Training ADD

Training A.D.D is a popular term used by personal trainers.  This refers to a trainee that will never stick to a set diet or exercise regimen for more then a couple weeks.  People with training ADD often spin their wheels endlessly because regardless of how hard they work out, or how smart they are in exercise theory, they NEVER make any measurable progress.

People with training ADD typically understand what goal they have in mind initially but for what ever reason become unhappy with their situation and decide to change midway through.  Since making changes in body composition and performance are relatively slow processes people with Training ADD never reach the level they set out for.

A common example of this is a trainee who decides they want to gain muscle.  After researching the best program and diet to gain weight they set out on an effort to become huge.  They realize  after two months of bulking up that they are starting to lose definition in their abs.  Regardless of the fact that the rest of their body is growing well and their strength is through the roof they panic and decide that they need to cut back, and make a 180 degree shift dropping calories and focusing more on cardio.  After a few weeks of this they are back to square one because they didn't put on any appreciable muscle mass, and the muscle they did put on was lost in their reactive effort to cut back down in a short time.  And this leaves the trainee exactly at square one.

Training A.D.D. does not just have to be applied to body composition changes but we can also see this in performance measurements when a person tries to train for to many different things at once.  They want to be good at long distance running, and powerlifting, all while being fast.  Their training tries to resemble this by switching between mutually exclusive goals all at once.  And in the end they get no where because they don't pick with one goal and focus on it!

People with great physiques or great speed or great power all or all of the above have gotten that way over a long period of time.  Whatever their goal was they stuck with tried and true methods and were CONSISTENT! This does not mean consistency for a month or two.  Consistency means dedicating yourself to a diet and fitness regimen for years.  

So far all those with training ADD set a goal and stick with it for at least three months before re evaluating.  

400 lbs squat at 175 body weight

Scary strong!

Oxysterols and Milk

Does anyone else remember that dairy movement that wanted americans drinking three cups of milk a day?  I do...and although I don't believe milk is inherently bad I think some of us need to reconsider the way we get our milk.

Lets face it, from the way people used to drink it, milk has come a long way.  I know that some of you are thinking that this is a good thing.  After all without advancements in modern food science we wouldn't have microbial free (pasteurized) homogenized, and fat free milks.

Although at first these innovations to milk appear to be beneficial are they all that great?  I along with many other nutritionist and researchers think that these scientific advancements have simply taken a perfect health promoting food and degraded it in order to make a cheap buck.  Lets take a look at some of the problems modern dairy faces and why these "advancements" could mean bad news for your health.

I would often bring a bottle of whole milk into class if I had missed breakfast.  I would find many of my fellow nutrition majors scowling at me, "You drink whole milk!!!!?????" As if they simply could not fathom that a person who had taken all the coursework they had could consciously drink the fat laden stuff.  I would often reply that before whole milk was "whole milk," it was just called milk and people were fine.

I tend to piggyback off the  philosophy that eating foods in their least processed form is the ideal way to optimize health and performance.  When it comes to milk this philosophy holds true.  Many people are wary and believe that the saturated fat and cholesterol in milk will lead to heart disease.  I invite those people to read Stephen Guyenet blog post on why saturated fat does not cause a rise in blood cholesterol here.  

Secondly I would like to point out that the pasteurization process of milk not only denatures and changes the protein composition in milk, but instigates a rise in harmful substances within the milk called oxysterols

Oxysterols are oxidized forms of cholesterol.  In dairy pasteurization (heat exposure) cholesterol oxidation products (COPS) can be formed which indeed have many negative effects on health.  Among these detrimental health affects COPS have shown to have cytotoxic, inflammatory, effects and have been linked with chronic diseases including artherosclerosis and neurogenerative diseases.

COPS are thought to be potentially involved in the initiation and progression of artherosclerosis, neurogenerative procecesses, diabetes, kidney failure, 

COPS compared to unoxidized cholesterol (like the cholesterol found in raw milk) have demonstrated stronger pathological and toxic effects by at least one or two orders of magnitude ([Poli et al., 2009] and [Van-Reyk et al., 2006]). 

One of the primary COPs in milk is called 7-keto cholesterol which is linked to cancer and heart disease. The amount of 7-keto cholesterol formed is directly related to the temperature of pasteurization.  This means that if you are going to by store bought milk it may be a wise choice to by milk that is only lightly pasteurized.  Ultra-pasteurized milk or the "UHT" you often see on milk labels can contain higher levels as well as milk put in the microwave.  So if you eat something like oatmeal and microwave it make sure to put the milk in afterwards or use a milk alternative like almond milk.

These Oxysterols as well as other issues like antibiotic and hormone use, as well as poor animal treatment are a couple of reasons why processed dairy is becoming less and less of a healthy choice.  I am fortunate enough to live in a family that gets raw milk, but if that is a little to extreme for you I would suggest buying a lightly pasteurized organic milk.

Training, and random thoughts.

Readers recently school work and rugby have consumed my life and my blog has taken a back seat.  In an effort to get some content up I wanted to post some random tidbits.

Recently my weight lifting has taken a back seat to rugby.  Most athletes have to deal with this, it is very hard to set PR's during a season.  Athletes should use an appropriate training template for in season.  This will depend on your specific recovery abilities - volume should be cut accordingly.  Currently my split looks like this.

Monday: upper power
Barbell row 5*5
Shoulder press 3*5
Bench Press 3*5

Tuesday: Lower Power
Squat 3*5
Deadlift 1*5


Thursday: Chest Tricep
Dumbell Incline Press 3*8
Close grip Bench 3*8
Dumbell flat 2*8
Some direct arm work

Friday back shoulder hypertrophy
3 sets of pull ups
Dumbell shoulder Press
Lateral raise
Dumbell shrugs
parralel rows
Kroc rows

The above stuff is done off "feel" when you have been training for a while you can tell what you can get away with.  I keep workouts short and intense, and aim to improve week to week.  If recovery is an issue I will take as much time as I need, this is a dumb-downed version of layne nortons power hypertrophy split, I will transition to the full split after rugby is over and reccomend it for people with experience in the compound lifts...Linked here

Some advice I have found useful in my experience as follows:


"Once you have accepted that changes to your body composition is a slow process driven largely by caloric intake. You essentially free yourself from the constraints that hold you back.
The more rules you have in your diet the better chance you have of breaking one, the better chance you fail/ binge/ get off track. 

I find that if you concentrate as much about consistency in certain things rather than the type of food you eat you will get the most profound results. 1. A controlled caloric surplus or deficit. 2. A substantial amount of protein in your diet (gram per lbs?) 3. Lifting Heavy weights on a well though out program three-four times a week.

By focusing on less you get more. Accept that you that changes to your body composition are going to take a long time. This elimantes the stress of dieting and you can go about every day effortlessly acheiving your goals.

Lastly try and find your Connections between eating and your emotions. Do you eat when your bored? etc... Deciphering this is your key to self control

Keep it fun, and challenge yourself in the weight room. Be consistent with your diet, and realize that although your body composition doesn't change day by day, your mind can! Your body composition is 1/16th of the great person you are, Dieting is a time for reinvention and self reflection, go out and try something new that you enjoy and hold your head up high because you are drifiting towards a happier healthier you everyday."

Another reason to eat vegetables!

Research shows that vegetables give your skin a healthy glow. read here

Born to Run?

Here is an interesting Ted talk that may change the way you think about running. here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtUvB41zD1w&feature=player_embedded