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Wholistic Revolution

Conjugate - the end to boredom - Good Morning Edition

4/10/2017

Last week we looked at the squat. Today we will look at the last movement in our series - the good morning. If you want a strong lower back and abs, then good mornings are a must. With that being said, this IS NOT a max effort movement, meaning that you should not try to achieve a one rep max in any good morning variation. It's simply too dangerous. We opt for sets of 5 here at our facility.

Remember from last week- a lack of variation in training is a sure fire way to accommodate, which is the last thing you would want, as gains will stall and if loads continue to increase, injury is on the horizon. As Dr. Ben Tabachnik is credited with saying, "The goal of training is to never accommodate." This holds true for all training.

How can a conjugate, or concurrent system of training help avoid accommodation? Simply by constantly changing the stimuli - different movements, bars, resistance, grips etc - you never give your body a chance to adapt. How can we apply this to the good morning?

Here is a short list of all of the variables that you could rotate/combine to never accommodate. The combinations are endless. Remember to shoot for the heaviest weight you can lift for a set of 5 reps in every lift variation and keep track of your records!

1. Choose a lift:

-Arch back
-Rounded back

2. Choose a bar:

-Safety squat bar
-Cambered squat bar
-Straight bar
-Bow bar

3. Choose a stance:

-Close
-Medium
-Wide

4. Choose a type:

-Standing good morning (skip to #6)
-Seated good morning

5. Choose a box type:

-Hard normal surface
-Softer foam surface

6. Choose a Range of Motion (ROM):

-Small (chest above parallel to the ground)
-Medium (chest parallel to the ground)
-Large (belly to knees)

7. Choose a method:

-Standard
-Pause on pins
-Concentric only (starting from pins)

8. Choose a variable resistance method:

-Bands
-Chains
-None

9. Choose the amount of variable resistance:

-Bands (vs. mini, vs. or with monster mini, vs. or with light, with average, with strong)
-Chains (vs. 1,2,3,4 or 5+ sets of chain)

There you have it! The combinations of lifts are nearly endless. If you know what you are doing, you may only need 5 or 6 variations to rotate through, others may need upwards of 25 or more. It is crucial to set records in each variation and strive to break your previous record every time it comes up in your rotation. Now do some good mornings!

CONJUGATE - THE END TO BOREDOM - Squat EDITION

4/3/2017

Last week we looked at the bench press. Today we will look at the "grand daddy" of all movements - the king - the squat. Remember from last week- a lack of variation in training is a sure fire way to accommodate, which is the last thing you would want, as gains will stall and if loads continue to increase, injury is on the horizon. As Dr. Ben Tabachnik is credited with saying, "The goal of training is to never accommodate." This holds true for all training.

How can a conjugate, or concurrent system of training help avoid accommodation? Simply by constantly changing the stimuli - different movements, bars, resistance, grips etc - you never give your body a chance to adapt. How can we apply this to the squat?

Here is a short list of all of the variables that you could rotate/combine to never accommodate. The combinations are endless. Remember to shoot for max efforts in every lift variation and keep track of your records!

1. Choose a lift:

-Front squat
-Back squat
-Anderson squat (squatting from the bottom up)
-Zercher squat (skip to #4)

2. Choose a bar:

-Safety squat bar
-Cambered squat bar
-Straight bar
-Bow bar

3. Choose a stance:

-Close
-Medium
-Wide

4. Choose a type:

-Free squat (skip to #6)
-Box squat

5. Choose a box type:

-Hard normal surface
-Softer foam surface

6. Choose a method:

-Standard
-Concentric only (starting from pins)

7. Choose a depth:

-Below parallel
-Parallel
-Above parallel

8. Choose a variable resistance method:

-Bands
-Chains
-None

9. Choose the amount of variable resistance:

-Bands (vs. mini, monster mini, light, average, strong)
-Chains (vs. 1,2,3,4 or 5+ sets of chain)

There you have it! The combinations of lifts are nearly endless. If you know what you are doing, you may only need 5 or 6 variations to rotate through, others may need upwards of 25 or more. It is crucial to set 1 rep maxes in each variation and strive to break your previous record every time it comes up in your rotation. Now get squatting!

conjugate - the end to boredom - Bench press edition

3/27/2017

Last week we looked at the deadlift. Today we tackle a movement that quite possibly is used in more gyms with less variation than any of the other major lifts - the bench press. Remember from last week- a lack of variation in training is a sure fire way to accommodate, which is the last thing you would want, as gains will stall and if loads continue to increase, injury is on the horizon. Cue up the torn rotator cuff, biceps, or the dreaded pec tear. As Dr. Ben Tabachnik is credited with saying, "The goal of training is to never accommodate."

How can a conjugate, or concurrent system of training help avoid accommodation? Simply by constantly changing the stimuli - different movements, bars, resistance, grips etc - you never give your body a chance to adapt. How can we apply this to the bench press?

Here is a short list of all of the variables that you could rotate/combine to never accommodate. The combinations are endless. Remember to shoot for max efforts in every lift variation and keep track of your records!

1. Choose a lift:

-Flat bench
-Incline bench
-Decline bench
-Floor press

2. Choose a bar:

-Straight bar
-Fat grip/bar
-Swiss/football bar
-Arch/cambered bar
-Bandbell bar

3. Choose a grip:

-Close
-Medium
-Wide

4. Choose a type:

-Full range of motion (skip to #7)
-Board press

5. Choose a board:

-1 board
-2 board
-3 board

6. Choose a board type:

-Hard normal surface
-Softer or foam surface

7. Choose a accommodating resistance method:

-Bands
-Chains
-None

8. If using accommodating resistance, choose amount of resistance:

-Bands (vs. or with mini, monster mini, light, average, strong band)
-Chains (vs. 1 set up to 4 sets of chain)

There you have it! The combinations of lifts are nearly endless. If you know what you are doing, you may only need 5 or 6 variations to rotate through, others may need upwards of 25 or more. It is crucial to set 1 rep maxes in each variation and strive to break your previous record every time it comes up in your rotation. Now get pressing!

conjugate - the end to boredom - deadlift edition

3/20/2017

If there is one constant I see in the average trainee these days, it is over-reliance on the same exercises, day in - day out with no variation. A lack of variation in training is a sure fire way to accommodate, which is the last thing you would want, as gains will stall and if loads continue to increase, injury is on the horizon. As Dr. Ben Tabachnik is credited with saying, "The goal of training is to never accommodate."

How can a conjugate, or concurrent system of training help avoid accommodation? Simply by constantly changing the stimuli - different movements, bars, resistance, grips etc - you never give your body a chance to adapt. How can we apply this to a real world movement, say the deadlift?

Here is a short list of all of the variables that you could rotate/combine to never accommodate. The combinations are endless. Remember to shoot for max efforts in every lift variation and keep track of your records!

1. Choose a lift:

-Sumo
-Conventional

2. Choose a bar:

-Straight bar
-Fat grip/bar

3. Choose a grip:

-Alternating
-Double overhand
-Snatch grip

4. Choose a range of motion:

-Standard
-Deficit
-Pin/Rack Pull
-Pull off raised mats

5. Choose a setting:

-Deficit (from 1 inch to 4 inches)
-Pin/Rack Pull (from pin 1 to pin 4)
-Pull off raised mats (from 1 in to 4 inches)

6. Choose a surface to stand on:

-Hard normal surface
-Soft foam or mat surface

7. Choose a accommodating resistance method:

-Bands
-Chains
-None

8. If using accommodating resistance, choose amount of resistance:

-Bands (vs. or with mini, monster mini, light, average, strong band)
-Chains (vs. 1 set up to 4 sets of chain)

There you have it! The combinations of lifts are nearly endless. If you know what you are doing, you may only need 5 or 6 variations to rotate through, others may need upwards of 25 or more. It is crucial to set 1 rep maxes in each variation and strive to break your previous record every time it comes up in your rotation. Now get deadlifting!

the article that changed everything...

5/25/2016

The Article That Changed Everything - 6/6/14

Below you will find an article written by Mark Twight, founder of Gym Jones (www.gymjones.com). It is in my humble opinion the single greatest article I have ever read....so important to me in fact, that it is hanging on my refrigerator. I stare at it every day in the morning. Read it, digest it, and if it moves you, move on it. Here you go:

What's your problem? I think I know. You see it in the mirror every morning: temptation and doubt hip to hip inside your head. You know it's not supposed to be like this. But you drank the Kool-Aid and dressed yourself up in someone else's life.

You're haunted because you remember having something more. With each drag of the razor you ask yourself why you piss your blood into another man's cup. Working at the job he offered, your future is between his thumb and forefinger. And the necessary accessories, the proclamations of success you thought gave you stability provide your boss security. Your debt encourages acquiescence, the heavy mortgage makes you polite.

Aren't you sick of being tempted by an alternative lifestyle, but bound by chains of your own choosing? Of the gnawing doubt that the college graduate, path of least resistance is the right way for you - for ever? Each weekend you prepare for the two weeks each summer when you wake up each day and really ride, or climb; the only imperative being to go to bed tired. When booming thermals shoot you full of juice and your Vario shrieks 7m/sec, you wonder if the lines will pop. The risk pares away life's trivia. Up there, sucking down the thin cumulus, the earth looks small, the boss even smaller, and you wish it could go on forever. But a wish is all it will ever be.

Because the ground is hard. Monday morning is harsh. You wear the hangover of your weekend rush under a strict and proper suit and tie. You listen to NPR because it's inoffensive, PFC: Politically Fucking Correct. Where's the counter-cultural righteousness that had you flirting with Bad Religion and the vintage Pistols tape over the weekend? On Monday you eat frozen food and live the homogenized city experience. But Sunday you thought about cutting your hair very short. You wanted a little more volume and wondered how out of place you looked in the Sub Pop Music Store. Flipping through the import section, you didn't recognize any of the bands. KMFDM? It stands for Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode. Didn't you know? How could you not?

Tuesday you look at the face in the mirror again. It stares back, accusing. How can you get by on that one weekly dose? How can you be satisfied by the artifice of these experiences? Why should your words mean anything? They aren't learned by heart and written in blood. If you cannot grasp the consciousness-altering experience that real mastery of these disciplines proposes, of what value is your participation? The truth is pointless when it is shallow. Do you have the courage to live with the integrity that stabs deep?

Use the mirror to cut to the heart of things and uncover your true self. Use the razor to cut away what you don't need. The life you want to live has no recipe. Following the recipe got you here in the first place:

Mix one high school diploma with an undergrad degree and a college sweetheart. With a whisk (or a whip) blend two cars, a poorly built house in a cul de sac, and fifty hours a week working for a board that doesn't give a shit about you. Reproduce once. Then again. Place all ingredients in a rut, or a grave. One is a bit longer than the other. Bake thoroughly until the resulting life is set. Rigid. With no way out. Serve and enjoy.

"You see your face reflected there in a sweating brow, you hate what you see, but what can be done when there's no way out, no way out?"
The Chameleons, "Intrigue in Tangiers"

But there is a way out. Live the lifestyle instead of paying lip service to the lifestyle. Live with commitment. With emotional content. Live whatever life you choose honestly. Give up this renaissance man, dilettante bullshit of doing a lot of different things (and none of them very well by real standards). Get to the guts of one thing; accept, without reservation or rationalization, the responsibility of making a choice. When you live honestly, you can not separate your mind from your body, or your thoughts from your actions.

"If you really want to hurt them and their children not yet born tell them the truth always".
Henry Rollins, from the book See a Grown Man Cry

Tell the truth. First, to yourself. Say it until it hurts. Learn the reality of your own selfishness. Quit living for other people at the expense of your own self, you're not really alive. You live in the land of denial - and they say the view is pretty a long as you remain asleep.

Well it's time to WAKE THE FUCK UP!

So do it. Wake up. When you drink the coffee tomorrow, take it black and notice it. Feel the caffeine surge through you. Don't take it for granted. Use it for something. Burn the Grisham books. Sell the bad CDs. Mariah Carey, Dave Mathews and N Sync aren't part of the soundtrack where you're going.

Cut your hair. Don't worry about the gray. If you're good at what you do, no one cares what you look like. Go to the weight room. Learn the difference between actually working out and what you've been doing. Live for the Iron and the fresh air. Punish your body to perfect your soul. Kick the habit of being nice to everyone you meet. Do they deserve it? Say "no" more often.

Quit posturing at the weekly parties. Your high pulse rate, your 5.12s and quick time on the Slickrock Trail don't mean shit to anybody else. These numbers are the measuring sticks of your own progress; show, don't tell. Don't react to the itch with a scratch. Instead, learn it. Honor the necessity of both the itch and the scratch. But a haircut and a new soundtrack do not a modern man make. As long as you have a safety net you act without commitment. You'll go back to your old habits once you meet a little resistance. You need the samurai's desperateness and his insanity.

Burn the bridge. Nuke the foundation. Back yourself up against a wall. Have an opinion one way or the other, get off the fence and rip it up. Cut yourself off so there is no going back. Once you're committed the truth will come out. You ask about security? What you need is uncertainty. What you need is confusion; something that forces you to reinvent yourself, a whip to drive you harder.

"I never try anything - I just do it. Want to try me?
White Zombie, sample from "Thunder Kiss" pulled from the Russ Meyer film "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!"

In Dune, Frank Herbert called it "the attitude of the knife," cut off what's incomplete and say "now it has finished, for it has ended there." So finish it, and walk away, forward. Only acts undertaken with commitment have meaning. Only your best effort matters. Life is a Meritocracy, with death as the auditor. Inconsistency, incompetence and lies are all cut short by that final word. Death will change you if you can't change yourself.

"If I can change one, then I can change two. If I can change two, then I can change four. If I can change four, then I can change eight. If I can change eight, then I can change."

One Minute Silence, "If I Can Change"

is a calorie a calorie?

5/24/2016

Talk like the statement above has been around since at least the 1970's, probably longer. "A calorie is a calorie," "calories in vs. calories out" and recent, more sophisticated drivel like "If it fits your macro's," - referring to being able to eat anything under the sun as long as it fits into your predetermined nutrient ratios - are all staples of the general public's nutritional verbiage.

Let's face it, we despise counting calories and have done enough to document that the practice is complete bullshit, but if your Aunt Rita needs to "lose some weight," you can bet dollars to donuts (no pun intended) that the first thing she going to do after she begins the process of starving herself is to confirm that starvation by manically counting everything she eats. This is ingrained in the public psyche. Well, here are a few more reasons to sound the alarm...

Dr. David Ludwig, the director of the obesity program at Boston Children’s Hospital, argues that they are not. In recent studies, Dr. Ludwig has shown that high-carbohydrate diets appear to slow metabolic rates compared to diets higher in fat and protein, so that people expend less energy even when consuming the same number of calories. Dr. Ludwig has found that unlike calories from so-called low glycemic foods (like beans, nuts and non-starchy vegetables), those from high glycemic foods (such as sugar, bread and potatoes) spike blood sugar and stimulate hunger and cravings, which can drive people to overeat.

"While people can certainly lose weight in the short term by focusing on calories," Dr. Ludwig said, studies show that the majority of people on calorie-restricted diets eventually fail. “The common explanation is that people have difficulty resisting temptation,” he said. “But another possibility is that highly processed foods undermine our metabolism and overwhelm our behavior.” Interesting indeed!

At Harvard Medical School, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology, has said that the long-held idea that we get fat solely because we consume more calories than we expend is based on outdated science. You don't say....

He has studied the effects that different foods have on weight gain and said that it is true that 100 calories of fat, protein and carbohydrates are the same in a thermodynamic sense, in that they release the same amount of energy when exposed to a Bunsen burner in a lab. But in a complex organism like a human being, he said, these foods influence satiety, metabolic rate, brain activity, blood sugar and the hormones that store fat in very different ways.

Studies also show that calories from different foods are not absorbed the same. When people eat high-fiber foods like nuts and some vegetables, for example, only about three-quarters of the calories they contain are absorbed. The rest are excreted from the body unused. So the calories listed on their labels are not what the body is actually getting.

“The implicit suggestion is that there are no bad calories, just bad people eating too much,” Dr. Mozaffarian said. “But the evidence is very clear that not all calories are created equal as far as weight gain and obesity. If you’re focusing on calories, you can easily be misguided.”

Giant food corporations, being the super-villains they are, have responded with what you can expect... a recent food industry initiative – led by companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo – to remove calories from their products in an effort to address obesity. “If somebody is drowning in a swimming pool, you could remove a few gallons of water from the pool, and that person will still likely drown,” Dr. Ludwig said. “Whether there is on average 1,000 calories in the food supply too many per person or 800 is really unlikely to make a meaningful difference. What would make a difference is improvement in the quality of the foods available.”

Improvement in the quality of the foods available? That sounds like something we would say!

take the power back....

5/23/2016

Does the thought of going to the grocery store leave you in a cold sweat? We know...the aisles are littered with deceptive marketing tactics, word-scams, and the sheer number of choices can make your head spin. It's no wonder the average person "gives-up" (for lack of a better word) and purchases the first things they see in the category of products they are looking for or falls for some of the above mentioned scams (i.e. "healthy," "natural," and "enriched" to name a few. Here are a few key things to remember when trying to "take your power back."

Stop buying all non-organic processed foods. Instead, build your diet around whole, unprocessed foods, especially raw fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats from coconut oil, avocadoes, organic pastured meat, dairy and eggs, and raw nuts
Buy most of your foods from your local farmer's market and/or organic farm
Cook most or all your meals at home using whole, organic ingredients
Frequent restaurants that serve organic, cooked-from-scratch, local food. Many restaurants, especially chain restaurants (Chipotlé is a rare exception), use processed foods made by GMA members for their meals
Buy only heirloom, open-pollinated, and/or organic seeds for your garden. This includes both decorative plants and edibles
Boycott all lawn and garden chemicals (fertilizers, pesticides, etc.) unless they are "OMRI Approved," which means they are allowed in organic production. If you use a lawn service, make sure they're using OMRI Approved products as well
Become an avid label reader. If you see something on a label and do not know what it is, no matter what it is, don't buy it
Join the Organic Consumers Association's new campaign, "Buy Organic Brands that Support Your Right to Know"

*credit to www.mercola.com for the list

why can't we be friends?

3/9/2016

Ahhh.....the never ending debate about what is the "best program." Is it Crossfit? Bodybuilding style perhaps? How about powerlifting? Maybe Olympic lifting? What about endurance training? The list is endless and has sparked much debate, smack talking and hurt feelings throughout the years. Is a best program even a real tangible thing to be discovered to begin with? Let's start with some history shall we?

Everything flows in cycles. Training protocols are no different. If you go back in history and do some reading you'll find that the late 1800's to say 1940's were dominated with articles and info on being strong.....really strong....what some today might call "strongman" or "powerlifting." Performing "feats of strength" was the order of the day. Flash forward from the 40's and you have the "bodybuilding renaissance." The advent of movies and T.V. gave importance to the way you looked - not just how strong you were - and movie stars like Steeve Reeves, the first Mr. Olympia Larry Scott and a little known Austrian fellow by the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger made "bodybuilding" the order of the day. This period reached its peak in the late 70's to early 80's and to its credit (or not depending on who you talk to) gave us much of what the average person knows about strength training and whose methodology is still followed by tons of people in gyms across America. The next wave to hit our shores was in the form of an endurance based protocol - specifically running - whose stars - Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers - brought running out of the shadows much like bodybuilders did to their training style in the 40's. Its estimated that 25 million people engaged in some aspect of running in the 70's and 80's. The 90's saw a return back to being strong with the success of American Olympic lifter Mark Henry and the return of powerlifting to the table in terms of what some deemed a "science based" approach to training. From the year 2000 we have seen the onslaught of Crossfit and its myriad of "oh so similar" in design but different in name style training programs who have seemed (again according to some) to throw science and logic out the window in favor of a hybridized ultra intense form of training that is probably at its apex in terms of popularity currently.

Now that you've been brought up to speed, is any one of these the best? The short answer is NO. The great Charles Poliquin once said, "Everything works....but for only so long." The body adapts to the demands placed upon it. It does this through the principle of specificity. Lift heavy loads (under 5 reps) and you will get stronger. Run 5 miles a day and you will improve your cardiovascular capability....at running 5 miles a day. Do the same thing over and over for long enough and the timeline will go to zero - you will stop making progress. The problem with all of these camps is in their rigid dogmatic approaches. Even the haphazard, non programmed, just make it really hard approach of Crossfit is dogmatic.

The best training program is one that addresses your needs specifically. Trust me, I rip on bodybuilding - this is largely due in part to the people that make up the activity - not the style of training. Believe me, (I have competed in bodybuilding, running and powerlifting) the self absorbed, idiot bodybuilder puts on running shorts and is now self absorbed, idiot runner, who then decides to powerlift and puts on a singlet and becomes self absorbed, idiot powerlifter. But if a young kid came to me with the specific goal of getting bigger (hypertrophy) I would not rule out programming a body-part split style of training like you see in bodybuilding. What works is just that....it works. Lest we also forget that the body's needs change frequently - a woman in her 50's that is worried about osteoporosis should be lifting heavy loads - like a powerlifter would - to help her bones stay strong. An adventure racer in his 30's would need a multi-faceted approach based on the demands of his race.

To finish, there are a few things that you can take to the bank when looking at solid programming. Does it have an end goal in mind? Is it progressive? Are there factors that are being attended to or manipulated - rest periods, volume, load, and tempo come to mind. Instead of spending time trashing each other we should be coming together in the pursuit of enhanced performance - whatever that might be - and a more quality lifestyle.

wanna bad nights sleep? Do these....

2/23/2016

1. Drink Alcohol - Although alcohol will help you fall asleep faster, it interferes with sleep later into the night. This is probably due to its disastrous effects on testosterone and growth hormone, both of which are released when the body has reached its lowest temperature - usually after 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

2. Drink Caffeine - A caffeine blast too late in the day can keep you up. Caffeine takes awhile to clear your system so chill out after 3 p.m. You can take extra Vitamin C to help clear it out and mitigate the effects it will also have on your adrenals. If you are drinking it for the "energy," then you need a nutritional/sleep overhaul ASAP.

3. Spicy and Acidic Foods - Take it easy on the spices before bed. These can cause stomach issues that will keep you up. If you tend to favor acidic foods later in the day (meat being a good example) make sure that you counterbalance your protein with enough green vegetables (broccoli is a great alkaline veggie). I know, I know meat rules - hedge your bet by taking some high quality digestive enzymes with your meal to ensure optimal breakdown and utilization.

4. Workout - A workout to late in the evening will keep you up. Besides breaking a sweat you are promoting the release of tons of chemicals in your body. Some of these promote alertness and can keep you up. If you must train keep it to the strength training side of things - America's obsession with long slow cardio will keep you up and make you fat...how's that for a combo!

ownership part 2....

2/12/2016

How do we solve the ownership transfer issue? Well, all you need to get started is a mirror. Look into it. The first person that you see is the one responsible for your issues. Oh wait, that's you! It may sound brutal, but you, and you alone, must take responsibility for the predicaments that you find yourself in. I know - as stated previously, society has a ready made reason for every one of your shortcomings and this seemingly from birth psychological programming can be hard, if not seemingly impossible to overcome.

You got yourself into the mess your in and your going to have to get yourself out. Some would call this "accountability." We simply call it being responsible for what you create. If I think about this one hard enough, there is literally no situation that I have not been fully responsible for when it comes to my health and vitality. When I was in college, I willingly participated in drinking beers with my buddies - they never forced me. When I finally got hip to how terrible that was I quit and haven't drank since. There is now no situation that I can justify drinking in and no one will get me to bend on that one. Every time I have missed a training session in my life it was of my own doing - I left work late and got in a traffic jam, I stayed up too late studying and missed my alarm. Nobody to blame but little old me.

The road to radical honesty with yourself will be a bumpy one. But in the end, your success....or your failure will rest squarely on your shoulders, and in hindsight that's where you will want it to be.