Is it just me, or is it hot in here? Last week, my homeboy JC set the internet ablaze with his article addressing the concept of clean eating, touching on why it should be buried and added to the list of words never to be uttered again, right next to “bling” and “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” I, for one, couldn’t be happier to grab a shovel and start digging.

Why So Serious?

All it takes is one look in the comment section of JC’s post to come to the conclusion that people are highly protective of their food choices and, when they are threatened, are likely to resort to verbal diarrhea in its defense.

Take for instance this gem from the comment section:

I tried to read your article with an open mind. But as the author of a clean eating recipe blog and somebody who has been eating clean for over 3 years now, I have to strongly disagree with you on just about every level….you also state, “Food is neither clean nor unclean, but merely energy my body needs to function and survive.”

NOT true! The body processes different foods very differently. The more refined and processed a food is, the worse it is for your body. The body processes refined foods very quickly and dumps the glucose into the blood stream. The pancreas than has to kick into overdrive to make up for the excess. Do this often enough, and you end up with diabetes.”

The inaccurate claims made here are an entirely separate issue, but if nothing else it highlights one important fact – this person didn’t read the article. At all.

The fitness and health industry is home to some of the internet’s finest alarmists. In one camp you have those who swear that carbs, especially when consumed mere moments after the moon rises, will magically don pimp attire and invite all the neighborhood fat into your body for a night on the town. They often worship at the alter of fat; if carbs are the problem, then unlimited amounts of fat are the solution. Then of course you have those who place the blame of the globe’s ever expanding waistline on the consumption of fat. These folks are responsible for more egg yolk homicides than Humpty Dumpty and they are more than likely to push an elderly lady into oncoming traffic if she even offers them a bite of her cheeseburger.

These are only a few examples of the many camps and factions running amuck today, but they all represent reductionist thinking, which is at best unproductive, and at worst misleading and acts as a roadblock on the path to objectivity. Nevertheless, when debate sparks and ones ideology is challenged, unsubstantiated statements and straw men arguments are without a doubt lurking nearby. Their baby is under attack, and it is their duty to defend her with all the zeal they can muster, and if that means cherry picking scientific research or downright creating facts out of thin air in order to back up their viewpoints then so be it.

Emotional Content

In the above quote, the commenter barely made it past the headline of the article before diving headfirst into an emotional response due to thinking that their way of eating was under attack when that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Do you see the problem with this trend? I’ll admit that when you feel justified in doing so, its hard to not respond emotionally to particular topics, and its something all of us have done at one time or another. But here is the thing: you don’t have to give in to your emotions when responding. Take a step back. Breath in, breath out. Woosa. Come back after you’ve had time to reflect on the merits of the argument and can respond in turn. That is the power of the interwebz. You can be as cool, calm and collected as you wanna be, or fly off at the mouth making false claims only to end up looking like a supreme turd muffin. The choice is yours and yours alone.

Pitfalls Of Extremism

The worst part about maintaining an extreme point of view is that, in most cases, you are hurting yourself the most. Taking such a stance ensures that you are often so far to either side that no sort of middle ground can be see from your vantage point and there is no room left for the possibility of learning something that may change your mind for the better. You are shut off; your thoughts have been crystallized and that’s that. Excuse me, are you saying somethin? Nuh uh, you can’t tell me nothin’.

If that road is one we’d like to leave less traveled, what is the alternative?

Clean Eating: The Problem

The best way to level up your knowledge game is to become a student of life again, realizing that what you know now isn’t all that there is to know, and that within every interaction is the opportunity to learn more. Leigh Peele wrote a fantastic article on subject of cheat meals and how the way we’re approaching them is fundamentally wrong and I couldn’t agree more. By setting yourself up to “cheat” you are operating under the false assumption that what you are about eat is wrong and that you shouldn’t be having it. As I expanded on in a previous post, by placing certain foods into a different category than those that you normally eat, you are putting them on a pedestal, which increases the likelihood that you are craving said foods because of the simple fact that you told yourself that you shouldn’t be eating them.

Clean Eating: The Solution

Objectivity, commonsense and moderation should act as your guideposts. This was the entire point of JC’s original article, but many people seemed to have abandoned ship before getting far enough into the piece to recognize this fact. Realize that no foods are off limits whatsoever and that having the body that you desire and living the life that you want don’t have to be at odds with one another. Make sure that you get adequate protein, 3-4g fish oil, lots of veggies, some fruit, and fill the rest of your caloric allotment with what is commonly referred to as discretionary calories, which can come from apple pie to zucchini and everything else in between. The human body is a beautiful piece of adaptable hardware, so make sure to experiment and find what is best for YOU, because in the end that is all that matters. As long as you are moving towards your goals, let your results speak for you and leave the worrying to those who are awesome at it.

I’d like to leave you with a quote from Lyle McDonald’s research review in which he tackles this very subject:

Given caloric control, the body’s response to a given set of nutrients, with the exception of blood lipids would appear to be more determined by the total caloric and macro content of that meal more than the source of the food.

In terms of the hormonal response, clean vs. unclean just doesn’t matter, it’s all about calories and macros.

What are your favorite “off-limit” foods that make people stare in awe when they see them disappear into your mouf?

Photo Credit: jibbit

If you want to lose fat, don’t eat carbs.

If you want to lose fat, don’t eat fat.

If you want to lose fat, eat nothing but protein.

The topic of fat loss is an emotional one to say the least, and in general, people are always looking for that secret. You know, that one rule that if they just follow for the rest of their lives they will achieve bodily nirvana.

Boo-sheet!

We live in a world of black or white, right or wrong, Team Edward or Team Jacob, when the fact is that more often than not the answer always lies somewhere in the middle.

In order to debunk this myth, we first have to put our commonsense hats on, which oddly enough happen to look like this:

Take a look around your immediate circle of friends and ask yourself this question – have any of them lost weight successfully by not adhering to this rule? If the answer is yes, then you’ve done your duty in shutting down the perpetuation of a fib that will just not die. If the answer is no, then look outside of your circle and eventually you will find a yes.

Can not eating after 6pm (or whatever arbitrary time is used) help some people lose weight? Of course it can. If someone told me that I could only eat between the hours of 3pm and 4pm, you’d be a foolish mortal to bet money that I wouldn’t lose any weight. With that said, if I wanted to hustle you out of some cash, I’d just stuff my face with calorically dense foods such as pop (read: soda to you east coast folks), fast food, and the infamous Cinnabon.

Do you see what I did there? Clever wasn’t it? In both instances I didn’t eat after some arbitrary time, but in one scenario, if this eating pattern continued over a longer period of time, I would lose weight, while in the other I would gain weight. One pattern leads to a happy camper while another leads to a person being confused as to why they aren’t losing weight despite following this one rule.

Arf? How does that happen? Whats the dealio, Rog Law?

If you manage to eat more calories than are necessary to maintain your current bodyweight over a period of time, no matter the time of day or how you break down that intake, then your body weight will increase; do the opposite and your body weight will decrease. Fretting about what time of day you’re eating your food when you don’t even have any inkling of how many calories you are consuming relative to your goal is akin to worrying about the volume of your radio as you’re driving off a cliff, or being terrified of farting in your room because you don’t want to cause a tornado in Texas.

Whatever your goal is, be it fat loss, muscle gain or simply the maintenance of your current body weight, caloric intake is the most important factor in reaching these goals, and if anyone tells you otherwise then they’re probably trying to abracadabra some money out of your bank account. Aside from calories, everything else is details (important details, but details nonetheless). So the next time someone tries to drop some old school dogma on your head, dodge that bullcrap like The Matrix and give them a righteous uppercut for their troubles.

What has been the most whacked out myth that you’ve encountered in your fitness travels? Have you been guilty of perpetuating one yourself? Don’t worry if you have, because I think we’ve all been there. I’ll even be kicking things off by sharing my most embarrassing one. See you in the comments section!

Photo Credit: Kim Beckmann, MTV Music

As an 80’s baby, I grew up during what was inarguably the most revolutionary time in modern day history. I mean c’mon, we had the 56k internet, Power Rangers, Pogs and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. How can you argue with that? Answer: You can’t (although I encourage you to try your hardest). The best part of this existence is that we had shows that not only entertained, but also enrolled us in the school of hard knocks. Want to learn about the perils of drug use? Check out just how wild Carlton gets when hopped up on speed. What about the sheer thrill of bungee jumping? Look no further than Trevor’s ill-fated proposal to Hillary. However, intertwined within these sage-like teachings, one of the most important lessons of all in the quest for sexification was lost in all of the hubbub – that of how to maximize your fat loss.

As the Grand Historian of all things 90’s T.V., let me weave a tale for you. Once upon a time not long ago, there was a television show on Nickelodeon that was of great importance to kids who raced home after school, leaving a trail of discarded juice boxes in their wake, to watch it. That show was called Legends of the Hidden Temple. The premise of the show was this: six groups of kids battle it out via physical challenges in order to earn the right to enter the temple and escape with the sacred treasure. In order to progress within the temple, the young adventurers had to solve various puzzles, one of which was responsible for failing more unsuspecting newbs than banana peels and whoopee cushions combined – The Shrine of the Silver Monkey.

In order to proceed to the next room, the monkey had to be assembled in the correct order on the pedestal. It consisted of three pieces: the base, the body and the head. However, due to the lack of functioning retinas or the failure of the American schooling system, more often than not the head or the body ended up going on first, time ran out and the kids went home with nothing but memories of epic failure for their troubles.

(2:20-3:20 is all you need to watch)

Ok, so far I’ve managed to prove two things:

A) The 90’s were awesome.
B) Some kids need to revisit kindergarten.

But Rog Law, how the heck does this relate to fat loss? Lets get to it.

Agony of defeat

One of the most fundamental errors that most people make when looking to drop a few pounds is that they start with a base that isn’t conducive to their goals. For instance, I’m sure we all know at least one person who begins a fat loss program with all the energy and vigor of a 5 year old on a Cookie Crisp high. They hit the gym in the morning. They hit the gym during their lunch break. They hit the gym after work. They hit the gym right before bed time. Hell, they probably hit the gym in their dreams, bench pressing with good ‘ol Freddy Kruger himself giving them a spot! Naturally, after weeks of arduous effort, they hop on the scale with a smile on their face. I mean surely after all this hard work they are destined to be rewarded, right?

Wrong!

Knees meet the floor in horror as the scale greets them with the terrible news: same crap, different day. Without knowing it, they violated the cardinal rule of fat loss – develop a solid nutrition base, or prepare thyself for a lifetime of sailing the blubbery seas. Just like the failed assembly of the Silver Monkey, many people have it all wrong when it comes time to implement their fat loss plan, and as a result often spend months if not years spinning their wheels in frustration.

Can you out train a subpar diet? Sure, but I can think of a few things that are slightly harder, such as slurping dry the Atlantic Ocean with a straw, or body-slamming the Empire State building. Simply put, it’s hard as all get-out to burn a ton of calories through exercise alone unless you’ve built up your physical capacity to the point where you’re able to handle the workload, and even then it’s always easier to eat less food than it is to burn it off after doing so.

So what is the person looking to bring that head image of themselves into reality left to do? Have no fear! As the conductor of the Sexification Express, I take it upon myself to make sure that you are equipped with the requisite knowledge to get the ball rolling on your own fat loss journey, so let’s go through the necessary steps of creating a solid foundation.

The Base

In order to stand a chance of getting to where you want to be, you first have to figure out where you are, therefore it is of super duper importance that you determine your maintenance calories. There are a lot of fancy calculators out there, but you don’t need no stinkin’ technology to figure out where you stand – just multiply your current body weight in pounds by 14 if you lean more towards the inactive side of things or 15-16 if you have a higher level of daily movement such as resistance training and moderate intensity cardio.

Remember that this is but a rough estimate and nothing more. That said, it still serves as an effective starting point compared to just pulling random numbers out of thin air. If you find that you’re gaining weight at this calorie level, decrease your starting number by 150 calories and reassess.

I know that there are some folks out there who would rather skip this step for whatever reason, and that is fine with me as long as you are progressing towards your goals. If you’re raring to get going, simply multiply your starting body weight in pounds by 10-12. For those who have jobs that don’t involve much movement at all throughout the day, you may want to start out with the lower number, possibly going as low as 8 calories x body weight in pounds if you’re really, really inactive. Just as a side note, I rarely recommend going down to such a level, especially for more than a week or two, so start with the higher values and stick with those until you have reason to do otherwise.

And no, not achieving your goals within the first few weeks is not a valid reason.

Cliffsnotes Version

• Maintenance intake = 14-16 x body weight in lbs. The less active you are, the lower the number you start with.
• Fat loss intake = 10-12 x body weight in lbs. The less active you are, the lower the number you start with.
• Muscle gain intake = 18-20 x body weight in lbs. The less active you are, the lower the number you start with.

There you have it, a simple, time effective way to estimate your maintenance, fat loss and muscle gaining calories. If you don’t have this down, you’ve got no business proceeding to the next level, so consider this your homework assignment. Make sure to stay tuned for the next post in this series where we move beyond the base into the belly of the beast – macronutrients and their role in your dieting plan.

What are the greatest barriers that you encounter when trying to lose fat? Also, what are your fondest memories of the 90s? Be sure to drop your answers in the comment section. Don’t worry, if you say Pokemon I won’t hold it against you. In fact, I may very well give you a high five on the down low. Shhhh – don’t tell nooooooooobody!

Casein: A member of the most excellent protein family, which plays a role in pretty much everything we do, from enzyme function to making sure we don’t look like Skeletor due to lack of muscle mass. Don’t leave home without it.

Kevin Federline: Leader of the species of human commonly referred to as Supremeicus Dumbassicus. Despite first being documented around 17,000 BC, no known benefits have been established.

Winner: Casein

Casein: The Superman of the dietary protein world, well-known for its documented anti-catabolic properties, which is a fancy way of saying that it contributes significantly to the prevention of muscle breakdown.

Kevin Federline: There is no pretty way of saying this folks, so I’m gonna just throw it out there: K-Fed is straight up 129% catabolic to every tissue in the human body. Scientific studies have shown that just 2 minutes of exposure to K-Fed at any point in your life will cause irreparable damage to the brain and decrease muscle mass by 72%. You will also lose the ability to love.

Winner: Casein

Casein: As a slower digesting protein found in milk, cheese and other dairy products, it tends to keep you satiated for longer periods of time. Also, depending on the flavor, it can be quite delectable.

Kevin Federline: There ain’t nothing slow (highly debatable) or tasty about K-Fed. Like a ninjitsu Sonic the Hedgehog, he hits you hard and fast, leaving you mighty blue and depressed from having briefly been in his presence. His unique sound can best be described as…you know what? I won’t even try. Prepare yourself for what may very well be the worst album of all time.

Winner: Casein

Casein: At only $29.99  for a months supply, adding a scoop or two a day to your current intake won’t break the bank.

Kevin Federline: Just by mentioning his name several times throughout this post I’ve managed to wipe out my entire life savings and lose my girlfriend all in one fell swoop. Can you imagine what its like to be married to this guy?! Imagine no more. In what will most certainly go down in history as the most bizarre and outrageous Jedi mind trick ever performed, Kevin managed not only to go from nada to Prada by hooking up with Britney Spears, but he actually leveled up after the divorce. Peep the stats:

A 2004 pre-nup called for K-Fed to get $250,000 for each year of their marriage, but Spears upped that figure to $500,000 to speed up the negotiations.

He receives half the proceeds from their Malibu mansion, which is on the market for $13.5 million.

$25,000 a month in child support for each of the couple’s two children until they reach 18. He also gets custody of the boys four days a week.

Federline gets to keep all the gifts Spears bought them during their marriage.

He’s forbidden from writing a tell-all about their marriage.

Winner: Kevin Federline

The count says it all. If you’re interested in lean mass preservation and a delicious and convenient protein source, I encourage you to buy a tub of casein (or, even better, a whey/casein mix) protein powder and give it a try to see how you like it.  However, if you’re one of those rare individuals who enjoy the sound of terrible music and would like nothing more than to surrender some brain cells over to the dark side, then you have met your savior. Oh, and by the way, his kick game is ridiculous.

So, my loyal readers, where do you get your protein supplements from? And who would you rather have on your side in an alley fight, a cow or Kevin Federline? Shoot me your answers in the comment section below. Thanks for reading, and I would say that I love you, but I’ve lost the ability to experience that emotion.

Photo Credit: idovermani, Hot Rod Homepage

I just want to let you all know that Rog Law fitness is inactive for the time being and will be back on September 1st when I launch the new, sexified site. So, until then, thank you for your continued support, and hold on to your tushies because its about to get real!

It may seem like it takes a spectacular event of epic proportions to draw me out of my blogging cave, and while that may or may not be true, this is certainly a noteworthy announcement. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that what I’m about to drop on you is going to be a game changer in terms of the way that fitness information is disseminated to the masses.

Ladies and gentlemen of the interweb, I’m proud to present to you the brand spanking new Fitmarker.com – the brainchild of my homie JC Deen and the one who is well-known in these e-streets as The FitJerk.

The reason I like this site so much is simple – it puts the power in the hands of the end-user. Think about it for a moment: would you rather be forcefed information of questionable quality without any say in the matter, or would you like to play a critical role in deciding what content gets the frontpage worthy thumbs up or the Spartan kick of doom, destined to never see the light of day? That is the premise of this site: if you find a particular piece useful you can “bump” it, and if you think its whacker than an air sandwhich, you can “dump” it.

While this may be a great tool for the personal trainer or strength coach to use in order to get their work in front of the eyes of people who need it, the real winner here is the general fitness enthusiest who is so bogged down in the guagmire of crappy (or even harmful) information out there that they end up doing nothing at all out of sheer confusion. Just like anything in life, the cream rises to the top, and it is my firm belief that this will become a straight up smorgasbord of thoroughly researched, helpful and applicable information that people can actual use.

But enough with the hype. Its clear that I love the concept and implementation, and I think you will too. Give Fitmarker a test drive here – you won’t be disappointed.

The JP Fitness Summit was the brainchild of Jean-Paul Francoeur, who happens to be a modern renaissance man and one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. Each year a group of industry professionals and forumites descend upon a pre-determined U.S. city and talk fitness, life, and everything in between. This is their story.

Lou Schuler, the man, the myth, the legend, kicked off the day of presentations and set the bar for everyone else to follow. Lou’s talk focused on how a fitness enthusiast’s foray into the world of exercise and diet can be likened to the archetypal hero’s journey commonly found in mythology. I loved his talk for several reasons. First of all, it connected the English Literature part of my soul to my role as a fitness professional – didn’t see that coming! Secondly, he had pictures…of light sabers. Anytime that what I and millions of others across the globe are doing on a daily basis can be tied-in with images of light sabers and cheesy special effects noises, you’ve got my vote. Lou’s ability to connect the mundane to an epic hero’s journey while at the same time managing to not make us feel small and insignificant, but empowered and inspired, is why I loved his talk so much. I see what you did there, Lou, and I approve. High five!

Next up was the brofessor himself – Alan Aragon. If you’re don’t know who he is, you betta ask somebody! I don’t remember who introduced me to him, but all I know is that the end result was me turning down a night of debauchery to sit in my apartment on a Friday night and read as much of his research review as I could before surrendering to sleep’s sweet, sweet embrace. Now, before you assume that I am just an anomaly in the Matrix with an exceptionally high level of nerdery in my blood, let me say that this could easily happen to you! The way in which Alan writes his research review makes it easily palatable, and, dare I say, fun to read. Even if you aren’t into the nuts and bolts of the research, he provides you with enough brief take home points at the end of a section to make it worth your $10 a month. Check it out here.

But I digress.

In his presentation, Alan brought out the sledgehammah and demolished many of the dogmatic teachings that run rampant in the fitness world today in just 12 short slides. Not one to leave his audience hanging, he made sure to provide us with simplified, easily implementable solutions when it comes to goal setting in terms of body composition and macronutrient intake. He wrapped it up by highlighting a client of his who he prepped for a fitness contest in just 37 days while having him continue to consume allegedly dirty, filthy foods such as dairy and fruit.

Bringing us in to the pre-rib homestretch was Ryan Zielonka, who took the audience through his own fitness journey, detailing how he went from a short, ball of a man (his words, not mine!) to a lean individual and what he learned along the way. Out of all the presenters, I enjoyed Ryan’s talk the most, if for no other reason than his conversational style of presentation. He was able to poke fun at himself while at the same time conveying the message that he understood the big picture of weight loss and body transformation and wasn’t bogged down in the minutia. Given the nature of his talk, I find it funny that they had him lead us into lunch, where I unlocked the cage of my inner fattie and let him loose.

The next man up is going to do to the world of glute training what Sir Mix-A-Lot did to the rap game – Bret Contreras. Bret was the first person to go rogue in terms of his prepared presentation and spoke straight from the heart on some issues that had nothing to do with his presentation, and I loved every minute of it. Bret covered his concept of load vector training, which is just a sassy way of saying the direction of the resistance relative to the trainee, and how it relates to glute training. I can’t possible do him justice in such a short review, so please check out this exhaustive e-book on the subject.

And then there was Nick Tumminello. Nick’s conveyed the why and how-to’s of foam rolling and self myofascial release. As a trainer I thought I knew all that I needed to know on the subject, but Nick dropped some certified cerebral cocktails on the crowd and I would say that he was right up there with Alan in terms of providing information that anyone would be able to take home and apply immediately. He certainly has a unique approach that differs from what I’ve read and have used during my internship, so be sure to check out his website where you can preview a variety of his products to see if any of them fit your need state.

In the past when I’ve attended seminars, the environment seemed very sterile, often to the point of feeling like a press conference. You come in, sit down, listen to some smart people talk, ask a few questions, give dap to your fellow man and then you’re outta there in enough time to catch the first episode of the Golden Girls marathon on the Hallmark Channel (or so I hear). While I always walk away having learned something new, this kind of presentation leaves much to be desired in terms of interacting with the presenters. The JP Fitness Summit is an entirely different beast – homie don’t play that! There is simply no other seminar like it. Every night we while we were in Kansas City, there was an opportunity to go out on the town as a group and hang out with no pretentious barriers up between anyone. Honestly, where else are you going to be able to eat ribs with Lou Schuler and Nick Tumminello, talk Lord of the Rings with Alan Aragon and Ryan Zielonka, and have a gun showdown with Bret Contreras? Answer: only in your nerdiest dreams.

The next JP Fitness fun train is leaving the station May 2011, so make sure you’re on it, or regret it forever.

     A recent study out of Australia that can be found in the American Heart Association journal Circulation has some released some pretty disturbing and shocking findings. According to the study’s lead author, David Dunstan, just 1 hour of face to face time with the television carries an 18% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and an 11% increased risk of death from all causes.

        The study also found that watching more than 4 hours of television a day increased the likelihood of death from all causes by 46%, and cardiovascular disease in particular by a face slapping 80% percent. And here is the kicker: the link between television and death still persisted even after factoring in diet and exercise as variables. I know that I have readers all across the world, so instead of speaking about the United States and leaving it at that, I’ve included a user-friendly map where you can find out how your country measures up in terms of television consumption:

     Now I’ll be completely honest with you – I don’t have access to the entire study. I have no idea how well it was put together nor how valid these claims are, but I do know one thing: sitting on your booty for upwards of 40 hours a week can’t possibly be good for one’s health. We are constantly being forced to do more and more with the same amount of time that we’ve always had, which usually means lots of sitting. When you think about it, most of us are simply moving from chair to chair throughout the day – from the chairs in our offices, to the seats of our cars, right on home to log some more cushion time.

     The main take away point from this study isn’t that television is the devil, but that we need to, as the great prophet Ned Flanders would say, stop being so gosh diddily-darn inactive. As humans we are designed for movement, and if we weren’t — this is clearly backed up by endless hours of scientific research on the process of evolution — we would just be limbless egg-shaped people with heads. Even then we would be forced to roll around a lot to get where we were going, and would probably be awesome break dancers to boot. But I digress. Movement is crucial to our overall health, from the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism, the reduction of postural imbalances, muscle group (i.e. hamstring) inflexibility, and an entire host of other benefits that we may not even be aware of yet.

     Personal story time: I’m what you would call a FBJ – Facebook Junkie for those not in the know of my own ridiculous in-head language – to the point where if Facebook were crack, and they were casting for a New Jack City remake, I’d be their Pookie. I took the leap and deactivated it for a couple of months, which drastically reduced my internet sitting time, so now all of a sudden I have more time for walks, rock climbing, archery and motosurfing.

     So, here is my challenge to you: take a look at your life and identify one cheek-to-cushion vice of yours. After doing that, explore your options and see how you can turn it into something more active – or better yet, substitute an hour of that activity out for something more movement based. For instance, if you like watching television, at the very least stand up and move around every now and then while doing so. An even more awesome idea is to do some jumping jacks, pushups or a wide variety of other exercises during the commercial breaks, although my favorite is to act out a scene from the movie you’re watching – Enter The Dragon, Weekend at Bernie’s and Flash Dance are particularly dope.

     If you take the findings of this study to its extreme conclusion, between American Idol, Youtube and World of Warcraft, we are all gonna die! But it doesn’t have to be that way at all. As long as you have at least once functioning limb, there are always options for movement, even during a busy work schedule. Take for instance my friend Josie who, instead of sitting down all day while on the job, took to the stairwell throughout the day to repeatedly show them who the boss was. You can check out her hilarious telling of this account here.

     That’s it, y’all. Have a great weekend wherever you are, and get moving!

     When Michael Boyle took to the stage, his message was simple: want to reduce ACL injuries? All you need to do is commit yourself to a sound training program because in the end, that’s all ACL reduction is – good training. All presenters touched on the fact that training in itself is great from a corrective exercise standpoint, and Mike’s talk just hammered the point home even further. To take the words from his mouth, ACL injury “prevention” programs often consist more of packaging than new concepts, and is a way into the head of the AT, PT or female coach.

     While its true that females are at a greater risk of injuring their ACL, it is by no means a gender specific injury. Out of 100,000+ ACL tears every year, 30,000 of them are experienced by high school age females. Since changing an athletes gender isn’t going to do diddly hoo ha in terms in injury prevention, the only sensible thing to do is focus on the one thing that is in your control – good training strategies to reduce the likelihood of injury.

 ACL Injury Reduction Strategies

• Active Warm-Up

• Power & Stability/Eccentric Strength (Landing Skills)

• Strength Development – 1 Leg

• Change of Direction Concepts

• Change of Direction Conditioning

• Nutrition

      Mike made a point to mention that you can’t just pick one of these strategies and hope to reap the benefits – you must incorporate them all. Since he does a better job than I ever could of explaining his logic behind these steps, be sure to check out some of his products here.

 

An example of single leg strength.

     Having been privileged enough to work with Eric and the rest of the Cressey Performance crew as an intern for 3 months last year, a lot of his presentation was a welcome refresher to what goes on at their facility on a daily basis. With that said, I was also able take away a host of new coaching cues as well as a better understand of the sweet science behind medicine ball programming.

            Eric kicked off his presentation by highlighting which populations could benefit from including medicine balls into their overall training program, which included rotational sport athletes, unicorns, The Hulk, and wacky wavy inflatable men. While the inclusion of this type of training can be extremely beneficial for the aforementioned rotational athletes, the point that I’m trying to make here is that almost everyone has something to gain from tossing a heavy rubber ball around, especially the general fitness population.

            As a trainer, keeping things interesting for your clients while at the same time keeping them healthy and moving towards their goals is essential, and the medicine ball helps accomplish all of these goals. Looking for a low impact alternative to include in your fat loss training? Give a medicine ball medley at the end of your session a try. Could I interest you in a fun and exciting way to improve your mobility while simultaneously releasing the ever-growing rage that has been festering in your soul? Find a non jagged wall (preferably not in your home), a ball and go nuts. Eric highlighted many of the areas that can be improved upon by implementing a soundly designed medicine ball session into your day, including ankle, hip and thoracic spine mobility as well as scapular, glenohumeral, and core stability – all of which everyone should be concerned with.

            Now, for rotational sport athletes such baseball pitchers, the when and how often to incorporate medicine ball works depends on several variables, one of which is the time of year (I.E. – early off-season, mid off-season, late off-season, and in-season). For instance, Eric conveyed that during the early off-season, the total volume of throws is kept between 120 and 160 spread over 2 or 3 sessions, but during the mid off-season when it’s time to get down to business that number increases anywhere from 240 to 360 throws before tapering off again in the late off-season.

            The most interesting “bwahahaha” moment that I took away from his presentation was the concept of using medicine ball work as a means to bridge the gap between absolute speed and absolute strength. Eric used himself as an example – his sport is power lifting in which he has spent his time on mainly on the maximal strength side of the spectrum, but if he wanted to try and transition to being a professional pitcher, he knows that he would have to start moving towards the speed side of things. Well, that and throwing a lot of balls. For pitchers, who usually spend all their time on the absolute speed end, Eric did a fantastic job of showing how incorporating medicine ball training into their program can serve as an efficient bridge in terms of reaping the benefits of not only being fast, but fast and strong.

            Eric’s presentation was very video heavy, so sadly this is one of those “you would’ve had to have been there” sort of things. For those of you who missed out, be sure to check out his website (especially this article) as well as his Youtube page for medicine ball videos. I didn’t dub him the Magnificent Massachusetts Medicine Ball Magician for nothing!