OK fellas, I've finally made up my mind to embark on another journey: becoming a certified personal trainer! Hell, after all the reading and studying I've done over the past five years, I figured that I could at least put this newly acquired knowledge to some other use than my usual rants here.
So, I've decided that I'm going to start taking classes at my college that will prepare me to take and pass whichever CPT certification I decide to pursue. I know that my students are going to love seeing their "English" professor in sweats, working out along with them. Hey, it's a good thing that I decided to take these classes after I lost all the extra chub I was carrying around.
OK, here's my plan. My school offers a Fitness Specialist Certificate that will, as I've said, prepare me to take the NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT) exam. Now, there are many other CPT certifications out there on the market. Hell,with some of them you can simply take a weekend class and boom you're certified. And there are others that will charge you $50 for a certification via the internet. However, after finding out that the NSCA-CPT exam only has a 54.9% pass rate, you know it was a done deal--oh, the smell of a challenge.
I will definitely keep you posted as to how my classes are going, and I plan on taking my first one this summer. Speaking of taking classes, I have some great news. My wife decided to give me an early b-day gift-- a trip back to Sin City! But, this time I'm not going to tie the knot; I'm heading to Las Vegas to take Steve Maxwell's Joint Mobility And Bodyweight Training Workshop.
I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to take this 6 hour workshop with a true physical culturist whose philosophy you can read about here. If you're not familiar with Steve Maxwell and are wondering why I'm so excited about going to his workshop, well I think I can show you better than tell you:
Fellas, the wifey and I are in the process of moving, so I'll finish up my story about Willy next week. Nevertheless, I wanted to leave you guys with a blog post from one of my personal health and fitness heroes: Steve Maxwell.
He is a physical and conditioning educator, who has been in the fitness and martial arts fields for over 40 years! As you can see from his physique, this brother knows what he's talking about.
Oh, did I mention that he's 55?
OK, pick your jaw up off the floor and read the 10 top reasons why he does not do aerobic exercises. This was taken from his blog, and I encourage you guys to check out his website too.
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I spend my days at a corporate gym. It's a sweet gig and a temporary livelihood.
One morning, while observing a female member endlessly running the treadmill-to-nowhere-fast, I realized I see the same people returning day after day, iPods silently blaring or, worse, mindlessly captivated by one of the ten wall-mounted television screens, while grinding away on those steppers and treadmills.
The drudgery of their Sisyphean tasks compels their attempts to lose self-awareness by inundating themselves with external stimuli. Often, their bodies reflect this lack of self-awareness in skewed gaits and other imbalances.
These same people come in religiously to get the feel-good fix, believing somehow their mindless, movement addiction is in some way benefiting them. Interestingly, they stay fat, show no progress, and sometimes even get fatter, especially after holidays. Most of these people are loathe to touch a weight, much less engage in any kind of productive strength-training. You see this same phenomenon in gyms all over the country.
Some will say, "Well, some exercise is better than none,"
But I say, if you're going to spend the time, why not produce something worthwhile?
Here are ten reasons why I don't do aerobic exercise:
But first, what is aerobic exercise? Any steady state locomotion elevating the heart rate into the zone for twenty minutes or more. The zone is determined by formulas based on age and resting heart rate.
Now, ten reasons why it not only doesn’t work but is a poor use of exercise time:
Oxidative Stress Which causes a breakdown of tissues. It also predisposes one to cancer and heart attack.
Elevated cortisol production Which causes a breakdown of muscle tissue and increases fat storage or depot fat. People do aerobics to alleviate stress yet end up creating more stress.
Lowered testosterone and HGH levels For men, aerobics are a form of chemical castration. Low T-levels are associated with lowered libido, depression, anxiety, increased body fat and decreased muscle tissue. This contributes to muscle-wasting and lowers the basal metabolic rate.
Increased appetite and a tendency toward binge eating patterns Aerobic exercise makes people hungry!
Excessive Muscular Fatigue Making it difficult to do other more productive forms of activity. Aerobics creates muscular weakness.
Conversion of fast-twitch muscle fibers to slow-twitch The loss of fast-twitch muscle fibers contributes to aging and the loss of explosive power and speed. People become slower and slower.
Burns a relatively small amount of calories vs. the time spent One large meal completely offsets the pitiful amount of calories burned in an hour aerobics session.
Overuse injuries to the feet, ankles, and knees from excessive, continual force transmitted throughout the body This is exacerbated by over-engineered running shoes which cushion the feet in such a way to create a neural amnesia.
Shortening i.e., deformation, of the muscle tissue from repetitive mid-range (partial range) movements This creates inflexibility, immobility, and muscle imbalances. Besides being tight, the bodies postural alignment becomes compromised. Aerobics create tight, inflexible bodies that are in chronic pain.
Adrenal burnout A consequence of the “feel good” neurotransmitters which also stimulate the release of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the fight or flight hormone. Excessive adrenaline creates an addictive response and people going routinely for the so called “high” of running end up with adrenal burnout, e.g., chronic fatigue and depression.
Dr. Kenneth Cooper, the father of aerobic exercise (and the person who coined the term) completely recanted his assertions regarding aerobic exercise. After observing a disproportionate number of his aerobic-enthusiast friends die of cancer and heart disease, he reversed his ideas on the benefits of excessive aerobic exercise. He now claims anything in excess of 20 minutes has greatly diminishing returns. In fact, he's now an advocate of scientific weight training.
In strength and health,
Steve
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I have always hated doing cardio even though I owned a club quality elliptical machine, which I used on and off when I first started my weight loss journey. The thought of getting up only to spend 30-45 minutes doing the same motion over and over was very uninspiring to say the least. Once I started working out with kettlebells, I came across Mr. Maxwell and other physical culturists who wrote about the diminishing returns of doing too much cardio. I'm happy to say that I've made the most dramatic changes in my physique through proper nutrition, anaerobic exercises (read: weight resistance training), and HIIT (high intensity interval training), so I couldn't agree more with what Steve is saying here. However, not everyone agrees with his view on aerobics as you can read in this one Judo discussion forum thread about Steve's blog post.
OK, so I'm really interested in hearing your views on his points. So, please feel free to post a comment and/or vote in the poll to the left.
Keep working out guys and new pics are coming soon . . .
After yesterday's posting, I had one reader send me this question:
Could you suggest with your experience of how I can design my own KISS way of strength training?
Well, I'm glad that you asked because it allows me to spotlight another person whose training philosophy and methods are helping me on my journey to becoming very flexible. I encourage you to visit Paul Zaichik's Elastic Steel website for many free videos and articles. He has freakish flexibility, as you'll see from his site, but he is also a bodyweight culturists (i.e, folks who use their bodyweight as their main form of resistance in their training) who has many articles and videos on www.bodyweightculture.com.
As a matter of fact, to answer my reader's question, I've decided to post Paul's Home Workout video, which is in two parts. To do these workouts, you do not need to purchase any sort of weights or equipment. He explains, and performs, each one of the exercises. So, feel free to pause, stop, and back up the videos as needed!
In all of my composition classes, I stress to my students to remember the KISS principle in their writings. Well, at least my take on this acronym because I tell them that KISS stands for Keep It Sweet & Simple since I really don't like calling people stupid.
It's funny because I've been teaching this for over 10 years and never really applied it to my own life until a couple of years ago. I started reading more about how it's better to learn fewer things well than many things half-assed, which I got from the strength and conditioning authors I've studied. I've tried complex split routines that you'll find in most bodybuilding magazines; however, they were so complex and had so many sets to perform that I would simply give up on them especially since my main goal was weight loss and not becoming part of the sport of bodybuilding.
I think back to the days of being the largest guy in the gym trying to look like the personal trainers who worked there. I would work my ass off just to continue looking like a walrus. What really discouraged me was that I always wanted to be able to do unassisted dips, but I couldn't press my own bodyweight. Man, my buddy would have to spot me, and I felt sorry for him because I was giving him a workout by just trying to help me. Our workouts would mainly consist of high reps of isolation exercises. Basically, we did the staples that you'll see most guys doing in the average 24 Hour Fitness or LA Fitness: bench press, preacher curls, seated military press, etc.
Well, I've now been training long enough to have worked out with machines, free weights, kettlebells, resistance bands, and bodyweight. What I've found is that using free weights causes you to fully understand how your body needs to operate as one unit. I've found that using machines, especially those that focus on isolation movements, tend to cause you to not focus on how our muscles are all connected and work together. To get the best workout, you need to focus on exercises that cause you to use more than one muscle group at a time. This will not only give you more of a calorie burn, but it will also put you well on your way to being able to control your own bodyweight, which should be one of your ultimate goals.
I use to be one of those guys that was easily impressed with how much some dude could bench press, but not anymore because I'm not into competitive bench pressing. Also, my ultimate goal is to be able to master some of the most challenging bodyweight exercises out there. For instance, I definitely respect guys that can bench upwards of 400lbs, but to see Steve Cotter do a pistol squat holding two 88lb kettlebells with perfect form is unreal. Don't believe me, check out this youtube video.
Look, if you still have a lot of body fat, why not use that extra weight to your advantage? You don't need to buy one piece of equipment because that's going to be your fat stores role for the next month and a half. Even if you have weights, I suggest that you periodically take a break and use bodyweight exercises to break up the routine or even be cycled in to your current routine. The mistake most people think is that bodyweight exercises are inferior to weighted exercises. Well, for the guys reading my blog, this does not apply to you. We'll let the athletes, martial artists, gymnasts, strength trainers, and bodybuilders continue to debate that one. For purposes of weight loss and getting lean, you can start with bodyweight exercises only!
Yes, when you do lat pull-downs, you are working your lats, but it's a totally different sensation when you are pulling/holding your own bodyweight on a chin-up bar or doing a bodyweight row. There is a difference and it is one that you need to experiment with to fully appreciate. The same goes for overhead pressing movements. If you are doing seated dumbbell military presses, try doing them standing up. You don't have to worry about hurting your lower back if you lock out your knees by pulling your knee caps up, squeezing your glutes, and tensing your abs as if you're bracing for a blow in the gut. These muscles will help you to be tight enough to form a natural corset protecting your lower back. Also, why sit on your ass when you can use it to help save your lower back?
For more about bodyweight routines or getting strong and ripped without using weights, you should check out the following author's sites:
Ross Training (He just came out with a new DVD and training manual. This guy is incredible!)
Mike Mahler (Mike is not only one of the strongest vegans you'll meet, he also has various articles on his site about bodyweight training.)
Steve Cotter (This guys is just unreal. His Encylopedia of Kettlebell exercises 1&2 are hands down two of the top KB videos out on the market. Also, he has a series on bodyweight exercises that is just as good.)
Steve Maxwell (Steve's new website is under construction, but you can pick up his new Pullup DVD here.)
My blog is geared towards the average Joe, who's tired of being fat and average. While women are more than welcome, please understand that the target audience of my blog is the fat guy that's sitting on his duff, feeding his face, watching TV in your living room. I know him very well because I used to be him.
First Time Here?
No problem. I suggest that you start with reading these posts first to get a better understanding of my weight loss journey, training philosophy, and why I have semi-nude pictures of myself on the net! Start with the last post and read up. Feel free to leave a comment.
