Client Response To "The Dialogues".

Cherie

"Everyone has days when they crave stuff they shouldn't have-alcohol, carbs! (oh, I do miss carbs), but I don't go around counting every calorie or wishing I could have this or that. Most days I don't even think about it. I eat a colourful salad, sip a green smoothie, crack open a tin of tuna- and I enjoy it. Even look forward to it (ok sometimes not the tuna). Sometimes I will give into the craving on those days, noone is perfect 100% of the time but it often is a conscious decision to ensure that "sometimes" doesn’t morph into "regular" or "often".

I know lots of men/women who refuse certain foods and beverages etc because they are following a training regime at various times- they aren’t considered boring by anyone I know. But if I do get asked why I'm not partaking, my response is simply - I don't feel like it (said with a smile!) or if I'm in a particularly hyper mood- I don't NEED it! :-)  It doesn’t have to be a big deal, I don’t have to be a martyr, I don’t have to provide a detailed explanation as to why my training goals don’t support a drinking habit, or a kebab complete with sour cream at 3am. I don’t have to be "that" girl, and in the end, if my friends don’t respect my choices, then perhaps I need new friends!

I'm not going to lie, wine was difficult to give up for the first week/end but again, now I don't even think about it unless I have a day like yesterday. However, even then, do I miss it because I want the wine or because it was simply a habit to reach for the glass after one of those looooong days at the office? When I finally dragged myself through the door at 8pm- I decided to reach for a glass of sparkling water instead and have an early night- which meant I still made it to my 6am yoga class and I felt great all day. I know that would not have happened if I'd had the wine -even if it was only a glass or two.

That's not to say I wouldn't have enjoyed the vino but it's about recognizing other pleasures derived from living by "the rules".

I am a creature of habit. A lot of the time the pleasure I derive from my actions/choices is largely due to the comfort of the habit, not necessarily the act/food/beverage itself.

A training program is not just about training your body, it's about training your mind, too.

However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to what you are willing to accept and/or sacrifice, you have to decide what makes you happy.

I'm not getting results at warp speed either- but I'm learning to enjoy living by the rules rather than dreading them- and for me that makes the process a whole lot more bearable (I also like to think it makes the days that I do fall off the wagon more forgivable!) and I hope, more successful, in the long term."

See the insightful people I get to work with?

And another client response: 

"... I agree with both of you...cos that’s how I feel...but saying that I know I have to be strict to get the results hence why I’m doing lite and easy, but the downside to that is only when I can afford it which means for say 1 to 2 weeks a month..I decide and then the bad things come back in! I know that  I have to make drastic changes to get the results and know that i couldn’t maintain that way of living...think eventually most people will get to the place they want to go (physically and mentally) but it does take everyone different times?"

Dialogues Regarding Nutrition.

I wanted to relay a recent email exchange a la (albeit post modernistic) Socrates or Hume on motivation, diet, and the seemingly absolutist position I take with my clients versus a more reasonable view pushed by my poor clients. Observe and see what you think?

Sarah

"Ok, about your blog. I have had some thoughts about motivating people who do not want to be motivated ... or maybe motivated in the way you feel motivated should be.

For example, I have changed my eating habits, drastically, in the past 8months and picked  up the gym stuff. Although taking some time off of alcohol would be beneficial, as well as a sticking to a strict diet would be awesome but is it about making lifestyle changes or is it about reaching a goal weight?  I’m sure I could lose my remaining 8 kilos (that’s really all I want to lose) if I stopped everything, but I would be miserable if I stopped drinking and eating. Not to say that drinking and eating are all I do for enjoyment, but I am single, go out on a lot of dates  and have a very active social life. I would much rather make long term changes to my behaviour, rather than a four week stint where I am miserable and counting down the days until I can share a bottle of wine with my friends. You know?  I could do a few weeks off, I would probably lose a few kilos, but would I gain it all back when I started living like my normal self again?  That would piss me off.

So the compromise is, working out and following your diet most of the time and still having indulgences. I look at other things, like how much my cholesterol and stuff has gone down (well the bad kind and my good kind has gone up). I know that probably sounds like crazy talk, because I freak out when I gain weight or my measurements don’t change, but I will get there eventually and have picked up some great habits along the way.

Does this make sense?"

My reply

""For example, I have changed my eating habits, drastically, in the past 8months and picked  up the gym stuff. Although taking some time off of alcohol would be beneficial, as well as a sticking to a strict diet would be awesome but is it about making lifestyle changes or is it about reaching a goal weigh?"
 

And I commend you for that, and yes the goal is to ultimately fix your habits, but the immediate goal is to reach target weight (one follows the other).

"I’m sure I could lose my remaining 8 kilos (that’s really all I want to lose) if I stopped everything, but I would be miserable if I stopped drinking and eating. Not to say that drinking and eating are all I do for enjoyment, but I am single, go out on a lot of dates  and have a very active social life. I would much rather make long term changes to my behaviour, rather than a four week stint where I am miserable and counting down the days until I can share a bottle of wine with my friends. You know?  I could do a few weeks off, I would probably lose a few kilos, but would I gain it all back when I started living like my normal self again?  That would piss me off. "

I think the larger problem here is you equate having fun with alcohol and junk food, and being miserable with the loss of both, that's a real problem. Do you really feel those things are all you have or need? Your social life doesn't need to mean eating crap and filling your body with junk, does it? I agree, it is important to focus on the long term, but I'm not sure that's how you actually feel, this feels more like confirmation bias, that you're justifying a position after the fact. You were really intense about your results, about getting them fast, made me do 2 assessments in 4 weeks, these are not the actions of someone who is taking their time. This feels a little like you wanting to simply take time off training and go partying for a few weeks, which is of course your prerogative, but it's hard for me to take your goals seriously.

"So the compromise is, working out and following your diet most of the time and still having indulgences. I look at other things, like how much my cholesterol and stuff has gone down (well the bad kind and my good kind has gone up). I know that probably sounds like crazy talk, because I freak out when I gain weight or my measurements don’t change, but I will get there eventually and have picked up some great habits along the way."

Again, great! But I don't think that's what's going on, or rather, don't think that's all that's going on. You don't get results by training some of the time, and eating junk and drinking the rest, all you'll do is stay exactly where you are, and work twice as hard. Unfortunately fat loss is a strict, horrible thing, and it requires constant diligence and hard work.

I'm not getting on your case, just trying to be honest. But ultimately it's your time, you do what you need to do, it's my job to try and make you stick to what works, ultimately it's you who decides if they want to do that.

"Does this make sense?"

Unfortunately not really, to me at least... but you've gotta do what you need to do, and I'm not going anywhere... so I'll always be there to help, anyway I can :)"

Sarah

"galub juman, not idea but everyday either. There is a compromise in this. I only really drink on Friday and Saturday, nothing in the week. It’s not balls to the walls drinking, like pre mixes and cocktails- I drink dry white wine or vodka soda water and fresh lime. I mean, the alcohol content is bad and drinking is not ideal but I’m not adding to anything with sugar syrup and juices. I don’t patricianly care what I eat, but I hate being ‘that girl’ who doesn’t want to go out to dinner because she is dieting. I order sensibly, but then again may eat a piece of bread of something.

I think there has to be some sort of balance, as you can become obsessed with weight loss and dieting and become consumed. Those girls are really annoying. No one wants to hang out with that girl.

I do have holidays booked, this year, more often than not. Part of those holidays are balls or eating at new restaurants or whatever. I guess that is what we do ... how we roll, but I am mindful.

Weight loss  is not meant to be easy, I get that. Then again, I don’t think it is supposed to be miserable. I haven’t struggled in cutting out the food that I have, with the exception of sandwiches.  There just has to be some sort of compromise. I guess that is what my point is ... yes, results won’t come as fast with a compromise, but then again if you can find that compromise it is a lot easier to maintain. Yes?"

My reply

""I think it would be a different social time for me if I were to stop eating and drinking . Really i don’t think the eating is too much of a problem ... I mean I am usually pretty good, even when I am drinking ... My big I need to eat when I am hung over is usually something like a veggie subway or something like that. I still don’t eat meat, so it’s not like I’m going all out on the food but there are occasions, I hosted a dinner party for my friends family last weekend .. .which did include a range of curries and galub juman, not idea but everyday either. There is a compromise in this. I only really drink on Friday and Saturday, nothing in the week. It’s not balls to the walls drinking, like pre mixes and cocktails- I drink dry white wine or vodka soda water and fresh lime. I mean, the alcohol content is bad and drinking is not ideal but I’m not adding to anything with sugar syrup and juices. I don’t patricularly care what I eat, but I hate being ‘that girl’ who doesn’t want to go out to dinner because she is dieting. I order sensibly, but then again may eat a piece of bread of something."

And again, I commend you, but as far as taking steps to lose the weight you want? You've really only taken the first of 10 steps, for example, I'm dieting at the moment (see here and here), I'm training 6 times a week, structuring all my meals and it's still happening slowly, I don't drink, I don't eat junk, and it's a really slow process (I'm planning on doing 6months of this). I enjoy this though, I like looking good and being healthy, that makes me happy, but it wasn't always so, I used to only eat 6 pies a day, do no exercise and drink everyday etc etc, the point is I changed the way I viewed the world, because I wanted the results. The measures and changes you're doing above are great, really. But they're nothing in the scheme of things, and you're not going to change your body type at all, unless you get drastic, even just for a short time... You can go to dinners, go clubbing, do whatever you want, without breaking the rules...

"Weight loss  is not meant to be easy, I get that. Then again, I don’t think it is supposed to be miserable. I haven’t struggled in cutting out the food that I have, with the exception of sandwiches.  There just has to be some sort of compromise. I guess that is what my point is ... yes, results won’t come as fast with a compromise, but then again if you can find that compromise it is a lot easier to maintain. Yes?"

It's not supposed to be miserable, but again, I think you're associating dieting with being miserable, which is not the way to go about it, you need to look at it as doing what you need to to get the goals you say you desire, otherwise you're just spinning your wheels.See on a dieting program, you should be looking at sandwiches as junk food, not the exception. I think, if you find a compromise all you're going to do is die by a thousand degrees (or compromises in this case). You need an objective standard (calories restriction and counting), objective guidelines (X amount of protein per day, X amount of training per week) otherwise you have no idea what you're doing and it becomes a matter of throwing everything at the problem and hoping something sticks, which is obviously silly :)"

This addresses many of the complaints the "regular" person has with training and diet, and my objections to that. I think this dialogue can be helpful to those attempting to diet, both to see you're not the only one struggling and to see what my objections to your queries may be.

Alwyn Cosgrove On Aerobic Training.

 Check out this article for the full details

"These researchers found that aerobic exercise doesn’t work at all — the weight loss after six months to a year is less than 4lbs. I’d say that it still does That takes us 2 weeks at Results Fitness.

There are several other studies showing no effect of aerobic exercise on weight loss when compared to dieting alone. There are a ton of benefits to low intensity aerobic exercise, but time and time again, research and the real world have shown that it’s not an effective tool for fat loss training or really an effective use of your time if that’s your goal. 

As far as exercise for fat loss goes – Strength training is number one. Metabolic circuits and interval training are number two. But they all fall a long way short of a solid nutrition plan.

14 studies on weight loss and aerobic exercise with 1847 participants have failed to show any meaningful results. Isn’t it time we faced the truth that it just isn’t a fat loss tool?" (Cosgrove 2011)

Reference
Cosgrove A., (2011). Aerobic Exercise and Weight Loss Research.

Killsession Musings Part 3.

I guess it's time for some general thoughts of mine, firstly, a comment on gym etiquette (for more see here), who do you notice in the gym, that erks your niblets? As I look around the gym/s I frequent there's always the usual suspects, may I list them for you?

1. Guy wearing sunglasses
2. Guy who stinks
3. Guy throwing weights
4. Guy dropping weights
5. Guy grunting (with his 7.5kg dumbbell)
6. Guy who spends all the time in the gym and never makes any progress
7. Guy with no towel
8. Tough guy (wannabe?)
9. Guy doing UFC style workouts (with his "Tapout" shirt on, looking suitably gruff)
10. Guy who half squats (and indeed half "everything's")

The list goes on and on, we see these people all the time, and largely they count as male, and largely they count as meatheads (a sexist term?), if we could list this as the foibles of men (?) what are, indeed, the foibles of women? Allow the Killsession muser to pontificate:

1. Cardio bunny girl
2. Girl suffering from "Skinny fat" syndrome
3. Class girl

(For more on this see here)
The so-called stereotypes of women appear to be far less common and far less offensive to the senses than the men, is this a function of testosterone? Or simply the fact that men proliferate the weight room, and women generally (although thankfully the paradigm is changing) the group fitness room.

Hmm what else does the muser wish to discuss today? What about "Calories in vs Calories out"? There is some discussion, usually amongst the ignorant (not used in a pejorative sense) that fat loss (or weight gain) is simply a matter of "Caloric intake is X, simply make sure you consume X (plus or minus X to lose/gain weight), no matter where the Calories come from". What is missed here is macronutrient distribution, we need to ask the question when designing fat loss diets "are carbs and fat and protein as metabolically active as each other (hence interchangeable)?" The answer to this is no, they're not. The reason we (I) push a focus on protein is for several reason, but not the least of which being, it's thermic or metabolism raising effects. Your body has to work (i.e- burn Calories) to digest protein (break down into composite amino acids for various functions in the body, for more see here), that requires energy, whereas fat and carbs can basically be seen as metabolically dead.

Moving on, let's discuss diet briefly. What do you need to do to get lean? Simply? Cut out the shit food and alcohol, as Dan John says, we're not children anymore, yet so many of us still eat like we are.  It's really that simple. Yet it is the hardest thing for people to do. Your results come from your diet, you can't out train that fact, the tips I've given on this blog (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here) are what you need to do, yet I still see status updates on FB and receive emails from my clients about their drinking, junk food etc. What can I do as a trainer to motivate those who don't wish to be?

Destination: Abs (Redux)- Wk1.

Well, as of Wednesday night I hurt my back, quite intensely, but not to much actual damage, it was more a muscle "twang" with resulting soreness that actually, if you could look at it this way, was quite fortuitous as it alerted me (with the aid of the photo in this blog) to a problem I have, which is "anterior pelvic tilt" (for more see here). I've since been on a rehab program and addressing movement deficiencies and I gotta tell ya, I feel better, as in complete relief, I did HIIT on Thursday night, and thought I'd still be too sore to do my MRT on Friday, but after extensive foam roll, stretching and activation on my abs and glutes I felt good, so proceeded to do a light MRT workout, where I hurt my back even more... just joking. It was a really good workout, I focused on posteriorly tilting my pelvis by actively activating my glutes and abs, which helped "turn the lights on" (coupled with my prior activation drills) and make the exercises I was doing flow properly. I experienced almost no discomfort during training itself, felt fine afterwards and this morning.

I'd forgotten how bullshit hard MRT training is, and how much I have been getting on my clients backs for work that is really intense!

Alternating Set System
Day 1- MRT- Phase 1	Set	Rep	Rest	Wk1
A1: Fr-Squat Psh Press Cmbo	3	15	30	40kg, 40kg, 40kg
A2: Seated Cable Row	3	15	30	60kg, 65kg, 65kg
B1: DB Step Up	3	15ea	30	10kg, 10kg, 10kg
B2: Pushup (on Fitball)	3	15	30	BW, BW, BW
C1: Back Extension	2	15	0	BW, BW
C2: Plank	2	60s	30	60s, 50s,
Day 2- HIIT
5-10 min warm up				5 min run around GF room
1 minute on	5			1,1,1,1,1
2 mins off	5			Boxing Intervals
Cool down 3-5 mins				5min cooldown
Day 3- MRT	Set	Rep	Rest	Wk1
A1: Deadlift	3	15	30	60kg, 60kg, 60kg
A2: DB Alt Military Press	3	15	30	12.5kg, 15kg,15kg
B1: DB RFESS	3	15ea	30	12.5kg, 12.5kg, 2.5kg
B2: Wide Grip Pulldown	3	15	30	75kg, 75kg, 75kg
C1: Landmine	2	15ea	0	45kg,45kg
C2: Rollout	2	15	30	8, 6
Day 4- HIIT
5-10 min warm up				5min warm up
1 minute on	5			1,1,1,1,1
2 mins off	5			X-Trainer Intervals
Cool down 3-5 mins				5min cooldown
Day 5- MRT	Set	Rep	Rest	Wk1
A1: Fr-Squat Psh Press Cmbo	3	15	30	25kg, 25kg,30kg
A2: Seated Cable Row	3	15	30	55kg, 55kg, 60kg
B1: DB Step Up	3	15ea	30	7.5kg, 7.5kg, 10kg
B2: Pushup (on Fitball)	3	15	30	BW, BW, BW
C1: Glute Bridge	2	15	0	BW, BW
C2: Plank	2	60s	30	30s, 45s
Day 6- HIIT
5-10 min warm up
1 minute on	5
2 mins off	5
Cool down 3-5 mins

As far as diet goes, I've been strict this week, with "cheat" meals cming from 2 Quorn lasagnges on Wednesday night (650 Cals) which I subsitituted for half of my vegetable smoothy (211 Cals) and my post workout tofu mean (432 Cals), which put me even. I also had 4 vegtarian sausages on Friday night with 2 pieces of wholemeal bread which is about another 250 Cals on top, but I removed my last half of the vegetarian smoothy, so it came out close.

I've also removed the tofu and vegetarian sausages as of Thursday, and replaced it with chicken and veggies. I did this for several reasons (1) the incomplete protein, they say all your amino acids go into a "pool" where incomplete proteins get filled by the complete ones you ingest, still I don't think I'm getting the kind of thermic effect from the vegetarian proteins that a complete protein will give, (2) the sodium content of vewgetarian meals is ridiculous, I was consuming upwards of 1.5g a day (upper limit is less than that), I was getting headaches, this is not healthy.

Diet
Monday- 3200 Cals	T-S- 2600 Cals	Sunday- 2100 Cals
Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast
Oats/milk/30g pro powdr	Egg/whites/Spinach	Smoothy
Protein- 39g	Protein- 32.5g	Protein-29g
Carbs- 41g	Carbs- 1.5	Carbs- 45g
Fat- 8.2g	Fat- 13.4g	Fat- 4g
Total- 415 Cals	Total- 260 Cals	Total- 429 Cals
Morning Tea	Morning Tea	Morning Tea
x2veg sausages	Chicken/Mixed Vegetables	Egg/whites/Spinach
x1 multigrain bread	Protein-46.5g	Protein- 32.5g
butter	Carbs- 13.5	Carbs- 1.6
glass hi-lo milk	Fat- 18.2	Fat- 13.4g
Protein- 43.3g	Total- 420 Cals	Total- 260 Cals
Carbs- 31.5
Fat- 18g
Total- 473 Cals
Post Sleep	Post Sleep	Lunch
Vegetable smoothy	Vegetable smoothy	Chicken/Mixed Vegetables
Protein- 46.6g	Protein- 46.6g	Protein-46.5g
Carbs- 37.9g	Carbs- 37.9g	Carbs- 13.5
Fat- 3g	Fat- 3g	Fat- 18.2
Total- 411 Cals	Total- 411 Cals	Total- 420 Cals
Before Work	Before Work	Afternoon Tea
Smoothy	Smoothy	Vegetable smoothy
Protein-29g	Protein-58g	Protein- 46.6g
Carbs- 45g	Carbs- 90g	Carbs- 37.9g
Fat- 4g	Fat- 8.2	Fat- 3g
Total- 429 Cals	Total- 429 Cals	Total- 411 Cals
Post Workout Shake	Post Workout Shake	Dinner
x2 up n go/30g protein	x2 up n go/30g pro	Chicken/Mixed Vegetables
Protein- 45.1g	Protein- 45.1g	Protein-46.5g
Carbs- 55.7g	Carbs- 55.7g	Carbs- 13.5
Fat- 8.3g	Fat- 8.3g	Fat- 18.2
Total- 517 Cals	Total- 517 Cals	Total- 420 Cals
Post Workout Meal	Dinner	Evening
tofu/glass hi-lo milk	Chicken/Mixed Vegetables	Egg/whites/Spinach
Protein- 39.2	Protein-46.5g	Protein- 32.5g
Carbs- 36.4	Carbs- 13.5	Carbs- 1.6
Fat- 22.7	Fat- 18.2	Fat- 13.4g
Total- 432 Cals	Total- 420 Cals	Total- 260 Cals
Before Work
Smoothy
Protein-29g
Carbs- 45g
Fat- 4g
Total- 429 Cals
Protein-276.2g	Protein- 268.9g	Protein- 233.6g
Carbs- 292.5g	Carbs- 198.6g	Carbs- 113.1g
Fat- 68.2g	Fat- 73.6	Fat- 70.2g
Max Total- 3109 Cals	Max Total-2460 Cals	Max Total- 2200 Cals

Articles.

• What happens when you stop training?
• Lowering the Barbell
• For Your Viewing Pleasure: Take 42
• Work the Whole Back Side of the Body With One Move: Part 3
• Good Reads For the Week
• The Rear-Leg Abducted Single Leg Deadlift
• Pushing the Envelope
• 5 Healthy Workday Snack Foods
• 5 Healthy Kid-Friendly Recipes
• Q&A: Resistance Band Exercises for Runners
• Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 8/3/11
• Overtraining: The Most Common Cause for Hitting a Plateau
• Are Traditionally Prepared Grains Healthy?
• Top Ten Strength Reads, 7/27/2011
• 9 Steps to Rebalance Your Fat Intake
• T-Nation Article on Crunches 

And more in this issue here.

• Avoid These Fitness Time-Wasters
• 45 Ways to Live an Incredible Life
•  Metabolic Workouts for Fat Loss – A Waste of Time?
• Follow-up on Farewell to Paleo, and Comments on Confirmation Bias
•  Bench Press
• Descent into Madness 
• Take Your Pull-Ups to the Next Level
•  Good Reads for the Week 
• What is Obesity? 
• The REAL Truth About Running A Great Training Business 
• Elite Personal Training: Caring for the Client 
• The First Step To Personal Training Success 
• The #1 Tip for the Hormonally F*cked Hardgainer 
• Lean Gaining- Keep it in Perspective 
• The Modern “Gym” 
• 3 Exercises I Have Omitted from My Programs 
• Shoulder Mobility Sucks? Increase Your T-Spine ROM 
• If You Had One Supplement To Take… 
• New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) rules planned for the supplement industry
• Why I Don’t Like BMI

And more here.

• Blueberry Mojito Shrimp salad
• Gardein Party for Meatless Mondays: Southwestern "Chicken" Enchiladas
• Grilled Mahi with Blueberry-Mango Salsa

Dealing With Anterior Tilt.

Look at the forward tilt of my pelvis, how my glutes sit high.

As many of you who read this blog may have noted I have been complaining of low back pain for the last few months (here, here, here), I've tried different strategies; changing training times, general foam rolling and stretching for the lower body complex, with little relief. Some of you may be asking "why not just see a physio?" and that would be a wise and just question, the answer? Nothing profound, I'm a guy, we fear doctors.

It wasn't until I put this photo up on this blog the other day that I got a really good demonstration of what the possible problem could be, as you can see my pelvis is tilted, quite dramatically in an anterior (frontal) position, so I figured I would research a hunch I had, that it could be what is known as anterior pelvic tilt (a tilting of the pelvis that causes contraindication). I asked what were my symptoms? Tight hamstrings, sore low back, weak abs. Due to this, I worked on my posterior chain relentlessly, figuring that was where the problem was (this is the pain site vs pain source problem), well upon research these problems are consistent with an anteriorly tilted pelvis, and what are the recommendations? Stay away from stretching posterior  (hip extensor) muscles such as the glutes and hamstrings, as they only appear tight, but are actually at adequate or above adequate length.

Kendall et al in their hernia inducing book Muscles: Testing and Function with Posture and Pain define the Kyphoic-lordotic (defined roughly as: "characterized by a convex curvature of the thoracic spine and an inwardly curved lower back resulting from the pelvis being tilted forward.") posture and possible causes:

"Four groups of muscle support the pelvis in anteroposterior alignment. The low back extensors pull upward on the pelvis posteriorly, the hamstrings pull downward posteriorly, the abdominal muscles pull upward anteriorly, and the hip flexors pull downward anteriorly. With good muscle balance the pelvis is maintained in good alignment. With muscle imbalance, the pelvis tilts anteriorly, the low back arches forward into a position of lordosis. In this position there is undue compression posteriorly on the vertebrae, and the articulating facets, and undue tension on the anterior longitudinal ligamnet in the lumbar area." (Kendall et al pg 223, 2005)

The result is roughly what I have above, the problem, as mentioned above, with what I was doing, was it didn't cater to my specific pathology. I was throwing everything at the problem, hoping something would stick, you don't need to tell me how silly that was. The small amount of relief I felt would have been due to the fact that I was foam rolling and stretching my hip flexors and low back. Kendall et all 2005 suggest that to reduce the anterior tilt of the pelvis there are several steps I need to follow:

1. Strengthen the anterior abdominal muscles (Rectus Femoris, External Obliques)
2. Strengthen hip extensor muscles (Glutes and Hamstrings)
3. Stretch tight low back and hip flexor muscles (Spinal Erectors, Rectus Femoris, TFL, Psoas, Illiacus) (Kendall et al pg 223,  2005)

The authors go on to suggest that the weakness in the abdominal muscles allows the pelvis to tilt forward due to the fact that they are unable to upwardly pull on the pelvis to maintain it's correct alignment, this also causes the low back to go into lordosis (curvature), which causes pain across the low back.The tight hip flexors can cause reduced range of motion in hip extension (think the top part of a deadlift movement when you drive your hips forward), therefore contributing to weak hip extensor muscles.(Kendall et al pg 223-4-5, 2005)

How is this caused? Well there are many causes, one of which is sitting at a desk or in the sitting position for long periods of time, which I do, I spend a butt load of time at the computer (you couldn't tell with all the blogging).

So far I've been sticking to the HIIT (will attempt a light MRT session tomorrow night) and doing specific foam roll drills (with cricket balls into my TFL and glutes), and stretching of the aforementioned hip flexors.  After that, to strengthen my core and glutes I superset glute bridges (10 reps) with planks (30-45s).

Further reading
Hips Don't Lie: Fixing Your Force Couples

Reference
Kendall F.P., McCreary E.K., Provance P.G., Rodgers M.M., Romani W.A., (2005). Muscles: Testing and Function with Posture and Pain. Baltimore, MD. Lippencott Williams & Watkins. Pp- 223, 224, 225.

Destination: Abs (Redux)- Prequel.

So I've spent the weekend organising my dieting schedule, basic meal plan and am ready to get started, I'm chucking up my basic template before I begin, just to show you what I'll be eating and what my measurements are, prior to dieting. Dion graciously did my pre dieting measurements on Friday- 29/07/2011 (I start dieting on the Monday), they were as follows:

Height- 185cm
Weight- 93.6kg
Bodyfat Percentage (skin folds)
Tricep- 17mm
Bicep- 3mm
Subscapula- 16mm
Supraillium- 25mm
Total- 61mm
Bodyfat Percentage= 22%.
OMRON= 17.2%

Girths
Arms Relaxed- R- 36cm, L- 37cm
Thighs- R 62.5cm, L 62.6cm
Chest- 102.5cm
Waist- 91.5cm
Hips 102.5cm

From this I could calculate my Caloric intake:

BMR= 66 + (13.7 X 93kgs) 1274.5 + (5 x 185cms) 925 - (6.8 x 29) 197.2= 2067.9 Calories
 
BMR= 2067.9 Calories/day

To work out total Calories:

2067.9 x PAL (1.55)= 3205.2 Calories/day

Total Caloric intake= 3205.2 Calories/day

To lose 0.5 kg/week:

3205.2 - 500=  2705.2 Calories/day

To lose 1kg/week:

3289.2 - 1000= 2205.2 Calories/day

I will be following a limit of 3100 on Monday, which will be a carb load/high Calorie day, followed by Tuesday-Saturday being moderately low days, I'll be sitting at about 2600 Calories, with an emphasis on protein. Sunday will be the low calorie, high protein day, I'll be sitting at roughly 2200 Calories, ready to prime my metabolism for the high Calorie day on Monday. This constant disturbance in Calories should help reduce body fat fast, while maintaining a strong metabolism, I'll re-adjust Calories weekly, according to the drop in bodyfat %.

The training program for the first month looks as follows, a 6 day, 3 MRT, 3 HIIT program iwth undulating periodization.

Alternating Set System
Day 1- MRT- Phase 1	Set	Rep	Rest	Wk1		Wk3
A1: Fr-Squat Psh Press Cmbo	3	15	30
A2: Seated Cable Row	3	15	30
B1: DB Step Up	3	15ea	30
B2: Pushup (on Fitball)	3	15	30
C1: Back Extension	2	15	0
C2: Plank	2	60s	30
Day 2- HIIT
5-10 min warm up
1 minute on	5
2 mins off	5
Cool down 3-5 mins
Day 3- MRT	Set	Rep	Rest	Wk1		Wk3
A1: Deadlift	3	15	30
A2: DB Alt Military Press	3	15	30
B1: DB RFESS	3	15ea	30
B2: Wide Grip Pulldown	3	15	30
C1: Landmine	2	15ea	0
C2: Rollout	2	15	30
Day 4- HIIT
5-10 min warm up
1 minute on	5
2 mins off	5
Cool down 3-5 mins
Day 5- MRT	Set	Rep	Rest	Wk1		Wk3
A1: Fr-Squat Psh Press Cmbo	3	15	30
A2: Seated Cable Row	3	15	30
B1: DB Step Up	3	15ea	30
B2: Pushup (on Fitball)	3	15	30
C1: Back Extension	2	15	0
C2: Plank	2	60s	30
Day 6- HIIT
5-10 min warm up
1 minute on	5
2 mins off	5
Cool down 3-5 mins
Alternating Set System-
Day 1- MRT- Phase 1	Set	Rep	Rest		Wk2		Wk4
A1: Deadlift	3	15	30
A2: DB Alt Military Press	3	15	30
B1: DB RFESS	3	15ea	30
B2: Wide Grip Pulldown	3	15	30
C1: Landmine	2	15ea	0
C2: Rollout	2	15	30
Day 2- HIIT
5-10 min warm up
1 minute on	5
2 mins off	5
Cool down 3-5 mins
Day 3- MRT	Set	Rep	Rest		Wk2		Wk4
A1: Fr-Squat Psh Press Cmbo	3	15	30
A2: Seated Cable Row	3	15	30
B1: DB Step Up	3	15ea	30
B2: Pushup (on Fitball)	3	15	30
C1: Back Extension	2	15	0
C2: Plank	2	60s	30
Day 4- HIIT
5-10 min warm up
1 minute on	5
2 mins off	5
Cool down 3-5 mins
Day 5- MRT	Set	Rep	Rest		Wk2		Wk4
A1: Deadlift	3	15	30
A2: DB Alt Military Press	3	15	30
B1: DB RFESS	3	15ea	30
B2: Wide Grip Pulldown	3	15	30
C1: Landmine	2	15ea	0
C2: Rollout	2	15	30
Day 6- HIIT
5-10 min warm up
1 minute on	5
2 mins off	5
Cool down 3-5 mins

This is my basic meal plan

Diet
Monday- 3200 Cals	T-S- 2600 Cals	Sunday- 2100 Cals
Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast
Oats/milk/30g pro powdr	Egg/whites/Spinach	Smoothy
Protein- 39g	Protein- 32.5g	Protein-29g
Carbs- 41g	Carbs- 1.5	Carbs- 45g
Fat- 8.2g	Fat- 13.4g	Fat- 4g
Total- 415 Cals	Total- 260 Cals	Total- 429 Cals
Morning Tea	Morning Tea	Morning Tea
x2veg sausages	x2veg sausages	Egg/whites/Spinach
x1 multigrain bread	x1 multigrain bread	Protein- 32.5g
butter	butter	Carbs- 1.6
glass hi-lo milk	glass hi-lo milk	Fat- 13.4g
Protein- 43.3g	Protein- 43.3g	Total- 260 Cals
Carbs- 31.5	Carbs- 31.6
Fat- 18g	Fat- 18g
Total- 473 Cals	Total- 473 Cals
Post Sleep	Post Sleep	Lunch
Vegetable smoothy	Vegetable smoothy	Chicken/Mixed Vegetables
Protein- 46.6g	Protein- 46.6g	Protein-46.5g
Carbs- 37.9g	Carbs- 37.9g	Carbs- 13.5
Fat- 3g	Fat- 3g	Fat- 18.2
Total- 411 Cals	Total- 411 Cals	Total- 420 Cals
Before Work	Before Work	Morning Tea
Smoothy	Smoothy	Vegetable smoothy
Protein-29g	Protein-58g	Protein- 46.6g
Carbs- 45g	Carbs- 90g	Carbs- 37.9g
Fat- 4g	Fat- 8.2	Fat- 3g
Total- 429 Cals	Total- 429 Cals	Total- 411 Cals
Post Workout Shake	Post Workout Shake	Dinner
x2 up n go/30g protein	x2 up n go/30g pro	Chicken/Mixed Vegetables
Protein- 45.1g	Protein- 45.1g	Protein-46.5g
Carbs- 55.7g	Carbs- 55.7g	Carbs- 13.5
Fat- 8.3g	Fat- 8.3g	Fat- 18.2
Total- 517 Cals	Total- 517 Cals	Total- 420 Cals
Post Workout Meal	Post Workout Meal	Evening
tofu/glass hi-lo milk	tofu/glass hi-lo milk	Egg/whites/Spinach
Protein- 39.2	Protein- 39.2	Protein- 32.5g
Carbs- 36.4	Carbs- 36.4	Carbs- 1.6
Fat- 22.7	Fat- 22.7	Fat- 13.4g
Total- 432 Cals	Total- 432 Cals	Total- 260 Cals
Before Bed
Smoothy
Protein-29g
Carbs- 45g
Fat- 4g
Total- 429 Cals
Protein-276.2g	Protein- 264.7g	Protein- 233.6g
Carbs- 292.5g	Carbs- 239.6	Carbs- 113.1g
Fat- 68.2g	Fat- 73.6	Fat- 70.2g
Max Total- 3109 Cals	Max Total-2522 Cals	Max Total- 2200 Cals