Formosa Fitness

LOL. This one really snuck up on me. So I was going to do my upper body emphasis today with the kettlebell but I wasn't sure what lifts to do today. I did snatches yesterday and the day before....yada, yada. You get the picture. So on a whim I went and picked up the 32kg kettlebell.

Last time I tried to press it was July and that was a no-go. Lifting it is on my agenda but haven't gotten around to it yet.

And LOL up it went. No problem. After I calmed down, I tried it again to see if I was seeing things but no, I pressed it again. So you know what I did then, right?

Had to see how many times I could press it. Answer: five. What about the left? Five. So want to guess what I did then?

Yep, got to see how many sets I could do. Answer: 3 sets of 5 left and 5 right. Well, almost. Set 3 stopped at 4 on the right and 3 on the left.

So I'm happy yet embarassed a little about this. For one, I should try this stuff out a little more often. I need to have more confidence in my training sometimes. This stuff really does work. Been too focused on trees instead of the forest lately.

Second, I'm not sure how I did this. I had hoped to train in a systematized fashion through sets and reps of the 20, 24, 28 and then the 32. I was going to have this great program that clients could follow, just like I did. Except now that's ruined because I didn't plan for this. Haha.

I've been reading a lot of stuff by Charles Staley and Dan John lately so that's likely the source of how I did this. The escalating density training (EDT) is no joke. You got to get some of that, if you haven't already. I did a cycle with the double 24kg of double presses and double rows for about a month. But the numbers were fairly stable the whole time. Then later I did another EDT cycle of pullups and dips that was really fun. Actually, I'm still doing that one. But it must be working in spades. I know my pullups are at an all-time high.

I'm also doing some other things that might be contributing too, but in any case, it's all working. Who can tell? I've added Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey over the last month and have been trying to follow Precision Nutrition lately. It's all good.

Anyway, I'm feeling really, really good today and hope to drag some of the things I'm learning along the way into classes. I love seeing clients get stronger while staying healthy and I always make myself the guinea pig.

So train hard and stay safe this weekend!

One of the main things people need to do is stop drinking their calories. Drink nothing but water and this one change alone will make a big difference over time. Sodas, milk tea, and juice have a whole heck of a lot more calories than people think they do. Do some Googling if you're not sure.

Drinking 350 calories a day will equal one pound of bodyweight (3500 calories) in 10 days. Most drink a heck of a lot more than that. If people cut that out, drank nothing but water, and made no other changes, they could cut a pound of weight in just over a week. What would they look like in a year?

Follow through is naturally the catch.

One of the most persistent myths I see is the idea that someone doesn't have the energy to workout. When I hear this I think to myself, "Does anyone ever have the energy to work out at first?" Does anyone really expect that at the end of the day, they might one day just have this abundance of energy that they just have to get out? When does that ever happen?

Never.

Most people's idea about exercise and energy is completely reversed. Here's the real deal: you work out first and THEN you get the energy.

Counterintuitive I know but there it is.

It works like this. If you don't exercise then your body seeks equilibrium. You aren't going to have a massive amount of energy one day to start a fitness program. Why would you? Where would it come from? Your body has gotten used to its current state. To get more energy, you have to break out of that equilibrium.

When you start exercising, your body becomes more efficient with energy. That means you will feel more energy as that efficiency increases.

You'll also find that movement stimulates your mind. We all have a human need to MOVE but many people don't fulfill it. Moving improves your mood and gets you on a positive feedback loop. You start feeling better. Combine this with diet and you start getting synergistic effects -- the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Then you start looking better and feeling better and...

So don't wait for an energy blast that will never come. If you want to feel more energetic in your life, start moving! 

Because...well...why not? Love how he describes the advantages of the kettlebell curl.

http://strengthandphysique.blogspot.com/ This is his blog. I have one of his books and it's great. Check him out.

Learn to eat right with the best nutrition program available: Precision Nutrition. Offered exclusively in Taiwan at Formosa Fitness, this program will teach you to eat right and reach your fitness goals. Precision Nutrition isn't just another diet book. It's an entire nutrition education system that uses manuals, video, and MP3s to give you what you need to succeed. Eating right is hard enough as it is. You need information you can take with you wherever you are.

Precision Nutrition provides that information.

Don't confuse this program with a diet. We aren't talking about just cutting out junk foods. Precision Nutrition teaches you to use your food to fuel body change. Make your food work FOR you instead of against you! By taking control of your diet, you turn the dinner table into an ally instead of an enemy. This gives you confidence because every meal is one step closer to success.

Just cutting out junk isn't the answer. If you don't replace those empty calories meals and snacks with healthy, tasty food, then you aren't likely to reach your goals. This is why simple deprivation doesn't work well. But cutting through the confusing mass of science and nutrition information takes too long. Trust the Precision Nutrition system to steer you down the right path!

Want more information? Click here for a free 42 page introduction to the system (PDF).

Call today to get started!

The Formosa Fitness site has gotten a badly needed makeover. Please check it out and make comments here. I'm getting ready for January and the rush it will hopefully bring. Now I have a site that doesn't embarass me so I can send potential clients there. Banner ads are next.

Comments greatly appreciated.

I've looked around for the program that I feel will be the most practical for clients and Precision Nutrition is it. Weight loss, weight gain, gout management, etc. are all covered under the progam. It's practical because it uses foods you can get most anywhere. It's very clear on the requirements, making is easier to follow than some other programs.

As far as I know, I'm the only one in Taiwan offering the program so I can provide a great service for clients. Nutrition is really the missing piece of the puzzle in modern fitness. What people do the other 23 and a half hours outside my studio is more important than what they do in it. Precision Nutrition will help people get that part of their lives in order.

If weight loss or gain is your goal, come talk to me about this great program today!

I see this a lot in relation to fitness and nutrition systems, I saw iT when I got my master's in international relations, and I saw it a lot in martial arts: something isn't perfect so it gets seen as useless. Great example here. We love to toss those babies with the bathwater.

Why?

NO system that any human has developed is perfect. If there was a perfect piece of software, a perfect fitness routine, a perfect anything, then we'd all have it or be doing it. But they don't exist. Humans are imperfect and imperfectable beings. Everything has benefits and costs. It's simply a matter of weighing the costs vs. benefits.

By that measure, some systems are clearly better than others considering what we are aiming for. If you have a goal, find the path that will get you there safely and efficiently.

When those conditions are satisfied, I quit picking at it. If it's getting you what you want, they why keep looking around? Why keep being skeptical? Because it can't be proven mathmatically every time or isn't quantifiable 100%?

Who cares?

Sometimes we need to turn the nerd inside off and go to work. If it's working, leave it the alone. :)

Sometimes we stare so hard at the trees, that we get disappointed with the forest.

For example, weight loss clients are usually initially delighted with the weight loss they see on the scales. But eventually the weight stabilizes and gains need to be looked for beyond numbers. If lean muscle mass is replacing fat, then fat is still declining even if the weight isn't changing. This is excellent news, but not for people used to seeing progress only in numbers. Quality must eventually replace quantity as a measure.

Another example happened yesterday. I did 17 pullups last week -- the most I've done in a very long time. Not bad for someone about to turn 39. Last month I also did 100 burpees, a personal goal for the first time. So I did the Cindy workout (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 body weight squats in a circuit for 20:00) yesterday with high hopes. But I hadn't done it for two months prior.

I crashed at 12:00 with ten reps of the circuit. And my form wasn't very good. What the heck happened? When I did it last, I went a full 20:00 and managed 18 reps with good form.

If I only looked at this result, I would be very depressed. But in terms of my overall performance, I've reached a lot of highs recently. Staring at this particular tree from yesterday would make me depressed. But looking at the forest of overall health and performance, I'm feeling fairly happy.

So don't depress yourself if the numbers don't show what you want. Quality is not always quantifiable.

One of the ideas in yesterday's New York Times piece that really bugs the hell out of me is this idea that exercise alone won't help you lose weight. It will, if done correctly. The overall idea to keep in mind is calories in, calories out.

In the documentary "I Want to Look like that Guy" the would-be bodybuilder McDonald lost 6% bodyfat with no change to diet whatsoever. This was a brillant move by his trainer Jeff Willet. Willet started McDonald with exercise alone and got him used to working out with good form. As the form got better, the weights increased and the cardio got more intense. But Willet told McDonald to not change the diet, meaning McDonald didn't suffer any food withdrawal problems or cravings. But here's the key: his caloric expenditure went UP over time. More calories burned with no diet changes = negative energy state. McDonald WAS burning fat. Again, he lost 6% bodyfat. A noticeable difference.

But this process is NOT what was talked about in the article. The article made is seem like you have to cut back on calories through dieting or you're doomed. That's not true. What you have to do is get into a negative energy state by: a. buring more calories through exercise, b. cutting calories, or both. That range of options wasn't explored.

I've seen this in my own clients. I just have them work out hard at first and get used to it. The trick is to have them NOT increase the amount of food they consume.They will lose fat if they stick to that idea.

Now again, the criticism that could be made is that diet is still important in this equation because it's important that you not consume more calories for the exercise to burn fat. That's true and it may look like I'm splitting hairs. But it's an important hair and not clear at all from the NYT article. People reading that article will be greatly discouraged.

Additionally, let me interject that this will only get you so far. Eventually diet must be addressed for additional fat loss to take place.

And to stick my foot in it even more, I would highly advise people get their training advice from trainers, not scientists (or reporters). People are NOT mice. That should be obvious. Scientists have no idea how to train people. That isn't their job. Science is nice and all but it isn't the end of the story. Trainers are the people that take the theory and put it into practice. If you want to get into shape, you want a trainer not a guy in a white lab coat.

If you want proof of the process, get "I Want to Look Like That Guy" and watch. You will be surprised.