Body By Design

It seems that most articles written today are trying to improve your bench press. It makes sense though, what other exercise is more of a measure of your gym success (excuse the sarcasm)? However, if you want real success in the gym, whether it be increasing strength, losing bodyfat, or gaining muscle, you will also have to be proficient in other exercises like pull-ups, squats, deadlifts, and other complex movements.

Although no one ever asks what how much you pull-up, these exercises are crucial for development of major muscle groups. Yes, improving some of these other lifts can actually improve your bench, but becoming obsessed with the bench press is a classic gym mistake. Here are what I see are the top five weak links for most people.

Weak Links

1. Weak Upper Back:

Now this may seem an odd weakness since many individuals will have a back day in their program. However, many times this only consists of doing some lat pulldowns and very sloppy rowing movements. If this was not a true weakness in many people, you wouldn’t see horribly hunched shoulders or nearly as many rotator cuff injuries.

What should you do? If you have a severe imbalance between the chest and back then you may need as much as eight weeks of no benching movements. This layoff may greatly improve your bench so don’t be scared to stop benching for this time. If the problem is still persisting, or you are just beginning to realize a problem developing, then you might want to use a 2:1 ratio of pulling to horizontal pushing movements.

What exercises are good? Basically anything that requires pulling a weight towards your body (most rowing movements, or pulldowns), or pulling your body towards an object (modified pull-ups, and chin-up variations). Let me say this, a pulldown and chin-ups are not the same! I am always disappointed in the lack of chin-up strength that most display. There are many ways of progressing to perform chin-ups.

The grip to start with is semi-supinated (palms facing each other). Using this grip you can start to progress towards doing your first chin-up. You can perform an assisted chin-up by having a spotter hold your ankles assisting you through the concentric and eccentric phases. You may even want someone to spot you through the concentric (raising phase) and just try to lower yourself for a five second count.

The second option is perform negatives. Negatives are performed by stepping upon something to get you above the bar and then lowering yourself for five seconds. You may choose to do this for a total 15-20 repetitions using as many sets as needed to accomplish these repetitions.

2. Vastus Medialis Oblique (VMO):

This muscle is one of the four that make up the quadriceps. So, you do lots of leg extensions and leg presses you say? Sorry, even though the VMO is worked in these movements, I never find it adequate in developing VMO strength. How do I know? Simply watching someone squat can tell a lot, you can see flexibility problems and strength imbalances.

It is very common to see the knees buckle as someone descends into the squat position. Yes, this can be caused by other problems, but that is why I perform several tests to confirm this initial finding. The knee will also tend to buckle on several other exercises such as step-ups, or split squats.

So, what is the big deal of not having a very strong VMO? There has been plenty of research to show that one of the primary purposes of the VMO is to maintain proper tracking of the patella. When there is an imbalance between the VMO and the vastus lateralis (the outer head of the quadriceps) the patella is moved out of place causing a great deal of pain within the knee.

This is usually seen as a chronic problem, meaning, it will be a problem that slowly develops and the pain will not be immediate. A lack of VMO strength could also potentially be the reason of an ACL injury.

The Remedy

Perform progressions such as step-up and split squat variations. Once you have developed the proper strength from these progression you may perform full squats. One of the many reasons full squats are extremely beneficial is their ability to develop the VMO. Going to the full squat position places the VMO is a fully stretched position under a load.

World Renown Strength Coach, Charles Poliquin, has often spoke of his ability to cure knee problems of athletes just by utilizing full squats and their variations.

3. Lower Abdominals:

Crunches, crunches, and crunches are usually the exercise of choice for most abdominal programs. There is nothing wrong with using crunches, but they do not develop lower abdominal strength. Lower abdominal strength is the ability of the external obliques and the rectus abdominis to rotate the pelvis back, or maintain proper pelvis positioning during leg movements.

The main contributors are the external obliques. These muscles are the biggest of the abdominals and have a direct insertion into the hip. By this connection they can rotate the pelvis back as to flatten out the lower back. This is important so during movement these muscle keep the pelvis from being pulled forward by the powerful hip flexors.

An imbalance between the hip flexors and the lower abdominals can cause a lower back injury because excessive strain on the lumbar spine and its musculature.

This could also limit one’s strength in lifts like deadlifts, squats, and Olympic lifts. To improve lower abdominal strength you can use a basic pelvic tilt. By lying on the ground with the knees bent, slide your hands under the natural curve of the low back. From here try to just use the external obliques to apply pressure to your hands.

You don’t need to crush your hands just applying some pressure is a good start. As long as you don’t use the glutes, the legs, or try to crunch into the motion you are going to make some great progress in making yourself stronger and less likely to suffer injury.

4. Posterior Chain:

This includes the hamstrings, glutes, and low back. By examining a lot of programs, even those of professional teams, you see an overwhelming imbalance between exercises that emphasize the quadriceps and those of the posterior chain. This generally leads to an imbalance of what is known as ham to quad ratio.

Physiotherapist recommend a 66 ham to quad ratio, meaning the hamstrings will produce 66% of the force of the quadriceps. Even though this is considered “normal” those that wish to be elite speed athletes should actually have a ham to quad ratio of over 100! So, the hamstrings would actually be stronger than the quadriceps.

These muscles play a big role in allowing athletes to be explosive, jump higher, and run like speed demons. For those that are recreational lifters, these muscles are crucial for stabilization knee and sacroiliac joint. Both important for preventing pain in the knee and the low back.

Leg curls are adequate in solving this problem. Hip extension movements such as Deadlifts, Goodmornings, and Glute-Ham Raises can provide a huge boost to improving the posterior chain strength. This will also lead to an impressive development of the hamstrings, glutes, and low back. Simply looking at elite sprinters can prove this point.

Olympic movements develop the power of the posterior chain, most helpful are the snatch and clean movements. These are movements that can be learned from a qualified weightlifting coach. USA Weightlifting does a good job certifying coaches to properly instruct these lifts.

5. External Rotators Of The Shoulder:

The small muscles that make up the rotator cuff are very important in developing high levels of upper body strength. The lift is always limited by the weakest link. So, if the rotator cuff is very weak in relation to the internal shoulder rotators (pecs and lats) the body will try to protect the shoulder by shutting off the muscles of the surrounding joint.

A very easy way of knowing if you may be prone to an imbalance is posture.

If your shoulders are rounded forward you are likely to have such an imbalance. If you push a lot more than you pull, again you are probably a prime candidate.

Even if you are not a cave man, you may want to throw in external rotator exercises because you will be pleasantly surprised by the increase in your bench press. Especially if you have never worked these muscles before you may see a large increase in any pushing movement.

You can find great exercises in books like The Poliquin Principles, or the 15 Minute Rotator Cuff Workout. Employing tools such as Swiss Balls and Bands can provide a unique way of training shoulder stability. Now, don’t forget to do those pulling exercises!

Final Thoughts

When you are trying to address these weaknesses only select two at a time. Anymore will make it difficult to improve in your workouts. There are other weak links, but like I said, these are the most common I encounter. So, if you improve your weak links I guarantee you will not only be stronger, but you will reach your goals much faster!

By: Josh Henkin

Star Jones has been the cause of a burning question in many peoples’ minds, and the question is this – how did Star Jones lose weight?

During the time she was losing the weight and in approximately the year afterward, Star was reticent to talk about how she lost the weight. She was concerned that people would judge her for the decisions that she had made.

In the September 2007 issue of Glamour magazine, she wrote that she was, "scared of what people might think of me. I was afraid to be vulnerable."

Did Star Jones Have a Stomach Surgery?

Eventually, though, she did let the cat out of the bag. To the surprise of almost no one, Star Jones admitted that it was weight loss surgery that had led to her fast-paced slim-down.

The dramatic weight loss was preceded by a 75 pound weight gain, putting her at over 300 pounds. It was this intense weight gain that put her in a vulnerable enough emotional place for a friend to be able to convince her that she should opt for weight loss surgery.

Once she did, she describes it as being immediately successful. Within just a few months, aided by diet and exercise, she dropped over 100 pounds.

Still she didn’t want to talk about it. She famously even hung up on one radio talk show host when he asked her point blank if surgery was the way she had lost the weight. On Larry King Live, she would only go so far as to say that it was a "Medical Intervention" that had assisted her in losing weight. It took Jones almost a full year to work up the courage to admit that weight loss surgery was what she used to achieve the results that she did.

The key to this story is that Diet and Exercise are used in conjunction with the surgery because as the doctors would say "without proper diet and exercise the surgery’s effects are only temporary.

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Weight Loss can be difficult to attain for many of us particularly through the common methods of dieting and exercise. In some cases this may not be the most appropriate action to take to lose weight safely especially for people with pre-existing medical concerns. So in the interest of providing full information I will cover some of the surgical procedures available to lose weight, firstly Lap Band Surgery.

Lap Band Surgery is an increasingly common procedure which in lamest terms uses a band around the stomach to make the patient feel full more often and reduce there desire for food. It has many advantages over other surgery procedures including:

• The tightness of the gastric-band can be adjusted.
• The gastric-band is placed using key-hole surgery which doesn’t leave large scars and minimizes post-surgery recovery time.
• Gastric-band surgery is reversible and because nothing permanent has been done to the stomach, it can return to its normal shape.

Gastric-band surgery isn’t for everyone. In fact, it is considered a solution of last resort for very overweight people whose weight is dramatically impacting their quality of life or life expectancy.

Whether or not someone is considered appropriate for gastric-band surgery depends on a number of factors which the performing surgeon will consider before proceeding with the surgery.

These conditions usually relate to how overweight a person is, what other weight loss methods they’ve tried, how badly their weight is affecting their health, their age and their understanding of the risks and post-surgery responsibilities regarding healthier eating and exercise.

When it comes to how overweight a person is, a Body Mass Index of 35 or more is considered appropriate for gastric-band surgery.

As well as being morbidly obese, surgeons generally want to know that potential patients have exhausted all other methods of losing weight.

If a potential patient already has many of the diseases caused or made worse by being overweight, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, they are far more likely to be considered appropriate candidates for surgery.

Have you ever tried a diet? Has is not worked, been too hard or worked for a short period of time only for you to put the weight back on? There is fundamental reason why 99% of attempted diets never work and I am going to tell you what this reason is and the real secret to losing weight and keeping it off.

Its not your body it’s your mind.

That’s the reason why so many fail to lose weight successfully. Your mind is not set up or equipped to lose weight so even if you go on the water & cabbage diet (which I strongly urge you never to try), and lose those unwanted pounds you will pile that weight straight back on as soon as you go off that diet. I use the term "diet" loosely there because as you read on the word diet is half the problem.

So lets begin by redefining (or correctly defining) a "diet" for everyone out there. A diet is a term used to reflect what a person consumes to survive. It is not something you go on to lose weight, it is not particular foods, it is not the removal or addition of certain elements of food (like carbohydrates) it is (as I will repeat) a term used to reflect what a person consumes to survive.

My point is when we speak of wild animals we will speak of their diets consisting of this and that. For example a Koala Bear’s Diet consist of mainly eucalyptus leaves. You will never hear a wildlife expert exclaiming "Crikey, what a marvelous snake specimen, it keeps it shape and athleticism by removing carbs from its diet and allowing one off day a week to help it keep on track". That would be ridiculous. But somehow our psyche has been transformed into thinking of diets in this way and that’s why understanding the definition is so important.

So lets continue to break this down. We eat and drink to survive, this is a predominant need of all animals on this planet. Doing so provides the fuel we need to grow, heal, move, function, think, basically anything we do requires a certain level of fuel. So if you want a diet to lose weight, the key is to change your frame of mind from thinking of a diet as a temporary measure to lose weight, and to start thinking of a diet as merely a means to an end, that is fueling your body for your daily activities.

If you can think of your diet in this way you have won the battle of the bulge. You will lose weight, become healthy and stay this way forever. And if you ever successfully reach this state of "enlightenment" you will need to know exactly what fuel your body requires. I will write up a comprehensive post very soon on what is the optimal food and drink to fuel your body.

That being said we must live life to the fullest and some food and drink can be seen as a very enjoyable part of your life. The key is to think of it for exactly what it is high in bad fats, high calories, bad for your liver etc. You can still enjoy life but will be less inclined to over-indulge in what your body does not need.

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For about 50 years now, Americans have been eating low fat (some no fat) diets and the funny thing is we have gotten progressively fatter and less healthy. Who ever said low fat diets were healthy, and more importantly, why does eating less fat mean you’ll be less fat?

In attempt to keep this easy to understand, as most of what you read and hear is complicated, confusing, and contradictory, I’m going to be direct, to the point, and explain things in a way that most people can understand.

Where to start? Well, I’ve done some research on this and have found very little science to back up the claims that eating less fat will keep you trim. I have also found many examples that totally dismiss this idea. For example, the French eat significantly more fat than we do here in the US while there obesity AND disease and illness rates are quite a bit lower.

Another example is the Alaskan Eskimos. They consume as much as 70% of their calories from fat (whale blubber and fish) and they have one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world – until they come to the US and eat like us! Before I cover other examples I’d like to talk about some the reasons why the “low fat diet” is not only making us fatter, but also killing people faster than you can imagine! Does that shock you? If so, do I have news for you!

The Reasons

Eating less fat means you have to eat more protein or carbs and most people end up eating more carbs (and the wrong type!) Dietary fat is very slow burning in the body so when you replace the fat with faster burning carbs you tend to feel less energetic, risk burning muscle tissue, and wreak havoc on your metabolism and hormones because your energy levels (blood sugar) are like a roller coaster.

Dietary fats supply some of the best, and most stable sources of energy. So if you want to feel good all day long, you need to make sure you are getting enough fats, and the right types. I’ll touch on which types to avoid and which to include in your diet later in this article.

The human body needs fat just to function properly, let alone optimal health Certain amounts of fat are necessary for proper hormone production. If hormone production is off so will your metabolism be. Hormones regulate many things in the body including your ability to build and maintain muscle tissue, which is responsible for a large portion of your energy expenditure. In simple terms, muscle burns calories 24 hours a day and if you eat a low fat or no fat diet you will have a hard time building and maintaining muscle.

The Facts

Obesity increased from 14% of the American population in 1960 to over 22% by 1980 the Harvard Nurse’s Health Study which ran well over 10 years found that not only did low fat diets not decrease the risk of heart disease but also that saturated fat wasn’t so bad after all, and that too little was just as harmful

Summary

If you want to lose weight and be healthy – DON’T eat a low-fat diet! You would have to be absolutely insane to after learning the truth about dietary fats. If you have doubts or questions please do some research and you will be amazed at what you will find out. In the meantime, go eat some healthy fats!

Jesse Cannone
jesse@achieve-fitness.com

For those of you looking to build muscle supplements can seem like the holy grail, the easy way to achieve your goals. Whilst I am a firm believer in the benefits of supplements, which ones should you take and how much?

Currently debate still rages in the bodybuilding, scientific and sporting communities about everything and anything to do with supplements. Essentially what this means is there is very little facts to work with especially with the newer supplements they are coming up with these days. But there is enough anecdotel evidence to help you out.

Now I am not a bodybuilder. I successfully put on 10 kg of muscles in about 3 months for sport and most of this infomation is based on research I have read and what worked for me. Actually on that note and this is probably the most important factor of exercise and fitness in general is not everything will work for you. You are unique and because of that your body may react differently with certain routines, diets or supplements then everyone else in the world.

There are thousands of suplpements available on the market these days but the big three are protein, creatine, and glutamine.

Protein

The building blocks of muscle. A high protein diet is a must. No matter how hard you train and how much you eat if you do not get enough protein in your diet you will get nowhere. I have used a whey powder protein drink for moderate success. Every bodybuilder on the planet would have a couple of these a day to maintain or build muscle mass. However I had most success when I swapped my protein shakes for a high protein diet. Eggs and chicken featured predominently and allowed for large muscle gains. Even if you do go the protein supplement path (which is totally fine) make sure you have plenty of meats, fish, nuts, eggs and milk products in your diet to keep your daily protein intake high.

Creatine

In simple terms creatine is a naturally occuring substance in the body that is used by the muscles to generate power. Its popularity has soared over the last decade and many people sware by it. Generally you take a creatine supplement before a workout so that you can push your muscles harder. I have used it in the past but did not notice much if any effect during my workouts. Creatine is still very much in the theory category we know that it is beneficial but its still debated the best way to introduce it into your body for maximum effects. Creatine can be found in very small amounts in meats (particularly red meat) but you will need a supplement version to get the benefits from creatine loading.

Glutamine

Glutamine is another naturally occuring substance in the body. Without being too technical Glutamine is vital in the recovery of muscles (as well as other body functions) after stress (exercise). Anyone and everyone will tell you how important glutamine is to the body and for muscle building it allows you to recover quicker and train more which is important. Glutamine can be found in most animal and plant products in the average diet but it is recommended even for non bodybuildrs to supplement your body with extra glutamine. From my experience I always felt better when supplementing glutamine especially the day after a heavy workout I did not feel as sore as I do without it.

So there you go folks the 3 most common and important supplements for building muscle mass. Its up to you what you use and how much but I strongly recommend a diet full of protein to help repair and grow muscles at the very least.

Sit-ups are generally not recommended during pregnancy. This is because the movements involved may traumatize the uterus or abdomen.

Sit-ups are of particular concern after about the 4th month of pregnancy. Any time you are on your back after this point, you run the risk of the uterus compressing the vena cava (a major blood vessel) which in turn would reduce your blood pressure. Generally, any exercise that must be done in the "supine" (on your back) position is not recommended during pregnancy.

You can, however, still perform exercises while you are pregnant, including abdominal exercises. One of the best abdominal exercises you can do is "Mini Sit-ups." Mini Sit-ups will help prepare you for labor by toning your abs. During the second stage of labor your abs will do much of the pushing work. Additionally, your abs provide support for your spine and may help prevent low backache.

To perform Mini Sit-ups, follow these steps:

1. Lie on your back, knees bent, with your feet on the floor.

2. Place a pillow under your hip so you’re not flat on your back.

3. As you exhale, tighten your abs and raise your head and shoulders off the floor while reaching for the sky with your arms.

4. Inhale and return to starting position.

5. Repeat 10 times, once in the morning and once in the evening.

It is becoming more common to hear of people experiencing anxiety, depression, edginess, and temper flare-ups after taking creatine supplements. Is this coincidence or is there a dark side to creatine?

Luckily for all you budding bodybuilders and athletes there has been no scientific link between creatine and the anxiety attacks some people are experiencing. All we know for sure is that creatine can cause diarrhea in some cases. During the loading phase it can be easy to overload your intestines which is the cause of this diarrhea.

So what about the emotional side effects? Well there is some anecdotal evidence, in one case, a man reported taking 6-8 grams/day of creatine for about a year with no problems other than occasional diarrhea. He stopped working out and taking creatine for about 6 months while recovering from rotator cuff surgery. When he returned to his previous workout-creatine regimen, he experienced anxiety attacks: “…I found that within 2 hours after I took 6-8 g of creatine I began to get depressed and anxious but on the days that I forgot to take creatine I was fine. I have since cut back my creatine intake to 3-4 g every other day…and I am no longer experiencing anxiety attacks.”

The truth is however that creatine has no scientifuc link to any amotional symptoms or problems and these cases are by far in the minority. So if you are supplementing with creatine no need to worry but best to be aware of how you are feeling to ensure you have no side effects.

Many athletes and bodybuilders are concerned about the affect alcohol use will have on the supplements they take. Will there be any serious consequences? What will it do the body?

After a night of alcohol consumption, a drinker will not sleep as soundly as normal because the body is rebounding from alcohol’s depressive effect on the system. When someone is drinking, alcohol inhibits glutamine, one of the body’s natural stimulants. When the drinker stops drinking, the body tries to make up for lost time by producing more glutamine than it needs.

The increase in glutamine levels stimulates the brain while the drinker is trying to sleep, keeping them from reaching the deepest, most healing levels of slumber. This is a large contributor to the fatigue felt with a hangover. Severe glutamine rebound during a hangover also may be responsible for tremors, anxiety, restlessness and increased blood pressure.

However the day after the same glutamine will actually speed the recovery from alcohol consumption by improving the bodys processes of expelling the toxins from your system. So the two items have a strange relationship but the ixture of the two substances should not have any serious effects on your body.

Well as we all know in life we have obstacles and difficulties that can stop us from doing the things we should.

This year I was lucky enough to welcome my first child into the world. Because of this we decided to move cross country to be closer to the family. These large changes meant that unfortunately I have lost my fitness and my general health has really suffered as well.

Now that life has calmed down I want to get back into top shape and fast. So I will let you know my favorite exercise for getting back into shape: