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The latest in kettlebell sport, health, fitness, strength, aerobics, nutrition, lifestyle

Q: Does Exercise Get Easier?

1/13/2023

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A: Exercise is a broad term.  I think of exercise as “activity”: moving around.  Does moving around get easier? - Absolutely!  But it gets easier because you get better at it, because you enjoy it more, and because it becomes a part of your routine, meaning that it becomes your new normal.  Training to get results however is a constant process of self-challenge.

In the beginning you get some results from some effort.  However, as it becomes your new normal, those results slow, so you have to increase the challenge.  Once you do that - either by increasing weights/intensity, duration and/or volume of work performed - you start to see progress again.  Soon you adapt to this new normal, and the process repeats itself.

So weights get heavier, workouts get longer, and recovery gets more important - but your perception of how hard you’re working only moderately increases.  That is to say, for example, 10lb bicep curls for 20 reps used to be an 8/10 on the exertion scale for you.  Now, 6 weeks later, you do 15lb bicep curls for 20, but it’s still 8/10 on the exertion scale.  It certainly feels heavier - you notice the weight - but it doesn’t feel 30% more challenging (the difference between 15 and 10lbs).

In short, it doesn’t get easier so much as you get stronger, fitter, and better able to manage the stress and load.
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My First Guided Training Program: Things I learned

6/25/2022

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This was one of the first planned out, daily programs I did for the specific goal of leaning out.

Things I learned while doing it:
  • consistency made me feel in control
  • food and training support each other
  • I got more out of buckling down with hard work and careful planning and preparation than all the bullshit I ever bought into previously: such as "super foods", raw food diet, 3 hour workouts, fat-loss supplements (EGCG, L-Carnitine, ECA Stacks)
  • Seeing myself eat less food (reducing portions) meant I was ACTUALLY eating less calories and burning more fat
  • Others who have never done what I was doing seemed never understand what it meant to hold oneself accountable to a goal. Setting a goal is like making a promise to yourself, and you never break promises, especially ones with deep emotional roots.
  • When others push food on you, the easy part is saying "No" if you went through the process of setting your goal, making that promise, and going through hours of preparation and contemplation -- The hard part is not telling them to fuck off when they keep pushing, and they show zero regard for why you told them you're saying "No".
    • e.g. "I made a goal to lose X pounds, so all my food is planned out. It's important to me (and my health)" "Oh, c'mon just have a little..."
    • When you stop and think, this person is knowingly circumventing your personal goals, which to me is a sign of disrespect, and with a topic so emotional for most people, even more egregious a transgression than that. But then you just remind yourself that they are willfully ignorant to your feelings and what it means to be motivated to achieve or improve yourself.
  • I was capable of achieving what many implied was impossible. I asked myself what created the gap between goals and results:
    • planning, and
    • consistency - the 2 skills people still have the hardest time with. Without planning and consistency, the reasons to justify failure are just weak excuses
  • strict dieting gets results, but I couldn't maintain it
  • I can still train even while brutally sore
  • Going from 60-minute sessions to 90-minute sessions out of necessity to fit all the extra work in (rather than because of wasting time) didn't kill me but I'm also not sure it made me stronger
  • cardio takes many forms (I would jog down to the overpass and go up and down stairs for 15-45 minutes depending on where I was in the program. Even through the winter, but I'd have to wear antisplip boots and hold the railing when it was snowy and icy)
  • I learned to love 30-60-minute steady state cardio sessions because I could either:
    • prepare mentally for the workout ahead by watching these and other training videos
    • educate myself and reinforce positive psychological traits by listening to Tom Venuto's Body Fat Solution Book
    • relax, meditate, and reflect while watching Netflix or other drivel

Things I learned AFTER:
  • I've been leaner since then WITHOUT strict dieting and MORE planning & consistency: i.e. I didn't have to cut out milk, sugar, or the occasional treat to keep losing fat
  • Even pros have outdated ideas about how to achieve fat loss - thus, people tend to get results often in spite of the things they do or their knowledge of how things work
  • I could build muscle and lose fat at the same time (as my BodPod assessment from the start of the program compared to my final assessment indicated)
  • Abdominal "twists" are stupid, they don't shrink your waist, and the balance of evidence suggests you'll deteriorate your spine over time if you do them
  • Anyone interested in re-compositioning their body should do at least one 8-12 week program and follow it to the letter to really, truly understand what it means to get return on investment, and to know the minimum lengths to which one must go to see the level of result they say they want versus what they are willing to work for
Are you looking for a program to follow?  I offer personalized coaching, catered to your goals and needs.
Get Coaching!
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LAMAR GANT: It's not your burden that defines you, but how you carry it

6/18/2022

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Lamar Gant is an example of an athlete with severe scoliosis - not mild scoliosis - severe scoliosis, who overcame his limitations to become one of the most revered lifters in the annals of powerlifting. We can safely say that neither his form or technique was "textbook" (due to his morphology), and thus not what you might presume to be "safe lifting", but even so he was driven, set goals for himself, applied himself in his training, and was brave enough to stand on stage with "normal" athletes and show them what stuff he was made of.
He is not alone though, as you will find throughout the lifter forums that focus on scoliosis that many people have found that exercise - but more specifically heavy weight training - has played a complimentary role to the regression or elimination of many people's conditions.

Some common themes that have turned up in this T-Nation thread are:
- There seems to be no clear research done on athletes who repeatedly lift heavy weights with scoliosis and whether or not this can cause or worsen the condition.
- Lift. You’ll see what happens when it happens.
- Do what works for you. If it hurts(like spine damaging hurt), stop.
- If you were born with it, you can prehab/rehab to keep it from getting worse, and continue lifting. If you have developed scoliosis, you can correct and reverse it with some thought and a little work.
- you may develop scoliosis through bad posture, exercise selection, imbalances
- unilateral work is key for addressing imbalances
- lifting is good for you! Just use a little thought and consideration when you pick your lifts
- An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
- It wasn’t the weights that messed me up, it was the way I used the weights that caused me problems

One last note: It has been said by many that "there is no correlation with bad form and injury risk in weightlifting". This is not a surprising observation as we do indeed see many examples of horrendous form performed without subsequent acute injury. Moreover, we also see (and may have experienced) instances of "perfect" form during squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc. that incur back strains, bicep tears, or pec tears.
Indeed, seldom do we see obvious positive, linear correlations of bad form and acute injury in the experimental resistance training literature. Common and well-established injury risks are actually poor sleep, high training frequency, higher training loads, exercise selection (joint specific injuries), higher rep ranges, and age is actually inversely related to injury in powerlifters, because "Despite the logical assumption that coordination and conditioning decrease with higher age, the higher experience in training and competition of older athletes led to a lower rate of injuries" (Reichel et al. 2019)

So on that last note, what I'd like to leave you with is, if you are experiencing challenges with your activity - pain, discomfort, restriction, unreasonable difficulty) - give it time.  There is learning in the doing, and your motor development (how your brain learns a skill and instructs your muscles) is time dependent.  Be patient, trust in the process, and you will get stronger and more confident!

Learn more about Lamar HERE.
Research Article: Incidence and characteristics of acute and overuse injuries in elite powerlifterswww.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2331205X.2019.1588192
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HOW TO TURKISH GET UP WITH 100lbs

8/30/2020

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This exercise has been used as a quick assessment tool for movement quality because the parameters for both joint mobility and system stability lie at the upper boundaries of what is considered functional.  When performed with increasingly heavier weights, there is a high neural demand on cognition and motor control.  Thus, this exercise can neither be rushed nor performed without 100% focus.

As renowned physiotherapist and FMS founder Gray Cook remarked, symmetry, bodyweight management, strength, and stability can all be addressed with the Turkish Get Up because despite not working many prime-movers, "[it] really blasts your stabilizers" and "stabilizers are what give you the mechanical advantage to be stronger".

As the legend goes, if you wanted to learn how to lift you would find your local, village strongman and ask him to teach you.  The strongman, knowledgeable in such matters understood that not everyone had the focus, determination, coordination or even physical well-being it takes to begin much less endure years of brutal training.  In order to separate the wishers from the workers, the strongman would decree:
"This is the Get-Up.  You must perform it on both the left and right sides equally.  When you can do it with 100lbs I will show you how to lift."
The Turkish Get-Up truly is one of the most accessible ways to assess both quantitative and qualitative parameters of physical fitness.  Not only will a TGU performed with light-to-moderately heavy weight keep you in the best shape of your life, but it also a mighty feat of strength when attempted with a maximal load.

The Turkish Get Up includes both an ASCENT and a DESCENT.

TGU: ASCENT

STEP 1: FLOOR PRESS
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With KB on the floor, insert deep into the handle. Pull hand into chest and roll to back. Press bell from shoulder to a vertical lockout. Use both hands if necessary.
STEP 2: ROLL TO ELBOW
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With one leg bent and one straight, drive through the foot of the bent leg to turn the hips over and provide inertia for the roll. Simultaneously pull your elbow underneath you by digging it into the floor. This is the only step when speed is your friend.
STEP 3: POST TO HAND
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Keep your eyes on the bell and maintain upward pressure through the elevated arm. Keep bottom shoulder packed tight, press the base of your palm into the floor and pull your hand underneath your torso while maintaining active pressure into the floor.
STEP 4: HIGH BRIDGE
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Keep eyes on the bell and maintain pressure through both arms. Drive through your foot to lift your hips into a fully extended hip position.
STEP 5: BRIDGE TO KNEE
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You are about to support yourself and the bell on only two points of contact - so be ready! Most of your weight is in your bottom arm here so take it slow and DO NOT take your eyes off the bell! Pull your foot underneath your body, slightly turning your hips to clear the floor with your knee. Plant the knee directly underneath your torso. If you have trouble running your knee into the floor, it's usually due to not turning the hips.
STEP 6: HIP SHIFT
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Keep your trunk stiff, eyes on bell, and simultaneously pull your hips under your shoulders as you lift your torso off from horizontal to vertical.
STEP 7: ADJUST YOUR FEET
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The geometry of the TGU (and your body) is imperfect. Thus, some adjustments may be required in order to take a proper lunge step.
STEP 8: KNEELING TO STANDING
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Don't get cocky! Keep your eyes on the bell, maintain active lockout, keep shoulder blade anchored, and PULL FORWARD into a bilateral stance. DO NOT push back into split squat stance and then step forward. The former utilizes your glute/ham strength and hip stability to ascend, the latter your quad strength and knee stability.

TGU: DESCENT

STEP 1: REVERSE LUNGE
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Keep your front heel down on the lunge! Feel the bell's weight in your hip. Guide yourself down slow. No shortcuts here.
STEP 2: HIP SHIFT / POST
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Maintain active lockout, keep eyes on the bell, shift hips out to lower your torso towards the floor. Don't just fall over. Try not to reach behind your knee. Your foot-knee-hand placement should create at least a modest angle.
STEP 3: SHOOT
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This is where many failed attempts end - take this step slow. Remember you are only on two points of contact as you shoot your leg through. Do not overreach as it will shift your center-of-mass too far resulting in destabilization. This step ends when the heel touches the floor.
STEP 4: PLANT YOUR BUTT
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Get your butt on the floor as soon as you can following the previous step.
STEP 5: SLIDE TO YOUR SIDE
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I have found this technique to be more reliable and predictable than simply reversing the ascending steps. Dropping to the elbow is not usually the issue, but rather getting to the back without dropping awkwardly or directly loading a flexed thoracic spine. Maintaining a stiff arm while sliding out allows a controlled descent at constant speed. People with poor shoulder ROM may have trouble with this step, but then again those people probably cannot TGU without a bent bell arm.
STEP 6: ROLL TO YOUR BACK
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After your lat/side makes contact with the floor you can safely and smoothly roll to your back. Get to your back before unloacking your arm. Many rush this step. Achieve stability in the lying position, and then lower the bell with both arms. Congrats! Now repeat it on the other side!
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Designing a Weight Training Program for home (BASIC)

3/26/2020

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Start Somewhere, Start Now
  • Don’t wait around for someone to tell you WHICH exercises to do, or HOW MANY reps to do, or HOW MUCH weight to use
  • Making something a sustainable part of your lifestyle involves acting on intrinsic motivations: do the exercises you LIKE to do, do the number of reps you CAN do, and lift the amount of weight that FEELS good for you
    • The Gym: the benefit of machines is that they guide your exercise selection (you don’t have a choice), while at the same time allowing you the freedom to choose which machines you want, and explore which exercises and muscles you ENJOY training
    • Classes: make note of exercises you enjoyed in class.  Maybe they are a good fit for your own home program
    • From Scratch: look for a program online and give it a try at home - if you like it, keep it, or make minor adjustments to make it a ‘best fit’
Training Specificity
  • Some sources indicate the human body has over 800 muscles, while some indicate there are 700 named muscles, of which only 300 may be of practical relevance to specialists who deal directly with anatomy
  • Some strength athletes exclusively train Bench Press, Deadlift, and Squat, with maybe some accessory sled dragging, shoulder shrugs, crunches, and cardio thrown in
  • These athletes tend to be the ‘strongest’ in the world (think powerlifters, strongmen, and olympic weightlifters)
  • The more complex an athlete’s routine, the further down the strength ladder they tend to be, but the higher on the athletic ladder they are - this is representative of the ‘specificity of training’
  • If you train a specific thing, you get better at it: practicing piano makes you a better piano player, but just because both a piano and a guitar make music doesn’t mean playing piano makes you a better guitar player
    • Complementary Carryover: However, becoming a better musician gives you an ear for music and dexterity for picking up other instruments
    • In training, all exercises can be complementary.  However, excelling at an exercise requires training that movement specifically

Cover Your Bases
  • Identify all the muscle areas you want to develop; identify exercises you want to get better at
  • Consult a resource that has organized exercises by muscle group
  • Choose 1 exercises for each muscle group YOU want to develop
  • Make time for practicing exercises/movements YOU want to get better at (i.e. sports, yoga poses, supplementary activity)
  • Perform 1-2 sets of each exercise to a level of fatigue YOU are satisfied with
  • Log your session, make a note of anything relevant (e.g. “I felt really weak today”, “I could hardly finish the second set of these”, “My back feels funny on these”, “I don’t think I do these right”, “This felt too easy/hard, increase/decrease the weight next session”, “This was awkward with my home set up - find an alternative”, etc.)

  • Follow the principle of progressive overload

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