Mon 22 Feb 2010
W.O.W. 2/21/10 Don’t consume what you are given
Posted by Doug McGuff under Uncategorized
I did a “little 6” on Sunday before a day shift. I increased weights on several of the movements. A tiny increase on the formulator made for a large drop in TUL. Everything else was fairly stable in TUL even with a small jump. I am working a long string of day shifts for the next several days.
Calf raise
MedX abdominal
Nautilus plateload bicep
Tricep press on SS pulldown
Formulator wrist flexion
Formulator wrist extension
Due to time constraints I will not make a long post or discussion. It is exhausting to work on the other end of the health spectrum. It is truly amazing how bad things can turn when you don’t attend to your health. One of the nurses commented on one of the myriad of relatively young, morbidly obese and severely ill patients “What do these people do to get themselves in such bad shape?” My answer was… “It’s easy. All you have to do is…nothing”. In many ways it was not their fault. These people were simply consuming whatever was offered to them. This fact is a piece of wisdom that I am developing. Consuming whatever is given to you will most likely be the worst thing you can do. This is true with diet and exercise. It is true with your relationships, career, finances and all components of your life. Think how much going against the grain with diet and exercise has given you. Now consider all the other aspects of your life where this may prove valuable.
Post your WOW’s and thoughts
February 23, 2010
1. Abduction: 106 lbs / 1:36
2. Adduction: 196 lbs / 1:42
3. Leg Ext.: 230 lbs / 1:45
4. L. Leg Curl: 162 lbs / 1:40
5. Ass. Chin: BW - 10 lbs / 1:13
6. Overhead Press: 288 lbs / 1:25
7. Rowing Torso: 158 lbs / 1:15
8. Lumbar Ext.: 236 lbs / 1:32
Duration: about 21 minutes
I finally reduced my workout frequency to 1x/7-8 days. I see that I will have to reduce the total number of exercises per workout, too, in the near future.
I’ve been a bit delinquent in posting, rough couple of weeks at work. With the help of our good friend Jeff, I rearranged my workout for a bit more loading each week, since the split among 3 weeks was getting light. Now at a biweekly rotation, will see how that works.
Feb. 21 WOW
14 min
OH press: used preset 30# short bar, 106s
Leg press: +20# to 230, 181s
Pulldown: +1# to 78.5, 83s
Outer thigh: baseline, 43s
I like doing the pulldown first, but an impolite gym goer was hogging the seat until I asked him (tongue in cheek) if he was done, given that he was talking to his buddy for 10 minutes. Anyway, I’ve found the order makes a huge difference, which was a topic several blogs back. Like the outer thigh with the leg press is a bad idea for me, no matter how light I put the weight, I was going down early.
As for the blog topic, I really like that you added on “… and all components of your life”, and I would add on we need to save the children, and teach them this early. I’m a Big Sister to an 11-year-old and it’s amazing what’s going on, at their level. Monster drinks in vending machines, non-stop electronic stimulation, cyber-bullying, so much more stressors than the same element when we were that age. And it all starts younger because as soon as you can type, you can interact anonymously with millions. In my own small way I try to teach her just what you said — it’s up to her to set her limits, not what other people define for her or give to her to “consume”.
Got my WOW in on 2/21.
Leg Press
Incline Bench Press
Barbell Curl
Military Press
Leg Raises
Felt good. Losing weight, can’t complain.
workout date: Feb. 23
duration: 16:00
days since previous workout: 14
Leg Press
Side Raise
Row
External Shoulder Rotation
———-
One of the machines I normally use was in use, so I used an alternate machine and had to change up the order of my exercises. So, there is no point in posting comparisons with my previous execution of this workout.
Last week was a “vacation.” The quotation marks signify that I spent five days keeping up with my 13-year-old son. There were 5 days of snow skiing and outdoor paddle tennis. It was a lot more physical activity than I normally engage in. Nonetheless, I had an excellent workout.
W.O.W. 2/20/2010
Leg press + 5 lbs./ - 8 sec.
Inclines + 5 lbs./ - 5 sec.
Lat pull + 5 lbs./ + 2 sec.
Declines stable wt./ stable TUL
Rows + 15 lbs./ - 4 sec.
Laterals + 5 lbs./ + 2 sec.
A good workout; went up in weight in most exercises with slight TUL loss and some gains.
Regarding last week’s topic and post by Dennis Rogers: I also immensly enjoy the feeling of the “near death experience”, which is why I am always slightly nervous before each workout. Knowing there is only one chance to get each exercise right adds to this apprehension. The trick is to make sure this experience is not brought back to the body too soon since the body does perceive this as a real threat. As Dennis stated, what sets us apart from the multitude of strength trainers is the effort we embrace.
With regard to this week’s post, it is sad that so many people in this country do not even make a feeble attempt to at least keep what health they have, much less try to improve it. A lifetime of abuse (dietary, drug and alcohol, and proper exercise avoidance), puts them in a predicament where the Dr. McGuff’s of the world are called in to “undo the damage.” These physicians are not practicing “health care”; they are practicing disease care, and the disease is self-inflicted in too many cases.
Ed H
experimented somewhat in doing my “Big 5” by bumping up deliberately my resistances to see the effect, if any, on my tul’s. Interestingly and surprisingly, the first exercise was my leg press – an increase of 20 lbs; however my tul also went up by 15 secs. However, all four arm and shoulder exercises showed decrease in tul’s with the increases in reistances.
Leg Press 330 lbs(+20) 1min 40 sec (+15)
Lat Pull Downs 120 (+10) 1min 10 sec (-15)
Chest Press 135 (+10) 1min 15 sec (-10)
Seated Row 120 (+10) 1min 10 sec (-15)
Overhead Press 85 (+5) 1min 05 sec (-20)
Dot’s WOW
During the week Dot developed inflammation in both her shoulders – in the front and back, and in her bicep/tricep muscles. Therefore we did not engage in the upper body exercises at all. However we have fantastic news concerning her leg presses. In the space of a month her resistance is now 50 lbs, an increase of 30 in a little more than a month. Moreover, her tul is over 4 minutes so we have to step up the resistances significantly. We intend to do this carefully and gradually. Remember, Dot is completely new to resistance training.
Do you have any comments concerning the weight loss I have experienced since starting on both the BBS exercise regime and the hunter-gatherer diet. Specifically, my weight has dropped approx 12 lbs (164 to 152) in 3 months (Nov 20 to Feb 23). My body mass index is 23.1. I have, in a major way, reduced my sugar, refined carbohydrates and grains. Not totally, but certainly significantly. I feel great, high energy and stronger with my workouts. I eat more meats, eggs and dairy products.
Questions:
Should the drop taper off?
Any problem if it continues to drop, and to where?
Should I be changing something to stabilize at a target?
By the way, I forgot to mention that 3 months ago I was on a prescription medication to reduce my blood pressure. I monitor it myself with a cuff etc and have found out clearly that the hunterer-gatherer diet with a minimum of sugar/refined carbohydrates has had an enormous impact in reducing my b.p. I have taken perhaps 3 or 4 pills over the last 3 months instead of the daily dose. This afternoon it was 124/74 – typical! That surely speaks volumes about the exercise/diet regime you and Doug are espousing.
Wed 24.02. BIG 3
1. Squat 15 reps
2. Deadlift 10 reps
3. Press 5 reps
Doug, I concour with your nurses comments about the health of young people in this day and age..
I work full time as a night club bouncer and the amount of young girls with spare tires of fat around their midsection is alarming, this is mainly due to the “binge drinnking” culture that is plaguing Britain that along with very cheap alcohol, with this the level of alcohol related violence is on the increase, working in ER you must see them at the end of the night…
In relation to my WOW, I’ve cut my big five routine in half and this has resulted in renewed progress…!!
Workout 1:
Cybex Chest Press (up 10lbs since last workout..!)
Hammer Strength Pulldown (up one rep)
Single Leg Leg Press (Up in weight and for same reps)
Cybex Seated Leg Curl
Workout 2.
Cybex Shoulder Press
Cybex Low Row
Leg Ext
Machine Squat
Shrug
@Norm,
The stabilization will likely take care of itself. Just follow your appetite. When you are eating real food, your appetite actually works and autoregulates toward an ideal body composition. Your blood pressure results are fantastic but not unexpected. The drug ads always say “when diet and exercise fail”…but when done properly, diet and exercise will not fail.
@Paul
Renewed progress at your advanced level is indeed an accomplishment. You are right about today’s youth. I am glad my youth was before the widespread appearance and acceptance of the “muffin top”.
@Senya
Thanks for your comments. I completely agree. My kids are 8 and 6, so I will definitely have my work cut out for me soon.
Doug McGuff
@ Doug,
The crazy thing is, if you would have asked me that such limited training could produce results some four months ago, I would argued quite strongly that it could not possibly work, however I cannot deny with my own results..others have commented on my size increase so its not just me and a placebo effect…
I also feel that due to training in such a high intensity manner for a number of years I’m able to derive the most from such limited training, but hey, progress is progress as little as it may be!!!
In Seattle for the week on business and a bit of vacation with my wife. Worked out at Ideal Exercise with Greg and Ann-Marie Anderson. Absolutely fantastic.
Workout:
•Nautilus Leg Press: Brutal. That is all I can say.
•Nautilus Pull Over: First time I have ever done that exercise.
•Nautilus Torso Arm: Kind of a variant of a pull down.
•Bench Press: Interesting, hammer strength like plate load setup. The load variation is related to where the plates are moving in the arcs around the pivot point. Pretty clever.
•Lateral Raise
Good comments about going against the grain. I read something recently that if you do things 180 degrees opposite of everyone else you are probably on the right track. That advice is too simple, unfortunately. Things are so complex it is hard to think everything through.
Jeff,
Greg Anderson=blinding pain. You have just had a workout from one of the best trainers on the planet. Greg and Ann-Marie certified me and taught me almost everything I know and needed to know to start UE.
Doug McGuff
My last workout was on Feb. 21
Leg presses…. variation on 20 rep breathing squats program…I take 5 seconds between first 10 reps, then 10 seconds between next 5 reps, then 15 seconds between last 5 reps… used 275 lbs which was a guess since this was my first real leg workout since mid Dec. due to my hernia repair…. reached 20 and did 5 more regular reps, so underestimated weight… followed up
with
SS NAutilus Pullover
Leg Extension 30 partials (in about a minute)
Chins, bw regular and neg, with 5 second pauses between (DevaNy 1,5’s)
Leg extension another 30 partials
Leg Curls 30 partials
Dips as with chins
Leg Curls 30 partials
Lateral Raise moment arm exercise style, leaning against bench one arm at a time…
I am feeling quite strong, but this is only 2nd real workout…(last one was upper body)… too early to draw conclusions but feel good… hard to determine which variable would be helping… as I have
-moved to far more paleo
-incorporated raw dairy
-some raw beef
-much better sleep
-vitamin D and K2
-and of course extended layoff may be a big factor…
Got your DVD’s as you know Doug… got to the q&a part and need to finish… well done…
I would suggest in your handout would also be some sleep guidelines, because as I’ve previously mentioned, I am increasingly persuaded that sleep, even more than nutrition and exercise, is THE most important to health and progress. In Paleo times, man slept a LOT in winter, and even though stayed up later in summer, still slept a lot more than average today… and artificial light itself that we switch on when the sun goes down, interferes with natural melatonin production, which evidence persuades me is the root of many, many health problems, not to mention delayed progress in workout results.
Best to all!
oh yeah, and raw eggs…. (delicious with raw cream…)
Due to an overwhelming demand for Dr. McGuff’s Healthy Eating presentation I’ve just received a new order of DVD’s. I know some folks have called and have been reticent about leaving their CC information on our answering machine….totally understand. If that’s a concern, you are more than welcome to send a request to my e-mail at egarbe@bellsouth.net.
Please provide name, address, phone, and CC info with expiration date(I’m sorry but we don’t do AMEX).
The cost is still $45 for domestic orders.
Overseas orders are slightly higher due to shipping costs.
Any questions, feel free to e-mail me or call the facility at 864-886-0200.
Ed Garbe
Manager
Ultimate Exercise
Seneca, SC
Doug,
I’ve come to a decision that I’ve be toying with for several months. I have addictive personality tendencies but have never had a problem missing a workout. Several years ago, I had sinus surgery and didn’t workout for about 2 months. Came back to my same routine with the same weights and blew it away. I’ve tried all the intensity extenders, rep variations, stage reps, etc. The most important thing in this process is still strength gains. As Aurthr Jones once said, if you ain’t getting stronger each time you come to the gym, what the hell are you doing there? At 50 years of age, I’ve been doing this for about 20 years, and I’ve gotten so strong, strength gains are so minimal on an every 7 day interval, no matter how little the volume, I’ve come to the conclusion of what is the point. If I miss a workout and only perform it every 2-3 weeks I am sure as hell not gonna waste away. I remember talking to a fella named Chuck Glose out of Oregon, and he told me he was working out once a month with the big three. He was a firefighter and he competed in fireman competitions and did quite well. At the time I was not ready for that low of frequency, but I think now I am. Doug, I think your wife is on to something, and as usual all good things in my life happen because of my wife. I’m gonna start out every 2 weeks and if that stalls take it out every 3 weeks. Will let you know what happens.
thanks
Greg
Rick,
You make an excellent point about sleep, and I was remiss in not including it in the presentation. This is a blind spot for me since it is not even an option with my career. I have not had a normal sleep cycle since I was about 26 years old. When I do have several days in a row of a normal circadian rhythm, the difference is amazing.
Greg,
Chuck Glose came for a weekend seminar at UE back in 1998 (Matt Metzger was there also). At the time he was living in Nashville, TN and training clients there. He was completely unafraid of the low volume concept, and after the seminar reduced his training to once every 28 days. We had some correspondence, and my recollection was that the results were very good. As I remember, he was tall and quite lean/muscular. If he is out there, it would be neat to hear from him on the blog. I am sure he could bring out some interesting discussions re: low frequency training. Keep us posted here of how things go. For those who haven’t seen Greg, he is quite advanced and very strong/muscular. If this experiment fails, it should be easy for him to tell. I look forward to your report.
Doug McGuff
My wow:2-26-10
Hammer Row same weight tul up 8 sec
Hammer Decline same weight up 10 sec
Pulldown same weight tul up 5 sec
Hammer Press tul up 2 sec weight down 10lb Leg Press same tul and weight
I am a long term HIT advocate and trainer. During the last 53 weeks I have been undergoing treatment with medicine that has severely compromised my health.The effects are very catabolic and my hemoglobin level is 10.2. Needless to say I have not been able to get a good read on how I am responding to training, even though my sense is that the effects of the medicine would have ravaged my more had I not been training so smartly. Since December I have been training ‘by the book’ from page 158 of Body by Science.
in three weeks I will stop the medical treatment and my body and health should return to normal, I plan to continue the experiment and train on the yearly schedule outlined in the book
Drog
Doug,
I corresponded with Chuck about a month ago and he moved from TN to Oregon. Anyway, he told me he took 6 months off from training and when he trained again he exceeded his previous strength and TUL levels. He compared this training to building a house out of concrete vs. sand and said the body won’t let go of something so easily that requires allot of resources to develop. I believe you’ve said something similiar in your writings, and that the body will let go of metabolic conditioning much quicker than actual muscular gains.
On another note this type of training and eating along with IF allow people much greater flexibility and latitude. Your not tied to some artificial training and eating schedule, your actually allot freer which is quite liberating.
I also talked to Gred Anderson today and he told me he only trained 34 times last year and only got stronger. Something to think about.
Greg
Sat 27.02. BIG 3
1. incline leg press 20 reps
2. bench press 12 reps
3. pulldown (plate loaded) 12 reps
27 Feb 2010 W.O.W.
Pull-down - 4 reps
Chest Press - 4 reps
Slow and deep.
I plan on doing Leg Press and Hyper-extension next Saturday. I am going to give a divided routine a serious try for a goodly period of time with the exercises done in a BBS style. Will be interesting.
February 28, 2010
1. Compound Row: 314 lbs / 1:35
2. Chest Press: 326 lbs / 1:45
3. Leg Press: 920 lbs / 1:44
4. Lateral Raise: 102 lbs / 1:03
5. Abdominal: 70 lbs / 1:25
Duration: about 13 minutes
Due to several scheduling conflicts I had to workout after only 5 days of rest.
I believe the single most important belief for me to change from my current condition to the direction I’d like to move in is this simple, short declaration:
I think that’s more important than all the details because without that, in today’s society, you’re pretty much sunk nutrition-wise.
Ed said: “Regarding last week’s topic and post by Dennis Rogers: I also immensly enjoy the feeling of the “near death experience”, which is why I am always slightly nervous before each workout. Knowing there is only one chance to get each exercise right adds to this apprehension. The trick is to make sure this experience is not brought back to the body too soon since the body does perceive this as a real threat. As Dennis stated, what sets us apart from the multitude of strength trainers is the effort we embrace.”
Hi Ed- this is why I am so happy I read the book and knew what to expect. I am new to HIT and just did my first workout yesterday. I had no idea I would panic so much when hitting fatigue. I almost felt like I wanted to cry (am female). I am not sure if I went 100% fatigue, but I definitely pushed it.
Today I thought I’d be deathly sore but am feeling ok. Actually very energetic and in a great mood. Do people experience HIT high? Maybe I’m just excited to see some gains in strength.