Archive for January, 2008

A negative times a negative equals?


17 Jan

If any of you have ever been a client of mine you know that the exercise and nutrition stuff I prescribe is pretty simple. It’s the Tony Robbins stuff that I do that will kill you. I want to briefly talk about something that I go into a lot more detail about in the updated Troubleshoot. I want to talk about the power of those who surround you, and how you speak to them and how they speak to you.

Now, like it or not, it’s true what they say about the company you keep. Let’s say though, that you do have good friends and know good people, even good people have bad habits. A very common bad habit is something that I don’t think any of us can say we aren’t guilty of, but it is something you should really keep in check. What is this I speak of?

Negativity.

I am not speaking of obvious negativity either. Rather, it should be obvious and if it isn’t then this article isn’t going to help you. What I mean by obvious negativity is being overly judgmental or critical of other people or yourself. Making fun of others, hurting others on purpose, these kinds of things. If involved in that well I recommend taking some even bigger personal stock because we all deserve better.

What I am speaking of is annoying negativity, sneaky negativity, DRAINING negativity.

For example, how do you describe your day to a friend or your family? Does the word “ugh” come out of your mouth a lot? Do you sigh often? Do you actually think you have good info to share when it is utterly depressing and gossipy?

Oh, and don’t get me wrong, I have been guilty of it myself. You don’t even want to hear about my teenage years. I just learned, and really recently, in life more and more about how my spin on a situation creates a mood. How “tone” can really guide your life and not only how others see you, but how you feel yourself.

What I want to do here is give you an example of the same situation but with two completely different approaches. And you can see exactly what I mean and how each makes you feel.

>>>>Starting Fake Scenario Sequence Now<<<<

(You have just sat down with one of your friends)

You: Hey, how was your day?
Friend: Good. I am starving though, trying to decide between the salad or the grilled chicken. How was your day?

You: It was okay, I was slammed at work today and again Gina was no help. All she did was slow me down. Then Larry my boss came in and told me that my report was great but that I had to fix some labeling errors. It only took me a few minutes to do it but it was frustrating ’cause I worked so hard on it and thought I had gotten it perfect. Then they transferred someone from marketing over to our department and I had to spend 2 hours training him to do something he should have known how to do. Other than that, not so bad oh and I had the BEST shrimp cocktail for lunch with this sauce that was AMAZING!

Friend: Oh really, I haven’t ever been a huge shrimp fan but maybe I just haven’t found the right sauce yet?
(Conversation continues from there)

Now you are likely thinking a few things…

-That this wasn’t so bad, maybe a little whining but seen much worse.
-You are that person.
-You are friends with that person.
-You didn’t see anything wrong with that at all.
-Well how are you supposed to talk about things that bother you?

The last question is a good one, because most people, even if they see how negative and whiney they are, can’t figure out for the life of themselves how to change it.

Let’s then re-visit this conversation and have a do-over.

You: Hey, how was your day?
Friend: Good. I am starving though, trying to decide between the salad or the grilled chicken. How was your day?

You: It was good. I was slammed at work today and while I can appreciate that I am awesome enough to do two peoples jobs, I do hope something is done about the lack of qualified help. Cool thing is though that Larry my boss came in and told me that my report was great but that I had to fix some labeling errors. It only took me a few minutes to do it and for a 40 page report that isn’t to bad. Then they transferred someone from marketing over to our department and I spent 2 hours training him. I hope since they thought I was good enough to do the training that maybe this means I might be moving up soon. To top it off had some amazing shrimp and a sauce that should be illegal to eat.

Friend: Ooh, you know Jenny in my office was training people before she got a promotion, I hope that works out. (Conversation contines from there)

Now look, you told the exact same information, you showed very clear how hectic your day was, how much you have on your shoulders, how certain things may not be fair, but you are up for the challenge because in the end you are the deal. Which person would you rather be? Which person would you rather be around?

Something to think about…

P.S. This has more to do with fat loss and getting in shape than you think.

Southern snow day, we salute you.


17 Jan

You never cease to amaze me southern snow day. I had my whole day planned out, I had fields of minds waiting to be inspired by my truths of fitness. Then you came along southern snow day with your 0.5 inches of wet slush and turned my whole state into a weeping fear of injury due to snow. One by one you shut things down, and I am now left to harass my online followers. So I promise this to you, southern snow day, at least one post of pure brilliance, the promise of editing my book, and homemade hot chocolate.

Wow the changes!!!


13 Jan

Did you look around this site!?

Did you see the free audio previews?

Did you see the video?

Did you see the new FREE article downloads that were only available by buying the troubleshoot?

Did you see the new high class contact system?

Did you see that every 99th sign on I get something free!!! I don’t care if it gets to 29,999 the offer stands!

Did you see the new review for New Rules of Lifting Below?

IT IS ALL TOO MUCH! I feel like the mighty putty guy.

Give me some feedback, let me know what you think.

UPDATE-Free Report Link NOW WORKING. Sorry about that to my newsletter members.

Review-New Rules of Lifting For Women


13 Jan

I hate to pull out a cliche’ phrase along the lines of judging a book by its cover but in this case I have to mention it. Before you even open up New Rules of Lifting for Women there is promise of intelligent works inside. The cover depicts a very healthy and strong looking woman and reads “lift like a man, look like a goddess”. I personally have been waiting for sometime for this book since my interview here with Lou Schuler. Does the information inside deliver? Well let me take you beyond the cover and into the nutrition, training, and writing of some of the top fitness professionals and authors in this country today.

The first thing you get hit with in NROL4W is the signature of Lou Schuler – oh wait! Oh, that’s just my copy, where was I? Right, the first thing you get is, within NROL4W the correction of some misunderstood or wrongly coined terms like “toning” or “bulky” and the quick-to-pick-up-fun delivery style of writing of Lou Schuler. For a short background to those unaware, NROL4W is a three-player effort. *The exercise section is brought to you by none other than Alwyn “he hugs kittens” Cosgrove. By the way the most important part of the book may very well be understanding the proper way of saying Alwyn’s name (“All-in”)*  The nutrition was compiled by the highly intelligent and beautiful female with the goods to back it up, Cassandra Forsyth. Last, but certainly not least, the tale is told through the words of Lou Schuler. Just as with NROL, the original, it is always flowing and never boring. In fact, I have to say that of the two books I think Lou did a better job of delivery here than in the first one. So now that you know the players let’s get back to the game.

Like I said the first few sections take you through some myths that surround women and weightlifting. You will become informed about terms like “toning”, “sculpting”, and “bulky”. One of my favorite things discussed in this section is how muscle can plump up in the beginning of starting a program, that this is not muscle growth that occurs, but merely inflammation due to activation. One of the few things I see being attacked in the discussion of women in weight training. It is as if in general people stray away from the real issues here. Let’s face it, it has been a long time we have been living in a world of contradictions with women and training. My favorite example of this is when a trainer tells a woman the reason the scale isn’t moving is because she has put on muscle and muscle weighs more than fat (doesn’t it’s less dense) but then says don’t be afraid of weight training women can’t put on muscle easy. Well which is it or should a whole fat loss program be based on tricking myself and the placebo effect? With NROL4W they aren’t afraid to tell you that building muscle can occur, it is a good thing and you don’t have to look like a “man” during the process.

The next section dips into two different types aerobic training methods and more of muscle types, it’s effect on energy expenditure, etc. I actually had my own take on this section written out but wouldn’t you know it a good chunk of this section was thrown up in the MWA section at T-nation so go ahead a read that here.

After that the talk turns to not how hard to push your body, but more so how to properly push your body. Obviously anyone that follows my work knows that this where I would really like to get out my popcorn. Lou keeps it simple and basic with what the average woman really needs to know. He provides you with tips on warning signs of if your body is going into a unsafe place and what to do if this happens. This is a topic that you certainly can’t fit into a chapter but if you were going to try, it has been done best here. I think that average woman who is going to buy this book needs to pay very careful attention to this section. I have already seen the paths of resistance to the caloric amounts and training breaks that are suggested to be followed. These are not scare stories Lou is talking about here to keep you in line, this is part of the method to getting and keeping that goddess body. Don’t cherry pick the information, it’s there for a reason.

The nutrition section follows with a little more talk on mood and energy but mostly provides you with real world methods of how to design you own meal plans, example ones provided for you, recipes, and guidelines. Put simply, Cassandra spells it out for you. It isn’t overly complicated, it isn’t overly restrictive. ANYONE should be able to put these dietary methods in action. This is not aggressive eating plans, if you can’t do this, you just aren’t trying hard enough, it’s as simple as that. No carb withdraw, no crazy shakes, and no cycles. This is just balanced eating and smart nutrient choices. You also will not be spending hours in the kitchen.

Once you get the nutrition aspects covered it is time to start what this book is really about, lifting! Don’t get me wrong I think the other aspects of the book are excellent but what is trying to be drilled home to you here is how important lifting is to achieve the body you want. The program is broken down into 7 stages. Lou goes into a little detail in my interview with him here about what each stage is about. The short of the stages is each has its own purpose and progression. To run through the whole program you are looking at about 6 months. You have the option of course of moving at various paces but if it is one thing I have learned from designing my own programs and from following others they are written they way they are for a reason. So when it comes to NROL4W don’t try to get creative and sub this and throw out that. Try and follow the program as it is written.

The movements of the program are top notch, they really don’t vary too much from the original as they shouldn’t really. Tons of compound movements, core training and if looking to finally do a chin up on your own this will do it for you.

Alwyn is nothing but knowledgeable to the human form. His gym isn’t just your typical “crunch” studio. It’s as close to a research training ground as a gym can be. He doesn’t just understand movement, he understands how to tailor a look, and for women this is really what they want. Women want a look that is tailored to them and you are explained in detail that lifting is a way to achieve that look.

(enter hot picture of jessica biel too big for site)
Lifting achieved this look

As far as how to do the movements you get detailed written instructions and actual proper form movement shown by Michelle Bower.

The end of the book comes with some extra credit work and then the notes and reference area where one of my favorite things in the whole book is written. I encourage you to look at the Chapter 4 reference notes under the “Hormonal consequences of low calorie diets.”

When it’s all said and done every year hundreds of diet books are written about fat loss and diets, and the majority of them are geared towards women. Of all those books I can’t think of one out there that will do its job as well as this one to convince women to pick up the weights.

*Please note that after some discussion with Alwyn, even in his own book, that is STILL the wrong way to pronounce his name. I have to laugh at how hilarious that is. From the man himself…

“It is literally pronounced AL-YN (silent W) with the emphasis on the YN”

Shocking…I know.*

Interview-Lou Schuler-New Rules of Lifting for Women


12 Jan

I am not going to lie; I very often buy books used. It is not really about lack of money, but a love of a good bargain. I love the thrill of getting something cheaper than it is meant to be. I went to my local used bookstore one day and passed by New Rules Of Lifting by Lou Schuler and Alywn Cosgrove. I had heard good talk of it, had been meaning to get it, and got really excited for my bargain find.

I went home, cracked it open and literally the next day I went up to Borders and bout the two copies they had available to give as gifts. That is how good I thought this material was, and I think I still got a bargain It was insightful, intelligent, unique, had solid programming but above all, it was fun to read. Most books on physiology really just aren’t a fun read.

To make things worse if you take a look at exercise guides written for women it is either the same material but just with “for women” at the end or it is a water downed version of solid material to feed into the preconceived notions and fears that women have about resistance training.

You can imagine my happiness when I found out that there was a New Rules of Lifting For Women on the way. Now I don’t know about you, but being a woman myself I can’t wait to see what is in store in this material. I couldn’t wait so much that I decided to bug Lou Schuler, one of the creators and author of New Rules Of Lifting, for a little preview.

Leigh P: NROL has become the one stop shop for all your lifting needs. I truly think much of that has to do with not only the quality of the programming but the ease and fun of how it is laid out.

All I do is read book after book on nutrition, programming, health, etc. The trend I find for most of them is really they are boring and not fun to read at all. I remember when reading NROL you found a way to make talking about concentric and eccentric movements fun, truly the Mr. Wizard of the lifting world.

Can we expect the same kind of flow and movement in NROL4W?

Lou Schuler: I hope so! My biggest goal with NROL4W was to make two emphatic arguments:

1. Women need to push themselves in the weight room to get the results they want.
2. Women have to ignore the message that all of them need to cut calories.

Just on the latter point, imagine how hard it is to write an entertaining passage using the word “amenorrhea,” which is one of the extreme consequences of cutting too many calories for too long while remaining active. Even now, it’s hard to even talk about this topic without going into climb-on-a-soapbox mode.

That said, emphatic arguments don’t have to be boring, and there’s no rule that they can’t be entertaining to read. So even when I’m not trying to be funny, I’m always aware that the key to making a successful argument is holding the readers’ attention. The audience has the final vote on whether I’ve succeeded or failed. All I can say with certainty is that I wrote each sentence with the readers’ best interests in mind, including their interest in reading something that doesn’t suck.

Leigh P: I take it since you are discussing amenorrhea that you are getting into the hormonal aspect of fat loss for women. This is an area I take a high interest in and feel it is often overlooked. I remember you saying before when this issue was being discussed “Missing periods and becoming infertile (however temporarily) is about as definitive a sign of a poor health outcome as you can find.”

How deep does NROL4W dive into this area?

Lou Schuler: I devote all of chapter 4 to the argument against calorie restriction that’s before I get into macronutrients or nutrient timing or any of the fun stuff. The section on nutrition and hormones is about 750 words, and covers estrogen, luteinizing hormone, leptin, thyroid hormones, and cortisol. I could’ve gone farther and written about growth hormone and insulin as well, but I didn’t want to show off.

(That was a joke.)

Actually, all this was new to me. Cassandra Forsythe, my coauthor, showed me the studies, particularly the work of Anne Loucks at the University of Ohio. I don’t say this often, but I was shocked by what I learned.

My first book was called The Testosterone Advantage Plan, so I’ve been interested in how hormones affect physique and performance for a few years now. The argument my coauthors and I made in TAP is that it makes no sense to have your diet and workout plan out of synch with the hormones that will determine the success of that workout plan. If you want muscles, you need to work with your anabolic hormones, which means a higher-fat diet and a workout plan that emphasizes strength training over endurance
exercise.

I had never thought about these issues as they affect women’s hormones. When I went to sports-science or strength and conditioning conferences, I’d walk right past the rooms where they were talking about female athletes’ nutritional needs. I know this is a confession of my own willful ignorance, but as a journalist, I just didn’t have a need to know about how exercise combined with inadequate nutrition affects estrogen. Still, when I started learning about these issues, what blew me away wasn’t the information about estrogen, even though it was scary – if too much exercise with too few calories shuts down estrogen production to the point that periods stop, the damage to bones might be permanent.

What really got my attention was the mention of thyroid hormones, which are linked to metabolic rate. Anne Loucks’ research showed lower T3 levels in undereating female athletes. (T3 is the most powerful thyroid hormone.) Being a vain and shallow person by nature, the implications of this hit me right in the gut: If you have lower levels of thyroid hormones, you have a slower metabolism, which means you’re more likely to put on body fat and less likely to put on muscle mass.

I know it’s more complicated than that, and that estrogen is far more important to a woman’s long-term health. But that information’s been out there for a long time, and recent history has shown that a lot of women are ignoring it. They’d rather be skinny now than healthy later. But when we start talking about thyroid hormones, we’re talking about metabolism. And when someone tells you that the exercise you’re doing to increase your metabolic rate is actually slowing down your metabolism because you aren’t eating enough, that should get your attention.

So now, knowing that, I had in my mind a framework to discuss nutrition and exercise for women in the same way I’d approached it for men. That is, if you’re going to put in the time and energy required to speed up your metabolism, why in the world would you negate the effects of your exercise program by following the wrong diet? It’s like that famous line from a recent presidential candidate: “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.” Putting your workouts and your diet at cross-purposes means you’re voting for a faster metabolism while simultaneously voting against it. You can’t win.

Leigh P: Just incredibly put Lou and I couldn’t agree more. It will be nice to have more sources to point to on this issue when trying to explain the proper pairing of nutrition and exercise with women.

Far to often we find S&C coaches pushing their female athletes harder to make a weight, when instead we need to feed them harder. People don’t like to challenge the law of thermodynamics, but I always say, hell have no fury like estrogen scorned.

NROL skimmed over nutrition enough to give a base guideline, does NROL4W take it further on the areas of nutrition? Do we get more detailed guidelines this time?

Lou Schuler: When you try to write about nutrition, you have to make this series of decisions about which lines you want to cross, because each decision you make impacts every other decision you make in that book, not to mention what you’ll say in subsequent books. (For example, it would’ve been kinda weird to back off the big arguments my coauthors and I made in TAP. Fortunately, the science in favor of our approach has only gotten stronger.)

One crucial decision is whether or not you’re going to talk about calories in any kind of detail that actually might help your readers. It’s not a requirement; you can just talk about macronutrient ratios or which foods have magical fat-stripping and artery-cleansing powers and which will turn you into a 400-pound diabetic driving an electric cart through the aisles of the local discount superstore.

But if you decide to talk about calories, then you have to come up with some way to help readers estimate an optimal daily intake. There’s no shortage of metabolic formulae out there. (Cass recommended the Owen equation, which looks like the best choice for most women. But someone who’s exceptionally lean would be better served with a different system, and a woman with a high percentage of body fat would need yet another formula.)

Even after you choose a formula, and show readers how to estimate caloric intake, you have to explain all the caveats. And it’s hard to do that without sounding wishy-washy. Readers are used to straightforward, authoritative pronouncements on what to do and what not to do. Certainty is easy for an author. Nuance is hard.

This is where the authors who aren’t talking about calories and aren’t recommending a specific way to calculate your own metabolic needs get off kind of easy. They can just put together a meal plan with 1,200 or 1,500 calories a day. The readers who can stick to it lose a lot of weight, since the women are probably used to almost 2,000 calories a day, with men eating in the neighborhood of 3,000. If you never tell the readers how many calories they’re eating, they don’t know that they’re starving themselves, and that starvation is never sustainable. In fact, as every health and fitness professional knows, starvation diets often result in a higher body weight and worse body composition, since your body is making metabolic and hormonal adjustments to the sudden drop in energy that guarantee more fat storage down the line.

So now you’ve made the decision to talk about calories, to show readers how to estimate their present needs, and gotten into some of the fine print. The next decision is the hardest — or at least it was for Cass and me: What are you going to tell your readers to do with that information?

Our recommendation is not to do anything until you’ve done Alwyn’s workouts for a month — a full menstrual cycle. Just eat what the estimation says you should eat. If the workouts alone produce fat loss, measured in pounds or inches, then there’s no need to cut calories. If you gain weight, then the estimation was clearly too high, and you need to adjust it downward. We also have a list of signs that the diet and workouts are working, not working, or working too well — sleep patterns, mood, energy levels, etc.

And then we get to the hardest step of all: How in the world do you design a meal plan after showing readers how to estimate their ideal energy intake?

What we came up with was a modular system. Cass created dozens of meals
–breakfasts, snacks, lunches, dinners, post-workout shakes — with a range of calories. So readers can mix and match to come up with the right amount of total calories in any given day. We also have sample daily meal plans with three different calorie totals, but our hope is that our readers will find the system intuitive enough that they can create their own plans in under a minute. You just need a calculator.

In doing that, we made a choice not to harp too much on macronutrients. (Cass included enough protein in the meals that you’d have to try pretty hard to undershoot your needs.) Even in the sample meal plans Cass pulled together, there’s a range of macronutrient ratios. Nothing comes out as neat as 40-30-30.

To me, that makes the modular system more like the real world. In general, balanced macros make more sense to me than the extreme high- or low-fat diets. But I’d be the last person to say that your health will be somehow compromised if you don’t hit that ratio on the nose every day of your life.

The really fun stuff in the nutrition sections is in the sidebars. Just to pick one example, I wrote a sidebar on how wine glasses have gone from elegant crystal to fishbowls in the past two generations. A four-ounce serving of wine looked just right in the wine glasses my parents used. But today, in bigger glasses, four ounces looks like the waiter drank half of it between the bar and your table. So that’s something you have to be aware of if you’re trying to stick close to a particular calorie level. Ultimately, it’s trivia, but it was fun to research. My wife and I have some old wine glasses, as well as newer ones, and I filled different ones with four ounces of water, just to see how different it looked from one glass to the next.

By the way, this is an important clue into what’s really involved in writing a book like this. I mean, if filling glasses with water is your idea of a fun break in your routine, you know you’re working pretty damned hard

Leigh P: I don’t know Lou there is a lot to be said about the fun that can be had with putting your face up to a unnecessarily large glass filled with water.

You mentioned the sidebars, those little throw-ins can really liven up the material even more and was something I enjoyed a lot about NROL. When it comes to structure and layout of the book itself, does it follow a similar format to NROL? Was it meant to be a “NROL2” when you guys started on this?

Lou Schuler: No, no, it was never meant to be NROL2. We changed the title a couple months after I’d turned in the original manuscript. The title throughout the process was Lift Like a Man, which some of us loved and some of us hated. But it was always the driving concept of the book. I used that title in my first email to my editor, when I described this new idea I’d come up with. It’s on my proposal, on the contract, and on every version of the book until just a few weeks ago.

We changed it for several reasons, the most compelling of which is this: Back in January 2006, right after NROL came out, women had asked why NROL was a book for men. Where was NROL for women?

As an author, I think it’s smart to pay attention when people tell you without prompting what they want. This book came about because readers said, “We want NROL for women.”

So even though I set out to write a stand-alone title, it made sense to go back to that original impetus. Why make it harder for the readers to find what they’re requested?

It was surprisingly easy to retrofit Lift Like a Man and make it NROL or Women. I discovered that I’d written a book that was similar to NROL in terms of structure, even though I never set out to do that. The “rules” were easy to write, and fit right into the book’s existing structure. In some cases, chapter titles were written as rules. One chapter was called “Calorie restriction is the worst idea ever.” That’s now New Rule #12. (I changed the title of the chapter, although I can’t remember what I changed it to.)

You asked about sidebars. I don’t know if NROL for Women has more, fewer, or the same number. But if the structure is similar to NROL, I’d guess it has about as many sidebars.

Leigh P: I can see how “Lift Like a Man” would turn some heads. I personally like the title.

When it comes to lifting that seems often to be the make or break point for most women in their training For the training techniques in NROL4W, do you find it to be largely different from the original?

Lou Schuler: We went with a different type of periodization than we used in NROL.

NROL starts with standard linear periodization — in the Break-In Program, Fat Loss I and Fat Loss II, you progress to heavier weights with fewer reps in the usual way.

As you know, this type of periodization is considered old news by most strength coaches, and I see the point when it comes to well-trained athletes. My hunch, though, is that most people have never done any kind of periodization. The first time they try linear periodization, it’s such a radical departure from what they’ve been doing that they’ll make fast, even startling gains.

The Hypertrophy programs in NROL use undulating periodization, which (as you
know) means you do each set of exercises with multiple ranges of sets and reps. In Hypertrophy II, for example, you have three different workouts –
A, B, C — which you do once each week. (A on Monday, B on Wednesday, C on
Friday, usually.) But you have four different combinations of sets and
reps– 6 x 3, 2 x 25, 3 x 12, 5 x 6 — which gives you a total of 12 different
workouts. In other words, you’ll do workout A on four consecutive Mondays
with different combinations of sets and reps each time. You don’t repeat a workout until the fifth week.

NROL’s programs are modular, which means the reader chooses the best sequence of programs. Everyone does the Break-In Program, but after that the reader chooses what to do next, and for how long.

In NROL for Women, we went with a single program that should take about six months to complete.

Stage 1 is like NROL’s Break-In and Fat Loss progression — basic linear periodization, working your way down from 2 sets of 15 reps to 3 sets of 8.

The next four stages use alternating periodization. You have two workouts in each stage — A and B — which you’ll alternate. But you’ll do the same sets and reps in each workout of each stage, striving to work with more weight on each exercise of each workout. You do A and B four times each, so each of these stages has a total of eight workouts.

In Stage 2, you’ll do 2 sets of 10. In Stage 3, it’s 2-3 sets of 6. Then the reps go up again in Stage 4, and down again in Stage 5. You’re also doing intervals and complexes in here for body composition.

You’re working with heavy weights and low reps by the end of Stage 5, which sets up the optional Stage 6. This is a serious strength-focused program, with the goal of getting readers to the point at which they can do at least one unassisted chin-up. Since a lot of guys in a typical gym can’t do a chin-up, readers who choose to do Stage 6 will probably end up stronger, pound for pound, than the guys working out next to them.

Finally, there’s Stage 7, which Alwyn calls “The Final Cut.” This is an intense fat-loss program, with the metabolism-boosting emphasis you’d expect from Alwyn. It’s also optional, so readers who aren’t primarily concerned with fat loss don’t have to subject themselves to it.

As I’ve said, our biggest goal with the training programs is to get women to push themselves in the weight room as hard as they push themselves in Spinning or yoga or triathlons, or whatever it is they do. It’s not just heavier weights for the sake of using heavier weights. The emphasis is on using heavier weights as a tool to achieve better strength and body composition, and by extension a longer and healthier life.

It seems to me that women who exercise regularly are more likely than men to push themselves, to explore their limits. Much as I hate to generalize about anybody, it seems to me that most men in gyms feel that they got all that max-effort stuff out of the way in high school and college, and that they’ll never be stronger or leaner or faster than they were in their glory days.

But I almost never meet women who feel they’ve had any glory days to put behind them. They tend to see athletic achievement as something that’s out on the horizon, and all they have to do is push themselves progressively harder to achieve something they haven’t yet done.

The focus, unfortunately, tends to be on endurance sports, and you and I both know why: There’s a myth in fitness culture that endurance training equals less body weight and better body composition. We both know how flawed that assumption is, which is why we try to get women to pursue that goal in the weight room.

All of us involved in NROL were surprised at how many women picked the book up and enjoyed the workouts. So the last thing I wanted to do with NROL for Women is repeat what we did in the original. That’s why I wanted a different and uniquely challenging workout system, including a different type of periodization. I don’t know how many women have done the NROL workouts, but I didn’t want to leave any of them out. So within a unique training system — workouts and techniques their bodies haven’t yet adapted to.

To me, that was as important as getting new readers hooked on lifting. I don’t like to leave anybody out, especially the women who inspired the creation of this book in the first place.

Leigh P: Jesus Lou, talk about a preview to the material. I love the basic take home thought of really pushing yourself. Women far to often are guilty of doing reps for the sake of reps. Lacking the understanding of what their ultimate purpose is for in a program design aspect. Even in a high rep area, I don’t know many women who should be doing full squats with 5 lbs in each hand, even for 15 reps.

I think, and you really hit on it, that women need to understand how much proper lifting can get them back into THEIR style of glory days. A high bum, “toned” arms, flexibility, and fitting into the “skinny” jeans. They are always on the quest for this type of return but never think to try and find a solution in the sweaty men zone but perhaps now they will. Perhaps now women will find a joy not only in the raising of their butt in their jeans, but the raise of their 1RM on their squats.

I have just one more question Lou, and again I can’t thank you enough for such a detailed insight into this book. I know a lot of women are going to be reading this saying “no, I lifted heavy and I just bulked up and that isn’t what I want.” Is it safe to say that NROL4W will offer them…

-How NOT to get bulky lifting weights if that isn’t your desire
-How NOT to be the one lost in the free weight section
-How TO build the body you want using free weights
-How TO protect your body and eat for your goals
-How TO eat more food because it supports such a solid training program

…and isn’t just an exercise book like any other that talks the same talk but just takes the pictures with women instead?

Lou Schuler: That’s one long question! The grammarian inside me isn’t sure if the answer should be “yes” or “no.” It isn’t a book just like all the others. It talks directly, specifically, and incisively about how strength training works for women.

But I’m not sure if it tells women how not to bulk up, since one of our core premises is that it’s really hard for anyone to bulk up. For a man to accumulate muscle mass that’s measurable and visible to disinterested strangers, it takes months of heavy lifting, if not years, and systematic overeating.

And that’s with all the advantages nature confers upon the human male.

I’m nobody’s idea of a eunuch, but I was stuck at a skinny 165 pounds for close to 20 years, even though I was trying like hell to big bigger.

I have no idea how a woman could possibly do that by accident. I’m not saying there aren’t women out there with the genetic potential to put on a few pounds of muscle. I just don’t know how they could do it without dedicating their lives to that singular goal.

One of my favorite features of New Rules of Lifting for Women is the way we demonstrate the benefits of putting on just a pound or two of muscle. If a reader can do that in five or six months, while taking off four or five pounds of fat, she’s going to see a dramatic difference in the way she looks and the way she feels.

Plus, she’ll be a lot stronger, which of course is the reason we’re lifting weights in the first place. I hope our book puts the “strength” back in “strength training” for women, just as NROL tried to do for men. A stronger body is a healthier body, and if you follow our programs, that stronger, healthier body can also be leaner, which is the point at which it all pays off.

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You can pre-order New Rules Of Lifting here at Amazon.com –New Rules of Lifting For Women

You can find out more about Lou Schuler by checking out his site http://www.louschuler.com/ or his blog http://www.malepatternfitness.com/

Symptoms of Fat Loss Pt 2.


12 Jan

So in the last section (Fat Loss Effects Part 1) we talked about how even in the healthy part of fat loss you don’t feel so sun-shiny great. Now we are going to talk about what happens when you take this effect to another level or allow it to go on for too long.

Some clients have come to me having been in on a diet in one form or another for the majority of their life. They have had short bouts of breaks, but for the most part life for them has been a never-ending bulk-and-a-cut cycle (whether or not during the heavy-eating they were lifting…that’s another story). Still though that feed and then don’t feed pattern is ingrained into their natural habit and activity. Combine this with training and we receive a ticket to overtraining.

Now before I dive right in, yes, I am mixing. This is not a conversation about overtraining, meaning I am assuming training. Note that most of the following problems can occur by eating a low caloric diet for too long if you aren’t training AND some of these problems can present themselves if you aren’t taking good training rest even if your feeding is on point.

Good? Moving on.

If you don’t feed your body well enough for an extended period of time what do you think is going to happen? What if you decided to drive your car with little to no oil day after day after day? Stuff would start wearing down, wouldn’t it? It wouldn’t be functioning right. The concept is really pretty simple, people: drive hard, fuel hard.

CAN’T CHEAT THE BODY. Go ahead though, defy the law. Here is what to look for if you do.

* Sudden inability to complete workouts
* Feeling unmotivated and lacking energy
* Increased susceptibility to colds, sore throats and other illnesses
* Loss in appetite
* Decrease in performance
* Insomnia
* Achiness or pain in the muscles and/or joints
* Fatigue
* Headaches
* Elevated morning pulse

In short you don’t feel so hot and why should you, your running on empty over and over again. Did I mention how not good for fat loss this is?

So what is the best method to assure yourself that you are training for fat loss, but not burning yourself out?

How do we gauge the middle ground that leads us to the ultimate goal we have?

The Fat Loss Troubleshooter – Leigh Peele

Common Sense Meets Advanced Knowledge