Training - Lessons and Lifting with Klokov

Okay,

So considering the fact that I’ve been recently incorporating much more Olympic lifting in my program and have always loved OL weightlifting, I just had to sign up for this seminar. World champion and Olympic silver medalist, Dmitry Klokov, put on a weightlifting clinic at a local Crossfit box right down the street from me, and I saw it as a great opportunity to meet one of the sport’s greatest, learn from him, and also network with like-minded individuals. I received more than I expected from this experience, and I’d like to share some of these nuggets with my readers.

Here is how my Saturday went.

PART ONE:

I woke up at 6 AM, as if I am still seven years old and it is Christmas, and rush to prepare some coffee for the day and pack my equipment bag with essentials.  Side note – I got some phenomenal coffee beans from Cartel coffee roasting company, a local roaster in Tempe. Seriously, this coffee is bomb. Anyways – I brewed my coffee, packed my bag, and went over to Whole Foods to get a quick breakfast before checking for registration at 8 AM. I knew I wanted to get there as early as possible to meet some of the people there and get a chance to check out the gym. I meet August Schmidt when I arrive to the Crossfit box, who is the owner of East Valley Crossfit. Very cool dude, and from my short time interacting with him I had a great feeling about his presence. He appears to be a solid coach and athlete.

I get checked in and begin to roam around the gym, watching as people slowly trickle in. I find out there will be only about 20 individuals attending the seminar today, and given that the entire clinic is set to last from 9 AM until 9 PM, I am excited to think about the focused time and attention that might be available with Klokov and his gymnastics/ mobility partner Igor Zaripov (who is a Cirque du Solei gymnast). After meeting several individuals there, conversing, and meandering about for 15 or 20 minutes, we see Klokov stroll in the front door.

The dude is MASSIVE. He really doesn’t appear to be very tall simply because he is so broad. As soon as I see him strut in I rush over and notice he is filming his entrance with a small camera. If you follow his YouTube videos, he does this at many of the gyms he attends – filming all the different locations and various points of each of his seminars. Anyways, I can’t help myself and immediately approach him and “Dude! Klokov!”, giving him a fist pound. He is smiling too, returns the fist bump, and strolls on, continuing to film his entrance. Now I know what it feels like to actually be an excited fan and I actually don’t give a shit. This is someone who I genuinely look up to, respect, and admire, based not only on his physical accomplishments, but what he has done for the sport of weightlifting. And of course his mental attitude. His fist feels like a piece of calloused granite infused onto a small tree trunk.  

After his entrance, Igor and Klokov walk over to where the Olympic training platforms are located and begin setting up to start lifting. The first part of the seminar is just a short training session, watching Klokov, Igor, and August lift. I am pumped to see what they lift, but also am interested in their warm-up.  Although this post is primarily about Klokov, it is important to outline the training of the other athletes as well, so I will quickly list what they did.

August is a very strong and powerful Master’s level Olympic weightlifter in the 105 kg class (231 lb). He warmed up in the power snatch, going up to 90 kg for 2x3r, 100 kg 2x2r, then 110 kg (242 lb) for a final double. He then stripped to 80 kg for halting snatches (snatch from floor with a pause at the knee), doing doubles at 80, 90, 100,  110, and 115. After this he moved on to power clean + push press up to 120 kg (264 lb) for 3 or 4 sets of 2+2.

Igor Zaripov is a Cirque du Solei performer, and an extremely strong gymnast. His back and core is ridiculously strong. He has been following Klokov’s coaching since he started weightlifting 8 months ago, and because of his strong back and weak(er) legs he is doing specific complex exercises to develop the right movement patterns for efficiency and technical mastery in OL. For these reasons, today Igor was doing a snatch complex exercise from deficit. He would do a very high hipped, stiff back snatch deadlift to straight legs, followed by a more classical snatch deadlift with a slow pull, another high hip snatch DL, one more slow pull snatch DL, followed immediately by one classic snatch with a slow pull. ALL while standing on maybe a 4” deficit! This looked like an extremely tough and grueling exercise. I asked Klokov why this was prescribed and he explained with broken English that it is to turn on and switch off the appropriate muscles for the snatch. He reasons that snatches from deficit are one of the best exercises to learn how to use the legs in the snatch, and I agree. You are forced to shove the knees out HARD when pulling from a deficit and it is very difficult to revert to pulling from the back, which will minimize swinging. You MUST learn how to extend through the legs. Klokov explained that the high hip start fires the hamstrings and posterior chain, while the classic slow pull turns on the quads and rectus femoris. By doing them in this order followed by a snatch are you pre-fatiguing all the muscle groups required for a make, but they are TURNED ON in the right sequence which is the most important part. Igor worked up to 110 kg (242 lb) in this 5 rep complex! After this, he continued to add weight but performed only the RDL+slow pull combo 1+1 up to very heavy weight, I think 170 kg (374 lb). I cannot remember exactly, as I was distracted by Klokov’s lifting.

Klokov warmed up with some random bar stretching and basic arm circles. He did not lift lower body today so I am assuming his warm-up was quite different than if he were to full clean, snatch, squat, or pull. He did some presses, push presses, push jerks, and split jerks with the bar, then had 50 kg on it. He pulled a rack onto his platform, and began performing a push press + push jerk + split jerk complex from rack. He started at 50 kg 1+1+1 and continued in this fashion in jumps from 50 to 70, 100, 120, 140, 160, 180, and 190 kg (419 lb)!! Watching him work with this weight only 15 feet away was freaky. The bar oscillation is unreal, and the fact that he is re-racking the weight to the front with a full grip with a nearly a quarter ton blows my mind. After he completed this exercise, he dropped the bar and said in broken English “now I am warmed up”. He stripped the bar to 70 kg on the ground and did power clean + strict press 1+1 with 70, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140 kg (308 lb)! Who do you know that can casually power clean and strict press over 300 lbs?!? He said he best result in this exercise is 180 kg (396 lb)!!! Anyways – he entire workout lasted no more than 60 minutes, including warm-up. 

After the lifting exhibition, we began warming up for the first part of the seminar, the snatch. This portion was scheduled for 2.5 hours and would be filled with hands-on coaching, interaction and feedback from both Igor and Klokov. Things began to get fun as we started warming up with the same bar Klokov has used. After a short warm-up, he paused us and asked us to gather around so he could explain some specific Russian training philosophies and their school of thought on the snatch. Several major takeaways here:

·         Toes OUT in the starting position

·         Use MORE LEGS!!! Do not let the hips shoot up so the back bows way over the bar. Knees out and push ground away with the full foot.

·         Bar contacts the shin coming up

·         Contact at the crease of the hip

·         Arms are loose and relaxed, use elbows to guide bar up.

·         ELBOWS MORE FORWARD!!! More forward, more forward, more forward.

He said the biggest problem with 80-90% of people is that we are not using our legs correctly in the pull. This stems from feet too parallel at start, toes not pointed out, no contact with shin, and a couple other reasons.

To correct this, we began performing a bar drill to improve technical proficiency for these mistakes.

Snatch Drill #1:

We began with the bar at the shins in a snatch start position, toes out, hips down and back tight – standard start position I am familiar with except the toes pointed out to the point that it was uncomfortable. Doing this really helped me feel the drive through the full foot on the floor, and fully engage the legs. We dragged the bar up the shins to the top of the knee, paused for a moment to feel the full foot on floor, knees out, and quads engaged. Shoulders and chest are vertically over the bar here, chin forward. Here, we move the bar to the contact point at the hip crease.

Klokov instructed that from the floor to knee, the bar makes contact with the shin, dragging up the leg to the kneecap, but from the knee to hip there is maybe a millimeter of space between the bar and the leg. You MUST feel the legs drive the ground down as the bar is carried under you, driving the knees out and keeping the hips down.

After the floor to knee, we go to the hip and feel the arms making the contact with the hip. Klokov explains that the ARMS must drive the contact, NOT the hips. NEVER drive the hips forward. The hips move forward by consequence of the legs extending, but the motion is vertical due to the leg extension. So feel the arms making the contact with the hip and make the barbell “make music”, or rattle with contact from the arms driving the bar. We do this for 3 reps, then slowly lower back to just above the knee. From above the knee position we bring the bar up to the hips NOT by levering the back open, but again by extending the legs.

From above the knee, this time we extend legs and once the bar makes contact with the hip crease we extend vertically and pull the elbows HIGH and FORWARD. The bar should be carried under the chest, shoulders vertically over the top of the bar, knuckles pointed down, and elbows HIGH AND FORWARD!!! We are on our tippy toes at this point and holding this ‘scarecrow’ position. We should be balanced and the bar should be just under the chest, about sternum/ high belly area. Klokov instructs that we are to hold this position for a 3 count, and always ELBOWS MORE FORWARD!!

We do this drill for maybe 45 minutes while Klokov and Igor go around and provides hands on coaching to us for these various positions.

After this drill, we move on to drill #2….

Snatch Drill #2:

Klokov explains that the problem with “jumping” during the catch portion is that the bar is more likely to crash down on us and we receive it in a less optimal position. A remedy to this is this drill that we performed, which is essentially a drop snatch from toes, with clips next to your feet. You have the bar on back with snatch grip, rise up on the toes and balance for a 3 count, then slide the feet out quickly to reposition, punching up with the arms and dropping the hips to receive in a full overhead squat. You must reposition the feet very close to the ground, which is more a quick slide out, so that the clips are pushed aside. If you do it correctly, they are sent pretty far and you receive the bar with a satisfying lockout. We do this drill for another 45 minutes, focusing on a quick and correct repositioning of the feet .

After drill #2, we begin warming up for full snatch, with clips next to our feet in the pulling stance. The goal with the clips is the same for drill #2 – we are to perform a full snatch from the floor with a quick reposition of the feet to knock the clips aside. It was very much similar to a snatch without moving the feet, at least that is what it felt like! We warmed up this way to a max effort single, so I took 40 kilos for maybe 5 triples to get comfortable with the clips next to my feet and my narrow, toes out pulling stance, then 50 kilos for some more triples, then 60 for some doubles. After 60 I switched to singles and no more clips, going 70, 80, 90, 95, 100 (4 misses – first one was very close). I was happy with the 95 that I made as this is the most I’ve snatched in over a year and is only my 5^th snatch session since coming back!

After snatching, we were released for lunch. I went back to Whole Foods for some sushi, had some coffee, and returned to the gym….

PART TWO:

Returning from lunch, we gather around and watch as Klokov begins to discuss various clean inefficiencies and common issues he is seeing. One is that he is seeing people pull their cleans too high, and it is crashing on them. This stems from all the power cleaning that we do, the strong backs and pulling style, and also the jumping of the feet (causing the bar to crash). He also reemphasizes again that we are not using our legs enough in the pull and this is resulting in bars too far forward, and not enough extension vertical. To help correct, he talks about the full foot, toes angled out pulling stance, and also a LOWER contact point on the thighs. We begin drill #1.

Clean Drill #1:

Similar to the snatch drill #1, this is a slow pull with 40 kg to just above the knee, contact with the thigh just above the knee 3 times using the arms, lowering the bar back to ground, and a slow pull up this time with contact on the same spot on the thigh and a vertical extension of the body. We shrug up and extend on the toes, lightly bend the elbows (ELBOWS FORWARD!!!), and keep the legs tense and extended. The bar should be held just below belly button, and balance should be kept on the toes with the shoulders elevated. We do this drill with 40 kg for about 45 minutes as Klokov and Igor again walk around and provide hands on feedback and coaching to our positions and movements. The difficult part for me is to find violent contact with the legs above the knee appropriately, as I am used to a slight arm bend and cleaning near the hip crease for my contact. This is against what the Russians teach, and they emphasize a thigh contact with straight(er) arms.

Clean (Jerk) Drill #2:

After the clean drill, with move on to a jerk drill. Basically, this is a jerk balance with the bar position right on top of the head. Klokov says that in the jerk, the tendency is to dip too short and too quickly. This takes most of the leg out of the drive portion and instead most of the power in a short dip/ drive comes from the VMO. He advocates sitting deeper into the dip portion and taking advantage of the full hip musculature. He also instructs to have the toes angled out once more and driving the knees outwards. Klokov says toes out in the jerk is important to keep a straight vertical torso when dipping and driving. When the feet are angled forward, he sees the weight shift far too often unfavorably, causing a jerk that is too forward. In terms of footwork, he says the front foot should angle in slightly and the back leg should have the heel elevated so that the knee can drop and be a shock absorber. Most of the weight is set on the front foot with the shin vertical, and the hip crease bearing the load. To develop appropriate foot work, we rise up on the toes, bar on the head, and split the legs with a quick slide of the feet. There is a clip positioned about a foot in front of the splitting foot, and the goal is to slide that foot forward and shoot the clip with the toes, while splitting fully and extending the bar in lockout. The wrists punch up quickly while the hips drop down vertically. Vertical vertical vertical. Balance balance balance. Maintain tippy toe position for several seconds, then shoot the feet into the split in a quick shuffle. This balance is very important to having a vertical dip/ drive.

Now that we’ve done two drills for the clean & jerk, we begin warming up for a max effort lift in this exercise. I am pretty toast after all the drilling and the long day it has been, especially considering I worked up to a 90 kg snatch and 130 clean the day before, but am pumped to see what I am able to jerk. I have not done a split jerk in maybe two years, and have only power jerked maybe twice in that time. The warm up here is the same as with the snatch – we are to position clips next to the feet in the pulling stance, and shuffle the feet out in the receiving portion of the clean. After that, we jerk as normal. I warm up as said until about 80 kg, doing 1 clean and several jerks at each weight. The jerks felt good. I hit 100, 110, and 115 all confidently and easily. The clean feels different but I can feel my quads popping much more and am getting under the weight easily. All jerks were very solid. I take 120 and miss the jerk because of a shoddy split. I am a bit disappointed, as Klokov is watching me directly. I take 120 again and nail the jerk easily, thinking I’d be good for 125. After an easy clean with 125, the jerk fails me once again and I call it a day. Hitting 95+120 in my first “meet” like setting after almost two years off of focused Olympic lifting in front of Klokov is a good day.

After the clean and jerks, we move on to a mobility and gymnastics portion led by Igor. We did some literally brutal shoulder mobility stretches that felt like my arms were going to tear out of my sockets, then performed some handstand work. This wrapped up with 2 four minute Tabata rounds for core work, the first Tabata was 20 seconds of bicycles, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds of knees to elbows from plank position, 10 seconds rest, repeat for four rounds. The second Tabata was 20 seconds of lying straight leg raises, 10 seconds rest, 20 seconds of ab bridge, 10 seconds rest, repeat for four rounds. After this, I am pretty smoked.

In terms of gymnastics takeaways – Igor instructs of the importance of relaxed shoulders during kipping and hanging movements, and the importance of core strength during any kipping exercises.

After this final gymnastics/ mobility portion, we move back over to the platforms as Klokov talks about and demonstrates important accessory exercises and their applications.

#1) Weighted Squat Jumps – important to use light weight and for 5x5 for 3x10 reps. This exercise is performed after squatting normally, and will “turn on” the speed muscles responsible for weightlifting. Perhaps use 20 kg, maybe 40 kg. Extend the legs fully and when performed correctly, the toes ‘vibrate’ as you lift into the air.

#2) Snatch from deficit – used to teach a lifter to correctly use the legs. Should be performed with knees OUT.

#3) Snatch pulls from deficit – same as above. KNEES OUT, hips low. USE THE LEGS.

#4) Snatch RDL from deficit – teaches how to build hamstring strength which is a synergistic muscle for the extension portion of the O-lifts. Perform with very high hips and knees slightly unlocked.

#5) Snatch Jumps – pulled like a normal snatch, however when receiving the bar you are jumping up to higher blocks (he had 2 stacked 25 kg discs to the side of each foot that he jumped onto). Again, to teach proper use of the legs and extension. DOES NOT teach jumping with the feet. 

#6) Hyperextension/ GHD with BAR ON BACK – performed always with bar on back, great posterior chain builder, helps to open the chest and tight back. Recommended 2x10r before training to unlock and turn on important muscles, recommend 3-5 sets of 10 reps after training for strength and muscle building.

These were the exercises that Klokov feels are most important to the general population interested in weightlifting. After this there was a small Q&A with him and the best questions I could think of on the spot were answered by him. He said he is not a fan of good mornings because there are better exercises, he does not like snatches off blocks because they are easy, and cannot provide a recommendation behind reps/ sets for pressing. Unfortunately, I was not prepared for a Q&A session so I did not have a series of good questions for him.

After the Q&A, Klokov handed out signed posters to all of us. “Demand the Impossible” they say, with pictures of Klokov and the Again Faster equipment brand on them. I got a few pictures with him and thanked him and Igor for coming out and their instruction.

The day ended at 8:45 PM, after more than 12 hours of interaction with one of the world’s best weightlifters. I had set two comeback PRs and picked up a ton of valuable information as well as the confirmation of some of my current knowledge. The entire experience was well worth it and my only regret is that I didn’t ask Klokov more questions.

The biggest lesson of the day was learned while listening to Klokov speak. He talked about the importance of mental fortitude and strength of the mind in his broken English. He talked about the belief of achievement and being able to conquer weights that you might be afraid of. This carries over to all aspects of life, which is why the journey in the gym is more than just lifting heavy weights – it is about self-respect, introspection, determination, and discovering what drives you. It is about believing you can, you must, and will, as opposed to being afraid or unable. It was the way that this World Champion conveyed these beliefs that was the greatest lesson for me. Listening to someone who has achieved such greatness – in anything, any avenue – they will have similar insight. But the fact that these lessons came from one swole dude who can sling 530 pounds over his head and become the champion of the world make the message that much more powerful.

The end.

Some additional stuff from my instagram: 

http://instagram.com/p/tfjAMhxQJ5/

http://instagram.com/p/teddz1RQNy/?modal=true

Daily Good Moodivation #19 - Dream Big, then Chunk it Down

Do you dream big? Do you ever have moments of clarity, inspiration, and motivation towards some long-term vision, goal, or idea? Do you start to get really excited about the achievement of that thing, only to end up getting lost in the minutiae; all the little details and next steps required to accomplish what you are dreaming about, dragging you to a halt?

These are the common roadblocks we face to our ultimate success. Everyone deals with these same problems, and it is one of the reasons many of us lose sight of our goals. It all depends on how you 'structure' your dream to make it a reality.

Chunking it down is a concept I've used with great success for a couple years now. Personally, I've found it to be my most effective means to achieving goals I had originally thought were unobtainable. The concept is simple.

Draw an outline of the ultimate goal you want to achieve, and put a realistic timeline on it. Put this goal/ idea/ concept/ achievement/ dream whatever it is on the far left side of a sheet of paper, then just above it, write the amount of time you anticipate before it is obtained. Now you will begin chunking that objective down on the sheet of paper, in backwards chronological order. The key is to use progressively smaller steps that carry you towards it's achievement.

Create a reverse goal-timeline brainstorming outline. A perfect example of this is laying a sheet of paper wide left to right, and dividing it into 4 equal sections. On the far left, write at the top of the column with YEARLY, second to left write at the top MONTHLY, second to the right top with WEEKLY, and the far right column top it with DAILY.

Now in the far left column you obviously write what the final achievement is, whether it be get a job promotion, buy a house, save $20,000, lose 20 pounds, create side revenue stream... Whatever it is, you want to have it by the time one year is up. Next, in the monthly column, you will determine one or two steps towards that goal would look like. For saving $20,000, perhaps you want to put away $300 from each paycheck as well as create a monthly budget to reduce expenses. That is listed under monthly objectives. For the third column, weekly - you may list "eat out only once; cook at home for the week; no expensive nights out", all steps that incrementally add up towards your yearly goal on the left. For the final column, under daily - what will you do TODAY that is going to help you carry forward towards that achievement? Some ideas could be "pack a lunch to work", "determine monthly living expenses", "create excel spreadsheet with budget ideas".

The important thing here is to work backwards from what the ultimate goal is and chunk it down into realistic actions that can be accomplished each chronological step. Once you have done this, you must execute.

Now that you have your goal outline it is very important to reference this routinely and remind yourself of why you started in the first place. The last important piece of advice I can give to you in this regard is that when you are developing these yearly goals and objectives, it will serve you well to include in your journal or in a document somewhere, how you feel when you achieve the goal and why it is important to you. Answering these questions will make these achievements more real to you. Really try to envision the feelings you have when accomplishing one of your objectives as well as the importance of that thing.

Visualization will also remain a key factor in the achievement of anything great, so the more vividly you can see yourself achieving X, Y, or Z, the more likely your subconscious mind will work with you towards achieving it.

Remember - you all possess an infinite potential to become who you truly are meant to be. And who you are truly meant to be is seen in your brief moments of inspiration, motivation, and fiery passion. Those moments are fleeting connections with your true self, the higher purpose of our being, Do not let those slip away. Dream big and chunk it down so you can continue to feed the inspiration of the soul. 

Grant's Training - 'Strength' Microcycle Week 2

Monday 9/15  
Gym - Overall Strength
Recovery - Restorative Yoga

Tuesday 9/16 
Gym - Alactic Power
Recovery - Healing Yoga

Wednesday 9/17 
Gym - Aerobic Power
Recovery - Easy bike ride

Thursday 9/18 
Cardio - AM Bike Ride
Gym - OFF
Recovery - Level 1-2 Yoga and easy bike ride

Friday 9/19 
Cardio - AM Bike ride
Gym - CP Battery
Recovery - Power Yoga and easy bike ride

Saturday 9/13
Cardio - Bike Ride
Gym - OFF
Recovery - Level 1-2 Yoga

Sunday 9/14 - TBD

Monday's Training 9/15"Overall Strength"

AM BWT - 180.4 lb

Warm-up) Clean + Push Press:
165#/3+3, 185/3+3, 205/3+3
rest 2 minutes

A1) Clean:
225/2, 245/1, 225/3, 245/2, 255/1
rest 2 minutes
A2) DB Press:
70#/6 reps x 5 sets

rest 2 minutes

B1) Back Squat:
330#/5, 360/3, 375/1
335/5, 360/3, 380/1 
rest 2 minutes

B2) Wtd. Pull-up:
+15#/6, +20/6, +25/5
+30/5, +35/4, +45/4
rest 2 minutes

Tuesday's Training 9/16"Alactic Power"

AM BWT - 180.2 lb

A) Snatch (from floor):
(60/3)2, (70/3)2, 75/3, 80/3, 85/3

5 rounds, 3 minutes rest between:
A) TnG Snatch Pull:
110/5, 120/5, 120/5, 120/5, 120/5

B) Prowler Sprint:
50kg /5 , 5, 5, 5, 5

4 rounds, 3 minutes rest between:C) 5 Hang Power Snatch
60kg (warm-up), 65, 70, 70, 70

D) 100m incline run (on treadmill, incline 15, speed 12) 

Wednesday's Training 9/17"Aerobic Power"

AM BWT - 179.8 lb

A) Clean Deadlift + Clean Pull + Clean (from blocks, above knee):
70/1+2+3, 80/1+2+3, 90/1+2+3, 90/1+2+3

B) Clean (from blocks, above knee):
100/2, 110/2, 120/2, 125/2

C) 3 rounds, 3 minutes rest between:
1 Power Clean @ 165#
3 Push Press @ 165#
5 Front Squat @ 165#
30m Farmer's Walk @ 70#
*Completed 3 circuits per round... on round 3, in the 2nd circuit hurt back right rib on front squat and experienced pain - had to shut it down and could not complete. 

C) 10 Min AMRAP 
1 deficit HSPU
3 strict pull-ups
5 T2B
100m fast jog (speed 10 on treadmill)
*Completed 7 complete circuits with almost zero rest between any exercise.

Thursday's Training 9/18"RELAX RECOVER AND PREPARE FOR TOMORROW!!!"

Friday's Training 9/19"CP Battery"

AM BW - 180.2 lb

A) Find Press 1RM in 10 minutes from bar:

Bar/20 reps, 95#/5, 115/3, 135/2, 155/1, 165/1, 175/1

B) EMOM for 20 minutes:
Evens - Clean Deadlift @ 170 kg x 2 reps

Odds - Push Press (from rack) @ 215# x 2 reps

C) AFAP - 50 Pull-ups for time 
Each break perform 3 deficit HSPU
Completed in 7:30, PR - 16, 9, 7, 7, 6, 4, 1

Nutrition #10 - Ten things I've learned over the years

So I am sitting here reflecting on some of the most recent knowledge I've acquired over the past couple years. It has been a wild and productive journey in terms of health and fitness for me, and over the past one to two years have really been revolutionary in terms of things I've learned, research I've read, and various tools and techniques I've added to my arsenal to improve performance.

The biggest thing I've learned is obviously the diet impacts EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING - every aspect of your life can be improved by optimizing your diet. Period. You are what you eat. You also have one body - so start feeding your body the necessary nutrients to build a fortress meant to stand strong against ailments, disease, and the hardships of life.

Anyways - read on for my top ten most recent tips on nutrition, in no particular order.

#1 - Insulin manipulation is the key to fat loss.
What I mean by that - timing of carbohydrates is important for body composition. Studies show that working out while insulin is high will prevent fatty acid breakdown and mobilization. If your goal is to lose fat, exercise in a fasted state, or at least a very low insulin state. Consume your carbohydrates post workout or in the evening. No, they will not be stored as fat if you eat them at night, provided you are not consuming an excess of calories daily. They are more likely to be shunted towards your depleted muscle cells.

#2 - Fat is the best source of energy.
Consuming a diet with moderate to high fat content will keep your very energized, alert, and satiated through the day. Healthy fats like avocados, medium chain triglycerides such as coconut oil, omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA found in wild seafood, saturated fats in red meat and butter (NOT margarine!) will provide with long burning energy and keep you going all day long. Fat as fuel is the most 'metabolically benign' substance to burn in the body. It has 9 calories per gram, making it more energy dense than the 4 calories per gram of protein or carbohydrates, and can be readily use for energy without going through multiple pathways. I recommend a diet of around 50% calories by fat.

#3 - Plant based foods should make up the bulk of your diet.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are literally detoxifying agents by themselves, and are comparatively some of the most nutritionally dense substances on the planets. The vitamin, mineral, phytonutrient, and antioxidant capabilities of these sources make them a no brainer to include in your diet. Many studies have shown how they can lower all variety of stress related diseases, inflammatory diseases, anti-aging benefits, and other major benefits. They will keep you energized, keep your skin clear, your body functions operating smoothly, your digestion optimal, and the immune system ramped up. I recommend a green smoothie per day, and also some sort of vegetable with every meal. In terms of starch, if you are active, you should be eating sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, beets, yucca, tarro, and other starchy root vegetables as these are the best sources of glucose for your diet. Try to limit your fruit consumption to one or two servings a day, simply because of the higher sugar content in most fruit, and consume glucose based fruits.

#4 - Fasting as very effective for fat loss,
Especially when combined with fasted training. A very effective means to strip fat off your body, try to condense your 'feeding window' to a 6 to 8 hour period, and fast for the other 16 to 18 hours of the day. My favorite schedule was to eat from 1 PM to 7 PM, and doing some form of exercise at 7 or 8 AM, after 12 hours of fasting. Research has shown that lipolysis (fat breakdown) is ramped up around this mark and peaks somewhere around 16 hours. This also makes it much easier to follow a reduced calorie diet, since it will be more difficult to cram your daily allotment of food into such a small window.

#5 - The gut health and microbiome influence everything
Optimize your digestion, and you will feel 1000% better. We literally have more bacteria cells in our body than human cells - it is not an exaggeration to say that they control much of how we feel, look, and act. So many studies have shown how gut bacteria influence things like insulin and hormone levels which are major players in how you feel and perform. Having a dis-regulated gut can mean you are lacking absorption of key nutrients, producing and releasing low levels of neurotransmitters or hormones, simply not breaking down food properly, or experiencing fatigue, bloating, depression, mood swings, or other ailments. Again - optimize your digestion, and you will drastically improve your quality of life. I suggest reducing or completely eliminating food that wrecks your digestive health, such as alcohol, sugar, some artificial sugars, conventionally raised meat, vegetable seed oils, and refined grains (especially wheat). At the same time, ramp up your consumption of food to feed your 'good' gut bacteria. They feed on soluble fiber, and you want plenty of that from plant food such as sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and some fruit. Include fermented foods to increase the count of beneficial bacteria; high quality plain yogurt (no sugar added!), sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and kefir should be consumed as often as you enjoy. You will also benefit from the inclusion of some insoluble fiber from things like leafy green vegetables, which is essentially the cellulose in these plants - this cannot be broken down the body since we do not possess the enzyme cellulase. This will act as bulk to move stuff through the digestive tract and draw water to the intestines. Finally, a form of third fiber known as resistant starch is excellent food for the good bacteria and many report great improvements by including this in their diet - try including stuff such as green bananas (slice them and freeze them while still as green as possible then use them in smoothies), cooked then cooled potatoes, or cooked then cooled rice. This is a long tip but I believe this is the key to overall health, and we will find more and more emerging research on the influence of the gut microbiome on human epigenetics and other key factors to human health. 

#6 - Control you eating habits. 
By having scheduled meal times and preparing consistent meals, you are much less likely to snack. You will also become great at preparing certain meals and enjoy them more! This is an easy tip to follow that many people forget about or fail to utilize. Often times the snacking is what throws us over our maintenance calories for the day, leading to unwanted fat gain, lethargy, or blood sugar spikes. Avoid that by forcing yourself to eat at specific times throughout the day. This also has a huge benefit to regulate your circadian rhythm, making it easier to wake and sleep with the natural rhythm of the sun. You will see an increase in productivity, more stable energy, less hunger pangs and random cravings, and better sleep by following routine eating patterns. Start out by having three square meals a day at specific times, with roughly the same calorie content and macronutrient breakdown, and include at most one healthy snack if necessary.

#7 - Gluten should be avoided. 
The more we learn about the way gluten is broken down (or not broken down!) in the body, the more we should opt to avoid it. The fact of the matter is - gluten is a protein found in wheat and other agriculture crops such as barley, rye, and millet which contains what are known as lectins. Lectins are not broken down in the digestive tract and pass through the intestines binding to receptors in the intestinal wall to 'fool' the body into allowing them into the blood. All of a sudden we have a a permeable gut with 'foreign invaders' floating in our bloodstream, and we produce anti-bodies to eliminate them, causing a cascade of autoimmune responses. It is no wonder that celiac patients have a directly correlated increase in autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or MS. It is theorized that these lectins play a role is plant survival in order to improve chances of germination, especially after being consumed by predators. In this way, the germ of the grain can survive intact through the digestion process and be eliminated somewhere else in the world. Mother nature is smart... and scary! Anyways, to make a long tip short - because of these various properties on gluten and of how it interacts in the body, we tend to feel better when we avoid it. Less inflammation, better digestion, better mood, and a variety of other benefits have been reported by people who consume zero gluten.

#8 - A food journal is the best way to determine what works for you and what doesn't work for you. 
Logging how you feel after eating X, Y, or Z and comparing that to A, B, or C will do wonders if how you build your own personalized diet. This is why I do not write 'meal plans' for people - each personal has very individual differences. Based on how your genes express themselves, we may respond differently to different food sources. The standard chicken, broccoli, rice cutting diet is unconventional, lacks adequate vitamins and minerals, and is sub-optimal. You can also determine what I call the 'minimum effective dose' of carbohydrate intake for muscle gains and fat loss. For active individuals, there is such thing as too many carbohydrates, and there is such thing as too few carbohydrates. You must find your 'minimum effective dose' to make the BEST gains. I recommend tracking food intake in a journal such as sparkpeople.com for calorie content, as well as the ability to put in notes, or one such as cronometer.com which enables you to break macro and micronutrient contents of foods. Be sure to log things such as energy, mood, sleep, digestion, gas, bloating, cramps, strength, stamina.... Anything you can think of, since bad or reactive foods are likely to affect all of these!

#9 - Breakfast may or may not be important
A high protein, high fat breakfast will keep you strong, healthy, and happy all day. Skipping breakfast will keep your mind sharp, burn fat, and make you more productive. Having carbs with breakfast will slow you down, make you tired mid-day, and make you fat and weak. A bit of an exaggeration on the last part in terms of making you fat and weak, but carbs should be entirely avoiding in the beginning of the day. This ties back to the insulin manipulation point number one. Skip your bowl of oatmeal and have four whole eggs with sliced avocado and a bit of salsa or hot sauce instead. And please don't have toast with that!

#10 - Maximize your sleep quality
By reducing consumption hours before bed. I personally fast after 4:30 PM so it is at least 5 hours between my last meal and bedtime. Having low blood sugar and digestion activity promotes a very restful and deep sleep, as well as an easy rise out of bed. Experiment for a couple nights with no food several hours before sleep, and then throw in one night of a decent sized meal within an hour of bed. Gauge how you feel. Another slack hack I have used which can be included in this tip, is having 2-3 tsp of raw honey immediately before sleep. This will help level of liver glycogen and blood sugar. Many people awake in the middle of the night because of these dropping, so the honey will prevent that from happening. Sleep is the most critical component of recovery. Get it right and you will feel 1000% better.


Hopefully these tips provide some insight to your current state, and enable you to make some changes to improve your health. You control the ability to empower yourself and your life. Your health is your utmost priority. Once you perform optimally, you won't want to perform any other way. I encourage you - at some point, stick to a period of time where you are doing everything right. Record how you feel. Then go back to the lifestyle you had beforehand, and record any changes. You won't want to revert to old ways. Good luck to you and your journey.

Daily Good Moodivation #18 - Build Your Momentum with Small Wins

Do you ever wonder how you can more readily take steps towards some big goal you have? Everyone dreams big to a certain extent. It is what we do with those big dreams that make the difference in the world. By reverse engineering these dreams, we can work backward from them and provide a series of small wins that contribute to the momentum needed to succeed in our bigger goals.

This is an easy concept I love to talk about because it has so much of a positive impact when you really apply it in your life.

When we think of great achievements, sometimes we wonder how anyone ever accomplished such a feat. All we see is the accumulation of great ideas, consistent work, and a very long series of small successes that added up to be something massive.

That is what is important to realize - it is all the little things that add up to make something great.

Rome wasn't built in a day.
A strong, lean body takes years to fully sculpt.
Successful businesses very rarely show a profit early on...

Anything worthwhile is going to take time and energy to create. And it is this time and energy that makes the accomplishment so much more gratifying. Anyone who has ever put in the work to achieve something understands this paradigm.

So that leads me to discussing this idea of building your momentum with small wins. Very easy to follow.

First, determine what it is that you want. The ultimate picture. What does it look like? How do you feel when you have it? Visualize this, and paint this image as vividly as possible in your mind. From there, backtrack. What kind of things are required before your reach that pinnacle of achievement? Perhaps you have to build a relationship with someone who is in the field you want to get into. Maybe you need to join a club, or read a book, or take a class.

Think back on other big accomplishments you've had in your life and compare those timelines and events to the reverse engineering you will be doing here. Use a similar pattern or approach based on what you've done in the past.

Once you've got the major accomplishment broken down into smaller segments that lead up to the goal, it is time to break down further into a daily objectives list.

What is one thing you can do every day that will take you anywhere closer to the ultimate goal? 

Write that on a sticky note. Put it somewhere where you will see it daily, and remind yourself of it. Maybe your ultimate goal is to start a company, and you've decided the first thing you should do is read a book on opening a business. Read 20 pages daily. Maybe you want to lose fat and gain lean muscle mass, your reminders could be to remain disciplined on diet and stay consistent on your gym routine.

Whatever it is, remind yourself on a daily basis that there is at least one thing you can do to carry you towards your destination.

Now you have daily steps outlined. The last thing you should do is create positive habits which feed indirectly into the primary goal we identified. Remember - small wins = big successes. Your brain works in strange ways, any small achievement creates a stronger likelihood to remain disciplined for the more difficult tasks.

A good example of this is how people feel so great for the day after going for a short jog or having some sort of exercise early in the morning. This enables them to be higher achievers for that day, simply because they've unlocked their mind's potential for tackling more. All of a sudden, the problems and issues of the day become a bit less difficult due to the priming of their brain early on - accomplishing a small win in the early hours of rising.

Use various positive and motivating habits that are basically mindless and very easy to do such as brushing your teeth first thing upon rising, making the bed, laying out clothes for the day, or getting on the ground and banging out a set of push-ups. Anything to make you feel more accomplished, and the more of it the better.

Try to add value anywhere you can to your morning. Things like journaling about how you envision your day to go, you might find this adds incredible direction and momentum into your efforts. Smiling early on and simply reminding yourself to be thankful for what you have, enables you to embrace what you've got and stokes the fire within.

As you begin to do this more and more often, celebrate these small successes and remind yourself how every little thing is adding up to fill your sail with a powerful wind. Soon your ship will be cruising along with incredible momentum, and as you outline your daily objectives and envision your goals you are no longer doubtful of your ability - you are filled with a mounting passion for life and achievement. The mountains that seemed too far away and too tall to climb will be exciting challenges to face when you realize that the climbing gear is within your being and all you need to do is start pulling yourself up one small step at a time.

Good luck on your journey. Happy Monday everyone!