Archives for May 2015

Cardio Revolution: Melding an Old Protocol with a New Tool – Part I

May 28, 2015 By Marty Gallagher 20 Comments

Cardio Revolution by Marty Gallagher Part I

During the 1990s, I had the great fortune to become an aerobic disciple of Dr. Leonard Schwartz, medical doctor, psychiatrist and exercise genius. Len was in his sixties when we met. His “mission” was to devise a new fitness exercise system, one that suited his personality and psychology, one capable of transforming the human body in new and unique ways. Len came onto the scene in the 1980s and found the state of exercise and fitness sadly lacking; the bodybuilder/weight trainer contingent ignored cardio considerations while the joggers, distance runners and Jane Fonda exercise class types ignored any and all strength considerations. Len wanted both and decided to devise a system that would inject a purposeful element of strength into a decidedly cardio format. He called his endurance/strength approach “long strength,” which he described as the ability to perform light to moderate muscular exertions over extended periods of time: muscular contractions of various intensities were placed into an aerobic format.

Doctor Len Schwartz, MD, psychiatrist, fitness visionary

With one foot in the cardio camp and another in the muscle and strength camp, Len sought to devise a fitness training system that paid homage to both. Len wanted his cardio/strength regimen to utilize all of the limbs—not just legs—to generate the totality of the effort. Using Sherlock Holmes-like powers of logic and deductive reasoning, Len reverse-engineered an entire fitness system within his massive brain. Len took his philosophic musings to the University of Pittsburgh’s Sports Performance Laboratory where he put theory into practice. Len approached fitness with no preconceptions: he would go wherever his research results took him. Len found conventional fitness thinking dogmatic, overly commercialized and one-dimensional; he filled a vacuum with his outside-the-box thinking.

I interviewed him repeatedly for cutting-edge articles about aerobics for use in bodybuilding when I was the lead training writer at Muscle & Fitness magazine. We talked for many years and I repeatedly quizzed the hell out of Len on all things cardio, medical, scientific and what we collectively called “brain-train”. We talked at length about the optimal psychological mindset for sports and training. He and I would talk several times a week and did so for years. I quizzed him mercilessly about his approach; he loved talking with someone that “got it.” We talked as two theoretical scientists would, and his ideas were so scientifically grounded that they blew everything else out of the water from an exercise/philosophic standpoint. His reasoning and science were irrefutable—and his conclusions and solutions were unique. In response to his experimentation, he devised a new method of exercise and training.

Len was a fascinating dude. In addition to being a top-flight psychiatrist, he wrote poetry, played classical guitar extremely well and sculpted. He lived in a beautiful old section of Pittsburgh, right across the street from Steeler’s owner Art Rooney. When Len turned his undivided attention towards “fitness,” his conclusions proved to be as as unique as the man. He began with a stated goal, to remake and rebuild the human body—starting with his. He sought to create a healthy, functional body: lean and fat-free, yet strong, flexible, capable and athletic. He sought to create the optimal body. To build the optimal body he saw in his mind’s eye, Len needed a system that built both endurance and strength.

Len felt the ideal body should be lean and muscled—but lightly muscled—like Michelangelo’s David. I argued the ideal male should look like the thickly muscled Farnese Hercules. I championed a heavier, thicker, more powerful man, a rhino to Len’s gazelle. “The Farnese Hercules would kick David’s ass!” I would taunt him. “That presupposes Herc could catch David before gassing out.” Len would counter. Touché Len! He was a physician, a healer, a mentor and a life coach. Philosophical by nature, he would muse and debate with me about “the ultimate goal of fitness.” He wanted a fit and muscled body—but had qualified this with the provision, “a lightly muscled body.” I was a big-muscle guy from M&F magazine and a “short strength expert,” as he labeled my 800-pound squat ability. He was the master of “long strength” and by dubbing me as a master of “short strength” we had lots to talk about. He wanted to know all about our pure power methods and I wanted to understand this “power cardio” approach which was at odds with the super popular steady-state, low intensity, leg-only cardio modes and methods so prevalent back then (and now).

His cardio/strength feats were incredible. At age 70, he could pump a pair of ten-pound hand weights to forehead height (on every rep) for a solid hour—while power walking and squatting every ten paces. Small at 145 pounds, Len possessed a 3% walking around body-fat percentile—despite eating like a starved prisoner let loose at a buffet. His long strength cardio training built his metabolism into a blast furnace and he was the best possible example of the benefits of his “HeavyHands” system.

His light bulb moment came when he was comparing all-time best athletic VO2 max readings. He could not help but notice how far ahead the cross-country skiers were from the rest of the pack. What differentiated the skiers from the runners? The skiers used their arms; they pumped hard and exerted mightily with their arms using their ski poles as they propelled forward on every stride stroke. The cross-country skier will use legs and arms for propulsion and often amp up the effort with a dramatic folding forward at the waist—further increasing the degree of difficulty. The sport creates the physique of the athlete and to a man, the elite cross-country skiers have off-the-chart aerobic capacities and lean, muscled-up physiques. Len pondered the possibility of creating a fitness protocol that replicated results achieved by cross-country skiing—but without skiing.

Nordic (Cross Country) Skiing—the archetype of four-limb cardio

He needed a tool that could load the arms, like the arms of a cross-country skier. He needed a tool would enable quad-limb cardio. Len wanted the totality of aerobic effort spread, semi-equally across all four limbs. At the end of a Len-protocol training session, all four limbs, arms and legs, will have performed the same amount of work. During the total training time in his cardio session, each limb will receive approximately 25% of the session allotment. The vast majority of aerobic machines and devices only use the legs—two limbs—to generate 100% of the aerobic effort. By distributing the cardio effort and working all four limbs, the body benefits to a far greater degree on a multitude of levels. “Leg only” cardio was and is decidedly and demonstrably inferior to quad-limbed cardio. Yet, virtually every aerobic format used (and uses) the legs, exclusively, to generate 100% of the cardio effort.

For Len, the goal was to create a new type of training that would create a new archetypical physique: lean and light, yet muscular and strong. His “ideal human” would be light in bodyweight, yet extremely fit, they would possess incredible endurance and have shapely, functional muscles chock full of mitochondria. Tight adherence to the embryonic “Heavy Hands” tools and protocols transformed Len’s own physique to a dramatic degree and extremely quickly. He was his own test lab and achieved incredible results even though he began at the advanced age of 54.

Len “loaded” his hands; he made them “heavy.” Once he made his hands heavy, he began creating drills by improvising and experimenting with different training modalities and ideas. He checked his results with blood work and the VO2 scientific monitoring he used at the Pitt Sports Lab. He was testing his theories with his new type of training and logging actual results. Could he replicate the VO2 Max readings generated by the Finnish, Norwegian and Russian cross-country skiers without skiing? Could he create a new fitness system that used all four limbs and built strength and endurance?

Len sought a system in which both cardio inefficiency and cardio efficiency could coexist. Efficient steady-state cardio, had its place as a valid tactic in Len’s HeavyHands arsenal; but so did purposefully inefficient, burst or interval cardio, with its extreme demands on the body. Len wanted to create a system that would allow the athlete to effortlessly modulate the degree and type of aerobic intensity using an arsenal of variables. He created “intensity enhancers” that included how high the weighted hands were raised on each stride-step; Len could modulate the pace of the exercise, he could alter the type and kind of movement pattern selected. The effects of each exercise would change when paired with heavier or lighter poundage. The tweaking, modulation and intensity amping possibilities were virtually limitless.

Len’s magus opus was his seminal book, HeavyHands, which is still available on Amazon and still worthy of a read. In his book, he explains the science behind HH. He talks about METs and mitochondrial density; he lays out exacting techniques and shares precise protocols. HeavyHands, at its popular peak, was available in every major sporting goods store in every mall in the county. Women’s aerobic dance classes, the biggest fitness craze in the history of fitness, began using HeavyHands. Sales shot through the roof.

Unfortunately, HeavyHands died. Sales plummeted when it became unfairly categorized as just another bad 80s fad, like parachute pants, head bands, the Miami Vice look, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Pintos and pet rocks. HeavyHands got washed out to sea, considered faddish, ineffectual and passé.

Old Wine in New Bottles; the Son of HeavyHands

HeavyHands went from pop fad to premature death. There were a lot of reasons for its demise, but first and foremost, HeavyHands never caught on with the male population. I was Len’s true friend, but there was no way I would perform any of his dance routine protocols. If you look at commercial cardio protocols, the cardio system most successful in enticing males to participate was Billy Blanks’s Tae Bo. Men flocked to Tae Bo classes to take part in the martial art katas; the punches and kicks. The clenched fists and exertion grunts made Tae Bo a cardio dance class acceptable for men. Plus, Billy was a real man; his Alpha credentials were beyond reproach. The martial core of Tae Bo made it hip for guys to perform. True men could now go to cardio class, heads held high.

Not so with HeavyHands. Group HeavyHands classes were more akin to the cardio dance class format. Real men were not going to be involved in anything vaguely resembling a Jane Fonda/Richard Simmons style aerobic dance class. Unfortunately, HeavyHands group protocols definitely resembled dance class cardio, so men opted out. Ironically, in the 1990s a new cardio tool emerged that captured the hearts and minds of alpha male worldwide: the kettlebell. Isn’t the kettlebell yet another way to load the hands and make them “heavier”? Indeed, classical and current kettlebell protocols favor heavier payloads and shorter durations; still I maintain the gruesome orb, the kettlebell, is the only begotten son of HeavyHands.

Most kettlebell experts would balk at the iron orb being labeled as an “aerobic” tool. Yet, when it comes to creating the deepest possible cardio inroad, creating strength/endurance, and adhering to “long strength” philosophies, the kettlebell—properly used—sets the Gold Standard. The unwieldy device can create the optimal cardio effect: a perfect balance can be struck between pure endurance and sustained strength. A kettlebell, in the hands of a true expert, is the optimal tool for inducing the deepest possible cardio inroad and triggering the maximal adaptive response.

The final deathblow for HeavyHands occurred when the public ignored Len’s protocols. It was critically important that the little hand weights, regardless the poundage, be raised to predetermined heights: low, medium or high. The height selected was used to create the cardio intensity needed to achieve the desired training effect. The public turned HeavyHands into “CarryHands”. The red-handled dumbbells were seen everywhere, yet despite their popularity, no one got the promised gains. The lack of results was directly attributable to the total disregard of Len’s protocols: instead of pumping the arms to any height, the public speed-walked or jogged with HHs, carrying them like heavy suitcases at the end of a long trip or clutched to the chest of the jogger/runner in a death-grip.

The “CarryHands” protocol actually reduced arm motion and diminished results. Now, the immobile and frozen arms actually contributed less then if walker/jogger was empty handed, swinging their un-weighted arms normally. Naturally, no one got results from “CarryHands” and it killed HeavyHands.

In 2015, we’re resurrecting Len’s “old wine” theories, strategies and protocols. The first order of business was to select a new tool. We found a retro tool, the Fan Bike, that allowed us to invoke Schwartz’s strategies in a manner and fashion that could equal or exceed results derived from HeavyHands or kettlebells. The retro Fan Bike allows the user to tax both arms and legs in two directions: forward and backward. We place old wine (Schwartz’s philosophies and protocols) into a new bottle (a modern retro tool that enables us to maximally tax ourselves to the desired degree.) The end result is an exciting new avenue of progress for the informed and enlightened fitness seeker.

The Fan Bike: the successor to HeavyHands for 4-limb cardio

End of Part I

Editor’s comment:

After many discussions, Marty and I decided that the Fan Bike would be our tool of choice for our “cardio” protocols. It meets the requirement for capability of delivering high intensity workouts involving all four limbs, but also allows those with orthopedic limitations/conditions to fully participate in the protocols. In Part II, Marty will outline an excellent protocol for metabolic conditioning using the Fan Bike. I will follow up in Part III delving into some of the foundational science supporting high intensity 4-limb cardio for health and performance, as well as specific benefits found exclusively with the Fan Bike.

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Marty Gallagher is the author of Strong Medicine, The Purposeful Primitive and Coan: The Man, The Myth, The Method. Gallagher coached the United States team that won the IPF powerlifting world team title in 1991. He is a 6-time national masters champion and national record holder. He was the IFF world master powerlifting champion in 1992. He currently works with elite athletes, spec ops military and governmental agencies.

Strength After Sixty – Resilience Against Frailty: Part II

May 21, 2015 By Dan Cenidoza 15 Comments

If we look at the physical aspects of frailty as discussed in Part 1 of this article, it is evident that the strength, mobility and stability of the musculoskeletal system declines as we age. Exercise is the only remedy for this. There is no pill you can take to move better or become stronger. With the proper training, movement and physical strength can be restored, and maintained, at any age. If you are young, consider strength training as part of your retirement planning. If you are old, better get started now.

This article will discuss some of the basic activities of daily living (ADLs) and exercises that best support them. The exercises can be scaled to be appropriate for anyone, regardless of their current physical condition.

Rising from a seated position to standing (and vice-versa) and walking are foundational ADLs. We will assume that our hypothetical trainee can stand and walk, but not much more (injured or wheelchair bound individuals will be discussed in another article). From a strength coach’s perspective, we want to strengthen and improve the ADLs of the sitting to standing transition as well as walking. Squats are the most high-yield exercise to achieve this goal. “Bad knees” and “bad backs” are the most common reasons trainees give to avoid squatting. Properly instructed squats with thoughtful progressions can often surmount these obstacles and get an aging trainee squatting safely and pain free.

Many older trainees may have been told by their physicians (who most often have no strength training background) that they should never squat. It is probably a safe bet that their doctor has not told them that they should never get out of a chair or rise from the toilet seat. Squatting is a fundamental movement for these crucial daily activities. The best starting exercise to train standing from a seated position in senior fitness circles is called “chair stands” (“box squats” in powerlifting).

Box squats allow for this important movement to be performed at varying ranges of motion. Typically, the greater the depth of a squat, the more strength, mobility and stability are tested. A lack of any one of those things could compromise how deep a person could and should squat. For the lowest functioning individuals, we will use double stacked chairs and do bodyweight squats; for the high functioning individuals, we will do full squats with added weight.

Case Studies:

Mrs. Ethel was a 92 year old woman with severe kyphosis (aka hunch back). She walked using a walker with her head looking straight down. Her posture was so bad that when you passed her in the hallway she had to turn to the side to look up at you. Mrs. Ethel could barely stand even from a double-stacked chair, so that’s where we started. She was challenged to not use her arms to assist, to stand a little taller at the top of each rep and descend under control (no “plopping”). A sticky note was placed on the wall in front of her to look up at, and it was gradually raised higher over the course of her program. She would probably never stand completely upright again but we countered the effect gravity was having on her with simple cues like “stand tall” and “look up”. As her leg strength increased we moved to a single chair (lower starting position); first allowing use of the arms for assistance and then without. With 20 repetitions being her “max” she never needed an additional load.

Compare this to Mr. Frank, a 85 year old man who exercised regularly since he left the military 50 years ago. He could squat to below parallel and his range of motion was limited only by arthritic knees and his preference for biceps curls instead. He could also maintain proper form under a load. Although shoulder mobility might prevent him from holding a barbell behind his back as in a true powerlifting squat, dumbbells and kettlebells could be held as a front or goblet squat. Mr. Frank has more options available to him for progression as he could safely increase weight, repetitions and on good days even try to go lower (albeit with less weight).

By squatting deep and with a load, we can improve the strength, mobility and stability qualities required to stand up and walk. Appropriate squat depth and load will vary significantly with each individual. It is helpful to remember the concepts of hormesis and allostasis covered in the beginning of Strong Medicine when deciding on the proper “dose” for squatting. With these concepts in mind, proper dosing can be successfully prescribed by the fitness professional well-versed in squatting mechanics (see Marty Gallagher’s previous article on the squat for a master class). The squat is a basic human movement that you will need to do for the rest of your life if you plan to be independent into old age. Performing this exercise regularly will not only maintain strength, but also develop both the mobility and stability that is crucial for preventing frailty.

The other exercise that translates extremely well to ADLs for the senior is the deadlift. This deadlift is one of THE best cures for osteoporosis. The deadlift and the partial deadlift allow for heavier loads to be used to maximize bone density and prevent muscle wasting. Deadlifting is a pure strength movement that can be scaled to the senior population. This lift is based on the hip hinge movement and contrary to idea that deadlifts are “bad for the back”, a proper deadlift can rehabilitate a weak back. Neurosurgeon Patrick Roth, M.D. prescribes a kettlebell deadlift as part of his spine rehabilitation program in his excellent book The End of Back Pain.

There is a deadlift variation that is appropriate for anyone. For some a load is not appropriate at first, but everyone should be taught the hip-hinging movement central to the deadlift. Arguably, the hip hinge should even be taught before the squat, especially considering that squatting “starts” at the hips.

Another benefit to the deadlift is that it has a shorter range of motion, making it safer for more people. It is also a less technical movement, making it easier to learn. A good coach can teach the hip hinge and tell when individuals are ready to progress. Again, progressions can be made in the form of additional load or greater ROM. As a rule, I use where the wrist falls on the body during the exercise to determine where people can safely pull from. If technique can be maintained to a point where the crease of the wrist passes the knee for instance, then the trainee can pull from there. Setting up at this height will allow for a 2-3 inch “buffer” so the lifter is not pulling from his/her end-ROM.

Paula Hip Hinge — *Paula is able to maintain a neutral spine to a point where her wrists touch her knees in a hip hinge movement, thus making a knee-height partial deadlift a safe range of motion for her.*

A brief note on set up.

Any powerlifter reading this will know how to set up a power cage for rack pulls. To pretty much everyone else reading this those last few words are foreign, especially to your average 60+ year old exerciser. This is unknown territory that can be downright frightening to some people. Fortunately there are machines that allow set up for partial deadlifts with adjustments as simple as pressing a button. Many senior centers are equipped with pneumatic or computerized machines to allow user friendly solutions to older adults. Unfortunately you will see few “racks” in these centers. We can speculate on why that is the case (i.e. liability, funding, misuse, lack of qualified personnel, etc) or we can make a call to action for fitness centers to offer deadlifting options. The importance of real weight bearing exercise to combat sarcopenia, osteoporosis and frailty syndrome cannot be overstated. Partial range of motion deadlifts must be made available to the population who are at most at risk if we are to reinforce our position against frailty. If this means expensive equipment or powerlifting coaches posted by the powercages in every senior center, so be it. The cost of equipment is minimal and justified by the potential for improving the quality of life and avoiding catastrophic injuries such as hip fractures from falls.

Paula Power Rack Lift — Paula has moved out of osteopenia and into normal range bone density at 57 years of age. Here she is working on her retirement plan making strength deposits with 225lbs, pulling from the rack for a safe range of motion to maintain pristine technique for her current mobility.

Aging is a process that we all face. Strength training is a necessary component to aging successfully, but we need effective methods. So much of senior fitness boils down to the end goals of standing tall, and standing strong. We need the right balance between mobility and stability, and for most of us, strengthening the posterior and stretching the anterior. When properly programmed, the squat and the deadlift address the core activities of daily living for the senior. These two exercises alone give people a simple approach to not just exercising, but improving the quality of their lives. Humans are meant to lift weight and load their bodies. If we can get more intersection and synergy between the powerlifting community and the retirement community, geriatric health and senior fitness will flourish.

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Dan Cenidoza, BS, CSCS is a personal trainer, professional strongman and owner of Art & Strength in Baltimore, Maryland. He has a degree in exercise science and specializes in kettlebells and strength & conditioning. His mission is to instruct and inspire people to live stronger, healthier lives. artandstrength.com facebook.com/artandstrength

Kaizen and Strong Medicine

May 14, 2015 By Michael Krivka 8 Comments

Kaizen Strong Medicine Lead Photo

Strong Medicine has over six hundred pages of text and illustrations that will dramatically change how you perceive nutrition, training, and how you can effectively manage the stressors in your lifestyle. The concepts and how they can be applied are laid out in such a manner that, with the some simple planning, discipline and implementation, you will have no choice but to be successful. This blog post is going to provide you with some tools and strategies that you can use in order to implement the concepts presented in Strong Medicine in such a way that you will not only succeed, but will be able to do so with the least amount of stress possible.

Change… Sucks!

Making drastic changes in your life does not lead to dramatic results–it usually leads to dismal failure and a lot of brow beating! Anyone who has made a New Year’s resolution only to have it crumble within a matter of weeks (or in some cases, a matter of hours) knows that making changes (big or small) in your life is hard to do. Everyone starts out with good intentions and a wealth of willpower only to see the good intentions crumble and the willpower dissolve like a puff of smoke at the first impasse. With all of these bad past experiences surrounding change, I’m sure you’re convinced that you can’t make any changes in your life and might as well just quit now. Wrong! Just because you failed in the past doesn’t mean you’ll fail this time–especially if you are honest with yourself about the plans and tools you need to succeed. So… how do you begin making changes? The same way you’d eat an elephant–one bite at a time!

Kaizen = Continual Improvement Kaizen Diagram

Kaizen is a Japanese term that has been borrowed by the business world. Roughly translated, it means “change for the better” or “continual improvement”. As a business major in college (many, many, many years ago) I learned about the concept of “Kaizen” and how it was successfully implemented in the Japanese automotive industry. Kaizen gave everyone–from the guy sweeping the floor to the VP in charge of making million dollar decisions–the power to change how things were done on a daily basis. In other words, the power was placed in the hands of those who could make the most difference. Since then, the concept of Kaizen has been applied to banking, healthcare, government and other areas where complicated processes need to be considered and improved to increase efficiency and consistent outcomes.

How does this apply to you and how will it impact the implementation of what you’ve learned from Strong Medicine? You need to develop a simple but effective plan for implementing the nutritional and training guidelines presented in Strong Medicine. Your plan should be created and executed in a way so that changes can be small, easily managed, and built upon. Remember that the best plans are the simplest effective ones that also have the latitude for change and modification on the fly.

NOTE: Understand that these plans are best implemented one at a time. Trying to make too many changes too soon and with too much accompanying stress will make this process a lot harder than necessary. With this in mind, I feel that the concepts behind Kaizen are the best common-sense approaches to implementing any nutrition, training or lifestyle modifications.

“Eat like an Adult”

Strong Medicine goes into great detail about what and how you should eat–and how those choices are will effect you over the short and long term. There are many scientific theories and big words involved–which can be daunting to some people–but you will need to absorb it to understand what Dr. Chris and Marty are trying to do. They successfully make many complex ideas and concepts simple to grasp, and that’s vitally important for the subjects of nutrition and training. I admire people who can take complex problems and explain solutions in simple terms everyone can understand. For example, when Dan John said, “Eat like an Adult” during a lecture a couple years ago, it really stuck with me. His comment was simple, direct and to the point. Those four words make choosing, preparing, and eating the right foods a lot easier! I know those four words help me get in the right mindset when I’m preparing, ordering, and even shopping for food.

Start with the Beginning Small Daily Improvements

“Eating like an Adult” will help you succeed with the Strong Medicine guidelines. But first you need to know where you stand. The easiest (and the most eye-opening) method I know is to keep a food log for ten days. (Before you start grumbling and groaning, hear me out–the food log will give you some great intel into what’s going on and how to fix it!) Keeping a food log is as simple as folding a piece of paper into sections, then writing down everything that goes in your mouth. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, etc.–it all goes in the food log. Once you have all this information you’ll be able to create a baseline for what kind of food you are eating, how much you are eating, and what is missing from your diet. Remember, keep this as simple as possible and don’t stress out about what you are writing down. It’s just information you’ll use to create a plan!

Once you have ten days of information, what do you do with it? First, find the gaps in your nutrition. For example you might notice that during those 10 days the only time you ate any vegetables (not counting the lettuce and tomato on your hamburger) was with dinner. Over ten dinners you had a handful of salads, a couple baked potatoes (not to mention French fries), and several servings of broccoli. If that was the case, then introducing more vegetables into your evening meals AND including them as part of breakfast and lunch would be in order.

Getting Started

Does this sound like a big step and a major hassle? Not really! It just takes a little forethought and preparation and you’ll have it nailed. Prepare by having the food you need on hand, and by creating and using shopping lists. Your shopping list will guide you through the grocery store. For the most part you’ll stay in the periphery, where the vegetables, meat and dairy products are found. (Stay away from the middle of the store where the Mountain Dew and Fritos are located!) Grab your list and shop either once a week or several times a week, whichever is more comfortable or convenient for you. Remember, you’re only shopping for the things on your list! NOTE: if you don’t have a shopping list, you can Google “shopping list” for plenty to choose from and modify as needed.

Now that you have all this food in the kitchen, what do you do with it? Well, you will need to start making your own meals based on the nutrition gaps in your food log. It will be easy for the most part–in the above example, we simply need to increase the amount of veggies throughout the day. We need to make this change as simple as possible. Think about this: it only takes a minute or two to cut up some peppers or cucumbers and throw them into a plastic bag or Tupperware for later in the day. Grab some veggies and prep them for the day while you’re standing around waiting for your coffee to brew in the morning!

I can hear the whining and moaning already! “Veggies for breakfast and lunch? How am I going to do that?” Easily! Just add vegetables you like to meals you are already eating. Still confused? Here’s some ideas to help you jump start the process!

How to add vegetables to breakfast:

Add avocado and salsa to your scrambled eggs
While frying your eggs, sauté some spinach in bacon grease and serve it on the side or as a bed for the eggs
Warm up some sauerkraut for a tangy side (or kimchi for something spicy) with your eggs
Brown onions, tomatoes and mushrooms and make an omelet
Slice up some hard boiled eggs with ripe tomatoes
Slice red or yellow peppers, clean out any seeds and whatnot. Put the slices in a frying pan and add an egg inside the gap for peppers and eggs over easy
Grab a container full of sliced veggies (that you prepared the night before) and a container of yogurt for a quick and easy breakfast on the go
Chop bacon into bite-size pieces and toss them in a frying pan. Add onions and peppers then simmer everything together. Drain the excess oil, then toss the bacon and vegetables on top of scrambled or poached eggs

Small Steps Lead to Big Results

I guarantee that if you take a little time and mental energy and apply it to filling in the gaps of your nutrition, it will pay huge benefits in the short and long term. I’m not proposing massive changes. On the contrary, I think the best and most effective way to ensure your success is by making small changes that you can easily adjust to before moving onto the next step. Remember what you learned in Strong Medicine about how stress (in all its forms) adversely affects the body. Adding stress by making big changes in your nutrition will be counter-productive. Keep the concepts of Kaizen in the forefront of your mind–small changes leading to big results–and you will not stress out at all!

NOTE: The training for life guidelines will be in part two of this blog post. In the meantime, I want you to start improving your nutrition. Small increases in nutrients will have a major impact on how you feel and move. By getting your nutrition plan in place now, you will establish the foundation for a successful training program.

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Michael Krivka is a Senior RKC with Dragon Door and has been training with, teaching, and sharing the gospel of the kettlebell for over a decade. As a life-long martial artist, he is a Full Instructor under Guro Dan Inosanto in Jeet Kune Do (JKD); the Filipino Martial Arts of Kali, Escrima and Arnis; and Maphilindo Silat. He lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with his wife and two sons. He owns CrossFit Koncepts where he runs strength and conditioning classes with an emphasis on kettlebell training, mobility and longevity. Follow him on Facebook.com/CrossFitKoncepts or Instagram.com/Michael_Krivka

Editor’s Note:

Where the Strong Medicine book is the template for lifestyle change and taking charge of your health, Mike has the beginnings of a Strong Medicine Operational Manual with this first post. The philosophy of Kaizen melds so well with our philosophy of lifestyle change that I am kicking myself for not including it the book, but this is why I try to surround myself with talented people like Mike Krivka.

In keeping with the mission of the blog for a two-way exchange of information, please share your perspective on lifestyle change in keeping with the Kaizen philosophy. Fantastic job, Mike!

How to Squat: Re-learning the Ultra-Basics You Never Learned to Begin with…

May 7, 2015 By Marty Gallagher 20 Comments

Goblet Squat

As my old powerlifting coach used to say about squatting, “If it’s excruciating, you’re likely doing it right.” He was addressing the idea that there is a fair amount of discomfort involved with proper squatting. Note I didn’t say “pain.” The word pain is so loosely used in fitness and it has lost its meaning. When the meatheads say, “No pain, no gain!” What they really mean to say is “there should be a certain amount of physiological discomfort accompanying most any effective progressive resistance exercise. When we exert maximally, as we should, there is discomfort, and it can be intensely “uncomfortable.” But our factual explanation doesn’t sound near as taunt or sexy as No Pain! No Gain!

Pain is accidentally slamming your hand in a car door or cutting yourself while dicing onions: grinding out the 5^th rep of a result-producing hypertrophy-inducing set of goblet squats is extreme discomfort – not pain. We learn how to exert maximally without need to self-inflict a hernia or a stroke from strain. We need learn how to exert maximally, yet exert safely. There are three rules to remember when it comes to exerting with maximum effort in any hardcore progressive resistance training exercise….

Push or pull evenly and always stay within the precise technical boundaries: most weight training injuries occur when the lifter strays outside the proscribed techniques for the specific exercise. We have archetypical techniques for all the major and minor exercises. Adhere as closely as possible to these technical ideals. The lifts are archetypical because the leverage is optimal and the push/pull position stable.
Never twist, heave, contort or jerk on a weight: real iron pros use a smooth application of power to attain 100% (or more) of capacity. Push or pull maximally while braced internally; tight and muscled, exert with great deliberation and evenness. Those that break form, usually to slip or slide through a sticking point, get injured. Nothing gets you hurt quicker that jerking or contorting or trying to be cute with maximum poundage.
Learn how to miss a rep safely: those that lift long enough and lift heavy enough will sooner or later miss a repetition. No big deal on a standing curl using a 60-pound barbell; it can be a very big deal if you miss the 5^th rep in the back squat ¾ of the way up with 315 draped across your neck. There are real safety issues: hardcore resistance training can be injurious.

Stance: the first step in learning how to squat is “playing with” the squat stance width. The goal is to find a width that allows the squatter (you) to descend and ascend while adhering to our technical ideal: we seek to squat with vertical shins and a vertical torso, ideally only the femurs move as we rise and fall; moving with great deliberation and precision over an exaggerated range-of-motion. Every one has an ideal stance width that allows us to attain and maintain this signature squat stance width technique.

More than likely, when you find the correct stance width, one that allows you to sit upright in a bottommost squat position, when you go to arise, you will be weak as a kitten, likely unable to arise from the ultra-deep relaxed squat position without breaking form or without some sort of assistance. We do nothing in the course of living our normal lives that gives us power and strength in this extremely disadvantaged position.

However, by identifying the archetype, by finding that stance width particular to you and your particular bodily proportion, you are now ready for the next step: strengthening our legs by concentrating all our effort at getting stronger in this one very specific exercise, done a very specific way. Maximal squat difficulty results in maximum squat benefit: that which does not kill me makes me stronger – and gives me powerhouse, tree-trunk legs. So we squat using this weak-as-a-kitten stance and we hammer away and improve, one excruciating squat session at a time.

Self-administered forced reps: our squat motto is, “better to fail with integrity than succeed by breaking form.” Other squat school teach ways in which to slip and slide past squat sticking points: the easiest way in which to make squats easier is to make them “shallow,” barely dip down, barely bend the knees on each rep. This strategy could be summed up as, how do we “make heavy weights light,” whereas our philosophy is to use strictness, extreme ROM and other “intensity enhancers” in order to make “light weights heavy.” We say, don’t avoid sticking points, seek them out; slogging through sticking points is where the gains lie.

The dilemma for the athlete new to this weak-as-a-kitten stance width is how do I train? What do I do and how do I do it?

Initially, very few people are able to perform more than one or two super-strict ultra-deep bodyweight squats using the wider stance. The solution is not to shorten or “fudge” on the squat depth; rather than compromise on the technique, the solution is to squat perfectly but with assistance. How do we do that? We start with bodyweight squats and in order to attain perfection on every rep, give yourself as much “arm assistance” as is needed to enable you to perform a perfect squat rep on every single rep.

You might need to give yourself a little help, you might need to give yourself a lot of help, on some reps you might not need to give yourself any help – whatever is needed, to whatever degree, should be used to ensure that technical perfection is adhered to on each and every squat rep. We swear allegiance to the technique: poundage and muscle invariably comes in time.

The self-administered forced rep: Stand in front of a vertical pole or in a door frame. Place the hands at waist height on the pole and squat down. At the bottommost point, sit erect and come erect; pull upwards with the hands with as much force as is needed to assist your thighs. Complete the assigned reps for the set. All the reps might need varying degrees of assist, but all the reps were technically perfect.

Self-Assisted Squat

Perfect sets of five: the iron elite, top strength athletes, loves the five-rep set. A balls-to-the-ball set of fives strikes the perfect balance. At one extreme is the sarcoplasmic inflation associated with high, 10 to 15 rep sets. At the other rep extreme are the pure strength attributes associated by performing heavy triples, doubles and singles.

The kettlebell or dumbbell goblet squat: we seek to find the optimal stance that allows us to adhere to our bodyweight squat technical archetype. Over time we worked up to 3 sets of 10 perfect ultra-deep bodyweight squats. Time now to up the ante: a person could choose to continue down the rep road, perhaps work 3×10 in the bodyweight squat up to 3×15 and eventually 2×20. However, past 10 reps and we veer out of the realm of absolute strength and into the realm of strength-endurance; suffice to say, higher reps invoke a different physiological effect. Here’s how we break into “real” goblet squatting using poundage…

Session	Payload	Sets and Reps
1.	10-pound dumbbell	3 sets of 3 reps
2.	“ “	3 sets of 5 reps
3.	“ “	3 sets of 8 reps
4.	“ “	2 sets of 10 reps
5.	15-pound dumbbell	3 sets of 3 reps…repeat the process

This is a basic periodization (preplanning) approach to squatting.

Goblet Squat Hell: making light weights heavy- a properly performed set of ultra-deep goblet squats will tax even the seasoned competitive back squatter. Goblet squat technique has to be exacting if results are to be optimal…

Tuck the dumbbell or kettlebell tight under the chin and tight to the torso
Inhale as you descend, initiated with a hip hinge and knee bend
Do just free-fall, pull yourself downward, contract hams and glutes
As you lower down and hit parallel, exhale, relax and sink further
Maintain an upright (though relaxed) torso; don’t’ collapse forward
Relax the leg muscles and allow the weight to push you downward
Knees are pinned out, shins are vertical, torso erect, position is perfect
Pause briefly
Time to rise up out of the bottom
Start the rep maximally relaxed and “pre-stretched”
In the bottommost position, inhale, push down with feet, knees pushed out
Transition from relaxation to generating maximal tension before movement out of the bottom
Optimally, while arising, nothing changes except the upper thighs, opening the angle relative to the upright torso (ie the butt does not rise before the torso starts to move)
The squat rep ends in a “hard” lockout at the top

The lifter then inhales and commences the next rep…

The editor demonstrates the ultra-deep goblet squat sequence: Photo #3 shows the bottom position with tension maintained. Photo #4 shows the new bottom position after exhalation/relaxation. Notice how the gluteals drop further in relation to the rock in this photo. The few more inches of depth results in significantly more physical demand to rise “out of the hole” during the ascent. This translates into a bigger neuromuscular load and resulting adaptive response.

King Squat: The ultra-deep goblet squat, done deep and upright, will tax the mightiest of squatters: a good rule of thumb, a strong squatter, say a man capable of 315 for five reps, ultra-deep back squat without gear will be mightily taxed by a single 75-pound dumbbell in the 5-rep goblet squat. Let us ponder this for a moment and soak up the implications.

Riddle me this: a strong man is taxed maximally by goblet squatting a 75-pound dumbbell for five excruciating reps. That same man is taxed maximally front squatting 185-pounds for 5 rep and has to exert, all out, in order to make 255 for 5 reps in the hi-bar back squat. So here is the question – why bother to front squat or back squat? If all three squat variation are equally difficult, and, more importantly, that the results obtained from each is identical, then somebody please remind me why I am messing around with a 250-pound barbell on by shoulders?

If results from the three technically identical, equally taxing squat styles are identical, then henceforth why not just stick to ultra-deep goblet squatting with a lone, modest-sized dumbbell tucked up under my chin?

Current Best	High-Bar Back Squat	Front Squat	Goblet Squat
	155 x 5 reps	95 x 5 reps	40 x 5 reps
	205 x 5	115 x 5	50 x 5
	275 x 5	205 x 5	75 x 5
	315 x 5	255 x 5	85 x 5
	365 x 5	275 x 5	100 x 5
	405 x 5	315 x 5	120 x 5

These are realistic “spreads” between the three types of squatting; a balanced lifter executing their squats as technically intended will exhibit the balance shown above.

What if? So here is the tantalizing question: what if the man capable of (initially) performing 50 x 5 in the ultra-deep goblet squat, and ergo, is also capable of a 115×5 paused front squat and a 205×5 capacity in the back squat. What if, over time, that same athlete worked their goblet squat from 50 x 5 up to 100 x 5? Let us further assume the lifter works the goblet squat exclusively. Now here is the question: that lifter originally had lifts of 50 x 5 in the ultra-deep goblet squat and that level of strength normally indicates 205 x 5 in the back squat and 115 x 5 in the front squat. If he successfully works up to 5 perfect goblet squats with a 100, does that mean that he also is capable of 365 x 5 in the back squat and 275 x 5 in the front squat, all as a result of radically increasing his goblet squat capability?

Would that not be profound? We would be able to use smaller, much more manageable payloads in ways so clever and so excruciating as to be maximally effective. Why go to the trouble of handling a barbell quadruple in weight? If results are equal, I myself would prefer to wrestle with a kettlebell or dumbbell held in front of me, not on me or above me. If we need to bail mid-rep (it happens occasionally when you push with all your might) you simply drop the dumbbell or kettlebell on the ground in front of you.

If you do them right, on the final reps of a top squat set, it feels as if the blood in your veins is chemically transforming into gasoline and a spark ignites the gasoline; your veins have fire coursing through them, searing lactic acid sets the squatters thighs on fire. No pain, no gain! (That rolls off the tongue so much better than, “No discomfort, no hypertrophic-adaptive response!”)

Editor’s note:

Many of you may think the exhalation and relaxation at the bottom of an ultra deep goblet squat is technique sacrilege. Keep in mind that we are using very light poundage and any posterior pelvic tilt with exhalation at the bottom will not put you at risk of spinal injury, especially if you keep your torso vertical. The idea is to place you at a very mechanically disadvantaged position from which to start the squat ascent, at a depth most of you have not achieved at the bottom of a squat. A controlled ascent using pristine technique from this deepest of bottom positions is what makes “light weights heavy” and gives a potent neurological stimulus for growth with minimal risk of injury. Check your egos at the door and try the ultra deep squat cycle that Marty has prescribed starting with bodyweight only and progressing to the goblet squat. Going back to your traditional squat depth and technique after this program will seem like commutation of a life prison sentence. You will emerge stronger and more resilient.

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