Tips For Training In the Cold

If you live in the Midwest then you no doubt felt Autumn's last gasp this past weekend.  The temperature dropped almost forty degrees in the course of about twelve hours on Sunday.  This is nothing new this time of year in this part of the country.

I trained on Saturday afternoon and was bare chested by the end of my session.  By Monday I was in multiple layers.  If you are one of the few trainees that must train in an unheated space here are some tips to ensure your training sessions are not negatively affected by the weather.

Leave The Tough Guy Ego At The Door

Dress for the occasion.  You want to wear enough to stay warm, but not so much that your movement is restricted.  I trained bench tonight and I had two pairs of socks, flannel pajama pants, sweat pants, Under Armor Cold Gear turtleneck, thermal shirt, hooded sweatshirt, winter hat, and gloves.  This is the only time you'll see me wear gloves to train.  The feel of the bar in your hands is way different and a bit unnatural.  I'd rather use my bare hands, but a frozen bar leads to frozen hands and that would make the bar feel even worse.

Drink Coffee Before You Train

Coffee is a great pre-workout drink.  Very inexpensive and gives you the same results as the high priced bullshit that supplement companies shill.  The caffeine not only gives you a mental perk, it also ramps up your metabolism which raises your body heat.  The caffeine also increases your pain tolerance which can be useful when training in less than ideal environments.

Take Extra Time To Warm Up

This should go without saying.  I did my normal warm up for when I do upper body work but I intermittently threw in some jump roping.  Nothing crazy, just 50-100 skips here and there until I had done about 500 total.

I also took more warm up reps when getting ready to bench.  Here are my normal warm up weights:

Barx20
95x10
135x5
185x4
205x3
235x2
255x1

Monday it went:

Barx20x2
95x10x2
135x5x2
185x4
205x3
235x2
255x1

Again, it's nothing crazy; just a little extra movement before the heavier weights to get the blood flowing.

Use Short Rest Periods

I usually keep my rest shorter anyways but today it had a little more meaning.  Using shorter rest periods ensures that your body never gets too cold and stiff.  Another way to stay warm between sets is to do some active recovery like stretching or rolling out the muscle groups you're not using.  Between sets of bench stretch your hip flexors and roll your adductors.  Between sets of squats stretch your pecs and lats.  

Don't Take Off Clothes As You Get Warm

As you start to get warm this is going to be a common temptation but one that you should resist.  Chances are you'll be sweating and taking off your top layers is going to expose the moisture to the cold.  Bad idea.  You'll probably become cold again within a few minutes.  Keep the sweatshirt on and keep the warmth in.  This is doubly true if you decide to wear a hood or a hat.  Keep it on and keep the sweat away from the cold.

Keep Your Reps In The Medium To High Range

This is a two fold good idea.  On the one hand higher reps means more movement which will create more heat to help keep you warm.  And on the other using medium to higher reps prevents you from going too heavy on lifts that are notorious for injuring lifters that don't take the time to properly warm up.  If you are going to go heavy be sure the heed the above tips or risk an avoidable injury.

QBAB (Quit Being A Baby)

Training with a purpose requires a certain degree of mental toughness to achieve anything meaningful.  If you are unwilling to give it a go unless conditions are perfect you won't get a whole lot done.  Anyone can train when the conditions are ideal, but the ones that are going to last are the ones that train when they are tired, when it's cold, or when they'd rather be going out or sitting on the couch.  To quote Alex Karras,

"Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles."

 

The Death of Hardcore

I'm going to get one thing off my chest right now.  There is no such thing as "hardcore" exercise.  There is impressive, there is masochistic, and there is unhumanly (Google is telling me that unhumanly isn't a word, but fuck that.).  But there is nothing that even comes close to "hardcore".

To paraphrase Shelby Starnes, exercise is a luxury that we should feel lucky to be able to do.  Hardcore is standing up for what is right.  Hardcore is raising three kids the right way on your own.  Hardcore is hanging out on the ocean for over a month and then surviving hellish POW camps for years.  Hardcore is sacrifice and doing what absolutely needs to be done.

And to go along with that one does not go into "Beast Mode" or turn into a "Hulkamaniac" simply because you are lifting weights.  You're lifting weights, not pulling a car off a trapped child.

Do you even lift?

Now I've been guilty of saying these things in the past.  I freely admit the error of my ways.  But growing older and gaining some perspective of where I stand in this world has led to my thinking that I lead a pretty charmed life.

Compared to the experiences of a lot of people past and present if you're reading this (or writing it) you live like little princesses.  And it doesn't matter how much you dead lift or how fast you can ride a bike.

Remember, Remember....

...the first of Movember.

Icy gazes are so much better with a mustache.

It's Movember first and I couldn't be happier.  My Mo Bros and I are back for another year of kicking cancer in the balls.  But in case you're all like, "Meh, cancer's not so bad.  We should save the trees or donate to some shitty politician"  I got some facts for you.

This year over 8,000 men will be diagnosed with testicular cancer with over 350 of them dying from it.

1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime.

28,000 men in the US will die of prostate cancer.

Fuck.
That.
Shit.

Some of the most important people in my life are men and those numbers scare me.  Those numbers scare me because I don't want my man parts cut out and/or blasted with radiation.  I want them happy and healthy and ready at a moment's notice when it's time to make this world a better place by passing along my seed.  You know, pollinate some fucking stamens if you're into flower references.

So if you want to help rid the world of this scourge of a disease go to http://mobro.co/TroyDequaine to join or donate.  This year I started my own team and right now it's a two-man wolf pack of myself and my Mo Bro Eric Ficek.  If you want to join you'll be joining Team MDK.  If you're a fan of the movie Demolition Man you'll know that MDK stands for Murder Death Kill.  And that's exactly what we are trying to do to that bastard cancer.

Brace Yourselves...

And with it comes my awesome mustache.  November 1 is the official beginning of this year's Movember event.  I haven't set up my Movember page just yet, but when I do all of you will hear about it.

In case you're unaware of the Movember movement it is a month long fundraiser wherein men, who are worthy of such a title, grow mustaches and raise money for prostate cancer and other men's cancer research and awareness.

I can hear people whining, "But why the mustache?" already.

Because it's a sign of solidarity among those in the movement.  It's prostate cancer's Pink Ribbon.

And ladies, it's not just for the fellas.  You all are more than welcome and highly encouraged to participate and help raise money and awareness.  No mustache needed, but if you can grow one, more power to you.

Once I get my MoSpace set I'll be posting a link but for now head on over to www.Movember.com for info on the movement.

I hope to see some of you (if you're man (or woman) enough) rocking some bitchin' 'staches this year.

Some Recent "Research"

I’ve written about my reservations towards scientific research, especially when it comes to topics in the fitness and health and wellness spheres.  Within the last six months there have been three studies that have come out that at first glance make you take a pause.  They claim that the things that you thought were good for you and beneficial to your health are actually counterproductive.  Sometimes it’s the study authors that will make this claim based on their research and other times it is the mouth breathing mainstream media that blows these claims way out of proportion.

The mainstream media sure has a knack for ruining good things and making people afraid of everything.  Let’s look at some of the claims.

The first is what I will refer to as the Red Meat Study which came out in March of this year.  In this study the researchers followed over a 100,00 subjects and tracked their diet via self-reporting.  The researchers found that the more red meat consumed the more likely you were to die from any cause.  In fact, each serving amounted to a 13% increased risk of mortality.  Here were some of the headlines to come out from that little doozy.

Study: Red meat may shorten life spa- CNN

All red meat is bad for you, new study says- LA Times

Study: Red meat raises risk of dying- CBS News

And on and on.  Let’s take a look at what I’ll call the Egg Yolk Study which was just recently published.

The gist of what’s being reported on it is that egg yolks are just as dangerous to your cardiovascular health as smoking cigarettes.  No doubt this led to a bunch of smug assholes feeling all high and mighty for eating their lame egg white omelets.

No doubt there were similar headlines to the red meat study.

Here’s the thing about these “studies”.  They were both observational studies that relied on the self-reporting of its subjects.  They basically followed these people’s health histories and mortality rates and then asked them what they ate.

It sounds nice but there are a lot of problems with this approach.

First, observational studies are also known as corollary studies.  This means that the researchers will look at the data and notice trends like when people eat more red meat they tend to die sooner.  But what the researchers don’t do and is actually impossible is control for other factors that may play into that.  

Most people that eat red meat tend to eat it with a highly processed grain based bun and a cheese-like product and probably some ketchup as well.  Oh, and they’ll have some sliced potatoes that were deep fried in rancid oil as a side.  And probably wash it all down with a fully sugared soda.  And then go home and not move for the rest of the day.  But it’s the red meat (that can barely be called meat) and egg yolks that are killing them.

Riiiiiiight.

Second, these types of studies have never been meant to prove causality.  And in my opinion it is bad science and just plain irresponsible to not make that clear at the beginning and in the conclusions of the research article.

Most news outlets that are going to report on the findings are not going to read the paper and probably not even the abstract.  But making it clear that there are serious limitations to the scope and therefore the implications of the study could possibly mitigate much of the misinformation that gets propagated on a daily basis.

But it’s not the news outlets fault.  Their main job is not to report facts.  It’s to sell ad space.  And add space sells at a premium on shows with a high viewership.   And a high viewership is built on sensationalized stories like the ones above.  And the one below.

Don't even get me started.

It was recently reported that a year of fish oil supplementation has no effect on markers of cardiovascular health….In elderly patients….That have already had a stroke and are on other medications to treat the cardiovascular conditions….And only took one gram of fish oil per day….and were participants in thirty cherry-picked studies to be reviewed out of the literally thousands that have been published.

Step one: Open palm fully.

Step two: Apply directly to face.

Step Three: Repeat until no longer stupid.

Mr. T will pity the absolute shit of these study's authors.

I’m no cardiovascular expert but as someone who consistently takes up to 10 grams of fish oil per day and is relatively healthy even I could point out the serious flaws in that study.  They picked studies where the participants already had one foot in the ground and only an insignificant one gram of fish oil per day.  Say that fish oil is an ineffective treatment.  Don’t imply that it’s ineffective as a preventative measure.

But I’m done bashing on studies.  There are a lot that are done for the right reasons and are beneficial to the discussion on all topics relating to health and fitness.  Just remember that the old adage remains true:

If you haven't seen They Live take a lap.

Don't believe everything you read.

Sources:

Red meat consumption and mortality: results from 2 prospective cohort studies. A, Pan et al. Arch Intern Med. 2012 Apr 9;172(7):555-63.

J. David Spence, David J.A. Jenkins, Jean Davignon. Egg yolk consumption and carotid plaque. Atherosclerosis, 2012.

Association between omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and risk of major cardiovascular disease events: a systematic review and meta-analysis.  EC Rizos et al.  JAMA. 2012 Sep 12;308(10):1024-33.

I'm Baaaa-aaaack!!

It has been mad long since I've hit you all with some happs in my life and for that I sincerely apologize.  The biggest reason for that is that I had a routine for when I would write.  It was always in the mornings before I went to work or in the evening if I had some free time.  With my new job I start at 6 am every day so the mornings are out and I just haven't really had the motivation in the evening.

Well that shit is about to change.

I've turned a new leaf and I'm getting back on the writing wagon.  I've got a few half written articles waiting to be finished and a few ideas submitted by faithful reader Bonnie.  To kick this thing off I'll give you a few of the details of how my life has changed in the past two months.

Work

I'm now working as a personal trainer at a chain gym called Life Time Fitness.  The clubs themselves are very nice, high-end facilities.  The locker rooms are clean, the fitness floor has a ton of equipment, and the members for the most part are very nice.

The biggest change from NX Level to this job is that I now work on 100% commission.  I'm passed clients by some of the higher ups but it is still up to me to build my business and sell myself to the members.  I had minimal sales experience at NX Level because for the most part it never really felt like selling.  All I ever did was tell people what we did as a facility.  Nine times out of ten by the times I ever talked to a prospective client they had already made up their minds as to whether or not they were going to embark down a path of maximal awesomeness and train at NX.  Not so much here.  You learn real quick how fickle people can be regardless of their financial status.  I feel I can do a great job at explaining my importance, but if someone doesn't want to change they aren't going to see it.  My biggest opportunity lies in getting someone to that point of wanting to change.  Once I do that then I think I'll see a huge uptick in business.

Training

Not going to lie, I've been on cruise control for the past few months.  Haven't really been trying to hit PR or anything.  Just trying to keep the strength up.  I made the executive decision to really change gears with how I've trained the last five or six years.  I'm going to give training for size a shot.  This will require me to back off of the weights a bit and increase the volume.  I"m going to still keep some heavy lifts in, but the majority will be higher rep work.  I'm doing some research on some different modalities and I think I've got a decent handle on it.

I'll be training four days per week.  Day one is legs, day two is chest, triceps and calves, day three is back, traps and biceps, and day four will be shoulders and calves.  I'm going to wave my volume and intensity so it won't be the same thing for three months but a vast majority of my sets will be in the 6-20ish range.  I'll also have to up my calories, but I like to do that more by feel than anything else.  Like anything I'm going to give it my and all and we'll see how it goes.

Reading

I've read two things lately, Jack and Shit.  And Jack just left town.  Reading is another habit that I need to get back into.  I think once I get my business built at work I'll feel better about reading for an hour or so at lunch, but until then I'll just have to find time in the in between times.

Research

I've been reading some stuff here and there but nothing too intense.  That might be part of why I haven't written much.  I haven't found anything that really piques my interest.  I'll keep my ears to the ground but if any of you ever have anything you want researched send it my way and I'll try to get to it.

That's all I got for today.  I promise I'll have some actual content for you by the end of the week.  Huge thanks for reading.  I really do appreciate the support.

200 Pounds: Training and Poetry Slam

Monday: Back Attack

Pendlay Rows: 242 x 8 sets of 3

Face Pulls: 4x25

w/

Mix Grip Chins: 4x5

Arms and neck work

Pretty average session.  Nothing crazy or special.  Solid 80%er.

Tuesday: Wheels

Squat: up to 425x1, 335 x 2 sets of 5

Trap Bar Jumps: 4 sets of 3

w/

Barbell Reverse Lunges: 4 sets of 6 on each leg

Barbell Glute Bridges: 50 total reps

Neck: Flexion/Extension x 50 reps each way

DB Shrugs: 1 set of 50

Wednesday: Pressin’ Power

Overhead Press: up to 175x3, 138x5, 108x11

Bench Press: 10, 10, 10, 7, 5 x escalating weights

DB Curls: 3x20

w/

Band Tricep: 3x20

Squats felt weird on Tuesday.  I never really felt comfortable with them.  I think the next piece of equipment to be added to the Crushatorium is going to be a solid all-around bar that can be used for squats, dead lifts, presses and just about everything in between.  Right now I have two Olympic bars but one is bent and the other doesn't have knurling (the rough part of the bar) in the middle which is important when low bar squatting. 

I'm also adjusting to my girlfriend's mattress.  It's a bit firmer than the one I've been sleeping on the last seven years or so, so there will be a break in period.  And I still don't have my belt.  That all adds up to me being weak as a kitten both in the squat rack and in my head.  And it’s time for that shit to change.

Pressing in all variations is still pressing.  They are definitely the slowest moving lifts for me.  The key for me is consistency.  I just need to keep doing them and they will come up.  I can’t get discouraged because they don’t move like my squat or dead lift.  They are what they are right now and will get better in the future. 

Poetry Slam

Many people would probably be surprised that I started college as an English major.  I've always liked to read and write but decided early on in my schooling that I didn't want it to be a career.  I loved the idea of pursuing a job where I got to lift and get sweated on all day instead (sarcasm). 

Even though I may appear to be a typical meat-head to those that don't know me I still enjoy reading and obviously writing.  And ever since I could remember I've always liked poetry.  I don't get into the technical aspects of it and try to dissect it like it's a puzzle solved.  Each poem means what it means to me even if it is different from what the author intended, if the author intended anything at all.  In other words I'd rather appreciate each poem for the feelings it invokes in me, not because it was well built.

So, with all that said I'm going to share some of my favorite poems with all of you.  I'll share what they mean to me but that should in no way dictate what it means to any of you.  First up is Guillome Apolliniare's Come To The Edge

"Come to the edge."

"We can't we are scared."

"Come to the edge."

"We can’t we will fall."

"Come to the edge."

And they came.

And he pushed them.

And they flew.

I get goose bumps every time I read that poem.  Even typing it I was getting a few shivers.  One of the things that I love about this poem is how it says so much and is so powerful yet is so simple and brief. It speaks volumes while saying very little.

Along with the goose bumps I get a rush of feelings of the people that have pushed me to be better and fly throughout the years.  From my family, to teachers, to bosses and coworkers, all the people that have shaped who I am come back to me.  I wouldn't be where I am without them.  No one person is a vacuum.  Everyone needs a push in the right direction now and then.  They need that friend to tell them what's what.  They need that parent to challenge them to be independent and work for themselves.  They need that boss to not let them fall into a habit of complacency.  In other words, we all need a swift kick in the ass from time to time.

There will also be times when you are the one who needs to do the pushing.  When you want to say, “There, there, it will all be OK.  Let me solve this problem for you,” you will instead have to say, “I’d like to help you but this is a road that you need to travel yourself.” 

It may, and probably will, be painful and you will probably question yourself as to whether or not you are a good friend, parent, teacher, etc.  But in the end things have a tendency of working out.  We have to know that pushing that loved one off the cliff is not abandonment.  We are forcing them to open their wings and fly.  We are forcing them to live their own life, be who they are meant to be and to be free.