A mistake commonly made by people putting together their training programs for fat loss and endurance sports is including too many hard training days in a week. As a basic rule, two principles should be followed for the non-elite: hard and easy days of training should be alternated and endurance training should be 'polarized', that is, easy days spent training around the 70-80% HRmax zone and hard days spent doing interval work above 91% HRmax. If too many hard sessions are performed in one week, excessive fatigue, lowered immune function, loss of motivation and injuries are sure to follow.

Here is a sample training week following the two golden rules for fat loss. Note how sustainable this style of training is. It is still very hard, as goal-specific training should and must be, but it's not only manageable, its may even be enjoyable!

DAY ONE:
Strength Session (HARD)
A1. Deadlifts, 5x12, 30X0, rest 60 seconds
A2. Lying dumbbell press, 5x12, 30X0, rest 60 seconds
A3. Back squat, 5x12, 30X0, rest 60 seconds
A4. Seated row, pronated grip to chest, 5x12, rest 60 seconds
A5. Dumbbell lunges, 5x12, rest 3 minutes

DAY TWO
Aerobic Session (EASY)
7 minute walk
45 minutes at 70-80% HRmax (you can also use your age subtracted from 180 plus 5, should be around 140-155 bpm)
7 minute walk

DAY THREE
Aerobic Interval Session (HARD)
10 minute walk
5 minute progressively increased jog
4x600m at best pace (above 91% HRmax), rest 2 minutes
4x1000m at best pace (above 91% HRmax), rest 90 seconds 
15 minute walk

DAY FOUR

Now for something different from me: my family's recipe for homous. I come from a long line of homous makers. This recipe has been passed on from father to son, father to son. Homous makes a perfect mid morning or mid afternoon snack. Enjoy with some fresh sourdough or vegetables.

The day before
Soak 1.5 cups of dried chick peas in several litres of cold water and a tablespoon of bicarb soda. Soak overnight.

The next day
Drain, wash and rinse well the chick peas (do this thoroughly, as you must get out the bicarb from the chick peas).
Add the drained chick peas to 2 litres of water and bring to the boil. Leave the lid on, lower the heat and simmer for around 2 hours, or until the chick peas are very soft.
Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water (I just leave a little cooking water in the bottom of the pan with the chick peas).
Blend the chick peas with a hand blender until very smooth, adding more cooking water if needed.
Add 3/4 cup of tahini and continue to blend.
Add 1/2 a cup of lemon juice and continue to blend.
Add 2 teaspoons of sea salt, 1 crushed garlic clove (I bash the salt together with the garlic in a mortar and pestle) and 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (my dad adds the oil at the end and not at this stage) and continue to blend for around a minute longer.
Transfer the homous to a big bowl, pour more olive oil on top and its ready to enjoy.

I have two sets of Zhang Kong competition plates for sale. Very good condition. Email me for best price: tonyboutagy@gmail.com

Here is the next 4 weeks of the fat loss series Shrinking Before Summer.

MONDAY - Strength Session
A. Back squat, 5 x 10, 30X0, rest 60 seconds (not paired)
B. Close grip pulldown, 5 x 10, 30X0, rest 60 seconds (not paired)
C1. Leg press, 4 x 12+12+12 drop set, 30X0, rest 90 seconds
C2. Seated row, pronated grip, 4 x 12+12+12 drop set, 30X0, rest 90 seconds
D1. Dumbbell squats, heels elevated, 3 x 15, 30X0, rest 45 seconds
D2. Lean away underhand grip pulldown, 3 x 15, 30X0, rest 45 seconds

TUESDAY - Easy Cardio Session
5 minute walk or cycle warm-up
50-60 minute easy jog or cycle, keeping heart rate around 70-80% of maximum.
5 minute cool-down

WEDNESDAY - Interval Session
5 minute walk, 5 minute jog, 3 x 25m accelerations
4 x 400m (or 90 seconds), rest 3 minutes
4 x 800m (or 3 minutes), rest 2 minutes
10 minute walk

THURSDAY - Strength Session
A. Deadlifts, 5 x 10, 30X0, rest 60 seconds (not paired)
B. Incline dumbbell press, semi-supinated grip, 5 x 10, 30X0, rest 60 seconds (not paired)
C1. Lying leg curls, 4 x 8+8+8 drop set, 30X0, rest 90 seconds
C2. Bench press, 4 x 12+12+12 drop set, 30X0, rest 90 seconds
D1. Romanian deadlifts, 3 x 15, 30X0, rest 45 seconds
D2. Standing dumbbell overhead press, semi-supinated grip, 3 x 15, 30X0, rest 45 seconds

FRIDAY
30 minute walk

SATURDAY - Double Day

AM Interval Session
5 minute walk, 5 minute jog, 3 x 25m accelerations
4 x 400m (or 90 seconds), rest 3 minutes
4 x 800m (or 3 minutes), rest 2 minutes
10 minute walk

PM Session
60-90 minute easy jog or cycle, keeping heart rate around 70-80% of maximum.
5 minute warm-up and cool down

SUNDAY
2-4 hour bush walk

I have had a few questions recently about why I suggest stretching prior to resistance training in the early phases of training when clients have limited flexibility. Numerous research studies have demonstrated that static and PNF stretching reduce the muscle's ability to produce force and power. What a lot of people don't realize is that not all studies have found impairments in force production after stretching. There are a lot of reasons for the huge variance in the findings of the studies. A lot of the early studies that found marked reductions in strength after stretching used unusually long stretching periods (up to half an hour on one muscle group) and did not employ warm-up sets, which means that the subjects went from maximal tension, long duration stretching to maximal muscle testing for strength. Clearly, this is not how personal trainers use stretching. Of course, researchers are interested in looking at the effect of one factor (stretching) on another factor (muscular performance). But to use this information to forbid pre-exercise stretching is not using the research data correctly.

All scientists working in this area would agree that stretching is not a warm-up. It's a modality of improving range of motion. The majority of studies have shown impairments in force production after stretching, and several studies have shown the mechanisms why; but recent investigations have failed to show any impact of stretching on performance when there was shorter, more realistic stretching protocols used, a time gap between the stretching and testing and the use of specific warm-up sets or drills.

Ultimately, personal trainers have to make a case by case decision as to who needs flexibility development and who does not. In the 1-3 hours per week that a trainer may work one-on-one with a client, I still advise trainers to stretch the tight muscles of their beginner clients prior to training with either static or PNF stretching. If you use short duration (total: ~60s per muscle group) stretching, then warm-ups sets, then a multiple set workout, then there should be no negative impact on performance (and if there is, the few percent change is hardly worth worrying about for a beginner). Of course, advanced trainees should reserve flexibility development to other times of the day or different days of the week.

Stretching is not a warm-up. So if it is used with beginner clients in the personal training session to improve range of motion so that the strength exercises can be performed more comfortably and through a greater range, then warm-up sets must be used afterwards to return neural drive to the muscle.

Take Home Advice:
For beginner clients who have flexibility issues or time-poor clients who won't stretch on other days by themselves: stretching of tight muscles with static and/or PNF stretches should be used prior to training. Limit the total duration to around 60 seconds per muscle group. Specific warm-up sets must be used afterwards.

For more experienced trainees who still have tight muscles: dedicated stretching sessions should be performed at other times of the day or on different days to strength training.

On Sunday November 13th, I will be running a day workshop on writing advanced strength workouts for fat loss and hypertrophy. This seminar is based on a lecture I gave at FILEX earlier this year and covers roughly 2 years worth of program and overload technique ideas for both hypertrophy and fat loss. This will be a very practical day with a lot of tack-home information to use immediately with your clients.


Date: Sunday 13th November
Venue: Boutagy Fitness Institute.  Suite 4, 7-13 Parraween St Cremorne
Cost: $300
To Book: Please email Rachel Luff on rachel@rachelluff.com

The final Level 1 Course for 2011 will be held on Thursday & Friday 27th-28th October (Lower Limb Module) and Thursday & Friday 3rd-4th November (Upper Body Module).

For more information, please see the Upcoming Courses Page on this website

I was talking to a friend of mine last week and he mentioned to me that he had recently heard a podcast where the speaker argued that aerobic exercise increased the risk of neurodegenerative diseases due to the elevated cortisol levels. If I remember my friend’s comments correctly, he said that the podcast speaker noted that rowers and cross-country skiers have a high prevalence of Parkinson’s and related disorders, whereas power athletes and martial artists showed little or no decline brain function.

Since its been known for some time that regular aerobic exercise increases new brain cell formation, I was skeptical about the ‘aerobic exercise - neurodegenerative diseases’ theory.

Confirming my feedback to my friend about the podcast, a study was just published in a top tier journal, The Journal of Applied Physiology http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21817111 . There is a great summary of the paper here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/how-exercise-can-strengthen-the-brain/

Here is an excerpt, with quotes from two of the leading scientific minds of our time, Professors Mark Tarnopolsky and Mark Davis, who discuss the findings of the study that showed aerobic exercise increased mitochondria in the brain.

 “There is evidence” from other studies “that mitochondrial deficits in the brain may play a role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases,” including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, Dr. Davis says. Having a larger reservoir of mitochondria in your brain cells could provide some buffer against those conditions, he says.

Dr. Tarnopolsky agrees. “Epidemiological studies show that long-term runners have a lower risk of neurological disease,” he points out.

So, I think I will assign the comment that aerobic exercise leads to neurodegenerative diseases due to elevated cortisol levels to the bottom drawer of theories that have no basis in science and fact. It can now sit along side the similar theory that aerobic exercise makes you fat due to elevated cortisol levels. Let's hope that the maladies frequently ascribed to aerobic training are once and for all exposed by modern research as the nonsense that they really are.