Fitness Black Book

Avoiding the Sun to Avoid Skin Cancer? Recent Studies Challenge That Advice.

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:09:10 +0000

My perfect day involves an 85-90 degree day at a beach (preferably with waves), my girlfriend, other friends, a lounge chair, a cooler full of sandwiches and beer. Honestly…I could repeat that day 10,000 times on various beaches of the world an never get bored. The thing is, I'm a fair skinned German-Irish-Scandinavian mixed breed. I've always felt a bit of guilt for going out in the sun, because we've been trained that it is like playing Russian Roulette with skin cancer. Fair skinned people like me are especially warned to avoid sun exposure. Is that sound advice?

[Why am I writing about sun tanning in December? Well...this blog has a large readership from Australia and New Zealand. I figured I would do a summer post that would match their seasons for once.]

How to Build Muscle If Your Joints Hurt

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:20:25 +0000

When I was first training back in the late 80's I assumed that to build bigger muscles I would have to constantly lift heavier and heavier weights. To a certain extent that is true, but there are ways to make a lighter weight "work" your muscles much harder than normal. The guy with the most impressive chest I have ever seen in person never benched more than 205 pounds. He told me that anything heavier "made his joints hurt"…so he used lighter weight to get the job done. This past summer I got stronger than ever at chin ups and shoulder pressing, but my elbows began to hurt and I decided to mix in a 3-4 month period of light lifting to give my joints a much-needed break. I'll outline what I'm doing.

One Exercise Per Muscle Group?

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:08:54 +0000

Today, I'd like to look at the idea of focusing on just one exercise per muscle group, compared to using a variety of exercises. If you have never tried a workout where you do 8-10 sets of the same exercise, you will probably be in for a shock.

Starvation Mode – Why You Probably Never Need to Worry About It

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:56:32 +0000

Starvation mode is a term that gets thrown around loosely. Many people believe that too little protein or too few of calories in a day will cause loss of muscle mass.

The 30-30 HIIT Cardio Workout. A Great "Go-to" HIIT Workout.

admin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:45:56 +0000

I roughly remember my first HIIT cardio workout. I had read an article in Muscle Media 2000, written by Shawn Phillips (in 1993 I think) describing a way to do cardio to burn fat like crazy.

"Compound Exercise Overload" to Force Muscle Growth and Gain Strength

admin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:22:25 +0000

Compound Exercise Overload is a technique I recently heard about through Nick Nilsson's newsletter. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks to me like it would work extremely well for gaining muscle quickly.

The "4 X 7" Model of Periodization Using Body Weight Training

admin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:29:03 +0000

I'm going to do something I haven't ever done before on this blog. I'm basically going to do half a post, then send you over to another site to get the rest of the info. I'm not an expert on this subject and just want to guide you in the right direction. If you think "4 X 7" means 4 sets of 7 reps, then you would be mistaken. It is referring to something quite a bit different than that.

[I learned about 4 X 7 periodization from my buddy Ryan. I had a beer with him earlier this year in Seattle and he told me of his plans to move to Malta. I thought he was crazy until I saw some of his photos. This place is amazing!]

Outdoor Progressive Interval Training. Fat Burning HIIT, In the Great Outdoors.

admin — Wed, 25 May 2011 22:03:59 +0000

It is possible to do effective interval training outdoors, but you have to take a slightly different approach compared to doing them on a treadmill. With a typical cardio machine you can adjust the intensity level by simply pressing a button. When you perform intervals outdoors, you are simply guessing at how hard you need to run for the intense portion of the interval. I plan on outlining a solution and better way to perform HIIT when you aren't near a cardio machine.

SpeedX ™ – CrossFit for Fat Loss

admin — Tue, 17 May 2011 00:18:35 +0000

I wanted to put up a post specifically on CrossFit for fat loss. In this post, I found an innovative CrossFit gym that has developed a fat loss program called SpeedX. The gym is called BRICK Sport Performance, it is located in sunny West Hollywood not too far from Venice Beach.

The CrossFit Explosion – The 16+ Year "Overnight Success" Story of CrossFit

admin — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:04:46 +0000

Although CrossFit seems like an overnight success, its story began quite a few years ago. The first time I heard about CrossFit was back in 2006, about a year before I started this blog. At that time it simply looked like a small program to train SWAT teams and police units.

Omega 3 Supplements for Weight Loss? What My Research Uncovered.

admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:31:13 +0000

I've recently read some conflicting advice on Omega 3 supplements in regard to weight loss. Studies have shown that fish oils and other Omega 3 supplements do promote weight loss, but are these supplements healthy?

The Slow Carb Diet – My Mixed Review After 30 Days on the Diet

admin — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:03:36 +0000

Have you heard of The Slow Carb Diet? This is an eating approach outlined by Tim Ferriss in the book The 4-Hour Body. I'm a big fan of the book, but not the biggest fan of the diet plan.

Get My New Premium Abs Report for Free!

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:13:59 +0000

So this past November and December I finalized an Abs course, called Abs Blueprint 1.0. The idea was to launch it as a paid course in late Spring of 2011. I wanted to introduce it at $27 to my newsletter, then add a few more modules and eventually release it for sale for $47. The goal was to create a laser-focused ab routine, skipping all of the movements that were a waste of time. The whole routine was based on the principles taught to me over 20 years ago by a golf pro that me and my workout partner met back in college. This guy had the best abs I had ever seen…and what he taught us worked way beyond any routine I have seen since. I simply wanted to share this info.

Home Gym Equipment – (WWMD) What Would MacGyver Do?

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:15:46 +0000

A piece of paper, a crazy Canadian, and a metalworker to make the ultimate pull up device? This is how MacGyver would setup a home gym for sure!

Exercise and Diabetes – What Types of Exercise Help the Most?

admin — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:45:14 +0000

I've wanted to do an exercise and diabetes post for a long time now. I am by no means an expert on diabetes, but I wanted to research and put up a post on this important subject. More importantly, I would like people to comment and hopefully point to more resources about diabetes and exercise.

"Visual Impact for Women" – Jazzed to Introduce My New Women's Course!

admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:39:49 +0000

Visual Impact for Women: It only took me about a year to launch after releasing my men's course. I want to apologize for that. It wasn't my plan for women to have to wait that long to get their hands on this. That being said, I am completely jazzed about how the product turned out.

An Interview With Tyler Shields – A Modest Celebrity Photographer Who Oozes Talent.

admin — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:54:35 +0000

Are you familiar with the name Tyler Shields? I have to admit I wasn't either until a few days ago...

Gone in 60 Seconds: One Minute of Activity to Avoid Storing Calories of a Meal as Body Fat.

admin — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:50:39 +0000

What if a brief exercise of 60-90 seconds done before eating, made it less likely that food would get stored as body fat?

Does Rep Count Even Matter? Controversial Findings of a Recent Study!

admin — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:26:40 +0000

So I am going to to talk about a study that questions a lot of what you will read online regarding gaining strength and muscle. It was conducted a couple of years ago, but you won't hear it being mentioned on most mainstream sites. This flies in the face of a lot of fitness programs. My point for bringing it up is to start a discussion on the findings. I will give you my take on this, but my hope is that others will chime in in the comment section.

Stubborn Body Fat Caused by Excess Estrogen

admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:14:40 +0000

What if you are creating a large calorie deficit through diet and exercise and still have a bit of fat that you can't shake? Well you might want to blame the estrogen mimicking effects of "Xenoestrogens".