It is functional, right?

Thanks to Colin for pointing this out to me

Self Eating.....not a bizarre form of masturbation

Autophagy (surely pronounced Auto[space]Phagy) is usually characterised as cells eating themselves.  I think I've posted stuff before about  autophagy being turned on by fasting.   This guy (Ron Mignery) also explains how fasting from protein alone can also turn on autophagy.   Matt Lalonde also mentioned this idea in Robb Wolf's podcast last week - he occasionally has a low protein dinner to promote autophagy.

Anyway, here is something else interesting - another reason to fast occasionally or at least have low protein days - autophagy represents an important natural safeguard against cancer development:


Scientists discover that self-eating cells safeguard against cancer

Normally, the process of autophagy is switched on when cells experience periods of starvation and in this context is beneficial by helping to keep the 'wolf from the door' until food reappears on the menu. However, the Martin laboratory has discovered that mutations in a gene called Ras, which is involved in approximately 30% of human cancers, triggers excessive autophagy leading to auto-destruction of the fledgling tumour cell. Mutant Ras was found to switch cells into the self-eating mode by ramping up the production of Noxa. The study suggests that autophagy represents an important natural safeguard against cancer development.

The Mail on Sunday gets it right

Well they got this right!  Barefoot means....well barefoot.  But there is no money in that is there!

More Hillfit thoughts

Here is some of my current thinking:

A template – the Hillfit Paradigm

There is science behind what I will recommend, but science is fickle – the same data can often be read differently depending on the presumptions of the scientist. You need a paradigm under which to view the data, a lens to give some sense to what you see. I’ll be discussing through my own template. “Hillfit” is essential, foundational and functional.

Essential – we are looking at efficiency and economy. Getting the most effect from a minimum investment of time and effort. It is Lighten up all over again!

Foundational – coming back to basics about what is natural? What are we built for? How were we designed to move? There is a lot to learn here and modern fitness prescriptions - uniform and regimented - are often “unnatural” from the perspective of our ancestors who randomly would walk or run but not jog.

Functional – Training is not an end in itself. It should facilitate FUN! My ideas might make you stronger or increase metabolic conditioning, but you need to apply that capacity to your skill. You need to walk, to climb. It is not about the time in the gym but the time on the hill.

My thoughts and writings are being shaped by:

• Body by Science
• MovNat

Common Strength

Any site that has me in a list of experts is surely worth linking to! 

Common Strength is a blog I've come across from a guy in Dundee.  Here is how Sean describes it:

Commonstrength is a straight-forward project created to answer a simple question: “What can I do to get stronger?”

The name is a play on the term “common sense”. Our strength training beliefs are really quite simple…like everything in life, if you want to get better at something, you have to do that thing more often. In our case, we want to get better at lifting stupidly heavy things…as such, it’s just common sense to get lifting heavy things, frequently, with enough rest to give it your absolute best with each session. “Perfect practice makes perfect”.

Slider Exercises

More good stuff from Ross. I have also just bought his Missing Links DVD but haven't had the chance to watch it yet.

Danny MacAskill interview

I think I've had Danny's video on here before...but if not:



Anyway, here is an interview with him:

Hillfit thoughts

I have been asked to write a series of articles in a UK backpacking magazine on fitness.  I might use this blog as a place to record some of the ideas that I want to remember to include.  It is hard because there is so much to say.  Yet the focus I want is simplicity. 

The template I am using is

• Efficiency - best bang for buck, do more with less
  
• Fun -  fitness facilitates fun, more important than fancy gear
  
• Nature - doing what we are built for / designed for (the whole EvFt / paleo thing)

In effect it will be sprints / simple calisthenics (slow or statics) for metabolic conditioning / strength and then developing the skill of walking.....and it is a skill.

There will also be something on looking at what works, not what the successful do.  The successful can be such despite their training.

I am taking some ideas from lightweight backpacking too:

• use of appropriate technology (e.g sprints)
• efficiency - use what you need, multipurpose gear
• challenges the mainstream
• independence
• fun - it is about enjoyment of the outdoors ultimately gear and fitnes only facilitate that
• realistic - ignore the adverts!

All my interests are coming out in this stuff:   Body by Science, HIIT, MovNat, CrossFit endurance, posture.  I may not address diet - it is too challenging to the mainstream. .... we'll see


The hardest thing is condensing all these ideas into a useful article.

I am having to cut my reading back and go more in depth into things.  Blogs and twitter are great and immediate  but you rarely get any depth.  I am getting overwhelmed by the information.  It is time for some independent thought I think.

There will also be a  vibe here  simplifying and minimalism in general with respect to consumerism.  I like shiny new things as much as the next guy but gear is nowhere near as important as fitness for a good day out.  I've seen guys togged up in the latest kit struggling to get up a hill while others in older kit wander up with no trouble.  if you are not fit the gear doesn't matter much.  The magazines however rely on advertising income so they will not really tell you that too readily.  They sell us an image of what we need to own to be successful.

Fertility study and fat consumption

My girlfriend -  a PhD immunologist -  pointed this out to me.  She said:

I came across this abstract but have attached the paper but not read it. In the results infertile women consumed more polyunsaturated fat (OR 1.23), less saturated fat (OR 0.83) and had more hangovers (OR 1.02), a significant but marginal effect (2%).  But the conclusions say that alcohol use is something that needs to be addressed.  There was stuff on the BBC website yesterday that alcohol consumption has decreased since 2004...  But hey, you can't mention polyunsaturated fat being bad for you!

Pass the butter.

...and another big jump

Skill execution and sleep deprivation caffeine and creatine

Forget the creatine and caffeine the lesson I take from this is that sleep deprivation erodes your skills....so don't lose sleep.

Skill execution and sleep deprivation: effects of acute caffeine or creatine supplementation - a randomized placebo-controlled trial

full pdf available.

It is about genetics

some people are just better at responding to resistance exercise

Killing yourself due to too little sleep

Literally!  Lack of sleep leads to suicide!?

Sleep, serotonin, and suicide in Japan.


Well maybe.

Bloody Hell....Wii Fit is not exercise

They are doing scientific studies on the Wii.     Bloody.  Hell.

Findings suggest that the Wii Fit™ can be used as an effective activity for promoting physical health in this population.

I have another suggestion.....or two

It can take at least 6 days to recover from a hard training session

This study seems to support the basic workout frequency prescribed by Doug McGuff and John Little in Body by Science - once a week (and less frequently if necessary).

Recovery after Heavy Resistance Exercise And Skeletal Muscle Androgen Receptor And Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Isoform Expression In Strength Trained Men.

The effects of heavy resistance exercise on skeletal muscle androgen receptor (AR) protein concentration and mRNAs of AR, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF)-IEa, and mechano growth factor (MGF) expression were examined from biopsies of vastus lateralis (VL) muscle before and 48 hours after heavy resistance exercise (5 × 10 repetition maximum [RM] leg press and 4 × 10RM squats) in 8 adult strength trained men. The present exercise induced an acute decrease in maximal isometric force and increased serum total testosterone (T) and free testosterone (FT) concentrations. During 2 recovery days, maximal isometric force and subjective perception of physical fitness remained significantly lowered, whereas serum creatine kinase activity, subjective muscle soreness, and muscle swelling (i.e., thickness of VL by ultrasound) were significantly increased compared to pre-exercise values. Subjective perception of physical fitness was followed up to 7 days, and by 6 days postexercise, it was elevated above the pre-exercise level. Basal T and FT concentrations remained unaltered after the exercise. No statistically significant changes were observed in AR protein or mRNA expression, but IGF-IEa (p < 0.05) and MGF (p < 0.05) mRNA expression were increased compared to pre-exercise levels. These findings indicate that IGF-IEa and MGF responses may be related to acute regenerative processes in muscle because of exercise and may contribute to muscular adaptation to resistance exercise. Subjective perception of physical fitness suggests that recovery over a pre-exercise level of the present type of heavy resistance exercise can take approximately 6 days.


Of course I am left asking about the vaidity of subjective perceptions.....

Exercise Bout Increases Metabolic Rate

The debate of whether or not exercise increases the metabolic rate post exercise floats around a fair bit.    Anyway this was just published:

A 45-Minute Vigorous Exercise Bout Increases Metabolic Rate for 14 Hours

INTRODUCTION: The magnitude and duration of the elevation in resting energy expenditure following vigorous exercise have not been measured in a metabolic chamber. This study investigated the effects of inserting a 45-min vigorous cycling bout into the daily schedule versus a controlled resting day on 24-h energy expenditure in a metabolic chamber.

METHODS: Ten male subjects (ages 22 to 33 yrs) completed two separate 24-h chamber visits (one rest and one exercise day) and energy balance was maintained for each visit condition. On the exercise day, subjects completed 45-min of cycling at 57% Wattsmax (mean±SD, 72.8±5.8% VO2max) starting at 11:00 am. Activities of daily living were tightly controlled to ensure uniformity on both rest and exercise days. The area under the energy expenditure curve for exercise and rest days was calculated using the trapezoid rule in the EXPAND procedure in the Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS) and then contrasted.

RESULTS: The 45-min exercise bout resulted in a net energy expenditure of 519±60.9 kcal (P<0.001). For 14-h post-exercise, energy expenditure was increased 190±71.4 kcal compared to the rest day (P±0.001).

CONCLUSION: In young male subjects, vigorous exercise for 45-min resulted in a significant elevation in post-exercise energy expenditure that persisted for 14-h. The 190 kcals expended post-exercise above resting levels, represented an additional 37% to the net energy expended during the 45-min cycling bout. The magnitude and duration of increased energy expenditure following a 45-min bout of vigorous exercise may have implications for weight loss and management.

 Pretty interesting.   It is soemthign that I have been thinking about recently - every workout has an impact:  hormonally on post exercise metabolic rate etc.  Every workout is important.

The Big Fat Truth about Low Fat

I have no idea what this will be like, but Colin alerted me to this programe that is on BBC3 on Tuesday night:

The Big Fat Truth about Low Fat Foods

For thousands across the UK, the new year usually means a new diet. But it's the supermarket rather than the health club that many are turning to. The low fat food industry is worth two billion pounds and there are more reduced calorie ready meals sold in January than at any other time of the year. But is a life on low fat foods any life at all?

For four weeks, model and former Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon ditches the fine dining she's used to and lives on nothing but pre-packaged, highly-processed foods that are labelled either low or lower in fat. She finds out what's in these foods and how they affect her moods, nutritional levels and, crucially, her weight. She also meets the low calorie converts who say that eating this way isn't just a diet, but a way of life.

Could be interesting.

Optimal Exercise Guide Bodyblade Plus

I had something up from Bill about this the other week.  Here he explains more:



Once again, the guide is now available from Bill.  Anyone interested in buying a copy of "Optimal Exercise Guide: The Bodyblade Plus":  can get it, Paypal $20 US, $27 outside the US, including Priority Mail, to optimalexercise@comcast.net.)

nice jump

Here is Norik Vardanian jumping over 5ft box




and lifting big weight


and this is his Dad:

the potential benefits of low-carbohydrate diets

Here is an abstract for you:

Dietary prescriptions for the overweight patient: the potential benefits of low-carbohydrate diets in insulin resistance

Obesity in the USA continues to be a medical problem of epidemic proportions, affecting one-third of American adults. This increase in body weight and body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor for insulin resistance; individuals with insulin resistance are at increased risk for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The identification of effective dietary treatments (e.g. low-carbohydrate diet, low-fat diet) for patient populations with insulin resistance remains controversial. While a variety of dietary approaches will result in weight and cardiac risk factor reduction, individuals who have been identified as insulin-resistant may derive additional short-term weight loss results from a low-carbohydrate diet compared to a low-fat diet.

More Jumps

Some pretty impressive jumps from big guys in this video

Avital Zeisler – Israeli Krav Maga Association

Nice video (from here).  If you are in Scotland get along to Krav Maga Edinburgh's SELF DEFENCE WORKSHOP  - 12 FEB, 12-3pm to learn to do the same things

Things to watch....

Work is really busy at the moment.  The rest of life is busy too - looking after aged relatives - which  means that every evening is taken up at the moment.  So I'm not realy getting the chance to spend as much time as I'd like to reading and training.

I have three DVDs sitting on my desk that I have bought but not yet had the chance to watch.  I've had  stuff from each of these guys before,  enjoyed it, learned from it and am looking forward to watching this material:

Ross Emanait - The Missing Links
This package includes two DVDs. The combined running time is 2 hours and 38 minutes.

Within these videos, you will learn inexpensive and effective ways to train the hands, neck, wrists, and core. These vulnerable areas often leave athletes susceptible to injury. Learn how to train these areas to protect yourself, while also improving athletic performance.


Gray Cook and Brett Jones: Kettlebells from the Center, Dynami - to correct the common deficit of disconnection between the extremities and the core. Gray and Brett will also expand on our elementary understanding of reflex-driven stability timing and will increase our understanding of neural loads and how to prepare the neural pathways from the grip through the core all the way to the toes.

Thug - Jitsu: Intelligent Asymmetric Responses to Violence -  the name thug jitsu is a tongue in cheek reminder that violence is ugly and that how we best train for violence might not come from shoehorning pre existing martial arts training into a street context but by modelling the criminal predators, the "thugs" themselves. Taking the advantages and strategies they have and giving them back to the normal person in an effort to level the playing field.

Born to Run - TED Talk

I've mentioned this guy before - Christopher McDougall

Interview: Drew Baye .....it is about hard work and progression

Time for another interview, this time with Drew Baye.   Drew is a renowned trainer and writer in the high intensity field.  His profile has been high recently as he is featured in Tim Ferris' new book - The 4-Hour Body  - with a photo of him with ripped abs despite no direct ab work. 


Drew has a book of his own coming out soon and you can find out more about it from his website at baye.com

Drew has also spoken at Anthony's 21 convention and you can see a video of him speaking here.

The interview touches on a lot of areas from diet to functional training.  I hope you enjoy it and learn from it as I have done.




UPDATE - Check out this video from Drew and his DVD available here]
__________________________________________________________


Normally in these interviews I start off by asking a little about your background: how you got into training and how you developed your particular approach. In your case though your website explains your career in detail and clearly addresses how you have formed your philosophy of training.

It would be lazy to ask you to repeat all that stuff….but just to round out the introduction – there seems to be quite a focus on “bodybuilding”. What first got you interested specifically in bodybuilding as such?

I’ve always been big fan of action movies, and growing up in the 80’s Sylvester Stallone and Jean Claude Van Damme were my idols. I remember being amazed at how muscular those guys were in movies like Rambo III and Kickboxer and wanting to look like them.

Do you still practice any sports – you have mentioned that you used to be involved in martial arts?
 

I’ve studied various martial arts over the years, but these days I mostly focus on Wing Chun. I also occasionally practice Parkour with a group in Orlando.

Have you trained any athletes that compete in sports?

While attending college in Green Bay I trained Seth Dittman and Jeff Wilner who played for the Packers at the time. Over the years I’ve also trained a lot of clients who competed or participated in various sports at different levels, always with good results, but most of my clients have been more focused on fat loss or general health and fitness.

What are the key factors of importance in training athletes?

By far the most important factor is increasing an athlete’s resistance to injury. At the very least an injury can interfere with practice and competition, at the worst it can end a career or a person’s ability to perform an activity they’re passionate about. The entire body should be made as strong as possible with special attention to the areas where injuries are most common. For example, everyone involved in any kind of contact sport should perform direct strengthening exercises for the neck.

Everything else – strength, stamina, speed, etc. – is important, but none of it matters if the athlete can’t practice or compete.

Another important factor is making the distinction between training for physical conditioning and practice for improving specific skills and doing each in the most effective manner possible. When you try to combine the two, for example, mimicking a sport movement with a barbell, you end up with a less effective exercise that either contributes nothing to the sport skill being mimicked or can even interfere with the development of that skill.

If you’ve read some of my previous interviews you might have noticed that an area that I am particularly interested in is the idea of “functional” or so called sport specific training. Do I take it that you agree with Doug McGuff, John Little and Luke Carlson who explained in their interviews that such an approach is, at best, misguided? They key – they would say - is to strengthen the muscles in the most appropriate effective and efficient way…..and then learn the skills properly to apply that strength.

They are absolutely correct. Strength training should be performed using movements which are designed to safely and effectively strengthen the major muscle groups. Skill is very specific. To improve your skill in the performance of a particular movement or activity the practice must be as close as possible to the conditions the skill will be used under. When you add a significant amount of weight to the movement you change the balance, the relative contribution of the different muscles involved, and various other factors, and are doing something totally different as far as skill is concerned. There is no transfer of skill between different activities.

McGuff and Little’s book Body by Science seems to have reignited interest in HIT principles, at least among the “blogosphere”. You posted a very positive review of the book.  Reflecting on it, is there much in there that is truly new, or do you think it has just come along at an opportune time when the internet lets niche markets prosper?

Nothing in Body by Science is new, but it is currently the best presentation of the information. It provides a clear explanation of the science and how to apply it in one’s workouts.

Reading your own material you seem to differ in a few areas from McGuff / Little (e.g. rep speed, frequency of training, routine design) - but only a few. One of these distinctions is rep speed. You have a fascinating article on your site about your experiences with Superslow and your move towards more “conventional” speeds (e.g. 2 second positive, 4 second negative) In the scheme of things for the majority, how important are such details, such differences?

Not very. Details like rep speed, rep range, number and selection of exercises, sets, etc. are important, but people often make them out to be a much bigger deal than they really are. Ultimately, what matters most is that you train hard and progressively in a reasonably safe manner, don’t overtrain, and get adequate rest and nutrition.

Following on from that…do you think those of us with an interest in training – even or especially HIT type people – spend too much time obsessing over their training, reading the blogs and forums, analysing the details not the principles? Do we get too “cluttered”?

The problem isn’t analyzing the details or principles, as long as you take everything you read with a grain of salt. There is a lot of bullshit out there. However, I think a lot of people do this because they think they’re missing some little bit of information or some secret that is going to somehow dramatically change the results they’re getting from their training, when it is usually something as simple as putting more effort into your workouts, cutting back the volume or frequency a little, eating better or getting more rest. For someone having a hard time putting on size, a change in some detail like rep speed or which exercise you’re doing for biceps isn’t going to make the slightest bit of difference compared to getting more quality food.

Why is there so much “hate” directed towards HIT? After I posted my interviews of Doug McGuff and John Little I saw my blog get described on one forum as “HIT cock sucking”….

There are a lot of reasons for this, but most of them come down to ego. For many guys, strength training is one of those “manly” things like fighting and sex they think they know something about and have strong opinions on. Especially when strength training, competitive lifting or sports or bodybuilding is a big part of their self-image or identity. Telling a guy like that he is wrong about something exercise related is like calling him a wimp or having sex with his girlfriend and her telling him how much better you are. They don’t tend to take it very well and they react emotionally.

It doesn’t help some proponents of high intensity training have been very abrasive when talking about it. Nobody likes to be insulted or told they don’t know what they’re doing, and Arthur Jones insulted a lot of people and told them just that. Right or wrong, that approach will turn off a lot of people, even turn them against you, regardless of the merits of what you’re saying.

Something I always consider when coaching someone during a workout which applies to communication in general is anything can be phrased positively or negatively. When someone does something incorrectly I can either point out the mistake or I can instruct them on how to correct it. If I say, “your grip is too wide” I’m criticizing. If I say, “move your grip in about two inches” I’m instructing. Same general idea, but it will have a different effect and tend to produce a different response.

I’ve been as guilty of this as anyone, and it’s easy to become frustrated with some people and the things they say and go off on a rant, but I try to be more patient with people these days, especially if they seem sincerely interested in learning.

Can we talk about “Metabolic Conditioning”. Crossfit has brought “metcon” into the spotlight and indeed they seem to have coined that abbreviation. You have had some material up on “metcon” building on Brycki’s 3x3 routine . I’ve used with the routine a few times and it is tough.

However, I must admit to still being a bit confused around the principles at play: Where is the “overload” going – the muscles or the “CV system?”

Both. You can’t separate the two. The cardiovascular system supports the work being performed by the muscles. Although you can emphasize one or the other depending on the method used you can’t perform demanding muscular work without the cardiovascular system being taxed somewhat, and you can’t tax the cardiovascular system without performing muscular work.

How do you define metcon?

Metabolic conditioning, as opposed to cardiovascular conditioning, is the efficiency of energy metabolism in the muscles, as opposed to the efficiency of the cardiovascular system at delivering resources and removing waste to support the muscular work.

In the spirit of specificity, does the “fitness” developed by metcon / 3x3 transfer to sports?

The type of metabolic conditioning developed by 3x3 workouts, old-school Nautilus routines emphasizing rushing between exercises, and similar types of training will benefit an athlete in any sport with a significant metabolic demand, regardless of the specific work, rest intervals of the sport.

Even endurance athletes will benefit from this type of training because the aerobic metabolism is indirectly affected. Doug McGuff covers this in Body by Science in the section on Global Metabolic Conditioning.

Add specific skill training – the ability to efficiently perform the movements of the sport – and the athlete will be able to perform far more work, more quickly, with less wasted energy, while their opponents are sucking wind and struggling just to keep pace.

One thing that I notice with HIT style training is that is all seems very serious! This catches me a little. Those into “functional training” look like they are having fun (e.g. the Movnat guy Erwan LeCorre ! Movement, skill based movement, is often just joyous! Jumping rolling, fighting, climbing. How do we balance the need for proper training with the fact that movement is fun and exciting! (I’m asking this having seen YouTube videos of you doing parkour)

There’s no reason a person can’t do both, but they shouldn’t try to make their training fun and they shouldn’t ruin the fun of other activities by trying to turn them into workouts. Train in the safest and most effective manner to build strength and conditioning, then put it to good use doing activities you enjoy.

Do you see a role for prehab / rehab exercises? For example if you read the blogs of some trainers they make much of shoulder work (YWLT moves, face pulls, external rotation work, stretching etc.)   Others go into detail on joint mobility as a panacea for all sorts of problems. Is this just a diversion – an irrelevance for most - or is there a point to it?

Unless there is a pre-existing problem that requires specific exercises to address, a well-designed routine providing balanced work for all the major muscle groups through a relatively-full range of motion will do everything a person needs.

Ironically, there are trainers who will insist on doing all sorts of prehab or rehab to prevent injury or restore function, but then teach such poor exercise form they’re more likely to injure the trainee than help them. The whole issue is moot if you aren’t teaching proper form to begin with.

There is quite a movement out there now around “minimalism” – focussing on the essentials removing clutter (e.g. the Zen Habits blog). Do you think physical training is crying out for minimalism,  for stripping out some of the clutter?

Absolutely. There is so much unnecessary and unfounded complexity in a lot of what’s being promoted as exercise, much of it having to do with people trying to sell you shit you don’t need or convince you their program or products are somehow more scientific and therefore better, that people have lost sight of the basics – hard work and progression.

Most people would get far better results focusing on working hard and progressively on a few basic exercises than following routines requiring them to constantly change set and rep schemes, exercises or movement angles, etc. You don’t need anything fancy to get good results from training – you just have to be willing to work very hard at it on a consistent basis.

Much of my training is done at home – commercial gyms are not convenient and it is often difficult to get a decent session in with people hogging machines or chatting. All I really have at home are dumbbells. What scope is there for training productively with only calisthenics and dumbbells?

You can get tremendous results training with nothing but calisthenics and dumbbells, even if you have a limited amount of weight. The progression is just more complex.

With a barbell, you can increase the resistance by simply adding weight. Although you can add weight to some calisthenics and gymnastic movements like chins, dips, etc., to increase resistance in many movements requires increasing the lever you work against, by progressing to more challenging exercises for a muscle group.

Matt Brzycki and Fred Fornicola ( ed:  I interviewed Fred here) wrote a book called Dumbbell Training for Strength and Fitness which I highly recommend for someone who prefers to train with dumbbells. You can read my interview with Fred about the book at http://baye.com/interview-with-fred-fornicola-co-author-of-dumbbell-training-for-strength-and-fitness/

One area I struggle to train at home is legs / hips. I can do stiff leg deadlifts….but squatting with dumbbells feels awkward. Do you have any suggestions?

Hold the dumbbells at your sides like you would for a parallel grip deadlift, rather than overhead or at shoulder height, but use a more upright posture like you would during a squat.

Another option is one-legged squats, or pistols, of which there are numerous variations. They can be performed with dumbbells, which may help if you’re having difficulty maintaining balance.

Diet – you have a photo on the blog of your days as a competitive bodybuilder and you were ripped. How did you achieve that condition? How would you replicate it today – what would you do differently?

Many are going to find this hard to believe, but at that time I was only training once weekly, doing a single set to failure of only six exercises:

1.       Barbell Stiff-Legged Deadlift
2.       Hammer Strength Leg Press
3.       Hammer Strength Pulldown
4.       Hammer Strength Chest Press
5.       Hammer Strength Low Row
6.       Cybex Plate-Loaded Calf Raise

The sets were performed using SuperSlow, 10 seconds up, 10 seconds down, with a range of 4 to 8 reps. When I hit positive failure I’d continue to push for another 10 seconds or so, and occasionally my trainer, Mike Moran, would apply one or two forced reps or a forced negative. Then he’d rush me to the next exercise. There was zero rest in between. I still remember having to grab other machines for balance while I stumbled from the leg press to the pulldown as quickly as I could manage.

I did absolutely no cardio. Getting ripped was entirely a matter of diet. At the time I used a zone-type diet, but also kept track of calories. I just reduced my calories further for the two months to get into ripped condition. Since one of my photos in ripped condition appeared in Tim Ferriss’ book The 4-Hour Body I’ve received a ton of e-mail about this and wrote an article covering it at http://baye.com/getting-ripped-abs-with-no-direct-abdominal-exercises/

Today, I would do a few things differently. I’d use a more moderate repetition speed and add another upper body pushing exercise to balance out all the pulling. I would also eat a higher percentage of protein and fat on most days, but add more carbs in the meals before and after workouts on training days.

Finally, I know that there are a lot of people who read this blog who are not particularly gifted athletes – just average guys with jobs, worries and family responsibilities. What are the key things that they need to know as they try to integrate some training into busy lives?

Fortunately, it’s not as hard to integrate as many believe because very little time is required for good results if training is done correctly. The most anyone would need to train is half an hour two or three times weekly, and most people can get good results training only twice weekly or less, and depending on individual recovery ability some may do better training even less.

They should train as hard as possible on a few basic exercises covering all the major muscle groups, always trying to do more reps or lift a little heavier weight than they did previously, using strict form. The goal is to stimulate strength increases, not try to see how much weight you can throw up. Think long term, you want to train in a manner that provides the maximum benefit with minimum risk, so you can stay functional and active for your entire life.

Drew, I know you have a book coming out soon, what can we expect from it and how can we order it?

Thanks etc……

The book discusses every aspect of high intensity training for gaining muscular size and reducing bodyfat, including the basics of exercise performance and program design, as well as advanced training methods and tips for troubleshooting common problems. When it is finished it will be available through my web site at www.baye.com

You’re welcome, and I will be sure to stop by the site to answer follow-up questions from yourself or your readers.

Also be sure to check out Drew new editions of the classic Nautilus training bulletins - carefully annotated and brought up to date.