Car Rant Episode 3

The saga continues as I rant about calorie intake and eating too much.

Don't get up quickly from a prone position

Today, My son Michael was at home and he got up quick from the couch and blacked out and fell on the coffee table and banged his face up. I have seen numerous clients do the same thing. If you are on the floor exercising or lying down, try not to jump up quickly. The change in going from the lying position to standing, when done quickly, sometimes causes you to short out your circuits. The result can be painful such as Michael's fall. He was taken to the ER and recieved an EKG and CT scan. He turned out to be ok and was released with ice and motrin as the treatment plan. He's doing good now but will have a shiner. So try to get up slowly when you can and avoid a painful fall.

Squats: Work on Form before adding weight

Squats are one of the best exercises to do for overall fitness. There are a bunch of benefits to doing squats when you do them properly. Too many people are worried about the weight before mastering the form. It takes practice to get good squats down right. I have bad knees and a bad back so squats, lunges and deadlifts have always been extra tough for me. I have been trying to work extra hard on them and the result is that my bad knees and bad back actually are stronger and healthier now than they have been in years. But I have to practice good form and work on proper technique constantly before I worry about how much weight I use. I see people doing bad squats all of the time and it hurts my knees just to watch them. So start with bodyweight squats and then work on the different barbell and dumbbell squats with light weight and focus on form. Once you are comfortable with your form then slowly add weight and refocus on form. Here is a video of me working on form with the back and front squats with just the bar. Not perfect, but I'm getting better and deeper every time.

Meal of the Week

Here is another easy preparation meal. I used chicken, eggs, pepper, onion, almond meal, flaxseed meal, balsamic vinegar and ramen noodles. The thing I failed to mention in the video is the ramen noodles not being the optimal choice. I could have used more vegetables instead (which would have been much better) but I wanted a little variety. The good stuff in this meal outweighed the bad (ramen noodles). It didn't require any real prep other than a minute of nuking the ramen.

Car Rant Episode 2

The Saga continues.....

Car Rant Episode 1

This is the beginning of a small series of my car rant videos where I rant and rave about weightloss, gastric bypass and band surgery. The video is long and had to be broken up into segments. I'll try to post them in order. I have strong opinions and the right to have them. So take that and enjoy. Post your comments. The bee's hive was meant to be stirred up.

Basic Bodyweight Workout for New Clients

Here is the basic workout that I use to start new clients. It consists of pushups, crunches, bridge, prone cobra, plank and squats. Strive to build up to 4 sets of 12 reps, back to back, with no breaks. This will prepare your core and overall body for more intense workouts. You will also increase your cardio capacity for preparation to do Tabata drills by not taking any breaks in between sets. This is a simple workout that can be used by anyone, anywhere, regardless of your fitness level. If any of the exercises are too much or too hard to start with, use the modifed pushup, plank and shallow squats until you are more conditioned. In the videos below, I demonstrate a couple of reps for each exercise. When in doubt, stick to the basics and you can't go wrong.

3 Reasons to Avoid Elliptical Machines

The latest Men's Health magazine comes down on elliptical machines
hard.

Now I know elliptical machines are often the only option for people
with bad knees, but if your knees are healthy, think twice before
using the elliptical machine for these three reasons.

First, on page 52 of the December, 2008 issue, Men's Health warns,
"Never trust elliptical machines".

They quote a study that found elliptical machines over-estimated
the number of calories burned in a workout by 31%!

Ouch.

So if your "elliptical cardio workout" burned 400 calories, the
truth is you really burned closer to only 300 calories.

Second, later in the Dec. issue, Men's Health magazine interviewed
Biggest Loser contestant Ed Brantley. Ed lost 73 pounds on the
show, but had this to say about elliptical machines, "I hated the
elliptical. It was too easy, I didn't feel like I was doing
anything."

Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself.

But that's EXACTLY why elliptical machines are so popular...

You see, the third reason elliptical machines are inferior for fat
loss is because they fail my "human nature" test.

Put it this way...

Take 100 people and put them in a gym with 100 treadmills and 100
elliptical machines.

Tell them they have to exercise for 30 minutes at a hard pace, and
they have the choice to use either the treadmill or the elliptical.

Guess where 90% of folks are going?

The elliptical!

Why?

Because it is human nature to take the EASY WAY out. And that is
why elliptical machines are so busy at the gym and you rarely see
anyone doing intervals on a treadmill or bodyweight circuits in the
corner of the gym.

Often I see folks using the elliptical machine only to say they
"worked out", but without getting any REAL work done.

So if you are stuck at a fat loss plateau, and you've been counting
on the elliptical machine to help you out, then forget it.

To burn fat and get more out of your workouts, do interval training
outside, on a bike or treadmill, or with kettlebell exercises or
bodyweight circuits.

For more interval training and bodyweight workouts, visit:

Turbulence Training

These are all better options in your fight against the fat,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

The Myth of Portion Control in your Diet

One of the big mainstream diet tips is to control your portion sizes. If you simply made your portion sizes smaller, you would lose weight right? - wrong !!! Every woman that I have trained and currently train have not been eating too large of portions. In fact, all of these women have been eating 1-3 times a day with an average of 1 tiny meal (usually breakfast), 1 small to moderate meal (usually lunch) and then 1 big meal (usually dinner with the family). So for the most part, portion sizes are not an issue except at dinner and afterwards. The problem with this standard eating way is that the meals are not the same size, not of the same macronutrient ratio, not consistent, and many times just not healthy.

So how do I relate portion size/control to my nutrition plan for you? My idea of portion size/control is by getting in your 5-6 meals a day, every 2-3 hours, of a pre-determined macronutrient ratio and a standard calorie amount for each meal. This means that you are constantly fueling your body with a standard protein/fat/carb ratio and calorie amount which raises your metabolism, burns fat and builds muscle.

Can you use portion sizes to try to equate your calorie needs without counting? - absolutely. Use the standard fist size of this, 2 fist sizes of that, handful of something else to keep from having to count calories. Or another way is to use the plate method where the biggest portion on the plate is of this (protein), next biggest portion is of that (good fats) and then the remainder is of whatever else (fibrous carbs).

So the bottom line is not to worry about tiny portion sizes to reduce calories. Stick to the meal plan and the nutrition principles to get your 5-6 meals, every 2-3 hours, with your deficit calorie requirements and macronutrient ratio. This, combined with your fitness program will get you the results that you are looking for.

Don't drink the mainstream portion control kool aid.

Eric Dempsey
NASM C.P.T
Dempsey's Resolution Fitness
www.dempseysresolution.com

Poor Man's Protein Shake

I was watching an internet video with Chris McCombs interviewing Bedros Keuilian and Bedros made a poor man's protein shake using diet coke, ice and canned tuna. Yup that's right. Well in the video, Chris was disgusted by it and wouldn't try it. So after watching the video, I got hungry and wanted something quick but good for me. Then a dose of the crazies hit me. Why not try the poor man's protein shake that Bedros made in the video. So I did. Watch the video to see how it turned out.

Shoulder Training

Today, I didn't have any pain anywhere so I figured that I would make short work of that situation by hitting some heavy dumbbells. I tried to beat my PR of 70lbs on the DB overhead press. I grabbed the 75lb Dumbbells and gave it a go. I pressed them up no problem and then failed on the way down two times in a row so I stopped and went to other shoulder training. At least I can push press them up initially. That is close but no cigar on that one. My shoulders were destroyed after that so I used resistance tubing to do my side raises and rear delt flyes. You don't always have to use weights. Tubing can be very effective and can be tailored to fit your needs.

Here in this video, I did a set of rear delt flyes followed by side lateral raises.

Making Big Rocks Into Little Rocks

My son Michael and I went out foraging for stones and tires for my outdoor training.
We came across some big concrete blocks and a couple of old car tires so we scooped them up. It was a workout just getting them in and out of the car. I weighed them and they averaged 78-79lbs which is way too heavy for practical client training. So I decided to finish my heavy chest workout with some sledgehammer work on the big concrete rocks. I busted them up into manageable sizes and got a killer workout in the process. Now I have multiple stones for my boot camp. And it was all free. The way I like it, with the tight economy. I would hate to be one of the chain gang, having to do hard time with a sledgehammer. It is an awesome total body workout.

Heavy Leg Workout with Bad Knees & Back

I've had injuries to my back and knees for years and it always hurt. They always told me don't squat, lunge, deadlift or anything else remotely challenging. Since I began doing all of those things on the don't do list, my knees and back have never felt better. I am stronger now than I have ever been. Use good form and build up gradually but don't fear the weights. Free your mind and your glutes will follow. Today's workout consisted of Leg presses and V-squats. The video's are of a 540 lb leg press, 250 lb & 270 lb deep V-Squat. Guess what? It was heavy as hell but my knees and back didn't hurt a bit and felt great afterward. I rehab myself. Skip the physical therapy and do your therapy with heavy iron.
Eric Dempsey
NASM CPT
www.dempseysresolution.com

Dempsey's Stone Training

Odd object lifting and strongman training aren't just for huge polish dudes that can lift trucks up and throw them across the yard. Anyone can benefit from this type of training as it develops strength, endurance, balance, core stability, and grip strength. And it's something new and different for a touch of variety. So here in this video, I do some stone shouldering and an overhead press with a 67lb stone.

Core Training with Heavy Dumbbells

When you think of core training everyone usually thinks of a girl doing some type of exercise on a stability ball, or a plank or pillar bridge of some type. What people fail to realize is that the best core training comes from resistance training with dumbbells, kettlebells or barbells where you are standing. This requires all of your stabilizer muscles to fire just to keep you standing straight while performing the exercise. I started doing heavy (what else) dumbbell overhead press for core training and shoulder training. Dumbbells are much harder to stabilize with (for me) than kettlebells. I started with 50lb dumbbells and have worked my way up to 70lb dumbbells as you can see in the video. It takes every fiber of my being to stabilize with a 70lb dumbbell in each hand. It works everything from head to toe and is very effective. I encourage everyone to try lifting while standing instead of being seated. Sitting while lifting takes alot of the stabilization effort out of the lift and allows you to lift even heavier. Anyway, this shows that you don't need to bounce around on a ball to work your core. It's only too heavy if you can't lift it and as always "Go heavy or Go home".