The Quick Fix

I've been meaning to do this for a while now, I've talked about it briefly before seeing as my views are very clear for the main part. I'm going to go in more depth today.


This was sparked mainly by the new Body by Vi and their product Visalus.

I'm not picking on Body by Vi in particular, but it happens to be the most prominent and dominant of these types of products out there.

First and foremost, Body by Vi is a network marketing scheme. What this basically means it is a product/service sold by people (mainly your friends) in order to get money out of you. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it?
I had some of my clients and some of my clients friends/family ask me about the particular product Visalus. So I googled the info.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 2 rounded scoops (26g)

Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 10Calories 90

% Daily Values*
Total Fat 1g 2%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 15mg 5%
Sodium 75mg 3%
Potassium 125mg
Total Carbohydrate 7g 2%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Sugars 1g
Protein 12g

Vitamin A 30% Vitamin C 30%
Calcium 30% Iron 5%

This is what I found.

Now, to most of you, this might seem "sound" enough.

Let's look at it a bit closer.

Most competing protein brands are around 22-27 grams of protein per 30 grams.
This is 12 grams of protein per 26 grams. What the HECK is that other 14 grams?
Well, 5 are fiber according to the nutritional info. 7 grams of carbs total. 1 gram of fat.
The protein comes from 3 sources. Soy Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Hydrolysate, and whey protein concentrate.
This is not an ideal source of protein (soy) for a lot of reasons. They Hydrolysate is a fantastic expensive source of protein, and concentrate is one of the cheapest you can find.
But, at only 12 grams per 2 scoops, I wouldn't expect miracles as it is.

So there is also "fibersol" in here, which looks to be a form of metamucil. I could be wrong, but that seems to be the brunt of the carbs.

So long story short, we're looking at a tiny bit of protein with a lot of fiber.

Why does this work then? Because everyone is under dosed on mainly those 2 things. Fiber and protein.

Put out a product with both, make up some hilarious "it's better than X" claims, market the hell out of it, get some people to lose weight on it, and POW! success!

I have a beef with products like this because:
1) it is overcharging customers big time
2) it is an inferior product in most cases
3) people attribute the success to the product instead of the nutritional clean up.

This means that if you were eating junk, and you even replace it with something less crappy, you'll get results! It really is that easy !

If these products would help set people on the right path, aka a non-crash diet plan with sustainable results, then there really would be nothing wrong.
People become dependant on these products and don't grasp the basic nutritional background as to why they're working.

My recommendation:

1) up your vegetable intake or buy some metamucil
2) buy a cheaper, higher quality protein supplement aka. Isoflex
3) replace these with one or two of your junk meals you usually have.

Watch what happens. Same or better results with more money in your wallet.



As always, if you have more questions, ask away. I'll be more than happy to answer them !

Meal plans failing/failing to plan meals

So yes.

You've hired a nutritionist.

You're working out for your goal.

Results are stuck per say. Whether it's you gaining weight, losing weight, gaining strength etc.

You now are starting to blame the meal plan.

Really? First off, ask yourself WHY you're questioning your meal plan.
Do you think your nutritionist isn't good?
Do you believe that you have followed it perfectly?
Have you taken a food journal to see if you're REALLY following it?

Or...

Could it POSSIBLY be that you're failing the meal plan?

That's right.

Now, this isn't a quick answer.

I've heard this quote before, so I'll stick it here. It's about meal plans and following them.

"It's simple, but hard."

Think about it. A meal plan consisting of PERFECT foods per say, its VERY simple. Let's give a VERY basic example.

You're to eat chicken and broccoli for 5 meals a day. 6 oz chicken. 2 cups of broccoli.
(I'M NOT SAYING EAT THIS, IM GIVING AN EXAMPLE!)

That is VERY simple.

Now, could your average person do this and sustain this??? Probably not. It's extremely bland, and boring. So there is where it is hard.

So this is unrealistic. So that is another angle to look at. Can you NOT follow it? Is it too hard? How? Interfering with a social life? With work?

These are all things to consider. Your nutritionist should be asking you all these questions too, and hopefully be able to help you sort out your answers. Doing a meal plan alone/your own meal planning is not a great option in my opinion. Having a professional do it will make everything much easier.

ALSO

Let's say you're eating perfectly. The meal plan is actually 100%

Have you done all your training? Have you done the weights? The cardio? 100%?

How long have you done it 100%? 2 days? a week? a month?

I get this complaint all the time.

"I'm following my meal plan and I'm not seeing results."

So therefore I ask you/my clients:

"Are you really?"

I might be onto something here...

The Edge of a Knife/All over the Map/Goals

There have been times that the best of us question why we're doing what we're doing. Doubt.
Yes, even the people that you constantly see motivating others everyday.
They, at times, struggle to be motivated.

I recently got back from the CBBF National Bodybuilding Championships.
It put many things into perspective.

Watching one of my good friends, Rob Friss, go through hell and back. Questioning things, being at an all time low for energy reserves, not only physically but mentally.

Back to the point.

Really ask why you're doing what you're doing.

If you're doing something to cross it off your bucket list, do a LOT of research first.

Do you know that the average first time bodybuilding/figure show requires around 16 weeks of perfect dieting?

Do you know how long a marathon is?

I'm not talking about pick up softball in a bush league here and there, I'm talking about serious feats of "fitness."

I would like it if people boarderline equated it to an Olympic sport. People don't just wake up and say "the heck with it, I'm going to do a skeleton race this year at the Olympics."

No.

Not only that, but let's also say the following.

You're dieting for your first figure/bikini show. You're doing great, you have a trainer who's pumping you up, motivating you, you're following your meal plan, following your workout, following your cardio regimen, everything.

Everyone is telling you how awesome you look. Friends, family, everyone. You're pumped.

Let's also say you do in fact look good. Great even.

You compete.

You place dead last.

Here is that edge of the knife.

Does this crush you?

Or does this motivate the living hell out of you?

Tons of questions will be swirling about your mind. Were my friends/family lying? Did I look like crap? Should I have even competed? Should I dig myself into a tunnel and never come out?

You have to be prepared for this stuff.

Not only that, but if you are "serious" about your endeavor, you should get back up, dust yourself off, and do better.

Imagine if the first time you fell off a bicycle, you said "screw this" and never did it again. Sounds kind of silly, doesn't it?

To motivate yourself is challenging. I have a trainer/nutritionist myself as I have stated many, many times. I love it. They help me out a ton.

But also, reflection should be there. Let's keep with the bicycle analogy. Obviously if you have competed in something like figure/fitness/bikini, you are competent at riding the bicycle, and are trying tricks per say.

If you do it, and ACTUALLY decide you don't like it, that's another gig as well. Let's say its taking away from other activities you love. Being social, doing other physical activities. Trips. Work.

Balance. Yes its been talked about a lot, but not necessarily at this angle.

In order to improve somehow, eventually you're going to have to give up certain things you REALLY enjoy.

Bodybuilding - you're not drinking a few beers on the weekends with buddies.
You're not having a piece of cake at your birthday party. Especially if you're in pre-contest and it's not on your meal plan.

What are you willing to give up?

I've motivated myself a lot. By the changes I see. How I feel. How I train my clients and the success I see them have. I motivate them, which in turn motivates me. Plus, If I get wildly out of shape, who would listen to me in the first place? A fat nutritionist? Nice Mega, Nice.

Don't hesitate to be honest. But if you're willing to put effort, and sacrifice but NOT suffer... Maybe some magic will happen...

The Human GPS

I was talking to one of my clients about this, and we came up with this together.

My position is very similar to a GPS.

When you hire a personal trainer/nutritionist, you're shopping for a GPS.

There are going to be great models out there, economy models, overpriced models, and then ones that are worth what you pay.

Picture yourself in the middle of a desert. And you have a GPS.

The end destination, aka. where you want to be for fitness, is as far away or as close as your goals are.

The GPS is the personal trainer/nutritionist.

The GPS should be telling you the exact course, the exact direction you need to go.

In the beginning the route will be very straight forward. You're in a desert, it will tell you which direction to go, and simply walk in that direction.

Eventually, if your goal is big, you'll have to pay close attention to the GPS and take the correct turns, off ramps, detours etc.

All seems simple, correct?

Here's the kicker:

There are people that won't follow their GPS. They think they know how to get to their destination quicker. They think they know where their destination is. The proper turns. The whole shabang.

Then I ask you:

Why did you buy the GPS?

If you feel the GPS is defective (bad training/nutritionist)

Return it. Get another one.

But, if you get lost, and you didn't use the GPS, don't blame the GPS.

Calories In vs Calories Out

A great debate.

Let's preface by saying this. Are you trying to tell me that if we were to duplicate your genetics, and we were to feed one of you 2000 calories of chicken, and the other 2000 calories of ice cream, they'd end up the same?

It just sounds hilarious to begin with.

Once again, this depends on your goals.

Most people would like to retain muscle mass and lose their bodyfat.

Let's go over some elementary concepts first however.

If you eat 2000 calories, and you're burning 2500 a day by your total daily expenditure, you will lose weight.

If you eat 2000 calories, and burn 1500 calories, you will gain weight.

Remember what we've talked about, how "weight" means water, fat, muscle, glycogen and a host of other lovely variables.

This is where what the calories are coming from matters.

This is why "eating smaller portions" will only work for so long, until you change WHAT those portions are.

Remember the macro nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fats.

Having the macros set up in the correct amounts will be the key to your success more so than how many calories you are eating, depending on exercise, goals, the whole shabang.

And something else quickly I wrote on my face book page:

If you eat an ice cream sandwich, and expect to get on the treadmill and "burn it off" you're out of luck. Your body isn't that smart at tossing out crap, it will toss out a mixture of things, possibly fat, possibly hard earned muscle.

It doesn't work that way, crap in does not mean crap out. It could be crap in = muscle out.

There are tons of formulas out there for how to set up your meal plan, but try to remember:

Clean it up first. If your big fallacy is crap, then cut it out or at the very least minimize it.

If what you're eating is clean and progress has stopped, figure out what macronutrients are in the foods you're eating, and change them around.

Hope that helps!

This is Earned

All of this.

It's all earned.

Even the people who claim to eat crap and look great. Which, yes, there are people out there like that. They're jerks. Only because that's not me.

A side note, right quick, is those people, the ones above, have to watch their health. The way your body looks has nothing to do with how healthy you are on the inside.

Back to topic.

It's earned.

Your physique, your stamina, your health.

All of it.

It's going to be work. Sure it is. Did you REALLY, deep down inside, think you'd only have to eat clean for a bit? Did you REALLY, deep down inside, think you'd only have to do a tiny bit of weights or cardio?

If you did, shame on you.

I like to use the analogy of money. I've stolen this partially from Chris Aceto.

The people who have always had money very rarely care about money (in terms of losing it all or having none). These people are the ones with naturally great physiques.
But, if you had nothing, and you built a fortune, you're going to care a heck of a lot more about your wealth than someone who inherited it.
These are the people that have been through the grind.

These are the people that earned it.

These are the people who saved. Dollar after dollar. Cent after cent. And waited.
Gaining the wealth. Making the proper investments. Not being stupid with their money. Not buying into bogus schemes and money traps.

This is your physique. It's earned. You have to lay down foundation. Then save up. Build more muscle. Lose more fat. Gain more strength. Not taking insane supplements or relying on them.

So, with the proper mantra, the proper guidance, you can earn at least a very plausible physique.

Will you win a show/contest? Maybe not. But can you look back and be MUCH, much better than where you were?

Only if you earn it.

All the cliches come into effect.

"How hard are you willing to push?" is what I ask my clients all the time. Some people reach a limit, where sacrifice becomes suffering. That's fine.

Some people it's early in their progress, some people it's very late, or never.

The bottom line is:

If you can't sacrifice, if you can't eat all your meals, if you can't make it to the gym, if you can't stop drinking booze, if you can't cook your food, if you can't remember to take your vitamins/supplements, then you can't complain.

If you do, you may as well tell it to the wind, because no one will want to hear it, and it will only be whisked away anyways.

Have some damn pride.

Putting it All Together

So, lets assume you've followed quite a bit of my blogs. This is a huge assumption, because I know there is quite a bit of information to absorb in them.

so, as a recap

1) You understand the BASICS of program design (even doing the beginner routine I outlined).
2) You understand the basics of nutrition (how to put together a general guideline based upon your needs)
3) You have a proper cardio regimen to fit your goals.

How the heck do you ALTER this?

This is where, to me, having a Trainer has the greatest potential for help.

If you got from X to Y, and Y is still not good enough for you, or you want more, now you need to get some advice.

I've talked about getting reputable sources to give you opinions. Getting these is challenging and tough.

Because let's say all 3 factors at the top are in line.

BUT results are lacking or not happening?

What If I told you it COULD be something else?

What?

Yes. For instance, myself and Chest development was/is an issue. In other words, it just would NOT develop at all. It looked awful, and it was behind every bodypart, even my lagging biceps.

So, I had to get opinions. And here's the worst part: a lot of them were garbage, and worse, I got a subluxation in my left collarbone thanks to it. Incredible.

So, through some PROPER advice and research, I have figured it out for myself what to do, and have put quite a bit of mass on my chest, not enough by any means, but much, much more than there was.

I have diagnosed a couple clients also with low testosterone. In other words, 3 of my male clients were doing great in terms of
1) following meal plan
2) doing their workouts
3) prescribed meal plan.

Yet seeing CRAP for results. So it was NOT their fault.

I had them go see their doctors, and get their testosterone levels checked.

Sure enough, they were low. Very low.

Where am I going?

Maybe there ARE things outside of your control affecting your progress, such as the ones above, or thyroid, digestion issue, something.

Having that educated 2nd, 3rd, 4th opinion is always great to have there.

But this is also saying don't take everyone's advice, implement it, and not know what was the factor that worked. Change something. Not everything, and see if that works. Then arrive at your conclusion.

To get past X, and into Y and Z, you have to get smarter. For me, smarter is keeping even smarter people around me to help and train. Progress should always occur, but the reasons why can be elusive.

On top of this, don't expect to get a ton of results constantly. You have to put in time/effort and it actually has diminishing returns. In other words, the harder you work and the further you go, the less results you'll eventually see. To keep packing on muscle or whipping off fat at the same pace is a dream.

This is how to put it all together. Get opinions other than your own, and try it out. Don't try out everything at once, but try SOMETHING if NOTHING is happening.

Super Foods

Yes, after a long break here I am. Back to spew out what I do best: The sensible truth.

So today's topic is superfoods.

Yes, I'm looking at you acai berries, wheat grass, greek yogurt and everyone else whom tries to fit into this club.

Stop it.

Again.

Stop it.

What you're doing, superfoods, is ruining people's perception. In other words, you're telling people you're the answer. To most, if not all of their health and weight issues.

Out of all of the "serious" nutritionists I've worked with or read, none of the 3 foods I mentioned were on their "must have" lists. Sure, they could be included in a healthy diet, but what does that even mean?

Does that mean I can add in acai berry and now my McDonalds + Acai berry diet has my health running perfectly?

I can't eat greek yogurt hung over and reap is magical benefits?

Give me a break. This is short, and this is sweet.

Stop it. No singular food, or even two foods is going to make fat loss and health miracles happen.

If they did... why is everyone still so damn fat?

Personal Training Certifications

I just saw something horrible, and it made me upset enough to write this post.

I'm going to go a bit more in depth with personal training certificates.

The only ones "safe" from this post are PFT (personal Fitness Trainer) and some Kinesiology programs.

BUT

Let's start with my own experience.

I first off took the AFLCA (Alberta Fitness & Leadership Certification Association) at Red Deer College.

In order to become a Certified Fitness Trainer or whatever they called it, I don't quite remember, you had to take "fitness theory" and then a specialty, aka resistance training, aquatic training, elderly training etc.

So, in walks someone whom I couldn't help but raise one eyebrow. I'm going to keep this brief, but it could be expanded, and I'll go with this: She didn't look anything liked she belonged, and looked at if she were to pass out any moment from being malnourished.

I will say this, that fitness theory went decent. It was a 2 day course that basically rambled off mostly useless knowledge about levers, the names of the bones, along with some fun-filled word searches and the like to make sure you memorized these things to be able to impress your clients with your knowledge of the 2nd class lever.

The garbage part was the nutrition section. We were given Canada's food guide. The old one, not the new one. And a sheet from 1997 talking about how bad creatine is for you.

I don't need to say anymore than that.

Resistance training was where I got very upset.

I will pre-face with the following:

My working knowledge of the Human body was not as great as it is today, seeing as my course was 3 years ago.
The class I attending was comprised of mainly elderly women for whatever reason.
This was my first encounter with a "pro-trainer", which is the title for someone whom has been given the go ahead to certify/teach new trainers.

Every question I had was either answered incorrectly, or I was told "We'll come back to that."
To me it was simple things such as
"What about MCT's?"
"What is your opinion on the glycemic index?"
and I forget the others at the moment.

The practical part was even worse. We paired up, and had to demonstrate an exercise.
I remember that I picked the Deadlift.

Here's the funny thing: no one was corrected with what they did wrong. Some of the these people had never been inside a gym setting in their life, and were given zero correction.

Other than the following:

The instructor demonstrated her version of the squat.
Now, I do not expect a lot from a Personal Trainer, I have learned this.
But, from someone whom is a "pro-trainer" i expected a LOT.

This was horrible, inaccurate and flat out wrong and unsafe. I won't get into specifics, but let me tell you that squatting this was would eventually lead to injury and out of line posture.

We then were broken into teams of around 5, and each given a scenario to deal with.
We got a super easy one, a 20 year old male looking to build muscle.

I sat back and asked what the team thought. I could see the complete dismay across their faces. In other words, they were taught nothing so far. We hadn't even TOUCHED on program design, yet here we are, supposed to design a program.

I took the sheet, and set up Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength beginner routine for them. It was very humbling to see them whip out their notebooks and start copying down the routine I was writing and also taking down the words I was saying as to why and when to implement the program.

I got up to present our case to the class, and did so very well in my opinion.

Now, let me shoot one further thing your way. I have no problem with people giving me their opinion, or trying to sway my opinion. I love a debate more than anybody and everybody...

BUT

When it turns into a "you're a jerk" and other name calling events, thats when I either leave or become very, very upset and crush the other person with evidence, unless of course they are that stubborn then of course I leave.

So, of course I had someone say that I was wrong. I politely asked why. I was given his suggestion. I explained why the suggestion the other class member had given was wrong, and that was the end of it.

And sadly, I asked for feedback from the instructor, whom said nothing other than "This probably wouldn't work for very long."

Side note, it worked for me for roughly a year. I guess we have different opinions of "not very long."

Ahhh yes. my favorite and the moment I left the class.
We were asked to name compound exercises.
People said bench press, squat.
I said Deadlift.
she said, and I quote "No, that's an isolation of the lower back."

Wow.

Wow.

I got up, got my things, and that was it. I had enough of this buffoonery and was done.

My second example is with a Local Registered Dietitian.

For those of you who don't know what a RD is, they are someone whom I believe goes through 6 years of schooling, and is allowed to give nutritional advice to bring people back to health from sickness. Correct me I definitely could be wrong.

This is not to be confused with nutritionist, whom doesn't have the same schooling as a RD.

I attending a Personal Training seminar about injuries, which I actually really enjoyed and took a lot away from. And at the end we had a guest speaker, a RD.

She prefaced her talk with a brief bio. All fine. Until she said the following:
"...once we get the person's carbohydrate requirement out of the way..."

I shot my hand up, as always, with my dumb grin.

I said "Hi! Have you heard of an essential amino acid?"
Confused, she said "....yes"
"Have you heard of an essential fatty acid?"
"...yes"
"Have you heard of an essential sugar?"
"...no ?"
"Then why did you just tell me I have a carbohydrate/sugar/glucose requirement?"

She stammered for a bit, and I got up and left.

AS ALWAYS MEGA MARTY GET TO THE POINT!!!!

These certifications really don't mean much. Yes this is my own personal experience, but I can't see them getting any better anytime soon.

They're profit driven. The amount of people in my class was probably equivalent to the amount of personal trainers currently in Red Deer. And that was one organization, and one class. So there has to be unprepared people failing in this industry all over the place.

Here's the really scary part:

The misguided trainers believe what they're being shown, and what they're practicing, is correct.
Parallel this to thinking we're doing things to save the planet when in fact we've been killing it (not true, just an example).

And no, I do NOT need to hear people tell me "But Mega Marty, they're just getting people started." or "Not everyone needs to do things perfect etc."

Because its YOUR BODY. These people can/will potentially mess up YOUR BODY due to improper instruction.

Bottom line is that there is yet to be a perfect personal training certification put out there, and none of them are perfect. All have some decent merit, but don't base your judgement of the trainer solely on the certification.

Get A Trainer

Here comes a shameless, shameless plug. Mega Marty. There, now for the post!

As I have written, I don't care much for personal trainers. If you believe you have found a good one, keep him/her.

In my brief bio, I was in grade 11 when I first personally started lifting weights. Now, I have a pretty good memory so I remember a lot of my workouts, ranging from 16 years old to now at 25.

Here is the point.

I would have saved money, and gotten quicker, better, more sustainable results with a seasoned personal trainer/nutritionist.

I spent so much money on crap supplements, as always, attempting to make me bigger and leaner all at once. What got leaner was my wallet, and what got bigger was my hate for supplement claims.

The amount of time I took researching, and researching, and researching the perfect program was insane. I was trying to formulate some new, perfect workout program/scheme for me, because obviously me, being 16, knew more than all of the current professionals I listen to. Because of course, I knew more than them.

Here is the blog, finally after that introduction.

Hire a trainer.

Suck all the information out of him/her that is going towards your goal.
I tell my clients all the time "If I can't answer your question, and I don't find out very quickly the answer, I'd fire me in an instant."
That saying holds true to this day.

Program design is a big part.
Nutrition is a big part.
Timing/rest/recovery is a big part.

But as I went over in my last blog on consistency, who is monitoring it?

I tell all of my clients in the initial assessment that I am very strongly against training a beginner, or almost anyone for that matter, for less than a month.

Why? I can't do the work for you. Between the two of us, we need to come up with a way to teach you so that you'll learn, be able to preform the exercises on your own, with proper technique. This is not simple for most people. This requires work on both of our parts.

Also, nutritionally, this is very hard to do. In my very strong belief, training/programming is peanuts in comparison to nutrition. Nutrition requires much more work for the coach than training ever will, and I mean this in the sense of taking what someone is doing, have it work for them, adjust it accordingly, with health, performance, and body composition in mind.

I would have saved myself roughly 5 years of "fooling around" in the gym and be much, much closer to my goals if I had have hired a trainer.

I've mentioned this many, many times and I will do so again: I have a trainer, and for the rest of my interest in bodybuilding/nutrition/fitness, I will have one. To me, the money is VERY well spent, and the education from people in my field I highly respect is priceless.

If you want a full time trainer, and have the means to have one on one personal training, definitely do so.
you accomplish the following, assuming the trainer is Mega Marty approved:
-move more weight safely than you would by yourself
-be astonishingly more accountable
-have near perfect workouts
-zero guesswork on your part
-constant monitoring of progress
-goals be reached much quicker
-obtain ACTUAL supplement advice that WORKS

This is, of course, the dream.

But regardless of your endeavor for fitness, take it from me, do NOT attempt to read every magazine, every website, watch every TV program etc and expect to be able to do this on your own.

If you can read a book, and come in and teach yourself how to squat perfectly without assistance of anyone else, call me. I want you to train me.

Consistency versus Insanity

Here we go, this has to be said. This is going to be in true Mega Marty style. No holds barred.

So.

The definition that I like to use of insanity is the same that Einstein used.
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

This is what I'll be referring to for the rest of this post.

Now, we are told that consistency will make results happen, and will prevail in the end.

But, how long before consistency becomes insanity? How long before you should change it up? Before you should revamp what you're doing?

As most of you know, Mega Marty likes trick questions. Which this one half is.

YOU shouldn't be revamping anything yourself. Even I do not revamp things without the consults of liked minded people in my field, or if it isn't pertaining to fitness, I seek the wisdom of others to view my situation.

For the purposes of this blog obviously we're going with fitness/nutrition.

How long have you been doing this?
Are you revamping/reviewing too soon?
How do you know when to revamp?
Is what you're doing even goal oriented?

Most of you should have read my "Personal Trainers Suck" post. I still firmly stand behind that post.

My answer:

In the middle, as always.

Here are even better questions:

Have you given the new workout/nutrition plan/cardio plan/supplement plan an HONEST "go"?
Are you expecting magic in a week?
Did you revamp, or did Mega Marty or someone like minded revamp?
Have you had a forced switch ?


--And lets tackle that last one right now.
I honestly believe, especially when it comes to the way people look, I CAN HELP everyone IF...IF IF IF IF!!! they're willing to do what I prescribe. Sometimes it's too much, and I understand. Life gets in the way. Work. Stress. Kids. etc. I understand.

A forced switch is something along the lines of :
Work switch. new stress = new routine, new everything.
Financial switch- now you can't go back to your trainer (we're not generally cheap) and thus forced to switch on your own.
Goal switch- someone's asked you to do a marathon and you say "Hey I wanna do that!" and therefore things should be different (assuming physique was a goal).

Here is a tricky one that I've heard complaints with before:

Trainer/nutritionist switch - 2 types for this:
a) You're fed up with lack of results with your professional and therefore forced yourself out into someone new, or out period.
b) Your trainer isn't available at the time you need him/her, and now you're with someone new, either permanently or for "a bit"

Option B causes MASSIVE problems. Yes, there are many ways to get you to your goal. Most people will tell you that Mega Marty has vastly different views from your bosu ball wielding fitness professionals you see out there. Even they will vary slightly.
For instance, when I meet a new client whom of which has been with another trainer/nutritionist, I ask them for what they are/were doing.

Here's the funniest thing: some people believe I'm trying to "steal" other's methods such as Herbal Magic, Weight Watchers, etc.

Sorry to break your hearts, but those whom I learn from are not local, nor a multinational corporation only interested in your money.

I need it to see what you were doing, and see when/where/why/how it stopped working. If i don't know where you were, I can only guess. The less guesswork, the better.

So, I have to interpret what someone else was doing, try to understand their methodology, and go from there. This is what the trainer switch is attempting.

Personally, I hate the forced trainer switch (not of your accord, option B) because I feel its very undermining, confusing, and flat out detrimental to someone's progress. There are circumstances ie personality conflicts which require a new person to work with, but outside of select circumstances, this shouldn't be occurring.

SO

Let's recap:

1) consistency is needed, but should be monitored by someone(s) qualified to do so.
2) forced switches will occur, and should be minimized if at all possible if your fitness goal is a high priority.

To answer some of the questions I've asked up top as best as I can, when does consistency fail?

If NOTHING has happened in 2ish weeks, something should be revamped.

I personally like revamping diet first. so that is where I naturally look as a professional.

What could/should have happened?
As I've mentioned before, strength going up, fat going down, total weight loss/gain, etc etc.

2 ish weeks should yield SOME KIND of results.

This is where a pro comes in handy. I have had numerous numerous numerous occasions where people say "I'm not seeing any results" in 2 weeks or so, and I smile and ask "Are you going by just your weight?" and they usually say "well, yeah."
No matter how many people I educate, tons more are being baffled into thinking the scale is the end all be all.

ANYWAYS :)

Want to know my big big big secret?

Strength.

If someone's meal plan is the same
cardio is the same
routine is the same
strength is going up.

Change WILL OCCUR. This is where consistency IS A MUST AND WILL PREVAIL!!!

This has happened NUMEROUS TIMES!!!

I'll do a caliper reading... and BAM... bodyfat lost, scale weight the same.

Sorry folks, calipers don't lie because I'm the one doing them.

Or measurements. I've had numerous males that wear baggy clothes that can't "see/feel a difference" but when measurements/bodyfat measurement comes, down. arms go up.

"oh... huh that's pretty good eh?"

yes... yes it is.

Insanity?

When everything has stalled.

Yet you're changing nothing.

Expecting some miracle to come and ZAP you have results!

Errrrr no.

Strength same
cardio same
diet same
routine/work same.

No results.

No kidding really? I would've thought otherwise. (sarrrrcasssmmmmmm)

This was long, and confusing I know, but it has to be said.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, and a pro says "yeah, that looks broke to me too" then fix it.

Nuff said.

Dr. oz, The Doctors, and other Exercise/nutrition related TV shows

ahhhhhhhhhh yes.

it is growing sadly, especially amongst my new clients.

the ludicrous questions, or even statements, that comes from one of the following 3 primary sources:
1) TV show called "The Doctors"
2) TV show called "Dr. Oz"
3) TV show called "The biggest loser"

These shows are making my job....er.....well:
interesting
infuriating
hilarious
painful
saddening
more work

but most importantly, much more needed.

I'm going to be frank and short here in this post. I honestly can't believe some of the flat out CRAP that these shows lay onto the general public. want to know the funniest thing to me?

I haven't seen an episode of any of these shows.

but the advice these people are giving are insane. to dumb it down:

1) these shows are focusing on superfoods. Remember Opera recommending the Acai Berry? even today people are thinking that if they consume a serving or some amount of this Acai Berry, they're magically losing fat, bettering their health, getting antioxidants (which people have no idea what they are/do), etc.
2) Scaring them from things that they shouldn't be. they are sadly ruling out fantastic things such as certain exercises, types of exercise, certain foods/groups, or even mis categorizing some supplements.
3) creating their own fads (not unlike the Acai berry). I wonder if these are profit driven or not?

and more specifically at the biggest loser,
4)recommending/showing people ridiculously intricate/unsafe exercises that the general public either want to try or believe they can accomplish, let alone the unrealistic expectations for weight/fat losses

some of the questions are crazy, as in
"I've heard that if i walk 5 times per week, because of my age, I'll lose fat and gain muscle?"
"They said not to take multi vitamins as they are toxic for me"
"The people on biggest loser are running, shouldn't I be running then?"
"For women I've heard to ditch my carbs, is this right?"

I'm not getting into it anymore than this, but I will say the following definitive statements:

-some of the things they say MIGHT have merit, but the general public WILL misconstrue what they are saying to over exaggerated levels.
-all of their stuff has to be taken with a BIG grain of salt.
-I wouldn't trust any "doctor/physician" with nutrition at all. Most of them know briefly what will take you from sick to "fine/normal" nothing about performance or to improve upon "fine/normal"
-ask people more educated people in the nutrition/fitness field ( Mega Marty ) for their opinion. hopefully someone that has a track record, and Has been doing this line of work with lots of success.
-do not just go off of their word/suggestion solely. I actually implore you to gather questions and do your own research (that includes asking someone you trust/is more knowledgeable)

That is all. For more information on the biggest loser, Lyle McDonald has summed it up MUCH better than myself. Copy and post this link into your window.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/biggest-loser-feedback.html

Things I've learned in the past year

As the year goes on, I should hope i continue to learn. there will be VERY few things that will completely change the way I think, but so far (and this should/will be updated as I remember things) this is the list of my revelations/wisdom I've gained for the past year/bit.

1) fruit might not be as useless as I once thought. yes, when it comes to getting superiorly lean, I believe it might not be the BEST choice, but in terms of the offseason/leaning down from relatively big weights, its a DECENT carb source. yes, I still hold true that for the most part it refills LIVER glycogen first instead of muscle, but it still seems to be able to convert well. I use this SPARINGLY (not as the only carb source) but its still another decent option from what I've been learning.

2) the FEEL of the muscle becomes increasingly important. I'm going off of my clients and most particularly myself in here. I tried out the "move the big weight regardless of feeling with still great technique per say". It came back to squash me. lets put it this way, if you can't FEEL the muscle, aka you're doing bench press, which does work the chest, and you can't feel the chest, AND YOU'RE NOT A RANK NOVICE, then you need something else if you're trying to train chest. In the past 3 ish months, my chest has grown more than ever by picking some exercises that I can actually feel the chest working. I have NOT ditched my philosophy on heavy weights and muscle mass correlating heavily, but if you can't get a proper contraction, you will need to pick an exercise that allows this. this is also NOT NECESSARILY ISOLATION, but maybe a "weirder" exercise, that is still a compound. I know this is confusing... but it is something that has changed my training of myself and clients a lot...

3)people overestimate progress they can accomplish in a month, and underestimate the progress they can make in a year. and for my advanced trainees, they overestimate the progress they can make in a year, and overestimate the progress they can make in 4-5 (in terms of becoming a bodybuilder/successful figure competitor)

4) genetics CAN be overridden, with the proper coaching and listening. NO, i cannot magically make you jamie eason or Arnold, BUT WE can take your crappy bodyparts/weaknesses to quite the new level with some very interesting exercises. usually, no you can't do this on your own. you have to have someone who has experimented with weird stuff (MEGA MARTY PLUG!) to be able to get those things up. this was the case for my chest, back width, and biceps. everything is going MUCH better from dumb little things I've changed that I would have never have done a year or more ago, because it didn't fit my heavy heavy heavy mandate.

5)Free Meals have a lesser purpose to me and my clients now. I unfortunately trusted a lot of the "community" on free meals, and unfortunately they offer very little (if any) physiological help. only psychological.. which still has its great uses.

6) this MAY be the biggest change so far, is my view on LISS (low intensity steady state) cardio. for men, everything DEFINITELY holds true... but for women.. things have changed. I'm recommending SOME (but no means solely) interval training (and i have my own version of intervals I use) to my women that I deem able/worthy. obviously not a 300 lb lady fresh off the boat. but yes, it is a tool im learning can really be effective for some women...

That is it for now, BUT I'll be adding more! If you know something else I have been talking about lately that I haven't mention, feel free to shoot it my way!!!

Majoring In the Minor

I forget whom I've stole the basic gist of this from, I believe it might have been John Berardi, But none the less, this is a very important issue.

Some clients know it all.

Some clients know more than myself (pffft right :) )

These clients could tell you the absorption rate of Leucine versus isoleucine versus valine. They can tell you the exact moment your post workout anabolic window is at its optimum capacity. They can tell you where the Apple is in relation to the banana on the Glycemic index.

Yet they are overweight, have terrible training programs, or better/worse yet, have never yet set foot inside the gym.

huh?

That is right. I have a LOT of people say " Mega Marty, what do you think about the acai berry?" or " Mega Marty, I was reading today about ab exercises, and I know you should breathe, hold the contraction, and do a 6 second negative on the..."

wow.

I usually smile, and say "okay, how was your nutrition today?"
"errr... not so good BUT i found out that I need to do blah blah blah"

This is what I mean.

Most people like to Major in the minor. in other words, they know minute details that they don't even know how to apply to themselves, let alone what the big picture is.

This stems from friends, TV shows (I'm getting back to that awful topic soon), magazines, co-workers, or any other medium for that matter.

you wouldn't believe the questions I've heard even if I posted them. or, you might even blush and realize you were the one that asked it or something similar to your friends/trainer/nutritionist.

I have a couple clients, that shall obviously remain nameless, that are VERY very smart when it comes to nutrition. they honestly have a lot of things figured out that most people don't know about or don't care about. Such topics are calorie partitioning, carb cycling, various supplements and how/why they work, proper timing of foods/combinations etc.

yet they can't tell me how many oz of chicken they have at each meal. This is something that honestly happened.

where am I going with this? THIS IS WHY I AM HIRED FOLKS.

the reason I have a job is to teach you these things if you don't know them.

BUT

if you, for example, don't know how much chicken you've eaten at a meal, don't expect me to get into a 2 hour conversation about what the difference is between omega 3, 6, and 9.

Yes, I want you to learn. I want you to learn a lot. but I am NOT going to information dump on you. that means I'm not going to give you so much information all it does is confuse you. yes, i have gotten carried away in the past and have rambled on. I use analogies ALL THE TIME (thanks to Chris Aceto) to help clients that WANT TO KNOW understand.

once again I'm trying to beat into people's heads that the basics are needed.

even the intermediates people are shooting right past and going to the advanced stuff.

pick the easy stuff. get down the easy stuff. then jump into nutrition 4334.

Sickness

One of the WORST things that can happen to anyone/everyone is getting sick.

tons of different definitions of sick.

common cold, flu, hospitalized (something more serious) etc.

for the sake of this blog, we're going to go with general sickness aka cold and flu.

ever notice how some people are almost perpetually sick?

"its this time of the year again UGHGHGH"
"oh i can just TELL im going to get sick"
"ive had this cold now for a month or more"

WHAT??

are you serious???

here is one thing that ALL mega marty clients can/will say. They don't get sick. and if they do, its very, very rarely. personally, I've never been sick in my life. no flu, no cold, no nothing. well, outside of being hungover.

here is the massive kicker too:

people still go to the gym when they're sick.

huh?

.... if you're trying to recover from a sickness, why the heck would you try to get BETTER by damaging muscle tissue, and giving your body something ELSE to recover from.

NO. you do NOT "sweat it out" by going to the gym. you "sweat it out" by being in bed, recovering and eating. that's how.

that is segueing into my next point.

EAT. you MUST eat if you're going to recover. can't eat? smoothies. use from fruit and protein powder. fruit is actually amazing for health purposes/reasons. and the protein will keep everything else in line.

also, why don't my clients get sick? or if they do its very rarely?

NUTRITION.

if you're eating junk, not eating enough, or anything else I've talked about before, yes, you're going to get sick.

i don't have my clients take many supplements, but the ones they do take are mostly for health reasons. as I said, getting sick not only sets you back from work, it sets you back from the gym, and until you get better, you can't move forward with progress.

clean it up. stop the crappy mindset of "oh no everyone else is sick I'm going to get sick"

NO.

do something about it.

I've had people that are chronically sick come to me and all of a sudden... they're no longer sick. or getting sick.

who would've thought?

When to take a Break

I thought I had written about this before, but it seems I haven't (or haven't touched on it enough, i talked about it a bit in Myths part 3 http://megamarty.blogspot.com/2010/08/nutrition-training-myths-part-3.html)

currently right now I am taking a one week break from lifting weights. and if i do lift weights, its going to be about half the weight, just getting some blood flow and keep my head around the gym. or i might not lift weights at all.

huh?

not lifting weights? at all? but but but Marty that's MADNESS!!!!

right.

so, to repost what I talked about in an earlier post, here is what the common signs of needing to take a break are
a) poor mood outside/inside the gym
b) sleep is lacking, either in length, or disturbances
c) weights are down (how much they're lifting, and general stamina)
d) progression has ceased. in most cases, a long time ago.

so personally, I'll tell you how I know.

1) i was starting to yawn last week. for no good reason. my sleep was great, i was getting my 8ish hours,
2) wasn't quite pumping up the same, blood wasn't filling up so much
3) starting to yawn even during the workouts/after pre workout. usually my preworkout has me twitching for quite some time.

so as i touched on earlier about overtraining/overreaching, you NEED to pay attention to your body/mood.

if someone is telling you things, as in you're a bit more pissed off than usual, mood down, etc anything.


so, once you've been lifting for a bit any everything is in place, when do you take a break?

well, I've been learning that proactive "cruises" are better than waiting to be overtrained. and this time, i even got a little carried away and wanted to train legs. big mistake. i got CRUSHED by the weights, and had to sulk out of the gym knowing that i should've been taking a break.

when is this for me? 2-3 months.


for a new trainee? not going to be for a while. for women? that is very, very individual, and i haven't been able to put my finger on a time frame for them, seeing as most women don't train with intensity let alone correctly and in a regimen.

but yes they can still suffer from overtraining/overreaching.

biggest thing is listen to your body.

do NOT think it is smart to "push through" it. you will only suffer in the end.

TRX, boot camps, spin bike etc

the TRX is a fancy/slightly different version of calisthenics.
these will top out.

I ask you, will you build superior muscle/physique with pushups?

yes, I'm talking from a female perspective, I'm assuming you like muscle on females, and not the anorexic look.

even kettle bells. they will overdevelop some areas, and underdevelop others.

what wins? weights, diet, cardio.

and not a combo. combo = trx, spin bike, boot camps etc.

remember, winning in my terms here is physique. as in to LOOK the best, not perform for a bike tour or to "go for a run" im talking purely LOOKS.

anaerobic = without air. extreme would be one rep max.
aerobic = with air. extreme would be slowest walk possible.

classes and the like try to do both at once.

remember when michael jordan tried to play baseball? and he failed horribly? exactly. he tried to do 2 things at once. pick a goal, and have that be the goal.

general fitness? TRX.
figure competition? diet, weights, cardio

you WILL go from point A to point B with TRX kettlebells etc in terms of physique, but if lets say F is your goal, you're going to have to do other/better things to get there.

also to address you saying you "feel it" better than your "regular" workouts.

first off, you need to assess your regular workouts.

what are they? how are they monitored? what were you doing? is it physique oriented? are you beginner? intermediate? are you bringing up problem areas? do you have good techinque? are you doing the correct rep range?

but, i use the snowboarders as an example.

soreness is NOT INDICATIVE OF A GOOD WORKOUT. I've touched on this before. I made some of my best mass/strength gains feeling perfectly fine the next day. once you get good at a movement, other indicators must present themselves as progression. being sore for days on end is not a good indicator. if anything, its telling me you're not recovering either my means of not eating enough, training for long/frequently, too much training volume etc.

snowboarders, GREAT snowboarders, when they come back for the first go of the season, most are so beat up and sore they can't walk.
does that mean they're bad at snowboarding? no.

lets take the same GREAT snowboarder and make him play football. now he's sore all over again.

does that mean he's getting better at football? not necessarily, he just did something he wasn't used to. either a range of motion, a rep range, different muscles. etc.

so there it is. a general outlook from MY perspective on the current hub-bub on TRX, bootcamps, kettlebell classes and the like.

summary: great for the average person looking to be in more shape, and the more out of shape you are, the better results you'll have with these methods.

but do NOT expect to achieve superior results with these methods (EVEN WITH A SOUND NUTRITION PROGRAM!!!)

for PURE LOOKS/AESTHETICS -> weights are split up from cardio. weights should not be cardio, and cardio should not be weights.

How many times to work out per week

JUST FOR YOU KATHY!

so, I touched on overtraining/overreaching and what I thought was good for a training amount per week in Myths Part 3 (http://megamarty.blogspot.com/2010/08/nutrition-training-myths-part-3.html)

So, People are asking:
"How many days a week should I be working out?"

as every answer I have given, it depends.

what is the goal?
how much time fits into your schedule?
how far along are you in terms of beginner, intermediate, advanced trainee/athlete?
how is your nutritional status(I ask this a LOT don't I? maybe its important hmmmm)?

obviously, the majority of my clients are into bodybuilding/figure, not so much other sports as in football, basketball etc. (however I've trained many hockey and football players to great success)

so, we're going to go off rough guidelines that you can apply to your own training.

the biggest one with most people is time. yes, I know you're busy. Yes, I understand some of you have kids. Yes, I know a 6 pack is much more enticing than leg day.

But after you get rid of a LOT of those bogus excuses, you're left with 2 things.
1) the amount of time you can come to the gym
2) the amount of time you're willing to spend on your goal/the gym

these are 2 different things.

if you decide I'm willing to give it my "all" then great. if not? great. up to you.

NOW

as I have stated, and it is still relevant, NO endless hours in the gym are NOT necessary.

cardio is a whole other gig which I'm not going to touch on today, and have touched on in the past.


so when it comes to WEIGHT TRAINING (my definition of "working out" but some others don't have this definition), there is a limit and a minimum.

I will use myself for an example.
I was recently doing a 3 day split. chest/shoulders/triceps, back/biceps, legs/abs

This was working great for ahwile, until my leg day got heavy. really heavy. then one night with my 2 workout partners (and NO it wasn't because we were horsing around, you'd be surprised how "on topic" we are in the gym) and I were sacked. and we still had hams and calves and abs left. even more accurately, one partner was yawning before we got to the 3rd quad exercise from just shear exhaustion/demand of the workout.

so, we looked at it. could we possibly split this up? maybe put hams/calves on one day, quads/abs on another? sure could. and voila, that is what we did.

but this is what i want you to take away from this:
we just simply DIVIDED the time. not INCREASED total weekly workout time. a 2.5 hour workout went into a 1 hour and 1.5 hour workout.

so, also don't get carried away in the sense that "oh, Marty's leg workout was 2.5 hours, mine must need to also!"

No.

That's you missing the boat. turn around. there is the boat you want to get on.

also, don't swing ridiculously the other way, splitting up body parts into ludicrously small workouts.

To loosely quote Dorian Yates " I never saw the need for an arm day. I'm not driving to the gym for a 25 minute workout"

I wish more people adopted this philosophy.

don't have a 7 day split ala chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps, back, legs, abs or some other crazy split that requires you to be there all the time. I know a LOT of you love the gym. and I am in that camp myself. If I could workout all the time and see results, I would.

Wait, let me change that.

If I could Squat all the time, and have my body proportionately grow to where I want it to be, I would.

so is 3 days better? for some, yes.

is 4 days better? for some, yes.

is 5 days better? for some, yes.

lets give examples:

3 days/week -> beginner, and someone who has commitments/time constraints on the other days in their schedule. of course, workouts will be longER than 4 or 5 days, but sometimes this is the best fit. also, myself included, I find I can concentrate my energy a lot better when I don't have to throw myself through the wringer day in and out from the level of intensity that I have adopted.

4 days/week -> more flexible time (such as my new workout) with workouts being still sound/paired up muscle groups and moving a bit more quickly (aka. workouts are shorter)

5 days/week -> professional or equivalent. maybe you need to be fresh for a problem area, or someone has a very specialized program built around you for very specific reasons (to date, I do not have anyone working out 5X per week. I feel my athletes get more than enough weights in 4 days/week) this to me would be the upper end. anything more than 5X/week is going way too overboard.

lets say you smashed out legs, and now you have to come back tomorrow and do chest. Just because you're not training legs again today does NOT mean their recovery isn't being compromised from you come in and training chest. the body is going to have to stop shuffling resources to recovering legs in lieu of contracting the Chest.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT!

questions welcome, but I believe that sums it up pretty good!

I'm a jerk.

what else is new huh?

but yes, I have been called a jerk. many times. and guess what?

I welcome it. why?

When it comes to people and their fitness goals, once you've been around the block aka:
1) program is sound
2) nutrition is sound
3) cardio is sound
4) passed the beginner stage of everything (nutrition and weight lifting technique)

then I'm going to be a BIT more harsh with you. what does that mean?

its going into my post I had earlier about people being "in shape" and what it means. aka what looking good on the competitive stage does vs/ looking good for the beach.

so, when most people, would congratulate, I try to find what we can do better.

now, if you're brand new to all of this, I'm not going to beat you into the ground. of course not that is foolish, unwarranted, and undeserving. BUT

once you are passed this "intro" phase, which is usually decided by myself and the client/gym goer, things that were allowed to slide, now are an issue.
aka:

1)missing a day of cardio
2)meal plan flub ups
3)silly mistakes in technique.
4)repetition of questions.


these are examples. so yes, I've been called a jerk.

when someone thinks that they're doing GREAT on their meal plan, and I pick out something that they're doing wrong, they feel that I am a jerk.

why isn't he praising what I did? why is he picking at me? what did i do so bad for him to attack me?

I will NEVER attack you as a person. that is foolish and that is going to get nobody anywhere. BUT

I have found that excessive positive reinforcement, aka congratulating EVERY little thing (once again, this is PASSED THE INTRO PHASE) is very harmful to the development of goals.

people tend to go backwards, and starting thinking they're going great, so things can slide. Pizza here is fine. beer there is fine. missing a workout/cardio isn't the end of the world.

depends on where you are. in the INTRO PHASE(really trying to drive this home) maybe it won't effect you.

BUT

lets say you've come very far, and you want a push.

Don't expect me to stand by while you sabotage your results. I am hired to help you, and have ONLY YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND.

If you can't do it, don't want to give the effort, or can't sacrifice some things, then thats MORE THAN FINE. don't expect change.

so yes, I can be a jerk if you really believe so. But its only in your perception. I am here to help. to make you better. to push you positively. when I know you are capable of better, I will tell you so. I will not demean you as a person, I will simply state the obvious, and sometimes the not so obvious.

expect this to be hard.

you're hungry? -> duh. that's expected.
you're tired? -> duh. that's expected.
that's too much weight on there! I can't do it! -> right. because I purposely try to make my clients fail and put weight on a machine/exercise that would hurt them.
I don't have energy! -> really? I thought you would have your tank full ALL the time when trying to lose fat.
What types of food are protein again? -> you're kidding, right?

once we've covered topics, more advanced things can ensue, of course. I have tons and tons and tons and tons of patience. I really do.

But, if you ask a question more than a couple of times and it doesn't sink in... don't expect me to be too impressed when you ask it.

so yes.

I am a jerk.

Association of progression

As most of you know, I have switched gyms to Bent Iron Gym. I am loving this decision to switch as it is allowing me to grow not only as a personal trainer, but as a business and a person too. check them out (and a link to everything about myself) @ http://www.bentirongym.com

So, this is going to be talking about how we associate things.

I have NUMEROUS clients whom either have or have had gyms in their house. some of these clients have fully stocked gyms, machines, dumbbells, the whole nine yards. yet, they don't want me to train them at their home gyms.

huh?

association.

I personally know this would definitely fail for me as well. why?

ITS NOT A GYM. IT IS YOUR HOME.

you smell food, you hear the TV, you just flat out know its in your house, not a gym.

as soon as you get into a gym, feel the gym setting, you will then know what I'm talking about.

then, you associate them gym with the gym. not home, not kids, not TV, not video games, not anything BUT the gym.

and so, what do I associate the gym with?

progression. intensity. limits broken. goals obtained. things along these lines.

so, what do you associate the things you do with?

As I have just switched gyms, I have finding it a LITTLE bit difficult to switch over my mentality/association of the things I just talked about with my new surroundings. even as much as I had to drop dumbbells from 100's down to 80's.

But, second time doing the workout, they're back up to the 100's.

so, this transfers over to mood, what I have discussed before, and goes back to also your social circle.

if you associate things with bad things, then they will be there.

we talked about food, and association of happiness (which is a big way how to fail)

so make sure that you find a gym that is great for you, NOT just because its seconds from your house.

find an environment to GROW.

NEW FAD 5: Plateau

ahh yes.

"I've hit a plateau, I should switch it up"
"my bench isn't going up, I should do more"
"I'm not losing weight, I should do more cardio and eat less"

yes, I have touched on these subjects in the past, but not only are they worth going over again, its maddening to see the amount of times I still hear this.

to me, this is what a plateau is:

once EVERYTHING IS IN CHECK, which means:
sleep is good.
mood is good.
meal plan is good.
training routine is good.
THEN, and ONLY THEN can you look at if you've hit a plateau.
so no that isn't my definition, BUT, providing all those factors are in order, then maybe you have.

plateau is when something has halted.

whether it be:
progressive resistance aka you aren't doing more weight or more reps in each workout.
fat loss has stopped - combination of skinfold calipers, photos, clothing, scale have ceased to go in the correct direction
if it is a sport, so as in still gassing out in the 3rd period for hockey for example.

THEN YES. something needs to change.

BUT DON'T GET ON YOUR BRAND NEW PROGRAM AND CHANGE IT.
I have done the same program for almost a year once.

why?

it wasn't broken. i was progressing.

BUT ALSO, to touch on this issue, as long as SOMETHING is progressing, that is still not a plateau.

for instance, if I am doing my program, and my leg exercises are still going up, then things are STILL progressing! (provided technique isn't being compromised)

it would seriously be a PERFECT world if EVERYTHING flew up, and fat FLEW off you!

having said all of this, and you're still following my writings hah,

this is generally geared towards the new person to the gym.

providing technique is there as i said, things should be flying up/down. everything. this is BRAND new stimulus! and the better you can slam dunk the weights and the nutrition, the more you'll set up for success. this is the most adaptation you'll EVER see in the gym (outside of some powerful illegal drugs.)

and don't be spinning your wheels scratching your head. get a second opinion (MEGA MARTY!) to go over everything with you to maybe point out something you may have missed.

good luck!

Cardio Update

So, I have been learning this more and more, and I've been enjoying playing around with it.

Cardio should be seen ONLY as a tool, an instrument and that is it.

so, lets give you an example, and this isn't mine, Skip Hill came up with this one.

if you drop weight too quickly, your metabolism WILL crash. so, depending on how lean you are, this could be anywhere from 1lb a week to 10 lbs a week (yes, it varies that much).

so, having someone assess you, and is able to determine a good rate of change for yourself/realistic goals, will help you vastly (to see not only what is realistic, but see someones educated opinion)

lets say if you have a weekly goal, using whatever method you are using (aka keto, high carb, low carb, etc) and you are hitting your weight on the scale (if that is your judge)

THEN DROP THE CARDIO.

aka

stop doing it for the rest of your week till your next assessment.

huh?

lets say you were 170 this week, and a "good" drop for you weekly is 2 lbs, and you have to be assessed every friday.

tuesday you hit 168.

perfect. stop the cardio and stay there. that raises what Skip called "the ceiling"

that means that NOW you have more tools, instead of continually doing the cardio, making your body get used to it, only having to do MORE cardio to keep going.

you don't want to get USED to cardio if physique is your goal. you want to be sweating and huffing at the end, that means its burning fat!

it gave myself and hopefully even more people out there more fuel that CARDIO IS NOT THE ANSWER, it a tool.


Nutrition always comes first.

good luck running that pizza off :)

Being an artist

I just recently heard that at least in Canada, tattoo artists, and every other form of artist I believe, gets a tax break, aka for the most part they don't have to pay taxes on their work.

Well, that made me laugh and I said

"well, I shouldn't have to pay taxes either"

why is that?

When someone in the fitness industry really gets a blank canvas aka. someone whom is coming in for no particular reason other than
a) wants some more "tone"
b) wants to "muscle up"
c) any one of those non-specific goals,

I get to have some real fun.

these people, regardless of how far along are they, are treated like marble slabs. obviously, some slabs are more dense/bigger/further away from finished product/easier to shape than others.

It really boils down to yes, I am an artist, especially when it comes to these clients.

the IDEAL marble slab is the figure competitor/bodybuilder, because that IS their sport, being sculpted into a masterpiece, and put on display hoping theirs (and mine) hard work pays off (not only financially, but in sheer recognition).

For example, if someone comes in to me, whom I believe is underweight, i need more marble aka. this person needs to put on muscle.

someone comes in with too much marble, we need to really chisel a lot off to get to the finish product.

it really is incredible to be able to have this ability to look and see what is needed. need more shoulders? we'll add more marble there. need less legs? we'll chisel off marble from there.

This is what keeps me going, knowing that everyone has the potential to become beautiful pieces of art.

Just how far are you willing to go to help me have the resources to do so? aka nutrition and adherence?

dieting stress

Is a meal plan stressful?

Kinda.

Sorta.

Not really.

I actually find it very liberating. As I have said before, I myself have a nutritionist, and I love it. Why?

Someone is telling me EXACTLY what to do to achieve my physique goals. He is constantly in contact with me, asking me the right questions, all the while I'm learning even more about my profession from someone whom has been doing it, successfully, much longer than me.

So this is what I tell my clients:

Stop worrying about the nutrition.

This is completely taken care of, once you hire a professional. I have weekly meetings with my clients in order to go over their concerns, with unlimited text/email support to answer their immediate concerns.

If things are bothering you in your life, don't let nutrition be one of them. Imagine if someone told you EXACTLY how to invest and make you great returns. Imagine if someone told you EXACTLY the way to deal with your stress at work. Imagine if someone told you EXACTLY how to get the girl/guy of your dreams.

This is what I do. I tell you EXACTLY what to do and how to do it.

Now, I also understand there will be hardships and the like along the road, and that's why its not getting a plan and "see ya!" Its constant monitoring, like your stock broker/financial planner does.

I slowly or quickly, depending on your experience in the gym, put you directly towards your goals.

Stop worrying about the nutrition and do it. Yes it is that easy.

Is a meal plan stressful?

Kinda.

Sorta.

Not really.

I actually find it very liberating. As I have said before, I myself have a nutritionist, and I love it. Why?

Someone is telling me EXACTLY what to do to achieve my physique goals. He is constantly in contact with me, asking me the right questions, all the while I'm learning even more about my profession from someone whom has been doing it, successfully, much longer than me.

So this is what I tell my clients:

Stop worrying about the nutrition.

This is completely taken care of, once you hire a professional. I have weekly meetings with my clients in order to go over their concerns, with unlimited text/email support to answer their immediate concerns.

If things are bothering you in your life, don't let nutrition be one of them. Imagine if someone told you EXACTLY how to invest and make you great returns. Imagine if someone told you EXACTLY the way to deal with your stress at work. Imagine if someone told you EXACTLY how to get the girl/guy of your dreams.

This is what I do. I tell you EXACTLY what to do and how to do it.

Now, I also understand there will be hardships and the like along the road, and that's why its not getting a plan and "see ya!" Its constant monitoring, like your stock broker/financial planner does.

I slowly or quickly, depending on your experience in the gym, put you directly towards your goals.

Stop worrying about the nutrition and do it. Yes it is that easy.

NEW FAD 4: Nutrition

so of course, half of my company name is nutrition!

so obviously there have been many many many and there will be many many many new fads with nutrition.

promising:

weight gain
weight loss
toning
shaping
fat loss
fat gain (joke)
muscle shaping

and everything else under the sun you could imagine.

here is what it all boils down to:

consistency. that is the key.

if you're reading anything about nutrition, you're either trying to BETTER your current look/mood/energy level, or embark on what is correct.

here is the ticket: read my limiting reagent post, and then figure out yours.

if people are big, VERY big,its usually all nutrition. if you're drinking 8 litres of full sugar pop a day, there it is. going to 6 litres will probably yield some results. your battle isn't in the gym, its in the kitchen.

so all the fads/trends aka high carb, low carb, high fat, low fat, no fat, high protein, high everything etc. have SOME value.

They're trying to make you better than where you are now. direction is obviously a big thing.

i recommend finding someone competent in your area (MEGA MARTY!) to sit down and do your nutritional coaching/programming with you for AT LEAST 3 months. then you can get an idea of why he/she is doing what they're doing, if it is working, and that'll give you enough time to PUMMEL them full of questions are to why. why why why.

I've said it hundreds of times to my clients, the most powerful question you have with anyone in the service industry (particularly mine) is why. If i can't answer their "whys", I tell them "I'd tell me to beat it and I'd find someone else"

and it is as simple as that. anyone can find a diet on the internet, print it out, and follow it. so that stops working. now what? print another one? eat less? eat more? take out the fats? less protein? more protein? more cardio? less weights? more sleep? more..

exactly.

it really isn't hard to obtain the knowledge as to WHAT is "good" to eat (other than the massive mystery which fruit seems to have behind it and just how "good" it is still eludes most people) but they when, how much and to what ratio (and sure, percentages if that works for you) to have the foods.

thats where I have employment, is manipulation based upon what it does to you. physically and mentally in almost every aspect of what that entails.

so here is the fad:

get something that have been verified "sound", and follow it. pick your limiting reagent, and kill it. stop eating X, or stop drinking so much of Y. if you're not exercising, thats a great start, but if you're mowing down 293847987234 calories a day, sprinting for 5 hours a day isn't going to help you.

go to a calorie counter website and put in what you eat a day. and be prepared to be SHOCKED if you've never done this.

Looking good vs. looking good

So, my view is skewed, and after this yours might be too.

So, what does the average "ohhhhh you look SO good"
"You're not fat!"
You're in such good shape"

Mean?

To me, not much.

Why?

Friends are the worst judge of ourselves. Ever see the girls that hang around with others that are in "worse shape" than themselves? Exactly. To look better / boost self esteem.

Look at facebook photos.
The comments I quoted earlier, or something close will soon ensue.

My opinion due to my profession has been skewed horribly. I rip/pick people apart. He needs more pecs.
She needs a bigger but
He needs less love handles
Her triceps are too small.

Huh?

But she looks "soooooo good"

No.

If we were to take two people, put them in "covering" clothing aka nothing form fitting, and covering limbs, they could potentially look the same.

We put them in the skimpiest bikini available, those 2 could look vastly/massively different. Then, if we up the ante, let's do their body fat testing/ go up and give them a squeeze.

Harder vs softer is everything to me.

All the time my girls weigh much more than others, and then look much better than their 10-20-30 lb lighter counter parts, and they're "toned" by their standards.

Where am I going with this, as always?

Look for it. Look as someone's "defintion"
You say you want to be toned, show me. Do you? Or are you going after weight? Scale chasing? What for? Do you actually ZENJOY looking anorexic?

And if you do, let's have an in person chat.

So, before you envy that girl/guy, look at their composition.

Until next time, keep questioning the status quo.

Limiting Reagent

Way back in highschool, at the beginning of my highschool chemistry obsession, We learned about limiting reagents.
what is a limiting reagent?

in a reaction, there will always be one chemical or one thing that will hold everything else back, regardless of the amount. think about having a ridiculous amount of guns, but only so much ammo (ruling out that you could throw the guns or smack someone with them). so, you're only as tough as the amount of ammo.

you're only as tough as YOUR limiting reagent.

what does that mean?

if you just "aren't hungry", that's your limiting reagent.

if you have "no time to eat", that's your limiting reagent.

you could have all your food prepared, going to the gym X times of the week, perfect technique, no stress, perfect sleep, but no matter how good those are, if your limiting reagent isn't in check, then it will fail.

I work with all of my clients to find their limiting reagent.

I'll use mine as an example

I was having a lot of issues in my personal life at one point, and it was really causing a BIG snag in my personal goals. the people close to me could see this, and would tell me so.

when this limiting reagent was gone, "awesomeness" happened. i started sleeping more, eating more (appetite was back), which in turn everything else turned on.

where I'm going with this was that eating wasn't my limiting reagent. sleeping too little wasn't my limiting reagent.

the garbage in my personal life was holding those things caged, no matter how hard i focused on them. so without me even putting any effort into these other factors, they came into place once my limiting reagent was fixed.

here are some common ones:

1)personal life issues/relationship issues
2)sleep issues (irregular patterns, shift worker, smoker, drinker)
3)partying
4)social circle (friends of not same interest, discouraging comments)
5)time
6)motivation
7)knowledge
8)drugs (prescription or non prescription, illegal)

these all can be the one thing holding you back from your goals.

once again, where am i going with this?

once you figure this out, this ONE factor, watch all your hard work come to fruition.

another reason to have a great coach/trainer (MEGA Marty plug!) is to help you figure this out if you can't on your own. I'm very fortunate to have had friends and mentors to help me be able to figure mine out.

can you figure out what yours is?

Being "in shape"

what exactly does that mean?

Lots of people want to be "in shape"

so, let's go over what that can entail.

first off, there are people trying to get in shape for bodybuilding.
what does this mean?
1) achieving the lowest bodyfat possible while obtaining muscle mass
2) learning posing, and being able to present your physique effortlessly.
3)being able to mentally handle the challenges of society/every day life to stay on your meal plan/training/supplement regimen.

lets compare this with marathon running.

what does "in shape" for it mean?
1) being able to have longevity to be able to finish the race/distance
2) having the time to prepare for endless hours to build up your cardiovascular ability to handle the race.
3) have a good bodyfat/muscle ratio to be efficient during the race

2 VASTLY different goals, and 2 VASTLY different definitions of being "in shape"

so figure out with yourself what that means to you.

so you want to "shape up" or be "in shape"

okay, so what does that mean?
obviously, a bodybuilder couldn't (typically) be able to finish a marathon, and a marathon runner should (typically) come in dead last at a bodybuilding competition.

I am writing about this because who doesn't want to shape up or be in shape.

I have clients all over the map. feel healthy, compete, lose fat, gain muscle, you name it. but all of them would agree that they want to be "in shape"

who says one shape is better than the other?

you.