Fat Loss Preparation, Part III
July 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
So, you started your fat loss program and you are on your way. There is still some prep work that needs to be done. Once you start, it is never enough to just put your head down and deal with the issues as they come up. Mentally, you need to be prepared.
We talked about preparing your kitchen, preparing for possible negativity from friends, family, and co-workers, and even talked about being prepared for the long haul by setting goals. If you adequately prepared for all of those things, you are certainly ahead of the game and on your way. Now that you have done the "base" work of preparation, you need to prepare for what is to come. Read more
100 Calorie Snacks
July 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment
“What can I snack on?”
“What do you recommend that I eat for snacks?”
“Do you have any suggestions for fast and easy snacks?”
These are some of the very common questions that I get from Naked Nutrition Network readers. Since most of us live our lives on the go, it is very important to have convenient snacks that will keep us on your nutritional plans. Read more
 |
|||
| Description | Value | Download | |
| 100 Calorie Snack Report | $14 | Go! | |
Training with Shoulder Pain
July 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
People complain about having shoulder pain all of the time. Usually, I get a gym member, friend or even a stranger approach me about how their shoulder started hurting during their training routines. Sometimes people use this as a reason to stop training all together. Other people train right through the pain, not realizing that they might be making the issue worse.
Whatever the reason for the pain, it is always a good idea to have the shoulder looked at by a qualified professional before you continue. Whether it is your doctor, or a physical therapist, or even a qualified movement expert, you should always have someone that is "in the know" check you out before you continue on your way. Read more
Naked Nutrition is Going Away
July 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I sent this email out to “Team Naked Nutrition” over the weekend and wanted to make sure everyone saw it. So here it is again.
=============
Good news and Bad news.
Bad news first.
I’m taking Your Naked Nutrition Guide as you know it off the market…. Read more
Can I Workout Everyday?
July 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Our first assumption when we write articles or give training advice is that most people are short on time. I almost chuckle when I’m consulting with a client and they offer, “Can I do more than that?” in regard to their training program.
Truth is that many people can train more frequently than the ever-so common 3 days per week. However, cumulative stress needs to be considered if progress is to be maintained toward your goals.
Train too hard, too often and your ability to adapt to the training (which is the goal by the way) can’t happen because you lack the physical resources.
Think of training like a bucket of water. Every time you train, you take water out of the bucket. When you rest and eat, you put water back in. If you keep taking water out, but you don’t put enough back in to keep the bucket full, your progress will come to a screeching halt or worse, you’ll regress.
If you’re interested in hitting the gym more often and want to maximize progress, here’s some strategies you may find helpful:
1. Determine your priorities
If your goal is to lose as much fat as possible, your program will look quite a bit different from one that is designed to promote maximal strength or increased muscle mass. Trying to combine goals such as fat loss and muscle gain are certainly possible, but experience favors the tendency to focus on one aspect of your training being much more successful in achieving the desired result.
In other words, if you want to gain muscle and lose fat, lose the fat first.
2. Get your supportive eating plan organized
The key to achieving your goals will always defer to your eating plan. You can’t out-exercise a crappy diet, and you won’t make your best progress without the proper nutrition. Recovery is dominated by having the correct nutrition in place. Fat loss is dominated by controlling key fat storage hormones like insulin.
Create a plan to support your goal, write it down, and stick to it.
3. Plan your rest
It may seem counterintuitive to plan rest first, but without rest and recovery, progress cannot be made. Maybe you’d like to have the weekends off. Block them out now. Maybe the kids have games or practice on certain evenings. Block them out now. Friday is date night in my house, so I block it out ahead of time. Even if you really like to workout a lot, try to get at least one full day of rest each week. Even the highest level athletes take a day off.
Plan your rest and recovery for maximal progress
4. Plan your highest intensity days
The hardest workouts not only take the greatest effort, they also require the greatest recovery. Place these training sessions into your weekly program first, and here’s a piece of advice to help determine when to hit it the hardest:
Avoid placing two high-intensity maximal effort training sessions on back-to-back days.
There are exceptions to this rule for some high-level athletes but for most of us normal people, it rarely does much good. Hard training in the real world (those with family and job commitments) places such demand on us mentally and physically to perform at our highest levels for extended periods of time. It most often leads to poorer efforts later on and many times injuries.
Here’s an example hierarchy of activities and their corresponding intensity levels from higher to lower:
1. Explosive jumping
2. Explosive lifts (power cleans, dynamic effort lifts)
3. Strength-based training (1-5 reps)
4. Hypertrophy-based training
5. Metabolic strength training
6. Intensive Interval Training
7. Extensive Interval Training
8. Higher intensity Steady-State endurance training
9. Lower intensity Steady-state endurance training
10. Mobility/Flexibility/Rehab
5. Follow high intensity with lower intensity
Once you’ve got your rest days and high intensity training days planned, simply fill in your other training days with activities that fall lower on the intensity hierarchy. Realize that many activities involved in fat loss training fall into a medium category which allows several consecutive training days before a rest day would be required.
For instance, you could alternate metabolic strength training days with a day of interval training or endurance training for several days before taking a rest day. Typically I wouldn’t exceed 5 total training days in a row (i.e., Monday through Friday) and in that case, I’d recommend the full two days off.
Here’s some other possible example plans:
4 training days:
High
Medium
Off
High
Medium
Off
Off
Medium
High
Off
Medium
High
Off
Off
Medium
Low
Medium
Off
High
Off
Off
5 training days:
Medium
Medium
Medium
High
Off
Low
Off
Low
High
Off
Medium
High
Low
Off
Medium
Low
Medium
High
Low
Off
Off
Create a plan that fits your needs and your desired goals!
Let’s Connect Web 2.0 Style
-
Site Feeds
-
Free Downloads
