Earning your carbs

Good article on clean eating, paleo, and nourishment for energy system specific athletes -
Earn Your Carbs

The author, John Welbourn, is a 10 year vet of the NFL and creator of Crossfit Football.
Although many of you that know me personally know I have a love-hate with Crossfit, I really enjoy John's takes on training.

Check out his blog or Crossfit Football Homepage for more info.

That past couple days have been a little different with the training.

Yesterday I went back to one of Edmonton's top gym's Spark Sport Conditioning for a heavy lift-sprint combo. It looked like this.

120530

Heavy clean and Jerk

Started off with 5 reps at 185, worked up from there, and finished with a 1-1-1 at 235 with 30 seconds rest between each C&J. Not my PR....but we did some hard sprints stuck in between the lifts which kicked me in the knickers.

I'd explain it more but I don't want to give away the magic that makes Spark's programming special. We have enough cookie cutter gyms out there and crossfit-ra-ra gyms that are so lame with their programming they have to revert to stealing other coach's programs. This is because their weekend certification didn't teach them how to progress an athlete....I'm sorry....going to stop there.

Today's workout I just focused on a heavy singles for a close grip bench press.
Tried hitting the stairs after but legs were shot. Got 5 sets in and had to pull chute and get a big dinner in me to recharge.

120531

Close grip Bench 135x5, 155x3, 175x3, 185x2, 195x1, 205x1, 215x1, 225x1, 235x1, 245x1.
Ring rows 3x12

Conditioned with 5 sets of stairs.




Have to end off with this 'cuz it's gold! Gold, Jerry!

Boxing Coach

Support local music!

You hear people saying support local farmers, local business', etc. I am a big fan of supporting local music. Some of my fondest memories are going down to the local hall, watching some local punk bands, and hopping in the mosh pit.

This is a local Edmonton band I want you all to go see. Especially if you like some good rock-punk... even folk rifts.

Enjoy, The Old Sins!

I also love the acoustic version on Balcony TV.

Check out more from the Old Sins on their Myspace page

Taken advantage of the nice weather here in Edmonton the past week. Although it has left me with a bad goggle and farmers tan....so I got my work cut out for me.

Like most of you one of my favorite summer workouts is hitting the stairs or a good hill sprint.

You get some sun and take advantage of some nice weather, not something us northern Albertans are used to.

If you've never done this before, and it sounds like a workout you'd like to try, its simple. No matter wear you live all you need to find is a set of stairs outdoors that has 20, 30, or my favorite 200+ stairs (depending if you live in a hilly environment, sorry Sask).

Then, start conservative, and pick a number like 3 sets. Thats 3 times up and down. That's it. Add sets from week to week, play with the rest time between sets, do it as fast as possible, or make it a challenge to see how many you can do in 15 minutes.

These two are my favorites here in Edmonton.

The one above is the Glenora stairs in Edmonton's river valley and below is the Fox Dr. stairs located down by Fort Edmonton Park.

 You'll find me at one of the locations at least once a week. So come join me....cuz it really sucks running alone without someone to chase or chasing you.


120527

STAIRS! Fox Dr.

7 sets
5 hill sprints

120529

Squats 45x5, 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5

Weighted Dips w #25 3x8

Conditioning


100 Dbl unders
30 sec rest
21 KBS (kettlebell swings)
12 strict wide grip pull ups
x3

Midline

Ab wheel 4x8

And you wonder why North America is struggling with an Obesity Crisis

Get a load of Taco Bell's new breakfast drink.

'Nuff said....

Nice little Saturday.

Ladies, Gents, how's the week treated you?

My week was long being on the road, stuck in hotel rooms, and not having the best access to proper nutrition. But just one good workout can wash that all away. Today was heavy squat day...probably my favorite day of the week. If you want to see how I structure my workouts look back a couple posts and it's all there.

Love this lil vid

120526

3RM Squat 5x45, 5x135, 5x225, 3x275, 3x315, 3x345, 3x365, 3x 385
3 RM Press 5x45 5x95, 3x115, 3x 125, 3x135, 3x145, 3x155
Chins 3x10

Rest 10 minutes

2x
1a) max reps neutral grip pulldowns
 b) max reps neutral grip DB press

2) DB rear delt flies 4x10
3) Run the Rack! (DB curls palms up) 8x45's, 8x35's, 8x25's, 8x20's
* start with the 45's and when your done your 8 reps immediately move to the next....great for a pump!

4) Core complex x2 with 1 minute rest between sets

• sprinters sit ups x 20
• v sits x10
• hip ups x 20
• pike sit ups x10

5) Finisher- Body weight complex x 3 with 1 minute rests between sets. Rest as little as possible during the complex

• mountain climbers x 30
• push ups x 20
• groiners x 10
• burpees x5

I'm probably going to change up the style of workouts soon enough. I've had a lot of time to think and am going to sit down and hammer out some goals and a training focus. It will be more along the sort of a block periodization for the next 8-10 months to a year.
Right now it will focus on a lean out phase, bulk/hypertrophy phase, strength cycle, and a conditioning phase....You'll be well aware of my programs as this blog evolves.

Stay strong my friends.

Another gem by Charles Poliquin.

For the full article and more great tips check out his website, Charles Poliquin

Tip 355: Do Sprints for Better Health and Performance: Lose Fat but Don’t Lose Muscle

5/24/2012 8:04 AM  

Do sprints to be healthier and lose fat without losing muscle. A new study shows that an effective short-sprint workout can be done in half the time required for an endurance running program, and it produces better results.

The new study in the Journal of Applied Physiology compared the effects of a 7-week short-sprint training program and an endurance program on various health markers and performance in a mile time trial. Participants were all recreational runners with equal health status. The sprint interval program took less than half the training time of the endurance running protocol, which consisted of three 8-km runs a week. The sprint program included 3 to 5 sets of short sprints (10, 20, or 30 seconds in length) at maximal speed.

Results showed that the short-sprint group increased maximal oxygen uptake by 5 percent, reduced systolic blood pressure by 5 mmHg, and lowered LDL cholesterol  by a clinically significant amount, whereas the endurance training group had no changes in any of these markers. In addition, the short-sprint group improved performance in a mile time trial by 6 percent whereas the endurance group had no change.

Researchers also measured markers of muscle adaptations to determine whether the programs produced  an environment that was anabolic to build muscle, or catabolic to degrade muscle. The sprint program led to muscle protein synthesis, indicating that the high-intensity sprints caused an anabolic stimulus that will prevent loss of muscle tissue, which is particularly important if you want to lose fat but don’t want to lose hard earned muscle at the same time. In contrast, the endurance group produced muscle protein breakdown, indicating that muscle and lean tissue is being catabolized as a result of the endurance training.

Sprints are your best bet if you want to be healthier, be leaner, and improve performance. They go well with a strength training program since both call on the anaerobic energy system to produce a better body composition. Sprint training also produces adaptations that improve performance for activities that call on the aerobic energy systems, such as distance running, cycling, rowing, swimming, or soccer. Read more about the benefit of training the anaerobic energy system in Do Sprint Intervals to Lose Fat Fast and Be Lean for Summer.

 

Reference

Bangsbo, J., Gunnarsson, T. The 10-20-30 Training Concept Improves Performance and Health Profile in Moderately Trained Runners. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2012. Published Ahead of Print. 

Back in town. Gotta hit the bar.

Just got back from a 28 hour job in south east Alberta and I'm only booked in for 12 hours rest....so I had to get a quick workout in before heading back on the rails.

Like I said in my previous post: I squat, push, and pull in every workout. 2 easy squat days and a heavy one at the end of the week. In every workout I focus on one heavy exercise (squat, deadlift or power clean, press, and bench press). Today was working up to a 3RM bench press.
* I always squat first to prime the CNS. I feel better mentally and physically after hitting some squats.

120523

Squat 5x45, 5x135, 5x185, 5x225, 5x275

3 RM Bench 5x45, 5x135, 5x155, 3x185, 3x195, 3x205, 3x215

Kroc rows 4x10 @ 100 (each arm)

About 30 minutes later I went and hit up a globo gym just to get some more upper body in.

1) 3x8 DB incline bench press @ 80
2a) 4x8 Rope push down @90
  b) 4x8 DB rows @125
3a) BB Shrugs 3x8 @465
  b) Rear delt fly 3x8 (pinkies up)
Conditioning
5 minutes of "Cindy" (5 strict pull ups, 10 HR push ups, 15 air squats) 8 rounds

10 minutes of mobility
100 Band pull aparts

* the a) b) workout is a superset going from one to the other with little to no rest and the resting 1 minute between sets

Until next time, Stay strong!

Current Training

Most of you are well aware that I started a new job.

This job requires me to be on call 24/7/365.......so you can understand structuring a solid training regime is tricky.

So for now, until I'm done trainee probation and hold down a solid schedule, I'm keeping it SIMPLE.

I lift 3 days a week and condition 2-3 days. And if I get a bonus day, that's gravy!

My simple workouts are really structured around a Wendler/ Bill Starr/ Rip program.

• I squat every workout (2 sessions are sub max with a heavy one at the end of the week)
• I make sure there is a squat, a push, and a pull to make up each workout.
• workouts go from a 5RM, 3RM, 1 RM from weeks 1-3 respectively with a deload in week 4.
• Conditioning is kept between a hard 8-15 minute blitzes

So to take you through a sample workout:

120521

Squat 185x,225x5,275x5

3 RM Deadlift 135x5,185x5,225x5,275x3,315x3,345x3,385x3,405x3,415x3. Stopped there and was satisfied but back felt tight.

Weighted Dips 3x8 w/ 45

That's it. Out in 40 mins. On the dips and squats I keep the rests low but on the focus/heavy movement (deadlifts in this case) I rest 3-4 minutes as it gets closer to that 3 RM.

Like I said before, it's simple. But it keeps me active, it keeps me moving a barbell.

I absolutely love this article, enjoy! 

For the full article please go to EliteFTS

elitefts™ Sunday edition

The 10 Commandments of Conditioning

No matter what sport you compete in, you’ll probably agree that conditioning plays a huge factor in how an athlete performs. If athletes aren’t conditioned properly, they’ll never achieve peak performance in their sport.

As a collegiate strength coach, I’m amazed at the conditioning that is performed just for the hell of it either by a sports coach or a strength coach. Maybe it’s the age we live in or maybe it’s a lack of knowledge. I don’t know. But to educate those not in-the-know, I created The 10 Commandments of Conditioning. For all you coaches who already follow these commandments, go ahead and place a copy of this article on that particular coach’s desk who thinks his way is the only way!

I. Thou shall always warm-up

Yes, that 7-year-old girl at the playground performing jumping jacks and high knees prior to hitting the monkey bars is my daughter. Do you think Martin Rooney’s daughter doesn’t warm-up prior to knocking out a set of pull-ups? Sure she does! Every great workout begins with a great warm-up!

When training athletes, it’s important to prepare them prior to the training session. It seems like so many know the benefits of warming up but overlook it as an important piece of their program. There are many great benefits to warming up, with the most important being to increase muscle elasticity so that the chance of injury is reduced. If an athlete is injured, he or she can’t perform. If nothing else, this should be why you warm-up.

We also warm-up to raise the core body temperature; excite the central nervous system; increase blood flow to the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nervous system; and increase the rate of cellular metabolism. Warming up will help prepare the athlete mentally for the training session.

First, we like to get the muscles warm by using a general exercise like jumping jacks or a light jog. Then we like to increase the range of motion by using a stretch, which is usually a dynamic flexibility movement along with some mobility work. We then prepare the athletes for the session by using movement preparation/coordination drills and sport-specific movements.

There are many great ways to get the body ready for a conditioning session. How you do it isn’t as important as making sure that you do it! To take your warm-up to the next level, pick up a copy of Martin Rooney’s warm-up DVD here at elitefts™.

II. Thou shall know who you’re training

Have you ever seen a basketball team using a three-mile run for conditioning, a soccer coach jogging five miles with the team as conditioning twice a week, or a football player on the elliptical? What the hell are they doing? What a waste of time. And the athletes think they’re getting better.

There are always exceptions, and there’s a time and a place for everything. I realize that. However, let’s make sure that our priority is getting the athlete ready for his or her sport. Training the proper energy system is vital when conditioning an athlete. This won’t be an exercise physiology lesson because that isn’t what this article is about. If that’s what you’re looking for, post a question to “The Thinker”because he’s the man when it comes to the science behind it. Or pick up Super Training here at elitefts™.

Back to the point—always remember that the intensity and duration at which you train should closely match that of the sport. The adaptations that occur with training are specific to the training performed. This is why initially we conduct a needs analysis of the sport. We examine the attributes of the movements that make up the sport (e.g. strength, power, speed, or endurance) and the muscles involved in these movements. For example, if the sport involves multiple short duration sprints, then to benefit performance we must train lower body power and perform short duration sprints.

Depending on where you are in your training cycle (e.g. in-season, off-season), you should include conditioning specific to your sport. For example, our basketball players will condition mostly through a variety of running and jumping drills with lateral and multi-directional movements. Once again, there are always exceptions, but for the most part, you’ll want to train close to the conditions of your sport. Perform a needs analysis of your sport and run with it.

III. Thou shall monitor volume and intensity

This goes hand-in-hand with Commandment II. Ask yourself, what are my goals of the conditioning session? What am I looking to accomplish? What season are we in? The answers to these questions will determine the intensity and volume that you will use for that conditioning session.

Your goal isn’t to just get your athletes fit, but to have them in the best condition possible for their sport. Everyone has heard of the principle of overload, which states that we must vary the training, specificity, frequency, duration, intensity, and load to progressively overload and see gains. We do this by carefully periodizing the training to accomplish our goals while ensuring that we don’t overtrain the athlete. Pay attention to your volume and intensity to maximize your conditioning sessions.

IV. Thou must set goals

Goal setting is vital! Give your athletes a mental visual of where they need to be and what the timeframe is to get there. Then, work toward it. Make sure your goals are realistic ones. If it’s the first week of pre-season, don’t set your timeframe for accomplishment for week six of pre-season. Know where your athletes are currently and where they need to be.

In each conditioning session, take steps to get closer to the ultimate goal. We always strive to be the best in all we do, so I like to find out what the times are that the best teams in the nation are doing the drills in. That will be the standard or our ultimate goal. It may take us all of pre-season to accomplish those times, but that’s our goal and everyone knows it. Remember that short-term goals will lead you to your long-term goals. You must know where you’re going to be able to get there.

V. Thou must realize that more isn’t always better

How many times have you seen a coach just drill his players into the ground by pushing them to the limit every practice? Now, don’t get me wrong. Sometimes things just need to be done. This commandment goes hand-in-hand with Commandment III. More isn’t always better. Know why you do what you do.

Recovery in sports has a purpose. Utilize the sport’s work-to-rest ratio, which I feel is extremely important in conditioning if you want to get the most out of your athletes. Like I previously mentioned, the proper metabolic system must be targeted to improve athletic performance by identifying which energy system is used the most in your sport. Then, you must consider what range of intensity best suits your activity. Also, don’t forget to determine the length of the activity and the recovery periods. If you apply these basic principles, you’re on the way to producing a sound conditioning program.

Always ask yourself, how much is needed to get the job done? Just practicing, doesn’t make anyone perfect. Practicing the right way makes perfect. Perfect your conditioning sessions by realizing that more isn’t always better!

VI. Thou shall increase work capacity

Everyone loves to watch the team that outworks their opponent, that guy who gets to every loose ball first, the girl who hits the glass hard for every rebound, or that lineman who gets after that quarterback every possession. Like I mentioned earlier, through a systematic use of progressive overload, athletes can build upon their work capacity and conditioning level. You must constantly be progressively placing greater than normal demands on the athlete to increase work capacity. This is a must for true gains to take place. Without this overload, there isn’t any adaptation by the body, which will limit the increase of work capacity. Give that athlete an edge. Make them work so they can perform to the best of their ability by outworking the opposition!

VII. Thou must develop mental toughness

I have no tolerance for the mentally weak. Make sure that in your conditioning sessions you’re pushing the athletes physically to make them stronger mentally. If it’s established now, then it won’t be an issue in the fourth quarter or up at the plate with a 3–2 count. An athlete who has all the talent in the world, but is held back because he or she is soft mentally, is a wasted talent. An athlete isn’t born mentally tough. Mental toughness is taught and developed.

VIII. Thou shall present a challenge

Athletics are about competing, and it’s our job to create that competitive environment. If athletes don’t compete in a training session, how will they compete during competition? Conditioning sessions should always be challenging. You’re developing athletes, and their job is to compete. This doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun. If you have athletes who want to be great, every time a challenge is presented it should get even more fun. Everything we do inside and outside of the weight room is competitive. Some athletes come to you already competitive while others need to be taught competitiveness. Gain that edge by producing competitors!

IX. Thou must think outside the box

When some think conditioning, they automatically think running. You don’t always have to run to condition.

Be creative! Make it fun and think outside the box. Use all the different modalities available to you.Strongman events can be a great tool for conditioning. There are endless drills that can be used for conditioning. Purchase a Prowler® here at elitefts™ and see if that works on conditioning.

X. Thou shall use the high/low approach

Don’t fry the athlete’s central nervous system! Yes, James Smith, this is for you! This could be a whole article in itself or even a manual. Oh wait, it is thanks to James Smith. You can purchase it right here at elitefts™.

Elitefts™ strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.elitefts.com.

Training Tips

As some of you may know I'm a big fan of the powerlifting world. I love reading articles by Louie Simmons, Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, or anyone that has something interesting to say on the subject.

I use a lot of what these guys say and try put it into my training mantra. I love Louie's take on the Conjugate System and max effort, Tate's work on the technical side of the lifts, and Wendler's  personal philosophies on training and being an all-around BAD ASS.

The one thing I get out of all these guys and the guys before them can be broken down to some simple points outlined by Paul Carter, who was a real inspiration to this post, as he outlined these four points that really tie training all together.

• Train Hard. Train for Intensity
• Be Consistent!
• Go Heavy or Go Home
• Stick with what works... 

Train hard. This could be 10-15 minutes of stairs or hills. If it makes you feel like giving up or taking a rest you're on the right track. Gut it out, if you get nervous to do a work out because you know its going to be hard, if you feel like quitting, or you're going to puke if you had to do another set...you're on the right track!

Consistency is the biggest take home message, folks. You ask a world champion weightlifter, powerlifter, marathon runner, or darts champ, one thing would be consistent in all their training or prep; CONSISTENCY.

You don't have to do 30 workouts a week but make a plan for yourself to get the 3 workouts in with 2 conditioning or sprint sessions and stick to it. PR's may not be quick but they will come.

GO HEAVY....'nuff said

Finally, stick with what works, don't fall for fads or program jump from one to the other. Keep it simple and do what people before you have done that made them successful. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. 

Hope this helps...because it got my priorities back on track.

Stay Strong!

Getting started.

I'm back.

Sorry for the lack of posts. Its been one week since my last post due to a stressful work week, but that's all said and done now.

So, my theme for today is getting people started on a program/goal. Whether it is to get stronger, strip fat, or just get a handle on your eating habits, you need a plan to reach that goal. People fail before they even start....and I see it more often than not. Failure to plan is a plan to fail, ladies and gents.

First you must identify what you're going for. Don't come to me and say you want to run a sub 1:30 half marathon, while squatting 600 lbs at 3% body fat....get a grip.
I'll get further into this in a future post but you can't have an increase in strength while dropping 40 lbs in fat. It's just not how the body works. So pick a goal, define it, and plan to execute it....and just pick one. If you pick two or three, you're doomed to fail.

Secondly, your behavior must match you actions.
If you're training to get stronger, don't be running 10 km everyday. Pick something heavy up!
If you're trying to lean out, put down the beer and burger and start eating clean. Simple as that....now do it.

Third, don't do to much to soon.
Work your way into your new program or lifestyle. Think of a baby on his/her path to walking. You see the lil gaffer skidding around on their bum, then they crawl, then start standing using furniture to balance them, and finally they start putting one foot in front of the other and the rest is history.
The same goes for a workout program or eating healthy.
I've seen so many people bite off more then they can chew by training 2-3 times a day or drastically cutting their calories in an attempt to meet their goals.
Think baby steps, guys.

I'm going to use eating healthy for the example of this. Again, I've seen way to many people cut calories or drastically change their lifestyle and fail more often than not.
So pick a meal and change it for the first week. My favorite to help people out is changing up breakfast. All to often we think of breakfast as cereal, bacon, eggs, toast etc. Who is putting a gun to your head telling you have to eat like this? Cultural norms? Break it and I promise your eating goals will fall into place. Earlier this week I found this great post by a fellow coach, Jason Seib. He echoes my thoughts too.

Coach Jason Seib:


"Why are there such things as breakfast foods? And why are they mostly garbage? I seriously can't figure this one out. When we introduce someone new to paleo nutrition, one of the most common questions we get is an emphatic plea of "But what will I eat for breakfast??" Seriously? What do you eat the rest of the day? You could start there. This usually gets me a look of disdain. In reality, most of us don't eat breakfast foods (like pancakes, waffles, and hash browns) for lunch or dinner because we know they aren't good for us and make us feel like hot crap, yet we are totally willing to start our day with them. If given a choice, my kids will ask for tuna or leftover steak for breakfast as often as they ask for eggs, but only because we don't associate food with a specific position of the sun in the sky. If real food doesn't sound good at breakfast, weigh your options - don't eat until you are actually hungry, eat real food anyway, or eat garbage and adjust your goals accordingly. And please remember that paleo versions of garbage are still garbage and should be eaten as often as you are willing to eat non-paleo treats."


For more info check out Jason's website http://eplifefit.com/


My personal favorite to help me kick off the day and get my body composition in check is Charles Poloquin's Meat and Nut Breakfast

Details are on this are right here. http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/270/The_Meat_and_Nut_Breakfast.aspx

That's all I have time for today, got to get over to Ma and Pa's house to ring in Mother's Day.

Stay Strong.

Study Break

Have you ever studied so much you felt that you couldn't absorb any new information? I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast...wait, did I even have breaky?
That's how I feel RIGHT NOW.

I graduated a little over a year ago and thought my studying days were over. A few short months after I graduated, I challenged the NSCA CSCS exam and passed. Now I really thought my days of hitting the books were all said and done.

A few months ago I accepted a job with CN Rail. It was totally outside of my wheelhouse, but with being recently married and the potential to start a family soon, I jumped at it. I feel like a money whore but I couldn't turn down the pay, pension, family benefits, vacation, along with other incentives.
Right now I'm studying like a mad man for the Canadian Rail Operators Rules finals after an intense seven week training course to become a Conductor.

 I truly miss the gym, the people and just the day to day interaction with my clients and athletes. That is why I felt compelled to start this blog. It's my way to stay in the fitness world in some capacity.

So, aside from cramming, these are the two workouts I got in this weekend.

I will go over my goals and deeper into my programming when I'm done writing seven hours worth of finals this week.

5/5/12

Oly work

1) Work up to 1 RM Jerk off rack (max 5 attempts) 185, 205, 225, 235, 255
2) 5×2 Hang power cleans @ 205

Conditioning
Fran- 21-15-9 Thruster/Pull-up 

4:36, First time doing ‘fran’ in years and well off my PR (2:28)

Midline:
1a)3×3 TGUs (L/R) @ 70
2b) 3×15 Rev Hypers

5/6/12

Needed my Conditioning to be under 15 mins. Short and intense to get a good sweat, burn in the lungs, and tax the legs.

5 sets Fox Drive stairs with 25 lbs weight vest. (1 set = 200+ stairs)

That did the trick!

Back to the books...

My first crack at this....

So, my first post is going to be lame and pretty much copy and paste a great article by Charles Poliquin.

Here it goes....I break #46 all the time.

To view the whole article http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Blog/tabid/130/EntryId/1174/Fifty-Fat-Loss-Tips.aspx 


1.    Train using the most “bang for your buck,” multi-joint lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, chin-ups, and Olympic lifts.

2.    Avoid isolation, single-joint lifts such as bicep or leg curls unless you have unlimited training time.

3.    Use very short rest periods (10 to 60 seconds) to trigger the greatest growth hormone response.

4.     Vary the tempo of lifting phases and rest periods to provide new stimulus for the body to adapt.

5.    To get lean fast, use a hypertrophy-type protocol (8 to 12 reps, more than 3 sets, 70 to 85 percent 1RM load).

6.    Use a longer time under tension to burn more energy and increase postexercise oxygen consumption—try a 4-second eccentric and 1-second concentric phase.

7.    Train to create an anabolic response.Increasing growth hormone is the priority because of its significant lipolytic (fat burning) effects.

8.    Perform circuit training with little rest between sets for maximal growth hormone response.

9.    For gradual fat loss over a longer period, include strength cycles that favor testosterone release with heavier loads (up to 95 percent 1RM), slightly longer rest (2 to 3 minutes), and lots of sets.

10.    Work harder. If you’re not getting results, you’re not working hard enough.

11.    Give priority to training the anaerobic energy system over the aerobic system when strength training and conditioning.

12.    Do high-intensity sprint intervals for conditioning. Two examples are 60 cycle sprints of 8 seconds each, 12 seconds rest; or 6 all-out 30-second running sprints on a track, 4 minutes rest.

13.    Be as active as possible in daily life. Move more: Take regular brisk walks during the day, always take the stairs, park far away in any parking lot, or do your own yard work.

14.    Do relaxing physical activity instead of sitting in front of a screen: yoga, stretching, foam rolling, martial arts, or walking mediation.

15.    Eliminate all processed foods from your diet—don’t eat them ever.

16.    Eliminate all trans-fats from your diet such as margarine and shortening—they MUST be removed from the diet.

17.    Don’t avoid fat. Research shows that people with diets with 30 to 50 percent coming from smart fats have higher androgens and lower body fat.

18.     Eat smart fat, favoring the omega-3 fats that come from fish and wild meats.

19.    Take fish oil to boost omega-3 fat intake and ensure your omega-3 to omega-6 fat intake is balanced.

20.    Eat a diet with high-quality protein—organic meats will provide the largest “bang for your buck” protein.

21.    Eliminate wheat and avoid grains in favor of vegetables.

22.    Raise resting metabolic rate (the amount of calories the body burns at rest) by eating a higher protein diet with 15 to 25 percent of the diet coming from high-quality protein.

23.    Eliminate all high-glycemic carbs and eat only low-glycemic vegetables and berries.

24.    Eat an antioxidant-rich diet to prevent inflammation, which leads to fat gain. Try kale, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, berries, pomegranates, and cherries.

25.    Non-green veggies that help you lose fat are colored peppers, eggplant, garlic, onions, mushrooms, hearts of palm, spaghetti squash, and water chestnuts.

26.    Drink a lot of water (at LEAST 3 liters a day) to stay hydrated and help detox the body.

27.    Avoid alcohol, juice, soda, and sports drinks. Stick to water, tea, and coffee.

28.    For a radical approach, eliminate all alcohol. If alcohol can’t be eliminated, Sardinian and Spanish red wines are the best worst option.

29.    Try acupuncture—studies have shown it can aid in treating obesity.

30.    Make sure your vitamin D level is over 40 ng/ml. Take vitamin D if not.

31.    Take a probiotic to improve your gut health.

32.    Make sure your magnesium level is up to par. Scientists suggest 500 mg of magnesium a day.

33.    Take a liquid zinc test to see if you can taste zinc. If not, you are deficient and should take zinc to speed fat loss.

34.    Don’t buy cheap, poor quality supplements because they will do more harm than good if they are tainted with heavy metals or pollutants.

35.    Take B vitamins, especially if you eat a high-protein diet or take BCAAs because the extra amino acids take away from the pool of available B vitamins need for detox.

36.    Drink coffee or take caffeine before workouts to increase fat burning and work capacity—research shows we will self-select heavier loads if we take caffeine before training.

37.    Drink organic green tea to elevate fat burning and aid in detoxifying the body.

38.    Take carnitine to help the body use fat for fuel and increase time to exhaustion when training hard.

39.    Take the amino acid taurine because it lowers the stress hormone cortisol and helps the body digest fat.

40.    Take R-form alpha lipoic acid because it supports detox and recovery from training.

41.    Use the herb fenugreek with meals to improve insulin sensitivity and energy use.

42.    Remove body piercings to lose fat fast, especially belly piercings.

43.    Limit fructose in the diet because it gets in the way of losing belly fat.

44.    Never eat fructose before workouts because it blunts fat burning and lowers metabolic rate.

45.    Avoid milk before workouts because it is very “insulinotropic,” meaning it causes persistently high insulin levels that make you burn less energy.

46.    Don’t drink caffeine after workouts because it may raise cortisol at the point where you need to clear it for the best fat-burning and recovery effect.

47.    Eat high-quality protein for breakfast. Avoid cereal and all processed foods.

48.    Eliminate all sugar from your diet. It’s way more trouble than it’s worth if you want to lose fat.

49.    Make an effort to get enough sleep. An early-to-bed, early-to-rise sleep pattern has been shown to improve body composition.

50.    Know that you have complete control over what you put in your mouth. No one ever ate anything by accident.