the bench press you will push through each set to get the most amount of reps. The warmup will be the same as we have done for the past few sessions.

1 Arm Snatch 4*3

A. Barbell Bench Press- 3*max reps with 60% of 1RM

B. Chinups 4*8

C1. Face Pulls 3*12

C2. Military Press 4*8

D. Prone Trap Raise 3*10

***Video Courtesy of michaelboyle.biz***

5-5 Workout Dynamic Effort Lower Body

2009-05-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today's workout is a dynamic effort lower body training session. You guys that are healthy will be doing a little jumping beforehand. All workouts that are given to the athletes are a variation of Joe Defranco's Westside for Skinny Bastards Template. I have to give credit where credit is due. Now on with the workout.

Warmup and Foam Roll- In today's and every warmup from here on out, maintain good posture. Which is chest nice and tall, your shoulder blades squeezed back and down, and your abs tight. We are trying to build and maintain good habits, and it starts in the warmup.
Glute Bridge*15
Birddog*10/side
Hip Flexor stretch 15 seconds/side
Piriformis Stretch 15 seconds/side
Overhead Walking Lunge 8/side
Kettlebell Swings 25 total- really squeeze the glutes on the way up

Workout
Medial Hurdle Hops with a stick 3*5.
Unlike the video you will stick the landing like you did yesterday, and make sure you take your time.

A. Medicine Ball Scoop Toss 3*5
Just like the video without the toss. You are going to swing the medicine ball between your legs like you are about to jump up, then throw the ball as hard as you can against the wall in front of you. Like I said you will not be jumping at all just stay in one place. Really contract the glutes and abs hard to get the most power out of the exercise.

B1. Lunges, Reverse Lunges for Isa only, not you Sanchez 3*8
B2. Glute Ham Raise 4*5 (Isa-Slideboard Hamstring curls 3*10)

C1. Get Ups- DB overhead, lie on your back, and go up onto your elbow 3*20 total

Fat Loss

2009-05-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

For anyone that has gained a little weight and is looking to lose it. Check this article out, this guy is the king of fat loss in the fitness industry. He knows what he is talking about, it's very simple things you can do to help you lose weight, and become a healthier you. Check it out and read it through.

http://www.google.com/reader/next?go=nextauto&t=-5285718563577768020

4-30 Workout

2009-04-30T09:14:00.000-07:00

4-30 WorkoutApril 30, 2009 by blogginwithbaker

I’m going to be out of town all day so I am going to post this for you guys, if you need help I will be back a little later and we can go around 8 if you would prefer that.
Today’s workout is a dynamic/repetition day. It means we want you to move the bar and the ball (you’ll see below) as quickly as possible through the movement. This is how you will develop power for movements such as sprinting and jumping in the future. You’ll start off by warming up, grabbing at medicine ball, girls get the 3 kg yellow ball and guys grab a 10lb ball, and head over to the brick wall. The workout is as follows. If the exercises have the same letter in front of them superset the exercises.(b1 and b2 are one superset)

Warm up and Foam Roll-Make sure you hit your legs really well and work as much soreness out as you possibly can.

Before workout:
Overhead Pass Medicine Ball Throw- 5*5-
Take about a minute break between sets. I want your feet to be stable throughout the exercise, there is no step for these. Also you don’t need the band around your knees.

a1. Bench Press with 50% of 1RM- 3*max reps
With these we want the bar moving at a decent speed, and we want to go almost to failure, leave one or two reps “in the tank”. You will take a 2-3 minute break in between sets. Make sure you take the break!

b1. Chin Ups- 4*8. If these are too easy add weight
b2. Face Pulls- 3*12
Click the link. Some of you may or may not be doing these correctly. This guy really knows what he is talking about, and he describes the exercise perfectly. Make sure you read it.

c1. Standing DB Military Press 4*8
You can see I want them done standing. Challenge yourself with the weight here as well as all the exercises you are doing.

d1. Prone Trap Raise 3*10-
The video is a little grainy but you get the idea. You want your shoulder blades to be back and down, if you can’t get them back and down without arching your lower back, lower the weight and do them correctly. This isn’t about as much about weight as it is doing them correctly.

Any questions just ask me. If you have time later tonight, I’ve got a sprint workout you healthy guys can do, and try and get some shots up, work on your games. It’s not all about the weight room, your skills should always be a priority. Tomorrow is a leg day, so make sure you eat and sleep well, it’s going to be tough. Talk to you guys soon.

4-28 Workout

2009-04-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

4-28 WorkoutApril 28, 2009 by blogginwithbaker
Here are today’s workouts for you guys. It’s a dynamic/speed day so basically what we are trying to do is move the bar, medicine ball, dumbell as quickly as possible, especially for the first movement. For those of you who aren’t injured you will be doing box jumps of some sort. Without further ado, here it is.
Jill, Mel, Justin
a1: box jumps 5*2
a2: Squats 3*10
b1: step ups 3*10
b2: glute ham raise 4*5
c: Paloff Press 3*30s

Franklin
a1: Low Box Hops
a2: Squats w/. sandbag 3*10
b1: Slideboard Hamstring Curls 3*12
c1: Pull thrus 3*20

Isa
a1: box jumps 5*2
a2: Sandbag + Weight vest squats to box 3*10
b1: Reverse Lunge 3*10
b2: Hamstring Curls 4*10
c: Paloff press 3*30s/side

Mcnay
a1: 3*10
b1: 3*12
b2:ankle mobility
c1:single leg deadlift 3*10
c2: Quad Stretch
d1: Weighted Planks