Carb Rotation Thing

I’m not going to try to paraphrase my friend Jayson Hunter’s theory on rotating carbohydrate intake. It wouldn’t do any justice. I do this myself, but I have my own twist on it that works with my lifestyle.

Here’s his e-mail to me:
Rotate "Carbs" for Rapid Fat Loss
By Registered Dietitian Jayson Hunter

Millions of people have tried both "low-carb" and "no-carb" approaches in an attempt to lose weight quickly. But few have tried a much safer and healthier approach known as Carb Rotation. It is a much more effective and realistic method of rapid fat loss.

There are two general approaches to Carb Rotating. The first approach is to follow a "no, no, no, high carb" program. This means you would eat no carbohydrates at all for the first three days and then eat a "high" amount of carbohydrates on for the fourth day. The fifth day you are back to eating "no carbs" again.

This plan can be effective, but you have to be very strict. It is an aggressive approach that may trigger your starvation response. Yes, the very same starvation response which causes elevation of a hormone called lipoprotein lipase. When this hormone becomes elevated your metabolism begins to slow down. And since that is the last thing anyone who is trying to get rid of unwanted pounds wants, it is not the approach I recommend.

Additionally, when people deprive themselves completely of "carbs" for three days they have a tendency to:
1) Go completely overboard with carbohydrate consumption on the fourth day of the rotation.
2) Not be able to go back to the three days of carbohydrate deprivation resulting in failure of the program.

The much more common sense approach is to follow a "high, low, no carb" program. There is much more room for error with this type of plan. It is much easier to follow and leads to much greater success.

Rotating your "carbs" in this manner allows you to shed fat and keep your metabolism elevated, which is the key to long term weight loss. There is a consistent transition with a "high, low, no" approach because every fourth day you repeat the cycle and you aren't depriving yourself of "carbs" for three days straight. And again: potentially triggering the elevation of lipoprotein lipase.

We tend to eat too many "carbs", we eat improper "carbs" and we don't eat enough protein in our diet. But by following the guidelines laid out in a "high, low, no carb" program we are manipulating the blood sugars and insulin response in our body to achieve rapid of fat loss. Rotating Carbs allows you to control and manipulate your blood sugars and insulin response so you are allowing your body to burn more calories for energy instead of storing "carbs" as fat. This means you are shedding fat and increasing your metabolism. Two very good things!

To view more on Jayson visit his website at: http://CarbRotationDiet.com

**The contents of this daily email are not to be considered as medical advice. Always consult a physician before beginning or changing any fitness program.**

Monty's Boot Camp

Starting Saturday, March 21, 2009 and every Saturday through May - I will be offering a one hour Boot Camp. This is an intense session that will be located at various park locations around town. If you are looking to get into shape this spring or want to try something new - this is a workout session for you!

Prices
$50.00 (4 consecutive week sessions)
$35.00 (Current Clients - 4 consecutive week sessions)
$15.00 (Per Session)

Call or Text Monty Moran for more details
(701) 261-9636

This is also a great opportunity for those of you who workout at other gym locations or are not interested in a gym membership at this time!! As these will be outdoor exercise activities. Note: Due to weather Boot Camp will be moved indoors at the Sports Center.

No Spotting = More Clients per Session

Do you feel like you could do more if you weren’t committed to spotting each client for safety reasons? Thankfully, due to the patented safety cylinder on the Cormax equipment I do more for my clients because I don’t have to spot them on lifts. Now more clients can benefit from my services by having me instruct and observe from multiple angles.

Typically, I will have 6-8 people training in one session. Everyone is performing at maximal effort whether it’s by doing heavy weights, explosively throwing of the weights or doing my version of “cardio days.” By simply standing in the middle of the room I can observe each client’s performance. When my attention is needed for whatever reason, I can bounce between clients and consult them on form, technique, adjusting the next weight to use, aid in logging workouts and preparing future workouts, speeds to achieve for the lift, motivation and at times answer the phone or a text. And let me tell you, for a sole proprietor, the phone seems to always ring when you’re in the middle of spotting somebody when doing free weights. With safety being first, the caller is directed to leave a voice mail.

I've went from being a professional spotter and gym buddy to a performance specialist. By not having to spot anybody I can have two youth athletes, a high school fitness enthusiast, a college athlete, a mom and two retired baby boomers all training at one time with one trainer. Everybody is working out as if they were getting ready for the Olympic tryouts. And they’re all doing it safely. I have no fear of the youth athletes getting stuck under a weight. The teenager is getting a great “sprint style” cardio workout doing weighted jumps. The college athlete is pushing herself beyond what she ever thought was possible. The mom is confident in working out with weights. And the two old guys appear to be putting on muscle and looking younger with each month of training.

This training may not work for everyone, but i have found it both efficient and safe. My clients like the fact that I am never hovering over them and they can discover their full potential with my guidance.

Your 3 Weeks Are Up

Why would anybody need a trainer after the first two or three weeks?

Oh, oh I know pick me, pick me. There I was… training a new client. We were getting results quickly and my alternative style was being adapted to quite well…

Then it HAPPENED! This individual stopped scheduling times and disappeared. Not thinking anything of it; I mean people get sick, have to go out of town suddenly or who knows what, I didn’t bother contacting for a week.

I soon found out that I wasn’t needed, shouldn’t be bothered anymore and greatly appreciated for all my help.

That’s fine. People come & go. Some need more guidance than others. Although many stay on to see what else I come up with (nothing like a little foreshadowing in a blog.)

3 months later, the entire spring season has passed, It UNHAPPENED! This individual called me up looking for another month of training. So I obliged. And like clockwork, 2 weeks into the training this individual figured they had a new workout routine memorized and hinted at going solo once again.

But wait… I was overheard talking to another much more loyal client. Her 3 weeks were up and it was time to change up the workouts. Whoa! Workouts are changed every 3 weeks? Yeah stick around long enough and serious results will happen.

Here’s why:
1) I get bored watching people do the same stuff for a month.
2) The body adapts quickly, so to stimulate it to stay in shape - WE NEED TO CHANGE THINGS UP.
3) When performing variations between heavy and light training, the body can only handle 3-4 weeks of heavy lifting before it breaks down from not being able to recuperate. Louie Simmons from WestSide Barbell will back me on that.
4) Job security. Change elicits results. Results are associated to the reason people train with me.
5) Entertainment. Many loyal clients simply stick around for not only the above four reasons, but also because they’re curious. What else am I going to come up with?

When a guy thinks “What-If?” all the time, who knows?

The Calorie Catch-Up Game

I’ve always been a breakfast person. A few years ago, I decided to do a self-study and skip breakfast. I basically abused myself for 2 months with this hare-brained idea. I had such a hard time getting through the morning I started drinking red-neck cappuccino (coffee + chocolate milk) during the mid-morning. Lunch time consisted of a sandwich either from home, Subway or a diner. I didn’t eat much for a 5’ 8” 230 pounder (think 6” sub). I definitely couldn’t go without lunch though.

By the time I would get home at night, it was 10pm already (oh the life of an individual running a gym by himself). Here’s the kicker. I would start raiding the cupboards eating anything and everything. I knew what I was doing. I tell my clients not to this. BUT I COULDN’T STOP! I was ravenous.

Luckily, food on my stomach helps me sleep. And I got fatter as time went on. So what did I learn from this “study”? My body was playing calorie catch up. Because I was depriving myself of calories during the day, which is also the highest calorie burning part of a 24 hour day, my body acted as an accountant. At the end of the day it calculated that I needed thousands of more calories that night to make up for the day and then a little extra for good measure.

Interesting? Yes. Dumb? Of course, but it was an experiment.

Know anybody else that does this? If so, here’s the simple common sense answer to prevent or reverse this vicious habit. Shift calories to earlier in the day. So your biggest meal should be breakfast, then the next biggest would be lunch, and the smallest meal would be supper. Granted this is for people whose schedule only allows for three meals a day. By shifting your calories earlier in the day, you'll have fewer cravings during the day and the uncontrollable kitchen raids at night disappear.

This isn't ground breaking news, but it's quite effective and it easy to do.

Announcement: Cormax Equipment is now at the Sports Center

Great news!
Doug Duran, Manager of the Sports Center, has recently purchased all three pieces of the Cormax line of ballistic training exercise machines.

Contact me for more information!

Bad Cardio vs. Good Cardio

Many fitness professionals and medical doctors prescribe low to moderate intensity aerobic training (cardio) to people who are trying to prevent heart disease or lose weight. And usually, the recommendations parallel the common statement, “perform 30-60 minutes of steady pace cardio 3-5 times per week maintaining your heart rate at a moderate level”. What is the reasoning? Simply because it’s deemed as a safe start for extremely de-conditioned or extremely overweight individuals. This workout is not difficult; it’s attainable- meaning the odds of “staying with it” are good and a step above the completely sedentary lifestyle. Plus, prescribing this fitness regime covers the professionals’ butts. Who wants to be responsible for someone collapsing because the fitness program they recommended was too intense?

Fast-forward to you being able to achieve steady state cardio workouts (i.e. walk or jog for 20 minutes). I think 30-60 minutes is a little excessive without feeling like the “hamster on the wheel” doing endless hours of boring cardio. So what’s the next step? Consider some recent scientific research that indicates that steady pace endurance cardio work may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

First, realize that our bodies are designed to perform physical activity in bursts of exertion followed by recovery, or stop-and-go movement instead of steady state movement. Recent research is suggesting that physical variability is one of the most important aspects to consider in your training. This tendency can be seen throughout nature as animals almost always demonstrate stop-and-go motion instead of steady state motion. In fact, humans are the only creatures in nature that attempt to do “endurance” type physical activities. Most competitive sports (with the exception of endurance running or cycling) are also based on stop-and-go movement or short bursts of exertion followed by recovery. To examine an example of the different effects of endurance or steady state training versus stop-and-go training, consider the physiques of marathoners versus sprinters. Most sprinters carry a physique that is very lean, muscular, and powerful looking, while the typical dedicated marathoner is more often emaciated and sickly looking. Now which would you rather resemble?

It’s not about aesthetics entirely either, the internal effect of various forms of exercise on our body can make all the difference when we realize what’s really happening. Scientists have known that excessive steady state endurance exercise (different for everyone, but sometimes defined as greater than 60 minutes per session most days of the week) increases free radical production in the body, can degenerate joints, reduces immune function, causes muscle wasting, and can cause a pro-inflammatory response in the body that can potentially lead to chronic diseases. On the other hand, highly variable intermittent training has been linked to increased anti-oxidant production in the body and an anti-inflammatory response, a more efficient nitric oxide response (which can encourage a healthy cardiovascular system), and an increased metabolic rate response (which can assist with weight loss). Furthermore, steady state endurance training only trains the heart at one specific heart rate range and doesn’t train it to respond to various every day stressors. On the other hand, highly variable intermittent training teaches the heart to respond to and recover from a variety of demands making it less likely to fail when you need it. Think about it this way -- Exercise that trains your heart to rapidly increase and rapidly decrease will make your heart more capable of handling everyday stress. Stress can cause your blood pressure and heart rate to increase rapidly. Steady state jogging and other endurance training does not train your heart to be able to handle rapid changes in heart rate or blood pressure. Steady state exercise only trains the heart at one specific heart rate, so you don’t get the benefit of training your entire heart rate range.

The important aspect of variable intermittent training that makes it superior over steady state cardio is the recovery period in between bursts of exertion. That recovery period is crucially important for the body to elicit a healthy response to an exercise stimulus. Another benefit of variable intermittent training is that it is much more interesting and has lower drop-out rates than long boring steady state cardio programs.

To summarize, some of the potential benefits of variable intermittent training compared to steady state endurance training are as follows: improved cardiovascular health, increased anti-oxidant protection, improved immune function, reduced risk for joint wear and tear, reduced muscle wasting, increased residual metabolic rate following exercise, and an increased capacity for the heart to handle life’s every day stressors.

There are many ways you can reap the benefits of stop-and-go or variable intensity physical training. One of the absolute most effective forms of variable intensity training to really reduce body fat and bring out serious muscular definition is performing wind sprints or hill sprints. Also, most competitive sports such as football, basketball, racquetball, tennis, hockey, etc. are naturally comprised of highly variable stop-and-go motion. In addition, weight training naturally incorporates short bursts of exertion followed by recovery periods. High intensity interval training (varying between high and low intensity intervals on any piece of cardio equipment) is yet another training method that utilizes exertion and recovery periods.

For example, an interval training session on the treadmill could look something like this:

Warm-up for 3-4 minutes at a fast walk at least 1.5 incline

Interval 1 - run at 8.0 mi/hr with the incline at 10 for 20 seconds

Interval 2 - walk at 3.0 mi/hr with the incline at 3 for 1.5 minutes

Interval 3 - run at 10.0 mi/hr with the incline at 10 for 10 seconds

Interval 4 - walk at 3.0 mi/hr with the incline at 3 for 1.5 minutes

Repeat those 4 intervals 4 times for a very intense 15 to 20-minute workout.

Remember, the idea is to train your body at highly variable intensity rates for the majority of your workouts to get the most beneficial response in terms of heart health, fat loss, and muscle maintenance.

Parent / Child Workout Sessions

I am excited to introduce a new program I am offering - Parent / Child Workout Sessions. These sessions will help build a bond with your child while getting fit. The workouts will be scheduled every Saturday.

I am holding a Trial Session on Saturday, February 7, 2009 from 10:00 am - 11:00 am. Stop by when you can, workout, and get more information on this new program. Regular sessions will begin February 14, 2009. Check out the flyer below for more information on age levels and rates.

These workout sessions will be held at the Sports Center in Fargo and in a safe workout environment.

Stay fit this year and get your child in the groove of working out!

Body Part Isolation in Strength Training: Are You Kidding Me?

I just re-located to a much larger gym with a greater variety of fitness enthusiasts. My loyal followers began to notice the “big guys” and proceeded to ask me a variety of questions along with a few comments on their observations.

Here are two common questions: “Those guys are twice the size of us, but they struggle with weights that I can do. What is that?” And the other would be, “How come you don’t have me do that machine” or “How come you don’t have me do that exercise?” I’ll address the latter questions as they pertain to why we don’t do isolation exercises.

Unless you are into bodybuilding or undergoing physical rehabilitation, performing isolation exercises should have no role in your training regimen.

The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Instead, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; meaning, completing complex movements using a greater number of muscle groups. (e.g., pull-ups, dead lifts and bench press). In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. Moreover, many muscles groups actually cover two joints not just one.

When you attempt to ‘isolate’ muscles, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a sum of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional body that works together. The term synergy comes to mind.

It’s a cruel trick; isolate body parts to achieve the aesthetic qualities seen in magazines, yet sacrifice quality of life by suffering with joint problems, tendonitis, and possibly bulking up. Conversely, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works in synergy to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then by all means stay away from muscle isolation exercises. Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation.

Personal story:
In college, I used to do a lot of biceps curls (for the girls). I also suffered with intermittent tendonitis that would run from my biceps tendon in the front of the shoulder to my elbows, all along my forearms and even my wrists. The only remedy was to stop doing curls. When I started working in Cormax only gyms, I stopped doing isolation exercises all together. I started to train using more complex movements and noticed that my biceps were getting a better workout simply by doing cleans (well, version is more like a high pull), rows and pull-ups. And the tendonitis issues were non-existent, while my overall strength catapulted.

Another benefit to moving away from the ‘muscle isolation’ mindset to a more ‘complex movement’ mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones.

Let’s do one more example. The leg extension machine is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, and is commonly used by Physical Therapists to wake up the quads and stimulate them to fire (contract). Because of physics and bio mechanics involved, they never allow the resistance to go above 60 pounds. The shearing force on the knee joint becomes more harmful than helpful when heavier weights are used. So once the quads can contract smoothly, the PT moves onto closed-chain (foot on the ground) exercises. For this reason, we just walk past the leg extension machine hoping we’ll never need to use it.

Exercises like squats, jumps, lunges, and dead lifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work numerous muscles in the body (in addition to the quads). Training the body as a functional unit, creates more coordination, stability and greater strength in the long run (when done properly), and also burns far more calories, in less time, compared to the isolation exercises.

This is Just the Beginning

Welcome to the initial launch of what is planned to be the blog for the fitness enthusiast looking for straight answers on a variety of topics. I’ve included common questions, personal stories, radical theories, great references and down to Earth reiterations of motivational words that we all need.

A brief background on my path leading up to this point should be addressed. As a grade school kid I was always the youngest of my class and the smallest as well for age reasons. One summer while visiting relatives in Colorado, my cousin decided to challenge me. I was in 4th Grade he was in junior high or early high school. The challenge was to do a clean & press. I did a little more than my own body weight. The hype of it all spurred my parents to buy me my first weights set for my 10th birthday. My 1st gym membership was during my freshman year in high school (14 yr). Admittedly, I was a gym rat in high school.

Having no clue what I was going to do after high school, my parents sent me to NDSU for Mechanical Engineering. After one year, I knew what I didn’t want to do. I then certified as a 1st class personal trainer with the National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT). I also went back to NDSU with a new major declared: Pre-medicine.

During my 3rd year or 2nd year in Pre-Med I was invited to an open house for Red River Valley Sports Medicine (RRVSM), PT-OT & Orthopedic Associates. I guess I asked a lot of questions because the Director of Exercise Physiology (Jon Hinrichs) suggested I do my internship there. I worked my way from intern to Assistant Director at RRVSM. I did a lot of baseball sport cord training and hockey treadmill after school hours while administering rehabilitation protocols during the day. I also "moonlighted" additional work experience as a Physical Therapy Aide in a nursing home setting in the morning as well as becoming Off-Ice Director for Burggraf Skating Skills (think hockey) in the evening. 14 hour days are the perfect schedule for a single mid-20’s guy, minimal trouble- maximal experience.

After prepping to go back to school to obtain a Master's of Science in Exercise Physiology, I asked some intelligent friends who completed the program from various colleges, if this is a venture I should travel down. With much thought, I decided not to become an Exercise Physiologist.

By the end of 1999 I was self-employed & continued my own self education. I continued to work as Off-Ice Director for Burggraf Skating Skills and consulted for various NHL teams. All the while I continued to build a loyal group of clientele as well. I passed up strength coach opportunities with 2 pro teams during my stint with Burggraf- it just wasn’t the right opportunities. My first experience with Cormax was when I was designing the lay out and equipment selection for Burggraf.

Basically since the beginning of Cormax as a company, I have been involved. Dave Karlstrom (the inventor) and I had an agreement. He builds it, I figure out how to use it. I remember spending many moments with Dave just standing and staring at the Cormax machines thinking “What-If?” And so the saga unfolds into countless “tweaks” to machines that already did the impossible. This was to allow athletes to train explosively, yet safely.

A new era has begun in my quest as a trainer. As of October 2008, I call the Sports Center in Fargo home. I have loosely put together a team to help me achieve some ambitious goals I have set for myself. I believe in setting goals so high, you can’t achieve them by yourself.