He is the co-author of four bestselling books including The Forever Young Diet & Lifestyle (Andrews McMeel Publishing LLC, 2005). In 1989, he became a professor of medicine at the University of Missouri – Kansas City and has contributed to over 200 articles in medical literature.

His lecture is an excellent watch as it supports much of what I have been saying for years regarding running excessively or if it’s your sole form of exercise. Running more (roughly 30mins) is not only NOT beneficial but can actually be very harmful. Let’s be clear here, exercise e.g. running is good mmmmkay, but more and at an excessive level is damaging.

Your best beach body is built through weight training or body weight movements and from proper nutrition NOT from doing excessive cardio and eating like a 14yr old girl on a girly sleep over all the time.

Read this if you are new to my site – Your cardio is keeping you fat and out of shape as it might just be the primary reason you’re not getting the results you’re looking for and might stop you from trying to out train your sh1ty diet.

Basic take home message is do some high intensity interval training 1-2 times per week (run/sprint 30secs-1min recover for double the work time and repeat 6-8 times) or better still  metcons (conditioning using body weight, weighted movements, running, skipping, jumping, rowing etc) and avoid running beyond 30mins if you want to live a long healthy life.

Might want to pass this on to all those you know who are running lots and getting no where fast expecially when it comes to wanting to look and feel their best.

So to Stephen and everyone else that can benefit from it here you go -

You will notice that I pause the video at critial moments in the video to impress upon you what should be happening with your body position.

They key take home points on getting and developing bar muscle ups are -

1. You are not strong enough – If you’re not at the point where you can do dips and pull ups with relative ease then what the heck are you doing in your training? Those are two movements you need to be able to do for live. Get working on them and an easy build up is to start with band assisted pull ups and dips until you can do them unassisted.
2. You are not mobile enough – I have watched plenty of guys that were strong enough to do a muscle up but due to really poor shoulder mobility (pecs and lats are super tight) they just can’t turn it over at the top. Do all of this

3. Pull to the hips – work on pulling the bar to the hips (shown as I pause video) as this will get you into a better turn over position at the top. As you get stronger you will need to kip less and can progress on to doing them strict.

Here are a few excellent resources for developing good gymnastic skills that you could spend a lifetime mastering.

Gynmastics WOD

Ross training

Strength project

The bar muscle up is an excellent gymnastic movement that can really show off your athletic talents so work hard on it and I gurantee there will be a giant smile on your face when you finally get one.

The numbers person (i.e. some marketing guru) tells me that I can now make more money per hour training people in this way and as long as I keep pumping out those before and after pictures alongside the words – X amount of weight lost in just 6 weeks, then I’m sorted. I will choose to totally ignore the drop out rate in these camps/challenges – get 30 people signed up and finish with 20 people on your last week (If you’re lucky and more like 15 people).

All of the above sounds flipping great on paper but are camps/challenges like this helping or hindering the fitness industry? By suggesting to potential clients that they too can ‘drop a stone (6kg)’ in 6 weeks’ or go from ‘flab to fantastic’ am I then any better than the glossy magazines pushing the same message? Heck, who cares at all because when and if people make it through the camp/challenge they will have learned life lessons, made a few friends and set them on the path for further progress. Plus it makes it more affordable for the client.

So while I ponder over my thoughts of running such a camp I give you three examples of people that I HAVE NEVER WORKED WITH i.e. I have never coached in any way. Below I outline three messages I have received from people that have made use of all the free info on this site and ran with it. They didn’t need a bootcamp/challenge and wonder will their changes be more permanent or have become more permanent versus someone that signs up for a 6-week challenge?

First up is Lisa –

“I’d just like to drop you a quick email as a sort of thank you for having quite a bit of influence over my life and decisions I have made in the last two years. I suppose I better give you some background info before I go off on a tangent. I was in college in Limerick with your brother Enda many years ago now at this stage. I always remember Enda talking about his brother who was a personal trainer”

“Anyhow I was getting ready from work one morning when you happened to be doing an interview with Ian Dempsey (Today FM). I was kinda blown away by the things you were saying about nutrition etc. and to stop all the pounding of the roads and it wasn’t till the end of the convo that I realised who you were. At that stage I was starting to get very frustrated with my fitness levels and body image. I wasn’t overweight, far from it, most girls were probably envious of me being able to rock a size 8 pair of jeans but I was finding I was getting “softer” as such and really didn’t know what to do beyond what I was doing already, attending the gym 5 days a week and what I considered healthy eating”.

“I decided to look up your website and very quickly became completely absorbed in what you had to say. I began to integrate some of your workouts into my own routines and was amazed at the simplicity of them and how I quiet quickly felt the effects of them”.

“I’ve had many people influence my life over the years, but you, completely oblivious to whom I am, have had, probably, one of the most positive impacts and for that I am extremely grateful and thankful. I hope you continue to provide the same inspiration to many more people on their quest to becoming fitter and healthier individuals. I also love your wife’s blog, how lucky are you to have an amazing In-house chef like that , I’m extremely jealous.

Keep up the great work,

Kind Regards,

Lisa

Next up is Marc -

“I’m spending allot of time reading and studying your site.. Im very interested in your work and the fact that you look into and spend time on the physiological side of training.Its great. Its not just “do these exercises” or “eat that because its good for you”. LOADS of facts and knowledge.Referenced too”.

“I think most adults like to know why they are doing things and I have found in my line of work if someone knows why they are doing something they buy into it and put more effort into doing it right. You and your bro do this well . I think it’s something the industry lacks and most personal trainers either don’t have the knowledge or make it too complicated. The benefits i am getting and the people around me will get from you and your brothers work is great.

I feel a thank you is not good enough.

Love your work and your site..

Llook forward to reading more and the following training that comes with it

Marc

Lastly Andy –

“I’ve been following your site for 2 years now. I think I may have stumbled upon transformation catalyst from a post in the boards.ie health and fitness forum some time ago and can I add, I’m very relieved I did”.

“Not only has your work being inspiring but it’s given me so much grounding in nutrition that I can give sound advice to both friends and family”.

Just over a year ago I was wavering below the 15 stone mark, not a great look for a 5′ 11” bloke with a wheat bloated chest and stomach. Since I was a teenager I’ve been worried about my weight and terrified of getting into situations where I might have to take of my shirt in public, swimming, PE, holidays all were always stressful. Thankfully things are changing…

I’m 31 now, 13st and the fittest I’ve ever been in my life. While I’m still very much a ‘work in progress’ but I know what I have to do and exactly where I need to get to. One of your motivational posts really hit home ‘if you do what you always do you’ll get what you alway gotten’, this is the story of my 20s. Training hard midweek and going nuts on drink/food at the weekend. Disaster!

“Anyway, enough of my waffle, I’ve been meaning to drop you a message for some time to say thanks so this is it, THANKS!”

Although you may not realise it, there are many people who follow your advice religiously on a weekly basis. You’re changing people’s lifetime habits and encouraging a new generation of nutritionally sound eating without even knowing them!

Keep up the good work and if you’re ever stuck from some programming/design work I’d happily help you out to return the favour.

All the best,
Andy Fleming

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

At times I think I have about 5 regular readers and these kind notes make me think it’s more like 10

Changing lives one person at a time is how I’ve done it for years so do I really need to change my model when I get messages you send like this? Some may need a 6 week challenge to help them get up and moving while others just decide that enough is enough and are so sick and tired of being sick and tired that the old excuses don’t work any longer. Either way can and does work but I see far longer and lasting change from the latter than the former.

The advice I am about to give applies as much to the advanced or sports specific trainee as it does to the pure I-haven’t-exercised-since-PE-class-in-school. I hear you scream, “BUT DOMINIC I’M SUPER ADVADVANCED AND HAVE READ LOTS OF ‘STUFF’”. Well the reason it applies to everyone is because the ‘advanced’ person typically has far less nailed down that he/she thinks they have. They possibly know lots but he/she doesn’t do enough mobility work, it’s likely they still haven’t adressed their tight shoulders, tight hips (still can’t overhead squat more than 60kg like it’s an air squat), they don’t breathe correctly and their diet is about as good as a 14yr old girl having a girls sleep over with all her friends #filledwithsugarandwheat. So keep in mind that regardless of your starting level ALL of the following information applies to you and if you ignore it you’re going to end up like so many people program or personal trainer hopping i.e. going from one person to another and then blaming the trainer or program for your lack of consistency and discipline. This is one of the main reasons why I’m super cautious when working with a new client that has worked with a number of trainers in the past because let’s face it I don’t possess some magical fairy powder that can erase bullsh1t excuses and lack of effort.

Let’s get started with possibly the most important aspect for everyone to address – your nutrition. You may not have as much time as you’d like to exercise or train every week but you must choose daily what you put in your mouth. This is one of the main reasons why it’s easier to consume more calories than it is to burn them off – you simply have more opportunities to eat than to train. Oh and before we get into this further please don’t tell me sorting your diet out is either -

A) expensive or B) time consuming

because trips to the doctor or hospital are going to a bigger pain in the ass or more worryingly, will lead to chronic degenerative conditions that will send you or your loved ones into an early grave.

If you are looking to drop body fat addressing diet is a complete no brainer as you can’t out-train a bad diet. Looking to improve performance for your sport? Well a sh1tty diet is going to lead to sh1tty recovery, being inflamed, being tired all the time and you wondering why you’re

A) so skinny

or

B) carrying too much fat

You need to read both of the articles below and apply them consistently. There’s a reason why both are always in my top 5 articles on this site – IMPORTANT READING!!!

Fat loss 101

The definitive guide to optimal nutrition

Maximum muscle Nutrition

The 140 character or less summary of it is as follows -

“Seriously stressing about your food is worse than eating bad foods, base diet around meat, eggs, fish,veg, fruit, nuts, seeds, butter and coconut. Drink more water”.

I would also add to the above -

• Your facebook and twitter status tells me you’re out boozing and eating crap most of the time so please stop looking for some magic bullet or a new program/trainer to follow. It’s likely you’re not an 18yr old on your first month at college and away from mammy for the first time so stop behaving like one!

• Nothing significant and I mean nothing is achieved without some kind of delayed gratification. Want a better body then you’re going to have to use some good old fashioned fuxking willpower. Yes that’s the stuff that acts as a reference marker for all future hard decisions once you use it. Willpower  helps you learn that you can achieve what you are aiming for when you just take directed action. Hate trying on clothes that are too tight? Suck it up buttercup and remember how you felt when you looked in the mirror and felt a little or alot depressed when you reach for something that you know is going to kill your fat loss or fitness gains. Harsh? No because we never take massive action when we’re carefree and being nice on ourselves. You didn’t wake up one day, look in the mirror at someone that’s out of shape and overweight and think ‘Wow you sexy beast, you look great so let’s go workout and stop eating junk”. Pain is a great motivator so start using it to your advantage rather than sticking your head in the sand.

So you know why you need to eat in a paleo/primal way and the articles show you how. All that’s left is what do I bloody cook. That’s where my wifes amazing food blog comes in as it’s jam packed with recipes that are focused on high quality foods with a few treats thrown in.

Yes you can enjoy a gluten free choc peanut butter brownie (recipe here) without feeling guilty but for the love of God don’t eat the whole batch. Just because it says gluten free doesn’t mean calorie free!!

Doing a30day challenge to get you going is great but overall permanent change in your nutrition happens when you get into the right mindset.

If you need help with the mental game then please read this -

The biggest obstacle to burning fat and getting in shape

and

Raise your standards

Next we move on to the training side of things and here’s where you need to ask the simple question of “If I only had 20mins to workout what would I do?”. I was asked to give two lectures recently in a tennis club and at a sports convention and was shocked at the number of people that came up to me afterwards with questions about injuries they had gotten from running or returning back to running. There are times when I’m working with my regular clients and think “everyone knows this stuff” and then there are times like that when I think “Christ, these people didn’t get the memo because the running is keeping you fat and out of shape”

Unfortunately most people still associate their ability or inability to run in a straight line with being ‘fit’. Where in your run have you addressed your poor mobility, your basic strength or even your power? This is why doing metcons (metabolic conditioning)  as your primary ‘fitness’ work will deliver the biggest bang for your buck. There are lots of examples of metcons here and here.

If you are new to all of this training lark then the basic set up should be to start your session with 5mis (more if you’re super stiff and failing the mobiliy tests) of foam rolling and stretching.

How to foam roll -

Most important stretches you need to do or mobility assessment i.e. if you are failing these then do it daily or your risk of injury is super high.

From there do a 2-5mins dynamic warm-up e.g. -

Then do some strength work that focuses on the basic functional movements i.e. squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, split squats, pull ups, rows, press ups, overhead press, kettlebell swings, broad jumps, burpees, core or midline work etc. If you haven’t done any of these then start with all of what’s shown below.

When you can do all of the above perfectly and it doesn’t turn you into a sweaty mess then you must work one to one with a trainer to help with a program which you could use from home (I work with lots of clients where I design training programs which they can use from home with limited equipment) or in a gym. Speaking of the gym or that place where you hand over a massive wedge of money to be told to go on the treadmill for 10mins, the cross trainer for 15mins, run through a whole range of weights machines and then spend 10-15mins doing core work.

What the fu$k!!

You just paid hard earned money to be given no direction on how to improve your mobility, how to perform functional exercises (you just sat on a chair all day and now have to spend more time sitting on a chest press and leg extension = dumb!), how to increase power and how to get results with short and effective workouts. Let’s not even get started on the total lack of nutrition advice. The big commercial gyms are in decline primarily because they offer nothing in the way of proper training and instruction and focus purely on glam machines which they need to justify buying by getting their customers on these stupid contraptions. Worse still are the gyms that have seperate training areas for women. Are we still living in the dark ages? Women need to be trained properly as opposed to pushing them into some corner of the gym where they can feel more ‘comfortable’. I’m calling bullsh1t, as every single female client I work with feels MORE confident and comfortable after training alongside the guys doing the same compound movements rather than becoming part of the cardio bunny brigade i.e. lots of cardio and use pink dumbbells.

Typically, when I’m working with a regular client (someone I see 1-3 times per week in a one hour session), I’ll spend 10mins warming up, 30-40mins working on getting them stronger using the compound movements and then finish the session with a metcon. For example, this is a 20mins metcon (this could be shortened or varied according to ability) I did recently which focused on a high skill power movement – the snatch and a gymnastics movement – the handstand press ups.

I would then finish the workout with some more foam rolling and stretching, simples.

I post many of the workouts I do on my facebook and twitter page so be sure to like and follow as it’s great way to get ideas for your own workouts and I tend to test workouts on myself before programming them for clients.

To conclude -

1. You are making choices daily. Being tired and out of shape is a product of your choices
2. Sort your diet out. Focus on high quality foods, follow my wifes blog, watch carb intake (<100g carbs/day I have found is a good marker to aim for but bump it up once a week) when fat loss is primary goal and enjoy the treats when you have them.
3. Please don’t tell me you like your food too much when you’re clearly overweight. You don’t ‘like’ your food too much, you eat unconsciously, you eat too quickly and it’s likely you don’t actually value yourself and your health enough to realise that junk food doesn’t cure the emotional pain you may be feeling.
4. Train with weights mainly, do metcons and for the love of good stop running so much thinking it’s some kind of badge of honor to be able to run in a straight line.
5. Your mobility sucks so go work on it, daily, yes daily and if it’s not getting better see one of these guys

So there you go, all the tools you need in one post. Now if I were a tuned in, smart fitness/personal trainer (lots of trainers follow my work and many have paid to come train under me) starting out in the industry I’d bookmark this article as it contains pretty much everything you need to help the average client (a slight bit of variety from week to week in the metcons is good and I post that on my facebook and twitter pages) get and stay in great shape for the rest of their life. However, all of that being said some people will STILL ask me for book recommendations on all of the above. Yes I have a recommended reading list but honest application of all of the above consistently is all most people need. Plus I’m giving you all this for FREE!

I hope you enjoyed this article and all the articles referenced and you need futher help with your programming then please email me on dominic@dominicmunnelly.ie or call on 086-8073888 now to make an appointment.

How to achieve your new year fat loss goals

Drop belly fat fast

Are you sick of seeing the above plastered over most newspapers and magazines throughout January? I certainly am.

Do you think reading another ‘you can do it’ article or watch yet another TV show that’s packed with people who are extremely overweight and all they should be doing is getting out for a walk every day, told to stop all the total junk they were eating, is going to somehow magically motivate you to get in shape?

Here I take a very different approach where I will show you the top five reasons why you failed to achieve your fitness and/or fat loss goals in 2012. The reasons below are taken from the feedback and testimonials myself and my brother (@ the Academy in Kildare) have gotten NOT from those that failed but more importantly those that had MASSIVE success. Yes, not just a little bit of progress but from people that completly turned their fitness, fat loss and health upside down in the past 12 months.

Anyhow, who would you want advice from – the person that keeps trying and failing (and want’s to let the world know about it ALL THE FECKIN TIME) or those that quietly stay on the road to success and end up on awesome street?

What awesome looks like for the people that made big progress in 2012

1. You tried out-training your diet AGAIN - I am blue in the face saying this so here we go again – YOU CAN NOT OUT-TRAIN A BAD DIET. It doesn’t matter that you decided to add in more cardio, do a weight training program, hit a TRX, kettlebell, yoga, pilates etc class. You’re still out of shape because you haven’t addressed your sh1tty diet. The ones that made mad gains in 2012 did everything I told you to do here. and here and forget about any major progress unless you lock this in first and stick with it consistently.

If you’ve fallen off the waggon it’s no big deal so refrain from looking for some other magic potion or quick fix and guess what, the info contained in the article’s above still works and will continue to work 20years from now (evidence of great advice really).

2. No one said it would be easy – You failed because you gave up, simples. Work didn’t get in the way, you did. It wasn’t lack of time it was down to the fact that you never gave time for 20mins or less highly productive workouts.

Want to make lasting changes in 2013? Then please understand that those who in great shape work harder, eat better and run with their heart and not their head when they get tired. It’s time to suck it up buttercup and stop stumbling over your excuses.

Oh and on a side note those that keep posting on bookface and twitter about how you can drop a dress size in a week or two, well you are perpetuating what’s fundamentally wrong with the fitness industry in the first place i.e. short term fix and not focusing on the bigger picture.

The highlight of so called experts for me in 2012 was a leading nutritionist publically saying that white bread was a good healthy choice for everyone – facepalm! Clearly didn’t read this – If in doubt cut the wheat out

This picture reminds me of these so called fitness/nutrition ‘experts’ -

Course I know what I am doing Bob – I’m an expert, I have qualifications!!

3. You went back to doing lots of cardio – how did that work out for you? Did you stick to a properly designed program (yes there is a free beginners one clearly outlined here) where you start by foam rolling, dynamic stretching, hit a weights circuit or crossfit metcon and finish with some foam rolling and stretching/yoga? No, you decided that running would be a better option and what happend? You ended up looking the same or if you did actually make some changes to your diet you look like a slightly smaller/slimmer version of youself with the exact same lack of muscle tone.

Think she uses a proper training program? Darn right she does

You have to squat, lunge, do press ups, chin up, core exercises, swing a kettlebell, sprint and have a little lie down on the ground because you did a great workout. If you’re not doing these or have stopped doing them then please file your questions under F for I don’t give a feck because you won’t make serious progress until you stick to the darn program.

Need a reminder on why cardio alone is a bad idea? Here you go

4. You listened to the nay sayers – people that make amazing progress in all areas of life ask for advice from respected experts with a track record of getting results and then go do it. They ignore the nay sayers i.e. the ‘friends’ that tell them they have lost ‘too much weight’ or think you are getting more than a little obsessive about how you eat and the fact that you go train most days of the week instead of sitting on your ass watching mindless TV while eating the processed food that’s advertised on said TV.

Have the self belief and more importantly the trust that what I’m asking you to do is going to be worth it and it will work as you now stick to the plan.

5. You party like a rock star at the weekend (all the bloody time) – look I’m all in favour of the theory of hormesis i.e. a little of something bad for you is good for you.

Yes go have a few drinks, consume way too much coffee, stay out late and get up early, eat lots of chocolate etc. Many people can end up living quiet lives of moderation. I say to hell with moderation and go crazy now and again. Have a story of adventure or fun to tell instead of being able to know what celeb just got divorced. Who gives a sh1t, go create your own cool facebook/twitter status update rather than trying to live someone elses life.

Ok so getting back to not being such a party animal. One of the reasons you didn’t make progress is that your diet and training was good mon-fri and then on the weekend you ate and drank like a mad eejit and thus blew all possible progress you fought so hard to attain during the week  – FACT! I have a few clients in mind on this one and you all know who you are.

Yes go crazy now and again however I don’t have a wild weekend and end up looking fat and out of shape come Monday. You need to work darn hard to put on excessive amounts of weight so it’s not due to one weekend, it’s because you are doing this ALL THE TIME and pretty much every weekend. Sort it out, get in great shape and you’ll be able to have your wild weekend and still kiss your abs come Monday.

We can all identify one or more of the above five reasons as to why you didn’t get the results you were looking for in 2012. What you need to do now is ask yourself what you must do in 2013 to make this year a year for lasting and not fleeting change.

The following books are in no particular order and from a variety of areas. I think it’s important you  read outside of your field so you can develop and be exposed to a range of ideas and thoughts.

When you click on each of the books mentioned it will take you directly to amazon.co.uk where you can create your own wish list. I find the list great for making note of books I might not buy today but can put to one side for the future. Throughout the course of a week I read at least one book and listen to a minimum of 3-4 podcasts so it’s hard to keep track of the books or audio programs unless you file them away in order as on a wish list. I also have an account with www.audible.com which I find brilliant for getting through non-fiction books.

First up on the list is a book I only recently finished and it’s Total Recall the Arnold Schwarzenegger biography. It was a fascinating read and it’s not just for the bodybuilding or action hero fans. Arnold comes across as a very diciplined and extremely focused individual who applied these skills to help him climb to the top of everything he went for. Listening to his stories of working on the movies I grew up loving is amazing and he is such a positive and fun loving guy. It’s a big read at over 650 pages so buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Hand’s down the best business book I read in 2012 was Little Big Things by Tom Peters. He is the guy guru’s like Seth Godin and Garry Vaynerchuk look up to and I did mention him before here – top traits of a successful fitness professional. Another big read but for me the guy has God like status and while I see many people flounder when making business or marketing decisions I simply ask – “what would Tom do?”

Tom Peters – Shut up

Like Lee Child and action/thriller novels? Then you are going to LOVE Barry Eisler and Tom Wood. Both authors have moved the action/thiller genre to new heights and have taken over where Lee Child left off about 3-4 years ago. For me Lee Child hasen’t written a good book in quite some time whereas the two authors mentioned have done a Bond make over and moved away from the Sean Connery character (jack reacher of Lee Child – modern gun slinger) and developed a more modern current day Daniel Craig or even Jason Bourne. However, I am still looking forward to the movie adaptaion of Lee Child’s book One shot

I noticed that the restaurant/cafe in London Leon have a new book out and it’s jam packed with more simple and delish recipes you will just love. However, the books are just so well put together and it feels like you are reading through someones scrap book. They have been mentioned on my recommended reading section before so you might want to look there also. It’s NOT a paleo/primal focused book but who gives a sh1t as their books are so stuffed with great healthy recipes. Added to that many of the plaeo cooking books I have read are total rubbish and extend no further than ‘hey lets show you how to make a paleo curry and plaeo deserts’. Better off sticking to my wifes food blog if you want to see how she keeps me in such great shape and yes they are all her own photos which make the meals even more tasty looking. Oh and after finishing watching his recent tv show I will be adding this to my xmas list.

Leon Cook book

Last up are a couple from various areas I really enjoyed -

Boomerang - Michael Lewis on the financial meltdown and big section on Ireland in it.

Robopocalypse - Daniel Wilson which is way better than World War Z and movie rights have already been snapped up. It’s Terminator for the modern age.

The Power of Pull – John Hagel, another business book that teaches knowledge flows and a move away from a push economy to a pull economy.

Thinking fast and slow – Daniel Kanneman which deals with how our mind works and how we make decisions. Facinating. Below he gives a talk at a Ted conference.

Finally, the award for the the smartest guy of 2012 has to go to Nicholas Taleb and his work in Antifragile – how to thrive in an uncertain world. If you liked his other book (Black Swan) then you are going to love this.

Yes there are no exercise or nutrition related books because I give you guys so much of that stuff for free all the time you really don’t need another book on those topics. You simply must consistently apply the basics on training and nutrition.

Hope you enjoy some or all of the above and please share others you may have read in the comments below or on my facebook or twitter page.

Here’s why working with the ladies makes my job easier and more enjoyable (please note there are of course exceptions)

1. They listen – us guys are pretty rubbish at listening and this is demonstrated by the fact that a guy will tell you he has something right yet looks like a bag of hammers when you get him to demonstrate pretty much any exercise movement for the first time. Women will give you focused listening to make sure they are doing something right quite a few times so they never get it wrong. If you want to get more out of your sessions LISTEN more, pick out key words your coach uses (e.g. weight in heels, chest up, shoudlers back etc), repeat, repeat, repeat and if in doubt…..

2. Ask more questions – Women simply ask more, this is again to make sure they have e.g. their nutrition locked in. Guys will TELL you their nutrition is good yet are standing in front of you looking overweight and out of shape while in my head I am thinking “well if your food intake was so good why are you so out of shape?” Whether you are male or female I never mind if you have a hundred different questions so long as you are willing to apply the answers given. Don’t be that guy/girl that is just asking and doesn’t really what to know

Yes those kettlebells are making her look awesome. Ladies who lift proper weights = killer body.

3. Apply more – I find women are more likely to apply what you have drawn up for them while men can continue to be program hoppers i.e. jump onto the next super cool looking program that flutters past them. Any well designed program combined with a proper nutrition protocol will work wonders but they don’t matter a jot when they’re not applied. Are you one of those people that trains once or twice a week yet expects the same results as someone that is putting in five sessions a week? This goes for your nutrition also – you log your food on www.fitday.com from monday to thursday thinking “boom, I’m keeping carbs to under circa ~100g/day, protein and fat are up, calorie intake in range. I am bang in zone!” Yet you somehow forget to log it fri, sat and sun and then Monday/Tuesday rolls around the following week and you bitch and moan about your lack of progress!

Come on you just blew it from all the crap you ate over the weekend and are living in a dream world if you think you can out train a shitty diet and even then it’s likely you didn’t move your butt too much over the weekend to even try to balance out the extra claories taken in. Want better results? Apply more of what your coach is asking you to do and when it comes to nutrition stop blowing all your progress on either daily junk food (pick some nice dark chocolate instead) or weekend blow outs (have some of what you fancy at the weekends just refrain from going bat sh1t crazy).

4. More willing to work on mobility – point out where a woman needs to work on to improve her mobility and she will go out and get a foam roll and lacrosse ball THAT day and get cracking on it.

Guys = that stuff ain’t very sexy and it bloody hurts so I’m going to tape it up, ignore it until it causes serious pain and then I have to send you to amazing therapists like Doug Leonard (087-6867372) or Nicky Green (086-3177718) to fix you because you are so pig headed and think foam rolling and stretching a chronically tight area once a week is going to make a blind bit of difference when you spend half your day sitting (the death of mobile hips and shoulders).

Want to feel and move a billion time better? Read this - improving lower body mobility and this improving upper body mobility

5. Better at knowing when to pull back - most guys fall into two camps – Camp A) Come and get them

These guys that want to kill themselves in workouts yet end up more often than not injured and with no training consistency.

Camp B) I’m trying hard, honest!!

These guys will bitch and moan about how various circumstances continually conspire against them to hamper their training or nutrition progress yet it all sounds like a bunch of excuses to remain either fat and out of shape or skinny.

Forget healthy and buff  because clearly instant cool and like = background guitar, cigarette, tash and come to bed with me eyes.

The skinny guys worry about putting on fat as they continue to eat like a 10yr old girl and the overweight guys eat enough food to power a professional athlete without all the exercise to go with it.

What some think when they eat those high calorie treats.

All jokes aside, women are simple better at knowing what sessions they should push hard in and what sessions they should just punch the clock and do it anyway even when it’s not going to be amazing. Women tend to be better prepared and get their training gear and food ready the day before to set themselves up for success.

Want do get better results? Do the training sessions when you really don’t want to do anything because it’s in those punch the clock, take it handy sessions that you learn it’s better the workout you do than the workout you don’t.

Overall, if you want to get more out of your training then learn from the female trainees out there as they listen, apply, ask, work on weaknesses and know when to take the foot off the gas. I work with plenty of guys that do all of the above and have achieved and will continue to achieve great success but this is for me a minority compared with the consistency and dedication shown by the ladies.

Over the past 3-4 weeks I have tested the body fat of three different women that have ‘taken up running’ with friends with the intention of doing one of the many races out there or just for fun. I test body fat measurements with male/female clients day in day out so after 15years of doing that you grow to expect certain figures or scores from clients I have worked with i.e. Mary had x body fat and after 4-6 weeks of training (strength work/mobility work/metcons etc) and consistently keeping her nutrition on track 90% of the time it should be lower than her original measurement.

So I was more than a little surprised to note that all three women had HIGHER body fat scores after their 4-6 week cycle. So what happened? How come their body fat score went up even though they had added in the running? Being able to run in a straight line at a comfortable, chat with my mate pace is supposed to put you smack bang in the middle of your ‘fat burning zone’ right? Emmm no not quite and here’s what happened for all three of them -

1. They ran more – yea for running! You decide that you go for a run with a friend a few days a week which typically is done at the exact same pace regardless of the time or distance you run for. Big mistake. With no variation in running speed or intensity you will very quickly plateau out and see no improvements in your running times or distance. Just like everything in life you need variety. Mix up the training runs with some e.g. 400m repeats x 5-6 rounds with 90secs recovery betoween efforts, 1000m run x 2-3 with 5mins recovery (walk about or very very light jog between efforts), 5-8km time trial where you run at a race pace instead of your steady Eddy pace. This lack of variety will kill your progress.

2. Ran more but strength trained less - lets say you spent 4-6months or more working off a well structured training program that focused on mobility work, strength work and metcons. You clean up your diet as you adopt a paleo/primal approach. Net result – body fat drops in proportion to how consistent you have been on the previous two areas. Little consistency = small body fat drop. Amazing consistency = massive jaw dropping OMG body fat drop. Then a friend asks you to go running with him/her, you see more people out running (where the hell were all these people when you were running your intervals or hitting the weights hard in the winter?) and you read in a magazine that some celeb or article writer recommends running and all it’s glorious benefits. You then end up running more e.g. 3-4 days a week and then neglect the program that has been working so well for you up to that point. You run more and after a few weeks you are weight training maybe once a week if you are lucky because this dam running is taking up all your time. Big mistake number 2. Why? Well your perfectly structured program turned your body into a 4L engine roaring, fat burning, rapid metabolism machine which you just pissed away running exclusively. Your engine has now been reduced down to a 1.4L engine so with every step you take you are burning less calories because you lost much of that muscle that was keeping everything looking tight, firm and fantastic.

Essentially the person that neglects their strenght work and quite possibly their metcons also in favour of running may end up loosing the benefits they worked so hard to achieve and from the example of the three women I tested they gained body fat. This gain in fat was on the back of doing more running, less weights and all three reported that they felt like eating more carbs because they were running more and they fell into the trap of thinking they had to carb load i.e. eat more starchy carbs before and after running. Please keep in mind that all three simply wanted to look fantastic. They did’t want to be amazing runners and even if they did want to improve their running, neglecting their weights, lack of running variety was not the best way to go about that.

I had the same conversation with a client just the other day which went like this -

Client – “ok that’s a great program but when should I do more running?”

Me – “There’s an interval running day or steady pace running day on one of the 5 days programmed, plus you will note that there is some short runs included as part of a few different metcons throughout the six week cycle”

Client – “But what about a few days where I just go for a run”

Me – “Remind me of your goal again?”

Client – “To look even more fantastic than I already look!!”

Me – “Stick to the dam program! It’s gotten you in great shape so far and will continue to do so as you keep on it!”

This brings me to the title of this article – must’s v’s should’. Here are the must’s of getting in great shape -

Must’s

• Do mobility work – strectch and foam roll daily. You are tighter than you think you are and the quality of your movements depends on the quality of your muscles
• Strength train 2-3 days per week - absolutely essential. This can take the form of weight training e.g. squats, lunges, deadlifts, pressing, chin ups etc or body weight work like gymnastics or high volume body weight chin ups, press ups, squats, handstand, planche etc
• Metcons – 2-3 days per week. Do these after or on seperate days to strength days. Keep them for the most part short <7-10mins but throw in a longer one of 15-25mins every 2-3 weeks to mix it up. Plenty of ideas here
• Repeat with variety – it’s your trainers job to mix it up. If you don’t know how to mix it up get some help. This will keep training fresh and allow you to learn new skills.

Should’s – stuff you only do when the must’s are done first!

• Steady pace running – I like going for a run with a friend just as much as the next person but that’s just for one day. Steady pace run maybe once a week at most.
• Yoga/pilates classes – if you have crappy mobility and a real inability to hold your midline (e.g. stay tight in plank for at least 60secs) then these classes can help. However, a properly designed program should have addressed these areas already, given you a plan of action and you are possibly going to these classes because you haven’t got the get up and go to do it yourself. Foam roll, stretch and do core work – perfect plan on days where you are not feelin up to much and best thing you can do on non-training days.

There are possibly more should’s that pop up in magazines which I am all for people having a go at e.g. anti gravity yoga, zumba classes etc but these must not form the basis for your training. It depresses me when I see pictures like the natural v’s air brushed one below

This again makes women (the guy pics are just as bad) change their focus on their must’s and lean them towards their should’s.

Go out enjoy a run but remember that it’s the must’s that will make you look and feel your best NOT the should’s.

Post comments below and share with friends and family that would benefit from this article.

“LEAN muscle fast”

“17 day abs”

These are just some of the rotating covers lines from Men’s Health magazine which is hands down the most popular fitness/health/strength trainer in the world. Forget about celeb personal trainers, the fact’s are that Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness magazine and their female versions e.g. Oxygen, Shape etc are the number one trainer out there. These magazines train hundreds and thousands of people daily through their suggested workouts and meal plans. Even when you search with the term Men’s Health you are prompted with -Men’s health spartacus workout. Everyone know that to look badass you need to be training like the dude from the 300 movie or the Spartcus TV series right? There are claims training in this way raises your testosterone levels 1000% and makes you so attractive to women that their knickers just fall off on your approach. FACT!

Why wouldn’t you pick up a copy of men’s health when you’re in your local? You need to drop a few pounds, maybe more than a few pounds? The guy on the cover looks shredded, there’s the odd page or five with hot babes, very convincing before and after photos, nutrition and training programs to follow and who doesn’t like to have a look at the latest watch, car etc. Well there are a few issues  have with men’s health which I will addess in the video I have done but before you have a watch of that you might what to have a look at MY amazing protoplasma man juice that gets results in just 5secs! Yes you read that correctly – 5secs!!!!

My good friend in the video is none other than Jack Wise who just happens to be one of the best street performers in the world. You really should check him out – Jack Wise

You get the point right? A product is NOT the solution to your fatness. You are. Nothing changes unless it’s a result of your diet being dialed in 90% of the time (that mean’s getting your ass in gear almost all the time and not blowing all your progress every single weekend on an epic ‘cheat’ day) and training with consistency on a well structured program. What’s a well structured program? One that you most likely NOT find in men’s health magazine and here’s why -

Ok it’s May already and if youare one of those people desperate to get in beach body shape then you have two choices based on your starting position.

Choice 1 - for the I really haven’t exercised properly before and haven’t nailed the basics down e.g. body weight exercises, foam rolling, home based workouts etc you need to start here

Choice 2 - I train regularly in a gym but with no real structure and when left to my own devices end up doing lots of cardio and/or just do what I pick up from a magazine or other people in the gym. BOOK IN WITH A TRAINER!!! You will never move to the next level in your training unless you follow and stick to the program given by said trainer.

Finally, I am fully in favour of Men’s Health using fitness models, sexy women, cool cars and movie stars to sell their magazine and keep advertisers happy but where I have a problem is when the advice given does not keep up date with where the fitness industry has moved on to and the suggestion that you can learn how to e.g. squat or power clean after reading three lines and a static image of a guy poorly showing you how to do these movements, which may in fact not be right for you based on what should have been revealed in a screening or initial check. The first rule for trainers is do no harm so keep that in mind also.

To close with a Men’s Health tactic of inserting a hot female body into an article – now SHE’S beach body ready. How are you working on looking and feeling your best or are you still handing out excuses like a card dealer in a casino or searching for the answer in magazines, pills or supplements? Become the change you want to see today!!

1) We take our three year old daughter there for swimming which we think is an important skill to have in life and one I certainly wish I learned when I was her age. I swim like a stone!

2) To observe how normal people train. When you are based in a Crossfit facility (www.crossfit.ie) and help run a gym that focuses on fundamental movements/skills (www.theperformanceandfitnessacademy.com) you can take it for granted that EVERYONE trains smart with a structured systyem in place, foam rolls in every session, works their mobility, knows how and why to eat in a plaeo/primal fashion and are part of an exciting and welcoming community. This is NOT what I typically see and it’s nice to be reminded what normal looks like.

3) Recovery. I really enjoy the benefits of a sauna and ice cold plunge pool. Does wonders for recovery from hard workouts and you always feel amazing after. 5 ways to faster recovery

So getting back to the sweating man bursting to tell me a great story. Well I was in the sauna chilling out while the predominantly male +60yrs old members were in there solving the world problems as only wise old guys can do. While we all gave our two cents worth on many issues the topic of exercise and diet popped up and that’s when I was introduced to the fat melting, waistline dropping choc ice diet. This guy in his mid-sixties (let’s call him Jim) tells me he is in with his doctor for a check up and the doc says he really could do with dropping 2-3stone in weight (12-18kg). Jim asked the doc what he should do to which he replied, “I don’t know, but whatever you are currently doing is not working so go do something different asap!”

Jim was away on business in Germany the next week and with the advice of his doc still ringing in his mind he decided that instead of his usual lunch of a bread roll or sandwich, soup and a cappuccino he would have a choc ice instead. Simples

He did this every day for a week while he was away on a very busy business trip which suited him as it was something he could pick up on the go. When he got home he was surprised to discover that he was half a stone lighter so he decided to keep up his little experiment for a little while longer. A month passed and he was down over a stone. Three months passed and he was down two stone. Four months passed (still on the choc ice diet remember) and he was down two and a half stone or 15kg. Jim told me that throughout this time he did no extra exercise at all, made no other changes to his other meals which were fairly solid from what he told me and the choc ice brand was almost always the same for the experiment period.

When Jim finished his story he thumped the sauna bench and said “so what do you think of that Mr Keep fit and look after your diet!” Here is what you can learn from the choc ice diet -

1. Calories do count – from a simple calorie in versus calorie out equation this makes perfect sense. He was consuming at the very least 800-900 calories for his lunch which he dropped to about 200-250 with the choc ice (it was always a simple ice cream covered with chocolate choc ice on a stick) which gives him a deficit of about 500calories per day when all else remains the same. Yes I know the food quality (it’s mainly fat and sugar) in the choc ice is a disaster but he contends that it filled him up until dinner time and since he is a high energy individual he never felt hungry in the mid-afternoon. There’s 2,500 calories in a single pound of fat so after a week (500 x 7 days = 2,500) he could be down a single pound of fat. I can’t say for sure why he experienced a rapid drop in the first week but he did mention that on that business trip in Germany he walked the legs off himself to various meetings. Other than that he said that his life has a solid structure and would take some light exercise (walking and trips to the sauna!) so there was no consistent change in exericse habits.
2. What about paleo/primal - yes this is vital from a food quality standpoint and optimising hormone levels but there comes a point while eating paleo/primal where if your weight or body fat is not dropping then you are simply eating too many calories. Every day I am told by clients that they have a solid diet and follow a paleo/primal approach 90% of the time yet when asked to log their food intake we always see a completely different picture. Solution – use a calorie counting app or online calculator for 21days to track and record calorie intake so you can stop bullshitting yourself on how little you think you eat or if you are a guy trying to gain weight how much more you must eat. Post up your fave ones to comments (I typically recommend fitday.
3. Consistency – taking action consistently is something I write about all the time e.g. Raising your standards. Jim dropped the weight because he did something I don’t necessarily agree with every day and it worked. Would it have been better if he had a chicken salad with a nice olive oil dressing every day? Maybe, but we will never know. What does matter is Jim stuck to his guns and learned a valuable lesson – eat feckin less calories. He’s in is mid to late 60′s and not terribly active so he didn’t need to shove a 800+ calorie meal into himself every lunch and many older clients I work with tell me they are able to eat less as they go on in their years.

Do you know someone that is not very active, is overweight and still proclaims that they eat ‘hardly anything at all’ yet still can’t shift the weight? While I am not recommending the choc ice diet I think we can all learn a lesson from this funny story. If you wish you were lighter than the weight you are then start blinkin’ eating for the weight you want to be and stop eating to maintain your current weight. Eating in a paleo/primal way is ideal but if your weight is NOT dropping then you may need to take a step back from those nuts, protein bars etc and check if you are simply eating too much.