Frequently Asked Questions
My business has evolved from my own experience, passion and frustration that I have encountered over the last quarter of a century, training and competing in bodybuilding and working in the fitness industry. I have had to learn it all the hard way, through trial and error and research. I now teach others how to avoid what I have had to overcome, where the pitfalls of traditional training and diet are, and how they manifest. This is hard to find in an industry where everyone has an opinion but an opinion does not equal knowledge. As time has passed by, what I have noticed is that people and clients started to see the logic – and that is the key word logic. In my unique yet simple approach to getting in shape and staying that way at 44 having to overcome more physical obstacles than most, I am living proof of the effectiveness of my techniques.
TRAINING
EVERYTHING WORKS BUT NOTHING WORKS FOREVER
As a very curious individual I have tried most, if not all of the various concepts and approaches to training. If the progressive overload high volume system of training was the in thing at the time then that’s what I did. If it was heavy duty low volume system again, that’s what I did and not just for a few weeks or months, but in some cases for years at a time.
Each training system I tried seemed to be supported by its own valid research yet each seemed to contradict the other leaving one quite confused. To me some of the research itself was questionable eg. conclusions are drawn from short term training studies (6 months or less duration) involving previously untrained subjects. This in and of itself is a problem as for many reasons nearly any programs will work for a beginner.
Another issue I had was most training systems focus on the musculoskeletal system and strength. With the progressive overload approach to training, one can only keep adding weight for so long until you simply can’t get any stronger. Attempting to do so, your form suffers, the target muscle is not worked properly, injuries arise and progress stops. Also I could never get a straight answer on the concepts of the volume with this type of training, why is 16 total work sets for a muscle the right magical no? Why not 15 or 17?
The heavy duty system in some aspects made great sense to me particularly in regards to intensity, but then I started to question the volume or total workload. It just seemed too low to effect significant development (as research will bear out). For example in the strictest sense it advocates one total work set per body part? In fact the so called heavy duty low volume training systems normally have so many warm up sets at the end of the day they are higher volume.
What I had learned from my experience with different training systems and from research was becoming obvious, the controlling factor in training success of any kind, whether athletic, or for development, lies with intensity, not strength.
My research finally then led me to some sound logical concepts on training and adaptation.
Innovation Training
Innovation Training focuses on the neuromuscular system, how and why the nervous system controls muscle function and muscle action. It also focuses an all aspects of intensity, this includes but is not limited to strength concepts. Intensity is a process that needs to be learnt and once the body adapts to higher levels comes greater development. The goal should be to work harder, not get stronger and stronger. The weight is just an indicator of a load the muscle should be under to fail at a given rep range. The goal should be maximum voluntary contraction of the muscle and when this does in fact occur, real strength will also increase. What is meant by real strength is that the athlete is only using the targeted muscle to do the work, rather than any muscles just to lift the weight. The advanced Innovation Trained athlete is concerned with the intensity of contraction, and the “feel” in the targeted muscle, and how close they got to maximum voluntary contraction, using fatigue and recovery as performance indicators. This is the difference between an advanced trainer, and beginner, or intermediate. The advanced athlete focuses on the quality of contraction and concentrates totally on the muscle he is targeting to lift the weight. The intermediate athlete is only concerned with the rep, and tries to lift it any way he can.
Target training
Target training has to do with determining the ranges and planes of motion that a muscle functions in. The range of motion is the measurement of the achievable distance between the flexed position and the extended position of a particular muscle . While the plane of motion is the special area a muscle is functioning within, or the plane it functions best in.
There is sound research that suggests a muscle should be worked in the correct plane of motion that it functions in. The angle or plane of motion is even more important than the intensity of contraction for eliciting a maximum voluntary contraction for the targeted muscle.
Therefore exercise selection and form are the most important considerations of your workout. Randomly selecting exercises for a muscle is not target training. Functional Differentiation means it is essential to understand what exercises to select and what sequences of exercises to select in order to get the most out of that muscle in its most efficient plane of motion. Then things like excitation thresholds, and segmented utilization of muscles become important.
Functional/Metabolic Training
Over a period of many years I have observed individuals (myself included) that train traditionally and exclusively with free weights and machines that develop similar issues from so much single plane vertical movement which has many positive influences on the body and many negative influences also. Some of the negative influences can manifest as inflammation, tendonitis and arthritis. This type of training also, almost totally negates core strength and stability and is almost totally focused on the frontal plain of the body whilst negating the posterior plane.
Whilst recovering from a work accident that required two extensive spinal surgeries, I began working with a corrective Kinesiologist who was a highly trained check practitioner. During my rehabilitation I started learning functional training exercises that are centered around the movement and thought if I combine these with traditional bodybuilding exercises that are centered around the muscle I would start to get a hybrid system of training that would be very effective.
Since those days in the late nineties I have discovered that there is a recently developed system that takes this concept much further. By placing some speed and velocity movements in the protocol as well you have MET training, the combination of traditional bodybuilding training for strength and hypertrophy, functional exercises that train the body differently but still create neural demand and using lower loads with extremely high velocity, this can and will create greater adaptation. The side effect of such a program is that metabolism is enhanced unlike traditional routines only.
This is now one of the protocols I employ in my own training and for my clients training. It gives back the things that conventional weight training has taken away – athleticism, functionality and metabolism.
Overtraining
A key point I did take away from the heavy duty system is the theory of monitoring the volume and frequency of training. I do believe overtraining to be a very real phenomenon and there is a wide variation among individuals in their ability to tolerate intense exercise. Recovery can vary quite dramatically depending on the individual – one can never train too hard but one can train too long and too often. Therefore training cycles and scheduled lay offs are part of my programs. Like a diet an exercise routine must be sustainable long term, or you will not stick to it .
Developing my own training principles
Based on my experience and biofeedback I started to combine the most logical concepts from the various routines I had tried and developed my own unique exercise programs.
Principles
1A. Focusing on the neuromuscular system, working the muscle not the movement; or
1B.Hybrid / Metabolic training , working the movement and the muscle
2. Working muscles in the correct range and plain of motion they function in
3. Preloading a muscle by stretching it with resistance to get the most overload
4. Correct exercise selection
5. Intensity not strength
6. Equal posterior plane movements
7. Monitoring the volume and frequency of training
My training programs and Functional/Metabolic training both involve to the greatest extent the concept of Intensity.
The research is out there I just perused it.
Assesments
When I initially assess a client, I take into account what their current state is. For example where they are at physically and metabolically. I explain the reality of the situation and give them a very realistic opinion on how long it will take them to achieve their goals and the best way to go about this process (which in most cases is grossly underestimated by the individual). As taking off or putting on weight is a very slow process when it is real and depends on many factors. I also address the non physical aspects a client will need to achieve their goals, what motivates a client to undertake a training or diet program. The right thought process will go along way to either helping them achieve their goals or failing to achieve their goals this is of critical importance.
A training or diet program should always be tailored to the individual not the other way around. Once an initial training or diet protocol is put in place, changes will be made based on the client’s experience of the program and biofeedback – this allows me to determine how to alter things like training volume, training type, cardio etc. The program will only change for a valid reason and that will be based on the client’s own response to the training and diet stimulus.
Big mistakes are be made by people taking a training routine or diet from a magazine or some type of media, and applying it to themselves. This is setting oneself up for failure, as it does not take into account the individual’s specific needs and goals, nor does it educate them on what to do long term.
DIETS
In regards to diet, I don’t think there is one diet out there that at some stage I have not tried. Thirty eight competitions requiring low single digit body fat will do that to you. Again, these diets were not tried for a few weeks or months but in some cases years at a time. Let me list some of these diets: High Carb/Low Fat, High Fat/Low Carb, Atkins, Zone, Ketogenic and numerous variations of these. The list goes on and on.
I started to notice that getting in shape was attainable but not sustainable, with many of these diets having long term metabolic consequences for the individual. I did however realize one fairly obvious thing from trying all these diets. You must be in a negative calorie deficit to loose body fat. That’s common sense. This can only be done for a short period of time before the metabolism starts to down regulate which happens in approximately two to three weeks. This leaves us with the question How does one avoid this?
A turning point for me in the search for this answer came in the mid 90′s when I read a book titled Body Opus, and again tried another diet. But this one had some merit in some specific areas. Although again I found it to be very impractical long term.
The Body Opus diet basically consisted of five days a week on zero carbs (which I found to be very hard and not sustainable). On the weekends you then loaded on specific amounts of carbohydrates and some proteins at specific times (every two hours) to cause a rebound effect and to also stop the metabolism down regulating.
There was a statement at the very end of the book that I really paid attention to. The author suggested some people could load on junk food for the weekend and look just as good. That got me thinking, and through trial and error I began modifying this cyclic ketogenic diet to a more practical and workable form. I found that I could literally load one or two days a week on whatever food I wanted. Then I decided to take this one step further. I realized that if you were in sub maintenance calories for five days a week, it wasn’t necessary to totally cut carbohydrates and go into a ketogenic state. As on sub maintenance calories there is no predisposition to hoard or store fat from any one food source, it is impossible. So from there I started to get a system of practical diet that was sustainable and negated the pitfalls of traditional dieting, as the metabolism is not shut down. Once a client’s metabolism is primed and they have gone through what is known as “metabolic shift” – this is one of the methods I teach them (there are numerous), but I emphasize a thorough assessment is necessary to apply the principles effectively. Again I fit a diet to the person not the other way around.
I have seen too many people do this magical crash diet and training for x amount of weeks (in the process stripping mostly water and muscle from their bodies) and end up (to the uneducated) looking great. What I challenge you to do is see how they look in 6 months. Is the weight still off? How do they feel? What is their energy like? The list of questions goes on. There is a right way to attain your goals and maintain them creating health and wellness long term.
Looking good is attainable but is it sustainable?