Activity Trackers

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

I like technology. Anything that makes it easier to manage my life and keep track of what’s going on is a good thing in my opinion. I see the pitfalls too. It can be distracting at times and take the focus away from what we should be doing. Let’s be honest, technology is partly responsible for kids looking like sloths these days. They’d rather run their fingers over a video came controller or iPad instead of running outside.

But in the same way “The Force” can be used for good (think, Luke Skywalker) or bad (Darth Vader), so can technology. One trend I’ve watched grow over the past year has been the use of wearable activity trackers—products like Fitbit, Jawbone, Polar, and Nike Fuel Band to name a few. These products keep tabs on the number of steps you take, calories burned, heart rate, hours of sleep, and more. I’m pretty sure soon they’ll track bowel movements also.

One product that will be coming out soon that I’m really excited about is called Atlas. Not only does it do everything that every other wearable does but it will also learn your exercise form and alert you when you’re not doing it properly. Also really cool is that it will track your reps and not count the bad ones. As a personal trainer I like the possibilities. I know that may sound counter intuitive—why would I want people using a tool that does part of my job?

Here’s why.

People still need direction on how exercise correctly so they don’t hurt themselves and can be more productive. That will never change. If a client is using a device such as this. And the device learns their form as I the personal trainer instructs them. Then when that client is on vacation, or is performing workouts on their own, we both can rest assured that they are at least doing their exercise properly.

A device won’t be able to push them harder or make educated decisions about the direction of their program but, it will make their unaccompanied workouts better. And that has tremendous implications for someone’s long-term success. I love that!

Over the past year or so I’ve noticed the growing trend of clients using wearable activity trackers. The biggest plus is that they tend to be more conscious about being active outside of the gym. It becomes sort of a game. How many more steps can I take today compared to yesterday? How high can get my heart rate? How much longer can I keep my heart rate elevated? Can I burn 100 or 200 more calories each day?

If being aware of your activity encourages you to be more active, I’m all for it. Not to mention the ability to measure your progress. What’s really cool is that most of these wearable’s sync up with your home computer or smart phone and automatically uploads your data each day. This gives you the opportunity to analyze what your body is going through over several weeks and months. So if you’re questioning why you put on two pounds in the past two weeks you can pull up your report and see that you were 30% less active than normal during that time. Or maybe you were just stuffing your face with pasta. (Unfortunately the activity trackers can’t keep tabs on what you put in your mouth…maybe that’ll be part of the next version.)

Different Way to Approach #Exercise

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

There’s literally hundreds of exercise methods, and every one of em’ has its own “spin”. Which one is right for you depends on your ability to answer the question, “What’s your outcome?”.

I believe in implementing various training methods to achieve specific results but anything put into practice is done with a single strategy in mind. Check it out in this video I made for you. (6 minute view)

The Indisputable Principles of Exercise and How the Experts Screw Them Up

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

I have nothing against “fitness experts.” In fact I regularly seek out, read, listen to, and pick the brains of people (not in a Walking Dead sort of way) that I consider to be experts in various areas of exercise because in quiet moments of self-reflection I realize that I don’t know it all. Hard to believe I know. I like hearing different points of view, especially the diametrically opposing ones. As Stephen Covey put it in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “seek to understand.” If I’m able to understand their point of view then I’ll either glean new insight and apply it to what I do, ooooooooor I’ll bang my head against a wall thirty-two times as a preventative measure to ensure the information doesn’t settle into my brain.

Arguing Over Exercise Principles

It’s really simple. Every workout program ever designed has these four principles present; intensity (as in effort, not a percentage of 1RM), volume (some number of sets), load (any resistance being used or % of 1RM) and frequency (scheduled occurrence). The way some experts talk about these principles individually you would think that one holds the key to success and the others should sit back and remain silent. And it comes from both sides of the aisle, as well as the front and back of the room.

Experts dedicate an inordinate amount of time to the study and practice of what they do which is what makes them experts in a particular area. But it can also blind them from everything else going on around them.

The HIT experts bang on the volume guys for wimping out on their sets as soon as discomfort sets in lieu of performing more sets. The Volume Guys laugh at the HITters for spending more time talking about training than they do actually training. Both point to studies done by people on their side of the aisle to substantiate their position. Each misses the valid aspects of what the other does. All agree that Crossfit is completely nuts. And anyone professionally involved in fitness who is over the age of 70 can prove that none of this new shit is actually new, they were doing it in the 50’s.

Where the Fitness Experts Blow It

How the principles listed above are arranged—the measure of each ingredient—is determined by three other components; S.A.I.D. (specific adaptations to imposed demands), diminishing returns, and the mother of them all, the sole determinant of why or why not a program is suitable, individualism. For any fitness expert to make blanket statements about theirs being a superior approach is naive and arrogant. It assumes that intensity, volume, load, and frequency exist in a vacuum and are uninfluenced by S.A.I.D., diminishing returns, and individualism, as well as other external factors. They fail to recognize that the only superior approach is the one that’s most appropriate at that particular time for that particular individual because of his/her particular circumstance.

Exercise Principle Pimps

Most fitness experts mean well. I sincerely believe that. But well-meaning doesn’t excuse you from pimping out certain exercise principles to push YOUR preferred way of training. We all have a “home base.” But it doesn’t mean you cannot and should not explore things outside of that circle if it could mean better results for you or those you provide professional services to.

Though no one likes to think in broad terms that’s precisely what the best experts do. They understand all the principles and how they interrelate, and how they should be adjusted according to an individual’s current physical and mental state. In society we have to abide by many laws not just the ones we prefer. Exercise is no different.

15 Ways to Avoid Exercise Disaster

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

1. Routinely change the plane

I’m not talking about transferring airlines from one trip to the next, I’m talking about the angle—the plane of motion—you perform your exercises on. While everyone loves to talk about the need to “change things up” to avert plateaus the real benefit of multi-angle training is minimizing wear and tear on the joints and soft tissue from performing the same exercise in the same plane of motion on a weekly basis. How many rotator cuff surgeries could’ve been avoided if only those guys didn’t bench press every freakin’ week for 7 years straight?

2. See it as a stress

Like it or not, exercise is a negative stress on your body. Anything that leads to you having near 100% of your strength and energy one minute and then 50% of that an hour later (I’m making up the percent drop in ability just to highlight the scenario) is a negative stress. If your body is given enough time to rebound from this stress and defend against it by getting stronger and more resilient, great, you’re making progress. If not then the stress compounds with all the other stressors in your life and your progress comes to an abrupt stop.

3. Weigh the risk

Training hard is a necessity for success; training stupid is not. I’m cool with people doing Crossfit, Olympic lifting, and Powerlifting if they’re competing in those sports. As a competitor you assume certain risk. A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Condition Research indicated that “Injury rates with CrossFit training are similar to that reported in the literature for sports such as Olympic weight-lifting, power-lifting and gymnastics…” The takeaway is this; if you’re exercising for health, fitness, appearance, or function then you need to consider the vehicle you use to get you there.

4. Get out of your head

Stopping getting in your own way! There is no way to balance your bullshit unsubstantiated negative thoughts and beliefs with your desire for positive results. When you’re in your head you’re dead.

5. Don’t try to outwork a lousy diet

Here’s a double dose of disaster. You have no control over your nutrition so you accumulate more body fat and put additional stress on your body. You try to make up for your poor nutrition by doing more exercise. “If I do sixty minutes of cardio a day on top of my weight training I can eat whatever I want.” Not quite. If you’re a quick learner you remember point #2 and realize that piling on the exercise only creates additional stress. If your body can’t recover from this and other stress it will not function optimally. If it’s not functioning optimally that means your metabolism is not functioning optimally. The only thing your extra exercise will be burning is muscle tissue which further fucks up your situation.

6. Don’t assume more is better

For the exercise zealot your commitment is commendable. However when progress begins to wane the answer is rarely to do more (see #2 and #7). Most notable in young impressionable male lifters who believe the behemoths in the muscle magazines are “natural” and that fourteen plus hours of training a week is normal.

7. Don’t assume less is (always) more

At the opposite and less observed end of the spectrum are the minimalists performing less than thirty-minutes of exercise a week. While something may be better than nothing and this amount of exercise could be enough to help maintain the functionality of someone over the age of seventy, don’t expect to achieve fitness superstardom while under-stimulating your muscles. That said, the best approach is to always do the least amount of exercise necessary to achieve the best result or desired result.

8. Leave the warp speed to Star Trek

You walk into the gym for the first time and you see everyone pumping out reps as though you get an Olympic medal for how fast you complete your set. So what do you do…? That’s what I thought. We all do this because we don’t know any better. The repercussions of such thoughtless exercise performance is best explained in Reppin’ Like a Moron.

9. Get off the ball

It is painful that the circus act resembling trend of functional training using the Bosu or fit ball, has not yet seen a bitter death. There is nothing more “functional” than having well developed muscles that are strong through their natural range of motion. Traditional weight training in a stable environment accomplishes more to this end than attempting to balance on an object. Aside from the safety concerns the argument that such balancing acts involve more muscles is an exercise in displaced rationale (no pun). Sure, you might involve more total muscles but you are also shifting focus away from the one or two that the exercise is intended to target. Strengthening of these muscles is better accomplished in a stable environment where they can be overloaded. As far as the “functionality” aspect. Unless you’re part of Cirque du’ Solei none of your everyday movements or activities requires spectacular balance. (My sister was a gymnast and I was not, yet somehow I’ve been able to function in life just as effectively as her…hmmm).

10. Trading time for work

The time you spend working out is not a measure of the quality of your workout. Take away your walks to the water cooler between sets, the conversation you’re having with your training partner or friend, the two warm-up sets for every exercise, or the time spent letting everyone on Facebook and Twitter know you’re at the gym, and how much time is spent on productive exercise or sets that actually have the potential to stimulate results. You can train six hours a week or sixty minutes and produce the same exact result if the “quality time” is the same.

11. Better on paper

When I say “better on paper” I don’t mean what the stats say about who should win the game between the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. Football fans knows that regardless of who should win according to the stats, it’ doesn’t always turn out that way. So why track them? Because it gives you a better overall view of what areas need improvement and they can help you formulate a better game plan. Having a running record of your exercise performance or nutrition helps to uncover clues about what’s working and what’s not. You can save yourself years of poor results simply by making sure you’re getting better on paper. You can measure your weight, your reps, your time under tension, your body weight, body composition, energy levels, etc.

12. Same thing, too often

The body is a pretty extraordinary machine. One of its most remarkable features is its ability to adapt to external demands. Everything from building muscle, to increasing strength, to having greater endurance, and a host of other fitness related outcomes is an adaptation to the demands we impose on ourselves through exercise. So good is this ability to adapt that after repeated exposures we look for the most efficient way to deal with these demands. And this consequently becomes the source of the fitness enthusiasts’ frustration regarding a lack of progress. What I mean is, at a certain point our bodies get accustomed to the demands of exercise, especially when it’s performed the same way week after week, and it doesn’t sense a need to add more muscle or increase strength, or whatever outcome you’re chasing. However before you think I’m on some Tony Horton P90x bullshit read my Holy Shift post.

13. Crowning a variable as King

You ever have one of those clingy girlfriends or boyfriends? They need to constantly be around you and damn you if you’re not doing something every 5 minutes to make them feel special. They latch onto you like I latch onto my shotgun and NRA membership card. We know that being clingy is unhealthy yet some people insist on clinging to a certain training variable, put it on a pedestal and claim it as King of all Variables. Volume is not any more important than intensity, than intensity is any more important than frequency, or frequency any more important than volume, and on and on. The key is to figure out when a little more or a little less of any or all of them is necessary.

14. Choosing cardio over weights

At this point this one should not even need to be listed. But a quick observation of what the people pounding away in the cardio section look like compared to the ones (seriously training) in the weight training area tells me that some people still haven’t gotten the memo. The short of it—since it’s been written about a hundred bazillion times—is that cardio in excess (HIIT does not get lumped in here) is a muscle wasting metabolism killer. Properly performed weight training is a muscle building, ass sculpting, metabolism enhancing, osteoporosis preventing, anti-aging, energy producing, sex drive heightening juggernaut.

15. Comparison with others

You are an individual…you have your own set of advantages…your own limitations…your own needs. No matter what you do, or how hard you try, you will never under any circumstances be that person over there. So why are you comparing yourself to them? Uncover your individual needs and satisfy them…not someone else’s.

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You Can’t Achieve Your Physical Best Without Understanding This…

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

Generally speaking we’re all the same. Same physical structure, same bodily functions. But the similarities between you and I likely end there. My blood pressure was 120/70 every time it’s been taken in the past 3 years, I burn fat relatively easy but I’m lucky if I can squeeze out a 0.25 lb. increase in muscle mass from year to year, I work about 80-90 hrs a week and, I’m 36 years old. How do you compare?

Possibly the same in some areas, likely different in them all, and this is only a small sampling of physical characteristics we could compare. Our abilities and limitations vary across a broad spectrum, as do our requirements to improve, maintain, or decelerate the loss of muscle, strength and functional ability.

Inherent traits make us unique. Think of the people in high school who were categorized as “the brain”, “the jock”, or “the artist”. Each got his/her label because they naturally excelled in a particular area or skill. But as “natural” as they were in that one area they likely had to work hard to achieve average success in others—if they achieve success at all.

I don’t call attention to this to shoot down your dreams of physical Superstardom. Fact is most people never actualize their true potential and none of us really know what our limits are. The reason why I bring this up is because people and personal trainers put too much focus on the general—broad brush stroke—training practices when they should be focused on determining individual specific needs.

There is a need for general training routines since there is no way of knowing exactly what a persons individual needs are at the start. General routines set the foundation and can be used as a benchmark to compare future results and progress. A personal trainer for example might have a basic routine they start everyone on for a number of weeks or months and depending upon the trainees results and feedback, they begin to alter their workouts to better align with their individual needs.

The trouble is when people continuously jump from one workout method of the month to the next, and follow routines that were designed for someone other than themselves. Instead they should be analyzing their individual characteristics to determine the proper direction of their training. Approaching training (and nutrition) this way can literally save years of wasted effort.

Though we all don’t have the superior physical abilities to be a champion physique athlete or model nearly everyone has the potential to achieve a relatively strong, lean, and muscular physique if their training, nutrition, and lifestyle are congruent with these objective and satisfies their individual needs. So where do you currently reside on the fitness Bell Curve above? Where does each of your major muscle groups reside on the curve? What does it say about your receptiveness and tolerance to exercise? How can you adjust your training to address these individual characteristics and maximize results?

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Small Change = Significant Result on Fitness

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

It’s unfortunate that the large majority of people interested in achieving greater fitness results that read this will regard the information as not being applicable to them and ignore this one simple suggestion that could have a dramatic effect on their physical development and overall health. Or worse, they know the information directly relates to their needs but they won’t follow it anyway. Not to go off on a tangent but we as humans have this strange way of ignoring things that seem too simple. Maybe we just want things to be difficult so if we don’t follow through we don’t feel distressed by it. Who knows? But for those that will follow through and appreciate that the little things add up here’s the suggestion. Get thirty more minutes of sleep each night. (Insert sound of crickets)

Not that cricket

This recommendation is so simple that some of you are questioning whether or not it’s worth reading any further. But if you do I promise another gleaming piece of insight that has a bit more of a complicated (but not too difficult to understand) twist, will come out of it. In fact before I lose you, let me just give you the “complicated” piece right now. The reason why an extra thirty minutes of sleep each night can impact your fitness results is grounded in the science of stress physiology.

Our ability to physically develop and grow stronger hinges on how fully we recover from the stress of exercise as well as any other external and internal stressors. Yes Virginia, exercise IS a stress. If you’re smart about how you structure your exercise you are doing only that which will have the greatest impact on your muscular development, strength, and functionality, as well as your metabolism. In a nutshell, weight training is the center of your exercise universe. You are also focused on doing the least amount of exercise necessary to get the desired result because you recognize the importance of having plenty of recovery time.

Assuming that your workouts are effective enough in signaling the body to get stronger and develop then the only thing you need to do is allow the process to unfold by resting. Going to bed just thirty minutes earlier adds up to three and a half extra hours of recovery time each week. That’s one hundred eighty-two hours in a year! Given the amount of stress our bodies are under do you think this could make a difference? Test it and tell me.

Reppin’ Like a Moron

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Mike Lipowski

Everyone knows that repping out like a wide-eyed Crossfit zombie doing their body jerking pull ups (aka, kipping pull up) is the shortest path to soft tissue destruction currently available at $250 a month. Honestly, I can easily find a few “made” guys from Long Island who would be more than willing to inflict just as much permanent joint damage at one-tenth the cost. I get it though. It’s a sport, right? And it makes you feel special to “compete” with others who enjoy accelerating the physical age of their body. It’s not much different from playing most sports. Except, when you call it exercise.

The purpose of exercise is to strengthen the body, which is why the idiot in the corner of the gym who’s doing the seated version of body jerking pull-ups that he calls lat pulldowns, is missing the point also. Same too for the chest bouncing bench presser and the other weight swingers.

The reason why this type of piss poor technique lands lifters on the operating slab is rooted in physics. Remember that guy Newton? He had some insightful stuff to say that’s applicable here.

The faster you lift a weight or the heavier the weight you’re attempting to lift, the more force your muscles must produce. More force production is great, except…when it happens abruptly. The more abruptly muscular force increase—as in the case of jerking, yanking, or popping a weight up—so too does the strain it places on the soft tissues and tendons. Not for nothing but tearing or muscle or tendon is no badge of honor Meatball.

Lifting the weight is not the only time when potential for injury is high. When the weight is lowered—or dropped back into the start position as my favorite Facebook Bodybuilding Superstars like to demonstrate—it increases in kinetic energy. Attempting to slow or stop an object that is increasing its kinetic energy results in those dastardly high forces that can cause tissue damage. This is why it’s so important to actually lower the weight under control and not simply “let go” during the negative.

Although it won’t impress any of my Facebook Bodybuilding Superstar friends, especially because it’s not a 400 lb. squat or 500 lb deadlift, here’s a quick clip of how I like to do it.

The Busy Fitness Freak

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Mike Lipowski

Recently I had a conversation with someone at a nutrition convention at which I was speaking. It was lunchtime and we were discussing the new nutrition program released by the company that had hosted the event. This young woman had lost over one-hundred pounds on the program and looked fantastic (kudos to her). She eventually started to ask about me and my wife’s natural bodybuilding and figure competition prep, specifically how we trained. She had no desire to compete she said but wanted clues as to how to push her fat loss further along and achieve a more “toned” look.

To her amazement it was not as complicated or as time consuming as she thought. Everyone assumes that to achieve competition form or your “ideal physique” you need to spend hours in the gym. You don’t. Neither I nor my wife did any more than 100 minutes of training each week during our entire 2012 competition season and both of us achieved our all-time best condition.

Just a Busy Bodybuiler

You see, I’m a busy bodybuilder…a very busy “Fitness Freak”. Just to give some perspective, I own and operate a personal training studio where I carry out 40-50 sessions a week (purposely reduced from 60-70/week), I’m the president of a personal training education and certification company, a co-founder of a natural bodybuilding organization and a show promoter, a coach for other competitors, I write and do speaking engagements, take care of all the marketing for each of my businesses, do fundraising, and networking. And these are only my business related pursuits, I have not even touched on my personal and recreational activities.

This list is not meant to brag, I know that there are plenty of other people who do what I do and more. I use it to demonstrate that even with everything that consumes my day I can still body build at a high level. The key is to determine exactly how much time must be spent training to develop your physique. For me it is 90-100 minutes a week of weight training (I do not do any aerobic exercise). The other major component of course is diet. If you have your diet structured properly and give yourself enough time to lose body-fat slowly there is no reason to perform excessive amounts of aerobic exercise to burn calories.

I understand that for some, working out is their life, their passion, and they enjoy spending hours in the gym. But for those who would like to pursue their ideal physique or compete in bodybuilding/figure in the midst of a busy lifestyle where spare hours are few, you can. The first step is to move past the misconception of how much time is needed. Real science dismisses much of the pseudoscience revolving around muscle development and fat-loss.

Just the Facts

Fact: There is not a specific amount of time that a person needs train for in order to stimulate muscle growth.

Fact: There is not a specific number of reps or sets that need to be performed to stimulate muscle growth.

Fact: Muscle development only occurs under conditions where intensity of effort and/or training demands are high.

If you understand these three facts then you can succeed as a Busy Fitness Freak. As I mentioned I rarely train more than 100 minutes a week and I do not do any aerobic exercise, even during competition prep. My workouts—as well as the workouts of clients I work with—are typically 30 minutes long and normally performed only 2-4 times a week. The reason why is because of the three facts stated above, especially the last one.

The key to developing a time efficient training program is to keep intensity high by performing each set to (or close to) momentary muscular failure and continually finding ways to increase training demands. Without a high degree of effort or a disruption in what the muscles are accustomed to there is no reason for them to become stronger or more resilient. Let me ask, for what reason would muscles develop if they are not challenged?

Most serious trainees place heavy emphasis on weight progression, constantly trying to heave greater poundage’s from one workout to the next. This has always been a focal point of every successful training program but it’s not the only thing that should be focused on. In fact, we know through research that intensity of effort plays as big if not a bigger role than load since it is only when intensity is at or near one-hundred percent that we involve the greatest number of Fast-Twitch (FT) muscle fibers (Henneman’s size principle).

We have learned through the study of neurology that the more we perform certain movements (exercises) in the same manner the more we adapt to those movements and the more proficient we become at performing them. In the IART’s publication Fitness Science Annual 2008, Brian Johnston explains the negative implications of neuromuscular adaptation for the intermediate and advanced bodybuilder, in the quest to develop more muscle:

In strength training and bodybuilding, a greater focus has been placed on neurological adaptation, or the skill factor and its effect. It has been suggested that neurological/skill factors are a consideration only during the beginning stages of exercise, with less impact or influence on advanced trainees…However, this is not the entire story. Although the extent of neural factors may diminish, the nature of its role alters and becomes more finely tuned. To explain, the more muscle and strength a person develops, the more reluctant the body is to add more muscle and strength; and the more a person repeats the same exercises in the same way, the more skilled they become at those movements

Keeping the above in mind, as well as the importance of intensity, it should be apparent that a productive training regimen consists of varied, high-intensity exercise. The, high-intensity + variation formula, is a dependable stimulus for muscle development but by no means is it the only factor. We need to also consider recovery time and tolerance to exercise stress. It’s the application and balance of intensity, volume, variation and frequency, relative to individual needs that determines a person’s ability to develop a strong muscular physique while living a busy lifestyle. …And earning the title of Busy Fitness Freak.

3 Rules to Get Fit & Stay Fit

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Mike Lipowski

It’s not what you think. Typically articles like this lay out a bunch of crappy no-brainer generalized suggestion disguised as “rules” and either you follow them already or never will. I couldn’t do that to you because I can’t stand when a writer does it to me. Instead I’m just going to give you the low down on the “rules for using rules to get fit and stay that way.” How does that sound? I only have three of them which means you should get through this quickly so can get back to Facebook and Twitter.

Rule #1 – YOU Write the Rules

Here’s the deal. Generally speaking everyone knows what it takes to get fit. It’s a widely known fact that eating healthy foods, drinking plenty of water, exercising, and rest can result in a body that looks just as good as it functions. Where things get murky is in the details. There are no steadfast “rules” for how much or how little of everything we need so it’s up to us to write our own rules.

Rule #2 – The Rules Must Be Clear

People who are on the exceptional side of the fitness scale are not lucky. At least–they are no more lucky than those that are on the piss poor side of the scale are unlucky. The difference is their rules.

I can’t feel sorry for those that have horrible health and are out of shape because they don’t give a shit about holding themselves to any sort of standard. Not those that are born with disease or a defect, those who control their destiny…like the other 96% of us. Who I do feel sorry for are those who desperately want to have greater health and fitness but can’t seem to get out of their own way. They exercise, they eat “healthy”, they sip on their water throughout the day and they even manage to get some sleep each night. I feel sorry for them because they haven’t yet “got it”.

The differentiating factor between the group that wishes to have it and the group that has it or on their way to getting it, is how specific their rules are. Here’s an example of “the rules” as explained by an individual from each of the two groups.

The “I can’t seem to get myself fit no matter what I try” individual:

Eat healthy most of the time.
Do some exercise every day.
Avoid drinking too much alcohol.
I should snack less and eat smaller meals.
I need to drink more water.

The “I have (or I’m on my way to having) a strong and healthy body” individual:

I must eat 4-5 times a day.
Every time I eat I must have at least 20 g. of protein, 20-30 g. of carbs, and 5-8 g. of fat.
I must keep my calories at or under 1,600 a day 5 out of 7 days a week.
Only 2 cheat meals a week.
I must weight train for 30 minutes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
If I go out with friends I only have 2 alcoholic drinks and then I drink water the rest of the time.
Never get less than 6 hours of sleep a night.
Drink no less than 64 oz. of water a day.

Don’t we all know two people like this! One whose rules are vague and bendable and one who sticks to a specific set of measurable rules or guidelines. It’s not by luck or chance that some people are fit while others are fat. It’s the rules by which each person lives his/her life that determines the direction they move in.

Rule #3 – If You Don’t Know What Your Rules Should Be, GET HELP

It’s not easy these days to separate the bullshit from the rational diet, exercise and lifestyle advice. There are certain things which are obvious and backed by years of research, like smoking cigarettes increases your risk for Cancer. Other things such as the ideal diet or exercise program are not so obvious because there are so many of them. And the truth is, just as many work as those that don’t work, and some require a lot of time and effort and others are efficient and easy to follow.

Get help from people who follow a specific set of rules themselves and are successful. What they do may or may not be the perfect fit but at least you can glean from their approach what rules work for you and which ones might need to be replaced or adjusted for your objectives. Not everyone can comply with all the rules or enjoy the foods on a Paleo Diet thus they will not be successful with it long-term. Finding a nutrition and exercise approach that will achieve your health and fitness objectives and make long-term compliance with your rules agreeable should be the goal.

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Rules Can Change

Is it possible to have a different sets of rules depending upon external circumstances? Absolutely! My rules for how I eat on vacation are different from my every day rules and those rules are different from my rules during bodybuilding competition prep. However what’s important to note is how much the rules change based on you circumstances and how often does it happen.

I know people who are excellent when they are home and on a predictable schedule but they also go away every 6-8 weeks for one or more weeks at a time and during such time they are completely erratic with their eating, exercise, and rest. When they get back home they begin the process of being excellent again but it only gets them back to where they were before they left. Their condition never improves beyond a certain point and so they remain frustrated. If they are to make a permanent shift in their condition then they need to adjust their “away rules”.

What Are Your Rules?

If you came here to get some specific answers, some direction on what you need to do differently to get fit and fabulous then you’re probably pissed off at me. You’re probably saying, “WTF Lipowski, couldn’t you just tell me what the ______ I need to do instead of this pansy ass cryptic shit that makes me have to think?” The truth is yes I could’ve given you a list of rules but those would have been MY rules, based on what I believe to be ideal for ME. You need to come up with your own…but if it makes you feel better I’ll leave you with a few of mine.

I must consume a minimum of 1 g. of protein and 1.5–2 g. of carbs per pound of body weight each day (off-season).
I must take in 25+ g. of fiber every day.
I must drink at least 100 ounces of water each day (125-250 ounces during competition prep).
I must weight train three times per week.
I must log my workouts so I can measure my progress from week to week.
I must get at least 6 hours of sleep each night Mon-Fri, and 8 hours a night on the weekend.
I can have 2 heavy cheat meals a week in the off-season but none during competition prep (I will have 1-2 re-feed meals instead).
I must stay within 10-15 lbs. of my competition weight during the off-season.
If I lose my way or overindulge on vacation or during the holidays then I must get back on my diet as long as needed to return to “normal”.
I must take my vitamins and supplements every day.
I must read food labels and make myself aware of what is in the foods I consume.
I must avoid consuming artificial sweeteners or using products containing toxic chemicals.

Although these are not all my rules I think you get the idea and I hope that adopting one or two of them as your own can prove beneficial for you.

4 Ways to Overload

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Mike Lipowski

Increase the weight, increase your reps (or time under tension) or increase both. This has been the tried and true means to progressively overload ones muscles in the pursuit of greater strength and size since Cavemen were doing squats using a thick tree branch and boulders tied to the ends. But as any advanced lifter will tell you, there comes a point where despite the 5, 10, 20+ lbs. increases in strength on a given exercise increases in lean muscle mass does not follow.

So what’s a lowly lifter who desperately wants to squeeze out every last bit of genetic potential to do?

Find new ways of creating overload! New ways to disrupt homeostasis. After all, the body is an extremely adaptive organism and if it can blunt muscle development for the reason that it increases metabolic demands then it will.

Here are four ways to break homeostasis’ strangle hold and create an overload environment to drive new muscle growth.

1. Increase Volume

I make this suggestion with hesitation. The reason why is that most people overuse this variable to the point where their progress is stalled because of an inability to recover. However for those that follow low to moderate volume training programs, doubling or even tripling the volume of one or many workouts can present new and usual demands.

2. Increase Frequency

As with volume I suggest this with a hint of hesitancy because so many are guilty of taking the “more is better” approach to exercise. Over the long-run more is not better; this we know through the study of stress physiology (you can’t argue with real science Broscience guy). However for a short-term increase in demands (1-4 weeks) there’s not a simpler way bombard the muscles than training them more frequently.

3. Change Rep/Exercise Performance

This is one method of increasing demands that doesn’t require you to shuffle around your schedule to account for more time or days in the gym, making it an extremely efficient way to up the demands. The only limits are those of creativity and the willingness to check your ego at the door. This is not about how much you can lift or the number of reps performed. This is about disrupting neural patterns.

In ‘non-Exercise Science Nerd’ terms this means breaking the usual pattern of how your reps/exercises are performed. This increases the metabolic demands of the exercise because the muscles must work harder to overcome a change in the skill. Think of how much more difficult, exhausting and disrupting to the muscles it would be (in the short term) if a baseball pitcher who typically throws overhand was told to start throwing sidearm.

4. Do it all!

Let’s face it, if you’ve been training for over a decade and have “been there done that” then your body is very well in tune with nearly everything you throw at it. Sure you still get tired, fatigued, your muscles get sore, but none of that is nothing new and certainly not enough to persuade the body to add more muscle. At this stage sometimes the best the best thing you can do is to do it all. Change things in a massive unexpected way.

Now comes the disclaimer. This is not how to train all the time…that’s just stupid. This is a planned part of an intelligently designed training program that allows for proper balance between exercise demands (stress) and recovery for long-term adherence.