Sunday, December 27, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Heavy metal, christmas cookies and Japanese economics
12/21
Heavy metal, Christmas cookies and Japanese economics.
Here we are only a few days away from a holiday that is infused with green and red icing on cupcakes, cookies, and various other sweets. We all know that a lean body is not fueled with sweets, but come on now its Christmas. Everyone and their mother is going to be shoving all the homemade or store bought confections in your face until your belly explodes, and that BEFORE DINNER. Well I undestand not everyone has a will made of tungsten or stainless steel so im not here to tell you not to indulge at all. That would be ridiculous. I know even myself will want a little bit of my moms cupcake cheesecakes?.. So what I am here to do is give some recommendations on how to make the holidays work and not get stressed out about eating a cookie here and there. Remember first of all, if you are on a nutrition plan to lose fat, it is a LIFESTYLE change and one day is not going to hurt you in the long run. You should be to the point now that you don?t have to eat 24 cookies before dinner. If you are training hard and correctly your body should tell you that a few is enough and 24 is overkill. To hold back on every little thing and never treat yourself to some of lifes little pleasures, will only make you ravenous for then soon and you wont be able to control it. Id rather have ONE cookie every now and then, than to go 10 weeks without any sweets and finally break down and not be able to stop eating a gallon of ice cream. Remember were trying to keep our blood sugar stable not spiking . One cookie for dessert along with a meal isn?t going to have nearly the effect on our blood sugar that a plate of them by themselves is.
Here is what I am going to do during Christmas this year, since I am on a nutrition plan to lose some fat for a few photoshoots in a month.
Make sure you hit the gym on the days your going to be indulging in higher calorie or higher carb foods. Make sure you do weight training with higher reps than you may normally do. I recommend a full body workout with multiple sets of 15-20 reps for each body part. This will create lower muscle glycogen resulting in a place for those extra carbs to go. Id rather take them into my muscle for fuel than to store as fat.
Eat several small meals before the big family get together. This will keep you satiated so you wont be starving for 5 hours and not be able to control yourself at the larger meal.
Make sure if you do eat sweets, lower the carbohydrate portion of the meal so your tank ( muscle glycogen ) wont overflow. Eat a lean protein source, good fibrous veggies and a healthy fat with the family meal. Have the sweets as dessert with the meal so the fiber fat and protein, will slow the release of glucose into the blood stream to prevent a large blood sugar spike signaling an insulin surge.
Give your self a limit, on sweets and alcohol. Hold to your guns . You don?t have to feel guilty because Aunt Jessica made her famous brownies and wants you to have seconds or thirds!!!
Limit alcohol consumption. Remember alcohol is empty calories and gets metabolized quickly to fat cells and the large food meal is left to get stored also. Its simple to get thousands of calories by drinking beers and eating fatty sweets, without even realizing it. Im just sayin??..
Watch for triggers. I there is a major stressor going to be present, try to limit it. If you have a problem with dark chocolate fudge or Uncle Tim, limit your exposure to them. Don?t sit next to the fudge tray all night and try to not eat any of it. Don?t Argue with Tim about the Bengals/Browns.
Remember if you are on a nutrition plan, it is YOUR choice. You have to deal with peoples criticism about eating Healthy. You know everyone will. You have to be strong to get through holidays at the in laws that don?t understand anything about eating healthy or what you have to do to compete in a figure/ bodybuilding show. We all know its not just working out. But they don?t and they may never get it.
Plan ahead. Try to stick to your plan as much as you can but if your turkey isn?t 145 grams worth, don?t sweat it. If the sweet potato, has a bit of brown sugar on it, IT isn?t the end of the world. DON?T let it stress you out more that missing a mortgage payment. Sometimes relaxing and eating a little more of what you want can get those stress hormones down and your metabolism stoked. Ive actually lost fat by indulging in foods that weren?t on my plan. ITS ONE DAY NOT A WEEK REMEMBER!!!!
BIZG ONE HERE>>>>>>>> DON?T EAT YOUR FILL at dinner and wait two hours to eat dessert. Chances are then you will overeat the dessert and cause a huge insulin surge by eating refined carbs by themselves. Which will in turn make you hungry for more . So then there goes that plate of cookies at midnight mom sent home with you?.. I see this all the time. My wifes family just wont understand why I want dessert as soon as im done with dinner. Im more likely to eat a small piece of pie then , rather than wait til im hungry again in an hour and a half and want four pieces with ice cream on top??this is the truth. Happens every holiday. Usually im on a strict nutrition plan for a competition in march during Christmas and I hve to be really good. I realize that?s not how everyone is or can be. So this time im gonna be a little bit like a normal person. Think of it as a reward for hard work, but also as a refuel day. Get back to the gym or training with even more energy and intensity than you did before. It should be easy you?ll have a full glycogen load in your muscles.
HAVE FUN WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Make these times together count. There are many people out there who will not have that chance. Share your love, and be there for your family, friends and whoever needs you.
Oh and by the way if you?re a figure competitor or bodybuilder wo happens to be at one of these feasts, SUCK IT UP ! Remember there is always competitors out there who arent cheating and they will probably look better than you come contest time?.. JUST KIDDING !, but hey you did make that decision didn?t you, so quit whining about the damn cake!
Till next time you all are wonderful and I hope you have a great Christmas or whatever holiday you are celebrating.
Joe
Heavy metal, Christmas cookies and Japanese economics.
Here we are only a few days away from a holiday that is infused with green and red icing on cupcakes, cookies, and various other sweets. We all know that a lean body is not fueled with sweets, but come on now its Christmas. Everyone and their mother is going to be shoving all the homemade or store bought confections in your face until your belly explodes, and that BEFORE DINNER. Well I undestand not everyone has a will made of tungsten or stainless steel so im not here to tell you not to indulge at all. That would be ridiculous. I know even myself will want a little bit of my moms cupcake cheesecakes?.. So what I am here to do is give some recommendations on how to make the holidays work and not get stressed out about eating a cookie here and there. Remember first of all, if you are on a nutrition plan to lose fat, it is a LIFESTYLE change and one day is not going to hurt you in the long run. You should be to the point now that you don?t have to eat 24 cookies before dinner. If you are training hard and correctly your body should tell you that a few is enough and 24 is overkill. To hold back on every little thing and never treat yourself to some of lifes little pleasures, will only make you ravenous for then soon and you wont be able to control it. Id rather have ONE cookie every now and then, than to go 10 weeks without any sweets and finally break down and not be able to stop eating a gallon of ice cream. Remember were trying to keep our blood sugar stable not spiking . One cookie for dessert along with a meal isn?t going to have nearly the effect on our blood sugar that a plate of them by themselves is.
Here is what I am going to do during Christmas this year, since I am on a nutrition plan to lose some fat for a few photoshoots in a month.
Make sure you hit the gym on the days your going to be indulging in higher calorie or higher carb foods. Make sure you do weight training with higher reps than you may normally do. I recommend a full body workout with multiple sets of 15-20 reps for each body part. This will create lower muscle glycogen resulting in a place for those extra carbs to go. Id rather take them into my muscle for fuel than to store as fat.
Eat several small meals before the big family get together. This will keep you satiated so you wont be starving for 5 hours and not be able to control yourself at the larger meal.
Make sure if you do eat sweets, lower the carbohydrate portion of the meal so your tank ( muscle glycogen ) wont overflow. Eat a lean protein source, good fibrous veggies and a healthy fat with the family meal. Have the sweets as dessert with the meal so the fiber fat and protein, will slow the release of glucose into the blood stream to prevent a large blood sugar spike signaling an insulin surge.
Give your self a limit, on sweets and alcohol. Hold to your guns . You don?t have to feel guilty because Aunt Jessica made her famous brownies and wants you to have seconds or thirds!!!
Limit alcohol consumption. Remember alcohol is empty calories and gets metabolized quickly to fat cells and the large food meal is left to get stored also. Its simple to get thousands of calories by drinking beers and eating fatty sweets, without even realizing it. Im just sayin??..
Watch for triggers. I there is a major stressor going to be present, try to limit it. If you have a problem with dark chocolate fudge or Uncle Tim, limit your exposure to them. Don?t sit next to the fudge tray all night and try to not eat any of it. Don?t Argue with Tim about the Bengals/Browns.
Remember if you are on a nutrition plan, it is YOUR choice. You have to deal with peoples criticism about eating Healthy. You know everyone will. You have to be strong to get through holidays at the in laws that don?t understand anything about eating healthy or what you have to do to compete in a figure/ bodybuilding show. We all know its not just working out. But they don?t and they may never get it.
Plan ahead. Try to stick to your plan as much as you can but if your turkey isn?t 145 grams worth, don?t sweat it. If the sweet potato, has a bit of brown sugar on it, IT isn?t the end of the world. DON?T let it stress you out more that missing a mortgage payment. Sometimes relaxing and eating a little more of what you want can get those stress hormones down and your metabolism stoked. Ive actually lost fat by indulging in foods that weren?t on my plan. ITS ONE DAY NOT A WEEK REMEMBER!!!!
BIZG ONE HERE>>>>>>>> DON?T EAT YOUR FILL at dinner and wait two hours to eat dessert. Chances are then you will overeat the dessert and cause a huge insulin surge by eating refined carbs by themselves. Which will in turn make you hungry for more . So then there goes that plate of cookies at midnight mom sent home with you?.. I see this all the time. My wifes family just wont understand why I want dessert as soon as im done with dinner. Im more likely to eat a small piece of pie then , rather than wait til im hungry again in an hour and a half and want four pieces with ice cream on top??this is the truth. Happens every holiday. Usually im on a strict nutrition plan for a competition in march during Christmas and I hve to be really good. I realize that?s not how everyone is or can be. So this time im gonna be a little bit like a normal person. Think of it as a reward for hard work, but also as a refuel day. Get back to the gym or training with even more energy and intensity than you did before. It should be easy you?ll have a full glycogen load in your muscles.
HAVE FUN WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Make these times together count. There are many people out there who will not have that chance. Share your love, and be there for your family, friends and whoever needs you.
Oh and by the way if you?re a figure competitor or bodybuilder wo happens to be at one of these feasts, SUCK IT UP ! Remember there is always competitors out there who arent cheating and they will probably look better than you come contest time?.. JUST KIDDING !, but hey you did make that decision didn?t you, so quit whining about the damn cake!
Till next time you all are wonderful and I hope you have a great Christmas or whatever holiday you are celebrating.
Joe
Sunday, December 13, 2009
HIIT cardio and HOW I DO IT
12 13
HIIT
How to do High Intensity Interval Training for cardio. Then HOW I DO IT.
HIIT cardio is a great way to burn off those last stubborn pounds, or just get into really good shape in a short time. It increases RMR (resting metabolic rate) due to increased post exercise oxygen consumption and get those fat burning hormones in their place! Recently it has been shown that two weeks of HIIT can substantially improve insulin action in young healthy men.
^ Babraj J, Vollaard N, Keast C, Guppy F, Cottrell G, Timmons J (2009). "Extremely short duration high intensity interval training substantially improves insulin action in young healthy males". BMC Endocrine Disorders 9 (3). doi:10.1186/1472-6823-9-3. PMID 19175906.
But its not that easy. Youll sweat where you didn?t think you have sweat glands, cry in public, come close to puking, or just generally be sucking wind. Ive always incorporated HIIT for contests or photoshoots, because it just gets me much more cut than same old cardio on the elliptical or bike. While there are many ways to do it a very successful way for anyone from intermediate trainees to advanced is to warm up for a minute or two, then do 20 seconds of all out back breaking cardio followed by twice that time of recuperation/ . Example jump rope hard or sprint on the treadmill for 10 seconds, walk for 30, then repeat. Last contest season I did 20 second bike sprints followed by 40 secs recovery spin. It is usually done 10 to 20 minutes or 6-15 hard high intensity cycles.
This year since not competing I thought id try some new methods. Put my own twist on HIIT. High intensity cardio depletes glycogen (stored energy)from muscles, so you don?t want to do it on any empty stomach for the most part. I use it on non weight training days to get in the gym or relieve stress. I put on my favorite fast music and go to town. Since I am dieting on a decent amount of carbs instead of doin it the way I did before here is the new program parameters.
- Treadmill 3.2 mph
-two 35 lp kettle bells
-Ipod of course
- glutamine and BCAA?s to sip on
- yohimbine and quadracarn( Beverly international Carnitine product) pre cardio
- HR monitor
- walk for 1 minute , jump dow nand do this complex with kettle bells>
Hands on kettle bells the whole time I do 1 renegade row on each arm, 1 push up,
1 deadlift to squat jump, then 1 double kettle bell clean and press. Repeat this sequence roughly 4 times until minute is over then back to treadmill.
= Full body glycogen depletion which will in turn be able to store more by increasing insulin sensitivity.
-Warmup 2 minutes
- repeat 10-12 HIIT cycles
-Stop at 25-30 minute mark
- do 2x per week until photoshoots in addition to weight/ kettle bell training and dog walking
Im doing more this year because I want to test and also need to keep up mountain biking conditioning. I think im going to join the Reser/ Fusion Bike team to race in the mountain bike circuit this year locally.
Anyway here were the results
30 minutes
Over 300 calories burned
Max heart rate 189
Avg heart rate 127
Best part was it was not boring in the least. Remember your not lifting to failure but just having fun kicking some kettle bell butt!!!. All the while doing some hardcore controlled cardio..
So if your ready for a change give it a try I recommend watching your heart rate and breathing, don?t need anyone passing out here!!!
HIIT
How to do High Intensity Interval Training for cardio. Then HOW I DO IT.
HIIT cardio is a great way to burn off those last stubborn pounds, or just get into really good shape in a short time. It increases RMR (resting metabolic rate) due to increased post exercise oxygen consumption and get those fat burning hormones in their place! Recently it has been shown that two weeks of HIIT can substantially improve insulin action in young healthy men.
^ Babraj J, Vollaard N, Keast C, Guppy F, Cottrell G, Timmons J (2009). "Extremely short duration high intensity interval training substantially improves insulin action in young healthy males". BMC Endocrine Disorders 9 (3). doi:10.1186/1472-6823-9-3. PMID 19175906.
But its not that easy. Youll sweat where you didn?t think you have sweat glands, cry in public, come close to puking, or just generally be sucking wind. Ive always incorporated HIIT for contests or photoshoots, because it just gets me much more cut than same old cardio on the elliptical or bike. While there are many ways to do it a very successful way for anyone from intermediate trainees to advanced is to warm up for a minute or two, then do 20 seconds of all out back breaking cardio followed by twice that time of recuperation/ . Example jump rope hard or sprint on the treadmill for 10 seconds, walk for 30, then repeat. Last contest season I did 20 second bike sprints followed by 40 secs recovery spin. It is usually done 10 to 20 minutes or 6-15 hard high intensity cycles.
This year since not competing I thought id try some new methods. Put my own twist on HIIT. High intensity cardio depletes glycogen (stored energy)from muscles, so you don?t want to do it on any empty stomach for the most part. I use it on non weight training days to get in the gym or relieve stress. I put on my favorite fast music and go to town. Since I am dieting on a decent amount of carbs instead of doin it the way I did before here is the new program parameters.
- Treadmill 3.2 mph
-two 35 lp kettle bells
-Ipod of course
- glutamine and BCAA?s to sip on
- yohimbine and quadracarn( Beverly international Carnitine product) pre cardio
- HR monitor
- walk for 1 minute , jump dow nand do this complex with kettle bells>
Hands on kettle bells the whole time I do 1 renegade row on each arm, 1 push up,
1 deadlift to squat jump, then 1 double kettle bell clean and press. Repeat this sequence roughly 4 times until minute is over then back to treadmill.
= Full body glycogen depletion which will in turn be able to store more by increasing insulin sensitivity.
-Warmup 2 minutes
- repeat 10-12 HIIT cycles
-Stop at 25-30 minute mark
- do 2x per week until photoshoots in addition to weight/ kettle bell training and dog walking
Im doing more this year because I want to test and also need to keep up mountain biking conditioning. I think im going to join the Reser/ Fusion Bike team to race in the mountain bike circuit this year locally.
Anyway here were the results
30 minutes
Over 300 calories burned
Max heart rate 189
Avg heart rate 127
Best part was it was not boring in the least. Remember your not lifting to failure but just having fun kicking some kettle bell butt!!!. All the while doing some hardcore controlled cardio..
So if your ready for a change give it a try I recommend watching your heart rate and breathing, don?t need anyone passing out here!!!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Back to the grind....
Well thanksgiving proved to be a wonderful adversary. After i exclaimed to my wife Nicki that it was my favorite holiday, I was poised to do some damage on the lovely abundance of food laid before me. I cant wait for our new house so I can cook the meal!!!. Next year i promise. As you may know , I am on a clean eating plan to lean out not to compete but to finish a few photoshoots i have been asked to do. right now im about 9% bodyfat that would give me 172 lean mass which is almost 9 lbs higher than the beginning of this year. my new training split will be MON pull TUES push THURS legs and FRI Shoulders and and arms. Ill use as many kettlebell exercisess as i can and def will do kettlebells as HIIT. i Seem to have gotten much stronger since last year which makes me happy. Biking season seems to have come to a close and i had many great times on the trails with friends new and old. But back to thanksgiving day....
7am Trained legs and hit them hard with high volume to deplete glycogen to eat the thanksgiving carbs
ate a low carb postworkout meal and went to gramdmas brunch. CITRIMAX (garcinia cambogia fruit) works it apparently has properties that keep calories partitioned to muscle and not fat but it curbs your appetite. the whole rest of day i was having a hard time being hungry. I went to my brothershouse to eat with my parents. great food but Dinner at Nickis parents afterwards was very hard to get an appetite. food looked so good ad i was determined to eat homemade apple pie. It was all I could do to get one piece down!. I got home and realized that I didnt even take any leftovers home!!!! oh well. i do eat turkey and sweet potatos everyday….. so i guess my point is every day is thanksgiving for me. By the way i weighed 191.2 thanksgiving morning and the same the day afterwards. so no harm done!!!!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
summer in november.
Well today was the first day i did not have to wake at the crack of dawn to train anyone. i have to admit it feels pretty wierd. so i figured i would have a day of total relax. dog walk? check. started getting ready for a few photoshoots in the next 6-8 weeks, so i hopped on the bike trainer with a copy of Tom Robbins' "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates" mmm hmm. rode for a good 25 min pre breakfast while sippin on some glutamine and bcaas. google it. im here to blog not describe..... after feeling the summer temp outside, my mind was racing to find something to do that didnt involve three layers of clothes. as always, the first thought wasto mountain bike... but i went yesterday and frankly legs were very fatigued. scratch that. cut the grass? im sure that can wait. So i figured id have a recuperative day. eat clean, clean the kitchen, read the social media bible and look where that took me .... blogging for the first time. if only i could type faster/better. Fueled by my wifes overly strong coffee, (i prefer the low acid weak morning brew) i watch these letters appear from taps of my shaky fingers. i suppose i am being productive and motivating myself to grow my business through an outreach into cyberspace, but chances are most of you know id much rather work with people than spend my day behind a computer screen. well this coffee is kickin in so i wanna go work out, i guess ill end up pushing the mower all around the yard for the next hour....
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