Three Steps to Diet Domination (Part I)

The Type of Diet

Let’s get this out of the way first, we, as humans, are incredibly complex, diverse, and above all else weird. This is why something like the Atkin’s Diet will work great for Bobby Joe, but will cause Johnny Ballgame to binge three days into the same diet. What about the fad of liquid diets? Low Fat, high carb, moderate protein? High Fat, high protein, low carbohydrate? No carbs (i.e. Anabolic Diet)? Fasting? Straight up calorie restriction is fine too, as long as you make sure you get in adequate protein and carbohydrates to complement you training. But since many people like to follow a designed program or a set of guidelines I will help you decide if one of these diets are right for you. Read more

What to Pack for a Perform Better Summit/Or Any Trip

This weekend is the annual Perform Better Summit in Providence, RI. The summit consists of three days of presentations and, “learn by doing” sessions. In the past I have only gone to the 1-day seminars that Perform Better puts on, so this will be a little bit of a different beast. To be honest, I am only going on Saturday and Sunday because I have a full schedule of clients on Friday. So the plan is for myself and Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning staff members Dave Rak and Evan Levy to drive down to RI on Saturday Morning around 6:30am.

The summit lineup is just incredible from Todd Durkin, to Stuart McGill, to Dos Remedios, Mike Boyle, to Dr. John Berardi, to Sue Falsone (pumped for her talk on thoracic mobility), to Martin Rooney, to… You get the picture…

Since I will be staying overnight there are a few necessities I have to pack first. This might not sound like a big deal but it really is. And I think this list can translate into any trip for someone that is a fitness enthusiast or professional.

1. CASE of Spike

Best to get the most obvious one out of the way. Why a case? Because I know I will drink at least 4 over the weekend, plus I plan of getting Bret Contreras hooked on them. Plus let’s be real, no one is going to sleep this weekend. The Perform Better Summits are the equivalent of the Catalina Wine Mixer. We are going to go all out. (WARNING VIDEO IS NSFW DUE TO LANGUAGE…BUT WHO CARES IT IS FUNNY AS SH*T).

2. Large Cooler Packed With:

• 2% Plain Greek Yogurts
• Pre grilled Chicken/Steak
• Cottage Cheese
• Fresh and Frozen Fruit
• Raw Vegetables

3. Dry Goods

• Beef/Buffalo/Turkey Jerky
• Nuts
• Protein Powder

4. Magic Bullet

For smoothies… And mixed drinks….

5. Klean Kanteen Water Bottle

Keeps water cold, and looks bad ass.

Three Ways We Are Getting Fatter

Everyone just made a huge deal about the KFC Double Down. The DD is child’s play compared to what I have for you today! The Double Down (only?) has 540 calories, and a ridiculous amount of sodium. How about a 1,000 breakfast? Or how about putting a piece of cheese cake in between a stack of pancakes? Ladies and Gentlemen…SHIT JUST GOT REAL.

1. The IHOP Stacker: We start this list off with the IHOP Stacker. This fat S.O.B. consists of two pancakes with a piece of cheesecake in between them. BUT WAIT! I am not done yet! Then we put “fruit chipole” and whipped cream to top it off. I am surprised this shit and flowered and dunked into a deep fryer too.

2. Hardee’s Biscuit of Death: Wow, this doesn’t even look like it would taste good. People are crazy… Anyways, this bad mama-jamma consists of two biscuits, eggs, sausage, and gravy. (uhh I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Seriously! Look at this monster!

3. More Bad News For Chocolate Lovers: A resent study done on people’s mood and the food they eat showed that people who had 12 servings per month were the most depressed. The people that ate the least (5.4 servings/month) were also the least depressed. So if you want to feel better put down the Hershey’s and Russell Stover’s before you load your iPod up with the Cure and cry yourself to sleep. (The Cure is an awesome band, just not when you are crying like Dawson/QB2 from Varsity Blues.

Fresh Ideas: 3 Deadly Complexes For Fat Loss and Conditioning

How do people go to the gym day after day and do the same 30 minute workout on the elliptical machine? Honestly I would rather do some sprints in the parking lot outside of a 7/11 in a rival gang’s territory at 2am with nothing on but a game worn jock strap from Terry Tate.

No, but seriously, I would rather challenge myself and do something different every time. That is where this blog post comes in. I hope to provide some fresh ideas for you to use when it comes to the end of the workout, when you need to get that finisher in. Now hold on to your butts and crack open a Spike!

1. Burpee/Mountain Climber Combo: This one is pretty straight forward. You give yourself a rep amount to hit for each movement. I am a fan of doing 60 mountain climbers (30/side) and 12 burpees (with the push up). Rest for 60 seconds in between each round. Rinse and repeat at least 4 times and try to work up to 8 or 10. Keep the trash can near by…

2. TRX Circuit from Hell: OK, now things get interesting. That TRX in your garage isn’t just for rows and planks, it can be used for some of the hardest complexes imaginable. For this you will go from one exercise to the next, performing 10 reps (per side if  for each movement. The exercises are: Atomic push ups, rear foot elevated split squat, leg curls, rollouts, and rows. Try to get through the whole circuit in under three minutes.

3. Grab bag Finisher: This is the one I use the most. I put together five or six exercises and put them into a complex. They usually involve low risk movements with lighter weights than normal, for obvious reasons. Think medballs, kettlebells, slideboards, TRX, body weight, and barbell exercises. Here is one you can try today that will have you screaming for mercy:

• Plate loaded front squat (Hold a 10-25 pound plate out in front of you while squatting). x8
• Renegade Row 8 reps/side

• TRX Rollouts (or ab wheel) x10
• KB Swings x12
• Bodysaw x12

• Overhead Medball Slams x20

BONUS: Here is a Death Circuit I did three years ago with Eric Cressey. I promise my posture is much better now:

If you want some more of these, I highly recommend you check out Tony Gentilcore’s blog. He posts tons of circuits on there, and blogs about the latest Lord of the Rings convention. Enjoy and be safe. Have some other circuits or finishers you want to share? Post them in the comments section.

My New Hotness: Good Earth Tea

I Love this tea. Seriously, I sleep with a box in my arms every single night, excited that in 6 or 7 hours I will get to drink it’s sweet and spicy, energy injecting goodness. I have never had a better tasting tea in my life. Green tea? I can live without it. Black tea is my new hotness…literally… Specifically Good Earth Original.

Brian St. Pierre actually turned me onto this stuff when I was visiting Cressey Performance a while back. When I smelled it I immediately asked what kind of tea it was. Brian went into the trash and got the wrapper for me so I could track the tea down and try it myself. He said that he bought his from Whole Foods, unfortunately, there isn’t a whole foods near my house so I tried four separate stores before ordering mine off Amazon.com. Amazon has a 6 box pack for under $20. Whole Foods sells the tea for $4/box. A pretty nice savings if I do say so myself. It is even cheaper if you subscribe (I have for 1 case/month).

Each serving is 3 calories and has about 50mg of caffeine. If you want to replace that morning cup of coffee with something different this would be a great alternative. Black tea has been shown to work as an anti-inflammatory in some studies as well . No sweetener is needed, trust me! Black tea is jam packed with antioxidants as well, like it’s green brother.

Good Earth also has a Caffeine Free version which tastes just as good. I am drinking a cup right now at 8:30pm. I really love this stuff. And please don’t stress out about 3 freakin’ calories.

Buy some, you won’t regret it.