The Best Way to Lose Weight!

Undoubtedly the topic that comes up the most in circles of exercise and nutrition is weight loss.

More often than not, it takes place between two people who are neither exercise professionals, nor nutritionists, which I find pretty telling. The fact that over half our country is overweight and about a third are obese I find even more interesting, considering it seems everybody has their two cents on the topic.

To me, it’s always been a silly discussion. Why someone would want to lose weight is beyond me. Lose fat? Sure. Lose weight, as in pounds? Why?

We all agree that the number on the scale tells you nothing about your appearance or your health. It measures your gravitational pull to the earth – nothing else. It doesn’t tell you if you look good or bad, it doesn’t tell you if you’re healthy or not.

There are men who weigh 200 lbs who are beyond fit and healthy. There are men who are 200 lbs who are obese. There are women who weigh 150 lbs who are smokin’ hot. There are women who weigh 150 lbs who are obese.

In over a decade in this business I haven’t met anyone who disagrees with me on this point. Yet most ignore this concept and still want to lose “weight”.

(On a side note: It’s often the beginning of some very silly Q&A sessions like this one:

Person 1: “I lost X pounds!”
Person 2: “Really?!? How did you do it?!?!”
My conscience: “Uh…, she ate less? How the F else would you lose weight?!?”)

Needless to say, I get asked my opinions on this subject often. And like many, this topic is certainly one where usually the person doesn’t want my opinion, they just want their own opinion confirmed, and will continue with their “low carb” BS no matter what I tell them.
That being said, I’m going to throw my two cents out there anyway, and I’m going to take a different path than usual, as to not repeat myself.

If you want to lose weight, just sit on the couch and do NOTHING.

Your lack of activity will bring your metabolism down to reflect the lack of activity. If your body sees you aren’t expending calories, it will reduce your metabolism and appetite to make sure you don’t eat many calories.

And by NO MEANS should you exercise. This will only increase your metabolism, which in turn will increase your appetite, which will in turn make it almost impossible for you to lose weight.

You’ll look better and you’ll feel better if you exercise. But you probably won’t lose pounds.
So go ahead and continue watching the number on the scale. Sit on the couch, don’t move and don’t eat. Just remember to give me credit for your success.

I'm OVER weight

Just started writing an article and in the process of doing a little research came across some things that made me switch gears and post this right away (rest of the article coming ASAP):

According to ideal weight charts from more than one source*, the following people are OVER weight:

I know this because picture 1 is me. Picture 2 is my smokin’ hot significant other, so I know what she weighs, and the last 2 are Gina Carano. Because Gina is a professional fighter, her weight is public knowledge.

Still wanna’ use a scale to measure your success?

*I saw several, the only one I saved is healthychecksystems.com.

My Most Important Lesson:

I’ve learned MANY lessons over my years of training, from different stand points: personal, professional, bio-mechanical, physiological, etc. Today, I’m going to let you in on the most important bio-mechanical lesson I ever learned. And I promise, for brevity’s sake, I’ll keep it real simple and to the point.

(*Before I begin, this lesson was learned in large part, from reading an article by Mike Boyle.)

This is the most important bio-mechanical lesson I ever learned:

If your lumbar spine moves and your hips don’t, you are a weak person.

If your lumbar spine does NOT move and your hips do, you are a strong person.

That’s it.

Want a little more in the way of specifics and detail? OK…

Your lumbar spine goes approximately from your tailbone to your lower/mid back. It is supposed to be rock solid and stable. It is similar to a supporting beam on your house: if that beam were weak and unstable, it wouldn’t be able to support the rest of the house which would place you in danger. Similarly, if your lumbar spine is weak and/or unstable, it will not be able to support movement from your arms and legs. It will “give” when your arms and legs push or pull, and will not only make you weaker, but make you more susceptible to injury. Reason #768 your lower back doesn’t need to be “stretched” or “lengthened”.

The best analogy of this is your lumbar spine is like a car door. Your car door has hinges on it to stop the door and prevent it from coming off when you push it open. If you push hard, it will give a little, but just enough so it doesn’t break. But if you continually keep pushing it open, and pushing it open, over and over again, eventually the hinges will break and your door will come off.

Your lumbar spine is designed to move in a similar manner. It will “give” just a little to prevent injury, but it’s not designed to do that. Eventually, if you keep pushing it, pulling it, twisting it, etc. the hinges will give and you will have a problem.

Conversely, your hips are supposed to be very mobile. By definition, it’s a ball and socket joint that should be able to move in just about any direction. Your hips are surrounded by some of the largest and most powerful muscles in your body, such as the glutes, quads and hamstrings. They are designed to produce force, produce locomotion, and stop and start many important activities.

However, if your hips are not mobile, or if your glutes are not strong enough to move them, your lower back will move in an attempt to help out (the term is called “synergistic dominance”). This leads to weakness (because your back is moving you instead of your big muscles) and potential for injury (because those hinges are being pushed over and over again).

To give you a visual, look at the two pictures below:

Figure 1:

The gray line representing Tania’s lumbar spine that goes from tail bone to lower/mid back is perfectly straight, i.e. has NOT MOVED. Conversely, as you can tell from the line drawn on her hips, her hip joints have moved A LOT. Actually, more than 90 degrees in spite of my horrible artwork that looks like a 90 degree angle. This picture was taken in mid kettlebell swing, and as has been discussed here previously, Tania is a strong person. The ability to keep the spine stiff and generate force with the hips is what gives her this type of strength.

Figure 2:

The line representing Tania’s lumbar spine is bent i.e. has moved in order for her to move the weight. The line representing her hips has barely moved meaning most of the effort will come from the lower back here. This is not good for power or for back health.

The only thing that’s confusing to me about this topic is that it’s so obviously correct, yet people choose to ignore its lessons every day. No rationale adult would say figure 1 is bad and figure 2 is good, but somewhere right now, some fitness professional is telling someone to stretch and loosen the lower back, and will pay little attention to glute strength.

This confuses the hell out of me – please don’t be one of those people. Have strong glutes and a healthy back. Your jeans will thank me for it.

*Mike, along with Gray Cook, wrote about a “joint by joint” approach to training. This particular lesson and blog is a microcosm of the larger picture they discussed.

This is why I get pissed...

This is why I get pissed:

I use a 30kg kettlebell when training. That’s almost exactly half my bodyweight. I’ve been exercising for two decades and training countless others for over a decade. I’ve been using kettlebells for about 5 years. And still, using the 70lb kettlebell is A LOT of difficult work for me.

Now hypothetically, if I had three women come into my studio, ages mid forties through mid sixties who were either new or needed reintroduction to exercise, giving them a 70lb kettlebell to do swings and get ups with would be a GOOD idea, right? If it’s good for me it must be good for them right?

No - of course not. No rational adult, exercise professional or otherwise would agree that’s a good idea.

Now what if I did that, and all of the women were injured as a result? What if two complained of knee pain and one injured her foot to the point of having to be on crutches?

I agree with what you’re probably thinking: If that happened I should find a different line of work, and anybody who continued to train with me should seek psychiatric help, not physical.

OK, what if I did that with kids? Yep, what if I had an eleven year old try to swing the 70lb kettlebell? I think we’d all agree that I would be guilty of negligence and carelessness at best.

This is not rocket science: Just because I do it, doesn’t mean my clients should do it.

Sad thing is, this training rationale (“I do it, it’s good for me, so it must be good for you”) happens every single day in a group fitness studio, and nobody says a word about it.

An “instructor” (use the term loosely, please) typically memorizes a pre-determined routine to follow. This pre-set routine is set right down to which exercises to do, how many sets, reps, for how long and for how fast or slow. This information typically comes from a DVD and is forced to memory by the “instructor”. No – I’m not making this up – I used to work at a chain gym and witnessed these meetings among the “instructors”, where they would all memorize and practice the routine. An international think tank of bio-mechanics it wasn’t…

The “instructor” then typically performs the routine on display in front of a group of people and asks the exercisers to follow along with the routine he/she just memorized.

Whether or not the movements and its variables are appropriate for everybody in the room is irrelevant in their minds. Fact is it’s more likely that it’s INAPPROPRIATE FOR THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DOING IT. But this discussion will never come up. The rationale given by the DVD producer, then by the “instructor” then accepted by most exercisers is “THIS IS WHAT I MEMORIZED AND I CAN DO IT SO YOU HAVE TO DO IT TOO, DAMMIT! I DON’T CARE IF IT’S APPROPRIATE FOR YOU!”

This goes on every day and…is…just…simply…accepted…

Why? I’m not sure. I know if I had a room full of people doing the same workout I did, while I was doing it instead of watching them, they would get injured and I’d get sued.

Which is another interesting point: Uh, I’m sorry, exactly why are you working out with them Mr./Mrs. Instructor? Maybe I’m silly, but aren’t you supposed to be WATCHING YOUR CLIENTS INSTEAD OF WORKING OUT?!?! Can’t they watch you workout for free in the gym if they wanted? Why are they being charged and why are you getting paid?

And the situations I referenced above? All true. All (3 women and 2 kids that I know personally) were told to follow along with the “instructor” because the “instructor” is peppy and looks good in spandex so she MUST know what she’s doing right? And all 5 were injured.

This is why I get pissed.

"Uh..WOW..."

I LOVE this video. It is exhibit 1A about why I love and am completely fascinated by bio-mechanics. Questions such as, “Why does person A move that way but person B move this way?” And, “Why is this person strong, but that person isn’t?” have always intrigued me, which is why I do what I do, I guess.

This is why I’m fascinated by the woman in this video: her name is Miki Barber, and she’s a competitive sprinter. Not since I saw Kris Jenkins on “Sport Science” or LaDanian Tomlinson on “60 minutes” have I said to myself “Jesus, now THAT is bio-mechanical perfection!”

While thinking about Miki’s impressive performance, I realized there are many take home messages to be learned here: Lessons for me, for other trainers, for my clients, and frankly for anyone who exercises.

After you watch the video, and say “uh…WOW!” like I did, come back and learn the take home messages:

Check Miki out: (and as an FYI: 70kg is 165lbs – that’s what she hang cleans at the end of the video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAAP8ux5x8g

Having seen the video, here are things you may or may not already know, but we all could use a reminder. In no particular order:

1. She doesn’t do cardio – she sprints.

As I said, she’s a sprinter. She doesn’t go for long runs, she doesn’t get on the elliptical at the gym, she isn’t on the treadmill for 45 minutes at a clip. She exerts maximum effort every time she runs, then stops, rests, and does it again. And in case you didn’t notice, she has about as much body fat as a snack tray.

2. She lifts HEAVY weights.

Pay attention ladies: For the umpteenth time, heavy weights do not mean big muscles. Miki isn’t playing around with the tricep pushdown machine, or the inner thigh machine to “tone” nor is she lying on the floor in the same spot for an hour and calling it “lengthening” her muscles. She picks up very heavy things and moves them – the result is strong, feminine and ripped.

3. This is how important triple extension is.

I tell my clients all the time, if you can’t triple extend (ankle, knee and hip), you will NEVER be strong. The fact that she can triple extend fast and effectivelyis the main reason that barbell gets up in the air.

4. This is how important scapular retraction is.

I’m sure my clients are sick of me saying “Shoulders back, chest out!” all the time. In addition to avoiding that RIDICULOUS rolled shoulder posture, pulling the shoulder blades back is crucial to strength. Another reason 70kg can be thrown by a small woman.

5. This is how important lumbar stabilization is.

My clients (and one of my colleagues) are tired of hearing me say it, part 2: If your spine moves during movement, you are weak – period. Watch the video again: Does her back round at the bottom? Nope. Does it arch on the way up? Nope. It doesn’t mother-frigging FLINCH. It stays stable so the hips and shoulders can move the weight – AS IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. Remember this the next time tells you to “stretch your back”…uugghhh…

6. Movement efficiency – she the smallest one!

I wrote a blog awhile back about the relatively small people in my facility that can move A LOT of weight mostly due to their movement efficiency. This reaffirms what I said – this is the smallest girl there, but moves the most weight. Why? Because her spine doesn’t move, her hips do. Because her knees don’t crash, they stabilize. Because her feet don’t point outwards and evert (reason #783 “plie” squats are beyond stupid). The other women had some of those issues and as a result are not as strong pound for pound.

There’s actually more, but I could be here all day. Just remember if you’re a client of mine, this is why I repeat these things over and over. If you’re an athlete, remember that this is why it’s not HOW MUCH you lift, it’s HOW IT’S LIFTED. And if you’re not a client of mine or not an athlete, remember this is why you need to come train at our facility.

Survivor and the TR

I’m always asked “What should I be eating?” Almost without exception my answer is “just eat less of whatever you’re already eating”. I’ve found this solves 99% of the issues for 99% of the people who ask.

But from the department of “People don’t really want my advice, they just want their own opinion validated”, they look at me like there’s no way I can be right, and don’t take my advice. Then they go try their own way, or follow something they read in some stupid magazine – and they fail.

Enter “Survivor”.

If you need more evidence that I know of where I speak, just watch “Survivor”. (Yes, I watch Survivor – it’s great TV and definitely is a guilty pleasure of mine.) As Leslie and I were watching it the other night, we both commented how they contestants always seem to look better at the end of the season than they do at the beginning of the season. It seems the ones who were a little overweight at the start of the season, now have muscle tone and definition. The ones who were already in decent shape now have ripped six-packs.

And the only reason this is so, is because of their caloric restriction. They…simply…eat…less.

These people are not “doing cardio”, nor are they “doing abs”. They didn’t “cut back on carbs” or go “low fat” or "high protein". They simply reduced their total caloric intake.

Of course I’m not suggesting you should limit your calories to such an extreme level. But do take home the overall point:

Don’t make it more complicated than it is: If you want to lose body fat, just eat less.

Parvati knows I'm right!

Got Glutes?

There’s always running commentary and joking going on at The Training Rim regarding glute development or lack thereof, in the case of those outside the facility who don’t train with us. For those of you who are new to this game, the glutes are what is supposed to be a hard round mass of muscle on the back of your hips. Sadly, it deteriorates into something less firm, down on the back of the legs somewhere for most people.

Of course, it’s difficult to have a legitimate discussion on the bio-mechanics of the glutes without the residual sophomoric humor and butt jokes that I mentioned before. (“You show me a flat foot, and I’ll show you a flat ass…” has been a mantra for Training Rim clients for years as an example.) But the reality is, the strength of your glutes is CRUCIAL to your successes from a health and exercise stand point. Yes, I am aware that strong glutes make jeans and swimsuits look much better. But strong glutes are also keep your back and knees healthy. As we say all the time at The Training Rim: It’s not just there for show – it actually has a purpose.

Enter Dancing With the Stars...

I don’t watch Dancing With the Stars. Never have – it’s just not my thing. Not even Chuck Liddell and/or Kim Kardashian got me to tune in once. But I know a lot of people do, so I pick up tidbits here and there from others’ conversations. And recently, I overheard something that caught my attention:

Erin Andrews, of ESPN fame recently had trouble competing due to back spasms. Back spasms, severe enough in their presence that medical attention was sought.

Now, in addition to all the sophomoric jokes to which I made references before, another saying that has been oft repeated at The Training Rim is this one: “You show me a flat ass and I’ll show you a bad back.”

Erin, no disrespect: you’re a good looking woman and I’m sure you’re very nice. But your back hurts because your ass is flat – period. You need to upgrade your training.

I don’t want to bore everybody with a bio-mehanics dissertation as to all the reasons behind this (heh, heh…get it? “behind”…heh…heh…), but basically when glutes are weak the lower back and/or hamstrings compensate on their behalf leading to lower back and/or knee issues.

It’s not just about the jeans and swimsuits folks – learn to lunge correctly and keep your back and knees healthy. You’ll thank me for it.

Erin, we need to discuss rear foot elevated split stance squats...