The NxLabs Body Challenge Blog

PUT TIME ON YOUR SIDE

September 15th, 2009

There’s nothing worse than having these big plans to be in great shape by a certain date … only to realize you’re not going to make it. Why? Because you started too late and didn’t give yourself enough time. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and give yourself more than enough time, rather than not enough time. After all, there’s nothing wrong with being in shape too early.

If it’s your first time trying to take your physique to places it’s never been before, the advice to start early is even more prudent. Everything might look great on paper – the perfect diet, the perfect training program and all the motivation in the world – but you just never know how your body is going to respond. Maybe you’ll be one of the fortunate ones for whom it all works like clockwork. But for everyone outside this category, what tends to happen is they realize they’re behind schedule and they try to play catch up by trying to ‘fast forward’ fat loss.

The next thing you know you’re doing more cardio than you need to be doing, and eating less calories than you should be eating. Basically, this one mistake forces you to make other mistakes. The next thing you know, you’re saying goodbye to some of your hard-earned muscle. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so give yourself ample time to meet your deadline. You want to work with your body, not against it. When you work with your body, it will respond. When you work against it, it will react.

How much time do you need? This of course depends on one, what is your end goal, and two, how far away from that end goal you presently find yourself. It’s difficult to say how long you’ll need to realize your fat-loss goal as everyone is different. The more weight you need to lose (and therefore the higher your body fat percentage is), the faster you can lose fat. As you get leaner and your body fat is lower, your rate of fat loss will decrease. On average, you’re probably safe to bet on about 1-1.5 lbs of fat per week, again recognizing that in some cases it can be more (if you have high body fat) and in the case of the already fairly lean, it will be less. Basically, in the beginning you can generally lose a lot of fat fast … but towards the end you tend to have to work even harder for less results, as those last few pounds of fat, take a lot work, and lot of patience and a lot of commitment.

In addition, it’s also wise to remember that fat loss is not a linear phenomenon – some weeks may produce better results than others. The take home point is that if you’ve set a deadline, make sure you give yourself enough time to meet your deadline.

Erik Ledin

www.leanbodiesconsulting.com

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Training Methods and Modalities – German Volume Training

August 13th, 2009

German Volume Training (or G.V.T. as it’s known to its friends) is a simple yet brutally effective training method used by thousands of bodybuilders over the years to tremendous effect. In this installment of our ongoing series we will review just how to use G.V.T. to help you in your quest for bigness, or leanness or whatever ‘ness your little heart desires. To be clear, G.V.T. is not intended to be an entire workout in, and of, itself. Rather it’s a technique you would use to add another layer to your existing Body Part Split workout.

Ok, so the fundamentals of G.V.T. are as such:

· Perform 10 sets of a single large compound movement (think squats, deadlifts, rows, bench, etc.).

· Complete alternating sets with an opposite axis (or chain) movement (i.e. rows vs. chest press).

· Select a load of approximately 65-70% of your 1RM.

· Aim for 10 sets of 10 reps (it is unlikely you will accomplish this rep range for the entire set range initially just push as much as you can).

·

Increase load ONLY when you have progressed to the point of completing all prescribed sets and reps. Once accomplished increase load by 2.5-5%.

· Use this method for ONE exercise per body part (usually the first) during your regular Body Part Split workout.

· Continue with the remainder of your workout as your fatigue levels dictate.

That’s it. And by all accounts it works, and works well. The premise for G.V.T.’s success is something called ‘The Law of Repeated Efforts’, essentially stating: do anything with enough frequency or volume and the cumulative effect will be positive on growth (yeah, I took some liberties with the definition, but you get the idea!). 100 repetitions certainly fits the bill for ‘enough frequency or volume’ don’cha think?

The simple math of the process bears this out, take a look:

10 x 10 x 200lbs = 200 000 lbs. of aggregate work volume

Compared to a typical pyramid loading scheme

1 x 10 x 135lbs = 1350 lbs.

1 x 10 x 180lbs = 1800 lbs.

1 x 8 x 230lbs = 1840 lbs.

1 x 6 x 280lbs = 1680 lbs.

1 x 5 x 330lbs = 1650 lbs.

1 x 3 x 380lbs = 1140 lbs.

Total aggregate work = 9460 lbs.

Now that’s a significant difference in total work performed! Looking at it from this perspective it becomes abundantly clear as to why your body can’t help but change using the G.V.T. protocol.

Ok so there you have it, G.V.T. explained in a nutshell. If you do a quick Google search you’ll find a number of variations on the theme, each promising to improve on the original. Feel free to explore and experiment, but keep in mind if you stray too far from the original it likely really isn’t G.V.T. anymore, not that there’s anything wrong with that of course!

Train hard, train smart and for heaven’s sake, use your head!

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Know Your Caloric Intake or Suffer The Consequences!

July 16th, 2009

 

While there are some people that can get in shape by just ‘cleaning up’ their diet, for most of us, this isn’t going to be the case. Yes, if you’ve got a lot of fat to lose, you can definitely start losing fat by simply exercising more and making better dietary choices. Foods that are traditionally seen as ‘clean’ are generally more nutrient dense and calorically sparse. So if you replace some of the higher-calorie foods you’re typically eating with more wholesome choices, yes, that caloric decrease is likely going to net you some fat loss … up to a point. Once you hit a certain point though, and this will likely differ from person to person, just making the right choices isn’t going to cut it anymore.

The key to fat loss is eating the right amount of calories for YOUR body. This is why a cookie cutter, one-size-fits-all nutritional strategy can’t possibly be optimal for everyone. Your program needs to be customized to your body for maximum results. This ties into another dieting mistake people often make, but suffice it to say, your energy intake, relative to your body’s energy requirements is the primary determinant of your fat-loss progress. You could be eating all the cleanest and healthiest foods available, but if you’re eating too much, you’re eating too much. Whether it’s from chicken breast or pizza, if your end-of-day calories come in higher than the calories required to maintain your body weight, you’re not going to lose fat. You need a caloric deficit, and you don’t have one. Along the same lines, if you’re eating too few calories for your body weight, you’re also going to experience less-than-optimal results, albeit for different reasons.

Consider two bodybuilders; one weighs 250 lbs. and the other weighs 200 lbs. It should be quite obvious that their nutritional requirements aren’t going to be the same, right? They each need to eat for their body weight … yes, body weight. Some people base caloric intake on lean body mass. This is another mistake. One of the prevailing thoughts many people have is that muscle is metabolically active tissue and body fat is simply dead weight. This however, is only partially true. While muscle is obviously a very metabolically active tissue, it’s not as metabolically active as many people think. You often hear the claim that each additional pound of muscle you add will boost metabolism by 50 calories per day. Now wouldn’t that be nice? 20 pounds of muscle later and you get to eat an additional 1000 calories per day. Sorry, not true. According to actual research on physiology, the actual number is 13 calories/kg/day, or put in a comparable figure, just under 6 calories/lb/day. Clearly a far cry from the 50 calories/lb/day claimed. Add to that the fact that fat is definitely not just dead weight; it too is metabolically active coming in at 4.5 calories/kg/day or just over 2 calories/lb/day. So there’s one reason to use total body weight in your caloric determination.

Another reason to use total body weight, and this would apply even if the above weren’t true, is that if you’re carrying around an extra 30 lbs. of fat, you’re lugging around that weight every day. That burns calories. Think about it. What if you carried around a back pack that weighed 30 pounds all day long, or took two 15-pound dumbbells and carried them up a flight of stairs? That would be more work and as a result, would burn more calories. In the end, that individual’s caloric requirements are simply higher.

Now back to the point of the mistake of not knowing how much you’re eating. The art of dieting isn’t in the initial nutritional strategy you’ve put together or are following, but rather, the changes that get made to it to ensure continued progress. When your initial set up fails to produce continued results, how do you know what to do with your calories if you don’t know how much you’re eating in the first place? If your plan is to decrease calories by another 10%, you can’t do that if you don’t know how many calories you’re eating. This is the key to fat-loss success – the ability to troubleshoot your diet, and to do that, you need to know how much you’re eating.

So how do you figure out the caloric value of food? Check out the USDA Nutrient Database at

 

www.usda.gov. This site has a calculator that will help you determine the caloric value and even the nutrient breakdown of just about every food source available in any amount.

Erik Ledin

www.Leanbodiesconsulting.com

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Training Methods and Modalities – Total Body Training

June 11th, 2009
I’d like to be perfectly clear on one point in particular. I happen to really enjoy TBT, and have become a bit of a proponent of late. I’ve used it almost exclusively for the past two years and have had some of the best result of my life. I’ve never been as effortlessly lean/athletic or big and muscular as when utilizing TBT. Meaning, I maintained a single-digit body-fat level without any extra energy systems work or dreaded ‘cardio’!
One of the largest criticisms of TBT has traditionally been the seeming lack of volume per body part. The concern stems from the comparison of traditional Body Part Split (BPS) training wherein you perform multiple exercises (say three to five) for each body part, whereas with TBT you train only one exercise per body part per workout. Although, this criticism tends to break down when you realize you’re still getting multiple exercises per body part merely spread out over your entire week. In fact with my approach to TBT I might train a body part as often as 6 times a week with at least one specific exercise per body part per training day. With some training days consisting of two workouts! Yup, you heard me right. I might utilize the TBT style as often as twice a day.
I can hear the whining now, “But Mario what about overtraining and injury?”

To which I reply, “Overtraining? What means this…overtraining? SHENANIGANS!”All kidding aside much evidence currently suggest the human body is capable of resisting TREMENDOUS stress (WAAAY more than the typical gym rat creates in a workout setting) before succumbing to the perils of overtraining and his diabolical minions central nervous system (CNS) and adrenal fatigue! As for injury, as always use your head and don’t do boneheaded exercises you are incapable of performing. In other words, seek professional help and find a good trainer to work with (I cringe as I say that seeing how most so-called ‘trainers’ aren’t worth the paper their much heralded certificates are printed on!)

I don’t want to spend too much time on the how and why this all works but sufficed to say it works very well. And I cannot overstate the importance of exercise selection, placement order and the rest period timing. I’ll explain more when I provide a sample later.

TBT Pros:
  • Often results in MORE total volume per body part than BPS.
  • Can cause more complete fibrous biasing from different angles and types of stimulus.
  • Due to increased CNS/muscular coordination can (and usually does) result in significant strength gains. (I saw my strength hit levels I had 8 years ago when I was 35lbs heavier!) The stronger you are, the more weight you lift, the bigger the volume of muscle.
  • Usually much more efficient at burning calories from fat.
  • Significantly reduced risk of “overtraining”.
  • Shorter workouts.
  • Usually doesn’t require a spotter. Although, I like to work with a partner for timings sake.
  • Promotes athletic performance.
  • Greater frequency of training stimulus can create a ‘super-compensatory’ effect in the trained muscle.
  • Likely the best form of training for non-bodybuilders and those who are primarily interested in “lookin’ good nekkid”!

    • TBT Cons:

  • Usually doesn’t provide the much heralded and sought after “pump”.
  • The higher frequency may exacerbate existing musculo-skeletal conditions (injuries, inflammation, tendonitis etc.).
  • Difficult to implement advanced intensity techniques (drop sets, forced reps, etc.).
  • Requires specific modulations of exercise selection to address weak points.
    • Sample Plan

    As I mentioned above, exercise selection is extremely important. If all you did was choose your favorite movements, or only ‘pulling’ lifts for example you’d rapidly suffer from the aforementioned ill effects. To avoid this I like to use a simple strategy of push/pull or contrasting lifts. In other words my workout might look something like this.

    1(A) – Deadlift

    1(B) – Bench Press

    2(A) – Chin Up

    2(B) – Skull-Crusher

    3(A) – Shoulder Press

    3(B) – Calf Press

    [Editor's Note: All (A) and (B) combinations of exercises included in the above denote a superset and should be trained one after the other]

    To be clear I offer these only as examples. Feel free to mix it up with movements you might prefer. I only offer these points to consider in turn:

    • Try to place the more difficult or involved movements earlier in the queue. Remember, no wrist curls you jack-ass!
    • Use variations of each movement from day to day. No one says you have to stay with the identical movement every workout. In fact the system works better when you strategically vary stimulus and motor neuron recruitment from one workout to the next. You might want to try a template of two or three similar workouts you can switch up day to day.

    As mentioned, I’ve worked up to as many as two total body workouts a day. The trick is to vary some of the loading and volume variables throughout each day and the entire week. For example I might train heavy narrow stance deadlifts in the morning, then I switch up to lighter sumo stance style of deads in the evening.

    I hope I’ve provided enough of a template to work with here. As always don’t stick to this verbatim, use your head and go for it.

    M.

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    NxLabs Body Challenge Podcast Episode 11

    June 10th, 2009

    In the eleventh episode of the NxLabs Body Challenge Podcast, Nathan will talk about how to avoid progress plateaus.

    Changing up your routine keeps you motivated and will help you get competition-ready for the NxLabs Body Challenge.

    If you like the Body Challenge Podcast, you can subscribe to them for regular updates through RSS or iTunes.

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    Training Methods and Modalities – Body Part Split Training

    June 5th, 2009
    Perhaps the most prolific and often used form of weight training in the iron game is the Body Part Split (BPS). While I’m sure most of you reading this have used this BPS system at one time or another (frankly I’m betting most of you have never used anything BUT this style of training) I’ll still give a brief explanation before delving into the benefits and drawbacks.Essentially BPS has you training each major muscle grouping with its own dedicated workout on a particular day. For example Monday: Chest day (it’s universal don’t you know?!) Tuesday: Back day, Wednesday: Legs, and so on. Typically you’d be performing anywhere from 3 – 6 exercises per body part.

    With that simple description out of the way let’s delve into some of the pros and cons of BPS training:

    Pros 
    • Useful for biasing lagging or weak body points in physique or performance.
    • Can provide for greater intensity in a given time frame.
    • ALMOST universally accepted as the most effective method for competitive bodybuilding (but I’m personally not convinced).
    • Can possibly build greater muscular endurance of a particular joint activator.
    • Easier to involve intensity tools (e.g., drop sets, forced reps and rest-pause).
    • Often causes a feeling of muscle soreness in the days following a workout (this is really a matter of personal preference but I kinda like that feeling!).
    • Usually uses less integrated movements (see my Functional Continuum Part I and II articles for examples). Therefore some exercises might be easier to learn for beginners.
    Cons 
    • The compounding nature of stress, from doing multiple exercises per body part, can force an accommodation by reducing intensity and loads used.
    • Probably not the best choice for those looking to improve athleticism and conditioning (although since most high school coaches/gym teachers aren’t aware of other methods, this is all they teach to their athletes).
    • May not provide the optimal training stimulus to body parts requiring greater training frequency or volume (you usually only train each body part once per week).
    • Usually requires a spotter to help with many lifts.
    • Often criticized as only being good for building “non-functional” (it’s in quotes people!) muscle.
    A sample workout might look something like this:
    Day 1 – Legs
    Squat

    Leg Extensions

    Stiff Leg Deadlifts

    Standing Calf Raises

    Day 2 – Chest
    DB Bench Press

    Cable Flyes

    Decline Barbell Press

    Explosive Push-Ups

    Day 3 – Back
    Deadlifts or Bent-Over Rows

    Chin Ups or Pull-Downs

    Single-Arm Rows

    Straight Arm Pull Downs

    Day 4 – Shoulders
    Standing Dumbell Press

    Cable Side Raises

    Cable Front Raises

    Seated Barbell Press

    Day 5 – Arms
    Close Grip Barbell Press

    Lying Dumbell Extensions

    Single Arm Cable Pressdowns

    Standing Barbell Arm Curls

    Dumbell Hammer Curls

    Barbell Preacher Bench Curls

    I intentionally didn’t include any sets or rep scenarios, for as always it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. However I will suggest no matter what your goals, a couple of warm up sets for the first exercise per day is probably a very good idea.

    It should go without saying there is no one perfect way to train. In fact there isn’t a right or wrong way to train, it’s all about the difference in stimulus and how you adapt to it.

    Keep this information in mind as we delve deeper into this series and try to use your head in figuring out what to do next.

    Next installment we’ll examine the flip side of BPS and examine Total Body Training.

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    NxLabs Body Challenge Podcast Episode 10

    June 3rd, 2009

    In the tenth episode of the NxLabs Body Challenge Podcast, Nathan will provide you with some tips to keep you sane in the last weeks of your prep.

    Changing your routine is sometimes all it takes to get you competition-ready for the NxLabs Body Challenge.

    If you like the Body Challenge Podcast, you can subscribe to them for regular updates through RSS or iTunes.

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    The Meal Frequency Myth

    May 28th, 2009
    Meal frequency isn’t really a topic that comes up too often when talking about optimal nutrition as it seems that these days no one questions the fact that six meals a day is optimal if you’re serious about your physique goals. But is it?

    My answer would be, optimal for what?

    This tends to be one of those long-held-to beliefs that says that the more often you eat, the more fired up your metabolism is. In that context – no. It’s not.

    Metabolism is determined by the total energy intake, not by how many meals you get it in.

    2000 in 4 meals vs. 2000 in 8 meals is still 2000 calories and your body still has to spend the energy to process that same 2000 calories.

    Myth! Myth! Myth! (and one with much research to show it – 24-hr indirect calorimetry, etc.) Some of the intermittent fasting guys, such as Brad Pilon and his Eat Stop Eat program for example have gone into more scientific detail explaining why meal frequency doesn’t hold any magical fat-loss benefits.

    The idea stems from something called the Thermic Effect of Food (one part of total metabolism), which is basically the energy cost to digest incoming energy (this differs for the various macronutrients). So the idea is that the more often you eat, the more TEF goes up and the more the metabolism goes up. The problem with this is that it’s a bit of a misrepresentation as TEF is actually correlated with the amount of calories in the meal, and therefore total calories at the end of the day.

    Rather, it seems that an inconsistent meal frequency is what has potential negative effects.

    So from a direct fat-loss standpoint, there isn’t really an advantage to 8 meals vs. say 4-5. There are however other advantages you could potentially argue for:

    • More stable blood sugar
    • Possible health benefits
    • Control of hunger
    • When calories are very high (easier to get them in with more feedings rather than less)
    • And subsequently, dietary compliance, which is the key to any diet.

    There’s no disadvantage to a high meal frequency that I can think of, so if you prefer it, stick with it. If you find it hard, you can cut back on the meal number and just make your meals a bit bigger.

    (Note – that doesn’t mean all your calories in one meal per day.)

    I still eat 6x/day and I use 5-6/day with clients as well. The only time I go lower is if they complain that they can’t eat that often. For me it’s just more convenient to eat frequently. I work from home and have access to food whenever I want, so it’s a no brainer for me. For others, who are very busy, and simply don’t have the same amount of available time, less meals is likely going to mean better dietary compliance.

    Meal frequency should be assessed on an individual basis and meal number for the day should be decided based on what best fits into a person’s lifestyle.

    By Erik Ledin

    www.leanbodiesconsulting.com

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    NxLabs Body Challenge Podcast Episode 9

    May 27th, 2009

    In the ninth episode of the NxLabs Body Challenge Podcast, Nathan focuses on pre-competition cardio for fat loss.

    Super charge your cardio with high intensity interval training and get competition-ready for the NxLabs Body Challenge.

    If you like the Body Challenge Podcast, you can subscribe to them for regular updates through RSS or iTunes.

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    Aminogen® Increases Protein Absorption!

    May 22nd, 2009

    Aminogen® is a patented blend of digestive proteases (Apergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae), which are enzymes that breakdown protein, aid in digestion and increase absorption. In a fairly recent study published in The Journal of The International Society of Sports Nutrition, researchers put Aminogen® to the test. The results were astounding!

    In this clinical study, twenty-one healthy male subjects were given 50 grams of whey protein concentrate (42.5 grams of protein) with and without Aminogen on separate occasions. Results showed that when subjects consumed whey protein concentrate and Aminogen® the rate of absorption increased by as much as 350% in comparison to taking whey concentrate on its own. Look for Aminogen® in advanced protein powders, such as MuscleON™ .

    Oben, J. et al. (2008). An open label study to determine the effects of an oral proteolytic enzyme system on whey protein concentrate metabolism in healthy males. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. Jul 24;5:10.

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    Posted in Nutrition, Supplement Science | 4 Comments »

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