Sunday, September 28, 2008

ATTITUDE AND EFFORT: KEYS TO SUCCESS - by Bob Whelan

With permission of Hardgainer, Vol. 6, No. 6 (May-June 1995)

A few months ago a guy named Steve called me. He wanted to “tone up” and “body sculpt.” I abhor those terms. He said, “I want to put on some bulk, but I don’t want to get too big,” (as if it were going to happen by accident). After he said “bulk,” I told him that what he really meant was muscle. Bulk suggests something other than pure muscle. He also wanted to “lift for definition.” You lift to build muscle; period. You get definition by reducing your fat intake and doing cardiovascular exercise. (You must have muscle there already, or you will look like a typical runner.)

And here is the kicker: Steve did not feel he needed to work his legs. His were strong enough already, so he said. He said he could leg press 230 lbs (so can my grandmother). He did not want to do squats. He thought they were dangerous. He credited his “tremendous” leg strength to running and stair climbing. To my amazement, he still agreed to come by for the physical assessment, orientation and workout.

Steve sat attentively through the assessment and orientation, and seemed to agree with me on my nutritional information. When it came to the training, we had some problems. Steve—all 5-10 and 146 lbs of him—felt he was “too advanced” to train twice per week. He also felt too advanced to do only seven exercises for the whole body. He felt he needed several exercises for each body part. He wanted to infiltrate the workout with many little “toner” exercises, such as cable crossovers, tricep kickbacks, and lateral raises. He was incredulous that I could recommend only bench press (or incline press) for chest, only overhead press for shoulders, and only squats for legs. After I stated my case, and advised him that squats, properly performed, were not harmful but could help prevent knee injuries, he grudgingly agreed to try the program.

Before we started the workout, I asked how he added poundage to the exercises in his previous routines. He seemed stunned, and had to collect his thoughts before answering. He stated that once he found the “comfortable” weight, he stayed with it and never added weight unless it felt ridiculously easy (which was not very often). Steve felt it was not important to add weight. He was “squeezing” and “feeling” comfortable poundages. He believed in long-term commitments and stable relationships with his poundages. He also did not know what was meant by working to “muscular failure.”

After Steve warmed up for five minutes on the stairstepper, to elevate his core body temperature, he did a little stretching. Then, after I waited for him to adjust his sweatband, lifting gloves and wrist wraps, we began the workout. Normally, I start people slowly, but since Steve was so “advanced,” we went right to it. After only five exercises, and one set of squats (with 125 lbs), Steve was too tired to continue. He said he’d never felt so tired, and didn’t know “what was wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong, Steve,” I replied, “you have just been introduced to hard work. It’s intensity with emphasis on progressive resistance—with the basic exercises—that are needed to get bigger and stronger. Stay with the nutritional plan, and rest. I’ll see you in three days. If you’re still sore, we’ll wait until all the soreness is gone. You’ll get used to it, and be amazed by the results you get.”

But Steve wasn’t interested in hard work. He was looking for some pseudo-scientific gimmick. He never came back. You have to put wood in the stove to get heat. There is no magic formula. High-intensity training, plus good nutrition and adequate recovery, is the combination that produces results.

I saw Steve the other day. He’s still toning, shaping and sculpting away. He’s still working his legs only by running. And he still weighs 146 lbs.

An Example of the Right Attitude

Contrast Steve’s attitude with that of Alan Dinsmore, a client of mine who started a progressive training program more than a year ago. Alan was over fifty years of age when he started, but made no excuses for his age. He was not looking for gimmicks, had a great attitude, and realized that it was important to build a good foundation.

When starting with a client over fifty, you have to start slowly. Alan started very light. He didn’t go all out for several months.

We focused on total fitness, which emphasizes cardiovascular exercise, stretching and nutrition, as well as strength training. Once you get over thirty, there is no excuse for not doing regular cardiovascular training. Cardiovascular work is even more important than strength training. Your goal is not to look big in your coffin. Cardiovascular training was done at least three times per week, and Alan worked up to 30-45 minutes per session at low to moderate levels of intensity. (Alan’s age-adjusted maximum heart rate is 220 minus his age of 51, i.e., 169. The low to moderate, or 60% to 80% range, comes to 101-135 beats per minute.)

Alan’s initial strength training program consisted of 2 sets each of the bench press, overhead press, row, and pulldown. Reps were kept high, i.e., 12-15. (But, after six months, reps were changed to 8-12 for the upper body and 10-20 for the lower body.) We added a little isolation arm work, did no deadlifts, and just did leg extension and leg curl for the legs. Squats replaced the leg extension and leg curl after a few months. After a few more months of getting used to the intensity of squats, Trap Bar deadlifts were added. Squats and deadlifts were then alternated and done once per week each (but never taken quite to total failure, for reasons of safety). We trained twice per week, whole body, with each workout lasting one hour.

For progression, we moved up 5 lbs whenever the rep goal for the set was done in perfect form in both the work sets (following warmups). These two work sets used what I call a “controlled” failure method. If you do less than the goal for the set, despite going all out, then you are going to muscular failure. If you reach the goal for the set, however, you stop at the goal. The aim is to get, for example, 12, 12, not 14, 6. On the final work set for each exercise, you go to muscular failure because you have nothing to hold back for. Do not change the sequence of your exercises during a training cycle, or your notes won’t make sense.

Alan thrives on the hard work, and enjoys it. He realized that it takes effort to get results, and was more than willing to put forth that effort. Alan is about twenty years older than Steve, but is much bigger and stronger, and works harder. He now warms up with weights he used to “max out” with. After a year of training he gained nearly 4” on his chest, and nearly 2” on his arms. He reduced his body fat by 3% while increasing his body weight 4 lbs. He stuck to the plan, was willing to sweat, and got results the old-fashioned way—he earned it. And he trained for total fitness, not just cosmetic gains.

Alan is living proof that attitude and effort are the keys to success.
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Point of Interest: Bob Peoples - By Osmo Kiiha

Bob Peoples was one of the most amazing men ever to take up weight lifting. He started lifting in the mountains of Upper East Tennessee, where no one else was interested in the sport. He got all his information from magazines, and many of his weights were made from scrap metal and concrete. He was one of the first people known to do negative-type lifting. He had the weight rigged up on the back of a lift extending from a tractor. He would raise the weight up with a switch and allow the system to collapse under him. Bob was a tremendous innovator, there are very few lifters today performing on any type of machine that Bob didn't invent and build by hand in his carpentry shop. Even though they were cumbersome and quite awkward, they did the job
very well. To give the readers an idea of his difficulties and handicaps, Bob worked eight hours a day in a rayon mill. The temperatures were over 90 degrees, and the fumes were horrible. Besides this, he ran quite a sizeable farm - doing all the work himself - and still built himself into a world class deadlift specialist.
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Osmo Kiiha - Bio


Osmo Kiiha is the founder and editor of THE IRON MASTER which ran from 1989 to 2000. It was one of the most informative Iron Game magazines of all time. He is one of the world's foremost experts on the history of physical culture and the Iron Game. In addition to having one of the largest memorabillia collections in the world, Osmo was a world class olympic lifter. He competed in the 1968 Sr Nationals in the 198 pound class. His bests lifts were: Total: 985, Press: 333, Clean & Jerk: 418, Snatch: 286.
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John C. Grimek

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RESULTS WANTED - By Andrea Rippe


Originally Posted on NaturalStrength.com on June 30, 2000

Many people stop working out because they cease getting results. Some will suddenly become inspired and come to me with questions about their workouts and say they are looking for results. I simply ask if they continually try to increase the weights or the reps. Usually the answer is no and there is typically an assumption that they should stay with lighter weights and do "more" reps. I also ask what exercises they are using and if they are using proper form on those exercises. Many times the exercises in their programs do not include some basic necessary movements.

The bottom line is the body responds to stresses imposed upon it. If you always use the same weights and use the same repetitions there is no need for your body to change. Create the need. First of all use proper form and keep it even though the body will try to break form in order to complete another rep. Lift the weight until you cannot lift it again. That means go to momentary muscular failure. If you take the muscle to the point of maximum effort it will overcompensate and get stronger so it can handle that weight the next time for possibly another repetition or at least part of one.

Most people will say they cannot do another rep when they actually have anywhere from one to ten or more repetitions left in them. There will be discomfort; there is no way around it. It is not comfortable to push the muscles to the point of failure. You really have to want to push the weight up as many times as possible. If you don't do as many reps as are possible you don't know what kind of effort level you are achieving. The body will respond to the stress. Increase the weight if you can achieve beyond 12 repetitions for the upper body and 20 for the lower. Work hard on increasing your weights and/or reps each time you enter the gym. If you want results the best way to succeed is to set concrete short term and long term goals. Don't waste your time.

In order to make your workouts more efficient, safer on the joints and more result producing it helps to choose basic core movements. Multi-joint exercises like the deadlift, squat, leg press, pull-ups, pulldowns, rows, dips, bench press, overhead press should comprise the basis for every workout program. These exercises allow for use of maximum resistance which load the most muscle mass possible. High quality machines like Hammer Strength and Nautilus equipment may be used instead of or to alternate with the free weight versions. There is a demand for variety as people get bored very easily. However, if you want result producing workouts stick with the basic exercises of which there are enough variations to keep your body doing different yet similar movements. For instance, you could do dumbbell overhead presses for your shoulders for a while, then switch to barbell overhead presses and then to Hammer Strength shoulder presses. There is no new revolutionary exercise that will transform you into something that the basic exercises can't.

If you use basic exercises with proper form in an intense manner consistently over time there will be changes in your physique. Given also that your diet and sleep patterns are as they should be your results may be dramatic. Make the commitment.
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Dr. Charles E. Yesalis - Bio



Professor of Health Policy and Administration, Exercise and Sport Science, The Pennsylvania State University

Research Interests

Anabolic steroids, chemical dependency, drug use, endocrinology, epidemiology, health promotion, hormones, performance enhancing drugs, sport injuries

Teaching Interests

Introduction to health care organization; principles of epidemiology; research methods; clinical outcomes

Bio Sketch

Dr. Yesalis received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Michigan and he was awarded his doctoral degree by the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1975. He then joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins for one year. Dr. Yesalis was a member of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa, College of Medicine from 1976-1986. Currently he is Professor of Health Policy and Administration and Exercise and Sport Science at The Pennsylvania State University.

For the past twenty-five years, much of Dr. Yesalis' research has been devoted to the non-medical use of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AS) and other performance-enhancing drugs and dietary supplements. In 1988 he directed the first national study of AS use among adolescents and was the first to present evidence of psychological dependence on AS. In addition, he has studied the incidence of AS use among elite power lifters, collegiate athletes, and professional football players. In 1993, using nationwide data, he demonstrated the association between AS use and violent behavior as well as an association with the use of other illicit drugs and alcohol. He also presented an estimate of lifetime AS use in the U.S. population (over one million). A recent study conducted by Dr. Yesalis showed a significant increase in AS use among teenage girls and boys since 1990. In 1998 he wrote The Steroids Game which focuses on prevention, education, and intervention regarding AS use by adolescents. He is the editor of a medical reference text, Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Exercise (2nd ed.) and co-editor of Performance Enhancing Substances in Sport and Exercise.

On three occasions he has been asked to testify before U.S. Congress on legislation related to the control of AS and growth hormone abuse. Dr. Yesalis has been a consultant to, among others, the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, U.S. Senate Judiciary and Committees, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse: National Commission on Sports and Substance Abuse, the NFL Players Association, the U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Publications

BOOKS:

Bahrke, M. & Yesalis, C. (Eds.) Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sport and Exercise, Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, 2002.

Yesalis, C. & Bahrke, M. Current Comment from the American College of Sports Medicine: Anabolic Steroids, April, 1999. (Official position statement of the ACSM)

Yesalis, C. Medical, Legal, and Societal Implications of Androstenedione Use (invited editorial), Journal of the American Medical Association, 281(21): 2043-2044, 1999.

Yesalis, C., Bahrke, M., & Wright, J. Societal Alternatives to Anabolic Steroid Use, Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 10(1): 1-8, 2000.

Yesalis, C. & Bahrke, M. Doping Among Adolescents, Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 14,1:25-35, 2000.

Bahrke, M., Yesalis, C., Kopstein, A., & Stephens, J. Risk Factors for Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use Among Adolescents, Sports Medicine, 29, 6: 397-405, 2000.

CHAPTERS:

Yesalis, C. & Bahrke, M. The Epidemiology of Doping in Sport. In Biomedical Side Effects of Doping: Project of the European Union. Peters, Schulz & Michna (Eds.). Bundesinstitut fur Sportwissenschaft: Bonn Germany, 2001.

Yesalis, C. Difficulties in Estimating the Prevalence of Drug Use Among Athletes in Doping in Elite Sport, Wilson & Derse (Eds.), Human Kinetics, Champaign, ILL, 2001.

Bahrke, M. and Yesalis, C. Psychological\Behavioral Effects of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids. In Singer, R. et al. (eds.), Handbook of Research on Sport Psychology, New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.

Yesalis, C., Wright, J. and Lombardo, J. Anabolics in Athletes. In Kopera H. (ed.), Anabolic Steroids, Vienna: Bruder Hollinek, 1993.

Yesalis, C. An Unvarnished Look at Steroids. A Practical Guide to Practically Everything, Bernstein, P. and Ma, C. (eds.), New York: Random House, 1995.

Stuart, B. and Yesalis, C. The Iowa Pharmacy Capitation Experiment: Economic Incentives and Provider Performance. In Studies in Pharmaceutical Economics, Smith, M (ed.), New York: Pharmaceutical Products Press, 1996.

Yesalis, C. Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids. In Drug Abuse and Drug Abuse Research: the Fourth Triennial Report to Congress, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.

Selected Journal Articles

Yesalis, C. & Bahrke, M. History of Doping in Sport. International Sports Studies. 24,(1):42-76,2003

Bahrke, M. & Yesalis, C. The Future of Performance-Enhancing Substances in Sport. Physician and Sportsmedicine, 30,11:51-53, 2002

Yesalis, C. & Bahrke, M. Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids and Related Substances. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 4:246-252, 2002

Yesalis, C. Use of Steroids for Self-Enhancement: An Epidemiologic/Societal Perspective. The AIDS Reader, Vol. 11, No. 3, 157-160, 2001.

Selected Presentations

Yesalis, C. "What's wrong with Youth and Amateur Sports?" Sessions Chair, The summit on sports Refrom: Assessing the Past, Planning the Future. National Institute for Sports Reform, Lake George, New York November 7 - 9, 2003.

Yesalis, C. "An Individual Journey to Sports Reform" Keynote Presentation. Summit on Sports Reform: Assessing the Past, Planning the Future. National Institute for Sports Reform, Lake George, New York November 7 - 9, 2003.

Yesalis, C. & Bahrke, M. History of Doping in Sport. Keynote Address to the 6th European Congress of the European Committee for the History of Sport, Gottingen, Germany, September 26-30, 2001.

Yesalis, C. The Epidemiology of Doping. Presented at the European Union Symposium ADoping: Biomedical Side Effects@, German Sport University Cologne, July 23 2001.

Consultant

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy 2000, 2003
National Institute for Sports Reform - Advisory Board 2002
Center for Science in the Public Interest 2001
Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives 2001
Drug Enforcement Administration, 1992 -
World Book Science Year
USA Track and Field
U. Of Iowa Sports Medicine Department

Other Activities and Interests

Military History
Harley Davidson Motorcycles & Corvettes
Racquetball
Weightlifting
Running
Education

Sc.D., 1975, Medical Care Organization, Johns Hopkins University
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Wayne L. Westcott Ph.D. - Bio


Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D., is fitness research director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, MA. He is strength training consultant for numerous national organizations, such as the American Council on Exercise, the American Senior Fitness Association, and the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation, and editorial advisor for many publications, including Prevention, Shape, and Club Industry magazines.

He is also author of 20 fitness books including the new releases, No More Cellulite, Building Strength and Stamina, Strength Training Past 50, Strength Training for Seniors, Complete Conditioning for Golf, and Strength and Power for Young Athletes.

Dr. Westcott has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Fitness Professionals, the Healthy American Fitness Leader Award from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the Roberts-Gulick Award from the YMCA Association of Professional Directors, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Governor’s Committee on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the NOVA 7 Exercise Program Award from Fitness Management Magazine.


Books
Strength & Power for Young Athletes, Human Kinetics, 2000.
Complete Conditioning for Golf, Human Kinetics, 1999.
Strength Training for Seniors, Human Kinetics, 1999.
Strength Training Past 50 (Ageless Athlete Series) Human Kinetics Publishers, 1997.
Building Strength and Stamina New Nautilus Training for Total Fitness, Human Kinetics Publishers, 1996.
Strength Fitness Physiological Principles and Training Techniques, Fourth Edition, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1995.
Nautilus Strength Training Certification Textbook, Nautilus 1995.
Be Strong: Strength Training For Muscular Fitness For Men And Women, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1992.
Personal Trainer Manual, American Council On Exercise, 1991. (Chapter On Muscular Strength And Endurance).
Strength Fitness: Physiological Principles and Training Techniques, Third Edition, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1990.
Keeping Fit, George W. Prescott Publishing Company, 1987.
Strength Fitness: Physiological Principles and Training Techniques, Second Edition, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1987.
Building Strength At The YMCA, Human Kinetics Publishers, 1987.
Strength Fitness: Physiological Principles and Training Techniques, First Edition, Allyn and Bacon Publishers, 1982.

Articles
Over 300 Articles in Professional Journals
Weekly Newspaper Fitness Column
Weekly Radio Fitness Show

Education
B.S. Pennsylvania State University 1971
M.S. Pennsylvania State University 1974
Ph.D. Ohio State University

Awards

Healthy American Fitness Leader Award, 1995, President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
Lifetime Achievement Award, 1993, IDEA: International Association of Fitness Professionals.
Massachusetts Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Honor Award, 1993.
American Heart Association Recognition Award, 1992.
Association of Professional YMCA Directors Program Service Award, 1983.
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Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD - Bio



Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD is an internationally known sports nutritionist and nutrition author. She is a registered dietitian (RD) who specializes in nutrition for exercise, health and the nutritional management of eating disorders. She is board certified as a specialist in sports dietietics (CSSD).

Nancy has a successful private practice located at Healthworks Fitness Center (www.healthworksfitness.com ), the premier fitness facility in Chestnut Hill, MA (617-383-6100) . She offers one-on-one nutrition consultations to both casual exercisers and competitive athletes, teaching them how to enhance energy, optimize performance and manage weight.

Her more renowned clients have included members of the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Celtics, and many collegiate, elite and Olympic athletes from a variety of sports. Previously, she was Director of Nutrition Services at Sports Medicine Associates in Brookline, MA.

Nancy completed her undergraduate degree in nutrition from Simmons College in Boston, her dietetic internship at Massachusetts General Hospital, and her graduate degree in nutrition with a focus on exercise physiology from Boston University.

She is a Fellow of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), the recipient of their Media Excellence Award, an active member of ADA's practice group of sports nutritionists (SCAN), and recipient of SCAN's Honor Award for excellence in practice. Nancy is also a Fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and recipient of the Honor Award from ACSM's New England Chapter.

Her contributions to runners in the Boston area culminated in her receiving the 1994 Will Cloney Award. Nancy also holds the honor of having her photo and advice on the back of the Wheaties box for their 2004 Olympic series. She is a member of the Mizuno Advisory Staff.

Clark is the nutrition columnist for New England Runner, Adventure Cycling and American Fitness . She is a frequent contributor to Runner's World and is on the advisory board for SHAPE magazine. Clark also writes a monthly nutrition column called The Athlete's Kitchen, which appears regularly in over 100 sports and health publications, including Active.com and the Running Network.

Nancy is the author of the best selling sports nutrition reference Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, with a new Fourth Edition available in April 2008. Over 500,000 copies of this classic book have been enjoyed by health professionals and exercise enthusiasts alike. Her Food Guide for Marathoners: Tips for Everyday Champions helps novice runners and walkers go the distance with energy to spare. And her Cyclist's Food Guide: Fueling for the Distance (co-authored with Jenny Hegmann, MS, RD) helps both beginning and experienced cyclists optimize their performance.

Sports and nutrition are personal as well as professional interests. A member of The Greater Boston Track Club, Clark has competed at the 10 Kilometer, half marathon and marathon distances. Clark routinely bike commutes and enjoys bike touring. She has led many extended bike tours, including a Transamerica Trip and other tours through the Canadian and Colorado Rockies. She has trekked into the Himalayas and planned the high altitude menu for a successful expedition. Her newest sport is rowing (crew). She and her husband, son, and daughter live in the Boston area.
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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Strength Training: How Often Should One Train? by Ted Lambrinides, PhD

Originally Posted on NaturalStrength.com on July 28, 1999

One is constantly bombarded with strength training information such as Lee Haney's 7:00 a.m. bicep workout and 7:00 p.m. tricep workout to the Bulgarian 3 tiems daily workout. Many trainees feel if they only had more time to train then they too could have championship results.

The truth, however, is quite different. There have been a few scientific research studies performed which have looked at the importance of training frequency. Gillam (1) compared five groups training at different frequencies. Resistance training 3 days/week and 5 days/week were found to be superior to training 2 days/week. However, the training program was impractical in that it consisted of 18 sets of one rep maximum of the bench press. How many people do you know to max out each workout? How somebody can max bench press 5 times per week for nine weeks and not experience shoulder problems is amazing.

In a more recent study by Braith et al. (2) they evaluated the effectivness of strength training performed either 2 days/week or 3 days/week. Training consisted of a single set of variable resistance bilateral knee extensions performed to volitional fatigue with a weight load that allowed seven to ten reps. When the subjects could perform more than ten repetitions, the weight load was increased by approximately 5%. The subjects performed the concentric contraction phase of each rep in 2 seconds and the eccentric phase in 4 seconds. Forty four subjects trained for 10 weeks and 47 subjects trained for 18 weeks. Twenty six subjects served as controls and did not train. the group which trained 3 days/week derived better results than the 2 days/week. However, these data indicate that one training 2 days/week may derive approximately 80% of the isometric strength benefits achieved by those training 3 days/week.

One may take the results of this investigation and say "I have to train 3 days/week". Remember the above study just looked at leg extension. Who is to say if the subjects squatted or leg pressed the results would be similar?

Also, what happens when one trains the entire body relative to results and recovery ability? I recently finished a research project here at the Hammer Research Center which evaluated the effectiveness of training 3 days/week and 2 days/week. The subjects trained their whole body each workout. Each exercise was performed to a point of failure. It should be noted that these training sessions were highly supervised to insure that nobody was "wimping out". The study lasted 7 weeks. The subjects were evaluated for body composition, maximal strength in the bench press and leg press, and basal metabolic rate. At present, all the data have not been statistically analzyed. But I don't believe that there was much of a difference between the two groups. The kids busted their butts and obtained gains in strength and size despite being "trained subjects".

From a subjective point of view, the group which trained three times started to have problems getting motivated towards the end of the study. How anyone can train hard, attentively, adn productively 2-3 times a day, six or seven days a week is beyond me. From an empirical research point of view, I have trained top players in the NFL, NBA, and numerous major college football players and they have obtained excellent results training 2-3 times/week. I seriously doubt that their bodies could recover from more frequent workouts over a period of time.

One of the ironies of strength training is that many divergent methods of training can all yield results. Sure, I know people who train 4-6 days/week while performing 4-5 sets per exercise and get good results in the short term. However, what many trainee's who train 4-6 days per week find out over time is that half their weekly workouts must be sub-maximal. In other words, 2 or 3 hard workouts a week and 2 or 3 going through the motion workouts a week.

Training 2 or 3 days/week are as effective training frequencies as any as long as intensity is high. There does not exist any scientific literature to my knowledge that would suggest that the more advanced trainee needs to train more frequently, although some do. There are a number of factors (nutrition, lifestyle, emotional stress, sports/practice, injury, number of exercises performed in a workout, type of exercises performed in a workout, level of trainee, volume of work performed per workout) which can influence training frequency recommendations. One of the groups of trainees which may require increased training frequency are individuals rehabilitating an injury (3). Olympic lifters may train more frequently because much of their work is skill work using light training loads. They may train more frequently to fine tune their execution. Such training sessions are of no practical value to any other population. Training hard...training for results and improvement should be done not so infrequent that adaptation processes are inhibited. If you don't feel recovered don't train. More exercise sessions per week in and of themselves will not produce better results because there will be less time available for recovery. Recovery is an important component of the results equation...Progressive resistance workouts + Proper Nutrition + Recovery=Results.

References
1)Gillam GM. Effects of frequency of weight training on muscle strength enhancement. Journal of Sports Medicine, 21: 432-436, 1981.

2)Braith RW; JE Graves; ML Pollock; SL Leggett, DM Carpenter and AB Colven.

Comparison of 2 vs 3 days/week of variable resistance training during 10 and 18 week programs. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 10: 450-454, 1989.

3) Knight K. Quadriceps strengthening with the DAPRE technique: Case studies with neurological implications. The Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy.
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Ted Lambrinides, PhD - Bio




Coach Ted Lambrinides (above left) has developed the ASAP program through over 26 years of coaching experience in the field. He served as the Assistant Strength Coach at The Ohio State University where he trained numerous Buckeye All-Americans in a variety of sports. Presently, he serves as a consultant to several NFL teams including the Cincinnati Bengals, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the 2005 World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. He also consults for numerous major collegiate athletic programs. Ted is also a member of the NCAA speakers bureau where he is a nationally known and leading expert on Strength Training Research, Sport Nutrition & Ergogenic Aids.
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Mental Training by Sean Toohey

Originally Posted on NaturalStrength.com on March 1, 2001


The lifter paces back and forth in front of the rack. His eyes focused sharply on the floor in front of him. The air around him is electrified by his concentration and he seems oblivious to what is going on around him. Turning abruptly to face the bar, his hands grasp the iron in precisely the right spot, and his eyes focus hard on the exact center of the bar with enough channeled energy that you can almost FEEL his gaze. A quick duck under the bar, which hits the perfect spot on his traps exactly, and the lifter slowly stands, his eyes revealing that he is now "inside" his own world... and the squat commences.

True concentration may or may not look like the above scenario. Today, many lifters emulate what they have seen good lifters do, but often it is merely a charade. Grunting, grimacing and mock-straining are so commonplace that only a trained eye can spot the difference between truly concentrated effort and the facade put on by the hollering monkeys in pump-dom. You CAN learn to concentrate properly, and you can really use the techniques in your day to day life as well as in the gym. Unfortunately, most lifters never spend ANY time developing the greatest resource they have -- their minds. In an article entitled, "Concentration -- Part I" John McCallum opened with, "You'd be surprised at how much better you could do if you put your mind to it. You could accomplish wonders." He was stating, in absolutely perfect terms, that "putting your mind to it" is so much more than just a simple catch-phrase. "Putting your mind to it" means applying all the mentalresources that you have to exactly what you are doing at a given point in time. And John was exactly right -- if you can learn to do this properly, you will accomplish wonders.

Let's begin with motivation. No less a source than the great Dr. Randall J. Strossen described motivation in his remarkable book, "IronMind: Stronger Minds, Stronger Bodies." as, "the presence of anything that initiates behavior." Incidentally, if you are interested in really learning to take your training to the edge and you don't own a copy of that book, you need to get a copy right away! Now, I'm not a big believer in will power, but I am a big believer in desire. It is my opinion that will power doesn't exist. If you want something MORE than you want something else, then you will do what it takes to pursue what you want and it is as simple as that. So motivation seems to be more of a byproduct of doing your homework properly than of any temporary stimulus like watching an exciting video or reading about a great strength athlete. However you choose to view motivation, one thing is certain -- you need to be motivated, and for that you must know exactly what it is that you want. And that requires goal setting.

Here is the part where I rant about the fly-by-night ambition of most people. There is a world of difference between a wish, a dream, a want, and a goal. My mother used to tell me, "if wishes were horses then beggars would ride." No offense against the downtrodden, but what my dear old mom was telling me was that wishes will not take the place of hard work. Today, you see so many gyms cropping up all over town, but people today are fatter and weaker than ever before! Wanting to change isn't enough. Thinking that it would be really nice to get that new PR is merely a "dream." Hoping that it will happen on its own is a "wish." Hoping that you will get there, and trying with a half hearted effort is a "want." Doing your homework and charting a path to take you there, busting your ass day in and day out, pushing yourself ever closer to what you want and all the while achieving little landmarks along the way... THAT is pursuing a GOAL. Nice going Sean, you just defined it. Now how do you DO it?

First you really need to be honest with yourself. Is this something that you feel you CAN go after with the required intensity? If you think that you want this new PR but you are pretty sure that somewhere in you you will probably do as little as you need to get it, then you are probably just wanting it and not actually setting the achievement as a goal. When you really are gearing up, the hardest thing you will have to face is holding yourself back from doing too much! TRUE goals are something that you want so badly that nothing can stop you! It is the difference between commitment and involvement. Ed Parker, the late American Kenpo Karate grandmaster described the difference between commitment and involvement as, "ham and eggs. The chicken was involved but the pig was committed!" Secondly, start small if you need, in order to boost your self-confidence. Go after things that you know for certain will be attainable and congratulate yourself onthe achievement. Do not let anything sway you from your path! Learn that the when setting goals, there is so much at stake that nothing can stop you! Then slowly increase the level of difficulty of each goal! Be just as progressive about training your goal-setting talents as you are about lifting! Continue this low-level goal setting as you pursue a long-range goal as well. Short term PRs successfully met build up to one large PR anda boat-load of self-confidence! Psychologically studious folks call this, "short-term" and "long-term" goal setting. Once a goal is set however, you must keep your eyes on the prize!

This of course leads us to focus. Concentration is a big source of failure among many people. Learning to concentrate and focus your mind on what you are doing is one of the most important tasks you will ever encounter, yet so few people are good at it! My father has a great technique that he uses for his reading. He checks to see how many pages he can read in a book before his mind wanders. Then he checks to see how long it took him to read those pages. Now, whenever he reads something he must focus intensely on, he applies himself in blocks of time based on his measured attention span. This allows him to absorb information at stellar rates, and in his opinion has done quite a bit to actually increase his attention span. Another technique you can use to learn to concentrate is simply closing your eyes and counting softly (out loud) to 30 over and over again. When you reach 30 you start again at 1. Pretty soon you will find yourself thinking about the errands you have to run and saying, "71, 72, 73, 74..." Don't be harsh withyourself! Just calmly bring your mind back to what you were doing and start again. Do the entire exercise for a pre-planned period of time. Pretty soon you will have developed the ability to concentrate for hours on end without your mind drifting!

At this point, you have some pretty realistic expectations on how to set goals and why you need to commit to them, you understand that motivation is a by-product of proper goal-setting rather than something that happens to you after watching a video tape, and how to develop the self-confidence and concentration necessary to achieve those goals. Now let's talk a bit about fear.

Fear is a big emotion that will either work for you or work against you. When you are eyeing that big lift, and you know that one slip of the grip or stance could cripple you for life (or worse), there is a certain amount of exhilaration involved! Knowing that you are the master of that weight, that you are the one IN CHARGE and that nothing in the world can stop you will not remove the knowledge that the weight you are about to lift could potentially kill you. But rather than allowing fear to debilitate the physical or mental condition, the successful lifter will literally re-route the fear emotion into an excited, adrenaline rushed, exhilaration that will actually help to complete the lift! How is this done?

It is done through many years of steady increases in lifting and constant goal setting. Successful lifters are those people that look at strength training with an eye on "forever" rather than "I have a reunion in three weeks and I have to look good." By constantly feeding the success machine over and over again, small steps at a time, the lifter develops a really deep seated self-confidence that this new PR is a very attainable weight. Particularly since it is only 2.5 pounds more than the last successful lift he or she had! Focusing on that additional 2.5 pounds rather than the total is what allows the weight to suddenly become defined as something that is just "a little more than before." Focusing on the total can often make the weight seem like an enormous amount! Nothing breeds success like success, and if you are facing a new PR that is within your range, you have clearly been successful prior to this! Focus on that! Feed off of your own triumphs and allow yourself to be happy about them! Give yourself a period of time to enjoy your success and let it sink in... then go and get some new PRs to keep that machine well fed!

The last part of this is about psyching. Psyching is really a two part process. First, you must mentally accept the lift you are going to do. If this lift is a particularly big PR (achieving a long-term goal perhaps) then the acceptance phase should begin the night before. Mental rehearsal is a great technique for this and is done by systematically relaxing each area of your body, then visualizing in as much detail as possible, the successful lift. Start this by sitting or lying down in a comfortable position, in a quiet place where there will be no sudden distractions. Lying in bed just before you sleep is a great time, but don't do this if you are too tired to concentrate fully on the task at hand. Breath deeply from your diaphragm (rather than high in the chest) and take a mental inventory of each area of your body, letting go of all the tension as your work your way up from your toes to the top of your head. Let go of any distracting mental thoughts, and if your mind wanders, bring it gently back to the task at hand. As you get good at relaxing like this you may feel some very wild sensations. Things like your hands reversing positions or being upside down, floating or sinking sensations, feeling like your body is turning around or that you are floating in space are all very common occurrences. Anyway, once you have relaxed completely, begin to focus on the lift you will do. See it over and over like a movie in your mind and try to involve as any of your senses as you can: Sight, smells, touch, hearing, and tasting. Feel every motion and movement you make and see yourself completing the lift over and over again in perfect form. You may even wish to associate a word with the mental performance of this lift. Success is a good one! Every time you complete the lift, say the word, "SUCCESS!" in your mind. When you actually get in front of the bar, you can then say your associated word over and over again to help your mind prepare for a perfect lift!

Secondly, when you are right in front of the bar, ready to lift, concentrate on the perfect lift. See it happening in your mind. Be very alert to any sabotages you may say to yourself such as, "can't, won't, shouldn't, afraid, maybe, hope" or anything that doesn't imply that you WILL make the lift and that there is NO DOUBT such a lift is within your grasp! Say things that motivate you! Try to mentally get an adrenaline spike by working yourself up a bit! Keep it contained however, and don't let it out until you actually perform the lift. Remember that every single training session you have ever had in your life was a dress rehearsal for this very moment! Know that you can do it, that you have prepared and that you will be successful! And as soon as you feel that you have NO DOUBT WHATSOEVER that the lift is yours, get into position and nail that sucker!

And never forget that your mind is the greatest tool you have in your lifting arsenal! Train it as you would your body!
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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

ENDURANCE by Earle E. Liederman - Author and Publisher, (1926), - Chapter 3

Endurance work cannot be performed rapidly. It must be done slowly, but without thought of count. So many devotees to physical exercise set a certain number of counts as their goal. This is all well and good for setting-up exercises; but when the mind is continually concentrating upon figures some nervous energy is wasted, which could be utilized either in accomplishing results or for a useful purpose. Monotony soon becomes evident when counting, serving to detract from the interest of the work; also, counting is inclined to cause one to throw less energy into his muscles for beneficially greater contraction. Therefore, exercising simply to reach an allotted number of counts is not as beneficial as when a destination or physiological goal is the object.

It is much better, for example, to set your goal in walking, say, at one or two miles than to count your steps. If the student should be exercising with light dumbbells it is much better to continue until the muscles feel tired than simply to set out to do one hundred or two hundred lifts regardless of the consequences. The number of counts may be easy some days, but too much on other days. the object of performing endurance exercises is to do the work in the easiest way possible, with just enough pause between movements to give the tissues and the heart action a chance to recuperate. Without relaxation in endurance work the work becomes muscle-building and strength-building rather than endurance in nature.

I really believe the phlegmatic type of person possesses more power of endurance than the nervous type. The nervous individual consumes or wastes his energy not only in muscular effort but mental effort as well. If you tell a nervous person to quickly touch a button and turn on a light he will do it much quicker than his phlegmatic friend. There are exceptions to this rule, and in fact this may be only my personal opinion; but most of the endurance athletes I have met have been of the steady, easy-going, non-excitable type.

This does not mean, at all, that one of nervous temperament cannot develop much endurance. While they are, as a rule, more fitted for rapid or speed work, and while they naturally "take to" this class of work in their physical activities and sports, yet they can develop an endurance for such work that is equal to that possessed by the phlegmatic athletes who generally take up slower activities. Since the nervous energy of the man of nervous temperament is inclined to burn out more quickly, though perhaps burning at "greater heat"—permitting more intense work while it endures—the work done by such a person to help develop endurance, should be done more slowly than is his natural inclination. Of course, there may be some fast work, and usually there should be a goodly proportion of such; but in heavier work and definite endurance there must be a "toning down," a slowing down, for best results.

Good lungs are essential for anyone who is desirous of accomplishing anything in the endurance. If there is shortness of breath, exhaustion will soon set in. Any of you who have attended amateur boxing exhibitions (I do not mean professional, for professional boxers usually are in good condition and have excellent wind) have noted the difference in the action in the various rounds. In the first round two amateur boxers will rush at each other like angry bulls. The second round is a little slower, and often one of the contestants slows up so appreciably that one can but wonder what has become of all his ferociousness. It is a matter of becoming winded through too violent exercise early in the fight.

I remember attending an amateur boxing show at the New York Athletic Club where there was a husky chap introduced as Sailor somebody. His body was superbly developed and he looked as if he could tear his opponent in two. When the bell sounded for the first round he tore in and showered blows upon his adversary so that after but a minute or so of fighting his opponent began to appear groggy from the onslaught. However, his more frail appearing opponent managed to weather the round. In the second round this husky boxer started with the same ferociousness, but before many seconds had elapsed he quite suddenly slowed down. Then came the other fellow's turn, and it wasn't long before the muscular marvel was lying outstretched upon the floor He slowed up so noticeably that he was an easy mark for his opponent, who possessed better endurance qualities—and, incidentally, the necessary punch.

Do you suppose Harry Greb, the middleweight boxer, could continue at top speed round after round for fifteen or twenty rounds or more, if he did not relax his muscles absolutely in between encounters, blocks or punches, and if he did not possess a wonderful pair of lungs? I have seen Johnny Dundee, the former featherweight champion, for twenty rounds hit so fast and so often and jump around so constantly that it seemed incredibly for a human being to keep up the pace. Anyone who has tried boxing will realize the value of good "wind." Both Greb and Dundee, of course, are exceptions in the boxing world, just as Elionsky, Goodwin, Nurmi, and others are exceptions in their own sports.

It is the exceptions that make the champions; but for the average competitor in any sport that requires endurance, whether it be boxing twenty rounds, swimming or running several miles, or what not, the start always should be moderate, and then this moderate pace should be kept up throughout the entire performance, or at least until second wind has developed. Suppose you were punching the bag; if you went at it top speed it would require a good deal of wind, as well as strength in the arms and shoulders, and you soon would find yourself tiring. In my opinion, this manner of bag-punching would be considered muscle-building work. On the other hand, suppose you wished to punch the bag for an hour or two at a time. You would not attempt rapidity of movement; you would, naturally, take it easy, and the bag would not hit the platform as rapidly as it would ordinarily in swift work.

Our professional wrestlers, whom you often may have seen wrestle for an hour or two at a time, in most cases are given a certain allotted time in which to wrestle. If these athletes are required to wrestle for an hour in order to give the public an interesting exhibition, as well as its money's worth, you do not see them tear at each other like mad bulls. If you are a student or devotee of the game you would find evidence of plenty of relaxation, in spite of the fact that they appear continually to exert all their strength.

Yet it is remarkable how much the human body can endure. I know of chaps who go on continually dissipating and who apparently are strong and husky; but are they? I often wonder what interesting things one might behold if it were possible for one to see the inside of their bodies.

Perhaps you have heard the story about the frog who was boiled to death; but it may be new to some, so I relate it. In one of our leading universities some experimenters placed a bull frog into a pan of cool water. This pan was then placed upon a heater and the temperature of the water was increased so slowly that it took over one hour for the water to come to the boiling point. During all this time the frog never moved. He was slowly boiled to death, yet gave no evidence of feeling the rising heat.

How many people are like that frog! They continue their dissipated way o living and are slowly decaying without knowing it. Perhaps you may use intoxicants; you may smoke considerably, keep late hours, eat anything y9ou like for perhaps a long time, and think you are getting away with it. But you are not! Just remember that a chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and that some day the weak link is going to snap! When it does you may never know it any more than the thousands who suddenly drop dead each day, though you may be even less fortunate that these, for the breaking of that weak link may be the beginning of years of broken health, perhaps with much physical suffering.
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MAXIMUM BOB - Bob Whelan

(Title of article given by Stuart McRobert - Bob's first HG article.)

With permission of Hardgainer, Vol. 6, No. 2 (September-October 1994)

I come from the old school of “health first, muscle second.” I believe that if you can’t get it the natural, healthy way, it’s not worth getting. I practice what I preach and am not one of those 12-inch-arm academics. I am also not a “death-row convert” to the drug-free philosophy. Real champions never take drugs! I quit competitive powerlifting in 1983 because, even in the military, drugs were common.

I started a “personal training” business in 1990 and created a private gym in my studio apartment. My philosophy is basic exercises, hard work, and results. Business is booming. Real men want to work hard, but most “personal trainers” are the “toner” type. I have a sign over my “gym” door that says, “Maximum Bob, Proprietor of the World’s Smallest World Class Gym.” The layout has everything in its place like a Swiss army knife (only one client at a time can fit). I have a stairstepper, a rubber floor, no mirrors, no chrome, nine pieces of Jubinville-made (the best) heavy-duty black steel equipment, several York Olympic bars, and about 1,000 pounds of York (only) plates. I have slept on the floor between the equipment I plan to move to a roomier location soon.

Getting on the Right Track

Chris Hartman is one of my new clients. He looked like a walking skeleton when he arrived. He weighed 155 at 6-4! He was going to the gym 5-6 days per week and taking all sorts of exotic pills and powders, amino acids, etc. I had to twist his arm to get him to train only twice per week, and I had to twist it hard at first. But after the first workout he did not want to train more because he was so tired. He threw away his exotic “miracle” potions and powders, and burned his former training instruction.

He now eats three knife-and-fork meals a day with three snacks in between. His daily nutrition includes five fruits and vegetables, one simple multiple-vitamin-mineral pill, and two cans of tuna (or turkey/chicken). He has gained 20 pounds already. He never realized he needed food, not BS from the health food store. He is now 6-4 and 175 pounds--a long way to go, but he is a believer.
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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Autumn's Gladiators: A Tribute to College Football, by Ken Mannie

Ken is the Head Strength/Conditioning Coach
Michigan State University

Autumn in America ushers-in a special, revered tradition that we hold close to our hearts like a treasured family heirloom.
When it's autumn in America, it's time for college football.

All across the land, in big cities and small towns, in stadiums that seat over one hundred thousand and those that seat but a few thousand -- the sights, sounds, and colors of the great game are all around us. The warm, salty breezes in the east and west are scented with the spices of barbequing from tailgaters who surround the perimeters of the stadiums as if to put them under siege.

In the south, anxious crowds are making the treks toward feared and hollowed grounds with well-earned, intimidating monikers such as "The Swamp" and "Death Valley."

The trees in the north and mid-west are splashed with a kaleidoscope of brilliant hues that are rivaled only by the glistening helmets and the bright contrasts of the players' uniforms.

In East Lansing, the striking statue of "Sparty" maintains his stern, protective watch over the Michigan State campus and the green and white splendor of Spartan Stadium.

In South Bend, the Golden Dome deflects its shimmering rays and gridiron legacy down to a field once trudged on by the likes by Rockne, Leahy, and The Four Horsemen.

Ohio Stadium in Columbus emanates from the ground and into the clouds with a proud history and modern expansion melded with expert care into its great walls.

In Ann Arbor, the "Big House" is filling-up with the fans of the maize and blue who -- like all of their conference counterparts -- are brimming with lofty Big Ten expectations.

The Trojans of USC will soon storm the Coliseum, hardened with the battle scars of two consecutive national championships and just missing out on a third.

The U. of Toledo Rockets will be exploding through the wooden gates of The Glass Bowl Stadium, a grand old building constructed in 1936 through President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA) to defend their well-protected home and perennial prowess in the Mid-American Conference.

And in Alliance, Ohio, there is Mount Union Stadium, which seats just over five thousand. However, the enthusiasm of the fans, the Purple Raiders' championship demeanor, and the hardware in their trophy case take a second seat to no one. College football stadiums of all sizes are speckled across the country.

Some are near high-profile cities with the traffic congestion and all of the craziness that goes along with that setting.
Others are the centerpieces of small campuses in quaint little towns whose residents lock the shop doors, pack a picnic basket, and stroll a couple of blocks to watch the game from a grassy hillside.

It doesn't matter if the universities and colleges are members of the NCAA or the NAIA. Nor does it matter if their classification is Division 1-A, 1-AA, II, or III. Whether the players are on full athletic scholarship, receive academic-based financial assistance, or pay for school completely on their own is insignificant.

Their common thread is the game. That's what really matters. Together, they practice and play it with heart and determination to the very best of their abilities. And what a grand game it is!

Yes, autumn is here, wearing its spectrum of colors on its sleeve and shouting out the promise of many exciting Saturday afternoons on the sun-baked college football fields of America. It's time for college football. Let the great American game begin!
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ENDURANCE by Earle E. Liederman - Author and Publisher, (1926), - Chapter 2

While it is true that I am an advocate of muscle building and strength work, perhaps it is because I am still living the best years of my life, and my enthusiasm is just as keen now as it was twenty-five years ago. But I am as positive as I am of my writing this that the time will come, as my years increase, when my desire to continue my strenuous physical activities will lessen; and I know when that time comes my greatest enthusiasm in regard to the physical will be toward retaining my robust health. Strength and muscles for the sake of these alone no longer will be of interest. This is simply a law of human nature. What does a man of sixty care about competitive strength of bulging muscles? His main goal in life should be the maintenance or development of robust health and vitality.

Let the reader not misunderstand me and think that this book is a book for the older man. It is not. It is written for the benefit of all ages. But as the healthy, enthusiastic youth naturally possesses the seemingly tireless energy, I feel as though the word "endurance" will be of more interest to the one who used to be "good" and who has slipped backward—the man of middle life who recalls with longing thoughts the vigorous youth and young man that he used to be. How many times do the words enter your mind, "I used to be able to do that when I was younger," etc. I always dislike to hear anyone say these things, for, if he is not boasting, he is acknowledging that he has led such a life of physical inactivity or self-indulgence as to become—if not really a "has been," a "never was." There really is no excuse for anyone to deteriorate physically quicker than nature intended, and nature surely meant the man of forty to be in his prime of life. But how many are, at this age? Most of them are "has beens," and look much older than their years. The man of sixty or sixty-five should be in just as good health and have practically as much vitality as he had when he was thirty. Suppose a few gray hairs do appear, or a couple of lines gather on the face; what should they matter as long as he feels and acts physically like a youth of twenty-five?

Endurance work is the only exercising that the aged man, the man with the weak heart, the consumptive, or even the beginner, should indulge in, and in these cases it must be of a gentle variety and not severe enough to cause fatigue. For the man with the weak heart or the man past middle life the endurance work must be so gentle as to prevent any strain whatsoever. It should be done slowly enough and with enough pause between each two movements to give the organs and muscles a chance to recuperate.

An example of this can be gotten from walking. Put a man with a weak heart walking up a hill or a grade and the work, instead of being an exercise of simple endurance form, becomes an exercise of fatigue; whereas, even in such a condition, walking on level ground may be prolonged hour after hour without fatigue. Progression in the exercise can be made by increasing the rapidity of the steps, but this should be done very systematically and, preferably, under careful guidance.

The best example of endurance is shown by the heart. It begins work several months before birth and ceases only with death; and the only reason it is capable of such continuous contractions is because the cardiac or heart muscle rests after each heart beat, thereby recuperating sufficiently to continue beating. If the heart is overexerted through undue physical activity that greatly quickens its action or beats, the cardiac muscle cannot recuperate quickly enough and the heart becomes overtaxed.

The same thing applies to all the other muscles of the body. When exercises are indulged in which produce rapid physical fatigue, the work is strength-increasing a muscle-building; but a complete relaxation and rest must follow such a period of strenuous exercise in order to give the muscles a chance to recuperate. Otherwise the tissues will be torn down more quickly than they can be replenished and the only progress will be backward, in development, strength and energy.

No better illustration of this can be had than that of a professional circus strong man (I do not recall his name) who years ago possessed such stubborn determination regarding his exercising that it became an obsession with him. Not only was he compelled to perform numerous exhibitions in the sideshow where he worked, but his determination to add more and more muscle to his frame stimulated him to exercise for long periods at a time, serveral times a day. This he kept up month after month and year after year. But instead of his muscles growing larger and larger, they became smaller and smaller, until he died, in the prime of life. Just before his untimely death he was so nervous and thin from his self-destructive practice that he not only proved useless as an exhibitor but he developed a pale, emaciated appearance. This man positively killed himself by overwork, by prolonging his exercises beyond the time when he should have stopped; and instead of relaxing and resting and giving his muscles a chance to grow, he wore himself out.

I recall another case, that of a young man I met by chance many years ago, who was deeply interested in feats of strength and physical development in general. His one desire seemed to be to get muscularly strong. Judging by his thin, nervous appearance that there was a drain upon his vitality, I inquired into his methods of training, and learned that he exercised every day for two or three hours at a time. I told him to cut down on his training and not to exercise for more than one-half hour each day, and if he found that he did not put on more weight in a short time and if his muscles did not increase in size and his strength improve, he should exercise for one-half hour every other day. It gave me as much pleasure then to advise this young fellow as it does today to guide my enthusiastic pupils. This young man soon passed out of my mind, and it was only recently that I again, by chance, met him in another city which I was visiting. He was still thing, appearing to be not one pound heavier than when I had seen him several years ago. I asked him if he still continued exercising, and if he were as interested in physical development now as he used to be. He told me he was more enthusiastic than ever and that he exercised faithfully. He still persisted with his daily training for an hour or two at a time. The only thing I could do was to repeat my advice, but I felt that it merely went in one ear and out the other. Think of all the energy this fellow has wasted year after year, exercising for less than nothing! He is getting no stronger and no heavier, neither are his muscles increasing in size or contour; he is simply burning up tissues and wasting his energy as quickly as, if not quicker, than they can be restored.

In the case of this young man and in that of the circus performer mentioned previously, the exercising they did must be termed endurance work, and no human being can keep up strenuous, heavy endurance exercise, working hour after hour, without exhaustion of physical and nervous energies. These cases prove that endurance exercises prolonged by will power beyond the point of fatigue and repeated too often, will do more injury than good to the body.

I have emphasized the value of walking as an endurance movement. Rowing is another form of exercise that should be indulged in by those whose hearts are weak or whose years forbid heavier exertions. Whether this rowing is done on calm water or on a rowing machine, the movements can be done slowly enough and in such a mechanical way that the weakest individual can keep it up for a long period of time, usually with only beneficial results. If, on the other hand, the pace is quickened the work enters the class of muscle-building and strength-producing exercises and would prove too violent for a weak heart.

Now the question arises, when is exercise endurance work and when is it muscle-building work? What is endurance work for one may prove muscle-building work for another, and vice versa. This all depends upon the individual's strength. If a healthy young man were to go out rowing and row mechanically and slowly, with just enough pause between each two strokes to permit recuperation, he could continue hour after hour and perhaps all day; and, if he has never done this work before, the only unpleasant results arising from such a lengthy row would be a callous or two on his hands and perhaps a few sore muscles the next day. Therefore, it would seem useless and a waste of energy for any strong, healthy young man to indulge in such a light pastime unless it were done merely for pleasure.

On the other hand, should the individual have a weak heart or should he be in the declining years of life, such a long row would prove too fatiguing and would, without a doubt, overtax his heart and energies. Such an individual naturally should begin such endurance work, in the initial attempt, only for very brief periods of time. A fifteen-minute row should be sufficient for the first time, and should never under any circumstances be done in rough water, or against any great resistance if performed on the rowing machine. He will find it an easy matter to row for thirty minutes or even one hour after a sufficient time of mild preparation, providing, of course, sufficient brief pause is put in between strokes for recuperative purposes.

Walking should be progressed in the same manner—first a stroll, and at some later time the pace quickened according to the strength of the individual. That is one reason why golf is an ideal recreation for the older man, although it is not an old man's game by any means. The links are full of youths and most of the top-notchers in this game are comparatively young men.

Have you ever watched day laborers digging in the streets or working on railroad tracks? If you have you may have wondered how they could keep that work up all day long, day after day—that is if you have ever tried similar work yourself. The next time you observe a day laborer note how slowly he works. There is no haste in picking up things or moving, though should the gang foreman be around there perhaps may be more effort put forth than at other times; but as soon as the foreman leaves you will find the laborers straightening up and relaxing, even though it be for but a moment or two at a time. If it were not for this relaxation at every opportunity, and the slowness with which they work while actually "on the job," pausing between actions, they would not be able to continue their labor. Should you wish to experiment in this line yourself, just go out and shovel snow some winter day, and you will find that you cannot keep it up very long if you use the shovel with enthusiasm.

I remember that one year when returning from Europe there was a shipping strike in Sweden. The boat had to sail on time and the crew was composed mostly of young college students who volunteered to work on the boat for their passage to America. I had the good fortune to become acquainted with the staff captain, who was very hospitable in showing me around the ship. After we were a few days out we encountered very heavy seas, caused by a hurricane which had been blowing all night. The boat was pitching and tossing and the waves washed over the bow on many occasions. Fortunately I possess a stomach not easily disturbed and I never get seasick; so I gladly accepted the staff captain's invitation to visit the engine room, as he previously had informed me that owing to the storm there was more work than ever to be performed in the engine room and one after another of these young students were fainting from the heat. So down we went, deck below deck, until the air became hot and stuffy. There I saw these young fellows, some stripped to the waist, working frantically without pause, it seemed. I marveled at their endurance, and it was no wonder to me that they became exhausted and dropped from the exertion and the heat. Yet the work had to go on. The engines had to be fired. It was difficult to stand, owing to the rolling of the boat, which caused additional work for the muscles of the laborers in order to maintain body balance. This was just another illustration proving to me that relaxation is necessary, and a pause must be placed between movements. Otherwise, the limit of endurance quickly will be reached and the body will collapse.

Not so many years ago Marathon races were the craze in New York City. Around and around the track of the old Madison Square Garden these runner would go, one after the other; and it was only the goal they had in mind and the indomitable will power they had that propelled their legs even after their bodily inclinations said "stop." The result was that at the finish all would be at a point of exhaustion, and many would collapse.

Now another question arises: How much can the human body endure and with safety? It is known that a man can outrun in endurance a horse, for it has been done. We can go without sleep day after day; we can go without food or drink for an almost unbelievable time. But it is interesting to note the reaction in each instance. In the matter of exercise, if the reactions after endurance work is of severe fatigue, it proves that the movements have been carried on for too long a time. Of course, when endurance work is done as in case of necessity or in case of competition, fatigue must be expected, and such physical exertion should not be classed as exercise.

I think I am safe in classifying as endurance work any movement that can be performed with the arms over one hundred repetitions; and yet here is another example of strength work almost entering the endurance classification. In the rear part of my office I have a number of heavy barbells. I keep these on hand to test the strength of my pupils when they visit me from time to time. One day one of my star pupils asked me to show him certain methods of performing a difficult lift. While there I jokingly told I would hold with him a contest in lifting. I picked up a bar-bell which weighed either one hundred pounds or one hundred and twenty pounds. (I do not recall at the present writing which weight.) I remember lifting it over my head, with two hands, about fifty or sixty times. Then I asked him to see how many times he could perform this lift. I thought I would prove to be the winner, for at about his forty-fifth count I remember how much his back started to bend and with what difficulty he was pressing it overhead; but at the seventy-fifth count he was continuing, with the same difficulty and the same arch in his back. I marveled at the wonderful endurance his muscles possessed, and yet he was lifting a bar-bell—strength work.

This, again, shows that what is strength work for one is endurance work for another; and although seventy-five repetitions or more cannot bring the exercise strictly under the endurance class; it at least shows continued strength. And, in the final analysis, continued strength is very closely related to endurance; they seem to go hand in hand. To lift with one hand a fifty-pound dumbbell from the floor to arm's length overhead and lower again would prove quite a difficult feat of strength for a weak chap. Yet I have seen this same young man mentioned above perform this lift three hundred and fifty times without stopping.

So many times I give my students the common push-up exercise to be performed on the floor. Undoubtedly you are familiar with this movement, which consists of lying flat on the abdomen and, while keeping the body rigid, pushing up with the arms and lowering until tired. For beginners this movement is muscle-building work, but after a few months it ceases to be valuable as progressive exercising and turns into an endurance movement. I, myself, have performed this movement over one hundred and fifty times without stopping, and I know of other strong men who have accomplished this.

To lie flat on the back, with the hands placed behind the head, and then come to a sitting posture until the elbows touch the knees may prove quite an effort to one who never has done it before; yet this same movement has been done over two thousand and seven hundred times without stopping.

Some people have difficulty even in bending their knees without their joints cracking. To one who never has squatted, ten or fifteen squats would make the muscles of the thighs exceedingly lame the next day. I recall one stout woman attempting to do the squat exercise or sitting on her heels, but after lowering the body she was unable to rise again by the strength of her thigh muscles. Yet this same movement has been done over three thousand times without stopping.

How winded and exhausted the average man becomes after running one block to catch his train in the morning! And yet Paavo Nurmi will run mile after mile and at the finish appear comparatively fresh, in wind, strength and energy.

Have you ever watched the efforts of a beginner learning to swim? After twenty or thirty feet he must come out of the water, before exhaustion overtakes him. And yet Henry Elionsky, while forced to abandon an attempt to swim one hundred miles, did swim over thirty miles, in spite of the tide and rough sea that forced him to discontinue.

I relate these instances merely to show you that what is strength work for one is endurance work for another; so, therefore, what is endurance but continued strength?
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Thursday, September 11, 2008

ENDURANCE by Earle E. Liederman - Author and Publisher, (1926), - Chapter 1

Every man should be able to save his own life. He should be able to swim far enough, run fast and long enough to save his life in case of emergency and necessity. He also should be able to chin himself a reasonable number of times, as well as to dip a number of times, and he should be able to jump a reasonable height and distance.

If he is of the fat, porpoise type, naturally he cannot do all, if any, of these things; he has nobody to blame but himself, and his way of living that has brought his body into its condition of obesity.
Suppose—and it has happened many times—there should be a fire at sea or on lake or river; should one be half a mile or more from the shore, he would be mighty thankful to realize, were he compelled to jump for his life from the fire, that he could swim that distance and reach the shore in safety.

Suppose one were in a burning building and he had to lower himself hand under hand down a rope or down an improvised rope of bedclothing tied together to reach the ground in safety; he again would be thankful a thousand times that he possessed the strength and endurance in his arms and coordinate muscles that would enable him to save himself. Such things never may happen, and let us hope they do not; but what has happened always is possible to occur again—and, in fact, always is happening to some one.

While I was in the lobby of a Southern hotel one winter evening, two men came in a large rattlesnake hanging on a pole. These two men had been out that day hunting rabbits and other small game, and one of the men in stepping over a small stone fence surrounding a farm suddenly beheld this rattlesnake coiled up not three feet from him, with tail swishing and ready to spring. The reader may know that a rattlesnake can always spring its own length. The man, who had stepped with one leg over the wall, had sufficient presence of mind to realize that if he moved a muscle, the snake would spring. Therefore, he stood motionless, straddling this wall, one leg about three feet from the snake and the other leg in the grass on the other side of the stones. After remaining motionless for what he said seemed a long time, he finally nerved himself and with every ounce of strength he possessed in his legs he jumped with both feet sideways so that he cleared the wall and rolled on the ground on the other side of the stones, miraculously escaping the lunge of the rattler. As he sprang to his feet his partner quickly came to his assistance and killed the snake, which had plunged over the two-foot wall, missing the other man's leg by but a few inches.

Such incidents in the life of men seem incredible—in the realm of fiction; but it nevertheless is a true story. And, again, what has happened once may be repeated. If this man had not possessed the strong quality of muscle in his legs, developed by his constant cross-country walking (for he hunted regularly), he would not have had the ability nor the confidence to spring suddenly, as he did, to escape the poisonous bite of the reptile.

In my younger days I had to run quite a distance over the fields, at top speed, to escape the charge of a mad bull. At the end of the fields was the common farm fence; you know the kind—cross bars and jagged ends sticking up here and there. I think no one ever hurdled or vaulted with greater speed than I did on that occasion. Another rare incident—yet it happened to me; and if I had not been able to run with speed and jump or vault over the old farm fence with such quickness, there might be a different story tot ell. This is another example proving the value of endurance and well trained muscles.

Last year, while on the beach at Atlantic City, N.J., I was introduced to a robust fellow whose arm was in a sling. Naturally I asked him what had happened. He told me that the day before there was a railroad wreck, of which I had heard, not far from Atlantic City. The train was speeding at the rate of about sixty miles an hour when the rails spread, and as the train jumped the track all the coaches overturned. This fellow by chance happened to be roaming the meadows within a hundred yards of the tracks and, therefore, saw the whole catastrophe. It is hard to relate twice-told tales accurately, but he told me how he ran quickly toward the wreck as the heard the uncanny screams of the injured passengers. Time after time he climbed over a capsized car, entered the broken windows and helped the injured out to safety. Still the moans kept up. He told me his legs and arms were shaking from the fatigue of lifting and carrying the people away from the wreck; he was ready to drop. Yet he carried on, and it was in the attempt to rescue a screaming woman, who was pinned underneath one of the cars which had toppled over, that he received his injury. This car rested upon one of the trucks or set of wheels. While under this truck, which evidently was on meager balance, his arm was smashed by the collapse of the wreckage. This is an instance well illustrating the value of endurance. Think how many more lives might have been lost had this fellow not possessed the physical power to continue. If endurance may not prove useful in saving your own life, it may prove exceedingly valuable in saving the lives of others.

A man does not necessarily need to be a strong man or even a muscular athlete in order to possess endurance qualities necessary to save his own life. Neither does one need youth, as counted in years; for even in middle life a reasonable amount of endurance can be gotten by anyone who really wants it. But if the individual contents himself with living a life of ease and inactivity, drinking, smoking, over-indulging in food, and giving way to feelings or emotions, he must not expect anything but shortness of breath, unnecessary flesh, unresponsive nerves and muscles, and a sluggish mind.

I do not believe in everyone striving to be a long distance swimmer, a long distance runner, or any other kind of endurance athlete. The performance of such work necessary to acquire great endurance in all these things would, especially in later years, endanger the heart. But he should be able to swim at least half a mile or more; he should be able to run at top speed two hundred yards or more; he should be able to jump over obstacles higher than his waist; and he should be in condition to pull his body upward by the strength of his arms, until his chin touches his hands, at least fifteen to twenty times; and as for pushing ability, he should be able to dip between parallel bars or between two chairs at least twenty-five times or more. If he can accomplish these things he need have no fear concerning the safety of his life should he be forced into an emergency from which he alone may be able to save himself.

I shall not devote any space to methods of acquiring a well-proportioned and strong body, for in my book Muscle Building I have gone into this matter in detail. From this brief chapter concerning the saving of your own life and the possession of sufficient strength, endurance, coordination and responsiveness of muscles to make it possible for one to save his life, I think the reader will be more interested in learning how to acquire this reasonable amount of endurance and other qualities, which may prove essential at some time during his lifetime.
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*100% RAW September update - www.rawpowerlifting.com

**Editors Note: GENERAL info is below. Go to the website for entry forms and specific contact info etc: www.rawpowerlifting.com


Dear Lifters,
There is lots going on in the federation as the year is winding down and the World Championships are rapidly approaching. The meet results are fully updated and the National & World records are all caught up expect for the Can-Am in Vermont, Steel Valley in Ohio. Those 2 events should be updated and posted this weekend. If there are any errors in the State records please e-mail your state chairman as they now are responsible for updating and maintaining those records. I will continue to Update the World & National records for the federation. If there is not a state chairman for your state then Jim Bultemeier bodydock@aeroinc.net will be updating the Illinois records and any other state without a chairman.

I want to take this time to recognize some new State Chairman for 100% RAW. Paul Gillott who is now our chair for Arizona, Ed Horwitz is now our Iowa Chairman, Adam Auerbach is our new Nevada chairman and Kenny Tawzer is our California chairman. That brings us to a TOTAL of 26 states fully active running events and 8 more states are in the negotiating process right now. We also opened our doors to International affiliation and have had 5 countries join and be part of 100% RAW. In 2009 we are looking to have 40 states fully running meets and see our membership top 2000 active members. The Ukraine will be holding their 1st 100% RAW event in October which is a World qualifier. I am very excited to see how our lifters compare to our friends on the other side of the World. Ryan Lapadat is getting ready to put on an assault of meets in Canada for 100% RAW in 2009. Ryan lifted in the Can-Am and won 1st place and we are looking forward in seeing him and his team come compete in the Worlds in November.

Upcoming events include this weekend in Jacksonville, NC September 13 at the Gold's Gym there. This meet will be The 4th Annual Jacksonville Open. A bench, deadlift & curl event. If you want to lift in this event you will need to contact myself or Herman Canada the meet director for this event.

Next week in Bloomington, IL we have the Central Illinois Full Power/Bench Press Championships. I will personally be attending this event to Judge and meet our lifters from this region. Hey Shaun "Bud" Lyte if your free I would love to see you come and visit. Also on the same day Bret Kernoff will be hosting the Supreme Fitness Challenge II - Push-Pull, Bench Press, and Strict Curl in Brattleboro Vermont.

Here is our schedule for the rest of 2008 below.

September 13 Jacksonville Open Jacksonville, NC - Herman Canada

September 20 Supreme Fitness Challenge II - Push-Pull, Bench Press, and Strict Curl Brattleboro, VT Bret Kernoff
Contact Bret

September 20 Central Illinois Full Power/Bench Press Championships Bloomington, IL Jim Bultemeier
Contact Jim

October 18 Police, Fire, and Military Nationals Toledo, OH George Shreve
Contact Geroge

October 18 Ohio State Bench Press/Deadlift/Strict Curl/Powerlifting Championships Toledo, OH George Shreve
Contact Geroge

October 25 Iowa Bench/Push-Pull/Deadlift/Strict Curl State Championships Council Bluffs, IA Ed Horwitz
Contact Ed

November 1-2 World Powerlifting Championships Hagerstown, MD Dan Corridean
Contact Dan (240) 417-2229

November 22-23 World Bench Press Championship Norfolk, VA Paul Bossi
Contact Paul 252-339-5025

December 13 Christmas Classic BP/Curl Stanardsville, VA John Shifflett
Contact John

Our new awards page has been updated and you will find new record plaques, certificates, Ranking Certificates, trophies and Sculptures all now available online from the 100% RAW website. We also have new 100% RAW apparel shorts and shirts which we hope will be posted this weekend as well online. We have past event shirts as well for sale. The shorts come in red, blue or black and the shirts come in a variety of designs.

Please make sure to get your entry forms in on time for the World Championships. The full Powerlifting Worlds deadline is October 1, 2008 and the single lift worlds is November 1, 2008. They both are 2-day events so please read the forms to see what day you will be lifting on. One question that has come up is that on the single lift worlds "do you have to weigh in twice if you are doing the bench on Saturday and the Curl or deadlift on Sunday". The answer is yes, you will need to weigh in each day for each event. We allow a 24 hour weigh-in but not a 48 hour so please do so. I am sorry for this, I kind of dropped the ball here not thinking of the guys who are cutting big weight. This being our 1st single lift Worlds where we have added a deadlift and curl I was not sure if I wanted to break up the weight classes. I like to have the room full of energy so I did not break up the classes but the events instead.

Please make sure to reserve your Hotel rooms ASAP before they are filled up or go back into the hotel inventory. You have until 1 month before the date of the meet to reserve your room before they go back into inventory. The Hotel for the Single lift Worlds has free shuttle service to and from the Airport and also the Venue as well. There are many good restaurants to eat at new to the hotel as well and there is many sites to see within 15-30 minutes from the venue. You have Virginia Beach within 20 minutes, Norfolk about 5 minutes away and Mall's all over the place for the lady lifters, wives' and mom's.

The Single lift Worlds we give away 11k in awards each year. Best lifters in all divisions and World Championship Belts for most open weight classes as well for (female, teen, master). We look forward in seeing you there. Please e-mail for more information.

We are now looking for any business or person who wants to sponsor a World Championship belt. The cost is $250 per belt and we will give that person or business a link from our website to theirs, 2 shirts from the event and a sponsorship plaque recognizing them as a sponsor of the federation. You also will have your name engraved on the plates on the belt as a sponsor and can request a certain weight class. The weight classes are 1st come 1st serve. We will also welcome anyone who is interested in doing so for the full Powerlifting worlds as well. If you know of a friend or business that is interested we would greatly appreciate any help. We hope to get enough sponsors to follow through as we have done in the past. This year we want to add a belt for the curls and deadlift's but it will come down to a sponsor thing. We are asking for you help and assistance in getting us some sponsors so we can continue to carry on this tradition.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful year and I look forward in seeing you compete with us soon on the platform. Train hard and eat healthy.

100% RAW Powerlifting Federation, Inc.
139 Marlas Way
Camden, NC 27921
President - Paul Bossi
rawlifting@aol.com
www.rawpowerlifting.com


Physical Culture Books.com
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Sunday, September 7, 2008

Nutrition Issues in Underperforming Athletes - by Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD

“Nutrition is my missing link. I have my training down, but
my eating needs help.” Time and again, my clients express this
concern when they fail to get desired results from their
workouts. These busy people, who range from casual exer-
cisers to competitive athletes, are eating at the wrong times,
choosing the wrong balance of carbohydrates, protein and
fat, drinking too little fluids, and consuming adequate iron.
The question arises: How much better could these athletes per-
form?The answer is: Lots better! The following article high-
lights some common missing food links, and provides solu-
tions that can help you to avoid these pitfalls.

Missing link #1: Respect for the power of food

“You know, Nancy, too many athletes show up for training but
they don't show up for meals. They might as well not show up for
training...” These words, spoken by a winning Boston
College hockey coach, are true, indeed. Instead of rushing to
practice only to show up poorly fueled, you'd be better off
taking 10 minutes from your training to fuel properly and be
able to get more from your workout. Plan ahead!

Missing link #2: Eating enough during the daytime

The same athletes who show up underfueled for training
are generally the ones who undereat nourishing meals by
day, only to overeat “junk” by night. This pattern fails to
support an optimal sports diet—nor long term health.
Why do so many athletes undereat by day? Some claim
they are “too busy.” Wrong. If they can find time to train,
they can find time to fuel for training. Other athletes are pur-
posefully restricting their food intake at breakfast and lunch
with hopes of losing weight. In a survey of 425 female colle-
giate athletes, the majority wanted to lose 5 pounds. 43% of
the women reported feeling terrified of becoming over-
weight; 22% were extremely preoccupied with food and
weight. This fear that “food is fattening” certainly deters
many athletes from fueling optimally.(Beals, Intl J Sport Nutr,’02)
If you are weight-conscious, pay attention to when you eat.
Fuel adequately during the day, so you have energy to exer-
cise. You will then be less hungry at the end of the day and
be better able to “diet” at night (that is, eat less dinner or
evening snacks). After dinner, get out of the kitchen, brush
your teeth, go to bed early, and lose weight when you are
sleepinginstead of when you are trying to exercise.
Note: If you want to lose weight, you should not severely
undereat. Rather, create just a small 100- to 200-calorie
deficit. Little changes at the end of the day—like eating just
2 to 4 fewer Oreos—can knock off 100 to 200 calories a day
and theoretically lead to 10 to 20 pounds of fat loss a year.

MISSING LINK #3: Eating the right amount of calories at
evenly sized, evenly scheduled meals.

Too many athletes eat in a crescendo, with the biggest meal
in the evening. The better plan is to divide your calories
evenly throughout the day, eating every 4 hours, so you are
always in the process of fueling-up or re-fueling. Example of
a fueling plan for an active woman (or a dieting man):
Breakfast 7-8:00 AM 600 calories
Lunch 11-12 noon 600
Second Lunch 3-4:00 PM 500
Workout 5-6:30 PM -600
Dinner 7-8:00 PM 700
If you have trouble listening to bodily cues that regulate a
proper food intake, you might want to meet with a sports
dietitian who can help you estimate your calorie needs and
translate that calorie information into a food plan for a bal-
anced sports diet. To find a local sports dietitian, use the
referral network at www.SCANdpg.org.

MISSING LINK #4: Eating an appropriate amount of fat.

Athletes who eat too muchfat displace the carbs they need
to optimally fuel their muscles. That is, if you fill up on
cheese and oil in the fettuccini alfredo, you are not filling up
on the carb-rich pasta. You’ll end up with “dead legs.”
Athletes who eat too littlefat fail to replenish the fat stored
within the muscles that supports endurance performance. A
study with runners who ate a very low (16%) fat diet for a
month reports they had 14% less endurance compared to
when they ate a moderate (31% fat) diet. Their self-selected
diets were supposed to offer equal calories, but the runners
with the moderate-fat diet actually ate not only more fat but
also more calories. The extra calories did not make them fat-
ter, however. The runners had been undereating on the low
fat diet and conserving energy, and less able to perform well.
Conclusion: Including some (healthful) dietary fat in addi-
tion to adequate carbs and calories offers important fuel that
gets stored within the muscles and can improve endurance
performance. (Horvath J Am Coll Nutr ’00)

MISSING LINK #5: Fueling before you exercise

If you think you have “no time” to eat before your work-
out, think again. Eating 100 to 300 calories of a pre-exercise
snack even 5 minutes prior to exerciseenhances performance,
assuming: 1) you will be exercising at a pace you can main-
tain for more than 30 minutes and 2) you can tolerate food.
How much difference does this pre-exercise fuel make?
Lots! In a study where the subjects ate dinner, and then the
next morning exercised to exhaustion, they lasted 109 min-
utes with no breakfast, 136 minutes with breakfast (400 cals).
That’s quite an improvement! (Schabort, 1999)
In another study, athletes biked hard for 45 minutes, and
then sprinted as hard as they could for 15 minutes. When
they ate a 180-270 calorie snack just five minutes before they
exercised, they improved 10% in the last 15 minutes. They
improved 20%when they had eaten a meal four hours prior
to the exercise, then a snack 5 minutes pre-exercise. This
means: Eat breakfast and lunch, plus a pre-exercise snack
and you’ll have a stellar workout! (Neufer, 1987)
Even if you are working out for less than an hour, you
should still eat a pre-exercise snack and drink water.
Athletes who ate no breakfast, biked hard for 50 minutes
and then sprinted for 10 minutes to the finish were able to
sprint 6% harder when they consumed adequate water vs.
minimal water, 6% harder with adequate carbs vs. no carbs
and minimal water, and 12% harder with a sports drink
(adequate carbs + water). (Below, 1995). Fueling works!
One way to organize your pre-exercise fueling is to plan
to eat part of the upcoming meal prior to your workout. For
example, if you exercise in the morning, enjoy a banana
before your workout, and then afterwards refuel with the
rest of your breakfast, such as a bagel and a yogurt. If you
exercise at lunch, eat half a sandwich before you workout
and then enjoy the rest of your lunch afterwards. For after-
noon or afterwork sessions, enjoy a granola bar or some gra-
ham crackers pre-exercise, then refuel with chocolate milk.
Whatever you do, don’t let nutrition be your missing link.
Pay attention to what, when and how much you eat. You
will always win with good nutrition!

Nancy Clark, MS, RD, CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports
Dietetics) offers private consultations to casual and competitive ath-
letes in her practice at Healthworks, the premier fitness center in
Chestnut Hill MA(617-383-6100). Her Sports Nutrition Guidebook (2008),
Food Guide for Marathoners, and Cyclist’s Food Guide are available via
www.nancyclarkrd.com. See also sportsnutritionworkshop.com.


Physical Culture Books.com
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