Retirees taking the time to build muscle to help themselves reduce the risks of age-related illness by working out in a group – setting to off-set the on-set of ageing”
We are all ageing.
We all lose strength & bone 🦴 mineral density as part of the ageing process.
We are all ageing.
We will die eventually. Nobody gets out of life, Alive.
I hypothesise that there is a direct observable CAUSE & EFFECT relationship between a person’s MOBILITY & MUSCLE 💪 BUILD & STRENGTH.
My understanding is that There is a 1% decrease in strength every year after the age of 25, more so in females than in males. By the age of 60 you would have lost > 30% of your strength and bone mineral density (oesroporosis).
This is largely a preventable cause.
My tip: do weight training (progressive)to “off-set the on-set “ of ageing. We are depreciating but the depreciation rate affects the “effective useful life of the non-current asset”(accounting terminology and analogy) from my 10 years as An Accountant/Business Consultant.
Every person has a body they are inhabiting that depreciates/ages at a different rate. Some faster than others. You come across individuals that look and behave older than their respective age.
Combined with a suitably balanced nutrition plan to suit you (age, activity level, body type etc), cardio exercise & a flexibility program, you can slow down the ageing/depreciation rate.
This would have a positive flow-on effect on the life that you’re living.
For example, the risk of living your retirement years with high susceptibility to fractures and breaks of Bones 🦴 would drop significantly.
The risk of Experiencing severe mobility issues that restrict the scope of your activities will increase. These can have severe consequences on a person’s health.
It could contribute to rising mental illness rates leading to suicide, dementia etc.
Photo (above): don’t end up like this friend of mine in the photo… you have the power to do something about this NOW).
He regrets not being made aware of the benefits of weight training & soon something preventative in his early life
It affects your mental state
Ultimately, it (immobility) affects your mental state and put you into a negative mindset. Over 25% of the aged population who have hip surgery due to falls die within a year. That’s great for doctors and surgeon’s pockets and lifestyle but disastrous for the poor individual
Change in habits now – begin the workouts you’ve been putting off and start eating 🍽 more balanced meals.
Your activity levels will have a significant impact on the QUALITY of your life, not just your length of life.
It’s never too late to start.
So… start… Just DO IT (love this original Nike slogan)
Life is about choices. Choose well.
It’s your ONE ☝️ LIFE after all (unless you have 9 lives like a cat 🐱… meow!!)
Cheers 🍻 & ahoy!
The Old Captain Viking Pirate 🏴☠️ ⚔️Muscle 💪Monk ⚔️😎 …& thoughts on ageing & mobility issues & its relationship with Muscle
We ALL need to summon the Superhero within to build & hang on to as much muscle as possible to stave off the early on-set of ageing-related illness
In my experience in the Health & Fitness Industries over the last 3 decades, I have found that the decision to include mega-loads of cardio or hardly any at all swings through the bodybuilding culture like the pendulum of a clock.
“Bodybuilding “ here includes anyone (from the skinny teen all the way to the grannies in the 90s) … who use weights of any kind to build muscles/strength and/or attempt to change their body shape.
There’s a new fad with a new name every few years or so, backed up by some new (limited) study and an awareness marketing campaign led by some famous ‘celebrity’.
Many who favour cardio claim that it allows them to eat more. That is good, right? Eating more is anabolic, isn’t it?
On the other end of the cardio spectrum, supporters of LESS CARDIO insist cardio is the most catabolic thing that can be done. They claim that it has to be avoided.
I won’t pretend to try to solve this dilemma but I will give you some facts, as I see it and have experienced it. Hopefully, it takes you closer to the doorstep of your ultimate condition.
It’s your BODY SHAPE, not BODY WEIGHT that MATTERS most.
The 80:20 Principle.
First, let’s clarify what is the actual goal in terms of physiology?
Based on one of Nature’s Principle (the 80:20 principle), the vast majority of “fat” in our body (over 80%) is collected in one form and stored in body fat cells.
The process that the body uses to consume this energy and effectively get rid of it – is called lipolysis.
I’m going to try to detail the mechanism of this process with exercise (avoiding diet for now).
In my experience of helping hundreds of individuals over the years is that I find that The difficult part is when : we have to apply these “truths” to the many different circumstances and body types that we find in the sport of Physique Artistry/Bodybuilding.
Become better at “being comfortable at being uncomfortable “ to keep your pendulum ticking … & your life, living
Everything is hormonal-driven.
Activity-related hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine speed up lipolysis greatly.
When we start working out, we firstly use the readily available energy in our blood, called GLYCOGEN. The body starts shuttling out these glycerol and fatty acids (fat) from our body fat cells.
research shows that the greatest increase in fat usage starts immediately upon exercise, hits a peak level within 5 minutes, sharply decreases, by the 15-minute mark starts to plateau, and within 30 minutes is back almost to a rate matching a control group.
So, what do we do with the common knowledge that carbohydrates (blood sugar/glucose) are used exclusively for the first 15-20 minutes of cardio?
As most of you are aware, blood sugar is the dominant source of energy used by the cells of our body at the start of exercise. As you do cardio, the body digs into longer-term energy stores, the liver (through the action of the hormone glucagon) starts pumping out stored glycogen and as described, body fat cells start releasing glycerol and fatty acids.
The question we then ask ourselves is – does the liver run out of glycogen? When it does, what happens then?
People ask – “why?” … I /My curiosity continually askS “why not?”
Seek possibilities… always
As long as Body Fat is available …
It is quite obvious that When we are exercising, we are moving the body towards an Energy Deficit.
My understanding is that the body & in particular, The liver, tries to contribute to the energy deficit.
How does it do this?
it does so by converting amino acids into glucose. I’ve learned that the liver has a reservoir of aminos available. Despite this, this process is STILL a catabolic phase. And what is “catabolic?”
Interestingly, though, even during the harshest, longest bouts of exercise, studies show that only 3 to 6% of energy is consumed from amino acid use.
As long as fat is available, the body spares protein as if it were the most precious commodity it has. Nice to know the brain agrees with us on that one. We need to dig a little deeper to get a better understanding of how the body tends to operate.
There are many variables we need to bring into the equation before we even address things like duration, frequency, and intensity.
Even a small percentage of amino acid use can add up if it’s a repetitive occurrence. I also mentioned “as long as body fat is available”…
Same weight. Different body composition. The right has higher Muscle: Fat Ratio. L: 15% body fat. R: 6-% body fat.
Body Type.
Many individuals don’t get to that stage (under 10% body fat) to worry about not having sufficient body fat available to be used as Energy, during exercise.
The variable of BODY TYPE is an important consideration when deciding HOW MUCH CARDIO an individual should do. There are 3 main body types – ectomorph, mesomorph and the endomorph.
In my experience, An Ectomorph, has to have a healthy fear of “too much” cardio since they will be at the top end of the population in terms of using amino acids for energy. The more, the better, in their case.
In the middle of the spectrum, those that lose moderately slowly (like me) need to understand that muscle preservation is their greatest asset. We need to see cardio as a very necessary part of their daily habits and any kind of preparation for competition.
It has been and still is, a KEY daily habit of mine.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have the Endomorphs. For these individuals, more, rather than less cardio is the way to go. They usually have a lower metabolic rate to begin with and tend to carry a very high level of fat deposits.
The more cardio, the better.
The Rate of Lipolysis.
Here is where armchair interpreters of research often start showing that it takes more than throwing some big words around to master the subject.
KEY FACT: The rate of lipolysis is virtually unchanged whether we’re at just 25% of our VO2 max or 85%.
That means that whether you’re walking on a treadmill or slamming out 30km/hour sprints, your body is releasing the same amount of body fat to be used.
Before you say, “Aha!! I knew that slower, longer cardio sessions were the right thing to do,” don’t!
You first have to differentiate between just releasing fat to be used and actually using it.
If you maintain a slow or high pace, a percentage of the energy will come from your fat cells . That’s a given.
In the case of the former, even though the body is releasing fat to be used, when it’s not used, it simply resynthesizes the glycerols/fatty acids and re-stored as body fat.
So, we then ask other key questions like:
1. Due to a slower rate of usage, should one just perform a longer duration and ultimately use the same amount of calories as someone doing a shorter but harder session?
2. Which will use more body fat and which will be less catabolic?
You should Keep in mind that the body has a vested interest in using these fatty acids for energy.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that Glucose and glycogen (the energy currency of our body & brain 🧠), aren’t in endless supply.
It’s obvious that when activity levels increase, the body needs to turn not only to its larger material source of energy, but it wants to be efficient at it. Remember that – it wants to be EFFICIENT AT IT.
As the RATE OF LIPOLYIS is increased, so is the blood flow to the exercising muscles, and so are the chemical processes that convert the fatty acids into usable energy.
TWIST IN THE ROAD.
Here is yet another twist in the road.
As intensity increases, these glycerols are used at a higher rate – a good thing. But, when exercise intensity reaches a level where blood flow is necessarily shunted more sharply to the working muscle tissue, blood flow to the available fat stores is restricted tremendously, decreasing the rate of fat that is made available to be used as energy.
That is why I tell all my former students that the OPTIMAL TIME to do cardio & burn more fat is first thing in the morning, upon waking and … on an empty stomach.
Like I said earlier , If we perform light cardio we release just as much body fat as high-intensity work. What is the risk of losing muscle here?
Answer: the risk of losing muscle is low.
However, but then due to a slower rate of fat usage, we simply re-store the released body fat.
So, you may be thinking – “why don’t We just do longer sessions of low-intensity cardio?”
Yes, you could but it would not be the most effective use of your time. And why?
Well, research shows after 30 minutes, fat release actually decreases – not increases as conventionally taught.
Trying to keep every variable straight is like trying to catch a greased pig. It’s like the squirrel in the animated movie Ice Age; as soon as you stick every available finger and toe in the leaking wall of ice, another confusing point of physiology springs out of a new crack.
No wonder there isn’t a consensus on the subject.
As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, you would be making a mistake if you take this article as covering every facet of the subject – think of this as just an outline and the book isn’t finished.
Seeing your progress, any progress, however small, is a motivating factor.
ACTION PLAN.
Read on for an action plan…
The ease of your body’s ability to burn body fat will affect how much cardio you do. This is depended on your body type & genetics.
Being that all of cardio is catabolic, you want to do the least you have to in order to be shredded.
For some that may mean twice a week and for others that may mean twice a day.
Consider two glaring facts:
One: Your body immediately starts releasing body fat with exercise and continues for 30 minutes until the law of diminishing returns virtually eliminates any further benefit.
If we are going at too slow of a pace, the released fat gets re-stored and if we get too high in our intensity, we shunt blood flow away from fat cells. As such, I believe, there are two types of cardio that we can benefit from and still meet our goal of sparing as much muscle as possible.
The first is thirty-minute sessions at a good pace – heart rate sustained at 130-150 beats per minute for most people. Remember, even at just 25% of our VO2 max we’re going to be releasing all the body fat that we can, but we need a pace that will actually use what is released, but not so much intensity that the body goes into a fight-or-flight mode channelling blood to the muscle tissue systemically and away from the adipose cells and organs.
The best natural bodybuilding athletes/champions know and understand how to do this better than almost everyone. Their “Double-edged sword” of keeping /maximising muscles and maximally losing fat is the challenge /opportunity.
I also believe the value of super-high-intensity cardio is tremendous but you have to weigh the catabolic effects and the fact that it won’t take long to be counterproductive and decrease the amount of fat actually being released (due to the changing blood flow patterns).
I would recommend using high-intensity sessions 1 to 3 times per week for 15 to 20 minutes to create longer-term fat usage through the increased metabolic effects.
Ectomorphs may have plenty by doing just 10-minute high-intensity sessions, but even endomorphs shouldn’t do more than 2 to 3. The amount of actual leg muscle recovery necessary should be a limiting factor – you’ll need to recover almost like a leg workout.
A major turning point in Alan’s life was coming to me for help. I helped him, help himself … build his bridge from where he was to … where he wanted to be.
Saved his job … saved his marriage … saved his life.
Base-line
The “baseline” 30-minute sessions could be done daily or even twice a day for those who lose weight slowly or have more lower body stores to contend with.
That doesn’t mean that longer, slower cardio is worthless, you just get a fraction of the fat loss after the first 30 minutes.
Breaking up an hour of cardio into two sessions can net more fat loss if the pace is high enough and consistent. This is what I do. I try to do 30 minutes walk in the morning on a treadmill and another in the evening if I have the time.
The great thing about human performance research, however, is that we’re still very much in a pioneering phase.
Studies conducted with different variables keep adding to our understanding and more specific information is sure to be discovered.
ME. Mistake-riddled ME…. But I am happy being IMPERFECTLY PERFECT, just as Jesus Christ was. His life was a great example of what FAILURE was. Not an easy path to follow …. But I will. Because I BELIEVE in JESUS and what he stood for. Just like GOD intended.
… too numerous to list here.
I have made many mistakes. I will try to express it in words like this.
When I should have let my unusually strong 💪 stubborn-ness to dig deep;
But instead, succumbed to a feeling of weakness and gave up hope …
And ….
On … and … on … and … on ….
One thing is certain –
There’s still more mistakes to come
Life goes on
One thing that I have learned from making tonnes and tonnes of mistakes … of having experienced so many fuck ups …. Of failing multiple times is …
That I am more COMFORTABLE at tolerating the UNCOMFORTABLE FEELINGS of making a mistake … or fucking up … of failing … of failing …. Of failing. …..
I don’t see mistakes as mistakes anymore … but instead as OPPORTUNITIES to find solutions …. To stretch boundaries …. To DESIGN NEW RULES …. To CREATE something DIFFERENT …. To START ANEW.
I’m unsure of the future …
But I am not concerned;
I will rely on those closest to ME …
And I will share their burdens … as they share mine;
I WILL continue to ..
LIVE & LOVE 💕.. & LEARN … with the understanding that I am IMPERFECTLY PERFECT and …
Until my physical form on earth reaches its finite end and my spiritual self continues into INFINITY…
Because …
I BELIEVE that GOD is ALWAYS WITH ME …
And that makes me FEEL INVINCIBLE.. as I AM GOD … I AM INFINITE.
The question we all face today and for the rest of our lives is this : to risk or not to risk?
I believe everything we do is built on a foundation of confidence. Whether you’re a student or a master in your field comes down to your confidence in your abilities and experience and … risk to your professional reputation.
I believe that there is an inordinate level of security-mindedness in our modern-day societies. Perhaps We shouldn’t be surprised that in our post 9/11 world, the topic of of risk is a sensitive one.
Prior to the recent covid , in recent history, Scientists have regularly made headlines with warnings about such new risks as (as examples) : bird-flu pandemics and flesh-eating bacteria and old risks like category 5 hurricanes and earthquake-triggered tsunamis.
I believe we live in a world where risk -benefit analysis has become a recognised science… where “risk management “(an area I worked as a senior consultant to multinationals for almost 10 years) … is a popular college major .
It prepares more and more young professionals to work in all manner of industries
But …. here’s the thing …
No matter what safety steps we take or what security precautions we adopt, our risk of death 💀, say, is not approximately – but EXACTLY – 100 percent.
There is no margin of error in that statistic.
Courage is the springboard to success in anything worthwhile.
Elevated Risk-Taking.
I spent my early childhood in a culture that encouraged risk-taking and … a sense of wonder and mystery… one that did not put more of our trust in technology. One that did not think about increasing regulations whenever something goes wrong.
No … there was a communicated emphasis on community & togetherness. There was purposeful shift towards more trust, more care and more compassion.
Three things I think the world needs more of.
My question is: in our modern-day societies, what impact does people’s abnormally elevated security-mindedness has on people’s willingness to take risks now ? That we are being taught one way (in our educational institutions) …. This is the way I remember doing when I was in year 7. There is nothing extraordinary about it … I’ve been doing that since I was in early secondary school and then we learn it again university and further education . … and in our professional careers.
It is a great feeling to do this … but make sure it isn’t your ego that is leading.
Stubbornness, well that’s ok.
Life itself is a Risky Business.
I think RISK & FEAR has become an increasingly significant word in American lexicon. If you google these 4-letter words … you’ll receive more than a billion references in less than a second.
I believe people are more sensitive to risk today than at any other time in history. So many are kit merely preoccupied with risk & fear … but I think are often downright schizophrenic about the topics.
This anxiety about risk permeates in American society and impacts it in endless ways. Good. Bad. Ugly. And sometimes ridiculous. American society dictate the world’s societies because well, America is the Super Power.
This fear mongering is everywhere and in everything… embedded deep in the psyche of modern-day citizens, many of which are unaware.
For example, It’s why we have surgeons general warnings on every pack of cigarettes. There are just so many examples of this “fear” everywhere … down to even a phrase : “fear setting”.
How did society become so intrigued by fear /risk – and so worried about it at the same time? People forget that Life itself is a risky business. We have heard many parables and/or stories … and most of us know the messages behind these stories.
It’s like the adventurer who was asked why he climbed the mountains and answered, “because it’s there!”
He took the risk. That’s the message… he just DID IT! No FEAR babee!!
Have no doubt.
Help yourself first.
You are more than just YOU…
God will meet you half way …
he ALWAYS does.
All you ahve to do is: BELIEVE.
So-called EXPERTS DO NOT always have the last words …
I truly believe the US and many modern societies (Europe and Australia) have cultures that has developed this intense love-hate relationship with risk/fear, in part because it’s always there.
I believe we are seeing a timely and unprecedented convergence of trends and historical & current developments that supports the contention that we (Americans and western societies) are more focused on, and aware of, the risks/fears we face today than any other society In history.
And why?
Well… simply because we can.
People can easily equip themselves (technology) to recognise, understand, catalogue, measure, compare and know more about fears/risks they face than any other society in history.
One truth I’ve learned in my experience in Risk Mamagement is that so-called “experts” (in all fields) DO NOT always have the last word on risk/fears. Sometimes they only add to people’s doubts and confusions about the uncertainties and fears/risks people face in life.
The ratings-driven nature of the media today only further distorts people’s perspectives on the risks/fears they face. As a result of people’s misperceptions, I believe people overrate and worry more than they should. Despite the mind-boggling amount of information available today…. there’s clearly a huge gap between people’s perception of some fears/risks and thee actual magnitude.
Building your strength in the gym is only one definition of what it means to be ‘strong’
What risks /fears do people really need to worry about?
So another question is: what risks/fears do people really need to worry about?
How in the world does the average person make reasonable and wise decisions about their fears and risks they face when their perspectives on the subject is so often distorted? How does the average person decides what risks are acceptable?
Rather than worrying /reacting to every fear/risk…. what’s more important is the skill at discerning which ones you can do something about.
In other words, the wisdom to know what to worry about and the courage to find solutions to the issues and act on them.
I also believe not all fears/risks are bad.
Very important point: WISDOM is different from, and often more critical than, KNOWLEDGE.
In fact, I believe that too often, all information we’ve been given, all the risks/fears we’ve encountered and contemplate.. & all the warnings people receive from so many sources actually combine to skew people’s perceptions.
So, what hope s is that EFFECTIVE Risk Analysis and decision-making becomes MORE difficult rather than less.
So… back to my previous entry – instead of losing ourselves in all the knowledge before us and sliding into more worry, people should exercise more wisdom.
I think it was Teddy Roosevelt who once declared-
“Far better is it to dare mighty things than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much.”
I’m convinced most of the success I’ve experienced in my life so far and the majority of my personal and professional accomplishments over the years is from a practical formula I developed and used from my early childhood.
I have helped thousands overcome their fears using this formula … and
It hasn’t failed me yet.
It has never failed.
Want to know the “fail-proof” method I use? Get in touch with me.
Until next time,
Keep punching…. Don’t stop believing… most importantly , in –
When Alan came to me, he was in a bad place – not having enough sleep despite seeing many “experts”, was on the verge of losing his job and his marriage. With immense courage he undertook the plan I developed for him using my Lifestyle framework principles . He not only started sleeping again (from 700+ apnoea per night to under 4) … he lost > 25+ kg and got his life back.
The cost to get to below 4 per-cent.
I learned something very early on in my foray in to the sport of bodybuilding (almost thirty years ago now) and the art/sport of bodybuilding & physique artistry: the leaner I got, the harder it was to lose body-fat!
I knew pretty early on that I could just ‘clean up’ my diet a little and chop and change here and there, and drop from 14% to 8% body fat in a matter of weeks. I usually stay below 15% body-fat year round, just something I’ve done now for the last 15 years at least.
However, I also learned that when you get to single digit body-fat %, it gets even harder to lose unwanted body-fat. But, I’d get on the treadmill and x-trainer or bike in the gym a number of times in a week and drop under 10% (you can begin to ‘see’ your abdominals clearly around 9%). I keep going and then I get down below 7%. Now, to keep dropping bodyfat to 6% and then to 5% can get pretty hard, especially when you’re doing it the ‘hard way’ … NATURAL and no assistance from steroids or performance-enhancing drugs.
Sometimes, the body just does not want to barge and literally stalls your progress. Let me give you a secret, it is fucken brutal to go below 5%. Very few people go ‘there’. It is a very ‘spiritual experience’ to say the least but it can also be a soul-destroying for those unprepared for the challenges.
So, there I am .. slugging away at the cardio machines on low-carbs, hypoglycemia and fearing muscle loss. Sometimes, I question – ‘what was I doing wrong?’ Isn’t a kilo a kilo? Being at 6% is quite an achievement but I wouldn’t dare boast about getting to that point if everyone else in the world would stop there too! Competitively, they don’t. Regardless of the cost, winners DO NOT stop at 6%. Just to make the Finals (Top 5) at amateur shows, you need to get to around 4%. That is just the standard that is at minimum.
The cost to get below 4% is different for everyone. That’s what I had to get down to to beat the best Natural Bodybuilders in the World at my first of two consecutive World Natural Bodybuilding Championships, almost 15 years ago now. Here’s a tip: you’ll look your best but you’ll feel the worst you’ve ever felt.
Quite ironic, I know. I’ve been there many times in my life. Not a nice to be for very long. I believe, it is the closest thing you come to experiencing death, without dying.
Teaching you to love yourself better and more. That the most powerful show of self-respect is to say ‘no’. Saying no to foods that are not aligned to your desired body image is the highest form of self-respect and love.
Genetics: a gift and a curse.
In the sport of bodybuilding, like most other sports, genetics can be a gift and a curse that either propels you forward or holds you back. I didn’t have the height genetics for example to play basketball and dunk but I certainly have a healthy dose of Type IIb muscle fibres necessary for explosive power, muscle growth and size. You may never have my back and lats insertions and I may never have your biceps peak, even though we both try and train to maximum.
The thing is genetics dictates muscle SHAPE. And muscle shape is muscle shape.
My daughter appears to have taken after my wife in body shape and my son appears to have my build. No amount of training would transform one in to another. They will just be bigger version of what they already are (what steroids and performance enhancing drugs do) – a person’s strengths will be even stronger and weaknesses will be enhanced too.
So, it is similar to body fat storage and metabolism.
Here’s the thing, in addition to this covid epidemic, we also have an increasing mental illness epidemic, a broken-families/home epidemic, an obesity epidemic etc. Conservatively speaking, two thirds of modern-societies are overweight and childhood obesity is consistently rising. If you dig a little deeper, something more surprising arises. Among the developed countries, though childhood obesity has increased that much in 30 years, the bottom 50% of the BMI (body mass index) hasn’t increased at all. That means the leanest 50% of kids across the world haven’t gotten fatter at all, but the heavier you are on the BMI, the higher the increase in obesity.
Translation: if a child has the genetics to become obese, then due to today’s societal changes (mom’s not home cooking, greater than 60% of our meals being out now, less activity, etc.) they get even heavier. But, children who don’t have the genetics to become obese, though they live in the same culture with the same foods and temptations don’t gain weight.
Keep your pendulum swinging … because to be stuck at one end is not life-affirming To successfully transform your body, one needs to be a better master of their internal Balanced & Breathing.
Some Genetic Differences.
Have you wondered what some of those genetic differences are?
From my insatiable curiosity of the how the human body and mind works, and my experience of helping hundreds of people over the last 3 decades, here’ a few things I have found –
I have found a few things, firstly, as children, we go through two “filling up” and two “expanding” phases in our growth. I can readily observe this in the two pre-teen son and daughter. The amount of body fat cells our body creates is mainly genetic but also is influenced by how much we eat during that first year of life and the period right before puberty. An individual may have 20 billion body fat cells and another may have 200 billion. All of the hormones that cause body fat storage now have 10 times the load for the triglyceride loading.
And what is triglyceride loading? Google it and see what you find.
Let me share an example – You’re cruising along, the diet is going great, and then you read an article on-line that says once a week you need a “giant CHEAT meal” and load up with 10,000 grams of carbs for fear of muscle loss. What do you some people do, then? Yep, you guessed it … they visit their nearest Pancake shop and eat enough to break the world record. Obviously, this is an extreme example and the ‘carbing up’ wouldn’t really take that much at all. This is also part of the reason I tell almost every person that has successfully transformed themselves NOT to be tempted to get any information from any source, except from me. There is less clutter and noise in their heads and so, better overall progress made to their original goals.
Do you want to know why this practice is a fallacy? Well, you can certainly fill up your glycogen stores with some fruit, that’s right … a simple apple or banana. And you can refill your liver with two lemon tarts? Here’s a fact – 350g to 500g of carbs can pack all of your muscle tissue with all the glycogen it can hold? Any more and you could seriously make yourself feel sick and very uncomfortable.
Here’s the catch: after consuming all those mountains of pancakes to your tilt, your body goes in to reverse. You IMMEDIATELY stop burning body fat. Normal circulating amounts of insulin are three times that of glucagon – your best friend in fat loss. That’s right, your BEST FRIEND in fat loss is the opposing hormone, Glucagon. Not Insulin! That means we’re three times better at storing fat than losing it.
Not what you wanted at all, right?
It is a great feeling to do this … but make sure it isn’t your ego that is leading. Beating genetics to get a certain result is a great achievement all in itself. Stubbornness, well that’s ok.
Evolution favours Survival.
When it comes to evolution and your biology, your body is made to be conservative and to hang on to every ounce of fat for possible future famines. Your body is designed to Survive. It’s main concern is not how your abs look on the beach or how you look in a coat of competition tan on stage at a contest, naked in front of a thousand people. No, your body is built for survival.
So, when you’re cutting back on carbs and in a state of ketosis, or calorie-deficit, your body’s primary objective is to continuously look for ways to store fat. That is just what the body does.
Insulin is your enemy my friends, brought about by you having an unscheduled “high carb’ meal/day(s). Glucagon production stops and insulin not only shuttles glucose to the muscle, but it also tells the liver to go in to the ‘glucose-to-fat’ conversion mode. The body basically begins hording the fat. That’s right, it shields the fat and makes it very hard for you to burn this. I’ve heard all the excuses, some were –
“But is was just one meal! But my body needed it! But I just had one dessert! But I even though it was three cups of rice, it was clean food!”
Your body doesn’t care – it just wants to store. Now, if I have 200 billion fat cells and you have 20 billion, who is better at storing fat? Who can afford more slips on a diet plan? Certainly not me (the person who struggles to get lean at 200 billion fat cells for example).
Balance & symmetry brings you closer to harmony … to beauty …closer to infinity. Just like mathematics does
Work WITH your body, not AGAINST it.
I believe the majority of people who venture into transforming their body, work against it. They don’t work with it.
There are so many related hormonal/biochemical reasons that some people are naturally thin and some are heavy. Working against your genetics is a hard day in the office, every day. Yes, we can do our part to gain or lose weight despite our genetics, but it’s a real slug-fest … a real battle. I’m oversimplifying and skipping important issues to make the point, but one more factor in weight loss that has been given much play is the hormone, leptin. Leptin is secreted by fat cells and basically, let’s you know when you hungry or full. It is the primary signal carrier for hunger/satiety. When enough filling occurs in the fat cells, leptin is released and tells the brain that you’re not hungry. When not enough leptin is present, hunger is the king.
As you probably know by now, there are three body types – the ectomorphs, the mesomorphs and the endomorphs, basically the skinny, the stocky and the fat types. There is a marked difference in the endomorphs (obese tendencies) versus the ectomorphs in terms of leptin. Experimental studies show obese children deficient in leptin eat dramatically less and lose weight when leptin is brought to normal amounts.
A friend and former student/client of mine who achieved the impossible. Following the Quality Plan I designed for him and adopting my “3-legged stool’ framework, Nathan went from 125+kg to 88kg. A massive transformation given he is leaning towards the ‘endomorph’ type. I have not seen anyone work as hard as this man. Very proud of what he achieved.
So, what are the lessons here?
There are four but I will just mention two. Firstly, if you have a body-type which is, you came from a family of obesity and endomorphic, then you will be ‘carb-sensitive’. If that is the case, then, you are definitely not an ectomorph and WILL just have to work that little bit harder. Sometimes, a whole lot harder. You may have to drop your carbs very low just to release fat cells and then increase the probability of using them as energy. That is difficult.. but there are tricks available. Knowing when to ‘cycle’ your carbs is essential and you will need to do more cardio and be willing to suffer more. I have had clients like these over the years and I take my hat off to them. They are real modern-day warriors.
There is little consolation when you feel like you’re not getting anywhere with your body transformation and weight loss. The scale can be very mean to those endomorphs. It is literally a “David vs Goliath” and where David beat Goliath and the tortoise beat the hare for these folks. You have to hang in there if you’re a ‘carb-sensitive’ individual. Hang in there … and summon all the patience you can muster. You will need it.
You will WIN this race and achieve your goal. You will kill Goliath.
Know YOU. Know your strengths. Work to your strengths. Not some of the time … ALL the time.
Until next time,
Quality lean muscle that “flows” takes time & a goal of balance & symmetry
At 4.2% at my 1st world championships. Getting to 4% body-fat was very hard, staying there was harder.
The very popular “most muscular” pose. It brings the ‘house down.’
Work on strengthening the spirit within. It is part of the foundation of love – the unknowable.
Beginning the journey for anything worthwhile achieving is never easy … but you’ve got to Start – Just DO IT (I’ve always loved this NIKE slogan … so powerful).
Taking the initial step toward redesigning your body can be an empowering experience.
And if you manage to do what so many can’t – stick with the plan after that initial burst of enthusiasm wears off – you’ll also discover that it’s one of the smartest things you’ve ever decided to do.
I remember my first time, over 30 years ago.
I was scared. Plain & simple. And I don’t like being scared, matter of fact I don’t let any fear get the better of me. I tend to face my fear head on since I was a kid (probably why I sorted out issues with “bullies” in school, a lot of times letting my “fists do the talking “).
But I was simply (& admittedly, embbarresingly scared.
Scared of the clanging & banging of iron & metal on metal. Scared of the big looking men (mostly male dominated at that era). Scared of all the strange looking machines.
When I walked out of the gym that 1st day, I told myself that I would learn as much as I could get my hands on (the internet was in its embryo stages ). So I got my hands os many library books on the human body ‘ muscles & nutrition & anything resembling bodybuilding.
I was a sponge & took a whole semester to learn as much as I could (along with my studies in my first commerce university degree).
Abdominal/thighs pose at the Asia-Pacific Australian Natural Bodybuilding Championships. Placing: 2nd in Australia.
So, these notes are written for you in mind .. picture this : –
It’s day one of your bodybuilding journey . Embarking on a journey, your journey into bodybuilding is no small endeavour: you deserve props just for making the decision & moving forward.
After 30 years here are my Key/primary points – (useful tenets/nuggets of wisdom you can keep in the back of your brain).
Use them as “❤️alentine Guiding Principles “.
Should you ever lose your way along the road to strength, health & your best body, these principles will help you get back on track quickly.
A good teacher is hard to find but finding a good student is even harder. Plan the work – to work the plan. Photo: discussing fine points of one of my programs with retired legend of rugby – Phil Waugh.
🌴❤️Principle #1: Listen 👂 to your body.
Your body & brain 🧠 are in constant talk. How often your brain chooses to listen determines how well your body will respond to what you ask for.
It is not a two-way communication (equal) pathway though.
Latest neuroscience suggests that it is mostly a”1 way street”. The body sends 80% of messages to the brain 🧠(via the Vagus nerve).
Good bodybuilders listen to their bodies better than anyone on earth.
Get in touch with different types of pain when you exercise. There’s two types-
i) the dull, mild pain that comes from working a muscle that isn’t used to being worked. This pain means, “Rest your body, let it repair itself, then continue strengthening it.”
ii) Then there’s the sharp, strong pain that comes from pulling a muscle, twisting something the wrong way, or worse. This means, “Put down the weight & walk away!”
Knowing the difference between these two kinds of pain can make a world of difference in your training.
Note: I have not had any major injury in over 3 decades of weight training. It is important to teach yourself the ‘tortoise approach’ or the conservative approach to training as I have found that this is the most efficient and effective way to achieve long-term, sustainable results and stay injury free as you age.
Here’s me doing my favourite pose at the World Championships. Contest: 2007 World Natural Bodybuilding Championships held in NY, USA. Ranked: 4th Best Natural Bodybuilder in the World. Believe in yourself. Trust in yourself. Make your Being and your Doing – ONE. Vv.
🌴❤️Principle #2: Prepare for Pressure
Your biceps & chest will grow (mine certainly did). As soon as these do, you will also receive attention from your peers who not only admire your newfound courage.
They will also secretly wish you don’t have so much of it.
Just be aware.
The next time you decide to say “no” to that slice of cake 🎂 at your best buddy’s roommates cousins’s birthday in order to stick to your diet, expect more than one person to try to talk you into having “just one bite.”
There are countless doubtful thoughts 💭 that little voice over your shoulder, saying, give up man, you won’t achieve it.
And then I think about one of my many mentors life tips to me –
“Remember, the heart 💔 ALWAYS precedes the mind.”
Interpret that however way you want. Apply these 3 principles to your thinking & life and keep building momentum in your daily habits that contribute to your overall goals.
Now, go get back on the horse and ride him like you’ve never ridden him before … go to the gym and lift those weights and help those muscles, help you … feel the ‘essence of life’, Vitality … & Have a great day and life …
Cheers & ahoy 🍻!!
The Old Captain Viking Pirate 🏴☠️ Island 🌴 Muscle 💪 Monk 🏴☠️❤️alentine …& getting back on track
The old Captain Viking Pirate 🏴☠️ ⚔️Enjoying a beer 🍺 in a hot 🥵 spring day here in Sydney Australia 🇦🇺
However, I’m pretty sure every guy reading this, dreams of or at least dreamt of having a small, chiselled waist. What society commonly refers to as the “6-pack!”.
Even before we discovered that specific exercises could give you a small waist, there were some men but mostly women trying to make their waists smaller by diet alone. People today, still do. Look around you, what do you see? Men (of all ages) are afflicted with a big gut with waists in excess of 36″ because of lifestyle choices. This not exclusive to men as a lot of women tend to accumulate fat around the hips and thighs.
Women reading this can recall that their Great Great Grandmothers were squeezing themselves into reinforced corsets resembling straight-jackets. All for the purpose of getting that ‘hour-glass’ figure.
That way of doing things did achieve the desired effect in clothes. But, what happened when off came the beautiful dresses and corsets?
BLURP! Let it all hang out!
Gone was the beautiful, small, tight waist and … in place was a spare tyre that Michelin Tyres would be impressed with.
It is the same for a lot of men.
Unfortunately, with our gluttonous lifestyles in the modern world, where every person is ‘hungry for more’ in every aspect of their lives, walking around with an extra spare tyre is the norm. This usually affected men after 30 but these days we see younger men and women suffering from this phenomenon.
The “love handles’ as they are affectionately referred to is lugged around with them. Usually deposited around the waist-line.
If you’re a man, do you like carrying this extra weight around with you every single day? Be honest now? Apart from the increased health risks you become increasingly self-conscious of the layers of ‘smoothness’ accumulating around your waist. Not a desired look, I would imagine.
I’ve always said it is body-shape, not body-weight that matters. Are you an apple or a pear shape? You see, although being fat is an important health risk, where you carry your fat is even more important!
A smaller waist improves your shoulder-to-waist ratio and so gives you more of the elusive “x-frame”
Men and women need to be more concerned with the ‘waist-to-hip’ ratio. Excess abdominal fat carries with it a higher risk of insulin-related metabolic problems: high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes amongst others.
One other great thing about getting a tighter mid-section is that you improve your overall body-shape, moving towards the elusive “x-frame”. Smaller waist makes a man’s shoulders appear bigger and overall appearance more aesthetically pleasing.
So, you can see, by shooting for a slimmer, tighter waist, you are improving reducing your waist:hip ratio and hence reducing your overall life risks but also making yourself look more attractive. Full-stop! Aiming for a 30” waist is very important, don’t you think?
Here’s are a few of my 30” Waist 101 tips for getting started. The tips here should help men aim for a 30″ waist and women a 23″ waist. Possible? Of course it is! :
Steve Reeves – the Hollywood “Arnold before Arnold” came along. The original muscle movie-star. Steve Reeves, a Mr America & Mr Universe winner. He had coat-hanger-straight-shoulders, trim waistline and diamond-shaped calves and topped it off with rugged good looks and perfect hair do. He went on to start in Hollywood blockbusters like Hercules and Morgan, the Pirate. To this day, Reeves is held as the archetype for the aesthetic physique.
Who can get abs?
Almost anyone can get rid of their spare tyre around their waist if they had a strong desire to do so and acted on a good quality body re-engineering plan. I’ve had abdominals and a tight mid-section even before I set foot in the gym
Obviously, some people will find it more difficult than others. Of the three body types – ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorphs, the endomorphs find this task more difficult than the other two. I fall smack-bang in the middle, I’m a mesomorph and then the guys and girls on the other end of the spectrum, have a skinnier, more lighter frame – the ectomorphs.
So, to put simply, anyone and everyone can have a tight mid-section if they really desired one.
Do you need to do a thousands of sit-ups to get a 6-pack and 30” waist?
Short answer: No, you don’t.
However, remember, abdominals are muscles, just like triceps, biceps, pecs and lats. As such, they have to be developed with just as high an intensity in your training as you do the others.
Sure, I may have been blessed with a narrow waist, but that never stopped me from giving 100% effort to perfect my mid-section.
I do two exercises and 3 sets of each of them for 10 reps each. A total of 60 very focused, quality reps. So here it is for those of you that like numbers:
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Alternative Exercises
Hanging leg raises
2-3
20 – 30
Twists
Bench crunches
2-3
20 – 30
Hanging knee raises
It is a good idea to change exercises as often as possible. As the great 8 x Mr Olympia would say, “Don’t whip a tried horse!” meaning, you can’t make progress if you are pushing your body too hard or too fast.
What type of exercises is suitable to have a small waist?
Right from day one, I have always done two abdominal/waist exercises as main-stay: the bench crunches and the hanging leg raises. I’ve always split my abdominal workout into two distinct phases – the upper abs and the lower-part.
I like to keep things simple. Steve Reeves found the crunch as his best exercise for a good mid-section as well. The best results are gained when you perform the crunches with focused attention.
Another very important thing that I do to keep my waist small and tight is that I do not add any additional weight when working my mid-section. Why would anyone do that? Adding weight would increase your waist width, as abdominals, like any other muscle group would increase in size, wouldn’t it?
Steve Reeves had such a tiny waist that he would look great from every angle. I just love this pose from the Master Poser.
What’s the best time of day to work your mid-section?
Any time of day is ok.
However, I find the mornings to be the best time when you are on an empty stomach (before breakfast).
What equipment would a beginner require?
You don’t need any special equipment as on a more basic level, you can do the exercises I have always done on the floor or on a bench.
Most gyms have a chin-up machine where you could hang from while doing leg raises.
How long will it take to get a 6-pack and a 30” waist?
That would depend on two things:
How much fat or spare tyre you’re carrying around your mid-section at the beginning of your journey.
How strict you are on your nutritional plan
What diet will give me a 30” waist?
By now, every Tom, Dick & Harry out there is a personal trainer and/or some so-called ‘Expert’ could tell you a little bit about losing fat. One of the popular paths people go down is that of ‘low-carb’ diets.
Admittedly, these are quite effective.
They virtually guarantee to help you get lean, however, they can backfire if you don’t understand the right way to apply the low-carb format to training, protein intake and other important variables that will help determine your success in getting rid of the beer gut and keeping it off.
Another angle of the tiny waist of the Amazing Legend that is Steve Reeves. Steve Reeves had a 29″waist. He also had amazing proportions and was “Mr Balance & Symmetry”. His neck, calves and arms all had the same measurements: 17 1/4″ exactly. He was the original Sultan of Beauty (Balance & Symmetry)
Reduce your carbs by half. This would allow you to lose between half a kilogram and 1 kilogram per week.
Reduce portion size. This is a good one especially if you are fuzzy on how many grams of carbs you are currently taking. Take the path of least resistance and simply cut your portions of carbs in half.
One thing I have learned about building muscle and about many things in life – you can’t rush it. You need patience. You’ve got to put in the work, the effort. Hard YAKA … eat … rest … recover… Grow.
Repeat.
There is no reason for you to over-train in pursuit of a 30” or ripped abs. Leave your ego at the door if you want to build muscle and a balanced aesthetic body.
I’ve always believed in patience and doing things right, from the start and doing it right, not some of the time – but, ALL THE TIME!
Follow my advice and you’ll walk a straight-and-narrow path towards a 30” waist but more importantly, a physique-building success. Right now, I boast a <32″ waist, on a good day, <31″. This does not happen by chance. I put in the hard work, the hard YAKA. Just like you need to as well.
Change your way of thinking. Adopt the new habits necessary on a daily basis and stay focused on your end goal whilst enjoying the journey there. You will get there. Believe.
The old Captain Viking Pirate … & his thoughts on getting a 30” waist or 6-pack!
My number 1 body builder/body engineer ever! Mr Bob Paris. Simply wow! For more than 30 years, the public waited for the second coming of Steve Reeves. It came in the form of Bob Paris. No one has carried that torch in recent years. Flex Wheeler has come close but even his physique has flaws. My pick is Shawn Ray.
You perform your reps, sets and workout with one of the tools – dumbells, when you search for that ‘elusive pump’ feeling in the gym.
In my almost three decades in the ‘iron game’, I have learned many things.
About gyms, about people, about different training methods and styles, about perceptions, about limitations, about the mind, and about muscles, fat loss and body sculpturing.
I have learned a lot, filling my domain knowledge of subject areas that have always been fascinated about. And still am.
The Gym
I’ve always believed the gym was a micro-cosim of society. It is a metaphor for Life.
It does not represent reality – it tells (beautiful lies) about people. What it basically says, in my opinion, is I’m bigger or better than I really am. It is a kind of fantasy world.
But the gym is also not pure fantasy – it voices and indirectly describes and reflects, the real world (outside) by people the same people that make up the gym, by inventing little worlds that resemble it, loosely or closely.
I find it fascinating because, like Forest Gump said of life – “life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re gonna get.” That is exactly how I feel before each visit to the gym. You never know what you’re gonna get, like who will be there, what equipment will be available when you need it, whether the gym will be “packed to the rafters” or quiet and empty.
No, you never know what you’re gonna get.
The gym alters reality to allow us to ‘see’ reality better.
What I find most interesting is that the gym lies (if it is a good gym), to reveal the truth to you (about the world outside the gym).
Each person in the gym has their own history, their own story, if you pause and ‘listen to what they’re not saying.’ Each person’s story is a metaphor for an aspect of the Real World.
The gym, in a sense, and among other things, is allegory. What it gives you (if you’re willing to listen and look and feel) is the real world – indirectly.
Maybe, that is why the gym is appealing to many of gym-goers world over. Maybe, it just allows us ‘let be.’
It allows the world each person is creating within their minds to come into being for themselves and everyone else in the gym … by leaving the real world (outside) well enough alone.
Just for those minutes or hours they are in the gym.
The gym allows each user the ability to create their own worlds in their minds. That is one of the reasons why, I think the gym has been so appealing to me all these years because it is fundamentally, how real life goes.
You see, most people proceed each visit to the gym with ignorance and uncertainty; then they get glimpses of the ‘truth’ – their truth, or moments of understanding. And, if you’re like most people, you rarely (and usually too late) get to ‘see’ the whole version of reality.
The gym is, maybe, the TRUEST REALISM.
Members of my ‘extended family’ when I used to own and manage my gym for seven years. Some of the best and hardest years of my life so far. I loved leading the members (predominantly males – 70%) and they allowed me to take them to unchartered territories for us all. The gym was (unlike today’s) a social place. An ‘inbetween home’ between your place of work and your home. That’s me on the extreme left.
The workout.
Every workout is got to be about some part of the body or … I guess, these days, the ‘whole body.’ Every workout has got to be about something at the very least.
It doesn’t take much to do a workout – less still to do a set or just a handful of sets. In terms of action, I mean.
A workout to me is more than just a number of sets or selected exercises performed for a pre-selected number of repetitions. To some, a workout in the gym with traditional weight-training equipment is akin to a meditation hour or so. No, a workout is the pattern of a thing, a living thing – its rhyme and reason. It is what a moment or a memory or silence is about, if that makes any sense.
A workout does not need to be scientific. There are many types of workouts and I have tried and experimented with many over the last three decades.
To me, a workout is the genius of a thing. A workout could comprise just about anything, it may even be nothing. A workout is what you experience to write the story you are writing in the gym.
The Sets
A Set is simply, one tool a gym enthusiast might use to fulfil his goal to achieve a workout, the workout he or she imagines he is going to do. The set is, to some extent, a form of a workout in itself which uses action as its mode, usually in the form of a slight discomfort or pain.
The set intricately and closely connects one exercise to another, usually through a causal chain, ending in a moment of pain and pleasure or what I refer to as ending in a climax.
I have done thousands of sets since I began lifting weights in my late teens almost thirty years ago. To me, a set is a miracle and a mystery. A set is the track from somewhere to somewhere else – the start and the beginning of a mii-project, a small journey.
It carries the performer from silence to understanding, from nothing to something.
A set to a workout is like a river is to a whole catchment. Namely, everything. The part serves the whole; it is what the whole comes down to.
It is the point, the ‘dot.’
Sets alone or sets performed in no particular order mean something to the enthusiast but not much. I find that when I am doing a set, I am telling a part of my story, my life because what I am striving for ultimately is, meaning. And how does meaning arise when you’re doing a set?
It arises when I put the repetitions required to perform each and every set into an order in which I have learned to recognise a pattern of relationship (through the many thousands of sets and workouts I have performed over the last 3 decades).
I then derive meaning.
Over the years, I have learned to recognise relationships between sets and causality. We all have that gift for seeing and attributing meaning patterns – and for storing and repeating them in mind and workouts when recalling. We do this for almost everything in our lives, it is just easier on our brain as the brain relies heavily on autopilot, ultimately to conserve energy.
We humans, make sense of life that way, by learning how things interact, what causes what. The only thing is, like anything else, learning so, takes time.
Climaxing at the end of a set is one kind of pleasure, a lot of time, with pain thrown in to the mix. The completion of the pre-determined number of sets is not the point of the workout.
So, the point of a workout as I see it and story-tell, is in the ‘feeling.’
It is the feeling that allows one to build and soak in the ‘essence of the exercise.’ And how do you get the essence? That involves much, much more than just lifting a weight against gravity and moving the weight from point A to point B.
I will save that ‘find the essence of the exercise’ to another blog.
Providing a little bit of assistance. My pupil here ‘feeling the essence’ of the exercise. All relationships require work and time . Sometimes, its the little things, that determine your success in pursuit of a worthwhile goal.
Reps
Reps, is the shortened version of repetition. Part of gym lingo. It is the basic unit of a set and the building blocks of your workout. It is the number and tempo that dictates what kind of set you’re doing and the feeling you get at the end of the set (if you get any at all).
Not every rep is the same, just like not every golf swing is the same, using different clubs for different strokes.
Performing the rep is when you ‘get your hands dirty.’ It is when you feel the blood pumping excitedly through your veins. It is when you sweat. You sweat to earn those muscles. The rep is when you experience what I call a ‘continuous progression of focused moments.’
Some people call this meditation.
Everyone is at varying levels of meditation and are, ideally, working towards improving their meditation ability or what we, bodybuilders refer to ‘mind-muscle’ connection.
This is when you ‘feel the essence’ or what Arnold calls the ‘pump’. It is an elusive thing and not many gym rats get to experience this climaxing moment. It is the holy grail of lifting weights. It is one of the factors that separate real bodybuilders from the gym rats.
So-called self-help gurus have, for decades now, spoken about how one can ‘get in touch with one’s inner-self. Well, I have news for everyone, bodybuilders, real, authentic bodybuilders have been their inner-self for over a hundred years now.
Bodybuilders have a very highly level of understanding of getting in touch with one’s inner-self, because you couldn’t really get any more any ‘in touch’ with yourself then getting in to the individual cell, with vitality-infused blood.
Feel the essence, I say!
Fully focused! A true warrior & champion. Phil applying principles in one of my programs and adopting my framework. Focusing on making every repetition of every set of every exercise as ideal as possible. Practise does not make perfect – Perfect practise makes perfect! Photo: Retired Champion Ex-Australian Wallaby Captain & NSW Waratahs Captain and player in action under my watchful eyes.
Synergy
Sets alone or sets carried out in no particular order could mean success … but very little: Second set, 8 to 12 reps, power on the positive, control on the negative with a 2-1-3 tempo! Oh, I get it. A workout is completed; sense of achievement arise. How does that happen? It happens because the gym enthusiast/bodybuilder puts the sets in an order in which he has learned to recognise a pattern of relationships and so can derive satisfaction and purpose. It happens because of the innate human avidness of the human GIFT for seeing and attributing meaning to patterns – and for storing and repeating them in mind and body and spirit (dare I say, speech).
We humans make sense of our life and in the world we live in by learning how things interact, what causes what. The way every cause has its effect; the way every action has its actor, its object and its consequence. So, most gym rats learn that for every
What I am trying to say is that put a man and woman who like the look of each other in a place together and what you’ll get pretty soon, among other things, is someone doing something; and someone doing it back; and two people doing something together. What you get is ‘synergy’.
Sex; a relationship; perhaps issues. What you get is sets performed – simple, compound, complex and compound-complex, fragments and fractals.
What you get is synergy.
Anyone can ‘lift weights’, but unfortunately, not many can lift weights with synergy. And how do you do you make those reps, those sets perform their alchemy and achieve synergy and purpose.
I have found that one can learn the many different types of training ‘techniques’ and ways of lifting without ever knowing what the essence feels like. Just like you can understand the whole scheme of evolutionary history, without ever knowing why a minah bird moves exactly, and with such intelligence, as it does – why that is necessary and how it came to pass.
Achieving and feeling the essence and flowing with synergy in your workouts is another lively mystery.
A tip: one needs to learn rhythm. This comes after years of deliberate mind-muscle-heart-spirit practise. One of the greatest joys of doing a workout is not just achieving synergy but also making music within.
That is when you get hold of ‘that mystery’ and master that miracle within.
Good repetitions of good sets of good exercises performed well, amongst other variables, performed with synergy and music .. .makes for a good workout.
And the more balanced and elegant one’s sets are, the sounder they are structurally, the better one’s workouts will be.
You approach what I refer to as the ‘state of beauty’ … an enlightened state that brings you closer to balance and symmetry, a state of finite bliss. A state of enhanced balance and symmetry, when done correctly.
Not many gym enthusiasts ever get to that state. That is ok, most don’t. … and most don’t know how to, either.
Until next time,
Captain Viking Pirate Vaughn-Van-Valentine (VvV)
Collage of some bodybuilding poses
Collage of members of my gym in action … many, many years ago.
Quality Plan + Quality Implementation allowed Team Valentine (my wife & I) to beat the best in the sport here in Australia and stand on the stage against the best in the World.
Muscle is precious. Build muscle then, do everything you can to preserve it.
Don’t believe everything you read, see and hear
Don’t believe the headline – eating and drinking in excess this Christmas will not help you lose weight!
But I am making a point as to how we can become needlessly fearful (because of all the conflicting views out there) of exercising with weights or eating certain foods or doing just about anything.
Everyone seems to have an ‘opinion’ these days with the proliferation of social media and a lot of these views have insufficient and inappropriate evidence (scientific) to back them up. This applies to almost everything, but especially, weight/fat loss and exercise and eating and drinking, because well, we all do these activities, more or less.
It seems that everyone is suddenly an expert.
Anyone can show how, by selectively citing some scientific research and blowing it all out of context, you can build a case for any argument, including the subject heading that I have used.
If you have a small amount of scientific nous, it is super easy for someone to give an opinion and by selectively citing some scientific research (based on some ridiculously small sample) and blowing it all out of context. You see this quite regularly on mainstream media as the ‘sensationalism’ of these stories sells ratings.
The thing is you should strive to not believe everything you read, see and hear. Manage your funnel better.
Have no doubt. Help yourself first. God will meet you half way … he ALWAYS does. All you ahve to do is: BELIEVE.
Key habit: Build muscle.
Below is the start of my view on fat loss and body re-engineering …
If you need to lose fat leading up to the festive season and summer (in some parts of the world – like Sydney, Australia) – build muscle. Naturally. Full stop!
There are countless weight-loss programs on the net and every where you go and read. Terrific for increasing awareness. However, fat-loss plans and weight-loss plans that don’t include strength training, fundamentally, rob the body of muscle.
Now, you don’t want to do something that robs the body of muscle because the process of ageing does this anyway. Ageing, is partly, by definition, the deterioration of muscles due to the reduction in protein synthesis.
Weight-training to build muscle ‘off-sets the on-set of ageing’. It is the potion of youth. It keeps people younger, longer. I know, because I have witnessed these people who seem to look and act five, ten, fifteen and twenty years younger.
The common denominator: they build muscle!
I love Chess growing up. I beat the University Chess Champion once. Life is like a game of chess …. you’ve got to learn to think many steps ahead … but also be able to ‘play what’s in front of you’ A delicate but necessary balance to succeed at anything in life for that matter Become a better chess player of life
Train SMART. Live BETTER.
I’ve always told everyone I have ever helped over the last two decades that every kilogram of muscle is a fat burning dynamo! Yep, a fat-burning dynamo.
If you compare your body’s metabolism (the rate at which it ‘burns’ calories) to that of an engine of a car, when you build lean body mass (muscle), you increase the engine size and power of your body. Your car engine (metabolism) goes from, say, a 1.8l engine to a 4.0l or even an 8.0l engine over time.
Muscle loss reduces calorie requirements, makes fat loss more difficult, and creates increased obstacles to the maintenance of a lean body, once the excess fat has been lost.
Fundamentally, your ‘life-force’ (or vitality) will be sucked out of you and you will literally feel like cr&p! Every single minute of every single day. Now, why would you or anyone for that matter want to feel like that every single day. I could and still can’t understand why people still do this to themselves. Instead of doing ‘life-affirming’ actions, they instead do ‘life destroying’ actions.
Not smart. Not sustainable.
Put simply, and to sum up – always remember, to help maintain a lean body, build muscle. To do this you need to Train SMART. Live Better.
It is as simple as that!
However, like some philosopher once said, “the easy things are also the hardest things to do”.
If you can dream and imagine a much more improved physical version of you and believe in executing a plan to get you there, by all means go for it!
With 8 x Mr Olympia – “The King”, Ronnie Coleman. Now, this man built and carried on his frame an unbelievable amount of muscle – 300lbs worth of it!
And don’t worry if you have never entered a gym in your life or you haven’t done anything since your late teens or early twenties. It is never too late to start.
Regardless of your age, or how out of condition you may think you are at present, I believe it is never too late to start an exercise program. The power to decide rests in your hands (literally when you start lifting weights in a gym to help the person in the mirror – YOU).
You can transform your fitness and muscle strength at any age, along with your appearance, and health. I believe this is important because from my observations as a coach over the years, when people’s image improves, their performances improves too. Feeling good about yourself is an important part of being a well-balanced human being.
Make that choice – for you or a loved one. Make that choice to help you so that you can enjoy not just a long life but a good quality life by lowering the risks of early on-set of age-related physical and mental diseases. Respect and love the most important person in the world to you – YOU, first.
That way, by default, everyone gets the best of you, too.
You have one life, make the most of it all the best in the choices you make. No one else can make them for you, so choose well.
5 key areas to manage your living better … for better balance in your life
To assist in the quality of your life right now, consider improving on these 5 key areas to manage your living better – for better balance in your life:
Eat – well composed, portioned meals, more frequently. If it is green leaf (and not a frog), include it in your meals.
Water – drink adequate levels of water daily. An average adult should aim for 3L per day.
Move – a combination of weight training, cardio and stretching done two to three times per week.
Enjoy yourself – don’t forget to have fun and laugh at least once a day.
Socially engage with your community in person.
Get, learn and apply the basics (of life) right so that YOU can ….
Muscle is precious. Build muscle, then do everything you can possibly to do to preserve what you have. You will thank your lucky and wise stars as you age.
Don’t accelerate the ageing process as age does it for you anyway. Build muscle, as if your life depended on it (and it does). Build muscle as it is your personal preventative insurance against age-related diseases as your life ticks on … tick, tock, tick, tock!
Then, watch your energy, mental state and vitality soar to new heights and ….
Live, really live.
Until next time,
Cheers & ahoy!
The old Cap’n Viking Pirate Evangelist Muscled Monk … & managing your weight during Christmas festive season and beyond
Be the best you can be for you, first, then by default, everyone gets the best of you. Vv.
Learning how to properly execute an exercise with good form throughout the full range of motion is vital to muscle building and longevity. Vv
I was asked by a host of a function I attended recently about what grip was best to get the most out of your barbell bench presses?
Over the last two decades I have seen many variations of grips. I believe it is a matter of individual preference and your level of experience of training in the gym. If you’re a beginning gym enthusiast, it would be best if you used the ‘thumb grip’, meaning your thumb goes around the bar in the opposite direction to your other fingers, forming a secure grip.
If, however, you are more experienced and advanced, then using the ‘thumbless grip’ may be something for you. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term ‘thumbless grip’, it simply means that you move your thumb to the same side of the bar as your fingers.
If you had to assess the risk of the two types of grips, the ‘thumbless grip’ is a much higher risk to you and possibly others close to your training station. I know of a man who injured his sternum doing a bench press using this grip. The bar slipped off his hands during a set of bench pressing and fell on his chest. Very painful, not recommended.
However, this risk is lowered if the bench press is performed using a “Smith Machine” or similar. The thumb grip is safer.
It can also be argued that it is more productive to NOT use a thumbless grip when performing an exercise like the bench press. However, how productive you are depends on many other variables and in the list of key variables influencing your productivity during your workouts, the grip you use would have to be quite far down that list.
So, to sum up, if you’re a beginner, DO NOT use a thumbless grip, especially if you do bench presses with free weights. Period! The seasoned campaigner can give it a try if you are using a smith machine to mitigate the risk of the bar falling on you or have a good training partner.
But, if you are in it for the long haul, the use of a ‘thumbless grip’ isn’t going to give you much more weight doing your presses. I think your focus should be on more important things like ‘feel’ and ‘control’.
Two principles of building muscle: 1) Simplicity and 2} Continuity. Here, Ex-Australian Rugby legend Phil Waugh using a ‘thumbless grip’ in a Smith Machine to do Bench Presses. Become aware; Apply action: Adapt accordingly.
I tell everyone that if you’re not feeling the muscle and not in control of weight, then you’re not building muscle, you’re just building ego. Learn to leave your ego at the door if you’re serious about building good quality muscle and re-shaping the body you see in the mirror towards the one you imagine yourself to be.
Focus on doing each repetition of each exercise properly. Do this repeatedly as best as you can. This includes doing the last rep as good as your first. Not some of the time, – all of the time!
Feel the ‘essence’ of the exercise ( … and it ain’t vanilla!).
When you feel you’ve mastered this and the BASICS, then, and only then, should you worry about what grip to use when you train.
Changing lives. Empowering people. One life at a time. 
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