For at least the last five years there have been very public and heated conversations about body image. The majority of the coverage has been related to physical traits, from skinny, through skinny-fat, to dad bod, and up to obese, but almost all focused on outward appearance. I'm sure you remember all of the blogs lighting up with posts about positive self-image and how people overcame their fears of judgment. Unfortunately, a lot of the conversations left out a group of people with demons caused by delusional self-image, and we're not talking about the positive kind of delusion.
I am talking about people with Body Dysmorphic Disorder. For those that don't know what BDD is, it is a mental disorder in which you can't stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance — a flaw that, to others, is either minor or not observable. The key is that the flaw exists in your mind and isn't a flaw that everybody will see. For some, it may be their nose or their ears. For lifters, it's typically a certain muscle group or the body in general. It is a driving force in how they train and eat and an endless source of frustration. For some, it could be a precursor to an eating disorder.
I want you to think of how many people you know that can't see their body the same way you see it; the ones that find flaws that nobody else sees. I'm not talking about the ones that fish for compliments or the ones that just look for attention. I'm talking about the ones that silently eat at themselves, never really letting anybody know what the voices say and the eyes see. Now take that feeling and have it happen every day, replaying it over and over where you find yourself drawn back to it so frequently that it may as well just be on repeat. Your hands are drawn to it, your eyes can't see passed it, and as soon as you see or feel it, you think about it all over again. I didn't always have this demon causing problems and it wasn't the result of other people pushing their views on me. For me, it came when I entered college and was no longer one of the best at anything.
As a child, I didn't know any better because I was a good athlete and nobody really cared how skinny or muscular you were. When I got to high school, I was a good athlete, but it was obvious that at 5'11" and 125 lbs, I was not the same size as other athletes that could now out muscle and outperform me even though I was competitive. Still, I didn't put that on being small or weak, but just not having the genetic luck. When I entered my freshman year of college, it hit me dead in the face. I was tiny for my height, unable to be competitive anymore and clearly overshadowed by the larger, more muscular students. I started lifting and trying to get bigger. I ate non-stop and trained 5-6 days a week. After a year of training and not stepping on the scale, I couldn't tell that anything changed other than my strength. When I did step on the scale it was a 60 lb gain, yet my eyes couldn't tell the difference between what I was and what I became. I began to notice lagging body parts even more and stuffed more food and more training hours. At 205 lbs, I knew I wasn't tiny, but I just saw more problems; small arms, skinny legs, no calves, bird chest. The list would go on and on. God forbid I stood next to somebody with any appreciable muscle mass or clothes that made them look stronger, even if they're 40 lbs lighter than me.
My battle is with eyes that show me I am small and weak, that I have no muscle, and a mind that tells me I will always be too small. Like many people that battle their own thoughts, some days are better than others, but a week doesn't go by where I don't sit and analyze my body, my arms, my legs, my chest, my abs, etc. These last few weeks have been especially tough on me. Because I am struggling in the gym, the voice has been getting increasingly louder. No matter how much I know it's just in my head, every training day makes me notice something. It hits me hard; it breaks me down just as much as training.
Every day I get to train is a great day and a terrible battle at the same time.
There are a lot of others out there that struggle the same way. Some will try to compensate by taking and posting pictures for approval, some will wear tight outfits designed to accentuate muscle, others will wear the baggiest clothes to hide what shames them, and some will grind away unable to beat the demon inside...and then there are the "outsiders" that take every supplement known to man hoping it will fix the problem.
I wish I had a solution, even a temporary cure to help others like me, but the mind can be harder to train than any muscle group. Some can work through it with enough positivity from their friends, some through self-affirmation, and some will just have to keep battling.
And before some asshole tries to tell anybody that suffers from BDD it's just in our head, no shit. Do you think we don't already know this? Don't you think this is part of what makes it so destructive? Don't trivialize somebody's body issues just because you can't see them! Don't trivialize anybody's issues by saying "it isn't that bad" or "it's in your head." All that does is make it worse. Before you go thinking that just because someone isn't super skinny or fat that they don't have body image issues, step back and consider the people that don't see the mirror the same way the world sees them. We all have our own battles.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Finding My Starting Point
After posting "The Three Questions" I was met with another question and one that has quite frankly, taken me a long time to answer. How do you find your Point A based on the perceived or desired goal?
You'd think this is a simple question but it is quite challenging given my background in sports and around high-level competitive athletes. I've been fortunate to see some of the "best in the world" in various sports in person and as a result, my first instinct is to measure Point A without any consideration for the perceived Point B. It doesn't matter the Point B because Point A will always be Point A. As a trainer, it is much the same with an honest assessment coming before entertaining any training / weight loss goals.
So let me step back and look at this from the less experienced position.
First, let me address finding Point A, regardless of whether you have a Point B or not. Point A will always be Point A, no matter what Point B you pick. It isn't like the level you're at changes based on your Point B. Your Point A is where you are right now, for any skill, task, performance, etc. Point A can be hard enough to identify, but thinking it changes based on what Point B you choose it flawed. Frankly, we are living in a world where honestly assessing our own level is nearly impossible anymore. From the time we are kids, at the first sign of being anything but the best, parents intervene, switch leagues, sports, coaches, etc. They choose a place that allows us to feel better or seem better than we are, even in school, using watered down designations of "honors" or "advanced" to make us smarter. We've developed a skewed sense of ability by providing trophies to losers, awards for non-accomplishment, attaboys for ho-hum performance, and celebrations just for showing up. Hell, we hand out mints and pep-talks for misbehavior in school. We do it in the name of fairness, self-confidence, and feeling good about ourselves. We've attempted to suck the pain (and learning experiences) out of life and in the process muddled our ability to objectively assess our own level. Beyond competition, this disease permeates our social media, where truth tellers are deemed haters and naysayers. We're berated for being mean, cruel, and heartless. We're called negative because we won't lie to your face...or your screen, just to make you feel better. We express our opinion, sometimes bluntly, because it's better to leave no way to interpret than some of the sugar-coating that goes on. And when your self-esteem is punched in the face, we get blamed. (Funny thing, self-esteem. We always say it is crushed by others, but it is SELF-esteem and fully under our control, not OTHER-esteem.)
If you want to know where you really are, don't trust your "friends" unless they have a history of telling it how it is. Don't trust anybody that only gives you positive information because chances are, they can't give you an honest Point A. Don't trust people that haven't been around others that have accomplished what you want to do or researched what it takes to get there because they won't know Point B. As scary as it is to say, sometimes you have to trust that big mean anonymous internet or ask people that don't really know you. And don't just hear the answer, LISTEN to it, regardless of how mean it feels at the moment.
Sometimes what you're doing just sucks and blowing sunshine up your tail doesn't make you better, just more likely to fail. That doesn't mean give up; it means you may have to adjust your goals. Or you can be stubborn, try to prove everybody wrong, and gloat like hell when you pull it off... or swallow all your complaints when you don't.
Back to finding your own Point A - compare yourself against the people that are out there. Not just your family or friends, but the people on TV, the people on the internet, the people in your gym, etc. Yes, I am saying to compare yourself because if you don't compare yourself, how the hell can you know where you really stand? If you don't really want to know, then you probably aren't reading this in the first place. Not comparing yourself to others and expecting to honestly know where you are is like trying to cross an LA highway with your eyes closed.
Take bodybuilders, and I believe Paul Carter talked about this in one of his articles. The amateur looks in a mirror and believes he only has to lose about 10 pounds to be competitive when the reality is they don't have near the muscle mass, conditioning, or body composition as the person they are comparing to. In reality, instead of 10 pounds, it is more like 20-30 pounds, and even then, they won't look like a bodybuilder because they lack muscle and size now. This is the harsh reality of Point A.
Many of us see things we want to do or feats we want to accomplish every day and set our Point B without once considering where we are. We're hesitant to admit it may be out of reach because of where we really are, so we go after Point B. We put our energy into chasing Point B; we invest time and money, and we develop an attachment to it. The longer we pursue Point B, the harder it is to give it up. Instead of considering that our perceived Point A is what let us down, we blame everything else and look for "the secret." Because we know that Point B is possible for some people, we also believe it is for us, even when there are glaring differences between us and the people that accomplish Point B. It is in our nature not to accept our true Point A. And then we become belligerent and in denial when others point out our fallacious thinking.
If you're the one chasing a Point B, listen to those people that you trust, look to the people that have been there, and honestly evaluate yourself. It might not be what you want to hear, but chances are, it's what you need to hear.
If you're the one offering your opinion of somebody else's Point A, be honest, be direct, tell them where they are, and above all else, remember they are a person and not all people can handle blunt honest truth.
You'd think this is a simple question but it is quite challenging given my background in sports and around high-level competitive athletes. I've been fortunate to see some of the "best in the world" in various sports in person and as a result, my first instinct is to measure Point A without any consideration for the perceived Point B. It doesn't matter the Point B because Point A will always be Point A. As a trainer, it is much the same with an honest assessment coming before entertaining any training / weight loss goals.
So let me step back and look at this from the less experienced position.
First, let me address finding Point A, regardless of whether you have a Point B or not. Point A will always be Point A, no matter what Point B you pick. It isn't like the level you're at changes based on your Point B. Your Point A is where you are right now, for any skill, task, performance, etc. Point A can be hard enough to identify, but thinking it changes based on what Point B you choose it flawed. Frankly, we are living in a world where honestly assessing our own level is nearly impossible anymore. From the time we are kids, at the first sign of being anything but the best, parents intervene, switch leagues, sports, coaches, etc. They choose a place that allows us to feel better or seem better than we are, even in school, using watered down designations of "honors" or "advanced" to make us smarter. We've developed a skewed sense of ability by providing trophies to losers, awards for non-accomplishment, attaboys for ho-hum performance, and celebrations just for showing up. Hell, we hand out mints and pep-talks for misbehavior in school. We do it in the name of fairness, self-confidence, and feeling good about ourselves. We've attempted to suck the pain (and learning experiences) out of life and in the process muddled our ability to objectively assess our own level. Beyond competition, this disease permeates our social media, where truth tellers are deemed haters and naysayers. We're berated for being mean, cruel, and heartless. We're called negative because we won't lie to your face...or your screen, just to make you feel better. We express our opinion, sometimes bluntly, because it's better to leave no way to interpret than some of the sugar-coating that goes on. And when your self-esteem is punched in the face, we get blamed. (Funny thing, self-esteem. We always say it is crushed by others, but it is SELF-esteem and fully under our control, not OTHER-esteem.)
If you want to know where you really are, don't trust your "friends" unless they have a history of telling it how it is. Don't trust anybody that only gives you positive information because chances are, they can't give you an honest Point A. Don't trust people that haven't been around others that have accomplished what you want to do or researched what it takes to get there because they won't know Point B. As scary as it is to say, sometimes you have to trust that big mean anonymous internet or ask people that don't really know you. And don't just hear the answer, LISTEN to it, regardless of how mean it feels at the moment.
Sometimes what you're doing just sucks and blowing sunshine up your tail doesn't make you better, just more likely to fail. That doesn't mean give up; it means you may have to adjust your goals. Or you can be stubborn, try to prove everybody wrong, and gloat like hell when you pull it off... or swallow all your complaints when you don't.
Back to finding your own Point A - compare yourself against the people that are out there. Not just your family or friends, but the people on TV, the people on the internet, the people in your gym, etc. Yes, I am saying to compare yourself because if you don't compare yourself, how the hell can you know where you really stand? If you don't really want to know, then you probably aren't reading this in the first place. Not comparing yourself to others and expecting to honestly know where you are is like trying to cross an LA highway with your eyes closed.
Take bodybuilders, and I believe Paul Carter talked about this in one of his articles. The amateur looks in a mirror and believes he only has to lose about 10 pounds to be competitive when the reality is they don't have near the muscle mass, conditioning, or body composition as the person they are comparing to. In reality, instead of 10 pounds, it is more like 20-30 pounds, and even then, they won't look like a bodybuilder because they lack muscle and size now. This is the harsh reality of Point A.
Many of us see things we want to do or feats we want to accomplish every day and set our Point B without once considering where we are. We're hesitant to admit it may be out of reach because of where we really are, so we go after Point B. We put our energy into chasing Point B; we invest time and money, and we develop an attachment to it. The longer we pursue Point B, the harder it is to give it up. Instead of considering that our perceived Point A is what let us down, we blame everything else and look for "the secret." Because we know that Point B is possible for some people, we also believe it is for us, even when there are glaring differences between us and the people that accomplish Point B. It is in our nature not to accept our true Point A. And then we become belligerent and in denial when others point out our fallacious thinking.
If you're the one chasing a Point B, listen to those people that you trust, look to the people that have been there, and honestly evaluate yourself. It might not be what you want to hear, but chances are, it's what you need to hear.
If you're the one offering your opinion of somebody else's Point A, be honest, be direct, tell them where they are, and above all else, remember they are a person and not all people can handle blunt honest truth.
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
The Three Questions
In my normal search to find worthwhile articles, I came across one published on breakingmuscle.com by Sam MacIntosh titled "3 Things a Nutrition Coach Can't Do for You" which was an eye opener for some. The article came to the defense of nutrition coaches by placing some of the onus back on the client. While Sam's focus was on nutrition, it isn't a stretch to consider the article from a general training standpoint.
I thought the article was relevant to a lot of people on a social media site, so I posted it with a brief summation. Simply, Sam made these three points:
1. They can't give you purpose.
2. There is no perfect program.
3. They can't control your thoughts and demons.
The article, along with my three point summation led to a great discussion regarding realism, success, and the role of a good coach. Chris McClinch, who is a very wise man, brought up three more valid questions during the discussion that not only need to be considered but need to be honestly answered.
1. Do you truly understand where you are right now? (Point A)
2. Do you have a realistic goal in mind? (Point B)
3. Are you willing to sacrifice to get from point A to point B?
These are a killer three questions and ones that even I struggle with. These are also questions where the assistance of a good coach is invaluable. A good coach can help you understand where you are right now and help you choose a realistic goal. The coach will be able to explain the potential sacrifices and revisit the goal if need be. The questions all tie back to one another and cause ripple-like changes when we modify one point. While we all want to say we can answer them honestly, I have to ask, can you really? Experience tells me it's very hard, if not nearly impossible, to be 100% objective about yourself. Some of us are harder on ourselves, and others think too highly.
Where are you right now?
Let's be honest about this, many of us are surrounded by people that can't or won't tell us the whole truth. They are either ignorant when it comes to fitness or they just don't want to be seen as unsupportive and negative. I'm not just talking about our friends and family, but about our acquaintances, coworkers, and general passersby that we speak to. The general public can't define fit or healthy. Our "community" most likely doesn't know what the difference is between a good figure for an average person on the street and a competitor. They can't tell normal from strong. Unless somebody is also involved in fitness, they are probably giving you bad information. There are also the big fish in a small pond folks that only know their small world. Unless you purposefully surround yourself with people in the know, your community won't be of much help. Take any organized sport. At the community level, an athlete can be the best and will hear it from everybody. Move that same athlete to the regional level and they'll still hear they are good, but less frequently. Take one more step up to the national stage and they might not hear a single praise. Why does this matter to me?
If we don't truly know where we are right now, our Point A, it is hard to say if our goal, our Point B, is realistic for us. More than being a realistic goal, we won't be able to plan the right course of action because we are launching from the wrong point.
Do you have a realistic goal in mind?
Goals are something that can be one of the biggest aids in keeping us on track with fitness or one of the biggest hinderances. We want to pick a goal that challenges us; a goal that will make us work hard, but is achievable. And when we realize we aren't ready for that goal, we need to be willing to let it go to be revisited later. Each goal has sub-goals that define the path to success. Choosing a good, realistic goal is crucial.
Assuming we have an appropriate goal, there are two possible scenarios:
1. Our Point A is accurate
or
2. What we perceive to be Point A is nowhere near the truth
In the first scenario, since we have chosen a realistic Point B and we have an accurate Point A, we can develop the steps to go from A to B. This allows us to also determine what sacrifices must be made in the path to achievement.
In the second, and more common situation, we choose a Point B based on our perceived Point A. Unfortunately, since we aren't really on Point A, our goal may not be reachable. Think of it like getting directions without street names, if you give the wrong staring point, it doesn't matter how accurate the distance and turns are, you'll never get there. Since we have an incorrect path, we also don't know if the sacrifices we're willing to make are enough.
Are you willing to sacrifice to get from Point A to Point B?
I think this may be a more important question that having a realistic goal. There are no two ways to explain it, if you choose a goal, you will have to make some level of sacrifice along the way. Sacrifices can be any combination of diet, training, social, time, or financial. How much and how often you are willing to sacrifice can determine whether we can reach Point B.
Whether you knew your Point A or not, if you aren't willing to give all the sacrifices needed, Point B may be out of touch. If Point B requires extra hours you aren't willing to sacrifice, it's going to take a lot longer or it may be out. If it means restricting your diet and prepping meals and you aren't going to do it consistently, it's over. If giving up happy hour drinking isn't on the list, it's time to ring out. At this point, it's time to take what you're willing to sacrifice, and go back to choosing a Point B.
So the next time you sit down to map out some fitness goals (or if you're struggling to reach a goal you've already set), get out a pad and answer the three questions. Be honest about where you are, what you're willing to sacrifice, and choose a reasonable Point B. If you have 1 thing that doesn't line up 100%, consider a re-evaluation of your Point A and your Point B because if your positions don't work or you aren't willing to sacrifice enough, your chance of success is tremendously low.
I thought the article was relevant to a lot of people on a social media site, so I posted it with a brief summation. Simply, Sam made these three points:
1. They can't give you purpose.
2. There is no perfect program.
3. They can't control your thoughts and demons.
The article, along with my three point summation led to a great discussion regarding realism, success, and the role of a good coach. Chris McClinch, who is a very wise man, brought up three more valid questions during the discussion that not only need to be considered but need to be honestly answered.
1. Do you truly understand where you are right now? (Point A)
2. Do you have a realistic goal in mind? (Point B)
3. Are you willing to sacrifice to get from point A to point B?
These are a killer three questions and ones that even I struggle with. These are also questions where the assistance of a good coach is invaluable. A good coach can help you understand where you are right now and help you choose a realistic goal. The coach will be able to explain the potential sacrifices and revisit the goal if need be. The questions all tie back to one another and cause ripple-like changes when we modify one point. While we all want to say we can answer them honestly, I have to ask, can you really? Experience tells me it's very hard, if not nearly impossible, to be 100% objective about yourself. Some of us are harder on ourselves, and others think too highly.
Where are you right now?
Let's be honest about this, many of us are surrounded by people that can't or won't tell us the whole truth. They are either ignorant when it comes to fitness or they just don't want to be seen as unsupportive and negative. I'm not just talking about our friends and family, but about our acquaintances, coworkers, and general passersby that we speak to. The general public can't define fit or healthy. Our "community" most likely doesn't know what the difference is between a good figure for an average person on the street and a competitor. They can't tell normal from strong. Unless somebody is also involved in fitness, they are probably giving you bad information. There are also the big fish in a small pond folks that only know their small world. Unless you purposefully surround yourself with people in the know, your community won't be of much help. Take any organized sport. At the community level, an athlete can be the best and will hear it from everybody. Move that same athlete to the regional level and they'll still hear they are good, but less frequently. Take one more step up to the national stage and they might not hear a single praise. Why does this matter to me?
If we don't truly know where we are right now, our Point A, it is hard to say if our goal, our Point B, is realistic for us. More than being a realistic goal, we won't be able to plan the right course of action because we are launching from the wrong point.
Do you have a realistic goal in mind?
Goals are something that can be one of the biggest aids in keeping us on track with fitness or one of the biggest hinderances. We want to pick a goal that challenges us; a goal that will make us work hard, but is achievable. And when we realize we aren't ready for that goal, we need to be willing to let it go to be revisited later. Each goal has sub-goals that define the path to success. Choosing a good, realistic goal is crucial.
Assuming we have an appropriate goal, there are two possible scenarios:
1. Our Point A is accurate
or
2. What we perceive to be Point A is nowhere near the truth
In the first scenario, since we have chosen a realistic Point B and we have an accurate Point A, we can develop the steps to go from A to B. This allows us to also determine what sacrifices must be made in the path to achievement.
In the second, and more common situation, we choose a Point B based on our perceived Point A. Unfortunately, since we aren't really on Point A, our goal may not be reachable. Think of it like getting directions without street names, if you give the wrong staring point, it doesn't matter how accurate the distance and turns are, you'll never get there. Since we have an incorrect path, we also don't know if the sacrifices we're willing to make are enough.
Are you willing to sacrifice to get from Point A to Point B?
I think this may be a more important question that having a realistic goal. There are no two ways to explain it, if you choose a goal, you will have to make some level of sacrifice along the way. Sacrifices can be any combination of diet, training, social, time, or financial. How much and how often you are willing to sacrifice can determine whether we can reach Point B.
Whether you knew your Point A or not, if you aren't willing to give all the sacrifices needed, Point B may be out of touch. If Point B requires extra hours you aren't willing to sacrifice, it's going to take a lot longer or it may be out. If it means restricting your diet and prepping meals and you aren't going to do it consistently, it's over. If giving up happy hour drinking isn't on the list, it's time to ring out. At this point, it's time to take what you're willing to sacrifice, and go back to choosing a Point B.
So the next time you sit down to map out some fitness goals (or if you're struggling to reach a goal you've already set), get out a pad and answer the three questions. Be honest about where you are, what you're willing to sacrifice, and choose a reasonable Point B. If you have 1 thing that doesn't line up 100%, consider a re-evaluation of your Point A and your Point B because if your positions don't work or you aren't willing to sacrifice enough, your chance of success is tremendously low.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Want to get better at fitness? Train a dog.
My wife and I got our first dog earlier this year. She came to us with minimal training but is the biggest lover ever. Of course, she's a pitbull and stubborn as hell, so after a few months of trying to train her ourselves, we enlisted the help of a professional. You're probably reading this wondering how us getting a dog is even remotely related to fitness. I'm not sure how many of you have ever tried to train a dog, but there are a lot of similarities between training Josie and surviving in a fitness journey. I'm pretty sure if you're reading this you're either in the beginning or know someone that is in the beginning of their fitness journey and when you're done, hopefully, you'll see the link and learn a few things to make the journey better.
Dog trainer, Brandon McMillan, believes in teaching the dogs he works with 7 common commands and teaching them to do them extremely well. Without good control of the 7 commands, teaching any more complex commands will not be beneficial. While we have a goal to pass a rigorous canine exam at the end of the course, we don't advance or build on a command until Josie can do it correct most of the time. In a similar manner, one should develop proficiency in basic lifting technique. The basic movement patterns should be performed with proficiency before moving to more advanced movements. The basic patterns are: squat, hinge, horizontal push, horizontal pull, vertical push, and vertical pull. Additionally, one should be able to perform at least 10 minutes of uninterrupted steady state cardio. In my opinion, the lifts that work best are the front squat, rack deadlift, dumbbell bench, seated cable row, dumbbell overhead press, and parallel grip pulldown. Some will argue the cardio isn't necessary, but for heart health and to have an aerobic base to help build muscle and burn fat, cardio is necessary.
Lesson: become proficient at the basics before adding on or advancing the skill level.
With obedience training, the dog should be able to follow the basic commands: sit, stay, down, come, heel, off, and no. Right now, all of our energy should be focused on helping Josie learn those commands and execute them effectively. Spending time teaching her to rollover, play dead, or any other list of assorted tricks doesn't make her better at the commands she needs to be good at. Essentially, it is a waste of her time and ours. Now look at this in terms of training. If your goal is to get strong, lose weight, gain muscle, etc., the best use of your time is spent on the big, multijoint movements. Everybody likes the show muscles and wants to build them up, but focusing on them won't get the job done without a pre-existing base.
Lesson: focus on the big stuff, not the minutiae until you've gone as far as you can with it.
In our three sessions training Josie, it has been emphasized there are several mistakes we make in dog training. The biggest and easiest to avoid is have unclear expectations. A dog does not have a vocabulary or an education that allows it to interpret the words we are saying, they only know to associate a response with a word. When they receive a positive response, the action they performed following the word is correct. However, when we don't follow through or offer the reward for something that is "close enough", the dog can't be expected to get better. When we're working on our fitness, allowing our technique to get sloppy, being undisciplined and inconsistent will lead to shoddy results.
Lesson: set guidelines for your goal and hold yourself to those.
As a dog owner, it is also extremely important to have realistic expectations while going through training. We can't expect Josie to perform the commands perfectly after 1 day or 1 week, some commands may take more than 1 month, but with realistic expectations, we won't get frustrated. Frustration only serves to make the training process harder for both dog and owner. In fitness, having realistic expectations may be a challenge with all the embellished stories of exceptions to the rule making unbelievable progress may be a challenge, but it is a necessary element in success. Setting an unrealistic expectation, lose 30 lbs in a month when you have 50 total to lose or increase your bench by 50 lbs in 6 weeks are good examples for most people, only leads to frustration.
Lesson: dream big and set goals high, but know what is achievable and be realistic about achieving them.
As you can see, training a dog isn't much different than training yourself. One of the main lessons I have yet to mention comes in the intro to this; when you don't know what to do or how to do it, seek knowledgeable help. Nothing can be more frustrating and tougher to overcome than feeling helpless because you don't know where to start or what direction to go. Whether you pay a professional or have the assistance of a knowledgeable group, the experience can make all the difference between success and failure.
Lesson: seek the help of knowledgeable people.
Not all of us are fitness minded and sometimes the similarities we find in some of our other life activities (like training a dog) can help us get and stay on track to our goals.
Dog trainer, Brandon McMillan, believes in teaching the dogs he works with 7 common commands and teaching them to do them extremely well. Without good control of the 7 commands, teaching any more complex commands will not be beneficial. While we have a goal to pass a rigorous canine exam at the end of the course, we don't advance or build on a command until Josie can do it correct most of the time. In a similar manner, one should develop proficiency in basic lifting technique. The basic movement patterns should be performed with proficiency before moving to more advanced movements. The basic patterns are: squat, hinge, horizontal push, horizontal pull, vertical push, and vertical pull. Additionally, one should be able to perform at least 10 minutes of uninterrupted steady state cardio. In my opinion, the lifts that work best are the front squat, rack deadlift, dumbbell bench, seated cable row, dumbbell overhead press, and parallel grip pulldown. Some will argue the cardio isn't necessary, but for heart health and to have an aerobic base to help build muscle and burn fat, cardio is necessary.
Lesson: become proficient at the basics before adding on or advancing the skill level.
With obedience training, the dog should be able to follow the basic commands: sit, stay, down, come, heel, off, and no. Right now, all of our energy should be focused on helping Josie learn those commands and execute them effectively. Spending time teaching her to rollover, play dead, or any other list of assorted tricks doesn't make her better at the commands she needs to be good at. Essentially, it is a waste of her time and ours. Now look at this in terms of training. If your goal is to get strong, lose weight, gain muscle, etc., the best use of your time is spent on the big, multijoint movements. Everybody likes the show muscles and wants to build them up, but focusing on them won't get the job done without a pre-existing base.
Lesson: focus on the big stuff, not the minutiae until you've gone as far as you can with it.
In our three sessions training Josie, it has been emphasized there are several mistakes we make in dog training. The biggest and easiest to avoid is have unclear expectations. A dog does not have a vocabulary or an education that allows it to interpret the words we are saying, they only know to associate a response with a word. When they receive a positive response, the action they performed following the word is correct. However, when we don't follow through or offer the reward for something that is "close enough", the dog can't be expected to get better. When we're working on our fitness, allowing our technique to get sloppy, being undisciplined and inconsistent will lead to shoddy results.
Lesson: set guidelines for your goal and hold yourself to those.
As a dog owner, it is also extremely important to have realistic expectations while going through training. We can't expect Josie to perform the commands perfectly after 1 day or 1 week, some commands may take more than 1 month, but with realistic expectations, we won't get frustrated. Frustration only serves to make the training process harder for both dog and owner. In fitness, having realistic expectations may be a challenge with all the embellished stories of exceptions to the rule making unbelievable progress may be a challenge, but it is a necessary element in success. Setting an unrealistic expectation, lose 30 lbs in a month when you have 50 total to lose or increase your bench by 50 lbs in 6 weeks are good examples for most people, only leads to frustration.
Lesson: dream big and set goals high, but know what is achievable and be realistic about achieving them.
As you can see, training a dog isn't much different than training yourself. One of the main lessons I have yet to mention comes in the intro to this; when you don't know what to do or how to do it, seek knowledgeable help. Nothing can be more frustrating and tougher to overcome than feeling helpless because you don't know where to start or what direction to go. Whether you pay a professional or have the assistance of a knowledgeable group, the experience can make all the difference between success and failure.
Lesson: seek the help of knowledgeable people.
Not all of us are fitness minded and sometimes the similarities we find in some of our other life activities (like training a dog) can help us get and stay on track to our goals.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
The Missing Elements in Failed Fitness
No, it isn't something you can buy in a store. You can't order it for this one-time low price of just 3 easy payments of $19.99. And you will never find it by burying your head in information. It doesn't take skill, knowledge, or the best program ever written to be successful in getting healthy. With two very basic things, two elements that take absolutely ZERO skill or knowledge, you can have success:
Effort - a vigorous or determined attempt
Responsibility - the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something
Some people will want to argue about this. I've seen claims that success isn't possible without the perfect diet, the perfect plan, without more hours in the day. They'll scream they need "motivation" and beg for others to hold them "accountable", but neither of these get it done. They can have all of the motivation and outside accountability they want, but if they can scapegoat their lack or progress on something, anything but themselves really, or decide it isn't worth the effort, they will still fail.
I have a deep rooted disdain for the "motivation" excuse. Some people want rainbows and unicorn farts, other people want boots to asses. We all have to do things we don't want to do, and we do them on the daily. There's no "rah-rah" squad for these times in life, but we seem to get things done anyway. Another reason I don't like "motivation" as a factor is a simple question, "How many hobbies have you picked up and quit when they became hard and required effort?" You take on a hobby because you're motivated, it's fun, and typically, very easy to start. And then it gets monotonous, progress slows, and it takes more time and effort...and you lose interest. Motivation is fleeting and only lasts until the next big "I want" comes up or you have to make a choice between something you want now or something you want for the long run. I personally love hearing "I'm motivated to lose weight, but I can't convince myself to go to the gym, take time to meal prep, or give up drinking heavily on weekends." Well, if you're motivated, then clearly, there's another problem. Motivation (and relying on others to motivate you) is what you do when you don't really want the goal. When we first take on fitness, the initial challenge can be fun and exciting. If we chose it, we're motivated and begin to do the things we need. The goal itself is the motivation. When it's no longer new, fun or interesting, when progress isn't what we hoped, or when we can't live our old enjoyable lifestyle, we will magically find reasons to not do it anymore. We will self-sabotage and claim we need "accountability" to keep us on track.
The problem with accountability, just like motivation, is that it takes away our power. We act as if we are no longer in control of our own thoughts, decisions, and actions while placing the blame somewhere else. We are willingly saying "I cannot make decisions and take action in my own life", placing others in positions of responsibility for us. What does accountability mean when you're an adult? Who are you accountable to? How is that person going to hold you accountable? Are they going to message you non-stop? Are they going to beat you with a stick? Are they going to shower you with empty and meaningless "motivation"? Are they going to move in with you and physically force you to do it? It's very hard to be held accountable when, as a free human, there is nothing they can do to you. Stop looking to somebody else to keep you accountable and stop using the excuse that you just weren't being held accountable. The only person to fault for your failures is the person with the power over you.
You are accountable to you. Accountability is in your picture frames and in your mirror. If you don't want to do it for yourself and for the people you love most, then it isn't important enough. This is called responsibility. When life gets hectic and when life events start to close in on you, responsibility is what keeps you on track. Yes, there are some events in life that take precedence over getting to the gym and eating clean meals every day, but to completely neglect our health for an extended period of time is inexcusable. Responsibility is what keeps us training when we don't want to, keeps us eating right when the ice cream is calling our name, and convinces us to stay up a little later or wake up a little earlier just to make sure it gets done. Responsibility doesn't look for, or accept, any excuses. It's the voice that screams "get it done." We form our sense of responsibility over time, from the moment our families give us tasks, we are learning to be responsible. Unfortunately, some didn't develop responsibility while they were children and they have to learn it later, when it is much harder. They have grown accustomed to things just coming to them or somebody doing it for them. Without learning responsibility, they will continue to look everywhere and to everybody else instead of to the person in control and just getting it done.
Along with responsibility, it takes effort. The amount of effort you apply is dictated by you and only you. A coach can put the weights on your back, cheer like a madman, and have all the faith in the world, but if you decide it's too much, you won't do it. A coach can provide perfect nutrition guidance and all the motivational tools, but you still have to apply the effort and follow-through. Making an effort to look for excuses is a waste. It takes a conscious effort to be successful and eat on plan, get training sessions in, take 7 minutes and crank out a bodyweight session when you can't make it. It is an effort to get up and get things accomplished, but only you are responsible for the amount of effort you put into being healthy. You choose what you do and when to do it. You can't choose the results from the effort you didn't put into it. Like most aspects of life, we don't have to be 100% to get a good result, but we can't expect 100% results with 50% effort.
As a coach, the hardest client to deal with is the one that doesn't give 100%. If the client isn't giving 100%, a coach can't make adjustments. The coach won't know what isn't working if the work plan and work isn't done first. Sometimes you are busting your ass, doing it right, and it still isn't working. This doesn't mean give up. It doesn't mean search for a quick fix. The positive part of this kind of failure is you gave 100% and if your coach is any good, they will be able to make adjustments to hopefully get things moving. As a coach, this "failure" now becomes mines and not yours. If you aren't working with a coach, it's time to change things up. Change the program, modify the diet, but make one change at a time. I always suggest one change because a) it's easier to change one thing than ten and b) if you change more than one thing, you don't know which change caused your progress. If you haven't been following a proven program based around a philosophy, choose something that matches your goal and (and this is the key) is something you actually want to do. It doesn't matter what program you choose; if you don't want to do it, if it isn't a program that seems "fun", and if it doesn't match your goal, you won't do it. The same thing goes for nutrition. If you're a junk food fiend, trying to go Paleo will result in miserable failure, so search for a philosophy that you can be happy with.
Effort - a vigorous or determined attempt
Responsibility - the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something
Some people will want to argue about this. I've seen claims that success isn't possible without the perfect diet, the perfect plan, without more hours in the day. They'll scream they need "motivation" and beg for others to hold them "accountable", but neither of these get it done. They can have all of the motivation and outside accountability they want, but if they can scapegoat their lack or progress on something, anything but themselves really, or decide it isn't worth the effort, they will still fail.
I have a deep rooted disdain for the "motivation" excuse. Some people want rainbows and unicorn farts, other people want boots to asses. We all have to do things we don't want to do, and we do them on the daily. There's no "rah-rah" squad for these times in life, but we seem to get things done anyway. Another reason I don't like "motivation" as a factor is a simple question, "How many hobbies have you picked up and quit when they became hard and required effort?" You take on a hobby because you're motivated, it's fun, and typically, very easy to start. And then it gets monotonous, progress slows, and it takes more time and effort...and you lose interest. Motivation is fleeting and only lasts until the next big "I want" comes up or you have to make a choice between something you want now or something you want for the long run. I personally love hearing "I'm motivated to lose weight, but I can't convince myself to go to the gym, take time to meal prep, or give up drinking heavily on weekends." Well, if you're motivated, then clearly, there's another problem. Motivation (and relying on others to motivate you) is what you do when you don't really want the goal. When we first take on fitness, the initial challenge can be fun and exciting. If we chose it, we're motivated and begin to do the things we need. The goal itself is the motivation. When it's no longer new, fun or interesting, when progress isn't what we hoped, or when we can't live our old enjoyable lifestyle, we will magically find reasons to not do it anymore. We will self-sabotage and claim we need "accountability" to keep us on track.
The problem with accountability, just like motivation, is that it takes away our power. We act as if we are no longer in control of our own thoughts, decisions, and actions while placing the blame somewhere else. We are willingly saying "I cannot make decisions and take action in my own life", placing others in positions of responsibility for us. What does accountability mean when you're an adult? Who are you accountable to? How is that person going to hold you accountable? Are they going to message you non-stop? Are they going to beat you with a stick? Are they going to shower you with empty and meaningless "motivation"? Are they going to move in with you and physically force you to do it? It's very hard to be held accountable when, as a free human, there is nothing they can do to you. Stop looking to somebody else to keep you accountable and stop using the excuse that you just weren't being held accountable. The only person to fault for your failures is the person with the power over you.
You are accountable to you. Accountability is in your picture frames and in your mirror. If you don't want to do it for yourself and for the people you love most, then it isn't important enough. This is called responsibility. When life gets hectic and when life events start to close in on you, responsibility is what keeps you on track. Yes, there are some events in life that take precedence over getting to the gym and eating clean meals every day, but to completely neglect our health for an extended period of time is inexcusable. Responsibility is what keeps us training when we don't want to, keeps us eating right when the ice cream is calling our name, and convinces us to stay up a little later or wake up a little earlier just to make sure it gets done. Responsibility doesn't look for, or accept, any excuses. It's the voice that screams "get it done." We form our sense of responsibility over time, from the moment our families give us tasks, we are learning to be responsible. Unfortunately, some didn't develop responsibility while they were children and they have to learn it later, when it is much harder. They have grown accustomed to things just coming to them or somebody doing it for them. Without learning responsibility, they will continue to look everywhere and to everybody else instead of to the person in control and just getting it done.
Along with responsibility, it takes effort. The amount of effort you apply is dictated by you and only you. A coach can put the weights on your back, cheer like a madman, and have all the faith in the world, but if you decide it's too much, you won't do it. A coach can provide perfect nutrition guidance and all the motivational tools, but you still have to apply the effort and follow-through. Making an effort to look for excuses is a waste. It takes a conscious effort to be successful and eat on plan, get training sessions in, take 7 minutes and crank out a bodyweight session when you can't make it. It is an effort to get up and get things accomplished, but only you are responsible for the amount of effort you put into being healthy. You choose what you do and when to do it. You can't choose the results from the effort you didn't put into it. Like most aspects of life, we don't have to be 100% to get a good result, but we can't expect 100% results with 50% effort.
As a coach, the hardest client to deal with is the one that doesn't give 100%. If the client isn't giving 100%, a coach can't make adjustments. The coach won't know what isn't working if the work plan and work isn't done first. Sometimes you are busting your ass, doing it right, and it still isn't working. This doesn't mean give up. It doesn't mean search for a quick fix. The positive part of this kind of failure is you gave 100% and if your coach is any good, they will be able to make adjustments to hopefully get things moving. As a coach, this "failure" now becomes mines and not yours. If you aren't working with a coach, it's time to change things up. Change the program, modify the diet, but make one change at a time. I always suggest one change because a) it's easier to change one thing than ten and b) if you change more than one thing, you don't know which change caused your progress. If you haven't been following a proven program based around a philosophy, choose something that matches your goal and (and this is the key) is something you actually want to do. It doesn't matter what program you choose; if you don't want to do it, if it isn't a program that seems "fun", and if it doesn't match your goal, you won't do it. The same thing goes for nutrition. If you're a junk food fiend, trying to go Paleo will result in miserable failure, so search for a philosophy that you can be happy with.
Be A Coach!
This is in no way clearing every client as perfect or condemning every coach.
This has been written before, normally to the client, telling them how to be a good client. It's always something along the lines of "follow the plan" and "communicate" with a few other things tossed in. This time, I'm looking at the online coaches and personal trainers that always seem to think it's the fault of the client. (If you aren't a coach, keep reading anyway) Since we all assume our program will work when followed, we have to focus on communication as the reason for failure when a client follows the plan. Seriously, if the client follows the plan to the letter, as they interpret it, it should work. If they follow what they believe to be the directions, communication is the element between success and failure. Through proper communication, we can adapt and adjust to give them the best chance of success. Unfortunately, we all struggle with communicating effectively in the coach-client relationship at some point. When things aren't going well, the client feels like it's the coach that isn't doing what they're supposed to do. When the coach sees little progress or doesn't hear from the client for extended periods, the coach is left to blame the client. In the end, it doesn't matter where the communication fails, it only matters that the communication wasn't clear and one party isn't getting what they need to bring success to all.
I will only write this once... if either the client contact you or you contact the client, there are very few reasons that a response should take more than 24 hours. Even a simple acknowledgement is better than radio silence. Some clients (and coaches) want under 12 hour response times, some set the deadline at 24 hours, but it must be equal on both sides. If you wait 23 days to respond, you can not expect your coach to reply immediately.
No matter how many clients a coach has served, each client is different. Each client has different needs and learns differently. [If you have an education background, this should sound familiar] Some clients can envision a movement and make their body do it. Some clients can mimic the movements in video. Some can interpret the words, watch the video, and have no success. [Sorry to say it, but if you're this last one, an online coach most likely won't work for you, so don't get pissy when you don't get the results you imagine] Some know basic training schemes and jargon and others need fully detailed examples. As a trainer, it can be difficult to know what your client needs. This is where your ability to communicate is the most important. It's your ability to draw out the needs of your client and provide enough information to avoid getting messages like:
"I don't know what this means."
"What is ____________ exercise?"
"How much weight should I use?"
"This makes no sense."
"What is ____________ exercise?"
"How much weight should I use?"
"This makes no sense."
From experience, getting these types of messages means YOU ARE LETTING YOUR CLIENT DOWN. Don't try to twist it. Don't try to respond with "they're clueless." It isn't their job to know what you mean; it's your job as the coach to meet their needs. Some clients are "needy" because they really don't know...but they will learn if you take the time. Some are "needy" and don't want to learn; they want to be told what to do instead of adding another task to their already exhausting day. Others need almost nothing and can do it perfectly. Whatever their level, you are the paid professional. If you aren't willing to do the work, be honest and tell the client that you aren't the coach for them. If you're going to pawn them off on your assistant, say that up front; that you are the face that attracts them before handing them off to somebody else. Don't take their money and make them feel like they are a pain in your ass or deceive them; there's enough of that going on in this industry as it is. And when they hit you with a request or you can tell they aren't doing what you mean, go back and explain it to them.
But this would be nothing more than a lecture if I didn't give you some advice [and if you are the client, you can use this to help your trainer] about how to head-off some troubles.
- Respond in a timely manner and explain that you aren't always able to respond right away, but will respond ASAP... and mean it.
- Link videos demonstrating proper technique for any exercise. Leaving your client to find their own could result in something really bad.
- Thoroughly explain the programming: warm-ups, sets, reps, rest periods, etc. If the program doesn't prescribe weight, explain what it should feel like and explain when to go heavier or lighter.
- Back Squat - Warm-up: sets of 5 building up to 275 [45,135,185,225,250] - rest 60-90 seconds between sets
Work Sets: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 275 - rest 90 seconds between sets - Complete the following Giant Set by completing 1 set of 1A, moving immediately with no rest to 1B, and moving immediately with no rest to 1C. After completing 1C, rest 2 minutes and repeat. Complete the Giant Set 5 times.
1A - Barbell Squat - 5 reps at 275
1B - Underhand Grip Chin-Up - as many as you can get
1C - Push-Up - as many as you can - You have 7 minutes to complete as many rounds of the following circuit.
1 round consists of:
5 overhead med ball slams
5 push-ups
5 crunches
5 tuck-jumps
You can rest as needed between exercises and rounds. The goal is to complete 7 full rounds in 7 minutes. If you do not complete all 7, you should finish all 7 plus plus 2 additional rounds.
If you use super or giant sets, write out what one round would look like, including the rests.
If you use timed rounds, explain the goal.
Of course this isn't a cure-all and there will always be other problems. If you happen to be a client, there are a few things that you can say that will leave even the best trainer scratching their head or needing to ask you more questions.
"How is this different than other programs?"
"What do you do that my other trainers didn't?"
"I need more motivation."
"I need more accountability."
"What do you do that my other trainers didn't?"
"I need more motivation."
"I need more accountability."
In all honesty, these are some of the least helpful messages I have ever received. Just like the client needs detail and explanation, we need more than vague questions and statements. If you want to compare programs and coaches, we need to know what your other programs or coaches were like. If you need motivation or accountability, what kind of things work for you? Again, each client is different, so what motivates me could be the off switch for you. Being constantly checked in on could make you function better, or it could lead to revolt from feeling smothered. It is you, the client, that needs to help your coach find out what you need.
Remember, YOU pay the coach to help you, so whether you feel like a pain or not, COMMUNICATE whenever you need something, have a question, or can tell something isn't clicking. I will never know as a coach that you need different motivation or a different accountability measure if you don't tell me the current scheme isn't getting it done. I will never know if you hate or enjoy the program if you don't let me know... don't wait for your frustration to boil over, communicate immediately.
And if you're the coach, be the professional and act like it. Contact your clients. Check in. Ask questions. Lead your client to success, don't make them lead you to coaching them.
Sorry, Insomnia, You Aren't Winning Tonight
1 AM - drift off
2 AM - blink blink
Turn on tv to boring infomercial
2:30 AM - drift back off
3 AM - blink blink
Rollover
4 AM - drift back off, annoyed at another night of broken sleep
5:30 AM - blink sigh
Give up and just get up.
2 AM - blink blink
Turn on tv to boring infomercial
2:30 AM - drift back off
3 AM - blink blink
Rollover
4 AM - drift back off, annoyed at another night of broken sleep
5:30 AM - blink sigh
Give up and just get up.
Another night without sleep, leading into another exhausting day. If you're one of the millions of insomnia sufferers, you know this pattern all too well. And it's miserable on so many levels. It leaves you tired, hungry and with hormones all out of whack among other things. We've seen all the studies saying we need 6-10 hours of sleep per night. We've seen studies that uninterrupted sleep is important, even if shorter, and possibly more effective than a bunch of sleep fragments adding up to longer sleep time. This leaves the insomnia attacked with a simple quest to minimize the nightmare of not being able to sleep long enough to have nightmares.
Science still can't explain why it happens or even give you a cure all because not everybody's insomnia is caused by the same thing. Some people have an active mind that keeps them up. Some people fall into a doom and gloom scenario in their head which won't let them sleep. Some of us have chronic nightmares since we were kids. Unfortunately, it isn't a one size describes all disease.
Most other people I know that suffer from insomnia have tried the standard tricks to beat it. For over 20 years, I've tried various "cures" only to have them not work at all or work for about two weeks before becoming completely ineffective again. Just a brief list of things I have tried:
- Reduce Stress - this was funny... it's life, there is always stress
- 478 Breathing - 4 seconds in, 7 seconds held, 8 seconds out... felt more like going unconscious than relaxing into sleep
- Melatonin - it's a "drug" and was absolutely just a waste of money
- Sleep Aids - non-prescription ones that said take no more than 2... 4 doses later I was still staring
- Turning off the TV / Kindle / Cell Phone - it's amazing how loud your house is when there's no noise to buffer it
- Getting in Bed Earlier - ha!
- Yoga - ha ha! All this did for me was get me sweaty.
- Meditation - got nothing except frustrated trying to clear my running mind.
- No Caffeine after Noon - can we say ANGRY
- No alcohol late at night - don't drink much anyway
- Train Earlier in the Day - how about days off at a time and still nothing
- No Heavy Eating within 3 Hours of Bedtime - no problem, but didn't do anything
- No Napping - I'm an adult with a job, when do I really get a nap
- Cool Bedroom - did it
- Get Out of Bed When I Can't Sleep - now I'm really awake...great!
- Chamomile and Valerian Tea - let's go to the bathroom in the middle of the night...
After years of this, I went back to my theory on getting better scores in school that had previously worked for me; stop giving a shit and stop trying. The more frustrated I got with not sleeping, the stronger the monster got. I had finally given up with the tips and tricks and occupied myself with other things, blog posts, recipe creation, programming, etc. And that's when I finally slept mostly through a night (I call asleep by 11 pm and awake at 6:30 am with no wake-ups a win) and almost to when I wanted to get up. I didn't think about beating the insomnia like I had so many nights before. It got me to thinking, if I was trying to do something, maybe I was subconsciously activating the insomnia to keep me up and wake me up. By not even acknowledging it and making my mind active with other thoughts, the viscious little monster couldn't distract my sleep. So the next night, I didn't think about when I had to get up or do anything to force myself to bed; no pills, drinks, binaural beats at all. I made sure I had "busy work" from the time I woke up until the time I finally fell asleep. And wouldn't you know, two nights in a row.
I'm here writing this on over 8 hours of restful sleep, three weeks since my last attack of insomnia and this is honestly the first time I have allowed myself to think about it since then. I'm afraid to jinx it, but I wanted to write about it because I know others that suffer. Perhaps it's time to try just ignoring that it happens to you; don't fight it, drug it, think about it, just go about your day (tonight is a good time to try this since it's Friday) and just do whatever you can to keep your mind occupied on other things until you finally fall asleep. It may not work in one night, so try it a few in a row. The mind is mysterious and who knows, thinking about insomnia may activate a chemical that time delays you into staying awake. Maybe, just maybe, if we can keep from thinking about it, getting frustrated by it, or fighting it, we can find ways to beat it.
And by all means, if you have any tips that have worked for you, let me know because at some point, I know this won't work anymore.
Saturday, July 30, 2016
The Problem with Mistakes
It isn't what you think. The mistake is not the problem. Mistakes are made every day. We all screw up at some point. Some of us, multiple times a day. Some are so minor, they aren't noticed and others are so large, they can't be missed. I'm almost 39 and I couldn't even guess at how many thousands of mistakes I've made in my life. Some mistakes are angering, some are depressing, and others, we don't even recognize. In training, our mistakes affect us mentally and physically, and after too many mistakes we get frustrated and quit. The problem with mistakes isn't the mistake, it's not learning from the mistake.
There are only three types of mistakes: the mistake you know, the mistake you don't know, and the mistake you refuse to admit. If you know you're making a mistake you have two choices: learn from it and avoid it in the future or deny it and live in insanity. If you don't know, you have one choice, learn why it is a mistake.
If you're saying these more than a few times in a year, you're pushing on the insanity button:
and there are a bunch more that are used to defend or justify not being successful.
And somewhere after one of these excuses comes the tidal wave of supporting "rah-rah" unicorn farts crushing the reality that it's possible to learn to not make the same mistake for the 28th time. I could join in with everybody and offer worthless, shallow support and empty words of encouragement, but in my experience, the "support" is more of a hinderance than a help. It doesn't help the person to stand or lead them to analyze their mistake; it placates them. The support convinces them that the mistake is a one time slip-up and that there's nothing that could be done and that it's completely normal to make the mistake...despite making it for the 27th time.
After some time, the "rah-rah" supporters fade because they're just sick and tired of hearing the same "woe is me" or angry post and never seeing a change. They get sick of putting time into helping, supporting, and offering advice only to watch the exact same thing occur. Eventually, there are no more people to offer support and coddling after mistakes. When this happens, people buy into the magic bullet cures so they can scapegoat their failure somewhere else, give up and quit out of frustration, or they finally grow up enough to accept it is their mistake and they have the ability to change it.
Hopefully, you're not in denial and you recognize your own mistakes or you at least accept that you are making a mistake when somebody with expertise points it out. After we accept that we have made a mistake, we have to deal with the emotional fallout, the anger, and the disappointment. This is where I see so many people get hung up and miss the opportunity to learn. I blame the inability to control the emotion on a missing coping skill. With all the talk of "safe spaces" and "freedom from being offended" coping skills are shrinking. If coping doesn't happen and the emotional toll of making a mistake isn't handled, there is no real reflection and analysis into the mistake, and no progress towards tackling the cause. If we learn to step back and learn the triggers that cause the mistake, we can learn to not be so insane.
As I mentioned, I've made thousands of mistakes. Had there been a list of mistakes to avoid in fitness, I might have missed some mistakes that "wasted" time, but chances are, I wouldn't have understood what they meant in the first place, especially as a newer lifter. The most important part in making the mistake is that we pay attention and try to figure out how to not make the same mistake. As one of my coaches said, "it isn't the making of a mistake that pisses me off, it's the making of the same mistake." Nobody likes reflecting on their mistakes and failures. It brings out the worst feelings, but it's necessary, and over time, the feeling fades but the lesson is still available. Even if it isn't our mistake, we can learn from other people's mistakes if we just open our eyes and pay attention to others chasing the same goals. And if you are the one making the mistake don't make it into a problem by failing to learn from it.
Take Aways:
There are only three types of mistakes: the mistake you know, the mistake you don't know, and the mistake you refuse to admit. If you know you're making a mistake you have two choices: learn from it and avoid it in the future or deny it and live in insanity. If you don't know, you have one choice, learn why it is a mistake.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - EinsteinWe've all seen the quote from Einstein and most of us don't ever relate it to a mistake we keep making. I saw a little video the other day and it really ties into this entire post. I recommend you take the 40 seconds to watch it. We will complain about the same problem, the same temptation, the same mistake we make and never change. Instead of taking the opportunity to learn why we make the same mistake over and over again and attempting to solve the underlying issue, we complain, look for support and let it slip our mind only to continue and make the same mistake again.
If you're saying these more than a few times in a year, you're pushing on the insanity button:
- "I was doing great with my diet until [the weekend, I had a few drinks, the office party, etc]."
- "I fell off the wagon...again"
- "I'm training so hard and the [scale, tape, my clothes] is/are going the wrong way."
- "I keep cheating on my diet."
- "I just can't be consistent with my training."
- "I want to [insert goal] but everything always goes against me."
and there are a bunch more that are used to defend or justify not being successful.
And somewhere after one of these excuses comes the tidal wave of supporting "rah-rah" unicorn farts crushing the reality that it's possible to learn to not make the same mistake for the 28th time. I could join in with everybody and offer worthless, shallow support and empty words of encouragement, but in my experience, the "support" is more of a hinderance than a help. It doesn't help the person to stand or lead them to analyze their mistake; it placates them. The support convinces them that the mistake is a one time slip-up and that there's nothing that could be done and that it's completely normal to make the mistake...despite making it for the 27th time.
After some time, the "rah-rah" supporters fade because they're just sick and tired of hearing the same "woe is me" or angry post and never seeing a change. They get sick of putting time into helping, supporting, and offering advice only to watch the exact same thing occur. Eventually, there are no more people to offer support and coddling after mistakes. When this happens, people buy into the magic bullet cures so they can scapegoat their failure somewhere else, give up and quit out of frustration, or they finally grow up enough to accept it is their mistake and they have the ability to change it.
Hopefully, you're not in denial and you recognize your own mistakes or you at least accept that you are making a mistake when somebody with expertise points it out. After we accept that we have made a mistake, we have to deal with the emotional fallout, the anger, and the disappointment. This is where I see so many people get hung up and miss the opportunity to learn. I blame the inability to control the emotion on a missing coping skill. With all the talk of "safe spaces" and "freedom from being offended" coping skills are shrinking. If coping doesn't happen and the emotional toll of making a mistake isn't handled, there is no real reflection and analysis into the mistake, and no progress towards tackling the cause. If we learn to step back and learn the triggers that cause the mistake, we can learn to not be so insane.
As I mentioned, I've made thousands of mistakes. Had there been a list of mistakes to avoid in fitness, I might have missed some mistakes that "wasted" time, but chances are, I wouldn't have understood what they meant in the first place, especially as a newer lifter. The most important part in making the mistake is that we pay attention and try to figure out how to not make the same mistake. As one of my coaches said, "it isn't the making of a mistake that pisses me off, it's the making of the same mistake." Nobody likes reflecting on their mistakes and failures. It brings out the worst feelings, but it's necessary, and over time, the feeling fades but the lesson is still available. Even if it isn't our mistake, we can learn from other people's mistakes if we just open our eyes and pay attention to others chasing the same goals. And if you are the one making the mistake don't make it into a problem by failing to learn from it.
Take Aways:
- Stop blaming everything and everybody else. Denial of your role only makes you powerless to change.
- Mistakes happen. See them for what they are, opportunities to learn about yourself and learn better ways.
- Analyze the mistake. How did it effect me? What triggered the mistake? What can I do to avoid the same trigger?
- Stop leaning on empty support and learn to support yourself instead of just moving on.
Friday, July 8, 2016
Two Questions and Two Answers:
This week, I'm taking two questions I received and putting these out there for everybody. The first is the age-old question of getting a goal while sacrificing as little as possible.
"I'm super-busy and don't have more than 45 minutes three times per week to workout. I want to lose weight and get toned. How can I do it without taking away family time and still enjoy my weekends?"
- Fortunately, the most important part of these goals has virtually nothing to do with training and everything to do with planning. MEAL PREP. You have a goal that is based around changing size and shape of your body and that means your diet is the #1 factor. Unlike training, where you may have to travel to the gym and take time away from your family, meal prep allows you to be at home, cook, and spend time with the family. My only concern is when I see "enjoy my weekends" because I have seen people be 100% on point for five days, followed by going completely off the rails over the weekend, completely undoing all the hard work. Some things just make it virtually impossible to reach certain goals.
Now, you still need to train, because, without muscle, there can be no "toned." The best split I have found for three days at 45 minutes per day is a total body split. Training upper pushing and lower pulling on day one; upper pulling and lower pushing on day two; and accessory work on day three. Something as simple as this can work to change your body. You can obviously change the movements, but I always like to alternate an upper followed by a lower.
Day 1 all 3 sets of 8:
Overhead Press
Deadlift
Bench Press
Romanian Deadlift
Push-Up
Hamstring Curl
Day 2 all 3 sets of 8:
Bent Over Row
Front Squat
Pull-Up
Step-Up
Bodyweight Row
Leg Extension
Day 3 all 3 sets of 8:
Bicep Curl
Tricep Press
Lateral Raise
Calf Raise
Rear Fly
Front Raise
When you can complete all 3 sets of 8, increase the weight the next week.
The second question is the one that virtually all nutritionally conscious people struggle with when they first start out; getting in an adequate amount of protein.
"I'm having trouble getting in all my protein. What can I do?"
- My preferred option is adding in protein rich snack foods that are easy to eat and won't fill you up the way a serving of chicken or steak would. Just toss in a few of these around your regular meals and you'll quickly increase your protein.
For me, my favorites are:
I hate saying take a protein supplement as the first course of action, but for some people, it's the only way. Most powders on the market can be mixed with water, making them extremely portable. The other option is a protein bar, like the B-Up bars that are high protein and totally up-front about what's in their bar (unlike other companies). While the powders may be slightly more work (you need a shaker and it takes some space) they typically come with less of what you don't want (fats & carbs).
"I'm super-busy and don't have more than 45 minutes three times per week to workout. I want to lose weight and get toned. How can I do it without taking away family time and still enjoy my weekends?"
- Fortunately, the most important part of these goals has virtually nothing to do with training and everything to do with planning. MEAL PREP. You have a goal that is based around changing size and shape of your body and that means your diet is the #1 factor. Unlike training, where you may have to travel to the gym and take time away from your family, meal prep allows you to be at home, cook, and spend time with the family. My only concern is when I see "enjoy my weekends" because I have seen people be 100% on point for five days, followed by going completely off the rails over the weekend, completely undoing all the hard work. Some things just make it virtually impossible to reach certain goals.
Now, you still need to train, because, without muscle, there can be no "toned." The best split I have found for three days at 45 minutes per day is a total body split. Training upper pushing and lower pulling on day one; upper pulling and lower pushing on day two; and accessory work on day three. Something as simple as this can work to change your body. You can obviously change the movements, but I always like to alternate an upper followed by a lower.
Day 1 all 3 sets of 8:
Overhead Press
Deadlift
Bench Press
Romanian Deadlift
Push-Up
Hamstring Curl
Day 2 all 3 sets of 8:
Bent Over Row
Front Squat
Pull-Up
Step-Up
Bodyweight Row
Leg Extension
Day 3 all 3 sets of 8:
Bicep Curl
Tricep Press
Lateral Raise
Calf Raise
Rear Fly
Front Raise
When you can complete all 3 sets of 8, increase the weight the next week.
The second question is the one that virtually all nutritionally conscious people struggle with when they first start out; getting in an adequate amount of protein.
"I'm having trouble getting in all my protein. What can I do?"
- My preferred option is adding in protein rich snack foods that are easy to eat and won't fill you up the way a serving of chicken or steak would. Just toss in a few of these around your regular meals and you'll quickly increase your protein.
For me, my favorites are:
- Hardboiled Eggs
- Tuna
- Beef or Turkey Jerky
- Greek Yogurt
- Cottage Cheese
I hate saying take a protein supplement as the first course of action, but for some people, it's the only way. Most powders on the market can be mixed with water, making them extremely portable. The other option is a protein bar, like the B-Up bars that are high protein and totally up-front about what's in their bar (unlike other companies). While the powders may be slightly more work (you need a shaker and it takes some space) they typically come with less of what you don't want (fats & carbs).
Thursday, June 30, 2016
My Foray into Kombucha Brewing
One of the Ironworks Gym owners (Dickie) is a big Kombucha drinker, and after a few tastes, I became hooked on it too. I decided one day to start brewing my own and here we are several months later, with another batch on the counter and a bottle ready to drink in the fridge.
My personal favorite is made with 3 bags of green tea and 1 bag of lemongrass tea. I’ve also tried using cinnamon tea, orange tea, and mint. Be sure to taste the tea often as it doesn’t take long to go from sweet, digestion helping tea, to vinegar. And no matter what you’ve read, vinegar is not something that tastes good as a drink. If you want to add in some additional flavor after you're finished the brew, you can add some fresh berries, melon, etc.
One of the biggest things I had to get over was the yeast growth. After the first batch and the first cleaning, the yeast growth subsides. It is perfectly natural to have some yeast growth and if you are grossed out by the idea of drinking a strand of yeast, you can always run your Kombucha through a filter before placing it in a bottle for storage. One thing you have to be very careful of: MOLD. Mold is not ok in any stage. If you see mold (and you know what mold looks like), get rid of the batch and start over.
And along comes Dickie and asks me to write about my experiences with Kombucha and brewing my own... and that's how this blog post came to be.
I tried making Kombucha for the first time after buying several very overpriced bottles from the store. Wasn’t exactly rocket science from what I could figure. Take some tea, some sugar, a little bit of an old bottle of Kombucha and *poof* some magic happens and you have this wonderful elixir that helps with digestion and tastes good. After a few failed attempts at getting a good batch that tasted like the wonderful concoctions the store sold me instead of straight up vinegar, I decided to ask for a little help.
Enter Dickie with his simple advice:
- Get a glass jug with a spigot
- Use more sugar than you think
- Put it in a warm, dark place to ferment
- Taste it often
Let me back up. I gave Kombucha a try because, like most people, I wanted to see what the hype was about. I read all the stuff about how it’s good for your gut, but never from a lifter… it was always some skinny guy that looked like he was afraid of the gym. I wanted to see if it actually did anything for me. And then I finally got a few bottles on sale. There were all sorts of flavors, but I found the less exotic sounding bottles tasted better… and made me feel better. By better, I mean the stomach issues most heavy lifters get with a diet heavy in protein. After a few weeks of drinking 4-6 ounces per day, I noticed a lot of foods didn't give me the same problems (Why do you eat food that gives you problems? Because I like it. That's why!) and that there was a difference in what I craved. The downside? It's super expensive (a cheap bottle was $2 for 2 servings) and I was spending a lot of money for something I can make at home. And for $10, I could make enough to last 2-3 weeks.
Since I'm not a doctor or a scientist, I can only give you my experience.
Back to the failed attempts. I did several things wrong, that you can easily avoid. I didn’t use enough sugar. I fermented it in the fridge. I didn’t clean my SCOBY. I used only flavored tea bags.
Since then, I’ve learned to do a few things to make the batch better.
 |
| The vessel and the giant SCOBY with a fresh batch |
- ½ Gallon of filtered water
- 2 cups of sugar
- 4 tea bags, no more than 1 flavored (be careful with flavors as they get strong, quickly)
- Keep ½ cup of the previous batch in the jar
- Clean your SCOBY with warm water every few batches
- Create a SCOBY vault to keep in case something goes wrong
I’m no expert, but with a few extra minutes of research and a freshly cleaned starter SCOBY, I started making fresh batches every few weeks and have learned to tweak them to taste just like I like them.
Here’s my process for making my own Kombucha:
- Boil the water, sugar, and tea until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Allow the tea to cool to room temperature. It takes a few hours.
- Clean your vessel with hot soapy water, being sure to get all soap residue out.
- Every 2-3 batches I will clean the vessel again.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of white vinegar and swirl around the vessel and then dump out.
- After the tea is cooled, pour it into the vessel and add approximately 4 ounces of unpasteurized kombucha from a bottle or the last batch. The acid in the previous batch will help ward off the bad things we don’t want.
- Add your Scoby if you have one. If you have one, it ferments faster, if not, you can order one or just go get a non-pasteurized bottle of Kombucha from the store.
- Cover the mouth of the vessel with a coffee filter or paper towel.
- Place in a warm, dark area.
- Check it every 2-3 days for taste.
 |
| What I use to store my batches for drinking |
One of the biggest things I had to get over was the yeast growth. After the first batch and the first cleaning, the yeast growth subsides. It is perfectly natural to have some yeast growth and if you are grossed out by the idea of drinking a strand of yeast, you can always run your Kombucha through a filter before placing it in a bottle for storage. One thing you have to be very careful of: MOLD. Mold is not ok in any stage. If you see mold (and you know what mold looks like), get rid of the batch and start over.
If you're interested, here are a few good resources to help you get on your way:
Food Renegade - I personally don't do the double fermentation, but if you want fizzy, this is the way you have to go.
Friday, June 24, 2016
The Problem with Nutrition Labels and Macros
Probably once a week I see a post from somebody that’s a rookie to counting calories asking how the calories on the label don’t add up. Well, there are two very simple answers if you are in the US: the product is mislabeled (intentionally or not) or they are following the FDA labeling standards and regulations and making the product more desirable to nutrition conscious people.
Addressing the first scenario, it isn’t a unique or unusual problem to have a product “mislabeled.” As other posts have explained far better than I can, the concept of a calorie is flawed. You can read about it here in Scientific American. The tl;dr version of why a calorie isn’t just a calorie can be summed up to just a few parts:
With the second issue, it’s a matter of the FDA giving more than a loophole, but leaving a canyon of ways to trick the consumer. Here are just a few of the ways labels can be manipulated to read as lower or more desirable.
As you can see, there are a few ways a manufacturer can make a pre-packaged food into something it really isn’t and throw off your most dedicated efforts to eat on plan.
Let’s take a look at something many people use every day, coffee creamer. If we’re trying to be a macro-magician, we might be super concerned with the exact measures so we pick a “Fat Free International Delights”. On the left side, the Canadian label; on the right, the US label.
Same product, same calories listed… one label tells you their best average per serving and the other hides some information because the FDA allows it through rounding.
Let’s take this further. Since there are no restrictions on what is considered a serving size, one product can list a different serving size to make it seem more appealing. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it can add up over all your different meals throughout the week, especially if you don't check the serving sizes.
If you’re grabbing one of these dressings off the shelf and you’re just looking quickly at the label for the one that reads the “healthiest”, you might overlook the serving size and go right to the nutrition counts. Take into account that very few of us ever use just 1 or 2 tablespoons and the 30 extra calories for 2 tbsp starts to add up. Yes, this is a small example, but it happens on a larger scale, too. Just imagine this with Peanut Butter or some other "treat" that you enjoy.
Moving on.
The calorie counting problem is a complex one complicated by a lack of precise labeling regulations in the US and the rounding of both macros and total calories. Further, the ability to manipulate serving sizes allows manufacturers create certain labels and make a less healthy product more appealing. If you really are going to be precise (which I don’t recommend unless you want to drive yourself crazy or are a top level competitor) you need to really read carefully and do the math instead of just trusting the companies that play within the rules to look better.
And if you want a better solution, give yourself a margin of error, say 4% of your total calories. On a 2,000 calorie diet, that’s 80 calories. At the end of the day, you might slow down your progress just a little bit, but you won’t drive yourself insane along the way.
Lastly, if you’re brand spanking new to healthy eating, take baby steps; start with just making some better food choices and just writing down what you eat. There will be a time to make things more detailed, but in the beginning, just get started!
Addressing the first scenario, it isn’t a unique or unusual problem to have a product “mislabeled.” As other posts have explained far better than I can, the concept of a calorie is flawed. You can read about it here in Scientific American. The tl;dr version of why a calorie isn’t just a calorie can be summed up to just a few parts:
- Calories are measured in isolation, meaning with just that food. This does not account for what we have eaten previously or at the same time as our meal. By combining foods, like most people do, we change the time needed for digestion and how hard our body works to perform digestion. This changes the Thermic Effect of Food.
- Different people react to different foods differently and take different amounts of calories from them based on their unique body chemistry and gut bacteria. This blog post explains further based on a study done with mice.
- Calorie labels on prepackaged food are “averages” and may be higher or lower than your actual meal. Since many prepackaged foods are mixes of several different foods, the exact amount of each ingredient is rarely precise. When the amount of each food isn't precise combined with an inexact range of calories, chances are, you aren't getting what the label says.
With the second issue, it’s a matter of the FDA giving more than a loophole, but leaving a canyon of ways to trick the consumer. Here are just a few of the ways labels can be manipulated to read as lower or more desirable.
- According to the FDA, if there are less than 5 calories per serving, the total calories can be declared as 0. That means if I create something like coffee creamer and claim a small serving size, like a tsp. and it has 4 calories, I can promote it as a 0 calorie product.
- If the product has 50 calories or less--Round to nearest 5-calorie increment: Example: Round 47 calories to “45 calories”
- If the product has above 50 calories--Round to nearest 10-calorie increment: Example: Round 94 calories to “90 calories”
- Alcohol brings up another anomaly to the calorie counter. Carbs are 4 calories per gram, fat is 9, but alcohol falls in the middle at 7 calories per gram.
- Lastly, fat can be labeled as 0 fat when there is less than .5 g per serving. So a product with .4 g of fat per serving is fat free.
As you can see, there are a few ways a manufacturer can make a pre-packaged food into something it really isn’t and throw off your most dedicated efforts to eat on plan.
Let’s take a look at something many people use every day, coffee creamer. If we’re trying to be a macro-magician, we might be super concerned with the exact measures so we pick a “Fat Free International Delights”. On the left side, the Canadian label; on the right, the US label.
 |  |
Same product, same calories listed… one label tells you their best average per serving and the other hides some information because the FDA allows it through rounding.
Let’s take this further. Since there are no restrictions on what is considered a serving size, one product can list a different serving size to make it seem more appealing. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it can add up over all your different meals throughout the week, especially if you don't check the serving sizes.
| Italian Dressing | 1 tbsp | 2 tbsp |
| Calories | 50 | 80 |
| Fat | 6g | 7g |
| Carbs | 1g | 4g |
| Protein | 0g | 0g |
If you’re grabbing one of these dressings off the shelf and you’re just looking quickly at the label for the one that reads the “healthiest”, you might overlook the serving size and go right to the nutrition counts. Take into account that very few of us ever use just 1 or 2 tablespoons and the 30 extra calories for 2 tbsp starts to add up. Yes, this is a small example, but it happens on a larger scale, too. Just imagine this with Peanut Butter or some other "treat" that you enjoy.
Moving on.
The calorie counting problem is a complex one complicated by a lack of precise labeling regulations in the US and the rounding of both macros and total calories. Further, the ability to manipulate serving sizes allows manufacturers create certain labels and make a less healthy product more appealing. If you really are going to be precise (which I don’t recommend unless you want to drive yourself crazy or are a top level competitor) you need to really read carefully and do the math instead of just trusting the companies that play within the rules to look better.
And if you want a better solution, give yourself a margin of error, say 4% of your total calories. On a 2,000 calorie diet, that’s 80 calories. At the end of the day, you might slow down your progress just a little bit, but you won’t drive yourself insane along the way.
Lastly, if you’re brand spanking new to healthy eating, take baby steps; start with just making some better food choices and just writing down what you eat. There will be a time to make things more detailed, but in the beginning, just get started!
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Why MFP could be holding you back
For years, MyFitnessPal has been the nutrition and fitness tracker used and recommended at brolific rates among new to calorie tracking and fitness people looking to get their diet in order and achieve a weight related goal. As we’ve mentioned and you’ve more than likely read about, weight loss, weight gain, and body transformation is largely a product of our diet, so it only makes sense to know what’s going into our body on a daily basis. While some advocate “extreme” calorie counting and others shun the idea completely, I am somewhere in between. I find it extremely helpful for myself and my clients to see the foods they are consuming and an estimate of how much they are consuming. For many people, this means using some form of tracking app.
As tracking software goes, the vast majority are the same, especially at the free level. You can set your own goals, track your food, the quantity, add new foods, see the macronutrient and micronutrient breakdown, and add new foods not already listed in the database. MFP is not much better or worse than any other tracker out there as far as the tracking apps go other than some really poor entries of food done by people that either misenter or only enter what they care about. With the big time bankroll of Under Armour, it is pretty to look at and has a large number of features. Where MFP starts to fall apart is their recommendations for how much a person should be eating and their process.
The following picture is taken directly from MFP for me, a 5’11”, 210 lb, approximately 15% bodyfat individual that trains 6 hours per week. This is their recommendation for me to eat to maintain weight.
3,030 seems like a good number to eat in a day, but what is this second number, 2,770 calories per week? That is what MFP determines your fitness goal to be, approximately 692 calories per workout and an additional amount of calories you can eat IF you burn those calories. If you know anything about MFP, this very small line between Nutritional Goals and Fitness Goals is overlooked and misused - “So the more you exercise, the more you can eat!” Essentially a statement that they suggest “eating back” calories that you have burned off in order to reach your goal.
Now, let’s take the calculator on our ZStrength website, which uses five popular estimations, and then takes the average. Using the exact same numbers I entered into MFP, I receive the following result:
Looking at the output, the estimated average intake I need to maintain my weight would be 3,329 calories per day. Like the line below our calculator says, it is an estimate and could be off, resulting in needing some adjustment up or down...just like MFP could (and almost always does) need adjusting.
Now looking at some of the math:
MyFitnessPal
|
ZStrength Calc
|
7 days at 3030 = 21,210 calories per week
Workout Calories = 2770
Total Calories per Week = 23,980
Average per Day = 3,426
|
Average per Day = 3,329
|
That’s right, assuming you actually burn those 2,770 calories per week, you could eat an average 3,426 calories per day and the numbers aren’t that different. But is this clear to the average person just starting? Probably not and that’s what creates the problem.
The problem, and it’s a BIG PROBLEM that has happened time and again with clients when they use MFP, they either don’t know that MFP sets them low and wants them to eat back their calories or they know it and over-eat their exercise calories. The result is chronic over or under-eating because they are following the suggestions of MFP.
Combine the flaws of MFP with even the best non-clinical calorie burn estimators have a margin of error of at least 10%, and you can begin to understand just how bad this could turn out. Assuming one of the closest estimations of 10% and 692 calories burned per day could be 761 or 622. PN did a piece about how bad calorie estimators are: [http://www.precisionnutrition.com/problem-with-calorie-counting-calories-out].
As someone that works with clients to help them build the body they want, I have problems with the lack of clarity and relying on measurements with a known margin of error. MFP is going to take an inexact science (estimating calories in food) combined with another inexact science (how many calories you burn) and add an even less exact science (how many calories you burn in exercise) and convince you to eat that amount. Further, MFP only includes CARDIO calories in what you should eat back, so if you weight train for an hour and “burn 500” calories, you are still to eat 2730 according to them, but if you do an hour of cardio and “burn 300”, you get to eat 3030.
And a simple scenario to hammer home the problem:
You are training to lose weight at a rate of 1 lb / week. MFP gives you a 500 calorie deficit and a count of 2,530 + 1,500 calories of exercise per week. At 5 days per week of exercise, that’s 300 extra calories. Training day total: 2,830. Off-day total: 2,530.
You train and log your workouts on MFP, which only logs your cardio burn. You train an hour with weights, burning approximately 550 calories + 30 minutes of cardio burning 150 calories.
In addition to being at a 500 calorie deficit to start, you are now an extra 550 calories short because MFP doesn’t know what you burned lifting weight. That’s over a 1,000 calorie deficit and 25% below your maintenance calories. It goes without saying that that large of a deficit isn’t good for you, especially in the long term.
Is MFP really that bad? No. Can this scenario be avoided? Yes, if you are knowledgeable (which most people just starting out aren’t) or if you know how to work MFP like a pro (which most people don’t). And an even easier yes; don’t rely on MFP to determine how many calories you should eat. There are hundreds of calculators and formulas to help you estimate your needs, which can then be plugged in to MFP. As mentioned before, we have one that on our site that uses 5 of the most popular formulas and provides an average. You can find it here at: http://zstrengthfit.com/tools/calculator.html
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Truth in Fitness Advertising? What is Real Anyway?
The fitness industry relies on advertising and hyped-up dreams to keep you buying products and spending your money. We all know the BS scams that are out there marketing over-priced and under-performing supplements and quick “fixes”. And now, you too can be a part of our great company and get rewards for everybody you swindle as a Brand Ambassador / Coach / Used Car Salesman. Since virtually anybody can be a “representative”, the way to grow your business and the company giving you kickbacks is through misleading and faked posts which attract customers. Recent events have brought more attention to the increasing deception and false advertising, rekindling the skepticism and distrust I have for the supplement industry. From the FTC, “federal law says that ads must be truthful, not misleading, and, when appropriate, backed by scientific evidence.” By accepting the use of manipulated and photoshopped images to sell product, the fitness industry is accepting false advertising. I have seen the argument that magazines and other entities do similar all the time, however, they are NOT selling a product or deliberately attempting to deceive potential buyers.
Some companies pull out the empty study with the non-representative population under not-so-strict conditions and determine that the slightest glimmer of hope is a positive result of their over-priced product. Do all companies do it? No, but the ones that do tend to be the loudest advertisers in all the magazines and websites. Think about all the supplements that really work. Do you find out about them on the twitstagrambook? No, your friend or somebody at the gym tells you, not somebody getting a “kick-back” for convincing you to buy the product with their “Special Code”.
In “Fitness Industry Deception” I talked about using best case scenarios and images for advertising. The first time I remember this happening, a brand rep that was truly jacked was asked if the supplement he was repping made him that way. He responded with “You’d have to be an idiot to believe I got here just by taking this.” He was terminated shortly thereafter for telling the truth. Shredz rep Devin Zimmerman aka Devin Physique brought all of these techniques back. Not only did Devin “touch-up” his photos to create a better look, Shredz solicited and used before and after photos of amazing transformations claiming credit for the transformations despite those people never using Shredz. The reaction: an “apology” and claiming others do it as well. This isn’t totally new, but with social media explosion, this is happening more often with more companies.
Think back to the days when there were paid endorsements on TV for all sorts of things...same thing here, just without the pay until you punch it that special little code or buy the totally not-custom meal plan and $100 workout plan they copied from the July ‘87 Fit Muscle Rag. It’s moved from buying the magazine with “Arnold’s Latest Workout” to searching social media for a hot or jacked person selling a plan. *Side not, most of Arnold’s workouts were fabricated so they would look new, despite him doing the same routine for years.*
Don’t think this is just targeting men. With the surge in physique “competitors”, women are getting sucked into the same supplement / shortcut / bullshit as the men. Paige Hathaway has also been accused of manipulation and deception for her part in the Shredz scam. Women are particularly susceptible to this kind of advertising because of the push for the perfect bikini body and the rise in physique competitions. Just a quick trip through instagram and a few directed searches and you can find over 50 posts per week that are aimed at women.
In my piece last week, Progress Picture or Exotic Dancer Audition?, I began going after the over-sexualized outfits and posing that mimics an exotic dancer or film star more than a fitness professional. The industry advertising has led us to believe that photoshopped images aka “Adobe Gains” are real and possible using their products. We’ve gone down the rabbit hole so far that brand ambassadors with no real experience or qualifications beyond a “sale code” have joined in on the photo manipulation. I pointed out Shredz and their reps, but they aren’t the only ones relying on naivete and deception. It seems like every time I flip into Insta-famous, I see another coach posting their fantastic transformations and trying to get me to use their product sale code or join their team. (I’ll explain how these things work in a moment for those that don’t know.) And when I look at the photos, I can see signs of tampering, things like doorframes bending, televisions twisting, hard edges on muscles, etc. Some are really obvious, others, not so much. Some of the hardest ones are taken on plain color backgrounds. Even something as simple as applying a filter can change the whole physique of a person.
I’m not bitching about the Average Joe or Jane using filters or touching up their photos. Hell, we all dream of obtaining the perfect body and showing off our hard work. My complaint is with all the people that manipulate their images to generate sales of their scam product. If the product was that good, they wouldn’t need to manipulate images or sell you on it. When your product / MLM scheme can’t produce the results you advertise and you have to solicit images from others you’re falsely advertising. When you have to create bullshit contests where the “winner” didn’t even know they were part of the contest, you’re a fraud. And just because you created a program using a “stock photo” doesn’t excuse you because you know damn well that photo was probably touched up prior to you getting it.
So here’s how the “Brand Ambassador” thing works with sale codes:
-Buy product from said company and possibly pay for a “package”
-Receive code to distribute to your friends and followers
-Have a minimal internet presence to distribute code and post obnoxiously about it
-Possibly create your own “page” or tell friends / clients to check it out
-Stage some photos with the product
-Have people use your “discount code” when checking out to receive a percentage off
-The code registers back to you and you receive a certain percentage of their total purchase, like a sales commission
Seems just like standard sales, except more than a few of these ambassadors have no qualifications and no knowledge. It’s like asking a cashier at Wal-Mart about the best tires for your car; they may know something, but chances are it’s only what the company tells them to know. So before you run off and spend your hard earned cash, take a look at who represents them and consider their trustworthiness, as a company and as a representative. Look at their advertising pictures and mumbo jumbo. Do they use filters? Are they using perspective tricks to look better? Are they quoting “studies” as proof? If they are, they’re trying to trick you for a reason and they’re one of the bad parts of the industry.
I think this is a great post on youtube by Jason Blaha about the industry and how the sensationalized, misrepresentations are hurting everybody in the community - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACMHaUcwY-o.
Some companies pull out the empty study with the non-representative population under not-so-strict conditions and determine that the slightest glimmer of hope is a positive result of their over-priced product. Do all companies do it? No, but the ones that do tend to be the loudest advertisers in all the magazines and websites. Think about all the supplements that really work. Do you find out about them on the twitstagrambook? No, your friend or somebody at the gym tells you, not somebody getting a “kick-back” for convincing you to buy the product with their “Special Code”.
In “Fitness Industry Deception” I talked about using best case scenarios and images for advertising. The first time I remember this happening, a brand rep that was truly jacked was asked if the supplement he was repping made him that way. He responded with “You’d have to be an idiot to believe I got here just by taking this.” He was terminated shortly thereafter for telling the truth. Shredz rep Devin Zimmerman aka Devin Physique brought all of these techniques back. Not only did Devin “touch-up” his photos to create a better look, Shredz solicited and used before and after photos of amazing transformations claiming credit for the transformations despite those people never using Shredz. The reaction: an “apology” and claiming others do it as well. This isn’t totally new, but with social media explosion, this is happening more often with more companies.
Think back to the days when there were paid endorsements on TV for all sorts of things...same thing here, just without the pay until you punch it that special little code or buy the totally not-custom meal plan and $100 workout plan they copied from the July ‘87 Fit Muscle Rag. It’s moved from buying the magazine with “Arnold’s Latest Workout” to searching social media for a hot or jacked person selling a plan. *Side not, most of Arnold’s workouts were fabricated so they would look new, despite him doing the same routine for years.*
Don’t think this is just targeting men. With the surge in physique “competitors”, women are getting sucked into the same supplement / shortcut / bullshit as the men. Paige Hathaway has also been accused of manipulation and deception for her part in the Shredz scam. Women are particularly susceptible to this kind of advertising because of the push for the perfect bikini body and the rise in physique competitions. Just a quick trip through instagram and a few directed searches and you can find over 50 posts per week that are aimed at women.
In my piece last week, Progress Picture or Exotic Dancer Audition?, I began going after the over-sexualized outfits and posing that mimics an exotic dancer or film star more than a fitness professional. The industry advertising has led us to believe that photoshopped images aka “Adobe Gains” are real and possible using their products. We’ve gone down the rabbit hole so far that brand ambassadors with no real experience or qualifications beyond a “sale code” have joined in on the photo manipulation. I pointed out Shredz and their reps, but they aren’t the only ones relying on naivete and deception. It seems like every time I flip into Insta-famous, I see another coach posting their fantastic transformations and trying to get me to use their product sale code or join their team. (I’ll explain how these things work in a moment for those that don’t know.) And when I look at the photos, I can see signs of tampering, things like doorframes bending, televisions twisting, hard edges on muscles, etc. Some are really obvious, others, not so much. Some of the hardest ones are taken on plain color backgrounds. Even something as simple as applying a filter can change the whole physique of a person.
I’m not bitching about the Average Joe or Jane using filters or touching up their photos. Hell, we all dream of obtaining the perfect body and showing off our hard work. My complaint is with all the people that manipulate their images to generate sales of their scam product. If the product was that good, they wouldn’t need to manipulate images or sell you on it. When your product / MLM scheme can’t produce the results you advertise and you have to solicit images from others you’re falsely advertising. When you have to create bullshit contests where the “winner” didn’t even know they were part of the contest, you’re a fraud. And just because you created a program using a “stock photo” doesn’t excuse you because you know damn well that photo was probably touched up prior to you getting it.
So here’s how the “Brand Ambassador” thing works with sale codes:
-Buy product from said company and possibly pay for a “package”
-Receive code to distribute to your friends and followers
-Have a minimal internet presence to distribute code and post obnoxiously about it
-Possibly create your own “page” or tell friends / clients to check it out
-Stage some photos with the product
-Have people use your “discount code” when checking out to receive a percentage off
-The code registers back to you and you receive a certain percentage of their total purchase, like a sales commission
Seems just like standard sales, except more than a few of these ambassadors have no qualifications and no knowledge. It’s like asking a cashier at Wal-Mart about the best tires for your car; they may know something, but chances are it’s only what the company tells them to know. So before you run off and spend your hard earned cash, take a look at who represents them and consider their trustworthiness, as a company and as a representative. Look at their advertising pictures and mumbo jumbo. Do they use filters? Are they using perspective tricks to look better? Are they quoting “studies” as proof? If they are, they’re trying to trick you for a reason and they’re one of the bad parts of the industry.
I think this is a great post on youtube by Jason Blaha about the industry and how the sensationalized, misrepresentations are hurting everybody in the community - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACMHaUcwY-o.
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