I apologize for the organization of the end of this post. I had to bullet each paragraph to separate it from the the previous paragraph. A glitch in WordPress I believe. I don’t know… Sorry about that…
Ok, where I left off…
Well, maybe nothing. Most of you will never push yourself to the point where your brain or body begins to tell you to, “fuck off”. It’s not a knock against you, it’s just a reality.
Two years ago I dove head first into the SSST (Secret Service Snatch Test), which is a kettlebell challenge not for the weak of heart. The SSST is comprised of:
24 kg (53lb) kettlebell
Perform as many snatches as possible in a 10 minute timeframe.
Simple and insane.
If you are a competitive minded person, this is something to shoot for. I got about 190 snatches into the SSST and my brain flooded with “just quit this shit” thoughts. I fought them off for another 1:30min or so, then tapped out. I destroyed my old snatch record, but still, the thoughts came and engulfed me.
It’s easy to succumb to your thoughts during physical activity.
Next time you are on a run or bike, pay attention to how many times you start thinking about how nice it would be to be finished already, or how you could just walk for a bit, or no one is looking so you can dog it for a minute or two, blah blah blah. I am human, I have these thoughts, so I know that you do too.
I think what the average person struggles with the most with is their thoughts. Just one negative thought that slips passed your “will-power filter” in your brain and will infect your entire body during a workout, or ever before you ever strap on your shoes pre-workout. Negative thoughts are infectious. Once you start thinking about quitting on a task, for most people, it’s ALL OVER.
Think about it. I know that everyone has had those thoughts during a long run, during a personal training session or even back in high school or college as an athlete.
When your brain quits, you quit.
Controlling your thoughts will build you a body, I firmly believe this.
Crazy.
***Go do something great today that your body will thank you for in the future.***
*** Keep reading if you don’t understand what I am asking.
Olympics Miracles!
With the Summer Olympics quickly approaching, I think that this topic is incredibly interesting.
Anyone who has ever watched a sport on TV has no doubt heard the announcer cry out, “Look at that finish! It was all heart on the last 50 meters! A new world record!”
Even if that isn’t word for word, it is pretty damn close. I am a sucker for these kinds of stories. I love seeing, reading, listening to stories about humans pushing themselves to new heights.
What about the average joe?
Yes, you probably understand that you are never going to be an Olympian. That’s ok. Neither will I.
Looking at what causes humans, Olympians or otherwise, to be able to accomplish or fail at physical tasks as they relate to our daily performance during body transformation, I often ask myself, “Is it physiology or all brain?”
Enter: The Central Governor
It wasn’t too long ago that I read an article about Dr. Tim Noakes and his ideas that human performance is controlled by something called the Central Governor. Essentially, he is saying that human performance may be controlled less by physiological limits and more by the brain. The brain will shut down physical output if it detects that the body is nearing a fatigued state that will damage the heart or homeostasis. If physical exertion exceeds what the brain deems as acceptable, it will turn down the dial on the whole program (fatigue).
Here is a more official description of the Central Govnernor Theory (as described by Wikipedia):
The central governor is a proposed process in the brain that regulates exercise in regard to a neurally calculated safe exertion by the body. In particular, physical activity is controlled so that its intensity cannot threaten the body’s homeostasis by causing anoxia damage to the heart. The central governor limits exercise by reducing the neural recruitment of muscle fibres. This reduced recruitment is experienced as fatigue. The existence of a central governor was suggested to explain fatigue after prolonged strenuous exercise in marathons and other endurance sports, but its ideas could also apply to other causes of exertion fatigue.
Begin rant…
—> You might be saying, “Come on Kyle, don’t cite Wikipedia!”
Let me remind you that I am writing posts with the goal of providing practical and simple information. If you read the studies behind the Central Governor Theory, most of you would experience early symptoms of head explosion. The research can get heavy, and I am not here to impress anyone with scientific jargon.
We can either take a complicated theory and apply it to give real-world results, or we cannot. Results-based information is what I am interest in sharing and results are probably what you are interested in experiencing.
End rant. 🙂
Criticisms to the Central Governor Theory:
Now, the Central Governor Theory is not flawless. Dr. Noakes has pissed off a lot of researchers around the world with his theories.
Here are is one of the major criticisms (also sniped from Wikipedia):
The existence of a central governor over physiology has been questioned since ‘physiological catastrophes’ can and do occur in athletes (important examples in marathons have been Dorando Pietri, Jim Peters and Gabriela Andersen-Schiess). This suggests that humans can over-ride ‘the central governor’.[16] Moreover, a variety of peripheral factors in addition to those such as lactic acid build up can impair muscle power and might act to protect against “catastrophe”.[17] Another objection is that models incorporating conscious control also provide an alternative explanation,[18] but also see Noakes’ reply.[19]
Exercise fatigue has also been attributed to the direct effects of exercise upon the brain such as increased cerebral levels of serotonin, reduced level ofglutamate secondary to uptake of ammonia in the brain, brain hyperthermia, and glycogen depletion in brain cells.[20][21]
The idea of exercise causing hypoxia at the heart, in the absence of arterial disease, moreover can be questioned due to the heart with every beat is delivering through coronary arteries that arise from first branches from the aorta freshly oxygenated blood to its own cells. Other factors exist that could in a self-limiting way limit oxygen uptake. For example, as more accessory muscles of respiration are recruited, (as occurs at near maximal values of VO2), the energy cost of increasing rib cage expansion is nearly equal to that gained by the oxygen obtained from doing so. Indeed, the Fick equation (see VO2 max) itself includes terms of limitation: Q (cardiac output) is determined by stroke volume and heart rate. Stroke volume has a natural, physically limited upper bound (the heart obviously has a maximal volume, and is restricted by surrounding structures such as the pericardium), while heart rate is limited by the ability rate at which cardiac cells can maintain rhythmicity. There are also natural limits to the rate at which oxygen can diffuse from the blood to the tissues, i.e. gas exchange is itself a limiting factor.
These criticisms suggest the potential exists for known physiological processes to adequately carry out what Noakes and others attribute to a complex, pre-calculated central mechanism of homeostasis. (Though they may be relevant for accounting for some types of observations such as the effects of altitude on cardiac and other muscular capabilities.)
Another criticism is that Hill’s original suggestion of a central governor uses a study in which a VO2 max test was conducted in which some of the subjects did not achieve a plateau in oxygen uptake. This failure led to his suggestion that VO2 max itself is a failure to account for their fatigue requiring the existence of another mechanism that could limit aerobic performance. However, this plateau requires that subjects are highly motivated, as the protocol of the test requires work at near maximal levels for protracted periods, and this might not have been the case.
I apologize for the long description, but there are some good points and I want anyone reading to be able to develop an opinion on it.
Honestly, I am a physiology kind of guy as it relates to this matter. I believe that exertion is mostly limited by our body’s natural processes as we experience fatigue.
To really confuse your decision-making on the matter even more, how do YOU explain this?…
Commonly know as “Bonking”
However, I have to say that I am extremely fascinated by what could come of Dr. Noake’s research. The brain is an incredible switchboard that controls so many daily processes, and the thought that it can be one of the limiting factors of performance is not out of the question by any means.
We just haven’t figured out where all of the pieces fit. It is going to be interesting to watch the research in the coming months/years as continue on our quest to figure out what makes us tick as humans.
Shoe get-ups are the most effective and safe way to teach traditional turkish get-ups.
Bret Jones has brought the phrase “Kathos Sthenos” to the fitness industry, which essentially translates to “Beautiful Strength”.
You don’t have to get all emotional to enjoy turkish get-ups, but it is a movement that requires grace and tension. A flawless turkish get-up with a huge amount of weight in hand is something that the average person will find interesting. Well, here is an example:
I still think that it is the most effective was to move a heavy object from the ground to a position over the head, in full shoulder extension.
The turkish get-up, although valuable, is a one of the most complicated movements in the training world today. Many trainers shy away from it because of the number of steps there are within a successful turkish get-up.
To teach it, you have to break it up into pieces, and you most certainly have to start without any load.
The Shoe Get-Up is just the ticket…
What you’ll need: One flat soled shoe or sandal and at least a 8×8 clear space.
This workout includes two foundational kettlebell exercises (Turkish Get-Ups and Kettlebell Swings) and is perfect for a home gym workout.
Who doesn’t love a home gym workout these days? Time-efficient and minimalistic workouts are PERFECT proving the superiority of the home gym workout experience.
Clearly, I’m an outspoken advocate for creating a home gym space.
In the kettlebell training world, turkish get-ups and swings are two of the best exercises a person could learn, practice, and improve on.
I stand firm on this statement. Call it “my truth” or whatever. I’ve spent years working these two movements and the benefits of my efforts include sustained power, strength, and a consistently lean and muscular physique.
Aesthetics might seem superficial, but no one trains hard to stay fat.
There are HUNDREDS of other great exercises, I support them all, but going full-on minimalistic mode, I know that attacking turkish get-ups and swings would make a lot of people happy with the time investment.
It’s a powerful combo.
Kettlebell swings are a ballistic hip hinging exercise that’ll improve power, train fast-twitch muscle fibers and if organized accordingly, build conditioning in a really unique way.
Turkish Get-Ups are a pure loaded movement-rich exercise. Few other exercises are as humbling, addicting, total body, and rewarding as practicing turkish get-ups on a regular basis.
You feel less like a Lego exercising while doing turkish get-ups, and more human.
Equipment needed: Timer and kettlebell
15 minutes Alternating Turkish Get-Ups
+
2-Hand Kettlebell Swings (24 rounds of 15sec on/15 sec off)
The TGU’s
15 minutes of continuous turkish get-ups is a lot of work, so if the duration needs to be decreased a bit, please do it.
Start with 5 minutes, see how you feel.
If 5 minutes is a breeze, add 2 more minutes and see how that feels.
There are very few secrets to fitness. Actually, there are none. Only what you know, and what do you don’t know… and how consistently and effectively you are at practicing what you know.
The key to building fitness safely, is auditing and be honest with your fitness level, and adjusting any pre-formatted workouts (like this one) to match your abilities.
Turkish get-ups, like any other exercise, are not supposed to be sloppy.
A full turkish get-up is a marathon of an exercise, multi-segmented, with many steps/moves/transitions on the way up and down.
The technique, timing, hand and foot placements, breathing and coordination are just a few key things to pay attention to while performing Turkish get-ups.
Poor technique… can result in tweaks, strains and injuries, which is not the point of exercising in the first place.
We exercise to improve our lives, not make it worse.
Regressions may be necessary, and the person who acknowledges they need to scale back a workout is a person I RESPECT!
The Swings
24 rounds of 15 seconds on (swinging) and 15 seconds off (rest) equates to 12 total minutes.
6 out of 12 minutes are spent performing kettlebell swings.
Pausing to think about how potent kettlebell swings are for fat loss (among other benefits), it’s pretty amazing a measly six minutes can have such a dramatic impact on body composition over time.
When I first started shaping this workout years ago, I used a 24kg kettlebell.
Today, I like to use a 32kg or my 40kg for the swings.
Exercise Variations for the Workout
Establish familiarity with both turkish get-ups and kettlebell swings BEFORE diving into a workout like this one.
Here are the recommended variations of each exercise:
In my 4 year training hiatus away from traditional gyms, I have learned a lot about strength and conditioning.
I’ve learned that fancy equipment is NOT a necessity, and that a small investment in large ROI (return on investment) tools like the kettlebell are well worth the money spent.
I was introduced to kettlebells through the internet. Honestly, the first time that I ever witnessed a person swinging a kettlebell was on YouTube while in Detroit, MI. I have to admit that I was stubborn in my training philosophy then, so I hated them.
“Another exercise fad! That’s insane and dangerous!”
I believe that to be my initial reaction that after watching the video clip.
Kettlebells weren’t a thought in my mind until a year after watching that clip. What a mistake.
Perform Better and Gray Cook…
While attending a Perform Better conference in Chicago, I decided to listen in on Gray Cook’s seminar as he raved about the kettlebell’s versatility when it came to rehab, strength and power development. Gray isn’t known for being a fat loss guru, but he made a point to touch on the effectiveness of kettlebell training for burning fat.
One point that Gray made was an experience that he had working with the Indianapolis Colts, having 260-320lb NFL athletes try and walk 50 yards with a 53lb (24kg) kettlebell held in full extension over their head.
Not one guy could do it.
Pound for pound, we are talking about some of the strongest athletes in the world. Many of these guys can probably press 100+ pounds vertically, yet not one could overhead carry load half of that (53lb) for 50 yards?!?!
No shoulder stability. Many of these guys were ticking time bombs for injury. Very interesting.
After Gray’s seminar, I ventured over to the product display table where they had a 20kg kettlebell out for trainers to play around with. As soon as I picked it up, I felt like I hadn’t trained in years. The feel of it was so unique.
One short, awkward, off-balance kettlebell workout later that night in the hotel room and I knew that there was something incredibly valuable about the kettlebell. The rest is history.
Here are some reasons to love KB’s…
Kettlebell Design…
The weight of a kettlebell is off-center that of the handle, unlike a dumbbell where the weight is evenly distributed on either side of your hand grip. First impressions after picking up the 20kg bell at the convention told me that I needed to give it a shot. I purchased a 20kg kettlebell and my introduction to alternative training methods began.
Most of the kettlebells that I recommend purchasing as made of a cast iron mold. Lifeline and Dragon Door are the two major players, with companies like Perform Better and Art of Strength having a market presence also.
You are going to find two different styles of kettlebell on the market today.
1) The first is the competition kettlebell and looks like this:
2) The second (and more common) kettlebell that you will often see is what is known as the “hardstyle” kettlebell. This kettlebell design was used by the Russian’s to condition their military for years. Pavel Psatsouline pioneered the kettlebell craze in the Western world in the early 2000’s, and his methods have since grown like wild-fire in popularity.
Here is what the “hardstyle” kettlebell looks like:
Flow…
The flow of kettelbell training is what makes it so addicting. Virtually every movement in a kettlebell workout is completed in standing position, so transitioning from a 2-handed swing to a 1-handed swing to a 1-arm clean into a vertical press… is actually quite simple. It’s all about grace and flow while maintaining enough muscular tension to move the bell through space.
Ground based training with constant transitions from movement to movement is total body in nature, and extremely fatiguing. The indirect core training that occurs as a result of a vertically standing posture is one of the many perks of ground based training. Muscles are called upon to contribute as they would in a real world situation.
This is functional training. No gimmicks, just amazing real world carryover from the workout to life.
Relaxed-Tension…
Kettlebell training is a skill and an art. Creating tension where it is needed yet remaining relaxed is something the is so non-traditional compared to traditional strength training methods. Sure, you can perform the grunt lifts, but the balance of “relaxed-tension” is something to be marveled at with a kettlebell workout. Martial artists have known the value of relaxed-tension for hundreds of years.
Relaxed-tension demonstrated in the Bottom’s Up Turkish Get Up
Basic movements, huge training effect…
Simplicity will trump everything with kettlebell training. A steady diet of kettlebell swings, cleans, snatches, vertical presses, bent rows, reverse lunges, turkish get ups and carrying variations will keep you progressing for months both aesthetically and athletically.
Forget about fancy moves from the get go. Train the foundational movement patterns listed above and you’ll develop strength while consistently decreasing your waist circumference.
A lot of people struggle with sticking to a training regimen because they get paralysis by analysis. Men’s Health and their trivial information sends people in 10 different directions, which often times causes the tiring spinning effect in a training
Stick to the basics.
Stay tuned as I load this blog up with more videos and demonstrations.
Bodyweight training is effective as hell for fat loss.
Honestly, don’t underestimate it.
You can accomplish so much work in a very short amount of time using a simple bodyweight training only template.
The same rules apply for a bodyweight based training session:
NO crunches (micro-trauma to your spine!)
Multi-Joint Movements (Squats, hip hinge, upper press, upper pull, etc)
Limited or no rest periods (we want a training effect)
Keep the main thing, the main thing with bodyweight training.
Also, get away from fancy/complicated exercises. I promise you that you won’t get any greater training effect out of fancy circus-like movements as opposed to basics.
Keep it simple and get it done. I will show my cards early here in this post.
Here is a perfect workout for you in a pinch…
10 bodyweight squats
+
10 push ups
+
20 Jumping Jacks
+
10 Reverse Lunges
Rinse and repeat.
Complete as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes, 15 minutes or a 20 minute time limit.
Transition from movement to movement WITHOUT REST for the duration of the time limit that you choose (10min, 15min, 20min)
This is an timed based AMAP (as many as possible) workout
Start slow, this may crush you harder than you think.
I spent a number of months using strictly bodyweight training for fat loss when I lived in my apartment.
I got an incredible training effect from the workouts that I designed. Some were more “flowing” than others.
These days, I use the exact workout listed above for 2-3 rounds before my kettlebell/suspension trainer fusion workouts. I can activate a large amount of musculature rather quickly and safely, increase core temperature and blood flow to joints, grease the groove on fundamental movement patterns all while preparing myself mentally for the work about to be done.
The downside is that bodyweight training has it’s limits with regard to progression. Like anything you cannot perform the same workout over and over and expect to see results. Adaptation will occur and something about the workout/program will have to be tweaked.
Did you notice anything else about the workout above?
No pulling movements. If you don’t have a bar of some kind or some straps, awesomely big bang movements such as chin ups/pull ups and inverted rows are a no go. Some people say, “Use chairs for inverted rows”. That advice is a stretch and quite frankly chairs for inverted rows were unstable as hell when I last tried it.
What I have found is that for the biggest return on your time investment, any tweaking that is done is most commonly got to be an increase in loading.
What do I mean by loading?
Meaning you have to add weight of som kind, either in the form of a weight vest or external loading with any number of training tools (dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, etc) to continue to see accelerated fat loss, strength gains, etc.
The body adapts quickly to physical exertion. Be aware of this if you are frustrated with your current regimen…
Have you changed anything lately? Chances are you probably have not.
Bodyweight training isn’t the end all be all, but it is a refreshing change from the gym, it’s free, can be performed anywhere and can be progressed or dialed back very easily based on your training level.
Kettlebell complex workouts accomplish a lot (strength, muscle endurance, work capacity, afterburn training effect, etc) considering the time investment (15 minutes or less).
I’ve got an extensive background using complexes on training days where time is tight and when I want to lean out quickly.
Complex training is not a miracle, but for me and many others, they do pack a MASSIVE punch.
Essentially for 90 days, I used the same catalog of exercise, weight, reps, sets and rest periods to observe the adapations and see what would happe.
Calorie intake (and the quality of those calories, protein intake, etc) remained as consistent as possible.
To be fair, there was probably some slight variance with calorie intake over the 90 days, but it was controlled and kept as consisent day-to-day as possible.
Complex workouts, particularly using kettlebells, are my go-to modality for quick and powerful combination of resistance training and conditioning. Some refer to this as metabolic conditioning, fine.
No matter what you choose to call it, complexes deliver an awesome training effect in a really short amount of time.
Here’s the 20,000 foot view of my personal experiment using a kettlebell complex:
Duration: 90 days
Complex workouts per week: 3 (sprinkling in airbike session on the weekends)
Rounds per workout: 5
Reps per movement: 6 (except for kettlebell swings and pushups… 15 reps for those)
Equipment: 53lb (24kg) kettlebells x2
Rest: No rest between movements, 60 seconds of rest after each round
After the last rep of push-ups, rest for 60 seconds before starting the next round.
Again, one full pass through each of these exercises from beginning to end = 1 round.
Complete 5 total rounds.
Make sense?
The combination of 7 different exercises to stress the entire body, movement tempo, no rest between exercises and incomplete rest after each round makes complex training extremely challenging.
In 15 minutes or less, you trained the entire body, addressing strength and conditioning in one workout.
Complexes are generally made up of 4-8 exercises, mixing ballistic, upper and lower body resistance training, bodyweight and even ground based conditioning exercises like crawling, etc.
Results
Lean and efficient.
If I wasn’t such a dipshit, I would’ve documented exactly what happened with, before and after pictures, saving the chit chat. 🙄 Now you all think I’m liar.
My bodyfat percentage dropped below previous lows (my college hockey playing days). I can’t say this didn’t come at the expense of losing some muscle and raw strength, but I leaned out pretty aggressively.
Nutrition. The 90 day experiment was a reminder of the power nutritional consistency (calorie management, protein intake, hydration, etc) and how much impact it has on fat loss.
But I also have to tip my cap to impact of exercise. Exercise matters. It adds muscle, strength, burns calories and has a plethora of health benefits. I hate it when people ONLY preach nutrition or exercise for aesthetic gains.
Execute both and maximize your results.
Complex workouts can add lean muscle (resistance training) while accelerating fat loss.
Work capacity improved dramatically. How do I know? After roughly 6 weeks, I could’ve dropped the rest periods to 45 seconds and added another round. Specific adaptations to imposed demands. My body acclimated to the stress and I became efficient at crushing the workouts.
In the last few weeks of the experiment, I added a 6th round, then a 7th and closed it out with 8 rounds.
The negatives of adding more rounds was the increase in time it took to complete the workout, and a general feeling of diminishing return.
More volume isn’t always the answer, and in this case, I felt it was probably overboard.
Progressive loading. The purists will tar and feather me for not increasing the loading, but AGAIN, I deliberately avoided progressive loading. I wanted to see what zero change looked like after 90 days.
Strength gains plateaued quickly, but this was also expected bI never increased the weight of the kettlebells. Again, SAID Principle at work.
Without progressive increases in weight using the exact same exercises, strength stalls.
The goal was engage in a little experiment. 3 months of the exact same complex workout. No change, no deviation, just consistency.
Cautions
Know the exercises beforehand.
Don’t “learn” how to control the kettlebells while under fatigue.
Practice and develop familiarity with each of the exercises in ISOLATION FIRST.
Complex workouts are great for helping the fat loss process along. But this type of exercise is much different than aerobic steady state cardio. The fatigue hits hard.
This type of training is also very different than a traditional approach to lifting weights, where you’re performing reps and then taking full rest before the next work set.
Complexes are purposefully designed with incomplete rest periods. In the later rounds, you’re going to cringe at picking up the kettlebells to start again.
The key is find the right balance of weight used and rest periods. You want the session to be difficult but not impossible, yet not so easy that you walk away feeling like you could have done another 4 rounds.
5 rounds should be a bear 🐻
Lastly, whenever weights are being used to create a conditioning type training effect (metabolic conditioning) the user runs the risk of mishandling the equipment, losing body position and tension, etc… resulting in tweaks, strains and injury.
USE COMMON SENSE.
If you don’t have access to a pair of same weight kettlebells, this workout could be adjusted to use dumbbells aor a barbell instead.
Note: It’ll be difficult to include swings if you use a subsitute.
Progress slowly and adjust the training variables incrementally… Start with light weight, decrease the reps, add rest periods between each exercise, increase the rest after each round.
Over time, do the exact opposite of the previous suggestions to keep the workouts challenging. Increase weight, increase reps, reduce or remove rest periods between each exercise or shave off time after each round.
Let exercise technique be your guide. If you feel technique deteriorating, rest. Simle as that.
The goal is to control every movement, rep, set and stay the hell away from injury.
Closing
Complex training is perfect for people who are looking to get a TON of work done in a short amount of time.
In this busy world (career, kids, social life, hobbies, daily duties, etc) not every workout can last 90 minutes.
When you’re short on time and have the drive to get a sweat in, complexes are extremely valuable, without giving up much.
Plus, complex workout generally require very little space and equipment, so they are great for at-home workouts.
For people who are regularly lifting weights and doing cardio, I highly recommend adding in a complex day (two) throughout the training week. Mixing it up here and there can provide a refreshing break from your normal exercise regimen.
60 minute workouts for fat loss are old news (so it seems).
Heck, in some circles, 45 minute workouts for fat loss are considered yesterday’s methods.
I have thought long and hard about my position on the judging a workout’s effectiveness or quality based on the time it takes to complete it.
While I was in Detroit, Michigan working with high-end athletes, our training sessions would take AT LEAST 90 minutes.
Why 90 minutes?
That is the amount of time it took us to from start to finish, working through this simple template:
1) Foam Roll
2) Static Stretch/Mobility
3) Activation
4) Dynamic Warm-Up
5) Explosive (Plyometrics/Jump Training)
6) Olympic Lifts/Power
7) Strength/Core (Tri-sets)
8) Conditioning/ESD (Energy System Development)
Total Time: 90min
This athletic based template was fast paced and continuous. The breaks between each section were for water or timed rest periods. Building an athlete requires focused development of a number of different qualities, and this template proved to be rock solid when it came to getting things done in a timely fashion, and most of all… getting results.
Now, I know that most of my readers are not current athletes. You may have been an athlete at one time (as I was), but reality is creeping up on you with regard to time available to workout. It’s ok. Life happens and we have to make adjustments to accommodate our daily activities.
Some fitness fanatics think that life should be built around your workouts, however, I tend to believe based my own testimonials and my own personal experiences… that your workouts should be designed to fit your lifestyle.
I know that some people are going to take advantage of my last statement, trying to bend the rules to the point where they begin to develop habits of never working out and letting themselves go, but I would hope that most of you choose to maintain a strict training regimen.
In my effort to adapt my workouts around my career and other business ventures, I began to look hard a Javorek’s complex training for fat loss and all around strength and conditioning.
I liked the idea of performing a large volume of work in a small window of time. Javorek’s complex training is perfect for this as it is ridiculously effective for stripping fat in record setting time (15min or less).
Here are some of the training tools that I have used in the past for a complex:
– Kettlebells
– Barbells
– Dumbbells
– Suspension Trainers and Weight Vests
KB’s, BB’s and DB’s are what I have found to be the most effective. You can adjust the loading easily with these training tools to fit your strength and conditioning and experience level and quite honestly… the movements just feel more natural using KB’s, BB’s, and DB’s. Sometimes you have to go with your gut when you are designing workouts/programs.
Nothing against suspension trainers or weight vests, but trying to adjust the length on a suspension trainer or remove a weight vest while your eyeballs are popping out of your head from oxygen debt isn’t ideal.
For 3 months straight, I tested the idea that I might be able maintain my body composition and performance levels using just one simple complex template. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I could actually improve my body composition and performance, but I didn’t want to set my hopes too high.
3 months is a long time to use the same general training format, workout after workout. I have to admit that I worried about developing faulty movement patterns or flat out overtraining from the repetitive nature of the self-experiment.
The original title of this blog was going to be “Move More, Sit Less”.
For some odd reason, I had a lot of trouble trying to come up with a “clever” name for my little space on the internet, even though I have an OK understanding of how SEO (search engine optimization) works, and the title isn’t going to automatically get my information out to the masses.
So what is the purpose of this blog?
I had to ask myself that before I started up another blog. It is so easy to for me to sit in front of my computer and bang out post after post about movement, food, and everything else that has to do with maintaining or regaining control of your mind and body.
I don’t know why, but I am just fascinated by how simple fat loss really can be, yet how complicated we make it.
One interesting thought came up in conversation one weekend while I was up in “God’s Country” (aka: Hayward, WI). I was sitting on the deck at my girlfriend’s parents house when the conversation swung to health (for some weird reason everyone wants to talk about health when I am around). Tom, my girlfriends Dad, mentioned that he felt that people who write about self-help are just in it to make a buck ($$$).
Isn’t she adorable? I think so.
I felt a little weird once her Dad mentioned this (even though I know he didn’t mean anything harm by saying it) as I am currently working on a book that incorporates time tested solutions for fat loss, along with a manual for hockey players (strength and conditioning). I am not writing the books because I feel that my target audience needs to hear more about health and nutrition, I am writing it because, well, god dammit I want to write it.
For me, it is an accomplishment sort of deal. I feel like I have a lot to say and I need some sort of avenue to get all of my thoughts out. What better vehicle than writing a book? If a business develops because of it… great! I am an entrepreneur at heart.
What qualifies me to write a book?
I will be blunt here.
I am well read and I have a shit ton of experience working with athletes of all levels, Mom’s, Dad’s, high-profile business owners, low profile average Joes and everyone in between. I worked with young kids in Detroit during my tenure at a training facility. That was a true experience in patience and learning to communicate on a whole other level. I have even trained the trainer on a number of occasions.
If you are someone who really cares about credentials, I have those too (CSCS- Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist). This certification is through the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) which is corrupted and supposedly the best in the industry right now, but honestly, I think credentials are bogus. You either have experience and continue to grow your knowledge and passion for your field or you don’t. Don’t let someone fool you with their long list of credentials. It might not mean shit.
More than anything, I am a walking/talking example of everything that I write about. That is why I feel comfortable teeing off on methods that I may disagree with or supporting methods that I agree with. I always used to tell my athletes that I would never ask them to do something in the gym or on the ice that I wouldn’t do or haven’t done as a player myself.
The same goes for fat loss.
Why would I recommend someone do something that I haven’t done or would be willing to do myself?
Yea, I have done the 10 minute ice-cold shower to test its effect on fat loss. Held on for dear life during a legitimate Tabata Protocol. I have worked through grueling escalating density training sessions… and on and on.
I have tested out intermittent fasting and its effect on my own bodily appearance.
There is more and more buzz about the impact of intermittent fasting on fat loss and improving body composition, potentially even extending life (not entirely sure about this claim just yet).
While I don’t doubt that intermittent fasting is probably effective as hell, I found that it simply isn’t for me. I cannot function without food. Mentally, I go to hell. I gave it an honest chance, and am willing to do so again, but my mental performance suffered greatly. I’m not implying that I am a food addict, I am saying that I treat food as fuel for energy, which helps me stay focused mentality and prepared physically.
Put simply, intermittent fasting is just not for me. I eat awesomely nutritious meals and I love it…
Eat. Real. Food.
But that is not to say that it cannot be for you.
This is just an example of many of the interesting topics that you are going to find on this SIMPLE blog.
I am all about simple and effective.
You’ll find that to be true if you continue to stop in and read what I have to say.
If you like what I have to say, by all means continue to come back and visit me.
Add me to your RSS feed so that you can get updates on new blog posts. Sometimes they will be relevant to your personal situation and sometimes they won’t be. Regardless, I will always do my best to pump out good information supported by plenty of pictures, videos and links to other resources that I have found helpful over the years.
M(eaux)tion Fitness 