Tag Archives: Somers

Why You Should Train Like a Bodybuilder Even Though You Don’t Want to Look Like One

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I’m writing this for you, the mom, dad, man, woman, busy professional, student, and slacker (J/k I know you’re not a slacker. Slackers don’t read my stuff) who seek out the help of personal trainers and to my personal training brethren who routinely have to talk people off the ledge when it comes to training heavy and hard…like a bodybuilder.  The statement: “I don’t want to look like a bodybuilder” drives me crazy.  I understand where it comes from which drives me even crazier than when my wife insists on plucking my eyebrows.  (I don’t care what women say, that shit hurts.  I’d rather sit through 6 hours of tattooing.)

The conversation when a new client comes in—especially the ladies—typically goes like this after I’ve explained our inclination for training heavy and hard relative to their abilities (I’ll skip on all the niceties and small talk):

Client:  But I don’t want look like a bodybuilder.

Me:  You won’t…you can’t.

Client: Yeah but I see those women/guys on the magazines and I don’t to get that.

Me: Let me ask you.  Are you currently taking steroids, testosterone, or growth hormone that you obtained from a black market dealer?

Client: No

Me: Then I think you’re safe.  Genetically speaking 99.6% of people don’t have the genetic aptitude to get huge.  They don’t have the muscle fiber make up, muscle length, or in the case of women, the testosterone levels needed to pack on mass. Just look at all the teenage and twenty-something guys whose testosterone levels are shooting through that are TRYING to look like the guys in the mags never get there without PED’s.

(I point to a picture of me in bodybuilding competition shape)

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Client:  That’s you!

Me:  Geez, don’t act so surprised.  Yes, that’s me about 10 pounds lighter than I am right now. 

Client: You’d never know you’re a bodybuilder.

Me:  (Think to myself: “Thanks again for reinforcing my bodybuilding inferiority complex,)  If you walked down the street and ran into one natural bodybuilder or physique competitor after another at best you would say they look like they’re in really good shape and that’s how you want to look.  Nothing freakish or unusual about them, just extremely shredded when it’s time to step on stage. 

Bodybuilding is an illusion.  Exceptionally low body fat levels and bright lights shining down on the body help muscles stand out and appear more pronounced.  Once the shirt and pants go back on they look like “normal” people (but we know even natural competitors are anything but normal).  Even the biggest and baddest natural competitors look like they could be your exceptionally fit co-worker or friend. 

Here’s the scenario plain and simple.  YOU CAN’T LOOK LIKE A FREAK OF NATURE STEPPING OUT OF FLEX MAGAZINE UNLESS YOU’RE PUMPNG YOURSELF FULL OF STEROIDS, TESTOSTERONE AND GROWTH HORMONE.

The purpose of Bodybuilding

While people might not want to look like bodybuilders, training like one—from the standpoint of heavy loads and high intensity—is what results in the toned (I freakin’ hate that buzz word), and fit look they are aiming for and developing greater functional strength (dammit that’s two buzz words in one sentence, I’m going to have to take a shower after I’m done writing this).  So long as exercises are performed under controlled conditions with exceptional execution, minimizing ballistic movements, then training like a bodybuilder will do more to prevent injuries than cause them.  (If you want increase your chance of injury from lifting just do some of that silly shit people do on the Bosu and fit ball.)  The increased strength, muscular endurance and muscle development you achieve through “bodybuilding” will have a greater impact on more aspects of health and fitness than any other form of exercise.

In a nutshell, bodybuilding is all about improving your quality of life.  And besides if you’re not actively trying to “build” your “body” what the heck are you exercising for?

Different Way to Approach #Exercise

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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)

Reppin’ Like a Moron

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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.

Resolutions Suck…Get the Shit Right this Time

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New Year’s Resolutions Suck

If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight or improve your fitness let me save you the heartache and tell you right now, you’re going to fail.  How do I know?  Statistics.  Only 8% of people achieve their new year’s resolution and few of those that achieve it maintain it.  Now if you happen to be a part of the 8% chances are it’s because your resolution is more than a resolution, it’s an absolute must.

For the majority of people a resolution is a “should”.  They should lose weight, they should stop smoking, they should exercise, they should eat healthier, they should eat less.  You never get shit done when it’s a “should” because there is no urgency.  But when it’s a must, you act!

However have there ever been times when you knew you must do something and you still didn’t follow through?  Of course you have.  We’ve all had those moments.  Some of us have them multiple times a day.

The reason why this happens is because we don’t have a compelling enough reason to take action.  If the resulting pain (negative consequence) from inaction is not painful enough to get us moving or, the pleasure (perceived gratification) we get from the end result is not great enough, then we tend not to act or act with enough effort.

Trade in your resolution for a Vision

Forget making a resolution, create a vision.  Your ultimate vision.  To do this you just need to ask yourself some questions:  If you could achieve all your fitness goals what would be the outcome?  How would you look?  How would you feel? What would you think about yourself?  How would others see you?  What could you do?  What type of energy and health would you have?

Without vision, setting goals, taking action, and achieving them is nearly impossible.  But vision alone is still not enough.  In fact there are a lot of people who have vision but still don’t evolve.  They’re called “dreamers.”  And dreamers typically live in their parent’s basement while telling others all that they are going to achieve.  They have the vision but they’re missing the second critical ingredient, purpose.

Purpose Driven

Purpose is what drives us.  It’s the engine that moves us toward our vision while hitting all the milestones along the way that we call goals.  With enough purpose anything can be accomplished.  Have you ever achieved something that initially seemed out of reach but because your reason for achieving it was so compelling you found a way?  How many parents—in the face of hardship—have “found a way” to make sure their children have all that they need?  That level of purpose, of meaning, is what you need to find in order to realize your vision.

The questions you need to be asking yourself are: Why am I doing this?  What will it mean to achieve my vision?  How will it make me feel?  How will it affect my relationship; with my spouse/significant other, my children, my friends…myself?  How will my life be different?  What will happen if I don’t change?  What will my health and quality of look like if I don’t do something now?

Outcome with a deadline

Once you have established your vision and purpose now it’s time to start setting some goals—some outcomes with a deadline.  Work backwards from your vision.  What are all the things you’ll need to achieve to realize your vision?  If it at first it seems overwhelming don’t worry.  The next thing you’re going to do is to take those big outcomes and break them up into little 90 day outcomes (or quarterly goals).  Viewing things from these ninety day increments should make your ultimate goals appear more easily attainable.  If you need to take it a step further and break up your 90 day outcomes into weekly results.

You don’t need (nor want) a resolution, you just need a vision and your purpose for achieving it and you’ll be set up for success. 

Separating “Training” and the “Training Business”

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I have a lot of friends in the fitness industry. (Actually I just lost one the other day but hey, some people need to alienate as many people as possible in order to help their brand stand out…I get it.)  One thing I always find interesting is that sometimes my fellow fitness professionals have a hard time breaking away from their long held beliefs.  They might question a few of them from time to time but rarely will it result in them making a change in how they train themselves and others.

The reason: business.

Many—me included—have built successful personal training businesses that center around a message.  This message is at the core of what makes the business tick, why people keep coming back, why others seek you out, and why others run in the opposite direction.  Just look at Crossfit.

In order to have people follow you and adhere to your recommendations, you need to be “all-in” and follow your own advice.  A big part of the message at our studio is that it doesn’t take more than sixty to ninety minutes of exercise a week to achieve a high level of fitness.   Some of my friends take this message of efficiency to another level by promoting fifteen to twenty minutes of exercise weekly.

When someone turns to me and says, “You must train every day, right?” I’m quick to point out that I rarely train more than ninety to one-hundred minutes a week, even during the bodybuilding competition season.   I remain true to what I teach and to prove a point in the process.  The point being—based on the way I implement exercise I can train less than the majority of fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders and still compete at the highest level.

But let’s back up for a moment.  Did you notice in my response to the question I’m often asked I said “rarely”?

I do this not to be deceptive but to leave doors open to other possibilities.  Sometimes you need to set the business model (and ego) aside in order to focus on the training; to experiment or explore an approach that is outside of the model.  Or the other option is to hold steadfast to what you do, look like you have all the answers because you work within a very narrow system, and come up with reasons why the other methods are complete shit.

If what you uncover through experimental training works but doesn’t quite fit your business model it doesn’t mean the model is wrong and you have to abandon it or eat crow.  You may consider revising it, adding on to it, or keeping it exactly as is because it works for the niche you cater to and is what they want.   The worse that can happen is that you learn something which helps you to better comprehend the nuances of the art of exercise science.