Gallagher and Yates:
two grizzled old pros plot their next move
Dorian Yates was
the world's greatest bodybuilder for nearly a decade. In a world
inhabited by preening peacocks and adulation junkies (a de rigueur
syndrome amongst elite bodybuilders) Yates was the odd man out:
introverted, thoughtful, analytical, observant - yet a genuine
tough guy - Yates was in no need of adulation and could care less
whether you approved of his physique. He was built like an Abrams
battle tank, a bull mastiff competing against Volvos and greyhounds.
Possessing a huge reservoir of physical and mental toughness, he
combined his inherent traits of tenacity and grit with a
fundamentalist approach towards training and nutrition. He
effortlessly morphed from street punk into bodybuilding monk. I
profiled him in my book, The Purposeful Primitive and
his chapter title was called The Iron Monk. Dorian is the type of man
that in another life could easily have become an SAS Operative, a
Navy Seal, a Cage Fighter, perhaps a professional Brahma bull rider,
a test pilot or Prize fighter. Yates was psychologically suited for
the disciplined life of an elite soldier, fighter or professional
athlete.
He ate with complete
nutritional discipline, seemingly without effort. He injected sanity
into his food choices and performed cardio exercise religiously, even
though he was built all wrong for aerobic activity. His weight
training was nothing short of revolutionary and his strength
legendary - how about six strict reps in the barbell incline press
with 435 pounds and two more forced reps on top of that? Or leg
presses with 1300 for 14 reps, every single rep deep and controlled.
He is more popular and well known today than when he ran the tables
and captured the Mr. Olympia title six straight years.
The Diesel (his
nickname) steamrolled his way through the competition throughout his
competitive career: he became synonymous with utter and complete
domination. Dorian won the biggest prizes with the biggest paydays
repeatedly. He cemented his persona by doing it all with what seemed
to be an air of yawning distain. He was the prototypical English Hard
Man and the undisputed King in a Kingdom he really didn't care to
rule. Mr. Yates was the complete opposite of the athletic attention
freak. Yates was all about "the process." The process is the
training and the eating: the gut-busting effort expended in the gym,
the copious cardio and the ever disciplined eating.
Famously introduced to
weight training while serving a stretch in reform school, Dorian's
embryonic Birmingham roots were marinated in street fighting, pub
socializing, soccer hooliganism and he was not above participating in
the occasional street riot. Bob Marley provided the soundtrack for
this uniquely Birmingham upbringing. He lived in squats and drank and
fought and became enmeshed in a strange slice of working class, punk
rock street culture. Overnight he found bodybuilding and effortlessly
adopted all the disciplined bodybuilding elements into his life.
Within a few years of commencing the strange sport, he was winning
nationally; within five years he was winning internationally. Dorian
trained in the dank solitude of his beloved Temple Gym. While Yates
loved the training, he found the actual bodybuilding competitions
somewhat bothersome. Competition was a necessary fact-of-life: money
was made and the bodybuilding shows and seminars served as
demarcations: a periodic issuance of a physical report card.
He was never too keen
on being judged by others. Being the prototypical Alpha Male, a
warrior-type, Yates used upcoming competitions to psyche himself
upward, into further elevated levels. His training sessions were
dramatic. He used the competitive smack talk of his competitors to
further amplify his own efforts. He was the best in the world for a
long, long time. Competing was something he needed to do in order to
refill the financial coffers and continually expanded his fan base.
Left to his own devices, The Diesel likely would have stay holed up
in his dank gym, ever refining and improving, needing no one's
approval, other than his own. He was the type of man that could be
completely happy bodybuilding in total obscurity. One time a year
Dorian would put on a set of posing trunks and stride onstage at the
Mr. Olympia competition: he would lumber into that white hot
spotlight and receive thunderous applause as he posed to music. It
was a strange way to make a lucrative living.
Nowadays, Dorian Yates
is a decade retired: at age 47 he is super fit, upbeat, and sharp as
a box of razor blades. Dorian was, is and forever shall be, a Man,
with a capitol M. He is obviously someone completely at ease within
his own skin. In his competitive days he wore an ever-present glower
and was surrounded by a fearsome posse; nowadays he has successfully
morphed himself into a kinder/gentler version of Dorian Yates. He
splits his time between various projects and enterprises: he travels
to the United States nearly every month. He has launched his new DY
line of uber-potent, over-the-counter nutritional supplements. These
products promise to set the new standards insofar as supplemental
potency and excellence. Anyone that knows Dorian knows that one thing
he would never consider would be putting his name on a product
that was not the finest, most potent and the most effective
nutritional supplement available anywhere.
His reputation is based
on his image: a strong persona, an uncompromising individual from a
hard scrabble background: this man pulled him up by his own (Doc
Marten) bootstraps to become the best bodybuilder in the world. He
became famous and stayed at the tip-top of his athletic profession
for a long, long time. He now orchestrates his mini-empire from
different locations and jets around the world: he might be putting on
seminars on any one of five continents; he might be meeting with
advisors and investors; he might be engaged in a photo shoot for
Muscular Development magazine - with whom he has an exclusive
magazine contract - he might be putting in time at his website. He
might be engaging with business types in the morning and having power
lunches later that same day. Yet he always makes time in the evening
to work, one-on-one, with some aspiring local bodybuilder.
Incongruously, the
Birmingham Hard Man spends a week per month in New Jersey. Dorian
resides in an upscale suburb of western New York City. Dorian and I
have known each other for over a decade, dating back to his reign as
Mr. Olympia and my days as a Boss Body-part editor and Olympia
feature writer for Muscle & Fitness magazine. At that time M&F
was the largest selling fitness mag in the world. I did several
articles on Yates and got to know him professionally. He was kind
enough to give me a great review on my Ed Coan book. Dorian liked The
Purposeful Primitive at lot, calling it, "As good a
book on the art and science of physical development as any that I
have ever read - anywhere, ever!" High Praise from Caesar.
When Dorian began
frequenting Jersey, it seemed only natural that I jump in my jeep and
head there from neighboring Pennsylvania. He graciously invited me up
one weekend to kick around some business ideas and to observe one of
his seminars: we met and caught up and decided to work together on
some future projects. On the day of the seminar, we were walking out
of diner when the photo of he and I was taken. My wife saw it and
said, "Wow - you two guys look like a couple of grizzled cowboys
- you guys look like you should be riding horses and fighting
rustlers on the TV western saga, Lonesome Dove." I guess that makes
me Robert Duval and Dorian is Tommy Lee Jones.
His seminar was low-key
and all business. The seminar started off with the briefest of
introductions. He immediately threw open the floor for questions. As
he put it, "Rather than bore you with a bunch of theories and ideas
on what may or may not apply to you and your particular situation,
let's straightaway get to some individualized questions: ask me
about your specific problems. I can be of maximum benefit to you by
answering as many questions as possible." He touched on issues of
technique, how to break out of a stagnant period, nutrition,
supplementation, workout construction, set and rep strategies and
every manner and type of training situation. Yates uses the visual
'learn the lift by looking' approach when discussing technique:
Why verbally describe a proper incline bench press or how best
to correctly perform stiff-leg deadlifts when you can learn far more
by watching as Dorian demonstrates perfect, proper technique.
He discussed rep speed, tempo, range-of-motion, position and
breathing, he peppered his visual demonstrations with concise verbal
instruction.
Dorian gave me an
unintentional lesson in nutrition the morning of the seminar. We
agreed to meet for brunch at a small pizza joint next to the seminar
site. I arrived early, went in and sized up the fare: pizza,
calzones, hot dogs, fries and submarine sandwiches dominated the
menu. I thought, "When in Rome..." so I ordered two slices of
white (no tomato sauce) pizza, loaded with fresh garlic and covered
with fontina cheese. Delicious. Dorian walked in and when the
waiter/owner came over to take his order, Dorian started talking with
the guy in the nicest, clearest way...
"I
was wondering if we (Dorian was with his smoking hot South American
girlfriend) might be able to order some grilled chicken breast?"
There was none on the menu.
Why yes we can scare up
some skinless white meat chicken and grill it up.
"Could
you grill that in as little olive oil as possible?"
Why of course we could,
you nice English-accented giant person.
"Might
we also have some pass-ta? Perhaps with some homemade marinara sauce
- could you make some sauce from scratch? I bet you make excellent
sauce."
Why yes we do kind sir,
we call it 'gravy' in Jersey and it is delicious.
"And
perhaps you might also be able to provide us with two large garden
salads?"
Oh certainly Mr.
Cosmos! Of course!
By simply asking in a
nice way (the accent helps) Dorian obtained a healthy meal in a
roadside dive. I'm ingesting 100 grams of the worst type of
saturated fat and Dorian has managed to eat a perfect diet meal, by
appealing to the owner's culinary pride and ability.
Yates is pushing 50 and
seems to be hitting his stride across the board. He still trains and
trains hard, though nowhere near as heavy. The changes in his
resistance training and cardio (since retiring) are profound,
unorthodox and counterintuitive - but then again, Dorian always was
the poster boy for profound, unorthodox and counterintuitive. He was,
is, and continues to be, iconoclastic in every sense of the word.
"The
guy on the right is 5-10 and 230 - so how big is that other dude?"
Grill Man, all 6-4
and 350 pounds of him, makes a rare appearance.
Grill Man
visited this past August. He is a man-mountain underground strength
legend and rarely leaves his Arizona desert abode. A Pennsylvania
native by birth, Grill had come home to visit his parents on their
50th wedding anniversary. They live (and Grill grew up) in
nearby Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where most of my Mennonite farmer
friends live. He slipped away from the family festivities one morning
and headed over to my place for a visit. We decided to kick things
off by taking a road trip to round up some grub. Our first order of
business was beef: we cruised the picturesque countryside in search
of stores and shacks and farms that would sell us the seasonally
appropriate produce and the corn-fed Black Angus beef we both craved.
We hit all my secret
roadside vegetable stands, the farms that sold produce picked that
day. We stopped by my butcher shop and had John the Butcher cut us
some fabulous rib steaks, he sliced off our steaks from a giant
standing rib roast, aged for 28 day aged, pure perfection. We got
back to my house, off-loaded the provisions and headed back outside
to take a high speed power-walk around the farm. We lumbered around
the mountainous terrain for several hours, hiking fast on the flat
sections alongside the winding trout stream that cuts though the
gulley between two mini-mountains. We headed up a series of steep,
treacherous, narrow pathways and switchbacks, some sixty feet off the
ground and 18 inches wide. I was petrified that Grill's shoulders
were going scrape the right wall so hard that he would flip himself
over the ledge. Perhaps he would do a triple-lindy and land on his
feet before he hit the boulder field.
Grill walked "The
Billy Goat Trail" with great care: he had to twist sideways and he
needed to keep his size 15 feet completely to the right. If he spaced
out he would slip and fall a long way down before hitting a pile of
boulders. "No 911 out here Grill." I kept repeating to him as we
successfully ascended the goat trail. Eventually it emptied out onto
the high mountain cornfield. He had broken a profuse sweat; this was
due to the presence of moisture in the air. GrillMan lives on a
moonscape back in the Arizona desert. Grill is also very private: it
is rumored that he lives in an adobe mud hut on the outskirts of
rural Phoenix. Supposedly he and fellow muscle mystic, Donatello
"Nacho" Del Grande, fell in with a clique of Navaho Shaman. Is
Grill knee-deep in an ancient, aboriginal, peyote/sweat lodge
religious culture? I have no way of knowing with any degree of
certainty. Anyway, that's the rumor. Grill doesn't travel far and
he doesn't travel often. I gave folks a brief glimpse of Grill
World in the chapter entitled, "Spawning Season" in my episodic
iron odyssey, The Purposeful Primitive.
Grill is a 6-four,
350-pound Man Mountain. Grill, like Dorian, is 47 years old. Both
struck me as excellent (yet opposite) role models for men pushing 50.
Big Grill is a strongman and is still rolling hard and still pursing
all-time best lifts. Dorian is done with all that. Grill stays
competitive because he has the drive. The terrific thing about pure
strength sports is that they don't rely on foot speed, agility or
quickness. Strength proficiency can be attained, maintained, retained
and even improved upon, late into life. Men can progress in lifting
and bodybuilding at a relatively advanced age. Frank Zane captured
Mr. Olympia titles starting at age 45.
On our "pre-meal
walk" we walked our legs off and headed home, ending up in my
country kitchen, making lunch. The idea was to fuel up after our
cardio and before deadlifts. I grilled the GrillMan a two pound hunk
of marble-laden Black Angus rib-steak: pure bovine perfection. I
sautéed a pile of local produce: peeled carrots, red onions, garlic,
leeks and fresh spinach leaves...I topped these sautéed vegetables
with a layer of rich local goat cheese and baked this
vegetable/cheese concoction in the oven until a crisp, cheesy crust
appeared. Grill emitted telltale groans of culinary ecstasy as he ate
everything in sight. He indicated that the steak was perfect, the
vegetables potent, and the whole meal properly prepared and
appreciated.
The heat in my garage
gym was 90-degrees. The August humidity and the two hour power walk
were affecting the GrillMan: here is a man whose normal living
conditions approximates that of living in the heat generated by a
giant hairdryer. Today he felt as if he was lifting in a steam room.
He hit low rep deadlift sets, ad infinitum. We discussed technique
after every set. We talked training tactics; for example, "Does not
improved technical execution result in improved performance?" Why
yes it does. "Thus, would not improved deadlift technique manifest
itself as an increase in poundage and/or additional reps?"
Certainly. "Would not extra poundage and/or additional reps convert
into increased muscle hypertrophy leading ultimately to increased
available power for deadlifting?" Oh course.
Grill has an analytical
mind: he is a man on a mission and quizzed me mercilessly. What about
benefits and drawbacks of new and different hand, foot and torso
positions? How best does one deal with the conflict of performing
both heavy squats and deadlifts in the same training week? On and on
it went. Grill is all about obtaining an 800 pound deadlift. He
wanted me to check out of his deadlift technique: he was seeking some
technical pointers that might help him in some small way on his way
to that official 800 pound pull. Our mutual deadlift consensus was
that his technique was rock solid and he was technically proficient -
however, due to certain structural realities and ingrained habits
(insofar as his start position) we decided to devise an auxiliary
exercise, one designed to maximally tax his "hip hinge."
The giant Grill could
"finish" any deadlift. His weak zone was from the floor to his
knees. He is so big he must commence his pull with his back nearly
parallel to the floor. In order to increase his "hinge opening
power" we devised a crazed "assistance exercise." Grill would
perform a classical deadlift with a (relatively) light weight. He
would deadlift the light weight while simultaneously having a "no
hands" safety squat bar perched on his neck. By having resistance
in his hands, the deadlift, and by having additional resistance on
his neck, the safety squat bar, his hinge would be maximally
overloaded. Theoretically this sophisticated weirdness would
'convert' into more power available for the initial hinge-opening
phase. This crazy exercise should create new strength in a weak zone
and (eventually) convert into newfound power that would allow Grill
to pull 800.
After two hours of
deadlifting, he finally gassed out. GrillMan for me represents that
rare individual still striving to better lifetime best performances.
For a man closing in on age 50, Grill is still competitive and
driven. This keeps him young, hungry and engaged. Grill needed to get
back to Lancaster for another family festivity. We parted company
after a post-workout debrief and the Big Grill headed off into the
sunset. He promised to keep me in the loop regarding his quest to
deadlift 800. As he drove off, my mind wandered...I could not help
but pity the poor civilian that was going to end up wedged next to
this gargantuan behemoth dude in those tiny-ass airline seats on that
long, four hour plane ride from Pittsburg to Phoenix.
How to
Reverse Your So-Called "Age" by Ten Years--Using Marty's
Patented Time-Travel Secrets:
Beck One
Year On
Beck one year later: 70
pounds of body fat melted, 10 pounds of muscle added
Time Flies. A year ago a
prematurely aged 59 year-old old man paid me a visit. He was seeking
something profound: physical revitalization and renovation. At our
initial meeting we auditioned for one another. He was checking me out
to see if the reality of Marty matched the image he came away with
after reading my episodic, encyclopedic book, The Purposeful
Primitive. He was auditioning for me: I
have zero desire to work with surface-skimming dilettantes or serial
adulators. I only work with serious individuals, those that
absolutely burn for physical change. When I size up a
potential client I plumb their psychological depths to see if they
possess an intense dissatisfaction with their physical status quo.
Regardless a person's degree fitness or unfitness, if they are
utterly and completely dissatisfied and disgusted with their current
state of physical being, then that individual has real chance of
succeeding. They provide the motivating dissatisfaction and I provide
the battle-tested methodology. Mild dissatisfaction yields mild
changes while complete dissatisfaction yields dramatic changes.
Beck
was completely dissatisfied. He was ready, willing and able to put in
the work necessary for to trigger a radical transformation. A former
Naval Academy graduate, Beck was sharp enough and tough and able to
grasp and institute the multilayered subtleties of the Purposefully
Primitive process. He was someone with the requisite life situation,
one that enabled him able to institute the changes necessary to coax
gains. Beck and I passed the mutual audition and we got started. Fast
forward one year and Beck dramatically succeeded in every measurable
category.
Body
composition
Fat
loss: 70 pounds
Muscle
gain 10 pounds
Strength
gains start one year later
Squat
bodyweight for 20 reps 225 pounds for 4 reps
Bench
press 90 pounds 185 for two reps
Deadlift 135
pounds for 4 305 pounds
Overhead
press 20 pound dumbbells for 8 60 pound DBs for 5 reps
I
assisted Beck in stopping the hands of time. I then helped him turn
back the hands of time. Much to the shock and amazement of his
friends and family, Beck began traveling backwards in time.
Physically he grew younger, first by months, then by years and
finally, in August of 2009, he ended his time travel a full decade
younger than when he commenced his journey in August of 2008.
Those
chronologic grains of sand that represented Beck's life were
hurtling through the hourglass of time at a supersonic rate when we
first met - nowadays those grains of sand are barely trickling
through that glass neck at all. It is no exaggeration to say that
Beckman is a decade younger - or more - today than he was one
year ago. By any physiological or psychological yardstick you care to
apply, losing 70 pounds of deadly body fat, adding 10 pounds of
functional muscle while improving one's strength and cardiovascular
capacity by 200% qualifies as astounding.
In
addition he regained his male vitality and spark: he is now lean and
aggressive, capable and vibrant, a new man in every sense of the
word. The literal definition of the Hindu Sanskrit word 'guru'
is, "one who points." I simply pointed Beckman in the right
direction and he took it from there. Here Beck describes the process
in his own words....
Training with
Marty Gallagher this past year likely prevented me from having a
heart attack. His comprehensive approach vastly improved the
quality of my life. I started with him on August
8, 2008 at the age of 59 completely out of
shape: I weighed 239 lbs with a 46 inch waist. One year
later, I turned 60 years old and weigh 182 lbs with a
36 inch waist. And I am still improving.
My body fat
percentage (as measured on a Tanita scale) dropped from 34% to 19%.
My gut and love handles have pretty much vanished, not to mention my
formerly face fat, my double chins, my back fat, all the other
adipose tissue has disappeared to a dramatic degree. My wife is
ecstatic.
I'm continually
told that I look great. I am continually told that I look at least 10
to 15 years younger by friends and acquaintances.
My squat went from 45 pounds
for reps to 225 pounds for reps
My deadlift went from 95 pounds
to 305 pounds
My bench press went from 90
pounds to 185 for reps
My overhead press was 40 and is
now a 120 and climbing
Great lifts for
me and still climbing. From getting winded walking up a
modest hill, I now power walk up and down hills with a 45 lb weight
vest for an hour once a week. I do hill runs; I
do 220 yard sprints at my local high school track every week. I can
power walk uphill for the better part of two hours.
Marty is so
crazed that he even had me wear my heart rate monitor and time myself
while mowing my lawn! My 'world record' lawn mowing time dropped
from 41 minutes to my recent best of under 19 minutes! Nowadays
my heart rate seldom exceeds 140 beats per minute. In every
direction I feel as if I'm 17 again and just getting started!
I say the
above not to brag, but in a state of amazement at how far I've come
in a year with Marty Gallagher's coaching, prodding and primitive
program. I discovered Marty Gallagher when I read about his book The
Purposeful Primitive, sold on the Dragon Door
website. I had read and tried a lot of programs, but this book
resonated with me. The book probably weighs five pounds and I read it
cover to cover in a couple of nights. Marty's writing style is
engaging and entertaining, and the book is simply the best fitness
book I've ever encountered: covering weight training, cardio (in it's
many forms), nutrition and the all important mental game.
With his
stories and tales about legendary weight lifters and amazing
characters, it made me realize that I needed some pro level coaching
in order to really benefit from the book's processes. Luckily,
Dragon Door hosted a free tele-seminar featuring Marty. I was
impressed with his direct, no nonsense style, as well as his deep
fitness knowledge and weird sense of humor. He struck me as a
cross between Sergeant Slaughter and Jay Leno.
A coaching
program with Marty was offered, so I called the next day and
scheduled an in person coaching session for the next week.
I'm lucky enough to live only 100 miles or so from Marty's home near
Camp David. It was an easy, pleasant drive through a rural time
capsule.
Upon arrival,
Marty greeted me in his somewhat gruff but friendly way - think of a
grizzly sniffing out a campsite. We talked for quite a while,
and he sized up my physical condition, inquired about my injuries,
medical precondition, assessed my mental toughness, quizzed me on my
athletic background and took in my ample gut size.
We then
proceeded to power walk in the forest. Marty regulated my pace
and pushed me hard but not dangerously hard. His insistence on
a heart rate monitor made his assessments of my limits precise.
We went out for about an hour and my pulse rate hit 150 + at
times. The air was clear and clean and I felt tired but good
afterwards.
We drove to a
Mennonite farm to purchase fresh produce for a later meal and then
went to Marty's famous Purposefully Primitive garage gym for some
weight training. Marty insisted on strict technique: we
squatted, dead lifted and bench pressed. He corrected me until I had
downloaded proper technique - he imprinted my muscle memory.
We then ate a
hearty and healthy meal, local Black Angus steaks, farm-fresh
produce, all expertly prepared by chef Marty. He gave me a workout
program to follow, incorporating weights and cardio (mainly power
walking). We scheduled calls for each Monday
morning and away I went, psyched and ready to regain fitness and
health.
The workouts
started out easy, then gained in intensity from week to week,
incorporating sessions of weights and cardio, none longer than 60
minutes (unless I personally chose to extend the cardio). I had
run several marathons and been a high school and college level
athlete. I had gone to seed big time. I really enjoyed feeling the
progress from week to week. My wife assisted in ensuring I ate
a healthy diet but not a deprived diet. And, I still had a
cocktail from time to time.
One of the
highlights of Marty's coaching is his ability to vary the
workout types, from heavier weight and less reps, to lighter weights
and lots of reps and sets, to new combinations of exercises, all
mixed in with cardio variations. It allowed for constant gains
in one form or another, and allowed my body to adjust and adapt
to the process without injury (important for geezers!).
Marty also is
a positive, energetic coach, able to cheerlead or kick ass -
able to push when required during each phone call it's
almost as if he's there in person. And, the requirement
that I provide a detailed workout log to him on a weekly
basis kept me both accountable and motivated to complete the
week's program.
Marty's program
is not a "quick fix" solution, but a lifestyle change and
adaptive education. As the old, somewhat hackneyed phrase goes,
he "taught me how to fish" instead of selling me fish -
His way that is now ingrained into my lifestyle. I should note
that I never yo-yo'd. My weight and flab loss hit plateaus
every 10 - 15 lbs or so for a week or more while my body adjusted,
but I never regained weight. I did gain an appreciable amount
of new or re-awakened muscle, but that's a good thing! My
resting pulse rate is now an average 64 beats per minute, down from
the low 80's.
I highly
recommend Marty Gallagher as a coach and mentor. Whether
you're an experienced athlete, former athlete gone to seed, or
totally new to the fitness path, Marty can guide you to the "new
you" that you've always wanted but never were able to achieve.
You must provide the energy and effort, but it will not be in vain!
I am living proof that his program works, and I'm proud to call
myself "Purposely Primitive"! My goals are to get to
175 by November,
with body fat levels below 15%. With Marty's guidance, I know
it's in the bank!
If you are interested
in becoming a Gallagher phone client, contact Marty at mgso@embarqmail.com
Cardio Inheritance
In my book, The Purposeful Primitive, I made the statement that every intelligent physical renovation program needs three core elements: resistance training, cardiovascular training and nutrition. The goal of all our training and nutritional efforts is to morph the human body from what it is into what we want it to be - lean, muscular, athletically functional, healthy and vital. Resistance training has many legitimate forms and guises and has as its singular goal to increase muscle size and strength; cardiovascular training has many legitimate forms and guises and has as its prime directive increasing endurance and improving the function and capacities of our internal organs. Nutrition has many legitimate forms and guises and has as its goal refueling and revitalizing the body.
When intelligent nutrition is combined with intelligent training, results are amplified; a synergistic state-of-being manifests wherein results exceed realistic expectations: muscle is dramatically increased, body fat is dramatically decreased and both happen at an accelerated rate. Balanced and sustained application of the three core elements enables synergistic momentum to take root and when that physiologic miracle occurs radical results rapidly occur.
Yes there are enumerable additional benefits to be gained from the pursuit of "fitness" however any physical attribute you can name ("I want to run faster, jump higher, leap further, be a better ball player, mountain bike rider" etc.) can be achieved by dramatically increasing our allotment of functional muscle mass and by dramatically decreasing our current body fat percentiles. Want to be a better ballplayer than you are currently? Dramatically increase functional muscle while dramatically decreasing body fat; want to run faster, jump higher or be better able to climb Mount Everest or fit into a wedding dress? Dramatically increase functional muscle while decreasing body fat.
Using Krishnamurti-like deductive reasoning we are able to deduce that in order to achieve any and all fitness-related goals if we are successfully able to devise, implement and adhere to an effective training and nutrition regimen, if using this comprehensive regimen we are able to construct new muscle and melt off body fat - then any and all of our fitness-related goals and dreams can and will be achieved. To recapitulate....
➢ Fitness is a code name for physical transformation
➢ To transform we need to utilize resistance, cardio and nutrition
➢ Success is achieved by building more muscle and melting off body fat
The name of the fitness game is being able to construct a balanced training/nutrition program that pays equal homage to each the three core elements: our default position should be an even-steven adherence. Too many individuals (even the ones clever enough to understand and incorporate the three core elements) continually play to their strengths: they will overemphasis a lone aspect of the three elements to the near exclusion of the other two. Realistically and empirically, the real lift, the dramatic progress comes from concentrating on weak points and not continually playing to our strengths.
Each of the three core elements has within it a cosmos of variety and variation. Within the cosmos of cardio, I devised some easy ways to designate and differentiate the various modes and identify their particularities and distinctions. When engaged in any cardio activity that activity will generally fall into one of three categories. To make the already complicated more complex there are shades of grey that blend and blur crisp distinctions and delineations. Think of any cardio-related physical activity and it will generally fall into one of three types...
➢ steady state
➢ burst (or interval)
➢ long strength (or sustained strength)
Steady State cardio, as the name implies, is when the athlete seeks to attain a smooth pace during the cardio exercise session. By seeking to perform the cardio activity using a purposefully relaxed musculature, maximal session length is achieved. Muscle tension requires oxygen and those seeking to go as far as possible as fast as possible understand that by motoring along while keeping their muscles as relaxed as possible, they prevent or forestall oxygen debt. When muscles contract they trigger muscle "tie-up" and bring about premature exhaustion. Watching a Kenyan marathon runner or Michael Phelps swim 10,000 meters, the observer is struck by how effortless and graceful the athlete seems - the steady state purposefully relaxed propulsion mode enables athletes to go far longer than they would were they to 'power' their way through selected mode.
Burst or interval cardio, as the name implies, occurs when the athlete purposefully uses intermittent muscular contractions to sprint, bound, leap, lift or run as fast as humanly possible for as long as humanly possible. While muscle contraction enables them to move far quicker than they would if they were they to employ steady state propulsion, the very contractions that create the afterburner effect also creates oxygen debt. The body is propelled faster using a burst - but the very contractions that enable speed and velocity also create lactic acid that eventually shuts the muscles down. The burst must be followed by rest period to allow lactic acid to be cleared; at that point the athlete can burst again. Intense games such as basketball, rugby, soccer, football or tennis are examples of burst cardio. Burst cardio requires muscular effort followed by lactic-acid clearing rest intervals. Intense muscular effort is needed to propel the body with maximal speed and this requires oxygen. Accelerated activity requires periodic rest.
Long strength (or sustained strength) splits the difference between steady state and burst. The idea is to engage in a cardio mode that requires muscular contractions for a prolonged period of time. This is tricky: pick an activity that incorporates contractions then seek to push through the lactic acid buildup. By operating above steady state and below burst, by operating in a mode that requires muscle contractions you push into the lactic acid/oxygen debt zone. Long strength does so purposefully and continually, over time we push back our current lactic acid threshold limit. Optimally the sustained strength athlete creates muscular tension while operating at a tempo that allows them to go for a protracted period. Resistance of some type is implied and required. Push, pull, hoist or tug, do so in a sustained fashion for an extended period.
Len, Long Strength and Kettlebells
For the sake of convenience I label steady state cardio as 1st Way; burst or interval cardio as 2nd Way and long or sustained cardio as 3rd Way. Purposefully interjecting a muscular exertion element into a cardiovascular format requires resistance. You could use your bodyweight, a weighted implement or an opponent to create the requisite 3rd Way resistance. Good examples of 3rd Way cardio modes might include grappling or wrestling with an opponent; clean and jerk an ultra light weight from the floor to overhead for a protracted period of time; carry a weighted backpack for distance. Leading experts are convinced that 3rd Way cardio actually reconfigures muscle composition.
Over time 3rd Way cardio can create a hybrid super muscle, one capable of using both aerobic and anaerobic energy pathways simultaneously; the targeted muscles are trained to exert strength is a sustained fashion for a protracted period and this morphs the configuration of muscle fiber. Generally speaking athletes have a preponderance of fast twitch muscle fibers or slow twitch muscle fibers; by engaging in long strength activity muscle fibers can, over time "fuse" to create Type IIC fibers, this hybrid muscle fiber is capable of using both aerobic (dominant slow twitch) and anaerobic (dominant fast twitch) energy pathways.
"Hybrid super muscle" (as Ori Hofmekler points out) was quite common in ancient men: one need only look at the capabilities and capacities of ancient boat rowers to find examples of men possessing a preponderance of hybrid super muscle. The ancient boat rowers tugged on heavy oars all day long (an exercise mode to be sure) and established distance and speed records that have never been exceeded.
Kettlebell hoisting builds 3rd Way cardio and hybrid super muscle, along with a whole host of identifiable athletic and physiological attributes.
➢ Protracted kettlebell hoisting 'splits the difference' between classical weight training and classical cardio.
➢ Protracted kettlebell training infuses muscle with mitochondria, cellular blast furnaces that allow us to build more muscle and burn body fat.
➢ Protracted kettlebell lifting pushes back lactic acid and oxygen debt limits and frontiers. We increase the ability to work in the "burn zone."
I had a lot of interface with cardio genius Leonard Schwartz back in the 1990s. He was a cardiovascular prophet and made startling pronouncements about the use of "implement hoisting" to reap a whole host of physiological benefits. Nostradamus-like, way back in 1982, Len all but predicted the kettlebell revolution decades later...
"Strength athletes will soon produce the largest workloads ever seen. By that I mean that strength/endurance, in some optimal combination, involving large percentages of the musculature in simultaneous activity, will produce a larger amount of physical work within a given time segment than has ever been done before....
Strength athletes that who adopt Heavyhand {read kettlebell} techniques are in a good position to build both endurance and 'work intensity.' Heavyhands {kettlebells} creates stamina of both central - heart/lungs - and peripheral (muscle systems) components to the oxygen transport mechanism."
Len and I talked at length on a weekly basis for years; he indicated to me that he foresaw a time when heavily muscled athletes would 'round out' their 'absolute strength' with what he termed 'long strength.' He thought Heavyhands would be the mode but that was not to be: his timing was premature and the Heavyhand mode never gained traction with the conventional fitness community. My own personal theory is that Heavyhand hoisting had a decidedly feminine flavor while kettlebell hoisting has a decidedly masculine flavor.
It is my contention that kettlebells are, in a way, the 'male son' of female Heavyhands. Designed and marketed as an exercise system that split the difference between classic resistance training and classical cardio, Len felt Heavyhands eliminated the need for "pure" resistance training and "pure" cardio. Heavyhands was a "two for the price of one" exercise system. Still, men never really felt comfortable pumping the smallish red Heavyhand hand weights: three decades later and men are quite comfortable tugging and pushing on the brutish black kettlebell.
Len felt that Heavyhands could replace cardio (read steady state) and weight training with his hybrid exercise mode and this hybrid exercise format would produce hybrid super muscle. Len was the first to point out that sustained strength activity done for a protracted period created additional muscle mitochondria within the worked muscle. Modern Kettlebell Training is rooted in an ancient Russian system and has been updated for modern times by Pavel Tsatsouline. Every profound pronouncement, every muscle-building, fat-burning characteristic assigned to Heavyhands, every scientifically verifiable claim and result Len made for Heavyhands back in 1982 - can be factually ascribed to the systematic use of kettlebells.
Rereading his seminal book, Heavyhands, The Optimal Exercise System (written in 1982) I was struck by the fact that every miraculous benefit rightfully assigned to Heavyhands now becomes Kettlebell's legitimate inheritance: somehow this represented (for me) the completion of a journey. Pavel's kettlebell revolution is in many ways the fruition of Len's Long Strength vision. Len had the vision yet never quite saw that vision embraced. In a back-to-the-future moment, in a 'déjà vu all over again' occurrence, past becomes present and the future is now. Read this insightful introduction to Heavyhands written back in 1981. Every time you read the word "Heavyhands" substitute "kettlebells" and you will begin to understand the profound, prophetic, prescient nature of Dr. Schwartz and my own odd, nostalgic sense of revelation as the past comes to fruition and resolution in the present.
"Heavyhands is a new kind of exercise. It claims are explicit: a higher level of fitness then that produced by any known aerobic exercise. Heavyhands creates a new kind of fitness. Heavyhands brings strength plus endurance to all the muscles. No muscle group is neglected; muscles already well trained by other exercise and sports are even further upgraded by Heavyhands. Most exciting of all, the simultaneous movement of many muscles is a superlative way to train the heart and lungs. Hard Heavyhands actually feels surprisingly easy. The Heavyhander can become as strong as most lifters, as swift as most runners, and outwork both on a smaller investment of time with far fewer injuries."
Contact Marty Gallagher about becoming a 'phone train' client at...
www.mgso@embarqmail.com
The Two Man March
Impromptu Absolute Strength Seminar
I've always appreciated the phrasing and musings of jazz critic Stanley Crouch; to wit, "Charlie 'Bird' Parker's appetites dragged him all up and down the street until eventually those appetites killed him." Crouch once wrote a book titled, "The One Man March." That particular phrase was (for me) the very essence of iconoclastic sparseness and for some odd reason passed through my mind as RKC instructor Sandy Sommer and I worked on pistols and presses in my hay-strewn garage gym, littered with stored tools and assorted junk: two men working together to improve specific aspects of sport performance in sparse surroundings on a perfect spring afternoon. Ours was a two man march.
Sandy was seeking my council on the acquisition of additional absolute strength: he already possessed sustained strength in ample abundance; his locomotive-like endurance was a direct result of his complete immersion in all things kettlebell related. Sandy had sculpted a long, lean, lithe physique; one that was (self-admittedly) better now than when he was a college athlete. Thirty years down the road and he can say with complete confidence that he is in better physical shape and condition (at age 47) than he was at age 17. Further, when this guy was 17 he was not some out-of-shape kid, rather he was an elite high school athlete that went on to play football at the college level.
Kettlebell protocols adhered to religiously apparently allow hardcore adherents to hold back the hands of time. If you want to grasp K-Bell fountain-of-youth inducing qualities, simply use your eyes and take a hard look at the top national-level RKC coaches and teachers: they all look as if the had been stored in some mysterious, hyperbolic age-retarding time capsule.
Sommer stands 6 foot 2 and weighs a rock-hard whippet-like 180 pounds. He is tight and taut and lean with a sculpted face and a decidedly Eastern European look. Eventually it emerged that Sandy was indeed Sandor and of Hungarian stock. Genetically gifted, his father had played professional football in the NFL as a running back for several teams. Sandy was a walking, talking testament to the benefits of applied kettlebell training; particularly for men and women on the wrong side of 40.
The sustained strength K-bell protocol has calorie oxidizing, fat-burning benefits that are just now being bought to the forefront - I feel partly responsible for highlighting the lard-melting attributes of sustained strength kettlebell training. By hooking RKC adherents up to heart rate monitors we are discovering just how dramatically and just how quickly body fat is oxidized when adherents subject themselves to prolonged periods of intense iron ball slinging. 700-1000 + caloric burn rates are being routinely posted by hardcore kettlebell slingers in routine, nothing-out-of-the ordinary training sessions. My trainees are routinely registering 15 + calorie per minute burn rates for extended periods of time.
While Sandy had abundant amounts of sustained strength he felt he lacked absolute strength: absolute strength is defined as the ability to push or pull lots of resistance for very low reps. He was open to suggestions and "wanted to get away from continually playing to my strengths." He journeyed up to my home in rural Pennsylvania and we went over ways in which he might improve his brute power. Sandy and I headed to my garage gym and began working on presses and squats. I observed him as he ran through some one-armed presses: I mentioned that he was using the same velocity (speed) whether he was pressing thirty pounds or sixty pounds. I asked this Zen rhetorical question: "Why aren't you pressing 30 pounds twice as fast as you push 60 pounds?"
"Well I don't really know - I never really thought about it."
I told him a tale about how once I worked with a female powerlifter that subconsciously used one speed to squat. She squatted her 135 pounds warm-ups not one iota faster than she squatted her maximum 200 pounds. She had allowed her body to dictate the velocity at which she moved a barbell. When I asked her to "move 135 pounds significantly faster than she moved 200 pounds." she was unable - she literally couldn't no matter how hard she tried. Why was this? Why was she unable to push a 67.5% payload the slightest bit faster than a 100% payload? Her body was dictating to her rather than her dictating to her body.
She needed to seize back conscious control of something she had unconsciously allowed her subconscious to control.
Basically her nervous system was saying to her, "Look - when it comes to lifting poundage, any poundage, be it light or heavy, we have a single speed." Her body would push or pull at one specific speed and that was that. It took us six weeks to 'unlearn and de-condition' her 'one-speed-fits-all" push and pull speed. Once she recaptured control of her central nervous system, she able to increase her velocity on the lighter weights and this translated to her being able to increase her velocity on the heavier weights. Eight weeks after she seized back control of her central nervous system she squatted 250 pounds in competition; no squat suit, no knee wraps and no lifting belt: a staggering 25% increase in eight weeks time, a golden payoff.
Sandy had a similar problem. His condition was not nearly as ingrained and within an hour we had him accelerating light weights fast and heavier weights faster. Basically, as soon as I brought it to his attention, he was able to correct the situation. In between press sets (single reps only as pushing or pulling once is a learned skill that needs practice) we would squat. His squat goal was to perform a one-legged squat while holding the 106 pound 'Beast' kettlebell. In my opinion he needed a lot more pure leg strength. We hatched a plan that would have him do ultra-deep, pause-rep front squats with a barbell. The barbell front squat is a great adjunct to regular pistol training. The brutish barbell front squat can infuse raw leg power for use in that most subtle of all leg exercises: the pistol.
I showed him the front squat basics and we paid particular attention to not allowing the tailbone to rise up first at the 'turn-around' - when descent became ascent; when it was time to arise from the bottommost squat position.
He had a terrific, upright, uber-relaxed bottom position in the squat. My idea was to dramatically increase his two-legged front squat poundage. The strategy was to double his current front squat poundage handling ability. If he could push his front squat poundage from low 100's upward into the low 200-pound range, he would double his leg power. This would "convert" into more single leg power. He was able to perform a technically perfect double rep front squat with 115 pounds.
Theoretically if Sandy increased his front squat leg strength by 100% (115 x 2 to say 230 x 2) would that provide him with sufficient muscular horsepower to squat the Beast? Add 100% to 62 pounds and you create the hypothetical horsepower to squats 124 pounds. Since Sandy Sommer was a long range thinker, ("I want to squat the Beast by age 50") he had plenty of time to build that critical front squat.
Back and forth we went, alternating explosive one-arm presses ("Instill tremendous tension in the entire body at the launch; think 'speed,' keep tension in the 'off hand,' Press faster!") with paused front squats. ("The tailbone is rising! Keep the shoulders back as you push upward; explode the poundage upward, no bouncing - pause - now push FAST!")
He was a quick study and absorbed it all and absorbed it fast. After the workout I fed him beef ribs and raw milk on the deck and answered his questions that were both direct and pointed. He quizzed me about how best to set up an absolute strength program within the larger context of Kenneth Jay's VO2 max program: he was walking a kettlebell tightrope; weaving three distinct approaches into his base "Pavel template." We decided to lump all the absolute strength exercises and the absolute strength assistance exercises together on a single day: train them sequentially, i.e., start with legs, shift to presses before finishing with back - which roughly conformed to the classical power strategy of sequence: squat, bench press then deadlift. I gave him some Parrillo supplements to assist him in adding some pure muscle.
Afterwards we had a glass of wine and talked music: he was intimately familiar with a music club scene I had experienced up close and personal for many, many years. All in all it was a good meeting of the minds and I felt as if he might have gleaned a few ideas and strategies that would enable him to move a step or two closer to his kettlebell goals.
Sandy Sommer writes....
I've always had better than average sustained strength and durability. As crazy as it may sound, I was usually at my best in sweltering August heat, in full football pads. My ability to focus in that sort of environment, while others wilted, was and remains a source of pride. To this day, I prefer sweating my butt off in a workout, in as much heat as I can stand, to the alternative.
I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stand Marty Gallagher's heat. I've read his Dragon Door blog every few weeks and have read and then read again "The Purposeful Primitive." To say he is knowledgeable about strength and conditioning, nutrition, human psyche and the puzzle that each of those pieces fits into would be an understatement. So when I emailed him with a few questions I wasn't even sure if I'd hear back from him. But I did and his response was quick and valuable. I wrote back and we ended up talking on the phone a time or two before he invited me to come train in the hills of Pennsylvania. Before the invitation was even fully offered, I'd accepted and couldn't wait.
Uh oh, I thought. This guy is a plethora of strength information and while I'm in good condition, I'm not the world's strongest man. Far from it. What if he feels like he's wasting his time etc? Why would he accept me as a client? All these questions were going around in my brain.
My fears it turned out were unfounded. I had very specific goals that I shared with Marty early in our conversations. I explained the specific outcome I will achieve and the time frame within which I will get it. When I showed up he didn't laugh or chuckle replaying our chats in his head so I felt a bit better. Marty was extremely hospitable and we sat down to talk and make sure we were on the same page. After that we went to work.
Marty evaluated my performance in two movements. First, he examined my front squat and then he looked at my Press. Marty doesn't mince words. He tells you what he thinks and is very clear. Liked the squat although my tailbone was a bit jumpy and thought there was a lot of room for improvement in the press. It seems that my press was pretty much the same velocity at one weight then that weight time two.
We worked these two movements over and over with adequate rest. Marty is a great coach. He urged and cajoled me to focus on what he was teaching. I'm a fairly quick study and a decent athlete so what he shared I was able to digest and utilize. I learned a ton that I applied to my first MG Absolute Strength Session today. I felt power and I felt resolve.
After that session, I have no doubt I will get the results I am looking for. It's a fairly simple plan (not easy) but we figured out how to get me to my goals... We determined where I am currently and then mapped it all out. I am fully determined and will give no quarter in my quest. I thank you Marty.
In need of a little 'absolute strength?' contact Gallagher about becoming a 'phone train' client at...
www.mgso@embarqmail.com
Sandy Sommer, RKC can be contacted at...
http://charmcitykettlebells.blogspot.com
My old friend Pavel Tsatsouline once famously said, (and I paraphrase) "At all cost avoid the disgrace of aerobics." Knowing the man for over a decade I understand his ill feelings towards all seemingly mindless forms of exercise. His vision of "aerobic disgrace" is the Sisyphus-like stationary bike ride to nowhere - or sitting on some glitzy machine that cost more than a small car, mindlessly moving along at a "nice" sub-maximal pace, while watching a built-in TV or perhaps talking with your aerobic neighbor about how great "working out" is or how the local football team is doing. The epitome of "disgraceful" would be a Jane Fonda-type workout where a pack of syncopated sissies would gyrate and contort in a group aerobics dance class to the swinging sounds of Britney Spears or some sugary-sweet pop music. Everyone would wear an outfit and no one would sweat. Pavel's disgrace list would likely include any group event that involved music, hand clapping and decidedly feminine dance routines. Aerobic activity needs to be more than "feeling good" about ourselves and our fitness efforts, aerobic activity needs to be maximally intense, sweaty and preferably done outdoors.
As I've said before, in fitness effort is no substitute for fitness success. Sub-maximal effort is, in this man's opinion, a complete waste of training time. My idea of aerobic exercise is lung-searing, grunt and pant cardio that forces the individual to equal or exceed some sort of limit, keeping in mind that limits can take many forms. I like running or power-walking while toting a heavy weighted pack; also high on the approved aerobic list would be swimming for miles or hoisting heavy objects for protracted periods. My idealized version of cardio exercise is done outside, sans machines and always resulting in sweat being excreted by the bucketful. Beneficial cardio needs to involve extreme exertion. Man is primordially programmed to run and swim: from the beginning of time until the domestication of the horse, men caught and killed wild game on foot in order to survive? How do you think primal man avoided man-eating predators? If primal man was not physically fit, if he were not a capable runner or swimmer, his life expectancy was significantly diminished. Modern man is the inheritor of primal programming and is a natural runner or swimmer; genetically we are preprogrammed for these activities. There is nothing in our exercise DNA that makes us good stationary bike riders or dancers; there is nothing in our genetic makeup that allows us to reap maximum physical results from minimal physical effort.
I cannot tell you how many times over the past decade decidedly fat men have thrown Pavel's quote in my face when I have suggested that a little cardio activity might do them a world of good...
Me: "Look here my good fellow; you are fifty pounds overweight and you huff and puff like you've just run a marathon after walking up three flights of stairs. You should consider adding a bit of cardio activity to your kettlebell regimen to improve your deficient circulatory efficiency."
Them: "Pavel says aerobics are disgraceful! (Belch!) Besides I hate cardio!"
Why I would never have guessed. Basically Pavel's words are being twisted by the decidedly unfit to provide themselves a 'get-out-of-jail-free without doing cardio trump card.' How can you argue with this kind of logic? As someone once said, "a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." For this reason I don't spend a lot of time trying to convince the unrepentant unfit that they need some applied cardio exercise - this reluctance to embrace cardio is doubly ironic: unbeknownst to the aggressively unfit, they already possess one of the greatest cardio devices ever invented: the kettlebell.
Used intelligently, i.e., for high reps and for an extended exercise periods of time, the uber-simplistic kettlebell becomes the AK-47 of cardio devices. Factually and mathematically, a properly used kettlebell trumps the aerobic benefit derived from uber-expensive aerobic machines or the pump-and-groove-step-aerobic class.
In recent years I have worked with obese individuals in an attempt to introduce them to a humane approach towards fitness. One of the goals of any comprehensive fitness regimen is cardiovascular health. When the circulatory system is systematically "exercised," organ functionality and overall health improves. The heart and lungs are muscles and like any other and when routinely exercised they are strengthened and their pumping power is improved. Intense cardio sends torrents of blood rushing down arterial highways, cleansing and cleaning as the blood-flood blasts through the miles and miles of internal plumbing.
➢ How do we exercise the circulatory system?
➢ Systematically elevate the heart rate for a protracted period
➢ How do we lose body fat?
➢ Synchronize cardio exercise with cleaned up food selections and gradually reduce caloric intake
Invoke and pay homage to the four bullet points and do so for a decent period of time and excess body fat begins melting faster than ice cubes strewn on a hot concrete sidewalk in mid August.
Recently I have been working with kettlebell trainees to improve various aspects of their performance. To satisfy my own curiosity, I suggested one of my hardcore kettlebell athletes "strap up" with a Polar F4 heart rate monitor during his intense sessions. My idea was to see what sort of cardio impact kettlebell lifting generated. I thought kettlebell lifting would prove to be a dynamic calorie oxidizer. My hunches and suspicions were confirmed when Jim Ski began reporting his results: hoisting heavy kettlebells in a variety of methods, using various exercises, generated a dramatically elevated heart rate. Ski's results pointed out with mathematical certainty that intense and protracted kettlebell training is an aerobic activity without peer. While running and swimming are fabulous cardio activities, and as natural for an athlete as natural can be, lifting heavy weights for high reps burns more calories than either activity.
One critical cardio benchmark, perhaps the critical benchmark is: how many calories per minute are oxidized during a particular exercise? As it turns out, protracted kettlebell hoisting is pretty much in a calorie-per-minute class of its own. The 'burn rates' generated during an extended kettlebell session are nothing short of fantastic. I have reprinted a few sample workouts undertaken by Jim Ski to illustrate the awesome calorie-burning attributes of kettlebell lifting...
Sat., 4/11/09 workout I
Cardio Extended Strength - low weight slung for long durations
Warm-up: 75 Bodyweight squats
Two Hand Swings: 20 swings with 24kg K-Bell: 35 seconds of work alternated with 35 seconds of rest for 40 work/rest cycles
Total Swings: 800, Total Volume: 42,400 lbs.
Duration: 52:45 - including squat warm-ups
Intensity: (High)
Blended session heart rate average: 150 beats per minute for 53 minutes equating to 88.7% of his 169 max HR
Max HR hit during the session: 171 beats per minute
Calories Oxidized per Minute: 15.1 calories per minute were burned for 53 consecutive minutes
Total Calories Oxidized: 805 calories in 52 minutes and 45 seconds (1 calorie for every swing)
Here is another representational kettlebell swing workout: this one was shorter and slightly less intense as expressed in cal/per/minute burn...over 33 minutes Jim averaged a 14.1 calorie-per-minute burn rate.
Fri., 4/24/2009
8am
Warm Up: 51 Bodyweight Squats
2 hand swings 20 swings with a 24kg K-bell - 35 seconds of work / 35 second rest for a total of 25 work/rest cycles
Total Swings: 500, Total Volume: 26,500 lbs.
Duration: 33:01 minutes
Intensity: (Light)
%ARHR: 85.2%
Blended session Heart Rate average: 144 beats per minute for 33 consecutive minutes
Max HR achieved during the session: 165 beats per minute
Calories Oxidized per Minute: 14.2 calories per minute for 33 straight minutes
Total number of Calories Oxidized during the session: 469
=============================================
Below are the results from a short, 13 minute and 30 second, one hand snatch workout...
Protocol: a single 44 pound kettlebell is snatched singlehandedly -
10 reps left hand, then ten reps right hand, followed by 40 seconds of rest for ten cycles
Snatches @ 20kg 10 left hand reps then 10 right hand reps then rest (40 sec. work / 40 sec. rest) for 10 complete cycles
Total Snatches: 200, Total Volume: 8,800 lbs.
Duration: 13:27 minutes
Intensity: (High)
Session average % of age-related heart rate maximum: 91.1%
Blended session average hear rate: 154 beats per minute
Max HR during session: 165 beat per minute
Calories Oxidized per Minute: 14.9 calories per minute for 13 and one half minutes
Total Calories Oxidized: 194
Note that almost 200 calories were burnt in less than 14 minutes...that is a fabulous burn rate - but it gets even better - keep in mind that on both the dual hand swing exercise and the single-hand snatch exercise half the exercise time was spent resting!
The swing protocol was 35 seconds of work followed by 35 seconds of rest for 49 consecutive minutes; the snatch protocol was 40 seconds of work followed by 40 seconds of rest for 13.5 consecutive minutes. This is astounding - in terms of work and work alone, the 800 calories were burnt in 24 minutes of actual work! Ditto the 44 pound one arm snatches - 200 calories were oxidized during 7 minutes of actual work!
The kettlebell seems to be the perfect tool for generating caloric oxidation: the swing is particularly effective and my theory is that the swing strikes a perfect balance between strength and momentum. There is a rhythm and momentum to properly performed swing technique that is conducive for extended performance. The goal of an effective cardio session is to establish an elevated heart rate and keep the heart rate elevated for an extended period of time. The goal of a sensible cardio session strikes the elusive balance between duration and intensity. The kettlebell swing seems to be the ideal heart-rate spiking exercise in that it is a perfect combination of muscle activation and sustainable momentum. Users are able to ignite dramatically accelerated heart rates yet keep the exercise going for a long period of time.
I would challenge anyone to find any other mode of exercise that can generate a higher, sustainable calories-per-minute burn rate. While you might be able to generate a higher caloric burn rate for a few minutes, try keeping it up for 30 + minutes. Keep in mind that the sustained caloric burn rates I have highlighted were generated by a 50 + year old man weighing 205 pounds - there is zero doubt in my mind that even higher burn rates can be achieved by younger, fitter individuals.
On the other hand without a Polar F4 heart rate monitor you would be unable to determine any of this....I would amend Pavel's famous statement and say - "there is no disgrace in aerobics - provided they are performed in proper sweaty fashion using the AK-47 of exercise tools."
Interested in becoming a 'phone train' client of Marty's?
Contact him a www.mgso@embarqmail.com
Building Absolute Strength to complement Sustained Strength
Generally speaking, adept kettlebell adherents have incredible amounts of sustained strength. My own weird area of expertise lies in the creation of absolute strength. As it turns out, my experience at building absolute strength has value for kettlebell adepts. The ability to build absolute strength is one of four unique disciplines I bring to the kettlebell party. My other areas of expertise relate to muscle-building/fat-shedding nutrition, the use of monitoring tools during K-bell sessions and the application of periodization tactics to kettlebell training. The first step in acquiring absolute strength is grasping that the tactics used to increase absolute strength differ substantially from the tactics used for building sustained strength.
Jim Ski's sustained strength is off the charts, particularly for a guy on the wrong side of 50. As a testament to his substantial sustained strength, a few weeks back the 52 year old performed no less than 800 'swings' using a 54 pound bell - this Herculean demonstration of stamina and grit took 49 minutes. The man is a human locomotive. The chink in his proverbial athletic armor lies in a lack of pure power, the kind of power needed to muscle-up a big bell for a single rep. Ski needed an infusion of absolute strength for a very specific purpose: he is heading for Minnesota in June for his Level II Certification and needs to be able to press the 80 pound kettlebell overhead one time - something he has never been able to do. Jim agreed he needed my help - but was naturally cautious: he wanted a strategy that complimented his Turkish Get-Up and Clean and Press ladder training strategy, as described in Pavel's Enter the Kettlebell! He used my approach on what would have been his heavy C&P Ladder Day.
My idea was to devise a power-infusing method AND lean-out his blurred physique. He was a few biscuits shy of weighing 230 pounds when we started working together in February. I devised a dietary approach that whittled his bodyweight down from 226 to 206, while simultaneously adding muscle mass needed to power up poundage. He is on his way to a 194 pound bodyweight in June. My dietary approach for K-bell trainers will be covered in a future article: suffice to say that the dietary dilemma is not how to lose body weight - anyone can do that by slashing calories - the nutritional Rubik's Cube is how to lose body fat while actually adding muscle. The solution lies in riding the razor's edge between anabolism and catabolism; a subtle, demanding, disciplined undertaking.
World class marathon runners have a maximum vertical leap (a primal test of explosive power) of 12 to 18 inches - they cannot leap high however they can leap their maximal height a thousand consecutive times. A 350 pound, world class Olympic weightlifter can leap upward 40 inches - yet they "gas out" after three or four consecutive reps exerting maximum power. The contrast between these two athletic archetypes is the very definition of aerobic ability versus anaerobic power.
I hatched a strange strategy for building Ski's absolute strength. I ripped a page from the training log of ancient strength superstar Ken Fantano. At his power peak, Kenny stood 5-11 and weighed a rock solid 360 pounds. (Check out his photo in my chapter on him in my book, The Purposeful Primitive.) Ken could bench press 625 for a dead-stop double; he could incline press a pair of 200 pound dumbbells for 6 paused reps. No bench shirts, thank you very much. Kenny was no one-note Johnny, having squatted 953 for an ass-on-heels double. Anyway, I was one of his training partners and he related to me his barbell pressing strategy that I expropriated and modified for kettlebell use. To quote the ever insightful Fantano...
"If the goal is to increase your incline dumbbell pressing power, I use a 'four work set' strategy. Warm up and then perform four work sets. I purposefully pause between all my reps - no bouncing or rebounding at the bottom turn-around to create momentum - I want to push every rep from a complete dead-stop. If my current best was say, 115 for 6 reps in the paused incline dumbbell press and my immediate goal was to press a pair of 120 pound dumbbells for six reps, then I would use the following strategy: after warming up thoroughly I would perform the following four work sets...
set # 1, 100 x 6
set # 2, 105 x 6
set # 3, 110 x 6
set # 4, 115 x 6
Let's assume I make these workout poundage and rep goals - that is I complete six paused reps in each of the four sets, ending with 115 x 6. Now most trainees would think, 'Great! I made 115 x 6 so in the next training session I can move up to a pair of 120s on my top set.' WRONG! You'll never make it! Instead, the following training session you do this...
Set # 1, 105 x 6
set # 2, 110 x 6
set # 3, 115 x 6
set # 4, 115 x 6
If you make everything in this session, the following workout you go...
set # 1, 110 x 6
set # 2, 115 x 6
set # 3, 115 x 6
set # 4, 115 x 6
NOW you are ready! The following week you are allowed to attack the 120s for six paused reps. In order to do that; you need first to make three sets of six paused reps; then and only then are you "allowed" to move the next higher poundage increment.
I expropriated Ken's strength wisdom and applied it to kettlebells. Our first goal was for Ski to make three sets of three reps with the 70 pound kettlebell. The training template was as follows: warm-up with a 44 pound kettlebell for 6-8 reps in the one-arm press, jump to 60 for a single rep (don't waste strength pressing this preliminary poundage a bunch of times) - now it's time to get down to business of building absolute strength...
Set # 1, 70x3
set # 2, 70x3
Set # 3, 70x3
Here we pick up his e-mail correspondence...
Marty,
This morning I performed heavy presses. Felt pretty strong; got the following...
set # 1, 70x3
set # 2, 70x2
set # 3, 70x2
Made 3 reps @ 70 lbs. (32kg) with the right hand on the first set. Only got 1 with the left arm - but then got 2 reps with the right arm using the 70 in two subsequent sets. It was a bit strange - the 70 lb. bell seemed to feel lighter with each subsequent set.
My follow-up e-mail reply...
On Apr 8, 2009, at 7:45 AM, Marty Gallagher wrote:
I think alternating between hands is a mistake. Doing ANY left hand sets with 70 during the strong arm work is DETRIMENTAL. You are zapping your available right arm strength - if you must work the weak arm, wait until the strong arm work is completely done. Then and only then do whatever "weak arm" work you feel necessary - by alternating hands, you undoubtedly lost a rep or two off sets 2&3 handling the 70. Think of it this way: your body has a finite amount of strength going into a workout. At the June RK certification, they're not going to be testing your left arm strength - the test is a single rep with the right arm. Let's sculpt our training to reflect that reality...Approach these sessions as if it was 80-pound certification day - warm-up as you intend to warm-up and lift as if you were competing. Will you do alternate presses with the 70 the day of the certification? No, of course not; so let's not do this now.
Jim wrote back....
Yes, I was alternating hands. I will ensure the strong side is worked completely before working the left arm.
The following Monday after ditching the alternating strategy Jim hit his mark...
Marty,
Made three sets of three with the 70.
Our new goal was three sets of FOUR reps in the right hand press. He took another press session three days later and made another quantum leap forward...
Marty,
I performed 3 sets of 4 reps with my right hand using the 70lb kettlebell. Per our conversation I did the strong arm completely before switching to my left arm presses.
Needless to say, I was ecstatic. Seven days and two sessions later he wrote to me with the following amazing result...
Marty,
You provided the inspiration. I pressed the 80 pound kettlebell this morning for 1 solid rep with the right arm; and this was towards the end of the resistance workout after I did ladders with the 62 pound bell almost failure. In other words I was fatigued and still pressed the 80. Ten weeks until the RKC II certification.
Since Ski keeps moving his absolute strength upward at this rocket-ride rate using the "expropriated Fantano" approach, we will now raise our sights: I want him to hunt bigger game in June, I want him to press THE BEAST, all 106 pounds of dead lead, this at age 52 and while weighing 194 pounds...now that would be one hell of a goal! His head is spinning; we'll keep you apprised of his progress.
Interested in becoming a phone-train client of Marty's?
Contact him directly at www.mgso@embarqmail.com
Burn 2,000 calories per week exercising!
Ralph S. Paffenbarger, MD, was an internationally known exercise authority and professor emeritus of health research and policy at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He died recently at age 84. Using Harvard alumni data, Paffenbarger published an oft-cited study in 1986 showing that men who burned at least 2,000 calories a week through exercise had death rates one-quarter to one-third lower than those the same age that were sedentary. This was no jive study designed to reach a predetermined conclusion in order to sell supplements or fitness related products (as is nearly always the case in this day and age), this was real research carried on over decades involving 16,000 + participants. Paffenbarger, who published hundreds of papers on the relationship between exercise and longevity, is perhaps best known for this particular study. It showed that higher levels of physical fitness resulted in lowered risk of heart disease and a marked decrease in death rates.
Paffenbarger examined the physical activity (and other life-style characteristics) of 16,936 Harvard alumni, aged 35 to 74, for rates of mortality from all causes. Rates were one third lower among alumni expending 2000 or more kcal during exercise per week compared to less active men. Burning 2,000 calories a week during exercise is no small feat as people vastly overestimate the number of calories expended during exercise. The number of calories expended by a 'normal person' during a normal workout is usually in the 100 to 250 calorie range. In order to burn off 2,000 in a week an individual needs to really work hard during training and train often. Easy training, sub-maximal training, low intensity training, makes it nearly impossible to hit the magic 2,000 calorie weekly number. Exercise reality is a hard slap across the face: if you are not breathing hard, if you are not breaking a sweat during an exercise session (regardless the exercise mode), it is highly unlikely that you are oxidizing calories at greater than 10 calories per minute. It takes 200 cumulative minutes, three hours and twenty minutes, working at 10 calories per minute burn rate to hit 2,000 cumulative calories.
To burn calories at a significant rate, exercise needs to be taxing, extended and intense. It would be terrific to sit on a comfortable stationary bike, tool along at a comfortable pace while talking comfortably to our neighbor and burn calories at a 20 calorie per minute rate; why, if such a thing were possible you could oxidize 600 calories in 30 short minutes and not even have to shower afterwards. In reality, a moderate 30 minute cardio session burns calories at a paltry 5-8 calorie per minute rate - and that's the burn rate for a big guy; smaller individuals have to work even harder to achieve a similar caloric burn rate. Mild exercise burns calories at a slow and relatively insignificant rate. In order to burn off 2,000 calories per week, via exercise alone, you really need to put out in your training sessions and frankly, if you aren't sweating, consistently and profusely, you'll never attain a really significant calorie-per-minute burn rate. A moderately paced aerobic session done below the 'sweat level,' a gentle Pilates class, a light resistance session, might burn calories at the rate of 5 to 7 calories per minute.
Assuming you burn 7 calories per minute, a 30 minute session would result in a mere 200 calorie expenditure. To attain the life-extending 2,000 calories per week, you would need to perform TEN 30 minute exercise sessions every seven days. The burn rate for popular exercise modes such as the aforementioned sub-sweat cardio, yoga, tai chi, body shaping, or nice-and-easy weight training are all calorically inconsequential. The bad news gets worse for lighter and smaller people. Caloric expenditure is directly tied to bodyweight: it takes a lot more fuel (calories) to propel a massive SUV for thirty minutes down a flat stretch of highway than it takes to propel a smaller vehicle getting better gas mileage for the same time and distance over identical terrain. A 125 pound man has to work roughly twice as hard as a 250 pound man to burn off an equal number of calories doing the same work in the same amount of time. This is simple thermodynamics. A challenging thirty minute exercise session for a 200 pound man in reasonable shape will typically burn 300 to 400 calories. This represents a 10 to 13 calorie per minute sustained burn rate and requires real effort. The 125 pound person seeking to oxidize 300 to 400 calories would have to exercise longer using the same pace - or dramatically increase the exercise intensity to match the big man's rate of caloric burn.
A fit 200 pound man can break 500 calorie barrier by working for 30 minutes at a blistering 16.67 calorie-per-minute rate. Standard weight training, even intense weight training is not a great calorie oxidizer. This is on account of the rest periods needed to recover between sets. While the athlete's heart rate might spike up to 170 + beats per minute after a limit set of squats or deadlifts, the start/stop nature of intense weight training makes it a good, but hardly a great, caloric oxidizer. There is, however, one type of weight training that is actually a superior calories oxidizer: kettlebell lifting done using the Pavel Protocol. Sustained and intense kettlebell lifting turns out to be a terrific caloric oxidizer, generating tremendous calorie-per-minute burn rates. One of my many "phone train" students is a hardcore K-Bell trainee named Jim Skislak. Jim is hard at work preparing for his certification coming up this June. I decided to strap Jim up to a Polar F4 heart rate monitor in order to see how many calories he was burning during his numerous weekly sessions. Jim is 51 years old, stands well over 6 foot and weighs 210 pounds; he wears his heart rate monitor from start to finish of each session. Here are snapshots of two recent Ski workouts ...
7am: Cardio (Medium / High Intensity session)
50 Bodyweight Squats for warm-up then...
Two hand swings using a 24 kilo bell
35 seconds of work then 35 seconds of rest for 35 cumulative sets
I used a lighter bell, 53-pouns, as Pavel advised, and upped the volume. In this session I did 700 swings to extend the length of this cardio session.
Total swings: 700
Total Volume: 37,100 lbs.
Session duration: 49min.
Intensity: Medium to High
My average heart rate was 146 beats per minute which equates to 86.3% of my age-related heart rate maximum.
I oxidized 14.3 calories per minute for 49 consecutive minutes
Total Calories Oxidized: 704
Now this was no special workout - just another day at the kettlebell office for this hardcore K-Bell lifter. Here is a 'short workout' Ski performed later that same week: in a mere 25 minutes he burned just shy of 400 calories, blasting along at a blistering 15.4 calorie per minute burn rate.
7am: High Intensity session
Two hand swing: 24 k bell; 35 seconds of work; 35 seconds of rest for seven sets
Two hand swing: 28 k bell; 35 seconds of work; 35 seconds of rest for seven sets
Two hand swing: 32 k bell; 35 seconds of work; 35 seconds of rest for seven sets
Total swings: 420
Total Volume: 22,200 lbs.
Duration: 25 min.
Intensity: High
My average heart rate: 152 beats per minute which equates to 90% of my age-related heart rate maximum
I oxidized15.4 calories oxidized per minute for 25 consecutive minutes
Total Calories Oxidized: 390
In two workouts totaling 74 minutes (one hour and fourteen minutes) Ski oxidized 1,100 calories. This is profound and revealing: if you are going to the local commercial gym, engaging in mild cardio and moderate progressive resistance training, perhaps it is time to 'up your game' and switch to some high-intensity weight training and high intensity kettlebell lifting. There is irrefutable science to suggest that oxidizing 2,000 per week can extend a man's life by 10-15 years. The fastest way, the most effective way and the most expeditious way to burn those 2,000 calories is to exercise intensely. No better calorie burning mode exists than serious kettlebell slinging. I am quite sure that were he alive Dr. Ralph S. Paffenbarger would agree.
Interested in taking your body and your capacities to the next level?
Contact Marty Gallagher about becoming a 'phone train' client. MGSO@EMBARQMAIL.COM
 Mimicry of Primordial
Man: I lead Dr. Jim Wright on a dawn high-intensity walk deep in the
Pennsylvania Mountains. Surrounded by endless ice-glazed woods (the
surreal remnants of an ice storm the night before) our footing was
treacherous, the visual experience unforgettable and the cardio
exercise both effective and invigorating. Primitive Man was lean,
strong, fit and capable; a product of what he ate and how he lived.
Primordial Man was lean,
muscular, fat-free and tough as nails. His very life depended on his
degree of functional fitness. He had to be able to fight or flee in
an instant and every single day he had to stalk and kill animals with
spears, knives, snares, rocks and arrows. The ancient combination of
all-natural diet and vigorous, intense daily activity created a
phenomenally functional physique. Modern Man would be well advised
to take some diet and exercise tips from Primordial Man. We should
all aspire to achieve a primordial level of vibrant, capable fitness.
With some clever and innovative substitutions we can create a
remarkable facsimile of super-fit Primal Man.
From the dawn of humanity
until its evolutionary apex, men worldwide consumed the same foods:
lean protein and wild fruits and vegetables. The protein was
uniformly lean and the carbohydrates overwhelmingly fibrous. Game
produces exceedingly lean, nearly fat-free meat. Primal shore
dwellers obtained their protein from the sea or lakes (fish and
shellfish are nearly fat free) and saturated fat accounted for very
little of primal man's daily caloric intake. Before the advent of
agriculture, Primal Man ate fibrous carbohydrates to near exclusion.
Potatoes, beans, corn and starch vegetables were exceedingly rare.
As a species Man has been
in existence for roughly 250,000 years. Modern Man has been around
for the last 40,000 years. From "year zero" until that unknown
point in time when as a species we ceased evolving, everyone
everywhere on earth ate the same foods. From first appearance of Homo
Erectus 750,000 years ago, down through the appearance of Homo
Sapiens 250,000 years ago, until that further point in time when we
ceased moving down the evolutionary highway, men worldwide ate lean
protein (obtained from game and seafood) along with wild fruits and
vegetables - and little else - because there was little else.
As a species we became
accustomed and acclimatized to consuming certain food for fuel. These
foods were the ones we ate until our evolutionary apex was achieved.
Once our evolution as a species ended, nutritionally, we were locked
in. The optimal food/fuels were those foods eaten by man before the
onset of our evolutionary apex.
Modern Man intent of
achieving maximum fitness would be well advised to attempt to
replicate Primordial Man's dietary and exercise template. To eat
like an ancient nowadays requires a herculean degree of dietary
restraint. Primordial Man had no problem staying true to his diet as
he literally had no other food choices.
A primordial "replication
diet" would consist of eating lots of lean protein and lots of
fibrous fruits and vegetables and not much else...perhaps some nuts
and seeds, a bit of starchy carbs, a limited amount of natural sugars
and saturated animal fat. To stay true to primal man's diet in this
day and age would require we consume organically-raised, seasonally
appropriate foods selected from a very limited menu.
The bad news is a primal
diet confines you to a narrow food selection.
The good news is you can
eat lots of these foods, eat often, and still lose body fat.
In an interesting side
note competitive bodybuilders tangentially confirmed the primal
food/fuel thesis: the goal of the bodybuilder is to create maximum
muscle mass while simultaneously reducing body fat down to single
digit percentiles. Top bodybuilders will routinely reduce down to 5%
(or less) body fat percentiles while maintaining tremendous muscle
mass. Interestingly a procedural dietary consensus has emerged on how
best to accomplish this: since the 1970s bodybuilders universally
agree that eating lean protein and fiber carbs to the virtual
exclusion of all other foods is the single most effective way to
maintain maxim muscularity while becoming as lean as humanly
possible. The most effective bodybuilding dietary template ever
invented replicates almost exactly the dietary template of primordial
man.
So how does modern man
become healthy and lean?
In order to replicate the
primal exercise template, an exercise regimen needs to include a
resistance training element and a cardiovascular training element. By
combining heavy resistance training with intense cardio exercise and
by underpinning the intense training with the consumption of ample
amounts of lean protein and fibrous carbohydrates we are able to
recreate a remarkable facsimile of Primordial Man.
Scientists point out that
as mankind evolved people worldwide ate the same foods, over and
over, ad infinitum. For 200,000 + years, men ate the same foods.
Obviously the foods that the ancients consumed agreed with them: as a
species they were lean, they were healthy, they were extremely
muscular and they possessed low body fat percentiles. They had great
strength and terrific aerobic capacities, obesity was unheard of;
cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease were tens of thousands of
years into the future.
So what happened?
Things began to unravel
for the health of the species with introduction of agriculture.
Approximately 10,000 years ago man started farming, specifically
grains and starch vegetables such as corn. Now, for the first time in
man's existence, foods came into existence that caused insulin to
elevate. Neither fiber carbohydrates nor protein causes insulin to
secrete. The widespread introduction of insulin-spiking foods proved
problematic.
8,000 years before the
birth of Christ men figured out how to grow wheat, barley, oats and
corn. Men figured out how to create baked goods from grain and in
about this same time sugar, salt and alcoholic beverages became
widely available. Soon every culture began producing "artificial
foods" on a widespread basis. The cultural elite became obese;
initially obesity was embraced as a sign of affluence - obesity
differentiated the elite from the underfed masses. Gout became the
"Disease of Kings" as red meat high in fat, wine, starch and
sugar became dominate in the diets of the wealthy.
Imagine a species that
eats a limited and healthy diet for hundreds of thousands of years
and suddenly the species begins eating foods that they had never been
exposed to - much less adapted to. Adaptation requires tens of
thousands of years. The consumption of these new foodstuffs resulted
in a physiological disaster. Insulin spikes came into existence for
the first time in the history of civilization. It is not coincidental
that it is a virtually impossibility to exist on a diet of lean
protein and fiber carbs and become obese. Why is that? You hear much
talk from dietary experts that "a calorie is a calorie" yet
primal evidence and evidence from elite bodybuilders points out a
dramatic physiological fact: some calories are preferentially used to
construct muscle and power activity (or be secreted) while other
calories are preferentially stored as body fat.
Obviously Modern Man
needs to exercise like a demon and eat primal foods preferentially
used to build muscle while avoiding those foods preferentially
shuttled into bodily fat storage compartments.
Body fat was precious to
primal man. Stored body fat was the last line of defense against
starvation and famine: for the first 240,000 years of man's
existence excess body fat was unheard of. That changed for the worse
with the widespread introduction and consumption of baked goods,
sugar, saturated fat, high glycemic food and alcohol.
Take a clue from primal man and
replicate a dietary strategy that emphasizes to near exclusion the
consumption of those nutrients eaten by the ancients before the onset
of the evolutionary apex.
Anyone interested in becoming a
personal phone training client of Marty can contact him at
www.mgso@embarqmail.com
Periodization and the Phenomenon of Physical Stagnation
The real secret to fitness success is reigniting gains after that gorgeous initial burst of progress inevitably and invariably subsides.
Manly Aerobics: World Climbing Champion Jurgen Reis and Marty Gallagher deep in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Dr. Jim Wright took the picture. The three had trudged for a solid hour and were at the turnaround point when this photo was taken. Gallagher related "It was five below zero. Despite the intense cold I still burned a respectable 1,200 calories on this extended outdoor aerobic session. We had been hit with an ice storm and every branch and blade of grass, every tree and bush was glazed in glassy, crystalline diamond-ice. The sky had a pinkish glow and the whole exercise session took on episodic strangeness; like a scene out of science fiction movie; phantasmagoric, psychedelic." Cardio can be effective and exhilarating if undertaken outside in the elements. "If you have the gear, cold weather cardio is beautiful, effective and invigorating." Dr. Wright said. He theorized that clean outdoor air, forced through the circulatory system at an accelerated rate, bestows a "multitude of benefits, amongst them 'atmospheric ionic density' that essentially supercharges the circulatory system, promoting cleansing and blood enrichment." The only certainty in fitness is inevitable onset of physical stagnation.
Factually, any lame, ineffectual fitness routine (or diet) can spark gains in an untrained body - for a little while. This assumes the lame-o strategy is executed with the requisite gusto. The mistake the untrained make is in assigning credit to the protocol when in fact the credit should be assigned to the acute sensitivity of an untrained body.
Instituting any exercise and/or diet regimen, and executing intensely, faithfully and consistently will have an incredible impact on any untrained, out-of-shape body. The more untrained the greater the impact.
When the completely untrained suddenly begin training and eating in a regimented, disciplined fashion, their virginal bodies respond rapidly and dramatically. In the already weird world of fitness, a strange and predictable psychological phenomenon occurs and is what I call the "misplaced allegiance syndrome."
Fitness acolytes will often assign near-magical powers to whatever lame system they happened across and used initially. These rabid acolytes invariably experienced an initial exhilarating burst of rapid and radical physical progress. Unfortunately acolytes usually draw the wrong conclusions and develop a misplaced allegiance to protocols that, more often than not, are lame, ineffectual and deserve no allegiance from anyone.
When lame modes and methods are used in normal circumstance they deliver zero results. However a strange and mysterious physiologic anomaly exists that allows the ineffectual to become effectual for a slim sliver of time. Real Fitness Pros are painfully aware of this space oddity. Lame personal trainers pushing lame systems are completely oblivious to this irrefutable biologic fact. As Oscar Wilde once quipped, "They speak with the easy assurance of the blissfully ignorant."
Take any person brand new to fitness, take someone completely out-of-shape and sedentary, then suddenly subject them, immerse them, in any form of disciplined fitness and for a short period of time watch as they miraculously reap radical and rapid results Then the gains cease. Blessed are those early and astounding physical gains: tangible, irrefutable, positive and profound. These early dramatic gains are often mistakenly attributed to whatever random system of training or diet the acolyte stumbled on to when they decided to "commit to get fit."
Likely it was some hip, popular, au currant exercise or diet style, something all the rage at that particular point in time, perhaps a Boot Camp paired with the South Beach Diet. Pilates anyone? Power Yoga? The Zone Anti-aging Diet? The acolyte decides to immerse themselves in a serious fitness effort and POW! The results stack up so fast the acolytes head is spun around; he feels he has stumbled on to something that needs to be shared - that's when the trouble starts and the physical gains cease.
Factually the early initial results should be attributed to the untrained status of the acolyte.
Here is another little-known fitness truism: the more untrained the individual is the greater the rate of initial progress. A man at 90% of his god-given genetic potential has to work one hundred times harder and way smarter than a stone cold beginner in order to elicit 1/100th the progress. An untrained acolyte can work moderately and stupidly and make huge gains in that magnificent initial burst - for a short period of time - the athletic elite need work way more intensely and way smarter and for way longer to elicit way less progress: infinitesimal by way of comparison.
As any Mac Daddy coach or athlete knows, the real question is not - how best do we trigger gains for an untrained body? Any lame-o program implemented with gusto can accomplish that - The real secret to fitness success is reigniting gains after that gorgeous initial burst of progress inevitably and invariably subsides.
This is the core fitness conundrum, the transformational riddle of the ages.
Acolytes mistakenly attribute magical transformative powers to those random fitness regimens initially used. Some acolytes develop rabid devotion to these luck-of-the-draw methods. Some develop a fanatical, fundamentalist mindset and will proselytize and actively seek to convert non-believers to their incredible fitness system, a system that factually ceased delivering results no more than six weeks after commencement.
Some loyalist will stay with a particular routine for years. How sad is that. They develop a predictable blind spot that prevents them from seeing the eight hundred pound gorilla sitting in the center of the room: that cold fact is this - since that initial fitness burst, that magnificent solar flare, they have made zero quantifiable progress, nada.
Real Fitness Pros understand that every fitness system of training or diet has a finite shelf-life. Recognizing when a system has run out of steam, recognizing when no more results are forthcoming, is both an art and a science in and of itself.
Progress in fitness need be determined objectively, not subjectively.
No need to ask someone how you look if you've lost 20 pounds of fat and added five pounds of solid muscle - you know how you look - you look one hell-of-a-lot better than you did than you looked before you started!
Progress in fitness should be coldly accessed and reduced to mathematical certainty: you are either losing fat or you are not. You are either adding muscle or you are not. You are either improving or degrading. Treading water, at least in fitness, is a myth. As a member of the human species you are in a continual state of flux. Physical homeostasis is a myth; there is no such thing as 'staying the same.' The physical shell, The Soft Machine, is either improving or degrading.
Real Fitness Pros know (from decades of personal observation, empirical data and training others) that workout or dietary regimens need continual rotation, usually every four to six weeks.
Top athletes have formalized the systematic rotation of exercise. This formalized system of rotation has evolved into a strategy known as periodization. Periodized training strategies are always set into timeframes. Exercise rotation occurs in anticipation of stagnation. Once a training strategy is set into a timeframe, the athlete then reverse-engineers, starting with the desired final result: what is the goal? What constitutes the finished physical product? Weekly training goals are then established. The sequential attainment of weekly goals eventually deposits the athlete at the predetermined finish line.
The classic 12-week periodization "cycle" consists of three, 4-week "mini-cycles" tucked inside a larger "mezzo" cycle. Take a look at the table/chart below. This is an example of periodized training template. In it, a hypothetical athlete seeks to add twelve pounds of muscle in twelve weeks while simultaneously increasing strength substantially. For illustrative purposes, we assume he starts off this program with a 300 pound squat, a 200 bench press, 315 deadlift and an overhead press of 150 pounds.
90 days later our athlete is able to rep these weights; each successive week he pushes his bodyweight up one pound. No more, no less. Anabolism is established by eating plentiful amounts of wholesome foods. By being discriminating in his food choices, weight gain is muscle gain. Manly cardio is done four times per week on the "off" days. Here is how a Pro would set up a periodization template for a student...
12 Week Periodization Cycle
Week Squat Bench Deadlift Overhead Press Bodyweight
1 185x8 145x8 200x8 75x8 180
2 195x8 150x8 210x8 80x8 181
3 205x8 155x8 220x8 85x8 182
4 215x8 160x8 230x8 90x8 183
5 225x5 165x5 235x5 100x5 184
6 235x5 170x5 245x5 105x5 185
7 245x5 175x5 255x5 110x5 186
8 255x5 180x5 265x5 115x5 187
9 270x3 190x3 285x3 135x3 188
10 280x3 195x3 295x3 140x3 189
11 290x3 200x3 305x3 145x3 190
12 300x3 205x3 315x3 150x3 191
The athlete starts off handling moderate poundage for eight rep sets. He ends up handling heavy poundage for strength-peaking triples. Each week he grows larger, each week he grows stronger. His 12 pound weight gain is muscle gain because he eats lean protein, fibrous carbohydrates and fruit in ample amounts and to near exclusion. He performs cardio to keep the metabolism elevated.
Weight training occurs three times a week. He performs cardio exercise on his non-lifting days. Light cardio, such as outdoor power walking carrying a weighted pack, swimming or hoisting kettlebells keeps the metabolism from becoming sluggish. Cardio aids digestion and speeds recovery by forcing blood through battered muscles thereby pushing out toxins and accumulated waste products. Periodization is the coin of the realm amongst the athletic elite. Periodization is the art of legislating change.
The fundamentalist fitness acolyte shuns change. He clings to played-out regimens that once bestowed real results. Elite athletes have a veritable closet full of exercise and dietary regimens, each ready to roll out at a moments notice; ready to rotate into the mix the moment stagnation rears its ugly head.
Empirical experience has demonstrated that a sufficient amount of time need be directed towards a serious transformational effort. Periodization cycles typically range in length from between 6 and 16 weeks, with 12 being the average length for a serious periodization effort. The twelve week cycle is classically sub-divided into three, 4-week cycles. A predetermined performance level is established in the major lifts. All exercise results are logged. Periodization of cardiovascular training and diet are also highly recommended and will be the subjects of future articles.
If you are a fundamentalist acolyte - cease and desist! If you are not using periodization tactics then time to start. If you are resisting and avoiding change - let go! Change is a wave to be surfed; otherwise it becomes a tidal wave that drowns you.
If you are a motivated individual interested in taking your fitness efforts to the next level, contact Marty at www.mgso@embarqmail.com and enquire about becoming a phone client. Gallagher works with a limited number of phone clients around the world.
Beware the Blissfully Ignorant Personal Trainer (BIPT)
Reducto ad absurdum: The reduction of a weak argument to absurdity
Reducto ad ovum: The presentation of an invincible argument
Jogging is the coin of the realm when it comes to aerobic-related fitness training. I think starting an unfit individual on a jogging regimen is quite dangerous, potentially injurious and totally unnecessary. The irreducible goal of cardiovascular training is to systematically elevate the heart rate and there are a hell-of-a-lot safer and equally effective ways for the unfit to elevate their heart rate without resorting to jogging.
Someone new to fitness, someone dramatically overweight or out-of-shape needs very little in the way of sustained exercise effort to cause the heart rate to skyrocket; someone untrained will have tendons, ligaments and muscle insertion points tender as new buds and sprouts on a spring plant. To subject out-of-shape, physically fragile neophytes to jogging or running, straightaway, on day one, is playing with fire. What could be more devastating to delicate hip, knee and ankle body parts then the thunderous impact of slam-step jogging? For the unfit, running is begging for injury. Imagine 200-plus pounds of bodyweight crashing down on virgin knees and ankles with every stride-step?
This collective blind-spot within the fitness industry needs to be addressed. Those that blindly prescribe jogging as the base aerobic activity are putting overweight individuals at risk. The weak 'pro-jog on day one' argument needs to be reduced to absurdity. Making the overweight and out-of-shape run is dangerous advice masquerading as cutting-edge orthodoxy. Jogging is uniformly recommended by the uniformly uninformed for use by the uniformly unfit. Reducto ad absurdum.
Jogging for the heavy or out-of-shape individuals is completely unnecessary.
Fitness experts love to jam round pegs (clients) into square holes (their system). Personal trainers love to jog and run as part of their own fitness regimen; so naturally they have a favorable bias towards running. Normal people just starting out on their fitness journey are capable of generating an elevated heart rate with the greatest of ease - so why push past the cardio redline? The collective industry blind-spot is rooted in the ignorance of a critical element of the cardio equation: cardio intensity. All cardiovascular exercise has three benchmarks...
Duration:
Frequency:
Intensity: How long is the session?
How often are the weekly sessions performed?
How hard does the heart work during the session?
The most dangerous breed: the BIPT (Blissfully Ignorant Personal Trainers) How ironic is it that the same anal-retentive personal trainers that insist trainees log every set, notate every rep and poundage, demand individuals working under their auspices jot in a nutrition log every bite of food and every sip of a beverage - purposefully ignore how hard a person's heart is beating when subjected to exercise they prescribe?
➢ If an out-of-shape woman can generate 85% of their age-related heart rate maximum walking briskly - wouldn't that information seem important for a fitness professional writing an exercise prescription?
➢ If the dramatically out-of-shape individual's heart rate soars to 85% when asked to walk quickly, what heart rate do you suppose they generate when mindlessly forced to jog on Day I at 90% to 100% to 115% or more of their age-related heart rate maximum? Is this not maximally dangerous? How about tender body parts?
➢ When the human heart is pushed passed it's redline limit, stress-related heart attack, heat stroke or total physical collapse lie just around the corner. We haven't even touched on the injury potential of repeatedly slamming those Clydesdale feet down with elephantine steps.
➢ If the BIPT were to strap the new client up with a heart rate monitor they would see the shocking truth of how high the client's heart raced when made to jog. There is no accurate way to determine exercise intensity without the use of a heart rate monitor.
Anytime a groupthink mentality takes root, an echo chamber comes into being. In this case the echo chamber consists of fitness experts and personal trainers nationwide reaffirming to one another that having totally untrained overweight and out-of-shape clients jog - on day one - is A-OK. Jogging is an accepted industry standard for cardio. Making a person with zero fitness experience (someone who gets gassed carrying a sack of groceries from the car to the kitchen) suddenly begin jogging, borders on malpractice.
With each jog step the totality of the obese person's massive bodyweight comes crashing down on one foot/leg/ankle/hip; tendons, ligaments and connective tissue around the knee, ankle and foot are slammed on the ground with terrific force with each excruciating step. Untrained people do not glide when they jog, they slam-step; each crushing stride creating another opportunity for tender tendons or ligaments to be ripped away from insertion points.
Meanwhile the BIPT exhorts the untrained obese person to "Move faster! Lift up those knees! Pick up the pace!" The human heart is the size of a person's clenched fist. When the under-used heart pump is suddenly required to propel a huge mass of flesh across the landscape, the heart-pump struggles mightily to keep up. The intensity of jogging is way past anything the tiny pump has known or is used to.
Imagine a 1966 61-cubic inch, 40-horsepower VW Bug engine placed in a 5,000 pound 1965 Cadillac El Dorado body. Now imagine that little engine in the monstrous body is forced to race for 30-minutes. Imagine taking your family minivan to Daytona speedway and suddenly and without warning, mash the accelerator pedal to the floor and keep it there for the next 30 minutes as you zoom around the banked speedway. In each case the engine is jeopardized by the intensity of the work. The analogy is totally appropriate and dramatically highlights the jeopardy to the untrained jogger.
BIPTs continually confuse exercise mode (jogging) with the exercise goal. The goal is to systematically raise the trainee's heart rate to a preordained rate. The goal is NOT to become adept at jogging. Jogging is a tool, not a goal.
No one debates that cardio is a really good thing for an obese individual to practice on a systematic basis. Where the idiocy takes root is when personal trainers mindlessly insist on certain modes that may be inappropriate. What is the rationale behind jogging? I nominate Herd Mentality and lockstep groupthink: most personal trainers, being mindless followers, couldn't identify an appropriate heart rate for a client if asked. Or if they did it they would say something inane, such as "I want my clients to stay in the fat burning zone." But that's a subject for another time. If you ever have the misfortune to fall into the clutches of a BIPT and they demand you jog - tell them "No jogging for me Jack! Reducto ad absurdum!"
Everybody wants to make a buck on the plight of the overweight. There is an obesity epidemic in America. A recent New York Times article pegged the number of obese people in this country at 30% of the general population. Over the age of 50 the number of clinically obese rises to 40%.
The military reports that 40% of potential enlistees are refused because of obesity.
➢ A 200-pound obese person holding a 30% body fat percentile carries around 60-pounds of body fat.
➢ A 200-pound obese person holding a 40% body fat percentile carries around 80-pounds of body fat.
Imagine having to haul around 80 pounds of fat? Hold a pair of 40-pound dumbbells in each hand and walk around a bit: this gives you an idea of how much weight this represents.
Here is an evil statistic: amongst poor people, for the first time in the history of civilization, the number one plight of the poor is not starvation or malnutrition, but obesity.
How best to melt adipose tissue off the obese individual is the subject of great controversy; within the fitness community there exist widespread collective insanity as to causation and solution.
One irreplaceable element of the obesity solution is the use of cardiovascular exercise. Forcing the cardio-challenged body of an obese person to suddenly work at 100% (or more) of capacity is asking for big trouble.
The 60 Second Heart Rate Drop: Faster is better
Here's another aspect of cardio exercise nearly all personal trainers are unaware of: the rate of decline in heart rate after spiking to a high point during intense exercise.
To ascertain the 60 second drop, exert maximally in a cardio activity. Now stand still for sixty seconds - how many beats per minute does the heart rate drop?
If the heart rate drops 12 beats or less in 60 seconds then that person is in danger. They should avoid stressful exercise until they see a doctor. A well conditioned athlete will drop 15, 20, 30 beats (or more) in the sixty second test.
Out-of-shape people that spike their heart rates often have a difficult time getting their racing hearts to calm back down. People in average physical condition will experience a 15 beat drop.
You can use the sixty-second test to periodically test your level of conditioning. If, for example, you were to power walk up a steep hill and your heart rate spiked to say 158, and after standing still for 60-seconds, your heart rate dropped drops to 140, that would represent an 18 beat per minute drop.
Log that information along with the date, locale and bodyweight. If two months later you hit the same hill and this time you spike up to 162 beats per minute and in 60 seconds drop to 138, you have generated a 24 beat per minute drop. You can rightfully view that as real progress and an indicator that you are on the right track. A heart that recovers quickly from being spiked is a real indicator that the fist-sized pump is working well. As you become lighter in bodyweight, your drop rate will improve.
Anyone interested in phone training with Marty can contact him at mgso@embarqmail.com - he works with dozens of individuals worldwide and his methods are geared towards eliciting tangible results for normal individuals. "If you are motivated and tired of being out-of-shape, I have a commonsense method that generates real results for regular people."
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