Majoring in the Minors

Ok, I am back to gaining weight. For those of you who don't know - I got bored with my training last year. I was 157lbs and could run like the wind. Unfortunately, I looked like Christian Bale in "The Machinist" . . . so I figured it was time to amp it up. My idea was to see how much weight I could gain in 6 months. I didn't care if some of it was fat, I just wanted to be bigger. My initial goal was another 25lbs. So, with the help of my Costco membership and their abundance of steaks, I put on the 25 lbs in about 3 months. Why stop there? So, I gained another 25 in another 3 months. I called it hibernating - everyone else called me fat. :) I hit 205lbs in January of 2011. That's almost 50 lbs! None of my clients understood what I was doing, and frankly, neither did I. I was stronger than ever, but couldn't navigate a flight of stairs without taking 6 breaks.

Now, it was time to cut weight. I knew I had put on some muscle, but I guessed about half of it was fat. So, what to do now? Count calories? Figure out my lean body mass, add in my daily activity expenditure, and figure out all of my macros? No. I just started eating better. I cut down on the bad fats I was eating, reduced simple sugars and ate more complex carbs. The result? I lost about 29 lbs in 3 months. I am now 176 and quite comfortable.
Why am I telling you this? Because I have seen it time and time again. I don't know where the term came from initially, but I love the phrase, "Majoring in the Minors". It can be applied to almost everything you see. Whether it be nutrition, exercise or relationships, society feels the need to make things more complicated than they really are.

Take my situation. I wanted to gain weight, so I ate more and lifted. Then, I wanted to lose weight, so I ate more supportively, and increased my cardio. I did no calculations. I knew what I had to do and I did it. I get questions all the time from clients and friends that are way beyond where they need to be. Not that I don't like the questions, but they usually aren't too impressed with the answer I give them. It's basic.

I see it in commercial gyms quite a bit. People flailing their limbs, trying to do this inane exercise that they saw on t.v last week - because they saw a celebrity doing it and it was supposed to get them "rock hard abz.." Meanwhile, that same person can't get on the ground and give me 1 full range push up with good form. Don't get too advanced with your training or nutrition. Take a step back and just try to figure out if you are over complicating things. Normally the solution is right there in front of your face. Our minds are very smart, but don't over-think. Simplify.

Program Design...

This will be a quick blog post - I've got 10 minutes to spare before my next client.

I am writing this in regards to almost every person I see at commercial gyms. With the exception of the ones who are doing some sort of split (upper, lower - Chest, tri's - whatever it may be) please just start designing programs that will hit the OTHER muscles in your body that maybe you can't see while looking in the mirror in front of the dumbbell rack. You DO have more than just a chest, biceps and abs.

Here is an easy solution if you decide to do a full body workout at the gym later today. Don't think in terms of "muscles worked" . .think more in terms of the motions that your body goes through.

If I get bored with my training, or just want to beat myself up with a random workout- I only need to follow a few guidelines;

Quad Dominant Movement - Whether it be squats, lunges, leg press - just something to work those muscles above your knee that seem to be quite useless to some... Remember, women like men with legs, not men shaped like candy apples. :)
Hip Dominant Movement - Deadlifts, pull-throughs, rear leg elevated split squats - Again, you may think that not having an ass is great, but a strong, powerful behind is something to be proud of.
Horizontal Push/Pull - Chest press, bent-over row, 1 arm row, chest flyes, face pull - If you pick some compound movements here, you can hit a lot of muscles in a short period of time.
Vertical Push/Pull - Chin ups, lat pulldown, shoulder press, military press - Same thing here, you can hit almost everything in your upper body with these push/pull movements.
Core exercise - This, I will leave blank. I train core different that most people do, and I don't want to get into the whole crunches vs. anti-flexion debate. There is a time and place for everything, and I only have 5 minutes left. ;)

So, there you have it. Throw yourself together a workout from this. I have gotten great results for people who have very limited time with workouts based off of this platform. The first time I saw this was in a book by Ian King, I forget the name now, but I am not taking credit for this. It was probably around long before Ian King's time, but just stick with the basics movement patterns and you will look and feel better than you have ever felt.

And, next time I am doing deadlifts and let out a war cry/yelp at the top of my lift, don't judge me! Stop curling the 35's and come over. There is no greater feeling than lifting as much weight as you possibly can off of the floor. Then, dropping it and doing it again.

Surround yourself with positive people

Negativity is everywhere. It's on the news, it's in the paper, and it's made it's way into our lives. I encounter so many people everyday who are constantly producing so much negative energy. But, the worst part is that it is contagious. If I spend enough time with these people, I start to think like them.
Now, I consider myself a very happy person. I tend to look on the bright side and see the cup as half full. I also like to be around people that think the same way. Now, I know what you are thinking - What does this have to do with training?

Everything.

I have many clients that walk through the door here at All Canadian Fitness that are very excited. I mean VERY excited to get started. I can see it in their eyes. As soon as we are finished with the consultation and I convince them that they CAN and WILL succeed, they leave here with their heads held high. There was even a woman a few weeks ago that actually pointed to a blank spot on our success wall and said, "That's my spot." - Which I thought was amazing.
They start their training full force and throw everything they have into their own success. But, then something changes. A few sessions in, I see that motivation start to falter. They start to be late, have bad excuses as to why they haven't worked out this week, and even worse, have made terrible decisions when it comes to their nutrition. Now - I am no idiot. They had success in the first few weeks - even losing a few inches. So, what has changed? That's what we always take some time to sit down and figure out. Unfortunately most of the time, it is their support system at home. It could be a number of things making the people around them act the way they do when they start to see their spouse/partner changing in a positive way. Whether it be frustration at their own lack of motivation, the stress of now having to change their own nutritional habits to begin to support their partner or jealousy in seeing the physical changes being made by their better half - it all takes a toll.

Now, it's usually (I say usually because I have seen a few instances in which the sedentary partner actually agrees to make some changes) the person that has been having success ,that has to switch back to the way they were in order to make their spouse happy. I have heard every line as to why this person shouldn't be making a positive change.

"Why do you need to get fit? You are already in a relationship, who are you trying to get pretty for?"
"You are sore all the time, how is this helping you?"
"You've tried things like this before and always failed, why are you bothering?"

And, it's this type of negativity that people don't forget. It unfortunately manifests itself as a little voice in your head that you hear all day - when you are eating that supportive lunch, on your drive to the gym, when you are sitting on the couch debating having that bowl of sugary cereal before bed.. and you feel defeated.

It doesn't have to be this way. I'm not saying split from your partner, but make it known that you are making these changes for yourself and no one else. Take the POSITIVE things that others are saying about you and write them down. Read them everyday. Know that you have the power to change and the will to make it happen. Just picture yourself at your ideal weight or measurements and imagine how good it will feel. Buy new, smaller clothes. Do it now.

There are always going to be negative people. Don't feed into it and don't become one yourself. If you need some positive reinforcement, send me an email! I'll tell you that you are a rockstar and nothing can stand in your way. Surround yourself with incredible people and you will soon see yourself start to change.

I guess that's enough of my motivational, hippy nonsense for now. :)