Why I Listen to S&C Coaches For Weight Loss

When I started my weight loss journey over 5 years ago, I had no idea all the different twists and turns I was in store for. Hey, I was just some fat English professor who was tired of not seeing his . . . uhhh . . . feet when he looked down. Well, after going through various stages along my journey, I think that I'm now in a position to make some observations about weight loss and management based on my own experimentations and results.

One such observation is that out of all the folks you find on the internet talking about weight loss (e.g., diet authors, fitness experts, weight loss gurus, etc.), I put my money on programs that are developed by certified (and experienced) strength and conditioning coaches. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not endorsing anyone who has CSCS behind their name. I have a few that I personally recommend, but I'll get to them later.

Guys, if you really think about it, when we lose weight, we don't simply want to be skinny. Yes, fitting into smaller size clothing is cool, but as we get older, we definitely don't want to be feeble and weak. So, we not only want to lose weight, but we want to be stronger too. Enter strength and conditioning coaches. Why? Well, it's actually simple. These coaches have the job of getting collegiate, professional, and Olympic level athletes in tip-top shape. I know you're probably thinking, "But what does this have to do with me when I just want to lose weight and not be an athlete?", which is a fair enough question.

Let's take a real life example. Those of us who follow boxing have seen a boxer a couple of months before going to training camp looking a bit on the "plump" side. I don't know, but Fernando Vargas come to mind. Anyway, after three months of camp, not only do they walk in the ring with sub-10% body fat, but they are also primed to operate at their peak level, depending on their training camp of course. Who do you think got this guy in that kind of shape in only three months?

Usually S&C coaches, who are familiar with not only exercises but also exercise nutrition. You simply can't have one without the other, and most guys looking to lose weight usually go the route of the diet authors and their annually changing titles. Or, the bi-weekly changing bodybuilder routines in the fitness magazines at the market. It's not enough to simply diet and exercise. You must have a goal, and, honestly, that goal should be to become as strong as your Joe Average genes will allow, which is way stronger than you think!

When you think about it, a S&C coach's bread and butter is mainly determined by the results s/he gets with his client. After spending the last couple of months reading e-books, websites, and forums of different S&C coaches on the net, here's a list of coaches that I personally recommend. I've been in contact with some, and others don't know me from a can of paint. Nevertheless, their writing has influenced how I approach being conditioned and, more importantly, healthy.

Do they all agree on all points related to fitness or weight loss? Of course they don't! They're all different individuals who have their own take based on their own research and experience working with clients. However, they agree much more than they disagree, which is good to know in this day and age of confusion and misinformation. I've listed these coaches in no particular order, and please note that some of them may not consider themselves to be coaches; oh well, I consider them one and, in the near future, I plan on re-posting information and posts from their blogs on a weekly basis.

Each person on the following list has much information on their blog/website related to topics from gaining strength, building muscle, to losing fat in a no BS fashion! Don't believe me? Click on their respective names and see for yourself:

• Steve Maxwell
• Mike Mahler
• Steve Cotter
• Josh Henkin
• John Alvino
  
• Alwyn Cosgrove
• Jesse Ferrugia
• Craig Ballantyne
• Dan John
• John Wood
• Ross Enamit
• Paul Zaichik
• Jamie Hale
• Alan Aragon
• Got Built? - (Did you really think I'd have all guys?)
  

Look forward to an article from Josh Henkin (www.sandbagexercises.com) that I plan on posting later this week.

Happy Belated B-day to Mr. Sandow

I really wanted to post this on April 2nd, which was Eugene Sandow's 141st birthday, but that obviously didn't happen. So, it's better late than never. I also thought this would be a good time for me to report on what I learned during my In Search of Sandow Body Transformation, which extended a little longer than anticipated. Nevertheless, here's a list of things that I learned on trying to reduce my body fat % and my continued search for a six pack:

• Life happens - Even the best intentioned plans don't always come off exactly as planned. Getting married, moving, and trying to keep with my planned diet and workout routine didn't always work well together. So, I feel as though I did not keep sufficient records for this cycle as far as my nutrition is concerned; however, I kept a pretty good log of my workouts. Even so, my next 6-8 week cycle, which I'll start in two weeks, I plan on being a bit more disciplined with keeping a written account of my intake.
  
  
• Calories must be counted - It is really unfortunate that we are in 2008 and folks are still debating this issue. I'm sorry to keep beating a dead horse here, but I achieved my lowest level of body fat on this journey (7% as my electronic calipers indicate), and there is no way in hell I could have achieved this loss in body fat without counting my calories and eating below what my body needed to maintain my current bodyweight. I still don't understand why people are still so resistant to this idea, and it's not like you'll be doing it for the rest of your life.
  
  
• Insulin is not an evil hormone - I'll be the first to admit that I am a re-covering Carb-phobe. You see, my body responds extremely well to a low-carb, paleolithic style diet since I suspect that I'm an endomorph that is insulin sensitive, which is a recipe for a fat ass; however, I played around with cycling my carbs or carbing up which allowed me to actually eat a large number of carbs which went to replenishing my depeleted muscle glycogen and not fat storage. I'm going to play around more with this and blog about it in the future. But, I will say that from reading Jim Hale's new book and a couple of Lyle McDonald's that there are many more hormones involved in the fat loss and fat storage process that are seldom discussed. I'll be the first to admit that I'm still trying to digest what they are saying because I don't think most guys really understand how complex our body really is, or at least I didn't. So, I'm getting a crash course education now.
  
  
• Zero or very low carbs is not necessary - Unless you know that you are very sensitive to insulin, I really don't see the need for most fellas to go so low with their carbs. Honestly, I've done very low carbs for more than a year and worked out like a mad man with kettlebells only to get a very unimpressive (in my opinion) and emaciated looking physique. I had no idea how a muscle that's been depleted of its glycogen looked versus one that isn't. So, I could not figure out why I could not build muscle while I was going really low carb. Well, I wasn't eating enough carbs to keep my muscles' glycogen replenished, which gives the muscle a full look that most guys want. I suggest as Anthony Colpo does in his Fat Loss Bible that you eat between 60-100 grams of carbs a day and to take in post-workout carbs with the amount depending on how hard you worked out and for how long. Again, manipulating your macronutrients is not as simple as reduce your carbs to near zero and you'll have the body of Adonis before the summer.
  
  
• One can gain strength and definition using bodyweight exercises solely - You know I really can't believe that people are still saying this is not true, and they really should be ashamed of themselves. Yes, I understand that folks want to sell fitness equipment, but when they make outlandish claims like this, it's really criminal. As I've noted before on my blog, some of the strongest athletes are gymnasts who use virtually no weight training yet are able to do muscle-ups, iron crosses, and push ups on rings. Hey, I'm not anti-weights or anything like that because I'm going to go back to my kettlebells in a couple of weeks; however, I still strongly believe that one should master his/her own bodyweight first before thinking about picking up a weight. Also, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying some type of Bowflex contraption.
  
  
• Doing endless crunches is not necessary to get rock hard abs - Did I finally get my six-pack? Well, not quite, but I've reduced my sag in my belly enough to know that it is definitely within sight. Oh, and I did nothing special either to develop my abs. I hate doing crunches and preferred to do mainly isometric style holds such as ab vacuums, side bridges, oh and this one that my buddy Steve told me about which has you staying in the half-crunch position while raising your hands above your head. I called this one stick 'em up. LOL! The main thing about getting abs is removing that layer of body fat that's covering them up because WE ALL have them! They may not all look the same, as all of our muscles' shapes and sizes differ, but we all have a six-pack, and I don't care how fat you are right now.
  

• Fat is not bad for you but shouldn't be eaten ad lib either - I think what happens when someone goes low-carb is that it is unbelievable that they can eat what seems like an unlimited amount of dietary fat and still lose weight. I know because I was one that couldn't believe that I could eat three double-cheeseburgers, without the buns of course, and still drop weight. Not only did I not count calories, but I embraced fat like a long lost friend whom I had shunned during my years of low-fat dieting. Well, it was too much of a good thing because of the calories per gram of fat. I know that there are a lot of guys out there low-carbing, eating damn near zero carbs and can't figure out why they are still experiencing a plateau. Well, if you stop eating so much fat, you would automatically lower your daily caloric intake. If you're going very low-carb, you could also increase your carb intake to no more than 100 grams a day, and as long as you are in an energy deficit, you will lose weight. Also, I've switched to using 2% shredded cheese as I did with full-fat shredded cheese and mixing real eggs with a little bit of egg beaters. Also, I'm taking more fish oil pills that have also replaced some of the dietary fat I use to eat. No, fat isn't bad, but when you are trying to get your body to use the stored fat it has, you need to chill on eating so much dietary fat.
  
  
• Be flexible in your beliefs and open minded to challenge your previous views - When I reached my first goal of losing 100 lbs, I did so buy basically reading one book, Dr. Ellis's Ultimate Diet Secrets. I've blogged enough about this book, but I had to come to realize that there is no such thing as a guru or someone who has all the answers. If someone claims to, then they are just full of themselves because not one person can be an expert on every aspect of weight loss because the process is just too complex. Now I realize that much of the debating that goes on in the dieting community as a whole is really counterproductive in many ways because it keeps people from reading and trying to understand the complex processes involved in weight loss, especially if you are trying to achieve low levels of body fat. While I think that I'm getting a better grasp of the things I read, the more I read the more I realize how much I have to learn.
  
  
• Saggy skin is mainly stubborn body fat - As my picture shows, my hanging belly has gone down a bit, but I know that I still have fat in my lower abdomen and lower back because I can feel it. I'm not kidding myself by thinking that my skin is going to come back and be smooth as it was when I was a teenager; however, I do believe that it will tighten up and come back much more than I initially thought. Also, I've noticed that my stretch marks become less noticeable the smaller my belly gets, which is really encouraging and motivating because I really want to see how far I can take this. Oh, and talking about the complexity of the problem of what I'm trying to do is that I'm actually fighting against my own body's defense system of stoping the body fat levels from getting too low. And, to add to this, different types of body fat respond to different stimulii from the body. Listen, if you are dieting down to try and get a six pack, and you've never done it before like me, then let me be the first to tell you that it is DAMN HARD, and anyone who tells you it's not is full of shit or trying to sell you something!
  
  
• Bodybuilders have weight loss down to a science - I don't know if it's the image of over muscled guys or women with pecs harder than most men, but the average person becomes really intimidated when it comes to the bodybuilding community. This is really unfortunate because they have this weight loss thing literally down to a science, but let me be clear about which aspect of the bodybuilding community I'm talking about. Now, 99% of the BB magazines you see on the market are garbage that are basically full of ads of companies that want to promise you the world and basically hustle you. So, you can cancel your subscription to Muscle and Fitness. You want information on how to really lose weight? Well, go on bodybuilding forums and read, read, and read some more. Not only will you find some extremely smart individuals on there, but they are not the 'roid rage, WWF-type personalities they are stereotyped to be. BB is a competitive sport, so you don't have to do everything they do, but when you have a group of individuals who's chance of winning is how little amount of body fat they have is someone that I will definitely want to hear what they have to say. I've found that bodybuilding.com and t-nation.com are two of the best forums around. However, I will warn you. If you are lazy and looking for an "easy" way to lose weight or get ripped, these forums aren't for you. Although they have it down to a science, they don't have a patent on a magic potion to make you shredded overnight. I'm sorry but it's going to take a major effort on your part.
  

OK guys, there you have it. My report from this roller-coaster ride that I've been on over the past three months. While I did not get my six-pack as I had hoped, I more convinced now that it's in my cross-hairs!

The Skill of Losing Weight - Series Introduction

Five years ago, I decided to take control of my life once and for all, just like the countless number of guys will do this year. So, what makes the start of their journey different from mine? Did I know more than they did before I started? Well unless having back issues of Men's Health made me some sort of weight loss stud, then I guess I did. But, we know that wasn't the case.

Now that I've lost my extra chub, I get "So, what's the secret Muata?" or "How can I lose weight like you?". Well fellas, one of my New Year's gift to you is that I'm going to answer that question for you; however, I'm going to take a different approach . . . a really different approach.

This year, I strongly encourage you to approach losing weight as you would learning a new skill or hobby. That's right, I want you to view weight loss as you would learning how to play an instrument or a new dance. OK, let me back up and explain why I think this is an approach that you should adopt for this year.

Believe it or not, when I'm not obsessing about getting my six-pack, I actually have many hobbies and skills I've picked up over the years. For instance, I'm a musician, writer/poet, hydroponics/traditional gardener, part-time Linux addict (go open source!), salsero, and kettlebell enthusiast, to name a few. And you probably thought I was just some guy who likes to post semi-nude pics of himself on the net, eh? Well, my skill level in these hobbies range from a step above a beginner to intermediate; although I've not mastered any of them, it's OK because I have the basics down and, therefore, a solid foundation to build on.

Guys, you can view weight loss as no different than any of the hobbies you currently have. For example, I don't care if you've had dreams of being the next Victor Wooten (where are my bass players?), you had to start with learning the basic bass chords and keys first, right? Of course you did, and I believe that you had to practice too, didn't you? OK, I know these may seem obvious for anyone wanting to learn to play an instrument, but I believe that these, and a couple more, apply to weight loss also.

On my five year plus weight loss journey, I've come to recognize that there are five common characteristics of learning a hobby or new skill that can be applied to losing weight too:

1. Take the time to learn the basics FIRST!
   
2. Practice, Practice, Practice
3. Be patient with your progress
   
4. Look for other like minded hobbyists
5. Don't worry about making mistakes

In my upcoming series of posts, which will span the next couple of weeks, I'm going to elaborate on each characteristic separately. So, stay tuned and get ready to pick up, and dust off, an old hobby you may have abandoned back in the day because, whether you realize it or not, it's going to help you lose weight!