2 Asses 1 Horse

I apologize but this will come across as a bit ranty but stick with me as I will actually have some helpful advice regarding this pitfall by the end. Anyone who has ever been out of shape and anyone who has ever been a trainer will be able to relate to this. Joe is fat, out of shape, and weak. He reaches out to the Googles and searches for ways to not only lose weight it also get super jacked at the same time. All the supplement websites he is pointed to say "WE CAN HELP!" Tiny disclaimer: results vary. You need to eat right and exercise while on this supplement. Etc. So as a reasonably not dumb person Joe reaches out to fitness experts and hears options from: he needs to focus on one first and get the other secondly all the way over to both can happen at the same time....at least at first. (Yay Beginner GAINZ!)

Here's the problem you have 1 ass and are trying to ride two horses. The bigger issue is they aren't going in the same direction! It doesn't work and for ideal results you need to focus on one. "Joe!" I say as I smack him across the face. "You took 20 years to become a fat slob! Is it too much to ask to take 6 months to lean out and then 6 months to focus on building?" 

"Yes." Joe says rubbing his reddening cheek.

I try to shake the thick-headedness out of him but it doesn't work. 

If you are like Joe this next part is for you. Here are some rules and facts that can help guide you on your double horse one assness thing. First let's at least get the horses going the same direction. Realize that this will be less efficient in general than focusing on one goal. Also understand that if you are new to training or it's been years since you were in good shape everything will work amazingly well for both goals but after a while you will find it harder to do both. That's where this framework comes in.

Rule 1: you need a slight calorie deficit to lose fat. If you want to keep muscle though, try not to reduce intake by much. Maybe only a 250-500 calorie reduction per day. Focus on eating your protein first then eat your carbs. This will ensure you are getting enough to keep muscle mass. I know it's sad to not eat all of your bread but hey you wanted to ride this pony so own it.

Rule 2: Lift weights. Got to build those muscles. What do you think toning is? You can't tone a muscle that's non existent. Stick to 12 or less reps so you can build muscle and strength.

Rule 3: focus on food intake not cardio. If you feel like you need to do cardio to appease your lack of understanding go for it but do short intervals with relatively long rest periods. Stuff like 1 minute on and 2 minutes off work well and don't go longer than 20-30 minutes. Long jogs for an hour and a half every day will make you crazy hungry and possibly eat away at that muscle you've been trying to build, but mainly the food splurge is the derailer here.

There you go. So do this for a year and get worse results than if you focused on one for 6 months then the other.

"But hey, what do I know Joe? You are definitely the expert here right?"

At least with these rules you will have some kind of progress and not waste as much time as most people do.

Talk Soon,

Dan Mason

Strongman competitor in the 242lb and 275lb classes and a pro powerlifter in the RPS 275lb class. He is also an Elite level lifter in the USPA/IPA. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004. For other fun stuff check his Instagram @RoninStr

Posting Lifts: Vain, Useful, or Both?

So if you are a lift you are most likely guilty of posting your lifts and workouts online. If  you don't work out then, first off, why the heck are you reading this? Second you are probably super annoyed with your "meathead" friends who fill up your Facebook and Instagram with their stupid videos.

So lets start off with the negatives. There is definitely a pretty big vanity issue here. That's just speaking from my personal experience as a selfish glory-seeking douchebag of a man. I like it when people like my posts and comment on how strong I am and how they want to get to those numbers some day. Now let me just say I am not dumb enough to say that I have great numbers. I am realistically about 200lbs shy on my squat and deadlift to be making such claims, but it's still nice to be appreciated. Another annoying thing about it is that every 20 year old 150lb dude with abs talks about how awesome they are and offers online coaching even though they have no experience coaching anyone nor have the vast majority every accomplished anything of note in their personal strength and physique careers. As a side note I offer online training and diet plans. Unfortunately I am currently abless. A final thing that gets tiresome is the guys who are too new to boast decent numbers (not that they can't get there eventually) calling depth and missed lock outs on people like the Lillibridges or Brandon Lilly coming off knee surgery and only hitting near depth with over 600lbs. (If you don't know who the aforementioned guys are stop reading right now and go Google that crap!) Typically these guys are like 17 years old with private accounts and can't bench 2 plates or squat 2 plates for that matter. Hatorade at it's finest. It's almost more sad than irritating because if they took that energy and spent it eating and lifting they would be getting closer to being the ones hated on instead of where they currently find themselves. This actually leads right into one of the positives.

One of the great things about posting online is that people will call you out for depth. They may be right, they may be wrong, but you will find yourself trying to squat deep enough that no one can say anything. Scratch that...if you go too deep people will tell you it's bad for your knees. Also you can actually get feedback from big names in the sport. Try tagging some bigger named guys on your videos and every now and then you will get a coaching tip or too from them. That also will help with your vanity needs! Screen shot that and send it to all your friends! I know I do! Another cool thing is that with all kinds of folks posting you can study different forms of technique and even analyze top lifters to see what they do and if it can be applied to you. It requires a bit of critical thinking but it's still a great tool. Lastly with so many people posting it brings awareness to the Altar of Iron we all have come to love and respect. Maybe one day we won't be looked at as freaks because enough people will be out there moving some serious weight or eating out of Tupperware for it to be considered odd. So post away, let the haters hate, and reach out to some big names for advice. The great thing about the gym life is that the most famous people out there will actually respond to you.

So comment below and tell me what you think. Any I missed?

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and diet plans email roninstr@gmail.com

Training Solo or in a Group?

 

 

Now this is a fun topic. I have found myself on both sides of this topic at times. Spoiler alert I lean toward the group side these days. That's not to say I don't enjoy the solo side at times. It definitely feels more meditative and I pretend that I'm way more hardcore than people who rely on people to perform. Honestly for me though it's just not the case. If your training is tough enough that it produces great performance results then it definitely gets easier to skip workouts or do less sets than you are supposed to. Accountability brings success in so many avenues of life why wouldn't you want it applied by default in your lifting life. 

Also I am a freaking show off so having people around to be amazed by my awesomeness is kind of nice. It sucks really bad when people stronger than you are there if you are a straight ego lifter. The flip side is that if you are surrounded by people better than you it tends to raise the bar and you will progress way faster. The little fish in a big pond gets bigger or gets eaten. Be the little fish and grow your ass off.

A final thing that's pretty beneficial is coaching and keeping you honest. If you are squatting high and you are solo it's pretty easy to convince yourself it was a good rep. If you are with a crew they can and should call your butt out.

Yep after my last trip to the Mash Compound I am having a really hard time being okay with flying solo. Find a crew and start progressing.

So what's your experience? Solo or Group?

Talk soon,

Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes and a powerlifter in the 275lb class. He holds instructor level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been training people for strength and martial arts since 2004.

You can follow Dan on Instagram @RoninStr
For training and diet plans email roninstr@gmail.com

So you want to do a cleanse?

So it's definitely not as popular as it used to be but I still have clients ask me about cleanses at least weekly. So here we go I will try to clear up this murky water a bit. My knee jerk reaction is to tell people "don't waste your money or stress." There are a few good reasons to partake in this nonsense though, but first let's blow some crap out of the water.

If you already are eating mostly whole clean foods and are taking probiotics then a cleanse is going to do exactly jack for you. If you have been eating total crap like most people do then a cleanse may be a great way to start some new beneficial habits or it will do exactly jack for you. Here's the problem from my own personal observations: People who consistently eat like crap tend to be the folks who want to try a cleanse to lose some lbs. The advertising is tailor made for these people in a damn near predatory manner. Lose up to 15 pounds in 10 days! Drop a dress size in 3 days! While this may be true if you do what the fine print says and drop all fried foods, processed carbs or carbs altogether, eat only quality low fat meats, and rock some vegetables, I know a much larger number of folks who just pop the pills lose maybe a pound of water weight and wonder what happened. Look at what you are doing on this type of cleanse if done properly. Typically you are taking probiotics which will replace the bad bacteria in your gut with good bacteria which can pull more nutrients out of the food you consume. There is also usually some sort of water pill that will make you pee out one orifice or another more than normal thus dropping some water weight and making you feel like you are "getting rid of toxins." The bigger changes are coming from your diet though. If you are used to eating a ton of fat and carbs and you basically take those out of your diet you will drop weight. The high fat fried foods coming out will drop you daily calorie intake substantially and if you drop all non fibrous carbs you will drop about 10 lbs of water in the first week. So what did you actually pay for? Really just the probiotic, assuming the cleanse you bought even had one in it which many don't. Now bear in mind this is an example of the kind of cleanse that is better than the more common cleanse fads.

Most commonly you see a 3-5 day juice cleanse. It is marketed as a juice cleanse but really it's a fast combined with soiling yourself multiple times a day if you aren't within arm's reach of a bathroom. You will lose a substantial amount of weight on this type of cleanse. You will also feel like death. But hey, you will fit into that damn dress until you decide to stop being anorexic and eat some food. Think back to the last time you had the flu. You sweated out a ton of water, puked and pooped your brains out, and didn't eat for multiple days. How many pounds did you lose? A bunch right? So with these kinds of cleanses you basically are choosing to do to your body what we take vaccines for to prevent. Worse yet you paid money for this privilege and probably made 2 of your friends do it with you! That right there is messed up.

Alright .... sorry about that. My rant is over for a moment. I promise. The good thing about cleanses though, is they force you to put your wallet where your desires are. Do not underestimate this. Even if it was a sugar pill. If you dropped $10,000.00 you would make sure you get the results you were supposed to get just out of the fear of embarrassment.

Here's what is the actual solution is though:
1. Clean up your diet pretty much in line with the first example's recommendations.
2. If you want to consume carbs try to center them around your workouts within a few hours.
3. Take a probiotic when you are getting started for the first month or so.

And that's it. Bad gut bacteria which prevent your body from getting all the nutrients from your food come about as a result of a high sugar high calorie diet. If you rectify that then the bad bacteria die off and the probiotics load  you up with the good little guys. You will now get the benefits of your body absorbing the nutrients from all of the high quality foods you are eating and you drop weight. Real weight. As in fat. Not just water and muscle.

The only product rivaling the level of shenanigans found within the juice cleanse is the It Works crowd. Oh gosh I need to stop writing. I feel another rant coming on.

Talk Soon

Dan Mason

 Dan is a nationally ranked amateur

strongman competitor in the 242lb

and 275lb classes. He holds instructor

level ranks in Taekwondo, Muay Thai,

and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He as been

training people for strength and martial

arts since 2004.

RoninSTR@gmail.com

Instagram: @RoninSTR
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVA3x_kvPOFMsxouGjhYRnQ