Q: "Am I doing this workout wrong if I'm feeling it more in my hip flexors than in my abs?"
A: NOPE.
Nothing wrong with working your hip flexors. Your hip flexors (muscles of the deep lower back and upper thighs) might be the most underdeveloped muscles in your body. This is likely so for many reasons.
Read MoreWhen combined with your average weekly weight (7 daily weigh-ins added together, divided by 7), we feel circumference measurements (6 sites) gives you the most information for determining progress.
Read More"WIPED"
4 rounds on trainer's count.
20 cross body curls L 15/20
20 single high sumos L 15/20
20 single triceps kickbacks L 15/20
20 cross body curls R 15/20
20 single high sumos R 15/20
20 single triceps kickbacks R 15/20
20 wipers
Post Rx (or reps missed) to comments.
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This is one of those all abs workouts that is unique to GPP programming. It's confusing to outsiders because they see the biceps, triceps and etc., and think upper body shaping. Well, it IS a good shaper, but that isn't the intention. Whenever you see workouts where we go unilateral (one sided) we are generally, seeking the effect that it has on your core.
A strong core is essential to your health and development. It is primarily responsible for the astounding results we see in strength gains and overall fitness at GPP. We have observed that GPP training prevents injury and advances healing for those with a weak core. It also looks good on!
While the rest of the world has moved passed specifically training the core, GPP still embraces focused emphasis on core training for its unique effect on our health, fitness and appearance. The popular present day mantra of the health and fitness industry is that one need only to move in effective ways and the core will take care of and strengthen itself. This is a risky approach. We have learned that strength gains in the legs and arms will quickly outstrip one's core strength. This is especially true for those who don't directly train their core. This compromises your ability to stabilize the core during certain fundamental movement (squats, dead lifts, cleans, jerks, high Sums, KBs, etc.) making those fundamental movements more dangerous to perform and putting you at higher risk of injury.
We feel a more straight forward (direct) approach of abdominal/core training stimulates more strength and ultimately yeilds higher benefit with less risk of injury. Oh, and did I mention - It looks good ON?!
Every week we get letters or questions about how to progress to a kipping pullup. Our first suggestion is to get a chinup (actually several in a row). Building the strength to perform 3 sets of 5 chinups in a row will help to condition your body for the highly ballistic nature of a kipping pullup. Kipping pullups place a high demand on the musculature and connective tissues of the upper body. In order to stay safe while doing them, it helps to have a high level of strength and flexibility.
Not everyone has the strength to do chinups. But EVERYONE can build up to them. Apply the suggestions below and it is only a matter of time before you have them. Here are some steps to bulding up to doing chinups:
Interesting question ...
Message: Hello, I have been working out following your site from home for about a year now. I really enjoy it! I love the short workouts, I love the strengh and health that I have obtained over the last year. Thankyou!
I have always had a nagging question that I must ask. With whatever excuses I can give I choose to only work out 3-4 days a week, this is what I feel I can handle and seems to work with my life. I always wonder if there are certain workouts that I should make sure I do each week and others that are the better ones to skip. Since I work out from home I have more flexibility to pick and choose the workouts I do, even dipping in the lthe last few weeks workouts to pick what to do each day. But I am always wondering if I am picking the best ones for my optimal workout. So do you have any advice with 6 workouts a week which 3-4 I should do? Or does it just vary from week to week? I have all the equipment I need so that is not a problem. Of course I have to skip the workouts that are done as a team but those are not really very often. Any way to tell which workouts are the best? Thanks so much! CB
This is really hard for me to answer. There is a physiology nerd in me that wants to shout - "YOU CAN'T BE SKIPPING ANY OF THEM! It takes us 5 days to put our unique brand of fitness on you in a balanced (top/bottom, front/back, left/right) way. If you go missing one or two of them, not only will you be missing out on important aspects of fitness, you will also only be imbalanced."
So, the best answer is - "You may not miss ANY days."
However, practicality demands I answer in a different way. So the short answer is:
If you only have three days in a given week to workout, you'll gain the most benefit from hitting M,W & F workouts. Those days we usually try to balance most of the ten aspects of fitness we follow.
Thursdays are mainly days we try to hit your abs more specifically. Incidentally, it is my opinion that the reason we see so few back injuries and such amazing improvement in our heavy lifts (like the other day with so many of you PR'ing dead lifts despite only doing heavy deads 6 times this year) is because of our specific focus on your core and abs. It is also why we have stronger runners and slimmer waistlines at GPP.
Tuesdays are strength days. They are magic. HERE is why. I believe completing Tuesday workouts are essential to your ability to gain fitness throughout the rigors of all the other days. The fastest way to see amazing (no, STAGGERING) changes in your health, fitness and appearance is to do Tuesday workouts.
But, if you HAVE to skip a day, don't make it a M,W or F. If you have to choose between Tuesdays or Thursdays - don't skip Tuesday.
Saturdays are bonus days. We will always put all of our training (for optimal health) onto you by day's end Friday. If you feel you'd benefit from another workout, we program Saturdays as a compliment to your week. They are stand alone workouts not meant to sub for any of the previous days. Thank you CB for the question.
If YOU have a question for us please don't hesitate to ask (click HERE). We love this stuff.
Nice form Larissa! You may choose a wider stance than LUF has here. Also, if you go wider, let those toes point slightly more outward.
Larissa has a unique style for performing her deads. She does a "Sumo Deadlift." Sumos are done with knees outside of the elbows. Some find it easier on their backs - especially tall folk.
Tall folks have longer thighs which put their center of gravity further back from the bar during the initial lift phase of the DL. The further back you are from the bar, the more stress you are putting directly onto the low back. To counter this, it can be helpful for those with longer thigh bones to spread the legs "Sumo" style to get your center of gravity closer to the bar. This can help prevent/relieve back pain and keep your back healthier.
by Neil Anderson
It's better than holding her hair!
This question is not so easily answered. Not scientifically, yet. Mainly because science hasn't really weighed in on the subject. Also because it may be related to MANY different things. Some of these might include:
hyperthermia
dehydration
heart trouble
poor nutrition
deconditioning
etc.
In my career I have experienced every single one of the above (and many more) as explanations for folks becoming sick and throwing up during a workout. But, there is one which is more specific to us, which I haven't mentioned yet. It is a condition that I believe primarily responsible for folks blacking out, feeling sick and meeting the Yak due to over-exercising.
It is probably related to SHOCK.
Shock is a very serious, life threatening condition. It often accompanies severe injury or illness. Medical shock is very different from psychological or emotional shock that can occur after a traumatic or frightening emotional incident. Medical shock is a condition that can result in insufficient blood flow throughout the body. It can lead to other conditions such as lack of oxygen in the tissues (hypoxia).
The key signs and symptoms of shock (that we experience) are:
rapid, shallow breathing
cold, clammy skin
rapid, weak pulse
dizziness or blacking out
weakness
vomiting
sweating, etc.
Any of that sound familiar?
The thing to know is, exercise IS injury to your body. Calculated, metered injury, with good purpose, but still injury. And some of us do a ton of damage to ourselves during a workout. Especially those who are new to GPP training. Also our Superfits have got such high degrees of fitness that they can absolutely decimate their bodies with some of our workouts. It is not unreasonable to believe that your body would respond to this "damage" any differently than it would respond to a traumatic car accident or even a crushing incident. Too graphic? Ha.
Years ago, I was taught that if someone gets sick during a workout it was likely due to poor nutrition. The poor guy probably didn't eat before his workout, so if he gets sick - get some orange juice in him. This was thought to perk a person "right up." The problem with this is that MORE THAN ONCE I was forced to clean up OJ off the floor that looked like it was hurled from Mt. St. Helen itself. I saw this happen a lot, both with my clientele and the clientele of other trainers I worked with. It actually became a joke. We'd watch another trainer's client go green, the trainer would run to the fridge to get OJ and we'd all set our stop watches and make bets on what time she'd blow!
The frustrating thing was that this OJ thing we were all taught by our Certification Agencies (I don't have much faith in those anymore) didn't work.
One day I was training an ER Doc. During his workout, one of my peers got a little over aggressive with his client (a teenaged boy) and the kid went green (no color in the lips, black under the eyes). The trainer sat the kid down & trotted off to the fridge to get OJ. While I was giggling and setting the timer on my watch the Doc goes, "That kid looks like he is in shock." Remembering my boy scout first aid training (Eagle - two palms) I ran over and put the kid on his back and elevated his feet. To our surprise - no projectile vomiting. In fact, he got better within a few minutes. Not well enough to continue the workout. But, well enough to drive himself home without fear of blacking out.
We've been putting people on their backs with their legs up ever since. No, we haven't been successful at keeping the Yak at bay EVERY time, but - we have been successful WAY more often than not. We've learned a thing or two along the way, too. Here are some of the things we've learned:
1. Not everyone is experiencing shock when they get sick from a workout. Sometimes individuals are experiencing conditions that go much deeper, are much more dangerous and that can even be life threatening. We don't trivialize it when someone gets sick and feels like Yaking.
2. If you or someone you are storming with starts to feel sick, with one or any combination of the symptoms above, get them to the floor, flat on their back and get their feet above their heart. I know it is embarrassing. I know it is the last place you want to be seen, but it helps. In fact, it is the ONLY THING I know of that actually works.
3. When someone goes to the floor, they are generally done for the day. Understand that shock is a very serious illness. Most people who are killed in a traumatic accident die from the effects of shock before they succumb to their specific injuries. To think you might rejoin a workout after hitting the wall THAT hard, probably isn't very smart. Err on the side of caution and just go home.
4. After you hit the wall and go to the floor from a particularly hard workout, you should know - you are now more likely to hit the wall FASTER and HARDER than before. This can last for several days to a week. We've had reports of ladies (plural) who had to "lay one off" while at the gym, then several hours later they were carrying a large basket of laundry up the stairs. The laundry basket was just heavy enough to make their legs burn. Next thing they knew they were on the ground waiting for the room to stop spinning. Most don't go through this, but you might. So, keep it in mind.
5. We suspect that one of the primary culprits of getting sick at the gym is very low blood pressure. This makes sense, because low blood pressure accompanies many types of shock. If you go to your back because you got sick during a workout, you'd be wise to build back up to you feet (when you're ready) VERY slowly.
One pig-headed trainer I used to work with put his client on the floor (using one of MY workouts - ha!) in the office of the gym I used to work at. She laid there for a few minutes. Pretty soon he got sick of waiting for her and stood up saying, "You're fine! Let's get back at it." With this, he jerked her to her feet and began walking out of the office. By turning his back and her and heading for the door, he didn't see all of the color drain out of her face, her eyes roll into the back of her head and then take a header into the corner of the desk she was standing near. That little mistake cost a mere 14 stitches above her eyebrow.
If you are on the floor after a rough workout with your legs up trying to avoid the Yak, build your way back onto your feet in stages. Those stages are:
Stage 1 - from flat on your back with feet up, to feet down, head up body resting on elbows.
Stage 2 - from elbows, to seated on floor with head down (between your legs).
Stage 3 - from seated on floor with head down, to sitting with head up while on floor.
Stage 4 - from sitting on floor with head up, to sitting in chair.
Stage 5 - from sitting in chair, to standing.
If anywhere along the way you become lightheaded, simply revert back to the previous stage, or back to the floor with feet up.
6. Don't drink or eat anything while on the floor, unless you feel like experiencing it for a second time and showing it to the world.
You should do all you can to avoid making yourself sick from a workout. There is no fitness in it. There is no glory in it. There is no benefit in it. You can get every bit as fit and healthy, every bit as fast, without going there. That being said, even the best of us hit the wall from time to time. Sometimes it's nobody's fault and there is nothing you can do about it.
If you start to feel nauseous, you'd best be for backing off or quitting in a hurry. Know this, that little voice in your head that goes, "Don't worry. You're not going to puke this time." DOESN'T KNOW CRAP! Every puke pile I've ever seen constructed was preceded by those words. Generally it happens within seconds or minutes of that little voice.
Also, if this (you feeling shocky and nauseous) is an all too common occurrence, or you've gone from never really feeling it to feeling it quite often, it is time to get in touch with a good physician. You may have something going on that is preventable with treatment, at best, or serious, at worst. Don't take it too lightly. I had a client once (actually several) who used to storm workouts like a maniac. Total Superfit. Then all of the sudden, he hit a wall. Not only couldn't Rx the workout, but sometimes couldn't even finish. This went on for a couple of weeks. Sent him to the doc to get checked (after a fight). Turns out he had a very serious heart condition. One that could have been fatal if not for treatment.
No one knows exactly why you get sick from a workout. But we know a lot about preventing it. We also know how to treat it (if you can catch it early enough). Hopefully exercise scientists will take the lead on this and create a standard for prevention and treatment based on more than our (fitness experts') hunches soon. In the mean time, we'll keep doing what works.
If you have another way, or some good info on any of the above - please post to comments. We all learn from each other at GPP.
We think stacking workouts is extremely healthy. We also think it is very natural. While the rest of the world is resting muscles (legs, back, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps, abs) for 48 hours after working them, GPPeeps are making astounding gains in health and fitness by stacking one, several, or even several weeks worth of the same types of workouts together. Sometimes back, to back, to back. Why?
It's how we (humans) act in nature.
In the natural world (many of us don't entirely live in it anymore), things happen in seasons. During certain seasons you would be very physical in the SAME ways for days, weeks, or even months at a time. For example, in Utah sometimes we get snow storms for several days at a time. During these snow storms, many of us find ourselves participating in the very rigorous, physical activity of shoveling snow.
Snow shoveling is every bit as physically demanding as ANY workout you'll experience at a gym. Yet we don't really think about resting our bodies after shoveling out from a snow storm for 48 hours as "they" suggest, right? We don't really have that option when another foot of snow is dropped overnight. Where heavy snow happens often, people become very strong and fit from shoveling snow day after day. Your body is genetically programmed to gain health in these same ways - day after day, week after week, month after month. It is a farce to think that you have to rest it as often as the fiterati would have you do.
by Neil Anderson
Wondering what to look for in a good Kettlebell? After putting thousands upon thousands of swings on ours, we've learned a thing or two about getting a good one. Here are some of our suggestions.
1. Find a KB with handles just large enough to grip with both hands. Too little - you'll get blisters on your pinkys. Too large and it'll smack your thighs on the swing through.
2. Get a grip that suits the size of your hand. Some KBs have thick handles. These work well if you have large hands. If you have small hands you are trying to wrap around thick handles, your grip will give out before your body does. This limits the benefits of the KB movements to strengthening your hands only. Your body won't get as much. Conversely, if you have large hands and you are trying to fit them around small handles, your nails will dig into your palms.
3. Try to find solid casted KBs. Sometimes when you get tired, you'll drop your KB. If it is made from several pieces it is more likely to break. We've also heard of these things coming apart in the air while someone was swinging them.
4. Nix the Rubber and Vinyl coating. It does not protect your floors from drops. It also prevents the KB from swinging naturally in your hands due to the extra grip they provide. Extra grip = extra blisters. Back to the the Rubber and Vinyl: these coverings are the first things to wear out on a KB. It makes them uglier and impossible for you to read the markings.
5. Don't buy painted KBs. We made that mistake (pictured below) in the name of conserving $. Eventually the paint will chip leaving sharp edges. Not such a pleasant experience on a 200 swing day!
6. Check that your KB has a smooth handle. It needs to be absent knurling and the casting seams should be ground down. Manufacturers who leave burrs and high or depressed seams show their ignorance for the needs of their customers. Makes you wonder if they've ever even swung a KB before.
7. Look for a bell with a wide, flat surface on the bottom. It makes the KB more versatile. You can be more confident doing pushups & etc. on them. Also, you'll be comforted to know that when you put them down and walk away, they'll likely be there when you get back.
8. It is best to find KBs with clear markings. You'd think it'd be easy to identify KBs by looking at them. You'd think, "only an idiot would pick up the wrong KB and start swinging." You'd be wrong about this. Sometimes in the heat of a WO you'll grab a bigger and/or smaller bell and just go to town. Personally, this messes with my OCD to the point where I can't live with it. Clear raised or depressed markings can literally save a workout (at least, in my case).
We've had the best luck with our Apollo and Ader KBs. Both are nearly bare metal with nothing more than hard epoxy covering them to prevent rust.
Cap KB on the L (chipped paint, hard to read). Apollo on the R.
by Neil Anderson
It's been awhile since we've seen the mighty "Meg-inator." Have you been wondering where it's been? We put it (and other workouts like it) on hold for a while to condition you differently. Doing this makes it so that when we put it back into the rotation, you'll be stronger for having taken a break from it.
One of the things that makes your GPP training so much different from other programs (other than we aren't afraid of doing biceps curls) is our understanding of Seasonal Training. What we call "Seasonal Training" is actually a form of periodization. Periodization is an organized approach of programming that progressively cycles various aspects of a given training program over a specific period of time.
Your body doesn't have the ability to recover and make gains from the same types of training stimuli day in and day out, month after month, year after year. This is NOT new. Those who don't periodize their training cycles will soon find that they do not get as much from their workouts as they used to. They plateau. Some even backtrack. Worse, those who don't periodize their workouts could eventually wear out their bodies and may suffer injury. Sometimes catastrophic injury.
Just because some folks are switching up their workouts almost daily doesn't mean they aren't doing the SAME kinds of workouts. The magic of getting results from exercise isn't to be had in being able to come up with some new or cool workout/movements. Any idiot can do this. The magic of results occurs when those new workouts/movements are used in ways that stimulate continuous change. This requires advanced knowledge about how the human body functions.
Periodization techniques vary among experts. The types of techniques most used depend on the type of activities they are involved in. For example, skiers usually train so that their body is in peak physical condition for the winter season. Athletes with longer seasons (triathletes) will generally periodize their training to peak their body for a specific event or championship (Ironman, Kona).
So how does GPP periodize? Easy. We follow nature. Nature has a very effective way of ensuring that you use your body differently at different times of the year. It gives us seasons. Each season requires us to be physical in different ways. Your GPP trainers recognize this as nature's way of keeping us healthy and helping us to progress. So we design your programming to mimic the natural and functional physical demands that your body is pre-programmed to follow. Our unique interpretation of "Seasonal Training" truly sets us apart from the industry. It is not something we have learned from other professionals, nor is it something we have shared - YET! Hopefully someday we'll be able to share our approach with more folks.
Our workouts aren't randomized. They are programmed. Many of you notice the subtle changes in your training throughout different times of the year. Many of you have even recognized that it has been good to get away from certain workouts and build upon other aspects of your training capacities. It is impressive that you are so in tune with this. We have always said that our "Vets" are better trainers than most of the pros we've worked with over the years.
Getting back into workouts like "Meg-inator" will be somewhat painful, at first. I don't know about you, but I was wrecked by "Spector" last week after having been away from it for several months. The pain is just part and parcel to the advancement (as long as it is minimized). However, it behooves us to use the scaling skills we have developed over the years and apply them seasonally. Just because we were fine (it's a relative word) to do a specific workout 3 months ago, will not mean we are good to go now. Once we adapt again, we will be stronger for having done so. Which is the point. It is how GPP continues to help you make gains over the long term. Many of you who have been with us for years look better now and are stronger, with more endurance, than ever. This is saying a LOT considering the amazing capacity and appearances of our GPPeeps! This is mainly due to your OUTSTANDING will, discipline, courage and capacity for change. It can also, in a smaller way, be attributed to your participation in "Seasonal GPP Programming" techniques.
Outside of the ACTUAL health and fitness world there exists a mysterious realm. In this realm, (faux) health experts present (pseudo) scientific facts with impressive charts, graphs and computer programs. In these impressive documents "secret" formulas are introduced which claim to possess the keys to improving your health and fitness in the quickest, easiest and most injury free manners possible. To attain these keys all you need to do is learn these keys (buy them), plug your numbers into their formulas and - POOF! - the rest is just a matter of application. Variables? What variables???
This kind of thing is just plain STUPID.
Attaining health and fitness is still an art. It is replete with individual variables and factors which are dynamic. These can change daily, even hourly. While there is good science out there that we can use to improve our chances of becoming healthy and fit while preventing injuries, there is NO fool-proof standard for accurately predicting this. NONE. Well, maybe there is just ONE, but we'll come to that later. When storming GPP workouts, always keep in mind there is no weight light enough to guarantee safety while assuring effectiveness of a workout. There is no rep scheme considered more safe than others. No recommendation for sets that will unilaterally guarantee safety while granting health and fitness. In other words, there is no such thing as Universal Scalability.
A universal scaling model is quite impossible. It exists NOWHERE in the health and fitness world. Where it is claimed to exist, it is vehemently disputed by most other (well qualified and experienced) experts, including myself. There are too many variables in exercise to assign a guaranteed safe value of reps, sets, weight or rounds that would apply to ANYONE, let alone EVERYONE. The very suggestion of a purely scientific method would eventually and inevitably lead many to become injured due to a false sense of security.
Several years ago, a dear friend of mine injured his shoulder during a workout. At least he's pretty sure it was during a workout. Sometimes you just can't know, right? He went to the doctor to have it examined and was told he needed surgery to repair the damage. His doctor (probably a guy with little or no exercise experience) asked what he was doing when he thought it was injured. My friend (a triathlete), said he wondered if it happened while doing heavy overhead push presses. Or it may have happened while swimming, or..., or... The doctor zeroed right in on the heavy push presses.
"A man of your weight and height shouldn't be going that heavy for that many reps. That's how people get hurt."
What a stupid, irresponsible thing to say. Unfortunately this upset my friend. He shot me off an email asking how I could "allow" people to do exercises which were "inherently" dangerous. I answered.
"I'm sorry about that shoulder, brother. I can imagine how disappointed you must be...It is unfortunate your doctor speculated that high rep, heavy weight exercises, done by a man of your age and stature, caused your injury. In doing so, he may have added to your frustration by leading you to believe that your injury might have been foolish and/or avoidable."
My friend was needlessly frustrated by his Dr. Even his Dr. would have been aware that he could have sustained the EXACT same injury with VERY light weights and VERY low reps. Or even with that same weight on the very first rep. He also knows that many, many factors come into play when a person sustains injury. Sleep, stress, focus, energy level, nutrition, hydration, electrolyte balance, fatigue, balance, coordination, skill, experience, previous work load and many, MANY other factors could contribute to an injury. Due to this, your resistance to injury changes constantly (day to day, hour to hour, even minute to minute). In fact, you could do a lift one day and be perfectly safe, then several days later perform the very same lift with the very same form and sustain a lifelong injury due to one or several factors from above.
I'm not sure what his Dr. gained by telling him it was the push presses.
All physical activities are potentially dangerous. This is true of everything from ping pong to running to hockey to even yoga. A lady I know blew her knee out and needed reconstructive surgery from a beginning Yoga class. She was the instructor. Your competitive nature combined with GPP, biking, running, swimming, and etc. are risky behaviors that have the potential to cause ACCIDENTAL injury. There is only ONE way to assure you do not become ACCIDENTALLY injured while participating. Told you I'd eventually get around to it. Here it is ...
Do not participate.
Of course there is a flip side to non-participation. The flip side of this is by not participating you run what I believe are even greater risks. Some of these include the risk of developing lifestyle diseases (diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, dementia, cancer, etc.). Of course these are just the physical (and we really haven't touched on the diseases linked to inactivity).
It is important to know that depression, low self-esteem and other mental illnesses are rampant among those who do not participate in "dangerous" physical exertion.
Let's not even get started on the poor example we'd be setting for those who depend on our judgements (our future generations) for helping them make and learn valuable life choices. Oh, you can make a case for the importance of "telling" and "explaining," but ANY leader worth their salt leads from the FRONT!
If you ask me, ALL of the above are much more hazardous, painful and expensive in all ways possible when compared to any injury you might suffer while exercising. Seems like a silly trade off, but no doubt some would (and do) take it.
Do all you can to avoid injury. When performing any exercise, try your hardest to learn and perform it correctly. Take into account all that has been said above and use it to determine the volume and intensity of each workout you perform. On top of that, use methodical preparation, more than a little common sense and an eye toward situational awareness as your best allies for avoiding injuries.
Do NOT buy into the dogma of Universal Scaleability. There are NO programs, formulas, experts, charts or graphs which would guarantee your safety for any given workout. Not at ANY weight, using ANY rep scheme. Until we develop some sort of consistent clairvoyance - nobody could possibly make this guarantee. Not a scientist. Not your doctor. And frankly, not even you.
We see a lot of folks doing tons of extra stuff after workouts. We're cool(ish) with that. Doing a little more running, lifting, rounds, reps, weight and etc. can be very helpful over the short term. We suggest it in some cases. However, you need to be careful. This sort of thing can wreck you on every level (body, mind, soul, relationships, finances, motivation) if you keep it up over the long term. Sometimes you just have to TYT (trust your trainer) that the workouts we are piling on you daily are going to do the job. Need proof of this? Just look around a little next time you're in. We are "gettin it done" down here at GPP (can I get a WOOT and then, another WOOT?).
Extra credit (more lifting, running, etc.) is great if you are using it to improve in areas of weakness, or if you have healthy goals beyond normal GPP. But to do it right you need a plan. Can't just go willy-nilly into WHATTHEHELLEVER for HOWTHEHELLEVERLONG and expect to get good results. When planning, make sure your EC includes clear: intent, programming, progression, markers for success, balance and recovery time. The last two are the most often ignored. They are also the most important.
Fitness is NOT like math. 1+1 doesn't always = 2 in fitness. Sometimes adding a workout will negate the workout you just did, so 1+1 = 0 here. Worse, sometimes adding a workout can TAKE AWAY from the benefits of BOTH of the workouts you just did, so 1+1 = -1 in this case. That SUCKS.
If you need help strengthening a weakness, please come talk to one of your trainers. We've been doing this a while. We can help.
Suggestion:
Consider doing the situps after back-centric workouts. Sometimes those bent rows (deads, KB swings, etc.) can do a number on the muscles of your low back. We've found that (for some people) situps directly after a low back stressing workout can decompress your spine.
Now for some of you, putting your back into flexion (as with situps) is aggravating in and of itself. In that case, consider some extensions. Several sets (3-5 generally) of 15-20 superman back extensions could do the trick.
Understand - there is nothing inherently wrong with bent rows (or most other exercises, for that matter). It is just that some of us are particularly affected negatively by certain movements. When this happens, it is good to do some countering moves. Learn which movements are best for you. GPP trainers are always glad to help here. Remember, if you have pain while performing a particular exercise, avoiding the move may not be necessary. Sometimes the moves we shy away from the most are the very ones that would heal us. That being said, there is no point in kicking a dead horse either.
Here is something else you might try -
by Neil Anderson
Exercise breaks your body down.
It breaks down energy levels. It breaks down micro-processes that control immunity. It even literally breaks down muscle tissue. Exercise scares the hell out of your bodies primitive survival instincts.
Your body doesn't want to walk around in a broken down state. Its primitive programming thinks if you happen to be walking around in a "broken down" state and a sabre toothed tiger attacks the group of people you happen to be standing around with, YOU as the most broken down and therefore the weakest, are most likely to be killed and eaten by the tiger.
It doesn't just fear tigers. It feels the same way about bacteria and other diseases. If you are standing near a person with a horrible disease, your body wants to have all the energy it needs to fight off the disorder should it be contagious. It is a basic law of self-preservation.
Working out literally puts your body into a panic mode. After exercising, your body will do all it can to bring your own resistance and energy back up to baseline to potentially protect itself from sabre toothed tigers and awful diseases. If you do this often enough (more consistency is better), your body will try to outsmart you. It will build your previous energy and resistance levels way up. It will do this to the point that even after a GPP “soul crusher” your levels are still above your previous baseline (or maybe just not as far below baseline for as long). Understanding how to manipulate this cycle is exactly how we use exercise to INCREASE resistance and energy. We call these increases "fitness."
We suggest performing TGUs without shoes. You have over 7200 nerve endings in your foot. It is one of the highest concentrations of nerve endings anywhere in your body. It is believed by many (relexologists) that much of what ails you can be cured by treating the feet. We are not so sure about that. What we CAN tell you is that performing lifts that require high amounts of coordination, balance and accuracy (TGUs, cleans, snatches, etc.) are best done barefoot. We have observed that performing these movements barefoot increases your proprioception. Increased proprioception = better work. Better work = more work. More work = more broad spectrum fitness (to a point). More fitness = more health (to a point).
What kind of fitness experts tell you to take your shoes off during a workout? The kind who are more concerned about your health, than about covering their own backsides!
I mean does, "Be careful not to drop weights on your feet," or "Be careful not to let others drop weights on your feet," or "Be careful not to stub your toes on equipment" EVEN need to be said? OK. Maybe children and idiots need to hear it.
So, if you are a child or an idiot - Please be careful if you choose to remove your shoes in the gym.
While most programs are happy to stimulate only the musculoskeletal system and its components, we find these programs lacking and have discovered additional ways to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our programming.
There are many proven benefits to shaking up the body a little. By "shaking up" we are talking about getting upside-down and weightless for a moment. These additional benefits include: improved balance, improved proprioception (spatial awareness) and improved coordination. Dramatic movement of the body is also thought to be responsible for improving: flow of the lymphatic system (disease prevention), cardiovascular circulation, and digestion.
There can be no doubt that there is HUGE entertainment value in watching a full-grown adult, who hasn't done a cartwheel 20 years, attempting a cartwheel. It's just FRICKIN cool.
But that isn't what GPP is about. Remember, our mandate is - " MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS and EFFICIENCY." We will only do what is ABSOLUTELY necessary to improve health. We are willing to do WHATEVER it takes to make this happen and we realize it can (probably will) be HELL. But, we are unwilling to do even ONE more rep, of ONE more set than is needful.
Cartwheels just happen to be dang good exercise. They have benefit that would be hard to gain outside of other movements like them. They do things for your core that would be hard to simulate. They are also pretty fun and...the entertainment value alone makes them worth programming.
Now, I'm not opposed to isolating a muscle group and doing specific exercises to develop and tone for aesthetic purposes. I think this is a very healthy thing to do- in moderation. This is one of the things that specifically differentiates us from other programs. We are not afraid to use isolation techniques for effect, as you'll see on Friday. But I have found that we pretty much have the pecs covered. We do lots of exercise for pec development throughout a week of programming at GPP. We hit your pecs from every angle during a normal week. And it shows. Bigger, more developed pecs are one of the first things you'll see changing on new guys (especially guys) who stay with it for a couple of months. I get compliments from their wives all the time.
Plus, look at some of the guys walking around our place. You are a pretty intimidating looking group. By your appearance alone, I wouldn't want to mess with any of you that have been with us for a year or more.
That being said, I realize that guys have an affinity for even more chest work. At some point in our lifetime most of us have had a coach who taught us that a man who couldn't rep 225 was akin to a 98 lb weakling. And even though bench pressing is only comparable to bench pressing, and even though bench pressing has almost no other functional merit (seriously, it's a very poor predictor of a person's strength and/or athleticism, going overhead is a much better indicator), and even though the development you might get from benching and other specific chest work wouldn't lead to any more pec development than what we are already doing down at GPP- I get it. It is important. Hell, I even do it from time to time. That is one of the reasons I've brought in a bench press.
If you choose to do additional chest (and other muscle group) work, keep in mind that with our type of training, it is easy to overdo. Overdoing it will eventually add up to injury. It may also take away from gains on both the GPP side as well as the shaping side.
Keep extra credit stuff to 1x per week per muscle group. Do the same exercise for up to 6 weeks at a time and aim for no more than 40-50 heavy reps per session (not including the warm-up). That should keep you safe and injury free. It will probably even increase your muscularity somewhat. If you are really serious about increasing muscle size, take a month or two and focus on it. Come a little early (20 min or so) for a session (as long as you don't interrupt the class- ask the trainer to be sure) and pound out your reps before the GPP daily workout. During this period you will also benefit from dropping your GPP workout volume (not intensity) by 30%.
But, be CAREFUL!
Although you'll see marked improvement in muscular development, you will lose a little fitness along the way if you keep at it for too long. This will make coming back to full Rx status quite painful- as you already know.
The response to my “three tips Thursday” guest post on the Meals and Moves site has been surprising. First of all, that it garnered any response has been a surprise. Second, I’ve been somewhat bombarded with questions from runners about my “efficiency” rant. By “bombarded” I mean I’ve gotten a few emails and such.
It turns out there is a real problem amongst runners who are only running for weight loss. A bunch of you started running and loved what it was doing for you in terms of shaping your bodies. So you just kept going and going. Now a couple of years into your venture they have found that running isn’t doing what it used to for you. And in fact you have to keep adding mileage and intensity just to keep your weight where it is right now. This seems like a never ending loop and it is starting to take away from your quality of life. So, what should you do?
Try this. Get dead on consistent with your training. And reel back some of those miles. Some of you need to reel back a bunch of your miles. Your body needs to know you aren’t going to keep killing it. If you are a long distance runner, your body is constantly preparing for when you are going to make it go for 2-4 hours at a stretch. To prepare for this it knows it must store plenty of water, electrolytes, and fuel for when you spring your next kill fest on it. The fuel it prefers, is the stuff the looks the worst on! Carbohydrates. We have found with our dancers that carbohydrates make you look puffy. Especially around your middle and your face. When we pull the carbs away from our dancers it cleans up their appearance greatly.
But because you are running so much your body is starving for carbs to fuel it. In fact, many of you couldn’t walk past bread, pasta, or sweets if your house was on fire. And it is no wonder. You have toyed with your system so much over the years that you have convinced your body that were you to walk by a carb, you’d probably die. You need to realize that you are in FULL ON storage mode. Unless you send the signals for your body to calm down. You are just going to keep packing it on. Year after year you will get bigger and more swollen looking.
Consistency is key when reprogramming your body. And know this - It will fight you. When you start slowing down, telling it you are going to be kinder and gentler to it - It won't believe you. It remembers all the hurtful things you’ve done to it in the past and it thinks any day now you are going to spring a ultra run at it, and it wants nothing more than to be prepared. Self preservation is its job. So this is going to take some real effort on your part.
I suggest you find another line of exercise. May I recommend GPP?! Short, 20 minute workouts that hit you from every angle will keep your body in shape and spending calories. It will also place new demands on your body that it is unfamiliar with. If you are already doing GPP workouts, attack them harder. Many times you have pushed through a workout at 75% while saving a little in the tank for your long run. Pound a workout at max intensity and you’ll reprogram your body to allocate more energy to those specific workouts.
Next, ground yourself. You are no longer able to perform more than 30 minutes of cardio (running) per day. Yes, make it 30 minutes. I know you are used to running for miles, but remember, we are reprogramming here. The more you reprogram the sooner your body will fall out of its bad habits and rhythms.
Now, clean up your diet. Start with water. Lots of it will help flush excess storage of electrolytes and etc. You’ll need to back off the carbs dramatically. Proteins and raw fruits and veggies are the keys. Raw fruits and veggies are not as calorie dense as your body is used to. It takes a lot more work to harness their energy than the breads, pastas and sweets you’ve been feeding it. You want it to work for its energy. It slows down the storage process. Proteins will regulate blood sugar. Your high carb lifestyle has been wreaking havoc with your blood sugar and insulin levels. This is contributing to all the swelling around your midsection and face. Take your protein consumption up to .9 g per lb. of lean body mass. This will regulate blood sugar and calm insulin overproduction.
That takes care of your physiology. Now for some psycology. All that running has been contributing greatly to one, or many of your personal payoffs. By “personal payoff” I mean, you have been getting a lot more out of your running than just a good calorie burn. Humans are funny. We can take the most negative, hurtful and painful thing and turn it into a positive payoff. Ever hear of Stockholm Syndrome?
Running is very painful, at first. But you get over it. Soon you start associating the pain of a hard run with very positive attributes. After a while this association might go from a mere pleasant experience to a need. Eventually, this can escalate to a sickness for some. Now, if you happen to be one of the lucky ones who hasn’t been rendered ill by the obsessive need to run/exercise - you are not completely out of the woods when it comes to reversing course. You'd do well to keep that in mind.
To take something as painful as running and turn it into a positive aspect of your life, will have taken some deliberate action on your part to accomplish. Chances are, you have some healthy value statements in life wrapped up into your running. In other words, you might think consciously or subconsciously, “I’m pretty good at running.” “Running has made me more confident.” “The confidence I gained while running helped me to get my new (fill in the blank, house, spouse, job etc.).”
Careful now. This is the danger zone. This is often accompanied by the fear, that it was the running that did this - not you.
If you let this train of thought seep into your actions, you are likely to blow it for yourself. Blow it on a lot of levels. Not just gaining weight through running. If you find this mindset creeping up on you. It might be wise to seek some counselling. Professional help with a qualified individual will go a long way here. You’ll want to steer clear of certain non-supportive spousal types, codependent friends and fitness hacks pecking on a keyboard. Anyone with a potential agenda for helping/suppressing you should be avoided. Just sayin...
What you need to do is re-channel that high you get from running into something more productive. This has to come with the recognition that YOU are the kingpin here. This running thing didn’t just happen. You did it. You became good at it. You achieved great things inside and outside of your running. Now YOU can take what you have done and learned and do more great things. Take some of the energy you have put into running and begin putting it into other things that interest you. Or put it into things that have been left on hold, due to your running. The important thing is to keep DOing. RE-channel your efforts. You’ll find you get a lot more done. It’ll be more rewarding, too.
One last thing - going back to nutrition here - watch that appetite. Once you stop running so much, you aren’t that much different from a collegiate or professional football player. Ever see what happens to those guys after they get out of competitive sports? Most of them blow up to the size of a house. All that running had the effect of glossing over many of the mistakes you were making with your diet. You won’t have that much leeway anymore. You’ll need to be more careful, or you’ll end up looking like an old, retired NFL linebacker. The very thing you were trying to avoid when you backed off the running in the first place.
Please post questions to comments.
We are lucky to have some of the finest experts anywhere storming workouts at our gym. This week we asked Curtis Jolley P.T. MOMT of Performance West Physical Therapy to take us through some stretches we can use daily to improve our health and function.
Some suggestions from Curtis:
1. Do these AFTER your workout. Or ONLY after a complete and thorough warm-up.
2. If you have existing pain, or if these stretches increase your pain - don't do them.
3. Take each stretch only to the point where it becomes MILDLY uncomfortable.
4. Holding each stretch for 20-30 seconds is all that is needed.
5. Repeat each stretch 2-3 times for the most benefit.
6. These may be done daily.
For the front of your torso.
triceps, shoulders & lats
mainly quads
hip flexors
hamstrings
assisted hamstring
glute, piriformis
calf (gastroc)
deep calf (soleus)
by Neil Anderson
Body builders know a lot about abs. They know about them on a level that science hasn't caught up to yet. It's too bad that they do, because their whole spiel just seems so off. We can get into that later. For now, it's probably easier to say I just don't get the pursuit of muscling up, oiling up and prancing around on a stage in your underwear. To each his own, I guess.
The thing is, bodybuilders spend an incredible amount of time getting to know their bodies. Successful ones know every little thing about how an exercise or movement will effect them. They become so good at knowing the effects of certain movements that often their techniques fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Exercise scientists (mostly flabby ones) have been saying for years that certain bodybuilding techniques are flat-out wrong. For example, the exercise scientists (mostly flabby) who taught my exercise phys classes at USU told me and my numerous classmates that there is no such thing as working the upper abs separately from the lower abs. They said it was a myth! Banged their fists on a pulpit (actually happened once) to emphasize the point. Yet, bodybuilders (fit and muscled) have been working them separately and claiming it is the ONLY way to bring the top and bottom abs "out" for decades. They have continued even after these (flabby) exercise scientists told them it was scientifically "hogwash."
What could be wrong with bodybuilders? Can't they read? Don't they believe in science?
Are they THAT mired in tradition? Have they just bought into bodybuilding so blindly that they will simply perpetuate stupid and inefficient movements as nothing more than religious dogma?
Researchers from the University of Sao Paulo Brazil didn't think this sounded right. Why take all your advice from a bunch guys who wouldn't be able to find their own abs without local anesthesia and a scalpel, right? So, they put bodybuilders' methods to the test. With advanced muscle activation measuring equipment, they had male subjects perform crunches and reverse crunches. These two movements are purported by body builders to work the upper abdominals differently from the lower. Any guesses on what they found?
Body builders have been right all along.
According to the findings, which were published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, muscle activity data shows "definite" differentiation. They also supported this finding with the fact that research in human cadavers shows that the different portions of the abs are innervated by different nerves. That is big!
Conclusion
Don't take all your ab building advice from pulpit thumping (mostly flabby) scientists. Exercises that involve moving the upper torso (crunches, situps) work upper portions of the abdominals more. Exercises that involve moving the pelvis and legs toward the center of mass work the lower abdominals more. And also, although bodybuilders and their pursuits are completely foreign to me (we can get into it later), they know stuff. And we can learn things from them that we can use in our own pursuit of optimal health.
General Physical Preparedness
We exist to help you achieve OPTIMAL HEALTH. Optimal Health encompasses all objectives of healthy living. These may range from: having more energy, to losing weight, to becoming fit, to participating in sport, to conquering disease. Our definition of Health is truly groundbreaking in this industry.
We are minimalists. We refuse to do one more rep of one single exercise than is absolutely necessary to accomplish our goal of optimal health. This being said, we realize nothing worth having comes easily. Therefore we are committed to doing whatever is needed, however it is necessary, whenever it is required to accomplish our definition of Optimal Health.
We believe the only worthy reason to exercise and eat right is so that we can lead richer, fuller lives. Lives not limited by capacity and/or self-induced disease.
At GPP we realize that health isn't about who the fittest person in the world is. It isn't about who can lift the most weight, run the fastest, or obtain the highest work capacity imaginable. These things have no meaning. They serve no purpose.
Instead, get your workout in and go home. Go be a human. Do things that interest/edify you. Contribute to your family, your community and/or society.
GPP Intensive Training
July 26th - 28th
Click HERE for more info.
Rx+ Week
August 5-10th (prepare yourself)
GPP Kids (Summer)
June 11th, T&TH 10:30am
Register HERE
What is GPP?
First 5 Steps
The GPP Soreness Scale
Everything I've Got
My Training Partner
The Yak Attack
The Demotion of Exercise
It Doesn't Get Easier
Be Perfect
Commonality ... Losers
Are You Cocky?
Dirty Cheater
I Am Not My Body
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