Category Archives: How To Get Ripped

Another Way to Build Maximal Strength

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Maximal strength can be defined as your ability to produce the highest level of muscle force. To achieve your highest possible force, you must recruit your largest motor units, the fast-fatigable (FF) motor units that can only sustain their force output for 10 continuous seconds or less.

So any set that lasts longer than 10 seconds of continuous muscle action isn’t directly training maximal strength because FF motor units have dropped out of the task.

Developing maximal strength is essential. This is especially true for athletes who compete in power sports such as MMA or football where lightning fast, explosive movements are crucial. In order to be powerful, you must be strong.

When it comes to maximal strength training, most people just think of training heavy with compound lifts. So they’ll do 3 sets of 3 reps for the deadlift with the heaviest load they can handle. This approach works well to increase full body strength and bone density. However, lifting heavy all the time can be very draining on the central nervous system (CNS) and tough on your joints. High load exercises and frequent training don’t mix because they result in massive compressive forces through the spine that can take many days to recover from.

That’s the snag for those who want to build muscle fast. In order to get the fastest gains you must train with the highest frequency possible.

Importantly, there’s another way to build maximal strength that often isn’t discussed: with high-tension exercises. A high-tension exercise is one that recruits the FF motor units, but doesn’t necessarily require heavy weights to get the job done.

Think of the iron cross as an example. Most strong guys can’t compete one full range of motion rep. But they can struggle and strain to produce a few high-tension partial reps as they work to get to the full range over time. The same is true with the body weight glute-ham raise. You can hold the top position, and maybe shift a few inches back and forth, and keep this tension going for 10 seconds before you must stop.

So even though there’s no external load, certain body weight exercises can train and develop maximal strength. By using body weight maximal strength exercises (ie, high-tension exercises) instead of high load exercises for most of your workouts, you can get stronger and bigger faster.

Why? Because high-tension body weight exercises don’t induce huge compressive forces through your spine. Indeed, if you keep your spine as decompressed as possible, you’ll hasten recovery. Don’t get me wrong, some spinal compression is necessary and inevitable from exercises such as a heavy deadlift or squat. Those exercises must be part of your program to build full body strength. However, if you’ve spent any amount of time doing heavy training with those exercise you know how fatiguing they can be.

And the squat and deadlift aren’t the only culprits. Some strong guys can do a seated military press with a load that’s heavier than their body weight. The combined spinal compression from sitting paired with the heavy load can really cram your spine. Surprisingly, these same guys usually can’t perform more than one or two handstand push-ups – an exercise that requires high tension in the same muscle groups without the spinal compression.

The bottom line of this post is to convince you that strength exercises which unload the spine can be performed with a higher frequency for faster strength and muscle gains. You can’t squat super heavy three times per week, but you can squat heavy once per week and perform a hip belt squat for the other two workouts since it doesn’t squash the spine.

Another example is with the deadlift to increase posterior chain size and strength. Pulling a heavy deadlift three times per week is extremely draining, especially if you use enough volume to induce muscle growth. But you can pull heavy once each week and do the glute-ham raise for the other two workouts.

In a perfect world you could build full body strength by lifting super heavy three or four times per week with the standing military press, deadlift, and squat. But you can’t. That’s why you need high tension exercises that stress the muscles more than the spine.

So up your training frequency each week for the shoulder press, deadlift, and squat by incorporating these high-tension substitutes: the handstand push-up, glute-ham raise, and hip belt squat.

Stay Focused,
CW

Lessons From the Waterbury Challenge 2011

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On July 1 of this year, the Waterbury Challenge 2011 ended. As a recap, here’s what it was. On January 5, five days into the new year, it started with 5 pull-ups, 5 push-ups, and 5 reverse lunges with each leg. The next day, six days into the year, it was 6 reps of each exercise. From there you were told to add one rep each day until the halfway point of the year, July 1. On that day the workout was 182 pull-ups, push-ups, and reverse lunges with each leg.

The Waterbury Challenge served many purposes. First, it made fitness a part of your daily life. You don’t need to train everyday to get results, but it only helps. Believe or not, I think it’s simpler to train everyday. The less frequently we do something, the more likely it is we’ll miss it. That’s been my experience, anyway.

So I challenged the readers of my site to embark on the challenge. I promised that on July 1 the guy or gal with the fastest time to completion would win $500. About 100 people said they were “in.”

Of course, there was no way for me to know if the competitors did the workouts everyday. A guy could’ve just said he was “in” at the beginning of the challenge and continued to do whatever workout he was doing. In other words, bucking the system I set up was certainly possible. A guy could’ve submitted a video on July 1 doing 182 reps of each exercise, and won, if he had the fastest time to completion.

But that didn’t worry me. I knew if a guy didn’t do the workouts at least 90% of the time he would have major trouble completing the challenge, especially with a respectable time. That’s why I wasn’t surprised at the end of the challenge when only six people submitted a video for my review. (My initial guess was 10 so I wasn’t far off.)

The winner was Damon from Los Angeles. He finished the Waterbury Challenge in just under 22 minutes. That’s an outstanding time and really tough to beat. The nearest competitor took an additional 12 minutes.

Since Damon did a remarkable job, I asked him for a short interview. I thought his input might help you, if you decide to do this type of challenge on your own. Here’s what he had to say.

CW: Excellent job, Damon. What inspired you to do the Waterbury Challenge?

Damon: To be honest, I really wanted to take the challenge to test myself physically and mentally. I was the chubby weak kid that couldn’t even do a “girl pull-up”, and while I have come a long way since school, the thought of doing 182 pull-ups in a single session called out to me. I needed to take part in the challenge, and doing it publicly held me accountable.

CW: So what was your biggest obstacle throughout the challenge?

Damon: For the most part, I had no problems doing the workout each day. I love exercise, so it wasn’t a chore. Although there were some days where I was tired, or feeling weak, I really enjoyed the sessions. However, at the end of March, I sprained a ligament in my left knee, which I am still dealing with even now. There was a week where I could not lunge with the left leg, so I hobbled around doing the chins and push-ups in between resting and icing my knee. That kind of stole my rhythm, so to speak.

CW: There’s an important lesson in that answer. When we get an injury it’s easy to just throw our hands in the air and not do anything. But you powered through like a warrior. Tell me about your recovery. How far into the challenge was soreness a factor? What muscles seemed to get the most sore, and did you get to the point when soreness was completely gone?

Damon: I recovered well and never really hit a wall. I made an effort to mix my grips often to avoid elbow issues. There were moments scattered throughout the months where my back and arms would be sore the following day, but nothing too crazy. The sorest I got was when I started incorporating sets to failure, which I did off and on through April and May.

CW: What about your performance, or your ability to get more reps in each set over time? What did you experience?

Damon: I saw an improvement in my strength, eventually getting to 34 chin-ups in one set. I found that I could do continuous sets of 10 to 12 pull-ups with minimal rest between sets, for 7 to 8 rounds. However, in the end, I began to burn-out, so I lowered the reps to mini sets of 9, which is what I did on the final day.

CW: Did you do any other type of training during the challenge? If so, what did you do, and how did all those pull-ups, push-ups, and lunges affect your outside training?

Damon: I did. I followed a basic 2 days a week plan. Workout A consisted of a push press, pull-up and deadlift. Workout B consisted of incline dumbbell bench press, dumbbell bench assisted row, and split squat. I kept all reps between 5-10 for my gym days. The other days were the challenge only. I feel that this allowed me to recover, and the schedule was easier to keep.

Early in the challenge, I did all pull-ups and lunges with added weight and push-ups with feet elevated. As the numbers went up, I dropped the added weight and increased the reps per set. I feel like the push-ups really helped my pushing strength; I noticed that my vertical pressing went up too. Of course, my physical endurance and mental strength improved as well. After all this time doing such high reps of the pull-up, I can do 7 reps with 45 pounds added, which is amazing for me!

CW: That’s impressive, for sure. How did your body change, if at all, throughout the challenge?

Damon: I weigh slightly more now, with more muscle, than when I first began the challenge. I have been trying to put on a little size, while staying as lean as possible. Doing the challenging body weight circuit, especially in the later stages, in conjunction with the heavy resistance days worked well for me.

With regard to size, my back and arms grew considerably over the months. I have much more of a v-taper to my back, which has always been one of my top priorities. Obviously, high volume pull-ups do the trick!

CW: It’s my position that frequent body weight exercises for the upper body is one of the best ways to boost arm development. Judging by your forearms and biceps, I think it’s safe to say that holds true! Any last pieces of advice for those who might be interested in this type of challenge?

Damon: Through this experience, I have learned that our bodies are capable of much more than we think. Sometimes, being pushed beyond our limit is a good thing!

CW: Well put, Damon. Congrats!

Damon is a good representation of what a frequent, dedicated training plan will do for your physique, and he has the right mindset. That’s why I was happy to award him the $500 and declare him the winner of the Waterbury Challenge 2011. People can always find reasons to skip trips to the gym, so the challenge was based on exercises you can do at home without equipment. The challenge is a lot of work, but it doesn’t take a lot of time. As Damon said, our body is capable of much more than we think – especially when we avoid doing too much too soon.

You can watch Damon complete the challenge below. Even though he shortened up his range of motion for the pull-up I bit more than I like, his overall performance was so far ahead of the competition that it was easy to name him the winner. Plus, I really dig the rawness of the video that was shot in such a cramped space…

Stay Focused,
CW

Jack Up Your Strength the Right Way

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The term “strength training” has gotten watered-down over the years. It’s not surprising, really, since fitness is more popular than ever. That means there are loads of trainers, coaches, and regular folks posting articles and videos that demonstrate their own version of “strength training.” Yes, lifting soup cans can build strength, but probably not the kind you’re looking for.

There are indeed many different types of strength. Endurance strength, speed strength, isometric strength, just to name a few, and that leads to part of the confusion. But when you think of strength training, you probably first think of the ability to lift a maximal load for just a few reps. That, of course, is what we call “maximal strength training.”

In this post I’ll outline the strategy I’ve found most effective for boosting maximal strength in a compound lift such as a deadlift or squat.

1. Get the Frequency Right: Let’s say you’re trying to boost your max strength for the deadlift. The rule for the deadlift or any other compound exercise that works hundreds of muscle groups at once is that you shouldn’t perform more than two heavy workouts per week for the lift. People sometimes assume that my discussions on high frequency training (HFT), a system where you train a muscle group more than four times per week, can apply to maximal strength training. It can’t, especially when you’re talking about such a demanding exercise as the deadlift or back squat.

Solution: Perform each movement twice per week, evenly spaced (Mon/Thur, Tues/Fri, etc).

2. Get the Volume Right: Of all the maximal strength building parameters I’ve followed over the last 17 years, three sets of three reps with the heaviest load you can handle is tough to beat. Just to be clear, I’m talking about three work sets. It’s always beneficial to warm up with 2-3 sets of 2-3 reps with progressively heavier loads before you start the 3×3 workout. You can perform more warm-up sets, but keep the reps low.

Try to add weight each workout, even if it’s just five pounds and even if it’s just for one set. Small loading additions make a big difference over time.

Solution: You can’t go wrong with 3×3 with the heaviest loads you can handle. Try to add load each workout until you stagnate, then switch exercises.

3. Get the Rest Right: When you’re lifting maximal loads for just a few reps, you need enough recovery to repeat or boost your performance without wasting time in the gym. It’s typical to see 3-5 minute rest periods recommended for maximal strength training. I think this is excessive, especially if you’re just sitting around like old-school powerlifters used to do. (Keep in mind, they weren’t trying to build endurance or get ripped, they just wanted to get super strong.)

I rarely do straight sets, regardless of the goal of the workout. I’ll either alternate between two different exercises (an upper or lower exercise in this case), or I’ll use antagonist pairings for upper body work such as a chest press and row. So do a heavy set of the deadlift or squat, rest one minute, then do an upper body pushing exercise such as a dip, chest press, or shoulder press. Rest another minute and perform your second set of the squat or deadlift. Continue for three rounds.

If you find you can maintain or boost your strength in subsequent sets when you get even more rest, organize your workouts in circuit so you’re doing three or more exercises. This allows you more rest before you repeat an exercise, while still maintaining a productive one-minute rest between exercises. Research shows that sitting around for three minutes (passive rest) isn’t any more beneficial for boosting maximal strength than working other exercises during those three minutes.

Solution: Rest no more than a minute between exercises to keep your workout efficient, but feel free to add more exercises into the circuit if you need more rest before repeating a specific exercise.

4. Get the Exercise Right (but not for long): Let’s say you’re trying to boost your maximal strength for the front squat. You basically have one month before you need to switch the movement with something similar. For example, you could perform a front squat with a narrow stance and a barbell resting across your upper chest (Olympic style) for one month, then widen your stance for the next month, or hold kettlebells against your chest instead of a barbell, or switch to another style of squat altogether. The key point is that the changes don’t have to be major each month. Simply widening or narrowing your stance or changing your hand position (upper body lifts) or switching from a barbell to dumbbells, or vice versa, is enough to keep the nervous system challenged.

Solution: Change some aspect of your movement pattern every month.

5. Get Your Core Right By Making it Tight: Lifting maximal loads requires full body tension. That tension is supported by your core, lats, and glutes. So when these muscles are weak, or when they don’t fire correctly, the nervous system reduces neural output to the working muscles as a protective mechanism. That’s one theory. The other theory is that force is transferred through your core in any free standing lift and when your core can’t develop maximum tension, the transfer of force is diminished. Therefore, you get strength or energy “leaks” as Dr. McGill likes to call it.

Put simply, boosting core activation will increase the load you can lift with any exercise. Start your workout with exercises that challenge core stability.

Solution: Activate your core with exercises such as the ones I covered in my recent T-nation article HERE before you perform a squat, deadlift, or any compound exercise.

Speaking of core training, Dr. Craig Liebenson has taught me more about it in the last year than I’ve learned in the 10 years prior to it. He’s one of the best in the world for developing the core and surrounding muscles. If you’re a trainer, therapist, or just an avid exercise buff I encourage you to study his materials.

Dr. Liebenson’s Functional Performance Training DVD is now available for pre-orders. I can’t recommend the DVD enough. You can check it out by clicking here.

Finally, the Waterbury Challenge ends this Friday, July 1. Here’s what you need to do to qualify for the $500 prize.

1. Post a video of yourself doing 182 reps of the pull-up, push-up, and lunge (182 reps with each leg).
2. Title the video “Waterbury Challenge 2011.”
3. Make a post on the original Waterbury Challenge thread HERE and with the word “Done!”
4. Whoever has the fastest time to completion gets $500 dropped in his/her Paypal account that weekend.

And remember, you have to be on my newsletter list to qualify.

Stay Focused,
CW

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Strengthen Your Core and Loosen Your Hamstrings

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Core training is what fitness is all about these days. Ten years ago, “core training” was basically crunch variations along with an assortment of leg raises. Then Dr. Stuart McGill came along and changed the game. Thanks to his terrific research, Dr. McGill taught us that the ability to brace the core, and maintain that position for time, improves back health and performance. When I say “brace,” I’m referring to that core tension you instinctively create when someone is about to punch you in the stomach. You don’t need to bend your spine around like a twig to get the most bang for your core training buck.

McGill’s research also shows how detrimental spinal flexion can be. Each time you do a normal crunch, your spine flexes. It’s the repeated flexion of the spine that can lead to all sorts of nasty problems such as disc herniation. And when you bend over to pick up a weight while your spine is rounded the story gets even worse. In order to protect your discs and nerves from undue stress it’s essential to learn how to properly brace your core.

Now, teaching someone to brace their core isn’t as easy as it sounds. Sure, we can all tense our abs, but most of us can’t maintain that tension while moving our body, especially when an external load is added to the mix. A simple way to train someone to maintain core tension is with the plank. Most people should be able to hold the regular plank for 90 seconds. This core endurance is essential to keeping your back healthy and strong.

However, we’ve been inundated with pics, articles, and videos about the plank, so doing that exercise probably doesn’t sound new or exciting to you. That’s why I want to show you two of my favorite core exercises once people are ready to move past the regular plank.

The first exercise is called “Stir the pot,” and I learned it from Dr. McGill. It’s an outstanding exercise to build core stability strength. Here’s how you do it.

First, rest your elbows on a large swiss ball with your body in the plank position – body straight from neck to ankles and core braced tight. Second, make circles with your forearms/elbows so the ball rolls around without moving your body. This exercise is tougher than it looks when you do it right. You’ll feel muscles working all the way down to your spine. As you get accustomed to the exercise focus on making larger circles. The goal of this exercise, or any core exercise, is to make it as difficult as possible.

The second exercise, the “leg curl with single leg balance,” I learned from Dr. Craig Liebenson, owner of LA Sports and Spine and a terrific doctor who specializes in everything related to the spine.

To perform this exercise, lie on your back with your legs straight and heels resting on a Swiss ball. Then, lift your hips as high as possible and perform one leg curl. Next, brace your core/hips super tight and lift the right leg in the air and hold it for 4-5 seconds. Do the same with the left leg. From start to finish it’s one rep. Perform 5 reps.

Not only does this exercise improve core stability strength and performance, but it also induces a surprising side-effect that I hadn’t measured before: it loosens your hamstrings.

Try it with yourself or a client who has tight hamstrings. First, perform a standing toe touch and make a note of how far your fingertips reach. Then, perform five reps of the leg curl w/single leg balance and test it again. It’s common to increase your range of motion 3-4 inches. Pretty impressive considering you didn’t do any stretching.

How does the leg curl exercise increase hamstring mobility? Before I answer that, let me explain why your muscles get stiff in the first place.

You see, when a muscle is stiff most trainers will stretch it. Immediately, the muscle will increase its range of motion. But here’s the important part that I’m sure you’ve experienced: the added range of motion from static stretching doesn’t hold. A few hours later, or the next day, the muscle is stiff again.

More advanced trainers will do deep tissue work such as the Active Release Technique (ART) to restore range of motion. This hands-on style of improving mobility and tissue health can be effective and I’ve used similar techniques for years. But again, the added range of motion doesn’t hold for long.

The problem with typical stretching or soft tissue techniques is that they don’t address the root of the problem. I’d say that 99% of the time the problem is actually in the spine. In order for a muscle to be flexible, the nervous system must get the memo that it’s safe to increase the range of motion. In other words, if you have super stiff hamstrings it’s likely the deep muscles that support and surround your spine aren’t firing correctly, or they’re just plain weak. So the nervous system puts the brakes on your hamstrings mobility.

The leg curl with single leg balance activates deep core and hip muscles that provide a strong foundation of support for your muscles to work against. This immediate neural enhancement (potentiation) allows the nervous system to release the brake that’s currently holding your hamstrings tighter than guitar strings.

And when you perform the “stir the pot” exercise right before the leg curl exercise it works even better. So, test your hamstring mobility by attempting to touch your toes, then perform one set of each exercise I posted above. Retest your hamstring mobility and prepare to be impressed. Continue doing these two exercises for one week and the increased range of motion will hold.

Get ready for a more effective approach to mobility training. It all starts at the spine.

Stay focused,
CW

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Are We Still Dieting the Wrong Way?

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The dieting craze, like any craze, goes in cycles. In the 1980′s, fat was the culprit. Fat was stripped from every food imaginable and the results were disastrous. By the 1990′s people realized that fat wasn’t the problem, it was those pesky carbs. This carb-phobic approach was ideal for the protein powder manufacturers that convinced you to load up on their carb-depleted product. And man did those protein pushers make a ton of dough.

Along with the low-carb boom came the frequent-eating craze. Everyone, including myself, recommended that people should eat every three hours. Calories should be spread evenly throughout the day to ensure a steady supply of nutrients for energy, repair, and hormonal control. This approach works well if the dieter is diligent and the food choices are fresh.

Then in 2002, Ori Hofmekler came along and told us that we had it all wrong. His Warrior Diet focused on extended periods of undereating, or “controlled fasting” as he calls it. This was followed by a big meal at night where the majority of your daily calories are consumed.

The Warrior Diet, a system of 18 or more hours of fasting followed by one huge meal (at night!), shocked the world. When the book came out, small frequent meals every few hours was considered the holy grail of dieting. And the evening hours were considered such a hazardous period to your waistline that most trainers recommended that dinner be nothing but a small portion of protein and some vegetables. Any carbs at this time would surely lead to a morning scare where woke up to find the Michelin man, with your head attached, staring back at you in the bathroom mirror.

I didn’t think much of the Warrior Diet when it first came out. I didn’t read the book, but I heard enough talk and read enough interviews from Hofmekler to have a firm grasp on the approach. His system was definitely at odds with what I was doing, and the results my clients were getting didn’t mandate any significant change on my part. That was 2002.

Since then, I’ve learned one essential truth. Whether you want to lose fat, gain muscle, or boost your energy, gut health is key. I firmly believe that the reason why you could eat virtually anything when you were 17 and not gain fat was because your gastrointestinal (GI) health was at its peak.

Being a nervous system guy, I usually talk about the power of your motor system to build size, speed, and strength. This central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord, while the associated neurons that control your muscles are part of the peripheral nervous system. However, the simple term “nervous system” is an umbrella that covers many areas.

Your gut also has its own neural power source, the enteric nervous system. It controls the function of your gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, and gallbladder. The human enteric nervous system contains 80-100 million neurons. That’s virtually as many neurons as are found in the spinal cord! And if that’s not surprising enough, the enteric nervous system functions almost independently of the central nervous system. In grad school my professors referred to the enteric nervous system as the body’s “second brain.”

Yes, that’s how important your gut is.

So what does this have to do with the Warrior Diet? Well, this month marks the year anniversary when I actually read the book cover-to-cover and put Ori’s principles into play in my own life. Since I was already ears-deep in gut research, I had been using many supplements for support such as probiotics and HCl. I was satisfied with the results those supplements gave me, but I felt I could do more. I kept reading about the benefits of fasting, so that’s when I decided to give the Warrior Diet a try.

There are many ways to follow the undereating (controlled fasting) phase of the Warrior Diet as Ori explains in his book, but here’s a quick overview of what I did.

From the time I woke up until 7pm I had three glasses of juiced vegetables spread evenly throughout the day. Each glass contained the following:

1 medium/large carrot
1 beet
1/2 of a large cucumber
2 large celery stalks
A pinch of sea salt (to keep electrolytes in balance)

I drank this concoction at 8am, noon, and 4pm. From 6-7pm I trained and then I had a big dinner that started with a salad, followed by a large protein source, followed by a starch such as a yam or wild rice. For dessert I’d have berries and maybe a small serving of a chocolate dessert. This is the basic formula Ori recommends for the evening meal (minus the chocolate dessert).

Here’s what I experienced while on this diet for one week.

The controlled fasting phase for the first day was tough. I felt pretty lethargic overall. This was no surprise given that I’d eaten every three hours for the last, oh, 17 years. But I powered through it. I was hungry as hell when dinner came around and I ate a larger dinner than I’d had in years.

The first thing I noticed after dinner was that my stomach was almost as flat as when I started, even though I was completely full. This reminded me of my teenage years when I could eat a horrendous McDonald’s super size meal and have no gas, bloating, or indigestion because my gut was so healthy. Without a doubt, my controlled fast with vegetable juice upregulated digestive enzymes higher than the probiotic/HCl supplement combo I had been taking.

The second day was much easier. I actually felt pretty good during the day and by 5pm, the time of day when I usually have an energy crash, my overall energy and alertness was high. Hofmekler says that fasting will boost growth hormone throughout the day and activate the sympathetic nervous system (your energy system). Given the way I felt, this could certainly be true.

By the end of the week I had lost an inch off my waist, my gut health was higher than it had been in a decade, and my energy was at its peak. My venture in the world of the Warrior Diet paid off.

There were other reasons why I chose to give the Warrior Diet a run. First, I’m so busy during the day meeting with clients that I prefer to not eat. Second – and this is the honest truth – I go out to dinner every single night. Why? First, I’m the world’s biggest foodie. I live for great, rich, satisfying food. The boiled chicken breast and steamed vegetables lifestyle has never been a part of my life. Sure, it’s been a part of my client’s plans when fast fat loss was the goal, but these were people who didn’t really care about food. I, on the other hand, think about what I’m going to have for dinner the second I wake up.

So for me, the Warrior Diet fit my lifestyle perfectly. I have no problems with willpower so I could easily skip food during the day, especially when I knew I could eat a lot of satisfying food at dinner that night.

But many people want to eat during the day. Maybe breakfast is the only time when they can sit down with their kids, or maybe power lunches make up the bulk of a business person’s lifestyle. Or maybe the idea of not eating until 7pm every night sounds like torture. These social reasons are valid, and for them, I wouldn’t recommend the diet because you really have to get the undereating phase right for the diet to work.

Out of all my clients, half of them eat Warrior style. The other half eat small, frequent meals throughout the day. Both methods will work. The trick with eating frequent meals is that your food choices have to be fresh and you have to keep the calories relatively low in each meal. A huge meal like the Ori recommends thrown into a frequent feeding diet plan will quickly expand your waistline.

One of the best elements of the Warrior Diet is that you end the day feeling completely satisfied with food. This is where the small, frequent meal dieters typically fall short since they usually eat bland foods. The reason why this approach doesn’t work is simple: if you’re going to eat, the food must be satisfying to your body and senses or else you’ll fall off the wagon.

So here are the points I want to make in this post. First, I give the Warrior Diet my thumbs up. If fat loss, improved gut health, and longevity are what you primarily desire, and if that style of eating fits your lifestyle, give the diet a trial run. Second, I’m seeing more and more people in the fitness industry recommend a style of eating that Ori brought to the forefront almost a decade ago. In fact, I was at dinner last week with a colleague that I highly respect and we had a good laugh about the Warrior Diet. He started experimenting with it at exactly the same time that I did last year. His clients have all reaped big benefits from that style of eating, and he has made it a part of his routine, too.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the next diet “revolution” is going to revolve around periods of fasting.

Finally, you don’t have to eat Warrior style to change your body for the better. However, if that style of eating fits your lifestyle you should definitely try it. I think the key point that Ori taught us is that we probably don’t need to eat six times per day to get results. Our guts aren’t designed to be crammed with food every few hours.

It’s the quality of food that matters. Three or four meals with fresh food sources are better than six or seven meals made up of protein powder and a handful of supplements. Fresh food sources contain all the enzymes your overworked gut is craving. So you can fast, or you can eat fresh produce and wild fish, etc to restore your gut. You shouldn’t be afraid of food, you should be afraid of poor-quality food that doesn’t satisfy your body.

As Wolfgang Puck likes to say, “Live, love, and eat great food.”

Stay focused,
CW

 

Perfect Your Single-leg Squat

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Single-limb exercises, especially for the lower body, are essential for everyone, regardless if they’re a pro athlete or weekend warrior. The benefits of single-leg exercises are numerous, but a few key points to mention are that they recruit additional hip muscles that often get minimal stimulation with double-leg exercises, and they make the core play a larger role in each movement.

The single-leg squat has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years. But there’s a problem: most people do it with terrible form, as evident by extreme spinal flexion. It’s not your fault, as the saying goes. You just haven’t been given the right information to make it work for you. To perform a full single-leg squat requires a lot of strength, mobility, and stability. So you must improve those qualities to get it right.

I could honestly write an entire book on perfecting this exercise. I mention this because I’m about to outline the common problems that are probably holding you back, but there could be other factors working against you.

Now, before I get to the good stuff I must differentiate between a single-leg squat and a pistol. A pistol is the exercise that requires you to squat on one leg with the opposite leg held straight out in front and off the ground. It was popularized by my friend, Pavel Tsatsouline. It’s a good exercise, but it’s extremely advanced. To get it right you must have crazy hamstring flexibility and plenty of strength. Most people are severely lacking the hamstring mobility needed to keep your spine from bending like a fresh twig.

Perfecting the pistol requires another set of guidelines. This post is about the single-leg squat for people who have average mobility. Here’s how to get it right.

Step #1: Start with a few minutes of rope jumping or similar exercises to increase your body temperature. Do some foam rolling at this time if you wish.

Step #2: Stretch your hip flexors: the rectus femoris and psoas. I’m not a big fan of static stretching before a workout, but when it comes to the hip flexors it’s usually a good idea. Stiff hip flexors can diminish your ability to build maximum tension in your glutes and lockout your hips. That’s why stiff hip flexors are often referred to as a “parking brake” that’s partially engaged, thus limiting your hip power. Another reason to stretch your hip flexors is that it allows you to remain more upright in the single-leg squat.

Step #3: Groove the right motor pattern with a single-leg squat facing a wall. When most people do a single-leg squat they shift their torso forward. This can be caused by subpar thoracic extension and a lack of dorsiflexion in the ankle joint. This exercise restores both. It’s a fantastic technique-builder that I learned from spinal expert, Dr. Craig Liebenson. Perform 10 reps with each leg.

Step #4: Activate your hip abductors. Another problem people tend to have is that their leg buckles in as they squat. This is caused by weakness in the gluteus medius/minimus muscles that must fire strongly to hold your leg in proper position. The hip external rotation exercise strengthens and activates those muscles. This can be used as a stand-alone exercise when weakness is evident, or as an activation drill.

Step #5: Perform the single-leg squat on a high bench. The first way to build this exercise is to start by standing barefoot (or with Vibram shoes) on a relatively high bench. The key point is that you must be able to maintain an arch in your low back. If you step down and you feel your low back round (your spine will flex), the bench is too high. Start at a height that allows you to maintain lordosis (low back arch) and increase the height – or the distance you drop down – to build your single-leg squat. The goal is to be able to perform a range of motion that allows your hips to drop below knee level while maintaining an arch in your low back. This can take time so be patient.

Perform these exercises a few times per week and focus on increasing your range of motion with the single-leg squat while standing on a bench. Your hips, legs, and core will get stronger and more powerful than ever!

Stay focused,
CW

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