He was one of those guys with a big pot belly who did a lot of sit-ups.

Ugh…don’t be that guy.

First, situps and crunches aren’t helpful for getting rid of your belly.

At the airport, I read an article on the Men’s Health website where they said,

“A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that simply performing sit-ups, crunches, and other ab exercises won’t do much (correction: anything) to reduce belly fat.”

That’s the truth.

In addition, Dr. Stuart McGill has proven that the sit-up and crunch motion are harmful to your low back.

The Men’s Health article reported,

“One group of study subjects performed ab exercises 5 days a week while the control group did nothing. At the end of 6 weeks, there was no significant change in stomach fat in either group.”

In short: Ab exercises didn’t flatten people’s stomachs.

According to Men’s Health,

“It’ll take you 250,000 crunches to burn a pound of fat.”

So what should you do?

Not crunches.

Not sit-ups.

Instead, stick to total body metabolic resistance training workouts, interval training (as recommended by the same Men’s Health article), and total body ab exercises like the ones you can do with me in these workouts:

=> http://www.TTforAbsDVDs.com

The TT For Abs DVDs gives you 12 weeks of follow-along workouts that you and I can do together – and you even get to watch me struggle with the workouts, too.

Good times,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Certified Turbulence Trainer

PS – Today is the last day to save over $220 on the DVDs.

The price goes back up at midnight here:

=> http://www.TTforAbsDVDs.com

And don’t forget, you also get the 15-Minute Express workouts that are really tough, but really fast.

As you’ll see in the DVDs, you can burn a lot of calories in just a short amount of time.

It’s much better than spending even a single second on crunches.

So I was a little slow getting the August Workout added to the TT Member’s site.

But it’s there now, and you’ll find a great program for your abs this month with “TT for Abs 2K11″.

All members can download the program here.
(It’s the first program under “Recent Additions” on the right.)

TT for Abs 2K11 has several new abs exercises combined with a metabolic resistance training set-up to burn the fat while you build your six pack abs.

Now for this week’s questions from the TT Member’s Forum…

Question: What does Metabolic Resistance Training (MRT) mean?

Answer:
MRT is best described as a hybrid-fusion of bodybuilding set and rep schemes with an interval training twist all in a total body workout system.

After working with Alwyn Cosgrove on some programs, my MRT systems contain two different types of MRT workouts. First, there is the heavier resistance, classic MRT program.  And second, there is the higher rep, Metabolic Conditioning style workouts.

Both are used in my MRT program.

ALSO…if you want to attend the Turbulence Training Summit, I’ll be taking attendees through both styles of MRT workouts each morning before the seminar. You can reserve your spot here:

=> http://www.TTSummit.com

Question: I am well muscled, 5’9 just under 170,13% body fat. I am in very good shape conditioning wise. I eat extremely well however I probably eat a lot because I am afraid of losing muscle. I need a “fat burning” workout to help me get the 6 pack abs but I don’t want to sacrifice any muscle. What TT program would you recommend?

Answer:
You’ll want the 4-week Metabolic Resistance Training workout.

This program is already legendary and the right one for you.

Grab it here.

Exercise of the Week – Band-Assisted Chin-ups

If you’re struggling to do more than 2-3 chin-ups, or even your first chin-up, this video – from Certified Turbulence Trainer Chris Lopez – will give you a sneaky way to improve.

=> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_7LHNpnF54

Question: I started running and have developed extremely sore shin muscles. I think that I have tried to do too much too soon. I really want to continue with my program today, but they are so sore that they are even hurting with me just sitting! Is there anything that I can do to help the soreness go away quicker? Or better yet, what can i do to prevent it from happening to begin with? Thanks in advance for your advice. – Penny

Answer:
This is common.

Unfortunately, all you can do is wait until the soreness goes away. When you are pain free, see if you can find a softer surface.

Were you on pavement or concrete? Those two are the worst.

What about your shoes?

Are they relatively new?

Are they quality running shoes?

In the meantime, no intervals – just do the supersets, unless you can do intervals on a bike.

Train hard but safe,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Certified Turbulence Trainer

Since I had a lot of questions on what you can still do, I put together a list of replacement exercises.

1) First, just to clarify, you can still do Clean and Presses if you do the exercise properly with the right equipment. If you have any doubts about form, do squats supersetted with overhead presses instead.

2) You can also still do box jumps, side-to-side jumps, vertical jumps, etc. Again, just make sure all jumps are done with proper form and not to failure. Also, make sure your jump training is done on a wooden floor or grass, NEVER on concrete or pavement.

3) You can still do regular dips (at a dip station). Here’s Bill Hartman’s recommendation on form:

Do dips with “a forward lean and with your hips and knees flexed roughly 90 degrees”.

I use this exercise in the TT for Abs DVDs Advanced Workouts, and you’ll see proper demonstration in the manual and DVDs here.

4) By the way, if you have bad shoulders, here’s a great exercise tip I found from Joe DeFranco. Joe recommends doing 100 reps of band pull-aparts every day. Do them in 4 sets of 25.

Just hold a resistance band with your hands spaced shoulder width apart, and using light to moderate tension, pull the band apart by squeezing your shoulder blades together.

I did 4 sets of 25 on Monday, and my upper back and rear-deltoids felt tremendous all day. I’m adding these to my warm-up routine at least 3 days per week.

5) To replace sit-ups, crunches, and russian twists (and V-ups too, as those are another nasty exercise on your low back), use these 5 replacement exercises:

- Planks
- Side Planks
- Stability Ball Planks
- Stability Ball Rollouts
- Stability Ball Jackknives

NOTE: You can also use the TRX or other straps for a lot of these better ab exercises.

If you have the TT for Abs DVDs, you’ll be able to follow along with me as we do those exercises together in the comfort of your own home.

=> Grab your TT for Abs DVDs today

Train hard but safe.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS – If you’re a trainer, the following two books are MANDATORY…

…for you to read. They will make you a better trainer and keep your client healthier and fitter.

1) Dr. Stuart McGill’s “Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance”

2) Schuler & Cosgrove’s, “The New Rules of Lifting for Abs”

If you’re a trainer and you don’t make an effort to read these books ASAP, I’d find that very disappointing.

The truth is that I was FIRED a few times by personal training clients back in the day because they didn’t like my strict workout rules, which included:

1) Absolutely NO talking during the performance of an exercise

2) Perfect form must be used in every exercise

3) No quitting on an exercise

Not surprisingly, that didn’t go over very well with some clients who liked to “gab” more than they liked to workout, or clients who liked to say they could do 5 chin-ups, when all they could REALLY do was 5 “quarter reps”.

The bottom line is that I take my training serious. You want a buddy to chat with? Train with someone else. I’m just not a chatty-Craiggy.

Sorry.

And because I take my training seriously, I’ve built up a list of exercises that should no longer be in your workouts because they are ineffective or downright dangerous.

Here are the top 10 exercises to remove from your program right now.

#1 – The Bodybuilder Bench Press

The truth is you never, ever have to do another set of bench presses if you simply want to lose fat or build chest muscle. There are plenty of other “shoulder-safe” exercises like dumbbell chest presses that work just fine.

That said, I know there are a few irrational TT Meatheads, like myself, reading this email. And we still want to bench press, and maybe even enter a Powerlifting competition.

But the Bodybuilder Bench Press – where you have a wide grip on the bar and your elbows pointed out to the sides – is the most damaging to your shoulders.

To make the exercise safer for your shoulder joint and rotator cuff muscles, simply tuck your elbows to your body – so they point more towards your feet – and bring in your grip by 1-2 inches. That will save your shoulders.

#2 – Anything done with a rounded back (even picking up dumbbells)

It doesn’t matter if you’re squatting, deadlifting, straight-leg deadlifting, rowing, or even doing triceps kickbacks, you must STOP doing these exercises with a rounded lower back.

That’s a one-way ticket to a herniated disc. And you do not want to go there, girl.

So make sure that you brace your abs, and keep your back in the neutral position – and even with a slight arch in your low back – as you do dumbbell rows, deadlifts, squats, and Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs).

If you don’t know what I mean, or you still aren’t comfortable with those exercises, by all means DROP them and just ask for a substitute exercise. There are plenty of other movements I can recommend.

And one more thing…I see a lot of people (including my clients) who use great form in all exercises and then pick up dumbbells off the floor with a rounded back.

That’s another no-no.

You can just as easily hurt your back doing that as you can in an “official” exercise. So always, always, ALWAYS pick stuff up by bending at the knees and keeping the object close to your body – but NEVER by rounding your back (even when tying your shoes!).

#3 – Bench dips (where your hands are placed on the bench behind you)

Personally, I’ve never been one to use this exercise, as I thought it was lame-o. And then 2 years ago I attended a Bill Hartman lecture, and he was very unkind to this exercise. (Who’s Bill Hartman? He’s a guy that has been crowned “the smartest man in fitness” by Brian Grasso, Alwyn Cosgrove, and myself.)

Here’s what Bill says about those bench dips…

“To achieve that much range of motion the scapula must tilt forward which is a pretty unstable position. This also means that the shoulder joint is unstable and increases demands on the rotator cuff especially the subscapularis.

“Over time this is a lot of undesireable stress leading to impingement of the cuff. This doesn’t even consider the stress on the AC joint. It’s also a crap exercise for overload.”

Cut those out of your program immediately.

#4 – “Clean and Presses” done with a fixed bar

Clean and presses are a great exercise when done with proper form, but almost every time I go to a big box gym I see people using those fixed “body bars” and doing some mangled “reverse-curl/external rotation/body contortion” movement.

Worse, I’ve watched groups of women do this in aerobics classes.

Listen, it’s nice that people see the value in the total body movements, but if you can’t do the exercise properly, it shouldn’t be done at all.

When I see a person trying to clean and press a 2-inch diameter, 24 pound body bar, it ALWAYS looks bad…because it is. Again, there are plenty of other ways to train the body. You could do a front squat combined with a push press. That would be safer and would still work all the muscles you want (and even more).

#5 – Behind the Neck pulldowns or presses

I’m a real conservative guy. To me, dressing up means a clean white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. I hold the door open for lil’ old ladies. I don’t gamble or smoke. And I don’t curse around my mom.

And because of my conservative nature, that’s why I’m putting all “behind the neck” exercises on the no-fly list for your workout.

Some coaches say they are fine, and other coaches say it depends on the individual. And while I agree that some folks can do these without a problem, I look at it this way:

There’s NO good reason to risk your shoulder with these exercises when you get equal results from modified, safer versions of these exercises or simply by using other movements.

So be conservative and do your shoulders a favor by dropping all behind the neck movements.

#6 – Crunches

I know some people are getting real upset with me every time I tell you to stop doing crunches, but if you won’t believe me, then at  least believe Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove, whose new book, “The New Rules of Lifting for Abs” just hit #2 on Amazon’s best sellers.

They recommend dropping crunches, and so does Mike Robertson, Men’s Health fitness expert, who recently wrote this about the crunch debate:

“I can’t believe we’re still arguing this stuff. I would’ve hoped by now that we’ve all thrown crunches and sit-ups by the wayside…think about the body-wide effects of crunching – a crunch trains the rectus abdominus by pulling the rib cage down.

“When we pull the rib cage down, we increase the thoracic kyphosis. This sets off a cascade of events – we increase the kyphosis, thus losing t-spine extension. This consistently puts our scapulae in a poor position, not to mention putting our gleno-humeral joint at an increased risk for impingement as well.”

Let me translate Mike’s science…

Basically he said, STOP doing crunches!

#7 – Side bends

Unless you’re a powerlifter or strongman competitor, you can stay away from side bends.

You don’t want to repeatedly bend your spine sideways any more than you want to flex your spine forward with crunches and sit-ups.

And besides, who has ever gotten sexy abs with side bends?

They sure didn’t help me or Bally the Dog with our six pack abs.

#8 – Plyometrics to Failure

Hey, I appreciate the fact that people are putting more athletic movements into their fat loss programs. After all, you will get more results with athletic training than slow cardio.

But…you must be smart with your training. Doing “explosive” exercises to the point of muscle failure – and therefore, to the point of improper form – is simply wrong.

That’s what causes injury. And that causes people to drop out of their fat loss program.

So listen…be conservative. YES, you can use jump training in your fat loss program…after all, some of the advanced TT programs do.

But you can’t be doing plyometrics to failure. You can’t be doing plyometrics with sloppy form. And you can’t be getting hurt.

Train hard, but train safe.

#9 – Russian twists

Listen, I have nothing against Russians. Sometimes when I go on holiday I like to relax at the bar with a Black Russian, and I also think Russian women are some of the most beautiful in the world…

…but this exercise they’ve given us gets a big fat NYET!

Don’t do this. It combines spinal flexion and rotation, and is unsafe for your low back. Sorry, it belongs in Siberia!

#10 – Sit-ups

Sit-ups are far worse for your low-back than crunches. As Mike Robertson wrote in his ab training article:

“You may not like Stuart McGill, but the guy has done his home workon the spine. If you want to get your lower back healthy, there are safer and more effective ways to train the core than performing sit-ups until you enjoy the unique pleasure of a herniated disc.”

I agree 100%.

So ditch the crunches and situps and focus on abdominal stability exercises like the ones I have for you in the TT for Abs DVDs here.

Every Christmas I return home to the small city of Stratford where I grew up…and I get into the local gym for a couple of workouts.

Unfortunately, the local gym is almost like the “land where time stood still” when it comes to training.

Members do plenty of slow cardio (reading books, chatting, etc.) and endless repetitions of crunches. This is wrong!

Even the trainers that work there do the same.

Disappointing to see so many folks wasting their time.

As you know, ab training has changed a LOT in the last 10 years. We know that the goal of our abs is to help our upper body remain stable during movement.

In fact, our abs work AGAINST:

- Rotation
- Flexion
- Extension

The abs simply want the body to stay straight so that we protect
our low backs.

It is NOT good for our spine and low back to be doing crunches, sit-
ups, or any other “rounded back” exercise.

So say goodbye to old-school “twisting and turning and crunching” ab workouts, and check out the “New Rules of Lifting for Abs”.

My Christmas gift this year was discovered during a visit to the vet last week…you see, ol’ Bally the dog had a checkup for his ears, and I was given a summary with his birthday on it…I did the calculation and realized he’s only turning 5 years old this year…I thought he was turning 6. So I’ve been given another year of Bally. Very happy about that. I don’t need much more. That makes for a great 2011 already…

…and I hope yours is as well.

To get you started, I’d love to help you transform your body in the 10th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest here.

Now let’s get into the TT Workout and tips…

Click here to listen to the call…

Starting with…

Monday – Dec 20

Transformation Tip of the Week:

No matter how busy we are and no matter how difficult it is, somewhere out there is someone who has it worse, and they’ve made it work. So if they can do it, then we can find a way to do it too, no matter what “it” is.

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong

Now to improve your abs workout

I want to show you how to INSTANTLY improve your ab workouts by 40%.

To do that, we go to one of the world’s leading experts on back pain.

His name is Dr. Stuart McGill, and back in 2004 I drove my ol’ 1997 Nissan Maxima from Toronto to Waterloo to buy Dr. McGill a hamburger and ask him about the best ab training methods.

Dr. McGill showed me a few unique exercises, told me a cool story about how he was helping an NBA player rehab his back, and then he told me not to do situps or any other exercise where your spine is flexed forward.

Now you’ve probably had a sneaky suspicion that all those crunches were a bad idea, and here’s proof that you were RIGHT!

In fact, on one website, Dr. McGill is quoted as saying:

“…when the spine is fully flexed, we’ve measured the spine losing up to 40% of its ability to bear compressive loads. In other words the spine is strongest when in a neutral position.”

There you go – REMOVE crunches and situps and your ab workouts will instantly be 40% better for you.

What Dr. McGill is saying is that we want to AVOID crunch and situp type exercises, and focus on total-body ab exercises where we brace our abs in a neutral position – rather than flexing (and breaking) our backs.

Dr. McGill continued by saying, “Too many bad backs are created by misinformed people thinking they need to train the rectus with repeated full flexion exercises. There are much better and safer ways to do this.”

Exactly.

Tuesday
•    Get 30 minutes of fun activity – now grab a Green Tea and do this week’s research review.

Reference:
Willardson, JM, Behm, DG, Huang, SY, Rehg, MD, Kattenbraker, MS, and Fontana, FE. A comparison of trunk muscle activation: Ab circle vs. traditional modalities. J Strength Cond Res 24(12): 3415-3421, 2010

Canadian and American researchers studied muscle activation of the abs during 3 torso exercises and the Ab Circle device.

12 subjects (6 men, 6 women) for 6 exercise conditions, including: abdominal crunch, side bridge, bird dog, and Ab Circle levels 1-3.

For the rectus abdominis, the abdominal crunch elicited significantly greater activity vs. the Ab Circle level 1, and the side bridge elicited significantly greater activity vs. the Ab Circle levels 1 and 2.

For the External Oblique, the side bridge elicited significantly greater activity vs. the bird dog.

The results of this study indicate that the trunk musculature can be activated to similar or even greater levels by performing the 3 traditional trunk exercises vs. the Ab Circle. This was particularly evident for the side bridge exercise.

This proves Dr. McGill’s tips.

Wednesday Workout Tip

Don’t be this guy => Orgasm guy

Orgasm guy was at the gym today. He is very annoying. Every repetition of his “oh so intense” reverse crunches must be a mess in his pants. Don’t be that guy (or girl – women are just as bad).

Bottom line: Train hard, but train quietly.

Trainer Thursday
•    Do 30 minutes of fun activity…

The Proper Warm-up: Part 1
You’ll start with a general bodyweight mobility warm up. When they’re doing these exercises – and any exercise – a great tip is to have you or the client touch any muscles that the clients are having trouble activating (always discuss touching and make the appropriate decision about who should touch and cue the muscle).

If the client is doing a one-leg hip extension, tell the client to put their hands on the muscles that should be working (glutes and hamstrings). This will help them activate the correct muscle. Another example is during a seated row. You can touch the lats and rhomboids to make them aware of what muscles should be working.

Research actually shows that when you touch muscles they have better activation, so you want to be doing that any time there is confusion about what exercise is working what muscle group. Clients should be made aware of what muscles are working in every exercise.

Clients always ask, “Where should I be feeling this?”, so pre-empt that question with an explanation any time you demonstrate an exercise.

Facebook Friday

This week we look at Triathlon training…submit your question on the TT Facebook page here.

Q: Lovin the belly off. The workouts, intervals, and diet. Never been able to stick to anything like this so well. Thanks! But now I’m so obsessed that I’ve entered an off-road triathlon. 3/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 5 mile run. It’s 5 months away so I’ve got plenty of time to work up to it. I’ve read just about everything you’ve posted so I know you’re not too keen on cardio. How do you suggest I prepare for this. Lengthen my intervals? Run or ride on the off days? I’m buying everything you’re saying on the the intervals for fat burning vs the cardio but isn’t there any value to increasing my cardio stamina? BTW my wife is enjoying my results as well!!! .

Answer:
Great work.

You can do more cardio in preparation.

I’m not against aerobic training for performance, I’m just against choosing cardio over strength and interval training if you only have a short amount of time to lose fat.

Most importantly, you should practice your swim technique and get acquainted with the transitions you’ll need to make during the race.

How to do a triathlon and turbulence training at the same time.

As for the mini-T, if you want to do your best in it, your best option would be to first schedule your Tri training, and then work 1-2 strength training sessions into your week (only 1 set per exercise) and 1 interval session in (done at the start of a regularly scheduled cardio session).

Hope that helps.

Social Support Saturday!
•    30 minutes of fun activity…

Build confidence and destroy your fears by taking action. Have the courage to face your faults and then look at “correcting your faults” as being another way to make you successful.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” – Mark Twain

“Be confident. There is no one who is not attracted to confidence. Women dig it. Men love it. Confidence adds hair, drops ten pounds, and takes off ten years.” – Larry Winget

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
•    30 minutes activity and plan, shop, & prepare

How many calories should I consume for weight loss?

For the answer, we turn to Alan Aragon’s formula found in the Dec 2010 issue of Men’s Health magazine. First, we’ll need your “Target Weight” and “# of weekly exercise hours”. Let’s say you want to get to 180 and you’ll be exercising 4 hours per week.

Calorie Intake = Target weight x (10 + # weekly exercise hrs)

= 180 x 14
= 2250

By the way, Aragon suggests subtracting about 350-750 calories for a missed workout.

Also…I encourage you to read the rest of the report, “How a fat nation can slim down” in the Dec. 2010 Men’s Health issue. And of course, entering the 10th TT Transformation Contest here.

Next week!
•    Training Tips – Training to Failure & 10-Minute Training
•    Research Review – Resistance Training, cholesterol, and diabetes
•    Nutrition – Morning Nutrition Ritual for 2011

By the way, if you’ve ever ordered a set of TT DVDs, we’ve been sending out t-shirts to you. Had this feedback that I’ve wanted to share:

“Craig, Just received a free Turbulence Training t-shirt in the mail today. It is awesome and can’t wait to wear it proudly. This is why you are so successful b/c of great customer service and obviously an awesome program. Keep it up!” – Daniel Woodrum

Thank you for being awesome! The best thing you can do is have success with TT.

By the way, just because it is December doesn’t mean it is time to quit. There is sStill lots of time left to achieve great things in 2010. Keep pushing and improving even through the holidays. Never give up.

“Be as successful in every area of your life as you possibly can. Why? Because you can. You are obligated to become as much as you can be simply because you can!” – Larry Winget

Click here to listen to the call…

Now let’s get into the TT Workout and tips…

Monday – Dec 6

Transformation Tip of the Week

Once you accept that your success journey will be difficult, the process then becomes simple. Once you realize that you’ll have to sacrifice (whether you want to lose fat or make more money, etc.), only then you will be mentally ready to succeed by planning, doing the work, and never giving up no matter how frustrated you get. But all that starts with accepting the challenge and committing yourself to the goal.

Workout Tips from Men’s Health Magazine, December 2010

• 44 degrees is the best angle for max chest and deltoid during incline bench
• Tucking your elbows in during bench presses is better for strength and reduces shoulder stress, says researchers from Slippery rock university. (Author: Anning, J)

And here are my tips for bench pressing, check out this Youtube video:

Finally, I encourage you to read this month’s workout poster in the dec 2010 mh…it features one of my favorite supersets in workout A:

1A) Deadlift
1B) DB Chest Press

Anytime you pair a deadlift and press you have a total body workout in one superset!

Tuesday
Get 30 minutes of fun activity – now grab a Green Tea and do this week’s research review.

Reference: MH Dec 2010

First, MH quotes a George Washington University study that claims the annual cost for being obese is $2646! That is much more than the combo of good eating and a gym membership would set you back.

Second, a study from research institute Kaiser Permanente found that the most effective weight loss sites share these 4 traits:

A) encourage accountability through tracking
B) provide personalized info
C) foster community interactivity
D) provide accurate health info

Of course, the Turbulence Training membership offers ALL four of these, and you can get 30 days free in the Member’s area when you take advantage of the special Holiday Fat Loss Workout offer here.

Wednesday Workout Tip

More from Men’s Health Dec. 2010.

First, save your back by bending your knees and squatting, not rounding your low back, when you pick up stuff off the floor.

Second, “rotational crunches are less effective than regular crunches for your obliques”, according to a study performed at Westfield State University (Author: Proulx, C). Plus, since we know crunches are hard on the low back, you should use Stability Ball Rollouts or Jackknives instead.  Check out these TT-approved ab exercises:

6-Minute Abs Supersets

Trainer Thursday

Another major problem among personal trainers is that they often have no plan at all for the client’s training session.

You can see this from the lack of warm up, the awkward conversation, the random exercise order that they go through. They don’t have a backup plan if equipment is being used in a busy gym.

Everything that you’re going to do should be written down. They aren’t just hiring you to count reps. Trainers can’t just pick some exercises out of thin air. Everything needs to be planned and prepared for maximum results and professionalism.

Facebook Friday

From April on TT Facebook…

Q: What is the difference between pullups and chinups, and what are good substitutes for these exercises?

Answer:
First, chinups are the underhand grip and pull-ups are overhand grip.

Now here’s a video of back exercises you can use…start with the dumbbell row.

=> Back Exercises

Social Support Saturday!

No matter how busy we are and no matter how difficult it is, somewhere out there is someone who has it worse, and they’ve made it work. So if they can do it, then we can find a way to do it too, no matter what “it” is.

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
30 minutes activity and plan, shop, & prepare

I recently changed my blender drink methods, and you can read about those Nutrition Drinks changes here. I start my day with this Greens-based drink.

Green Drink: Almond Milk (2 cups), Garden of Life Raw protein powder, spinach, ½ banana, blueberries (small amount, optional), cinnamon (needed for taste!), cacao nibs, chia seeds, teaspoon of Spirulina powder, and a teaspoon of Athletic Greens powder.

I also eat 2 oz of raw almonds and up to 6 raw dates at this time.

Drink After Training: Almond milk (2 cups), Prograde whey protein, raspberries or strawberries, and 1 banana (optional: pecans or peanut butter).

Next week!
•    Training Tips – My Next Training Program
•    Research Review – The #1 Study You Have to Do
•    Nutrition – More Truth About Alcohol!