It's been a while since I posted.  Been busy and quite frankly, just not real motivated to sit at the computer with this AMAZING weather!  I was motivated by a picture I saw on facebook to write a blog post, but I'm going to wait until later this week to address that picture because I just worked for about 2 hours on client plans and I'm getting antsy.  This post is just a gratuitous, selfish, egotistical based post on my current training schedule, fitness goals, and putting down on paper, and online some specific dates so I have no excuses but to compete in events I'm saying I'm competing in.

That leads me to another topic, goal setting, which I'll touch on in an upcoming addition.  Bottom line, if you set a goal, tell people about it, write it down, look at yourself in the mirror and commit DAMNIT!  Do NOT be afraid to fail.  One of my favorite quotes is:

"IT'S NOT HOW MANY TIMES YOU FALL DOWN, IT'S HOW MANY TIMES YOU GET UP." 

Everyone fails.  Learn from it.  The greats fall down, get up, dust themselves off, and go get what they want!

But I digress.  I briefly, in a previous post, talked about how I have been a competitive bodybuilder for the last 10 years.  I love bodybuilding. I'm actually getting the itch to compete again, and probably will within the next year.  However, I needed some new goals, so I decided to start running and I actually have been enjoying it!  My goal is to do some runs (5K and maybe a 10K, and a marathon relay).  I've also been biking.  I'd love to do a duathalon or a mini/sprint tri.  I used to be a competitive swimmer and if I get the gumption could start training for that as well.  Lastly, I badly want to do a powerlifting meet.  BADLY!  So, here is what I've been doing as of late:

Mondays - Lower Body Training - On this day I focus on dead lifting and I squat for high reps.  I have also been doing things like Glute Ham Raises, reverse hypers, and overhead squats.  I focus on mobility pre and post workout and pulling as heavy as possible. I'm using percentages to track my weight and increasing weight slowly because of my previous injuries.  The last week I hit some very good numbers and am very happy with where I am.

Tuesdays - Push Workout - I focus on pushing exercises.  It's my heavy bench press day.  I perform much like I do on dead lift, heavy and work at percentages.  My bench has been steady.  Nothing impressive as far as weight goes.  I also do some shoulder work and add in things like dips and explosive high pulls, which I've had a lot of fun with.  I may eventually transition the high pulls into cleaning.  We'll see.  Tuesdays I also run.  I've been between 3-3.5 miles, but this week will bump to 4 miles.  I'm not hare, but I can rock 3 miles in about 25 minutes.  I usually run a reverse split, meaning each mile is faster than the previous.  I don't try to do this, but it just happens naturally.

Wednesday - Pull Workout - Back and arms.  I used to be known for having pretty  big arms, but I got so bored with arm training I really didn't do anything for the last couple years.  I'm having a hard time getting excited about arm training, but I'm trying to prioritize it again to get them back to where they were.  With my pulling, it's basically back.  I use the pendlay row and some type of pull-up then a row and whatever I feel like doing.  My back and arms were my best assets as a bodybuilder so I'm just trying to do some fun stuff here to keep me motivated.  With arms I usually superset some things.  I also have been biking on these days.  I started with 30 minutes, then worked up to 7 miles in 30 minutes.  My last session I easily hit 9 miles in 40 minutes.  I'll repeat that again this wednesday. 

Thursday - This is an off day of weight training for me.  I do try to stretch and do some foam rolling and I run 3-4 miles and will progress as I go.

Friday - My squat day. It's been rough.  My performance has been embarrassing to me, but this last friday I crushed it!  Was super stoked so I'm ready to keep it rolling this week.  I also dead lift.  I'll do full deads if I'm feeling froggy, but I typically opt for RDL's, which I LOVE.  I PRd on my dead lift in December and I think it was solely because I was RDL'ing 2 times per week and was RDL'ing 315 for 8-10 reps so I'm trying to get back there.  I also like to do things like GHR's, Reverse hypers, hypers, glute bridges, and inner/outer thigh on this day.  I try to work overhead squats here too, and also some mobility work.  Obviously I don't do all that I listed, I play it by ear.  My main goal is to squat with authority and not be too sore the next 2 days because they are big cardio days for me.

Saturday - Standing shoulder press.  That's my target.  AFter that I just play around.  Pull-ups, bench press for 10 reps, which I've gotten up to 225 for 10, which I'm super happy with, upright rows, blah, blah, blah.  I just play around on this day.  It's my "BRO" day, then I ride my bike.  I'm shooting for 10 miles in 45 minutes this Saturday.

Sunday - No weights, but LONG RUN!  5 miles on this day.  Crushed it last week.  Was crushed by it this week, but made it.  It'll slowly increase.

Now, my goal through all this is to run some 5K's, a 10K, a marathon relay, and do a power lifting meet.  As of now, here are the days of my competitions:

• August 8 - 5K in Cleveland
• August 23 (tentative) - Rock Hall 5K
• September 26 - Akron Relay Marathon
• November 7th - Power Lifting Meet

These are the first of many dates I hope to add to my competitive goals of 2015!

Stay Tuned!!

Why every fad diet will make you lose and gain weight (promise)

WHY EVERY FAD DIET WILL MAKE YOU LOSE WEIGHT,
AND WHY EVERY FAD DIET WILL MAKE YOUR GET FAT

As Americans, we LOVE fads.  We are infatuated, to an addictive degree, to what is popular.  Coolness is an obsession that most of us value over our core values, and it's at the root of much of our demise.  It's no different when it comes to health and fitness, nutrition, and especially diets.  Just think about all the crazes we've been through from Tae Bo to P90X to Cross Fit.  This especially holds true for fad diets.  There's the Atkins diet (which I can honestly say led to my passion for fitness), the Zone Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Paleo Diet, vegan diets, ketogenic diets, and IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros).  There are even things called the Raw Food Diet, the Peanut Butter Diet, and the 21 Day Cleanse. 

              *SIDE RANT:  If you see anything that has the word "cleanse" attached to it, run like Carl Lewis in the 1984 Olympics away from it.  This is the biggest scam going right now.  Using things like psyllium husk, essential fatty acids, and herbal diuretics, along with a liquid diet is not a cleanse. 

These products and companies are selling your snake oil.  Limiting yourself to liquid calories and 

eliminating food groups for 3 weeks, while including high amounts of fiber, laxatives, and  diuretics will surely lead to much weight loss.  During these "cleanses" your body is supposed to detoxify from all the "chemicals" stored in the body.  The reality is, we have a very amazing organ called the liver that is an amazing detoxifier.  Unless you have liver damage or malfunction cleanses or detoxification systems do nothing to "cleanse" your body.  Sure you'll pee a lot, andyou'll poop a lot, but that's what happens when you actively increase fluid intake and take more fiber than you're used to and take diuretics and laxatives.

It's not surprising that these "fad diets" are so popular in our overly sexualized, image is everything society.  We are impatient and we want everything now.  Most of us have not had to work very hard for the things we have.  We think we have worked hard, but in comparison to our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents, we have lived a plush life and when we want something we want it now.  We expect to lose 5, 10, 15 pounds per week.  We watch people on THE BIGGEST LOSER, and we want similar results.  We see fitness models, and we want to look like them.  We see movie stars gain 20 pounds of pure muscle for a movie role (don't kid yourself, professional athletes aren't the only people using performance enhancing drugs and steroids, and there is no regulation in Hollywood, those folks aren't just using recreational drugs, they are using physique altering to land parts that pay 10's of millions of dollars).  Bottom line, we fall prey to these fad diets time and time again, and we turn these snake oil selling marketing geniuses into million and billionaires because we are so gullible.

I can tell you one thing for certain.  If you start a fad diet, any fad diet, and you stick to it, I promise you will lose weight.  You have my guarantee.  If you do not cheat, you do not slip up, you follow it verbatim, you will lose weight.  If you want to hire me to implement one of these fad diets for you I will do that, and I promise you will gain weight.  I also promise, though, that you will slip up.  You will not be able to eat zero carbs for the rest of your life.  And I promise, when you slip up, you will gain weight.  And that's not always bad, because sometimes, a cheat meal, re-feed day, or even cheat day can help to jump start your diet and help you to lose even more weight.  However, what usually happens, is people slip up.  They gain a couple of pounds and freak out.  They may resume their diet for a little bit, but as we know from 2/3 of our country being overweight and 1/3 of our country being obese, almost all will succumb to temptation, fall off completely, regain the weight they lost, and most, sadly, will gain even more weight and be heavier than they were when they started their "fad diet".  This happens because most of the time when people are losing weight, they are losing an equal amount of water, fat, and muscle.  When they regain the weight they lost, they mostly regain fat.  So if you lose 30 pounds of water, fat, and muscle and 10 pounds of it is muscle, when you regain the 30 pounds you lost, you now actually have 10-20 EXTRA pounds of fat, and 10 pounds less muscle.  Nothing could be worse for your metabolism or hormones.

I can promise, though, these fad diets will work.  They all work.  They will all make you lose weight.  See, the secret is, all diets, no matter their name or premise work by the same thing.  Calorie restriction.  Atkins diet says no carbs.  What happens is people stop eating carbs.  They lose all kinds of water weight.  After 2 weeks, there is very little insulin present if folks stick with the plan, that means hunger is under control and people don't overeat.  They eliminate carbohydrates from their diet, and the end up in a caloric deficit.  Raw foods diet says you can't eat anything that is cooked and must eat vegan (no animal products).  If you need 25000 calories per day to maintain your weight and you eat only fruits and vegetables it's damn near impossible to overeat.  Paleo diet says eat no processed foods, only foods that were available when cavemen roamed the earth.  Again, restriction.  It's hard to find foods like this.  All these diets also have other restrictions.  They may say, eat only 50 grams of carbohydrates and keep fats below 1/3 of your body weight, but eat as much lean protein as you like.  Or it may say, a 150 pound female can eat up to 40 grams of fat, 180 carbohydrates, and 100 grams of protein (under 1500 calories per day, which should result in weight loss).  All of these diets are doing the same thing.  Restricting calories.

I've also seen "coaches"/nutritionists say, "you can eat as many green vegetables as you want and they don't count as calories".  WHAT?  Do they know how many green beans and how much broccoli I can eat?  I'm quite certain I can eat 1,000 calories per day of those combined if you let me. 

One of the newer fads is If It Fits Your Macros.  If you're not privy, there are 2 camps in the fitness world, one is of the mind set of IIFYM.  For example, if you are supposed to eat 200 grams of protein, 300 grams of carbohydrate, and 70 grams of fat, it doesn't matter where those come from.  Want cake?  Eat cake.  Want ice cream eat ice cream.  As long as you hit those numbers every single day.  The other camp is those referred to as "clean eaters".  These people simple believe that if you wash your food first you can eat whatever the hell you want and lose fat exponentially.  (If you believe that please never come to the internet again, or better yet, I have some ocean front property in Arizona I'd like you to buy from me, great deals).  In all seriousness, clean eaters eat only "clean" food.  What is a clean food?  Your guess is as good as mine, honestly.  The "clean eaters", though, are those people you see living out of tupperware and coolers and eating chicken, broccoli, rice, etc... 

Quite frankly, I'm a hybrid of the two.  I believe strongly in choosing healthy, nutrient dense foods that are highly satisfying.  Foods that taste good, provide numerous nutrients, contain lots of water and fiber, and are not processed.  I love sweet potatoes.  I love whole grains.  I love lean meats.  I love fruits and vegetables.  They should be the basis of any good nutritional program, however, I also don't believe in restriction.  When we restrict ourselves (such as when we do a fad diet), we limit food choices.  If we love pizza and we don't have pizza for 2 months, we're probably going to snap and eat a whole pie.  If that's all we do and we diet strictly for the next 2 months, great.  Most people can't do that.  But if use a combination of "clean eating" and "IIFYM" and we know we are having pizza Friday night, we can adjust for that in our daily macros.  A popular delivery chain of pizza contains 250 calories/large pizza slice.  The other night, I had 3 pieces.  My calorie allotment for the day was around 2600 calories.  I ate  3 pieces of that pizza (750 calories) and drank a beer that had 250 calories.  The rest of the day I made sure only to eat 1600 calories and I fell within my caloric range.  It's the beauty of IIFYM.  The next day, I had eggs, egg whites, brown rice, broccoli, chicken breast, ground turkey, grapes, cherries, green beans, and peanut butter.  It's wonderful.  I can eat "clean foods", but if I want a cheese burger, I figure out the calories, fat grams, carbohydrates, and protein grams and I make sure I can fit it into my daily macros and calories.  I don't live off pop tarts and french fries.  I also don't deprive myself.  If I want to lose weight, I simply adjust my caloric intake and continue to track what I eat.  If I want to lose more weight, I adjust again.  The lower my calories get, the more whole foods I choose, simply because whole foods that are nutrient dense and have higher amounts of water and fiber will satiate you more and keep feeling full longer.  If I'm doing trying to lose weight, I simply increase my calories slightly (100/day for a week or so before I add calories gain depending on weight gain). 

People love fad diets because they don't think they have to count calories, however, essentially you are counting calories.  It's going to be much more beneficial to long term success to simply take the time each day to weigh out your food on a food scale or use the bar code scanner on your cell phone and log all your food into an app like My Fitness Pal or Fat Secret.  Not only that, but following a combination of "clean eating" and IIFYM is something that will provide you with healthy, nutritious food, and give you a template for long term success you can follow for the rest of your life.

Kyle Harris is an NASM Certified Personal Trainer, Contest Prep Coach, and Diet Coach.  He also works as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with middle school and high school athletes.  He can be reached via email at battersbox@yahoo.com or you can follow him on twitter @hossjob

TRAINING FOR SPECIFICITY

TRAINING FOR SPECIFICITY

Years ago I was an assistant baseball coach for a high school program with a pretty good head coach.  One pre season, he did something that was a bit controversial.  Knowing we'd be losing a key middle infielder after the upcoming season, he had his eye on a youngster that had potential take his spot.  This underclassmen was a solid ball player, hard worker.  The only problem was he was overweight and slow.  His weight did effect his performance.  The coach hypothesized that if he could get the player to lose weight, he would improve his speed and defensive range, and increase his value to the team.  He developed a station for this player at each pre season practice to run halls, stairs, and do extra conditioning and running.  When other players may be working on position skills or situational skills or other skills this player was proficient in, he was sent to the hall with a group of players to condition.  Was the method effective?  Somewhat.  The player never truly developed any speed, but he did become a valuable player for the program.

The reason for this anecdote wasn't to question or call out a coaching strategy, it was to illustrate how a good coach was trying to use the principle of specificity to improve athletic performance.  The PRINCIPLE OF SPECIFICITY, simplified, is choosing exercises or training protocols that will lead to your specific goals.  The coaches goal for the aforementioned athlete was to lose weight, because he felt it would make him faster.  What's the easiest way to lose weight; burn more calories than you consume.  The easiest way to control that with a high school student is keep them moving as long as possible when they are in your presence.  The chosen method may not have been right, but the coach was at least thinking.  He wanted his athlete faster, quicker, and with the ability to cover more ground on the ball field.  He thought losing weight would do that, so he devised a program to lose weight.  I know some full time personal trainers that can't develop specified programs for their clients goals.  Now, the coach probably could have used a better method to improve the athlete's speed, but I credit him for treating his athletes as individuals, something we need to see trainers and coaches do a better job of.

Training for specificity is an important concept, and unfortunately many times it's thrown out the door because a coach, athlete, individual, and even trainer get wrapped up in the brand new, shiny training program that a hot  bodied model is trying to sell.  Don't get me wrong, some of these programs are great, but most of them are either highly specified and require certain skills that if a person does not have can lead to frustration or injury, or they are highly generic, thus enjoyment and results peter out quickly.  A great example of this is cross fit.  I have been a vocal about cross fit in the past and most of it has been negative.  Most of the negativity was rhetoric, but I do have a problem with cross fit, but on the other hand I think cross fit can be a great adjunct to a training program.  My problem with cross fit is that 99% of the people I see doing it and the trainers I see coaching it have no rhyme or reason for their "workout of the day".  They simply throw a bunch of movements and exercises together and beat the hell out of their athletes.  The biggest problem is that a lot of these movements are complex and advance and require specific techniques.  And more often than not, the trainers do not have sufficient education and knowledge to teach these lifts, and the athletes doing them do not have the proper strength foundation to perform them.  Individual's  go to the local cross fit gym and enter a class or hire a trainer that has been certified in a weekend course and begin doing a cross fit program.  Maybe this person has the ability to perform the advanced moves, but most do not.  Most of these people are like almost all gym members and they have just enough knowledge about exercise and the body to be dangerous to themselves and others.  They get into this cross fit program and their banging away at squats, kipping pull-ups, cleans, and other bodily movements, every other day.  The trainer is throwing AMRAPS and repeats and timing things.  What happens when we do AMRAPS (as many reps as possible) or we do things past the point of fatigue?  Our technique breaks down. What happens when technique breaks down?  Injury.  Add weight to that and make it a complex, multi joint movement and the rate of injury increases exponentially, and that is exactly what cross fit is at a majority of places.

The purpose of this blog is not to trash cross fit.  I think there are admirable qualities in cross fit and quite frankly it looks fun.  I've even used principles of it with my athletes and clients.  The purpose of this article is to address TRAINING FOR SPECIFICITY.  The problems I see in cross fit I see in field sports, indoor sports, bodybuilding, running, etc...  Any place and every place I see a person trying to achieve a fitness or performance goal or a coach or athlete trying to improve play on the field, I see countless of hours wasted.  Each person and athlete is unique, and should be treated as such.  Yes, the initial phases of training are often similar throughout, because each person much develop basic strength, flexibility, and techniques.  But even in the beginning phases of training things should be specific to client goals.  An individual that has the goal to lose 50 pounds shouldn't be spending 15 minutes doing abdominal training and focusing on arm and shoulder workouts with dumbbells.  That person needs whole body movements to develop strength, coordination, and to keep the heart rate elevated.  They also need a decent amount of cardiovascular training to help burn calories and strengthen their heart and vascular systems.

A baseball player that hits .350, runs fast, and has a good arm, but is not a good defensive player is doing nobody any good if he takes extra batting practice.  That time should be spent on defensive play. 

A high school athlete that is too slow to make an impact shouldn't bench pressing.  They should be developing as much strength and flexibility in their lower body as possible and running sprint intervals with enough time between each sprint to give 90-95% effort on each run.

If your goal is to run a 10 K, most of your training time should be spent on running.  If your goal is to be the best bodybuilder you can be on stage and your legs dominate your upper body, then why are you training legs twice a week and chest once per week?

If an athlete has injured her ACL, her training should be spent rehabbing that knee, then extra time should be placed on strengthening the joint to prevent further injuries from happening.

If you play an overhead sport, you should continue to train with overhead movements, but you should be smart about it and make sure you are doing the proper strengthening exercises to keep proper AC Joint integrity as well as making sure you have proper scapular mobility.

Training for Specificity is probably the most lacking thing I see in my field.  I pride myself on making sure that I set goals for each of my clients and athletes.  Sometimes my goals for them are not the same as their own goals.  That's because I've been coaching and training people for 18 years and I've worked with 3 year olds all the way up to the elderly.  I've coached T Ball and college sports.  I've worked with and for professional athletes and coaches in multiple capacities.  Training for specificity is the most important thing an athlete or individual can do to reach their goal.  One of the problems with training for specificity is that often we have the wrong goals, and that is where a trainer or therapist can come into play.  If you are feeling weak in certain areas, lacking flexibility, or have pain you need to see a doctor or physical therapist to see what is wrong.  If you are healthy, set a specific and realistic goal.  From there find a trainer or do some research to see what training programs or exercises will best help you reach that goal.  I promise, if you do some soul searching, figure out what you need to accomplish, and train for specific reasons, you will see yourself make improvements along the way.

Kyle Harris is an NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Natural Professional Bodybuilder.  He has coached thousands of athletes and worked with all levels and ages, from 3 year olds to senior citizens.  He is an All American EFX Sports Representative and former high school varsity baseball coach.  He currently teaches Elementary Physical Education and works part time at the Bob Harris Baseball School as well as working as a personal trainer and contest prep coach.  To contact or hire Kyle Harris please email him at battersbox@yahoo.com or follow him on twitter @hossjob.

It's faster to eat 300 calories than to burn 300 calories

You can eat 300 calories a lot faster than you can burn 300 calories.

I'd like to define a couple of things before getting into this illustration:

1. BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) - The amount of calories needed to keep the body functioning at rest.  There are numerous calculators you can find online including this one: http://www.bmrcalculator.org/
2. TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) - Acute increase in metabolism from the ingestion of food.
3. TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) - This is the total amount of calories burnt on an average day, including BMR, calories burnt during exercise, work, and from TEF. (TDEE Calculator - http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ )
4. Satiation - The sensation of feeling satisfied or full (after a meal and between meals)

Now I want to address another idea that seems to be in vogue as of late, due to the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) phenomenon.  In a vacuum, a calorie is a calorie.  If your BMR is 1600 and you lie around all day long and you eat exactly 1600 calories,  you should, in theory remain the same weight.  If you eat 1800 calories, you would gain weight, and if you would eat 1400 calories you would lose weight.  Pretty simple, right?  The problem is all foods are not created equal, in many ways, and we don't live in a vacuum.  A food that has 200 calories in it, elicits a large insulin response, and  is low in fiber is not equal to a food that has 200 calories, does not elicit a significant insulin response, and is high in fiber.  The latter food is going to provide your body with important nutrients and keep you feeling satisfied and full.  The former, will spike insulin, put the body in a fat storage mode, and create a state of hunger.  Even though I am an avid believer in allowing yourself to eat foods you enjoy, I am also a big believer in choosing nutrient dense foods that are highly filling, low in calories, and high in fiber.  These types of food not only fill you up and keep you full, they provide the body with key micro nutrients that are needed for repair, health, well-being, and longevity.  Not only that, but high fiber foods actually have less of a chance of being stored as body fat.  Furthermore, certain foods, (mainly protein), have a much greater TEF than others (carbohydrates and fats).  Eating high quality, low fat protein sources can actually increase your metabolism for a short period of time, and when fat loss is the goal, every little bit helps.  Bottom line, choosing nutrient dense, whole foods are going to help you to feel full and lose weight.  We all know, it's much easier to stick to a diet when we aren't constantly starving.  I mean, I love pop tarts, but I can smash thousands of calories in pop tarts and it doesn't do a whole lot for my satiation.  If I eat the same amount of calories in lean beef and sweet potatoes, I'm quite full, for a long time, and I've given my body some very high nutrient dense food that will help to fuel me for an extended period of time.

Next, I want to tackle BMR, and more importantly TDEE.  To make things easier, I'm going to use myself as the example.  I am a (5 foot, 7 inches) 67", 175, 35 year old male.  I have been weight training intensely for 15 years and have been a natural professional bodybuilder for 7 years.  It's safe to say that I have more muscle than the average 67", 175 pound male.  That being said, my BMR is around 1689 calories per day.  That means, if I were to lay around the house and eat 1689 calories in a day, my body would utilize 1689 calories just to complete the daily bodily functions and metabolic needs to keep my body working.  Before getting much deeper into the importance of this, I now want to touch briefly on the metabolic differences of females.  A female that is exactly the same height, weight, and age as myself has a BMR 1523.  Sorry ladies, but that is a 176 calorie difference.  Want to know what that equates to?  An oz of almonds, which is less than what an adult can easily fit in their closed hand.  If a man and a women of the same exact age, weight, size, and muscle mass lived together and ate the same exact food every single day to meet the man's BMR needs of 1689 calories, the women would gain approximately 1 pound of body fat every 19 days, which would equate to 19 pounds per year.  This is not taking into effect that your body's metabolism slows each and every year, leading to a lower BMR.  Using an illustration like this, it's quite simple to see how easily it is for someone to gain 10, 20, 50, 100 pounds in a 10-20 year span.  I point this out to illustrate that women often need to be even more conscious of what they are eating than men, which is extremely hard because the hormonal profile of women cause them to crave and need calorie spikes throughout different times of their monthly cycle.

Now, let's get back to the main point, being that it's faster to eat 300 calories than it is to burn 300 calories.  Continuing to use my BMR of 1689 as my example, I will burn 1.17 calories per minute, per day if I am sedentary the entire day.  It will thus take me 256 minutes, or almost 4.5 hours to burn 300 calories.  I can assure you that I can smash a pack of pop tarts (420 calories) easily in less than 5 minutes, and if you challenge me I'm sure I can get it down in 90 seconds or less.  Those 420 calories will take approximately 6 hours to burn if I am completely sedentary.  Exchange that pop tart for 6 oz of chicken, 200 grams of sweet potatoes, 100 grams of broccoli, and 100 grams of fruit and you have about 420 calories of food that will take you at least 10-15 minutes to eat and will fill you up for hours.  Not only that you just gave yourself high quality protein, a nice chunk of fiber, limited insulin (the fat storing hormone), and provided your body with a slew of micro nutrients that are extremely healthy.  Choosing these types of foods can help to make sure you stay full and that you not only lose fat, but improve your overall well-being while eating in a caloric deficit.

There are two things to consider here before you freak out and think, "OMG I can only eat 1600 calories per day".  One being that the above scenario is in a vacuum, and two is that this is based on BMR, not TDEE.  TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure, is your BMR, plus all the other calories you burn throughout the day.  So, if you sit and watch TV all day, your TDEE will be very close to your BMR.  If you have a desk job and come home to sit and watch TV, your TDEE will be very similar to your BMR.  If you work construction or manual labor or exercise daily, though, your TDEE will be higher than your BMR and you will be able to feed yourself with more calories because of this.  You can use the link from the beginning of the article to figure your TDEE, but again I will use mine for the purpose of this article. 

TDEE takes into account your age, height, weight, and your activity level.  My TDEE (exercising 6 times per week) is 2544, this is a much more manageable number (again, a women with the exact measurements would be lower, her TDEE would be 2294).  I'm a big eater, and 2500 calories is actually quite a nice bit of food.  So we have these numbers now (BMR/TDEE) and we have some idea of how to lose weight (if my TDEE is 2544 I need to eat less than 2544 to lose weight), eat fewer calories than 2544.  Real quick, one pound of fat is about equal to 3500 calories, so if I have a TDEE of 2544 from exercising 6 times per week and I want to lose 1 pound per week, I will have to eat about 2044 calories per day (that is a 500 calorie deficit X 7 days in a week = 3500 calories).  If I want to lose 2 pounds per week, I'd have to drop another 500 calories (1544) per day from my diet.  So from here we can figure out how many calories we need to eat each day to lose the amount of weight we want to lose per week.  Please remember, this is a rough estimation, and everyone is different, it is why personal trainers, health and diet coaches, and nutritionists are extremely beneficial to those that have health and fitness goals. 

I know I'm long winded and I've been circling round and round and not touching much on this whole thing of "I can eat 300 calories faster than I can burn them", but the information above was important.  Now, I want to talk exercise.  Most of the people I see in the gym are slogging around mindlessly peddling a bike or walking on the treadmill or doing db curls and leg extensions.  Sorry folks these activities are doing nothing for your calorie burn.  I've logged my heart rate and used the METs formula to track calorie burn of an intense weight training workout (75-85% of my 1RM for lifts like dead lift, squat, shoulder press, BB Row, bench press, etc...) and in a 60 minute workout with 2 minutes of rest between sets at this intensity, I burn about 350 calories.  I am telling you this because if you are coming into the gym and doing db curls, leg extensions, the butt blaster, lateral raises, and triceps extensions for 30 minutes, you are probably burning about 100 calories, and that's high balling it.  To really get a good burn you need to be doing multi joint, compound exercises at a weight and rep range where you are near failure on each and every set.  Furthermore, just today I ran 3.5 miles in 30 minutes, that burnt 421 calories.  Not too shabby, not great.  If you are walking at 3 mile an hour for 30 minutes on a treadmill, you are burning about 120-180 calories depending on your weight.  For me, a 30 minute walk at 3 MPH would equal about 150 calories burnt in that 30 minutes (I dont care that the treadmill says you burnt 225, it's wrong, cardio machines lie, never believe their caloric expenditure propaganda).  So, if I slog through the weight room and slog on the treadmill for an hour total, I will burn 250 calories in that hour.  If I would have sat on my but for that hour, I would have burnt 70 calories.  So in the time I spent going through the motions at the gym, I burnt an initial 180 calories.  In 1 weeks time, that is 1260 calories (that's if I do this 7 days per week).  It would take me 3 weeks to lose one pound of body fat.  Not to mention, if you are like 99% of the American population, you will go out to eat at least once this week with friends or family and that entree you order at your favorite restaurant will more than likely have at least 1200 calories in it, and that is minus the cocktail or 2 you have along with it.  What we don't think about when we exercise and "burn" calories, is that we'd be burning calories anyway if we were at rest.  The 100 or 200 or 500 calories we burn are the grand total.  If I burn 70 calories per hour at rest, I have to subtract those 70 calories from my total exercise burn to get the "real" exercise calorie deficit. 

This isn't to discourage you.  This is to arm you with some of the facts, and allow you to understand why you are or are not losing fat when indeed that is your goal.  Keep in mind, if I was doing typical yard work at my weight, I'd burn about 400 calories per hour.  If I were vigorously cleaning my house for an hour I'd burn about 360 calories.  I'm quite certain my wife would much rather me spend an hour doing those 2 things than slogging around at the gym, where I'm actually burning less calories than that. 

Remember, the slogging equals about 1260 calories per week, that's 7 hours of work for 1260 calories.  If I can eat a pack of pop tarts in 5 minutes that means I could eat about 84 packs (168 pastries) of pop tarts in 7 hours.  That would equal about 35,280 calories, or 10 pounds of fat.  Every time you think about eating something that you know you shouldn't have think about how hard it is to burn those calories off.  Just as an easy visual, using my body type (67", 175#, 35 yrs old) , these are some figures of the amount of calories in foods and the number of miles I'd have to walk to burn off those calories.

Walking 1 Mile (@ 3.5 MPH) Burns 95 Calories (use the walk/calorie counter - http://walking.about.com/library/cal/uccalc1.htm)

• 25  Grapes = 100 Calories (1 mile)
• 1 oz of almonds/cashews/peanuts = 170 calories (almost 2 miles)
• 2 TBSP Natural Peanut Butter = 210 Calories (2.5 miles)
• 1 slice Marco's Pepperoni Pizza = 290 Calories (Over 3 Miles)
• 1 Whole Egg = 70 calories (3/4 of a mile)
• McDonalds Plain Hamburger = 300 Calories (Over 3 miles)
• Medium Wendy's French Fries = 410 Calories (4.5 miles)
• 1 oz potato chips = 160 calories (1.75 Miles)
• 1/2 Cup (dry) Oatmeal = 150 calories (More than 1.5 miles)
• Snickers Bar = 250 Calories (Almost 3 miles)
• 1 Medium Banana = 110 Calories (1.25 Miles)
• 6" Chicken Sub at Subway (no cheese) = 320 Calories (3.5 Miles)

If you are looking for more foods and their calorie content check my 2 favorite calorie and macro nutrient tracking apps on your smart phone, MyFitnessPal and Fat Secret!

Remember if you have any questions, feel free to message me on facebook or email me at battersbox@yahoo.com

THURSDAY, 7/9/2015

Today was designated to be a strength training day and running day, squats and dead lifts to be exact, plus a 3 mile run.  After running the last 2 days, I opted for no leg training and just ran.  3 miles in 26:30.  Ran outside in some mist and the first 1.5 miles was into the wind so I was ecstatic with that time!  Listened to Bob Dylan the entire time and it was amazing, thank you www.dylanradio.com. 

Tomorrow I plan on a rest from the cardio, but training upper body with a focus on chest.

I've got to say, I'm pretty happy with my diet the last 4 days.  My goal is 2200-2400 calories.  I'm trying to keep protein under 225 grams per day.  I'm a HUGE protein overeater.  I'd love to get 225 protein, 175 carbohydrate, and fill the rest of the calories in with fat (about 65-80 grams).  Trying to get at least 3 servings of veggies in per day, which is super easy for me.  I'm a broccoli-holic and love green beans, and mixed green salads, as well as a slew of other veggies.  Opting for about 5 meals per day.  This way I can easily eat 400-450 calories per sitting and go about 3.5-4 hours between meals, which is about perfect for me if I'm hitting that calorie mark per meal.

Keeping with the random tone of my first post, I thought I'd vaguely outline my health/fitness goals here today:

1) Couple some enjoyable cardiovascular exercise with my weight training - I love lifting weights.  I love lifting heavy.  I love supersets.  I love dropsets.  I love low reps.  I love high reps (except when squatting).  I love German Volume Training.  I love competing in bodybuilding.  I want to compete in powerlifting.  I can't wait to lift each and everyday.  Cardio, though, I have a love hate relationship with.  I hate when I start doing cardio, but I end up enjoying it when I get accustomed to it.  Walking in the morning, listening to music is my favorite.  I actually enjoy running once I'm in shape.  I enjoy treadmill walking when I can read, and I really enjoy variation (jumping ropes, battle ropes, plyometrics, agility training, etc...).  My main goal is to find a way to incorporate both into a healthy lifestyle I can continue for the rest of my life.

2) Run a 10K - I have run a couple of 5Ks and a Marathon Relay and I loved every second of those races.  The apprehension, the internal competitiveness, the other competitors and spectators pushing you.  All the people involved seemed so positive and happy.  In bodybuilding, it's kind of a bro sport, filled with testosterone and there are some A - Holes.  Don't get me wrong, I love mixing it up and having that "I want to kill you" attitude, but call me crazy, as I've gotten older and began to raise 2 young daughters, goodwill has become something I value more and more.  Also, prepping for a bodybuilding show is extremely selfish.  It's all about me.  When I have to eat, cook, train, pose, etc...  And I can get quite run down and cranky.  The dieting is tough mentally and brutal on your body's endocrine system.  I'm hoping having a new goal, will not only keep me motivated, but also keep me from going insane from over dieting.

3) Enter a powerlifting meet and hit a 1300 pound total - I have never done a powerlifting meet. I want to badly.  In my early/mid 20's I was quite strong.  I can still hold my own, but 2 hernias, multiple surgeries, and some other injuries have probably ended my days of benching 365 and squatting as much as I'd like to.  However, at the tail end of 2015 I hit a PR in dead lift (500 lbs), which was always my weakest of the 3 lifts.  I'm quite certain I can pull a 1200 total with minimal focus on powerlifting.  If I can tailor my training around powerlifting I think I can hit a cool 1250 and maybe even 1300.  The latter may be a stretch, but I know I can get back to 500 on dead lift and I can hit 300 on bench now and getting to 450 on squat should be doable.  With a little bit of coaxing all I'd have to do is add 50 total pounds!  I'd love to nail 1250-1300 at around the 165 pound mark.

4) Lose some weight - Okay, this is all my fault.  I competed at NPC Team Universe last year and even though it wasn't my best ever (my fault for some last minute stupid things and not posing properlly or having posing trunks that properly fit), I still looked phenomenal even for the national stage.  I stayed in pretty damn good shape all the way through 2014 and even into spring this year I wasn't far off, but this summer I've pretty much eaten and drank everything I've wanted with no filter.  Training was still balls out, but crushing 3,000 plus cals per day isn't something my body was ready for.  Pretty much what I'm saying is I'm fatter than I've been in probably 9 years.  Funny thing is, the last time I was at this weight (180) I had a hard time breathing and got light headed tying my shoes, now, I can run 3 miles in 26 minutes.  I think my body likes being around 170-175 pounds.  I like how I look about 160-165, it's all about self-concept, and to be brutally honest with myself, it's an insecurity I've battled my whole life.  I'd like to get over that and hit a healthy weight in the upper 160's.  If I can do that, who knows, maybe I'll try to get down to almost stage conditioning and go from there.  

5) Develop a balance - I'm a giant proponent of life balance.  I thought I knew what "balance" was in terms of life.  I've had too many irons in the fire before, and somehow managed (full time teacher, varsity head coach, worked as a trainer and hitting instructor, husband, father, sponsored athlete for a supplement company, competitive bodybuilder, bodybuilding coach).  On top of that I had hobbies I loved too, like writing, reading, and listening and playing music.  It was too much.  All of those things were suffering.  I've tried to streamline to be a better person in general, especially a better teacher, husband, father, son, and friend.  It's a work in progress and sometimes I feel lost because I'm not constantly freaking out about what I have next and it's been hard to quiet my mind.  However, I want to try to find that balance.  Where is the balance in enjoying a well rounded exercise program and coupling it with eating healthy, yet enjoying an IPA and some pizza here and there.  The balance in maintaining a healthy weight and not freaking out if you lose 2 pounds or gain 5.  The balance in being skilled at your profession, yet enjoying.  The balance in being a great father and husband, but still finding me time and time to hang with the guys.  It's a constant battle.

I'm hoping through these new goals (I'll be posting dates on things in the coming weeks I hope) that I can start to learn how to balance all the things I love and enjoy and in the meantime, teach those that subject themselves to reading my blog, a thing or 2 about health, fitness, nutrition, balance, goal setting, and anything else I may have to offer!

Again, thanks for reading - KYLE

PS: I still have no name for this blog and I'm looking forward to playing my guitar and harmonicas this weekend and maybe recording a little song I may or may not post.  

Random Entry #1 For My New Blog

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

We've attempted this journey before (bloggin) with limited success.  Typically what happens is I try to get too in depth and just run out of time to blog one day and I try to catch the following day and it takes far too long so I get discouraged and skip a day.  This goes on and off until I just don't blog for a week or two and then figure, hell, no one reads this stuff anyway so I'm done. 

I'm going to try something different this time.  I'm going to log workouts, diet, supplements, feelings, emotions, etc... as I see fit, when I see fit.  I was planning on starting yesterday and "Low and Behold" (quoted because it's a wonderful song written by Bob Dylan on his album with The Band THE BASEMENT TAPES - Give it a listen here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJs635DM6Es - ) I ran out of time, so here is my initial blog post for my new blog, which has no name and isn't truly and completely defined yet.

What I can tell you is that the last 10 years I have been a competitive bodybuilder.  I have competed at the highest levels drug tested bodybuilding has to offered, and even though I have not reached the pinnacle of the sport, I have done quite well.  Some brief, self-indulged examples of my quasi success include a sponsorship from a large world-wide supplement company, 3 top 6 finishes in the Natural Mr. Pro Universe, a top 3 finish in NPC Team Universe, 3 overall titles, numerous class victories, and countless top 5 finishes.  I've also had the amazing honor of meeting some of my greatest friends to date and coaching some awesome athletes.

I can also say that I have been blessed to coach hundreds, if not thousands, of athletes as a junior high football coach and high school baseball coach for 13 years, as well as a private pitching and hitting instructor at my father's baseball school, and running my own baseball camp for almost 20 years.  My love for health and fitness was actually born from my love of baseball, which was fostered by my father.  The knowledge I obtained from him and all my coaches, including 1980 rookie of the year Joe Charbeneau (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Charboneau ), former Indians and Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, my college coach Craig Rutter, and many others has shaped in me in so many ways.

So as you can see even in my first blog, this is going to be an ADD based document.  Life is a whirlwind and I'm going to try to shoot straight from the hip, and with minimal time to edit and proof read, this will be pretty rough and raw at times. 

As this is a blog about health, nutrition and performance though, I can't let you go without something in that realm/field, so here are my workouts from the last 2 days.  I'm not breaking any world records right now (I am coming off a string of minor injuries that have set me back pretty far - more on that in another blog), but I can assure you all when it's time to hit the pavement or step in the gym, my best efforts are laid. 

MONDAY, 7/6/2015 - Lower Body (Dead Lift Focus)

·       Various forms of dynamic stretching, band work, and mobility training

·       Goblet Squats - 30#, 40#, 50#, 60#, 70# all for 10 reps

·       Dead Lift - 135, 185, 225, 275 all for 8; 315/5 for 3 Sets (back was not feeling well)

·       Squats - 135, 155, 175, 185, 195, 2015 all for 10 (back just didn't feel well)

·       Overhead Squat - Bar, 65, 85, 105 all for 10

·       Kettle Bell Swings - 30# KB, 4 sets of 10

TUESDAY, 7/7/2015 - Upper Body (Shoulder Press Focus)

·       Various forms of band work

·       Standing Shoulder Press - Bar, 65, 85, 105, 125 for 10; 135, 155, 155, 155 all for 5 reps

·       SS:  Bench Press/CG Pull-up - 135, 155, 175, 185, 185, 185 all for 10 ss w/ 8 CG Pull Up each

·       BB Upright Row - 95 for 5 sets of 10

·       SS:  Incline Bench/Pendlay Row - 155 for 10/135 for 8 for 4 sets each

·       DB Lateral Raise - 25# DBs for 10 reps for 5 sets with 30 second rest

·       3 Mile Run in 27 Minutes and 48 seconds