"who is that skinny guy training those big guys?"

I hear this all the time.
Overheard, of people asking my clients
"why are you training with him?"

This post was sparked by a conversation I had with a new client of mine that we had just finished an assessment about 2 weeks ago. This new client is already more muscular and more shapely than myself, but here he was in front of me, after seeing my work around the gym for the past 2.5 years, he finally is coming to alter himself.
and he's coming to me.

I have trained some very large bodybuilders.

If you read my bio, in another post on here, you'll see more of my story.

I am currently 6'1" with no abs at 183 lbs.

huh?

exactly. so, why do they come to me? whats up top.

I have taken people with weak areas (upper chest, lagging legs etc) and showed them based upon what I have learned, what they should do for THEIR scenario. even today doing my workout, I was getting some very interesting looks regarding what I was doing. I hope nobody tries to do exactly what I was doing, because I was doing more "experimenting" to fix my horrendously underdeveloped chest.

There is something to this. I now look at people differently. know how people look at girls to see how hot they are etc? I look at them and pick them apart in my head. what they're lacking, whats good, what I could do to help their physique. Girls and guys alike. its a curse, but it aids me in my quest to take people exactly where they want to go.

Am I out of shape? I don't believe so. so, its not as if these people are listening to a fat nutritionist or anything, but they are listening to a small bodybuilder/someone who is bodybuilding.

One of my mentors told me a very important piece of information, when I was asking him what books/information he's read that I could benefit further from. he told me that I have the current info, to now hone my craft. do what I want. make these bodybuilders bigger and better.
He told me I am nothing without
1) a great track record of results
2) trust

And i sat back and thought about it. and yes, all of my clients trust me 100%. not just that I won't hurt them, but that I know what I am doing, and that everything i do is in their best interest.

so where am I going with this?

huh?

why are they listening to me? whats up top.

What I have inside this insanely blonde head of mine.

the conversation with the client consisted of me explaining what I thought we should do nutritionally and training wise to get this already in shape bodybuilder to the next level.

This particular client was training 6+ times per week, with cardio, with a moderate to pretty decent nutrition program.

I told him we'll be training 3 X per week, for roughly an hour, and that's it.
I told him the nutritional ideas i was thinking of. as most of you know, they're nothing fancy (other than some few tips and tricks i have learned) but they seem to work.

and guess what?

he bought it.
he was leaning forward most of the conversation, and sat back at the end and said that if it wasn't me, he'd laugh and walk out.

The client called me the bodybuilding equivalent of a golf caddy.
I'm loosely quoting him here, but it was something along the lines of:

"Every pro golfer could beat the piss out of their caddy on the golf course, but they always listen to them to make them the pro golfer that they are. so you are kind of like the golf caddy for bodybuilders"

and that really made sense and hit home. I love it! I think it would be AWESOME to known as the golf caddy for bodybuilding. I want to take guys from where they are to anywhere/everywhere physically possible for them.

so, This is not me bitching. this is me basking in the humility of which i have received.

one of more other clients said that I have a reputation of being a "hard ass" on my clients. I laughed it off, and told some of my other clients that. to my surprise, they all kind of agreed. they assured me its in the best way possible, but also what they're saying is that there is an intimidation factor to training with Mega Marty. That was very eyebrow raising, but I suppose if you were watching me with my clients from the treadmill, It would look like I am beating the tar out of my clients (especially my women) by the pace we train and by the looks on their faces during and after the workouts.

very interesting indeed.

How to long to have a Personal Trainer

This post is simply my opinion. there may be some arguments here, but hey guess what? its my blog not yours! haha!

So, I get asked this quite a bit, and I usually always breath in big, breath out big, and say with a smile "It depends"

on what?

1) level the client is at
2) skill level of the client
3) motivation of the client
4) financial situation of the client
5) schedule of the client
6) goals of the client

There are probably more I'm leaving out, but lets go with that.

So, level?
as in, are they BRAND new in the gym, or is this a bodybuilder looking for a bit of optimization?

obviously the first needs much more "personal training"
I do not offer "introductory 3 sessions" anymore. i have found that the success/come back to the gym on their own rate is very poor. I have looked every way I can to make sure its not me not being able to teach the exercise correct. However, I am looking into other mediums such as a video series and a book, so stay tuned.

Because, if you are a decent trainer at ALL, you are attempting to train the client to be able to train themselves. so, in essence you are training them to be a trainer.

did i learn everything i know in 3 hours? haha! some may think so, but no, no it wasn't 3 hours.

2) skill level. how good are they grasping concepts? breathing? posture? remembering what a "bench press" is? do they need repeated instruction every time? these are all massive factors. I ask myself "would I feel comfortable letting this person go off on their own?"

3) Is this person looking for the magic bullet? or can i convince them that yes, it does boil down to lots I have talked about in this blog, such as genetics, effort, meal planning, direction, commitment, scheduling, everything.

4) I'm just going to be someone who says it. personal training is a luxury service. not everyone can afford it. I know of some people that pay in excess of 1000$ per person (for JUST TRAINING) a month, whom i wouldn't pay that specific trainer more than 50$/month. This is the part that sucks. If anyone has met me, they hopefully know that its not about the money for me. at all. yes, it pays the bills, but I LOVE what I do. this goes back to the how to pick a trainer article that Lyle McDonald went over in one of my earlier posts.

5) this is where we run into fun. what do most people do? work. so, obviously when is popular? 5:30 am - 8:00am ish... then 4:30 pm - on. so, once that is filled, and you have someone that wants a slot for full time training... you have to kind of scratch your head and try to make it work. this is sometimes very hard to get done. the more steady you can have someones fitness schedule, the better. this gets them into a "workout time" per say and makes things much easier, instead of calls saying "when were we working out again?" or things along those lines. especially for people that want to put guarantees onto their services, are you talking pure training? training and nutrition? supplements? cardio? yep...

6) are they coming in for something to do? or does this person want to run a marathon? massively different goals. and this goes back to skill and level of client. an obese client with a goal of a marathon will need much more personal training than the fit, previously marathoned seasoned client.

SO WHATS THE ANSWER MARTY????

I told you already. It depends.

I now do not train clients for anything less than a month. at this moment in time, I feel anything less is going to fail the client, and therefore I am failing. This is assuming they are a first time client, fresh in the gym.

every other type of client, it depends. it really does. maybe ask your trainer some of these questions? how long do i NEED to be with you? or maybe you just flat out want to be with them, which is more than fine.
I have clients that could definitely do it on their own, but they remain with me for the motivation and wanting everything perfect and laid out for them.

Cardio & the Suicide Girls

Yes, this needs to be said YET AGAIN.

I have had many clients ask "why aren't I doing that much cardio?"
or
"why am I walking?"

here is the big secret.

Cardio doesn't mean cardio!

huh?

To me and my clients, they eventually find out there are 2 types of cardio.

1)cardio preformed for fat loss
2) cardio preformed to aid/improve a sport

Most of my clients fall in category 1.

so, what burns FAT? walking. slow walking. body fat can do it, its very easy to do this.

running, however, when the goal is fat loss, CAN be counterintuitive. basically, it can backfire and do one or a combo of the following:
1) make the metabolism shift downward (shutting it off)
2) make the body scared thinking its running away from something (I usually use a dinosaur)
3)tell the body its going to have to do this a lot (running), so it ditches muscle instead of fat
4) make the body dependent on the cardio to keep the heart rate up.

do any of those seem plausible to you? didn't think so.

so as mentioned in one of my previous posts, yes it is better to do cardio FOR FAT LOSS in the morning or after workouts. we're trying to ditch fat.

for other means? sports? thats a good question. depends on the sport, how badly the goal is wanted to be achieved, and how fat the person is along with that sport.

Also, having no calories while doing cardio FOR SPORT would seem silly. how is your body going to push further and get better without a fuel supply? exactly.

so, the suicide girls are the ones doing insane amounts of cardio, weights, EVERYTHING and not seeing any results.

look around your gym, they're everywhere.

Supplements

The original Intent of this blog was for me to review supplements. As you can plainly see that didn't happen. why?
1) there are a ton out there
2) i had a lot of great response following my initial informative posts.

so...

here we are!

so, what when how why supplements???

I'm not a big fan of supplements. working in the industry for a long time, taking quite a few myself, going to university for chemistry for 3 years, reading various reviews/references/studies have all brought me to the following conclusions:

1) Most are horribly overpriced
2) Most are horribly underdosed with the main/proper/effective ingredients
3) Most are overdosed with crap ingredients
4) Most have zero backing of science/studies THAT RELATE TO HUMANS

This is what makes me angry. seriously, what works is usually banned within a bit due to a few people getting way to out of hand.

people say "well, if fat burner X did this, if i take 234289923 X the does, i'll get THAT much more results!"
and now we have a heart attack, or something similar, along with them consuming who knows what else (narcotics, other prescriptions, a horrendous diet, etc)
and BOOM. supplement is illegal/banned.

so, what works Mega Marty?
arg, FINE I'll start doing what I was going to do all along. lets start with a

MULTIVITAMIN!

So yes, a multivitamin. why? think of it as nutritional insurance. to make sure that you have everything JUST IN CASE something could be low. almost like a force field for your immune system too. nothing sucks worse than when you are trying to lose/gain weight if you get sick and the exact opposite happens.
so, as with everything, where is the science? the backing up?
That is NOT what this blog is for. if you would like references and all that fun stuff that no one here really wants anyways, search for it. That's all i have to say on that.

What have i found that works? I really like the following

1) Garden of life Multis. (all of their products period are fantastic)
2) Universal Nutrition's Animal Pak
3) Controlled Lab's Orange Triad
4) True Protein's 3-A-Day.

these ones should do the trick. are there other good ones? sure. but these ones hands down I've seen the research and real world evidence that I personally need to be able to put my stamp of approval on.

Suggested dosing:

1 "serving" in the morning with breakfast, water/salt/electolytes with it.
If/When dieting hard, I'd have another "dose" at last meal of day too.

More quick myths!!!

1) Squats are bad for your knees

NO. IMPROPER squats potentially yes.

2) Ab exercises will get rid of my belly/love handles

NO. Ab exercises should be emplored when the abs and lower back are impeding the effectiveness of other exercises aka squat and deadlift, or if visible definition or growth is desired.

3) Machines vs. Free weight?

Both. I believe in an "ideal" system. In other words, do what is safe, effective and comfortable. Once you have achieved this, then attempt more intricate exercises/machines properly.

4) You need to workout all the time

NO. Most of my clients train with weights for a minimum of 1.5 hours/week, up to a max of 4 hours/week. I feel any more time spent is catabolic and wasting your time/overtraining.

5) Direct rotator work/ shoulder warm ups?

You'll see a lot of people doing interestingly abnormal exercises with plates, dumbells, cables and the like. Most saying its "warming up their shoulders" or "working their rotators" most of these are being done at wrong weights, tempo, technique, or worse, all. There are a couple great things to do for shoulder stretches/warm ups.
If something looks flat out strange, DO NOT ATTEMPT IT. Post it here, and ill tell you what's going on.

6) High reps for cutting up

NO. What built the muscle? Strength training. Do you want to ditch that muscle? Then don't change your workout. Change your NUTRITION. This is especially true for women. You WANT the muscle. Keep stimulating it attempting to force it to hang around and ditch the fat. Providing less stress at the supposed benefit of "sweating more" or "getting more cardio in" is silly. Do the treadmill/stepper for cardio. Keep doing weights for weights.

7) The eliptical is safer on the knees

NO. Almost exactly the opposite. Its puytting you out of your natural stride. Treadmill will always win.

8) Incline burns more calories.

YES. ONLY IF YOU DO NOT HANG ON. I have no idea how many people I see doing this a day. Jacking up the incline on the treadmill to 15 only to see them hanging on, completely negating the incline. Hilarious.

9) Anything more than an hour of cardio at a time is not good.

Yes and no.

For fat loss/ altering physique, yes. Anything more will really start to dip into muscle storage

For athletes/marathoners and the like, no. Keeping their VO2 up and being able to withstand more volumes is their goal. This seguays into...

10) Carbs around cardio?

Yes and no.

Once again, for fat loss, proposterous. Would you eat a big mac on the tread mill?? Then why the heck are you consuming something before/during? Maybe if you...

Athlete/marathoner. Then yes, provide yourself nutrients to preform better. Lyle mcdonald has a fantastic book on this, check it out more if you are interested



Here is a side note, and I can't believe I haven't said this yet in my blog. When a client asks me what they should bring/wear to workout, I ususally say "clothes that aren't too baggy or too tight, water bottle, and flat shoes". "Why flat shoes?" "I'll explain later"

Ask yourself right now, what do I wear to the gym when doing weights?

If you said runners, cross trainers or anything to that variety, I ask you this.

Are you running?

Nope.

So why the HECK are you wearing runners?

95% or more wear them. When do I care about this/when is it an issue? Leg training. YOU ARE NOT MEANT TO BE ON YOUR TOES CONSTANTLY.
Flat feet/flat shoes. Vibram five fingers are EXCELLENT. Pumas make a great one. So do otomix. Or simply slip into your socks when squatting/leg pressing.
That is another place where squats/leg presses ruin your knees came from. Would you apply pressure/attempt to move something with just your fingertips? Nope. So why try to do it with your toes???

Fat Burners

So, where do I start without getting into trouble on this one?
lets start here.

Before I even look into looking into fat burners (yes, that was read correctly)
the following must be in check
1. nutrition. if you jump on a fat burner without being nutritionally sound, you're not only stupid, but wasting your money and potentially heading down a very serious risky path for health.
2. training. what are you doing in the gym? cardio? weights? none? both? how?
3. previous experience. coffee drinker? red bull drinker? not?
4. sleep/adrenal support. have you been drinking stimulants at MASSIVE excess? is it keeping you up?

SO thats All I can think of for now, but I might add to that.

So, lets say you have been following a sound nutrition program for 3ish or more months, been training/preforming cardio for 3ish or more months, sleeping good, and don't smother yourself with red bull.

do I enjoy fat burners?

I sure do.

I WOULD ONLY LOOK INTO FAT BURNERS IF PROGRESS HAS HALTED.
Cardio, once everything has been put to the test, should be set to destroy.

turn up the heat, if you will.

this is when to take fat burners. before cardio, to make the cardio more effective without having to preform insane amounts.

do NOT lose your mind over ephedrine. if you are, I'm not going to say anything, I'll let my idols do the talking. read this post, paying particular attention to Chris Aceto and Lyle McDonald:

http://www.trackyourdiet.com/articles/EPHEDRA-FREE-FAT-BURNERS---EXPERTS-ROUNDTABLE-16.aspx

Okay, are you back? good!

so, are there good fat burners out there other than EC?

kinda. some WILL help, but don't expect a massive boost.

I really enjoy True Protein's BURN fat burner.

I customize fat burning supplements to the client, based upon what I have seen as their tolorance, and if they even need them.

BUT there seems to be 2 competing schools of thought.

1) FAT BURNERS WILL KILL YOU! DO NOT TAKE THEM! HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE! HEART ATTACK! HEALTH RISK!
and
2) I took one fat burner and didn't feel anything, so lets take 2342387342X the dose, and I'll lose FAT 2342387342X quicker, right?

errrrr.

the answer, as always, lies in between. want some guidlines?

-Start out very slow. underneath the recommended dose. lets say half.
-does the fat burner have a good track record? do many people use it and have success? anyone you personally know?
-get the opinion of someone you respect (preferably a very handsome Blonde Personal Trainer/Nutritionist who's name rhymes with Party)
-make sure hydration is in check (electrolytes versus water consumption)

most of the over the counter fat burners are crap. just crap. overpriced green tea that give you a "feel"

here are ones I have find to be decent:

Ripped Freak
EC stack
Burn

that's it. that sucks, doesn't it?

I hope this helped, and people don't come back saying "Mega Marty is ALLllLLLL about the fat burners"

no. I'm not.
properly used, the EC stack DESTROYS fat

Individualization Part 1: Training

So, everyone is looking for the custom program, the right program,
actually, lets call it the "perfect program" (PP) for them.

who wouldn't want the PP just for them, the one that's going to take them to the level that they want to be at?
the one that is going to get them there the quickest?
On top of this, however, is a whole other issue which people seem to always blindly forget, which is safety. I'll write about that at another time.

So, how do you know what the PP is? how do you obtain it? will a trainer tell you it? Will the latest issue of womans/mens health tell you?

Maybe. Possibly. Yes, this is my answer to a LOT of questions, but here is my lengthy response.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN FINDING YOUR PP (wow that just sounds wrong and hilarious)

1) joint/tendon issues/injuries

This is very, VERY important. If you've ever been told or know that you have tight rotators, but believe the behind the neck press is beneficial, weigh out the pros and cons. this is MURDER on someone with bad rotators and terrible form. figure out what you have injured, and REALLY give it an unbiased opinion. saying "its fine" won't cut it. people have amazing compensation powers. this is why people squat with bad form, and don't feel it in their knees until years later. exact same with car crashes. years later, pain. make sure you don't put the cart before the horse. get it figured out, and fixed. if it can be just strengthened, fantastic. if it needs work, then go to a competent massage therapist. I have found through my studies that someone doing Trigger Point Therapy is the answer for almost all of non-tear pains. If you live in Red Deer, Alberta, come see me and I'll tell you whom to go see for this.

2) What sports you played in your life

Yes, this is anecdotal, but it has panned out in every case I've found. If you played volleyball, all that jumping is likely to have done a number on your legs somewhere. If you played baseball, your rotators are probably tight, or are imbalanced, or both.
take a look at this knowledge, and try to remember what muscles either hurt, or felt "the burn" in more, or felt as if they did "all the work" this WILL help.

3) what have you done in the past that you didn't feel (in the specific muscle group you're intending to work) or felt in another muscle group.

This will say a lot as well, some people (like myself) have MANY structural problems, posture wise, minute muscle group wise, that impedes us from reaching to what others comes naturally. This is awful, because you can look over at the guy/girl doing curls, and their bicep is working perfectly without much thought, but when you preform them, you feel it in your shoulders, or worse (like me) your tricep. what the...? exactly.

4) Bone structure/limb length.

Yes, I believe in squats like crazy. they're my number one. I'm probably the last person that should be doing them due to my silly leg to torso length (my legs are much, MUCH longer than my torso). so, this causes a lot of torque on my lower back from me having to stick my butt out much further than someone with shorter legs, and cause excessive roundind of my lower back, and forward bending. take this into consideration, where some exercises/machines just flat out won't work for you.

5)how long have you been training? are you lifting or training?

exactly. some people are on cruise control. they're in there, lifting, no real goal, just happy to be there. that is MORE THAN FINE! but don't expect results passed where you've gotten. if something isn't working, don't keep it (mind you if it doesn't work, think about technique, and how long you've been doing it before completely writing it off). train smarter, not harder. if your arms aren't growing, don't do more. we've been over that. its overtraining.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. so how do you determine all of these things ?

Hire someone competent (MEGA MARTY! SHAMELESS, SHAMELESS PLUG!) to assess you. I do a lot of exercises with my clients that are the same. why? because I know what is the most beneficial to the client. I have put them on my "ideal" machines/exercises and seen if they're ready for them, based upon those guidelines I've just mentioned. many, many people are flat out too weak to squat even themselves. many, many people can't even hold the 5 lb dumbbells due to their stabilization muscles aren't developed AT ALL!
Hopefully you can find someone to help you out with this.

Remember, question everything, but do not overthink it into oblivion either. there is a fine, fine line.

Also, some of the routines in Oxygen, Mens/womens health, or any other magazine might not be all that bad. but if you're preforming them incorrectly, then yes, the could be awful.