When I told people about the crazy ass DIET I was trying out their first response was "I probably can't do that."
Well you know what? They are right.
Your beliefs are the contracts you hold with yourself. When you have a belief that you are too busy to hit the gym you are basically signing a contract with yourself saying that you don't have enough time to bother with the gym.
Whatever beliefs you hold near and dear to yourself are probably true.
If you believe that you are a failure at everything you do, you are right.
If you believe that whatever you put your mind into you can succeed at doing, you are right.
Be careful with the beliefs you place in your head on a daily basis. These are contracts that you are signing that bind you until a better/worse one comes along.
Start believing that you can make a difference in your own life and you'll be amazed at what happens.
DG
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Rant: Just because it looks cool doesn't mean it works
So I saw this personal trainer dude do a pushup with one leg on the stability ball and two hands on an elevated surface. Then he made his overweight client attempt it.
His reasons for doing this were for strength and stability. What he really accomplished was that I thought he was a complete idiot and he should get his certification revoked as well as his gym membership cancelled.
I see a lot of stupid things go on in the gym that make me just cringe.
Look, just because it looks cool doesn't mean that it is effective. I remember the story where famed personal trainer Juan Carlos Santana was doing 180 lbs squats with his feet ON A STABILITY BALL (for the same reasons "strength and stability"). He has done the squast before but this time his footing was not right and he fell the ground breaking a lot of bones.
He did this in front of hundreds of people at a seminar.
When he recuperated he informed everyone to never attempt what he tried and vowed he would never do it again.
When looking for effective exercises look no further than the fundamental ones. Squats, deadlifts, chest press, pull ups. When I prescribe a fat loss program, athletic conditioning program or mass building program these exercises are still the foundations of where I work from.
Next time your personal trainer asks you to do a stupid ass exercise like the one I just mentioned please give him/her a cocked eye and question the shit out of why you are doing such an exercise in the first place.
If you get a bunch of muttering, stuttering and stammering about why they prescribe it, take the back of your hand and subsequently slap it across your trainers face.
You will probably get a more effective workout doing that instead ;)
DG
His reasons for doing this were for strength and stability. What he really accomplished was that I thought he was a complete idiot and he should get his certification revoked as well as his gym membership cancelled.
I see a lot of stupid things go on in the gym that make me just cringe.
Look, just because it looks cool doesn't mean that it is effective. I remember the story where famed personal trainer Juan Carlos Santana was doing 180 lbs squats with his feet ON A STABILITY BALL (for the same reasons "strength and stability"). He has done the squast before but this time his footing was not right and he fell the ground breaking a lot of bones.
He did this in front of hundreds of people at a seminar.
When he recuperated he informed everyone to never attempt what he tried and vowed he would never do it again.
When looking for effective exercises look no further than the fundamental ones. Squats, deadlifts, chest press, pull ups. When I prescribe a fat loss program, athletic conditioning program or mass building program these exercises are still the foundations of where I work from.
Next time your personal trainer asks you to do a stupid ass exercise like the one I just mentioned please give him/her a cocked eye and question the shit out of why you are doing such an exercise in the first place.
If you get a bunch of muttering, stuttering and stammering about why they prescribe it, take the back of your hand and subsequently slap it across your trainers face.
You will probably get a more effective workout doing that instead ;)
DG
Follow your gut
My gut told me to write this blog post.
My gut tells me to do a lot of things. Some things I do are logical and some things I do are totally illogical but if my gut tells me to do it I usually do. Sometimes I ignore it. That gets me in more trouble.
Where am I going with this?
At this moment you probably have a gut level feeling about something in your life. Whether it be your job, your current situation in life or that ridiculous exercise your personal trainer is making you do. Instead of questioning it do something different for a change: Follow it.
Chances are that your gut is right in all cases. It is what you are truly feeling inside without the b.s. of following societies rules or someone else's expectations of what you should be doing. You gut is probably the key to your happiness. You just have to start listening to it.
DG
Ps. My gut told me to do this Diet. It has probably been the dumbest yet life changing decision I have ever made.
My gut tells me to do a lot of things. Some things I do are logical and some things I do are totally illogical but if my gut tells me to do it I usually do. Sometimes I ignore it. That gets me in more trouble.
Where am I going with this?
At this moment you probably have a gut level feeling about something in your life. Whether it be your job, your current situation in life or that ridiculous exercise your personal trainer is making you do. Instead of questioning it do something different for a change: Follow it.
Chances are that your gut is right in all cases. It is what you are truly feeling inside without the b.s. of following societies rules or someone else's expectations of what you should be doing. You gut is probably the key to your happiness. You just have to start listening to it.
DG
Ps. My gut told me to do this Diet. It has probably been the dumbest yet life changing decision I have ever made.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Charles Poliquin: Break plateau's with Double training
Charle's Poliquin:
Break Plateaus with Doublé Training
DG
Break Plateaus with Doublé Training
Doublé is a French term that means to do something twice. I learned it from Pierre Roy, who's probably Canada's best weightlifting coach. Basically it involves doing the same exercise twice in the same workout. Whatever lift you want to improve, you do it twice. So for example if your squat is weak, you squat at the beginning of a workout, then you squat again at the end. It's a great plateau buster that can work for strength specialization or hypertrophy specialization. Let's say you have shitty calves. You can do ten sets of calves at the beginning of the workout, then train chest and back, then do ten sets of calves at the end.
Now THAT'S interesting!DG
Monday, March 3, 2008
Cardio is a joke...
Quote of the week
"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known." - Chuck Palahniuk
Hey,
How are those "Summer Bodies" coming along? The first official day of summer is June 21st. 3 months until you unveil your summer body to the world. Are you working towards it or are you still stuck in the winter slumber?
Are you going to be proud wearing your bathing suit to the beach or are you going to wear a shirt over your belly that currently hangs out? Tough questions indeed.
You still have time to change your body. 3 months is a lot of time to shape up and make this the best sumer ever! So what are you waiting for? No one is going to push your butt into the gym (except me of course) so you have to take the initiative and do it NOW!
Okay enough of my rant...
Here is an article from one of the best fitness trainers in the world Craig Ballantyne.
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training
Strong statement, I know, cardio is a joke, but I really believe that cardio for fat loss is a joke. Although, not a very funny one...
One woman wrote, "I started out doing 5 hours of cardio per week. No results. So I upped it to 7 hours per week. Still nothing. Do you suggest I do more? I'm worried if I use your program, I won't get any results because you don't even have an hour of interval cardio per week. Please help!"
And from a gentleman on the Men's Health forum, "I took up running and didn't take up stretching until it was almost to late and almost destroyed a knee. What happened was that my IT bands got really tight and my inner quads didn't gain any strength so my knee cap got pulled out of place. I had an MRI done on my knee and have found that my knee cap has bruised my femur. "
Cardio horror stories are a dime-a-dozen. So here's the bottom line on cardio...
Long slow aerobic training remains the biggest practical joke in fitness. Marathon running for the average overweight person? Why don't you just tell someone to go play in traffic...oh wait, that's exactly what they are doing - all while crushing their joints with excess weight and repetitive pounding.
If you do long, slow cardio, its only a matter of time before you end up in a physiotherapist's office with all the others that do too much of the same thing...whether its running or spin classes, overuse injuries are far too common in the cardio world.
After all, what's easier to overdo, total body strength training done 3 times per week for 20 minutes, or the same cardio activity done for 6-9 hours per week?
Heck, I once knew a physiotherapist who was so addicted to spin classes that she had overuse injuries that prevented her from walking normally! Physio,
heal thyself!
Cardio is a joke...
But cardio fits our "more is better" mentality, doesn't it? We go right from a 3000 calorie meal at the Outback Steakhouse to our 60 minute cardio confessional sessions on the elliptical. More, more, more, more. And yet get
less results?
There is a better way.
Take a peek at the weight room when you are in a gym. Then compare the bodies there to the bodies on the elliptical. You'll find the sculpted, toned physiques lifting dumbells and doing pushups, and the plump, "never changing physiques" spinning their tires over on the cardio equipment.
No matter what the city, no matter where the gym, its the same old story.
Burn fat, get lean, and boost your metabolism with resistance training. Finish with short interval training or even bodyweight circuits and you are off to the fat burning races.
Or get left behind on the cardio equipment that is getting you nowhere,
CB
PS - Turbulence Training is Guaranteed.
If you aren't thrilled with the decreased workout time and increased fat loss and energy from the Turbulence Training system in 8 weeks, let us know and we'll refund your order. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Turbulence Training has already been trusted by the biggest fitness magazines in the world (Men's Health & Shape), and I guarantee it will work for you too!
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men's Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training.
"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known." - Chuck Palahniuk
Hey,
How are those "Summer Bodies" coming along? The first official day of summer is June 21st. 3 months until you unveil your summer body to the world. Are you working towards it or are you still stuck in the winter slumber?
Are you going to be proud wearing your bathing suit to the beach or are you going to wear a shirt over your belly that currently hangs out? Tough questions indeed.
You still have time to change your body. 3 months is a lot of time to shape up and make this the best sumer ever! So what are you waiting for? No one is going to push your butt into the gym (except me of course) so you have to take the initiative and do it NOW!
Okay enough of my rant...
Here is an article from one of the best fitness trainers in the world Craig Ballantyne.
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training
Strong statement, I know, cardio is a joke, but I really believe that cardio for fat loss is a joke. Although, not a very funny one...
One woman wrote, "I started out doing 5 hours of cardio per week. No results. So I upped it to 7 hours per week. Still nothing. Do you suggest I do more? I'm worried if I use your program, I won't get any results because you don't even have an hour of interval cardio per week. Please help!"
And from a gentleman on the Men's Health forum, "I took up running and didn't take up stretching until it was almost to late and almost destroyed a knee. What happened was that my IT bands got really tight and my inner quads didn't gain any strength so my knee cap got pulled out of place. I had an MRI done on my knee and have found that my knee cap has bruised my femur. "
Cardio horror stories are a dime-a-dozen. So here's the bottom line on cardio...
Long slow aerobic training remains the biggest practical joke in fitness. Marathon running for the average overweight person? Why don't you just tell someone to go play in traffic...oh wait, that's exactly what they are doing - all while crushing their joints with excess weight and repetitive pounding.
If you do long, slow cardio, its only a matter of time before you end up in a physiotherapist's office with all the others that do too much of the same thing...whether its running or spin classes, overuse injuries are far too common in the cardio world.
After all, what's easier to overdo, total body strength training done 3 times per week for 20 minutes, or the same cardio activity done for 6-9 hours per week?
Heck, I once knew a physiotherapist who was so addicted to spin classes that she had overuse injuries that prevented her from walking normally! Physio,
heal thyself!
Cardio is a joke...
But cardio fits our "more is better" mentality, doesn't it? We go right from a 3000 calorie meal at the Outback Steakhouse to our 60 minute cardio confessional sessions on the elliptical. More, more, more, more. And yet get
less results?
There is a better way.
Take a peek at the weight room when you are in a gym. Then compare the bodies there to the bodies on the elliptical. You'll find the sculpted, toned physiques lifting dumbells and doing pushups, and the plump, "never changing physiques" spinning their tires over on the cardio equipment.
No matter what the city, no matter where the gym, its the same old story.
Burn fat, get lean, and boost your metabolism with resistance training. Finish with short interval training or even bodyweight circuits and you are off to the fat burning races.
Or get left behind on the cardio equipment that is getting you nowhere,
CB
PS - Turbulence Training is Guaranteed.
If you aren't thrilled with the decreased workout time and increased fat loss and energy from the Turbulence Training system in 8 weeks, let us know and we'll refund your order. Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Turbulence Training has already been trusted by the biggest fitness magazines in the world (Men's Health & Shape), and I guarantee it will work for you too!
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men's Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training.
Funny thing I observed today
Something doesn't seem right here....I can't seem to put my finger on it....maybe I'll figure it out laterSo I was parking at my gym today (I like to park as far away as possible) and I saw this car getting out of a parking spot.
I really didn't think anything of it until I saw the same car park at a free spot just a couple spots closer to the gym (I'm talking like only 3 spots closer).
Hey you know what? Maybe we should just add escalators and those moving walkways leading up to all of our gyms. That would just make it sooo much easier for everyone to work out.
Right?
DG
Saturday, March 1, 2008
What's your motivation?
What are the reasons you do the things you do? Why do you work out? What is the reason you are doing the job you are doing?
I'm just wondering what drives you to do what you do in life?
Is it comfort? Is it risk? Is it fun?
What is your purpose?
Just wondering.....
DG
Ps. If you don't know the questions to these answers grow some balls and find out.
I'm just wondering what drives you to do what you do in life?
Is it comfort? Is it risk? Is it fun?
What is your purpose?
Just wondering.....
DG
Ps. If you don't know the questions to these answers grow some balls and find out.
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