Health Habits

In fact, if you perform any sport/activity that requires intermittent bursts of high intensity effort (hockey, fighting, track & field, etc), creatine should be part of your supplement regimen.

However, if your sport/activity relies on slow twitch fibers and aerobic endurance, creatine may not be for you.

Recommendation

There are a lot of supplement companies selling different types of creatine supplements.

In my experience, AllMax produces one of the better versions. Quality results with no side effect bloating.

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Waves and Waves of HIIT

December 7th, 2009

This workout is dedicated to the “skinny-fat” cardio guy at my gym…you know who you are.

It’s a simple HIIT workout that is guaranteed to have you sweating buckets and burning mega calories.

THE WORKOUT

Cardio equipment of your choice (I recommend an exercise bike, but an elliptical or Versa Climber are acceptable alternatives)

10 min steady state cardio at 60% of maximum perceived intensity

10 min of alternating duration (Wave) sprints

Sprint #1: 10 sec sprint / 50 sec rest
Sprint #2: 15 sec sprint / 45 sec rest
Sprint #3: 20 sec sprint / 40 sec rest

Repeat for 10 sprints

5 min steady state cardio at 60% of max intensity

Beginners are now finished….go home and rest

However, if you think you can handle some more HIIT, please feel free to do another:

10 min of alternating duration sprints - same as above
5 min steady state cardio at 60% of max intensity

And now, go home…seriously.

Note: HIIT sprints are designed to be performed at maximum intensity for maximum benefit. If your intensity starts to drop below 90% of your best effort, shut it down and call it a day. Intensity is key. It’s better to do 5 sprints at 100% intensity than 10 sprints at 75%

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High Intensity meets High Tech

November 24th, 2009

do-your-tabatas

It’s no secret – I love High Intensity Interval Training.

I love that it’s great for melting body-fat
I love that it’s great for improving aerobic fitness
I love that it’s great for improving anaerobic fitness
And I love the fact that I get all of these benefits without having to spend hours on a treadmill like some kind of human/gerbil hybrid.

BUT, one thing I don’t like about HIIT/Tabata Training is that intensity is highly subjective.

When I tell a client that I want 100% on a set of interval sprints, how can I know that they are giving 100% effort.

How do we measure intensity?

Well, up until now, here’s what I have been doing (I will use HIIT bike sprints as an example)

After an adequate warm-up, I set the exercise bike at the appropriate level of resistance.
Then we start banging out 10 second sprints going as fast as possible
I help things along by “encouraging” my client to go faster.

I also ask the client to track the number of revolution one leg makes during the 10 second sprint.
For example, a new client recently tested out at 25, 27, 28, 28, 29, 27 and 24 revolutions per leg per 10 seconds. (bike resistance set at level 7 of 10)

This means that their maximum speed at resistance level 7 was 29 revs per leg per 10 sec.

This is also the number we now use to judge performance.

If they pedal slower than 29 rev @ level 7, then they are either fatiguing, not working hard enough or just having a bad day.

It’s not very high tech, but it has worked pretty well…up until now.

Now, I want to get my hands on some of this technology.

These new pieces of technology (Pulse Oximeters, portable ECGs and Activity Monitors) are being used right now by elite level athletes and in research settings to determine how to make exercise more efficient.

And when you consider that every IPhone and Google Android phone comes equipped with a built-in accelerometer, a proximity sensor and is bluetooth ready, it is highly likely that in the very near future, you are going to be able to ramp up the efficiency of your workouts by at least 25%.

And where did I get that 25%, you might ask?

And the answer is…from this study.

Without going into all of the highly technical details, researchers used some of the technology mentioned above to collect performance data while putting their test subjects through a modified Tabata workout.

data set Then they took that data, combined it with the data collected via a medical survey questionnaire and plugged it into a data mining decision tree.

I told you it was technical.

The upshot is that after all of this data was crunched, the researchers were able to design optimized interval training programs personalized for each and every test subject.

And, as a result of those optimized programs, the test subjects were able to improve their performance by 29.54%

What do you think of that!!!

29.54%

I can’t wait to get my hands on some of this technology.

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Transformation #1 – the Healthy Irishman – Workouts #2 & 3

November 10th, 2009

The transformation of the Healthy Irishman (and bro) continues

Todays workout is a HIIT session
Tomorrows workout is a resistance training session

And they’re both going to be nasty workouts

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another Health Habits transformation: The Healthy Irishman

November 5th, 2009

A few weeks ago, the Healthy Irishman asked me to help transform himself from being merely healthy into something super-human.

And, considering how many posts he has written for Health Habits, I figured I owed him.

So, I put together a particularly nasty workout, beta tested it on one of my guinea pigs, and voila…starting Monday, the Irishman and his visiting younger brother will be putting on a freak show at the Venice Beach Gold’s Gym.

I will be posting the workouts here as well as on this Posterous website.

(FYI – with Posterous, The Irishman will be able to view his workouts (with video) off of his smartphone at the gym – just like an iPhone app, except the workout won’t suck)

For those of you who might be interested in following the Irishman’s progress (or joining in), feel free to sign up for email updates. Also, you should probably sign up for the Health Habits feed as well.

Here’s a brief outline of Gavan’s (the Irishman) current fitness routine

he trains 5 x per week
Mon to Fri
at 4:15 am (not a typo)
he workouts at Golds Gym – Venice (so he has access to every workout toy imaginable)

His current workout is based on a 2 exercise/10 set per bodypart workout based on a 5 day split

M- Back/Chest
T- Hamstrings. Calves
W- Shoulders/Abs
T- Bi’s/ Tri”s
F- Deadlifts/Glutes

Sat is off or 30 min cardio
Sun is off

Resistance workouts last 50 min with an additional 10-20 mins cardio after lifting. 1 hr 20 total approx.

His Goals:

He would like to build up maybe add 10 lbs of lean muscle.
Get some definition.
Improve fitness
Doesn’t want to look like a bodybuilder
Wants to look defined & strong…kinda like

LL Cool J

llcoolj

or Jason Statham

jason statham

His Stats:

Gavan weighs 176 lbs @ 5′11″
He has a chronically injured right shoulder (vertical presses are out)

Here’s his before pics

healthy irishman before pic 1

P9240005

His Diet:

He eats 5-6 meals a day and gets good quality carbs and protein in each meal.

Carbs: Brown rice, quinoa pasta or gluten free pasta, cous-cous, yams, polenta, oatmeal
Protein: Egg whites, fish, shrimp, tofu, seitan, chicken, turkey

Also, for the next 5 weeks, Gavan’s brother Ross is visiting. This means that the Irishman will have a workout buddy for the first 5 weeks.

Ross’ Pics

healthy irishman brother ross front

healthy irishman brother ross side rear

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In tomorrow’s post, I will outline the workout along with my recommendations for supplementation and diet.

And, on Sunday, I will post the first workout

Enjoy fellas.

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HIIT Workout o’ the day

November 4th, 2009

HIIT Workout # 1…a four minute Tabata workout on the stationary bike

4 minutes of PAIN

20 seconds as hard as possible
10 seconds of rest

Repeat 7 more times

If you don’t feel like dyin’ then you didn’t go hard enough
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Tags: bicycle bike Exercise fitness health high intensity interval training hiit sweat tabata workout

How Much Rest Between Sets?

September 24th, 2009

You design your own workouts.

You specify your reps and sets.

You modify your lifting tempo and your range of motion.

But, what about rest between sets?

Do you wait only long enough to catch your breath?
Or do you camp out underneath the squat rack having a nice long chat with your neighbor doing deadlifts?

Do you have any idea how long you should be resting between sets?

Well, according to the latest research, “the rest interval between sets is an important variable that affects both acute (short term) responses and chronic (long term) adaptations to resistance exercise programmes”.

The Study

Researchers reviewed 35 studies in which they examined both acute responses and chronic adaptations, with rest interval length as the experimental variable.

In terms of acute responses, a key finding was that when training with loads between 50% and 90% of one repetition maximum, 3-5 minutes’ rest between sets allowed for greater repetitions over multiple sets. Furthermore, in terms of chronic adaptations, resting 3-5 minutes between sets produced greater increases in absolute strength, due to higher intensities and volumes of training.

Training for Strength = 3-5 minutes rest between sets

Similarly, higher levels of muscular power were demonstrated over multiple sets with 3 or 5 minutes versus 1 minute of rest between sets.

Training for Power = 3-5 minutes rest between sets

When the training goal is muscular hypertrophy, the combination of moderate-intensity sets with short rest intervals of 30-60 seconds might be most effective due to greater acute levels of growth hormone during such workouts.

Training for Hypertrophy/Size = 30-60 seconds rest between sets

Finally, the research on rest interval length in relation to chronic muscular endurance adaptations is less clear. Training with short rest intervals (e.g. 20 seconds to 1 minute) resulted in higher repetition velocities during repeated submaximal muscle actions and also greater total torque during a high-intensity cycle test.

Both of these findings indirectly demonstrated the benefits of utilizing short rest intervals for gains in muscular endurance.

Training for Endurance = 20-60 seconds rest between sets

Conclusion

The rest interval between sets is a very important aspect of any resistance program…or at least it should be.

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The Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout

September 17th, 2009

Since building the Squidoo Lens about Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool Workout, I have become a big Deadpool fan and am really looking forward to the movie. I think the studio made a great choice casting Ryan “Smart Ass” Reynolds in the role of Wade Wilson.

But, as I mentioned in the lens, Ryan is naturally a pretty skinny guy.

As a result, adding a whole lot of muscle mass was job #1 as he got ready to take on the role of Deadpool.

And he did a pretty good job.

But we can do better.

In Part 1 of this series, I outlined the concepts behind my Official “Make Ryan Reynolds your Beeyotch” Workout

In this post, I give you a mass building workout that will put Deadpool to shame.

And I have named it…

The Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout

Like I mentioned in the previous article, the key to the success of this mass building phase is the focus on your nervous system and fast-twitch muscle fibers.

The theory is that since most hardgainers are slow-twitch fiber dominant, and slow-twitch fibers aren’t built for hypertrophy, we need to do something special to wake up those dormant fast-twitch fibers and force them to grow.

And here’s how we’re going to do it:

Each workout will consist of a series of 2-exercise supersets
The first exercise in each superset is designed to wake up the fast-twitch muscle fibers
The second exercise in each superset is designed to take advantage of the newly awakened fast-twitch fibers

How to Wake Up your Fast-Twitch Fibers

I was exposed to this concept about 15 years ago. At that time, I was training for powerlifting and strongman events. But my bench press was stuck. So, here’s what I did.

I would perform a partial bench press in a power rack with as much weight as I could handle. After a few sets of single reps, I would crawl over to standard bench press and attempt a maximum lift.

This technique allowed my to put over 30 lbs on my maximum bench press…after just 2 workouts.

The Theory

My strength was improved due to some combination of fast-twitch muscle recruitment and improved neuro-muscular co-ordination.

Since then, I have researched this topic…without much success. At least in the English speaking world. Those Russians were way ahead of us back in the day.

Anyway, most of you probably don’t care very much about the theory, so let’s move on.

The Wake-Up Exercises

I use 3 different methods to wake up the fast twitch fibers

Very Intense Concentric Muscular Contractions – that’s what I did with the partial rack bench press
Very Intense Eccentric Muscular Contractions – Plyometric movements
Very Fast Concentric & Eccentric Muscular Contractions - think sprints or throwing movements

Okay, your fast-twitch fibers are awake…now what?

Now we take advantage of those FTs, by exposing them:

Slightly Less Intense Concentric Muscular Contractions…through a full range of motion and performed as fast as possible. Think explosive bench presses.
Slightly Less Intense Eccentric Muscular Contractions….but we drastically increase the time under tension. Sloooowwww negatives on those bench presses.
With no pause at the top or bottom of the lift. The muscle is always under tension.

Reps, Sets & Bodyparts

Here’s where individual goals play a part.

Are you interested in athletic performance or just getting big and buff like Arnie?

My GPs were athletes, so I had them doing total body workouts. If they had been interested in appearance only, I would have had them do split body workouts (ie Back & Bis on Monday, Chest & Tris on Wed)

When it comes to rep selection, I had the GPs perform 3-8 reps on the Wake Up sets and 3-8 reps on the Work sets

For sets, I was much more fluid and looked at performance and time.

Max time for a workout was 45 min
But more important than time was speed. If I noticed a drop in the speed of movement, we shut everything down and hit the showers….not together. You get my point.

So, there you go. That’s the nuts and bolts of the Deadpool Mega Muscle Mass Workout

In the next installment, I will give you some examples of Wake-Up Exercises and show you how to pair them with the traditional lifts to get the best results.

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The Official "Make Ryan Reynolds your Beeyotch" Workout

September 14th, 2009

A few months ago, I created a Squidoo Lens about Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool Workout.

The lens was essentially an introduction to the workouts that Reynolds had to endure in order to transform his naturally thin (aka scrawny) frame into a muscular, ripped physique worthy of superhero status.

Since then, I have received a ton of emails from guys eager to build their own Deadpool bodies.

The only problem was that I was underwhelmed by the original workout.

It was good, but it wasn’t great.

Sure, it would help you look like a superhero, but it wouldn’t help you perform like a superhero.

So, I re-invented the Deadpool workout and spent the summer beta testing it on some willing victims up here in Toronto.

And, if I say so myself, I have come up with a seriously kick-ass training program.

Over 3 months, my 4 scrawny test subjects:

Gained between 5 and 14 lbs of muscle
Increased their max strength between 55 & 197% (Front Squat)
Saw their speed, power & anaerobic endurance go through the roof (Hill Sprints)

And, oh yeah, they also lost a ton of baby-fat in the process.
The average body-fat percentage at the beginning of the test was 21%.
At the end of the 3 months, the average body-fat was down to 9% (a Bod-Pod was used to measure BF%)

In short, by the end of the summer, my little guinea pigs didn’t just look like superheroes.

They were superheroes.

So, without any further ado, I would like to present…

The Official “Make Ryan Reynolds your Beeyotch” Workout

(Because this workout is too detailed for one post, I am going to break it into chunks – today’s chunk will outline the theory behind my madness)

Like the original workout, my MRRYB workout had two distinct phases.

Phase 1 – Muscle Building

The key to the success of this phase was the focus on the nervous system and the development of fast twitch muscle fibers.

Using a combination of high speed movements and plyometric style loading, my GPs forced their fast twitch muscle fibers to engage during part 1 of their 2-part supersets.

(Here’s how I activated their fast-twitch muscle fibers)

Once I had the fast twitch fibers turned on, I moved them immediately to part-2 of the superset.

In part 2, the GPs were able to handle loads much heavier than normal because of the activation of their hard to activate fast twitch fibers.

Taking advantage of this situation, part 2 of the superset consisted of explosive concentric movements combined with slow eccentric movements. The GPs were not allowed to pause at either the top or bottom of the lift.

And yet, due to the activation of the fast twitch fibers, the GPs were able to lift more than ever before, add more muscle than ever before and yet experience only moderate muscle soreness.

Depending upon the exercise, the muscle group and the techniques used, reps for each part of the superset ranged from 3 to 8 reps.

Phase 2 – Getting Ripped

Phase 2 is all about melting the baby-fat off of the newly built muscle.

To do that, I introduced the GPs to some particularly nasty HIIT and HIRT workouts.

And while I expected fairly rapid fat loss, I did not expect what happened.

For some reason, in the first week, each of the GPs lost over 6 lbs of fat.

And this is after almost 2 months of very intense training and a strict diet. They had already lost fat during phase 1.

I can only speculate on the reason behind the very rapid fat loss, but to be honest, I don’t care. I am more than happy to leave the science to the scientists. All I know is that this workout hit one out of the park.

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In the next installment of this series, I will get into the nuts and bolts of the workout.

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