“Someone who knows the state capitals of 17 of 50 states may be proud of her knowledge. But someone who knows 47 may be more likely to think of herself as not knowing 3 capitals.”
-Chip and Dan Heath discussing ‘gap knowledge’
Made to Stick

Twenty-six years ago I passed my first degree black belt exam. The day I actually received my belt – my instructor tied it on me and told me – “Now, you start learning”.

I was confused at the time, but as usual, he was right. I learned more in my first six months as a black belt, because of the sparring partners I now had, the opportunities that were open to me, and my ability to absorb information at a higher level – than I had in all my previous years of training.

Then in the next six months – my knowledge and ability continued to develop rapidly — I learned more than I’d learned in all of my years of training again. It was like my knowledge level was doubling every six months. The black belt wasn’t the end — it really was the beginning.

I think being a fitness professional is the same. If you’ve been a trainer for five years, and you are still actively learning, attending seminars, reading — you’ll learn more in your sixth year than you’ve learned in your entire career so far. Your ability to filter good information from bad, to interpret research, and to know who to listen to, who’s work to read etc is so vastly improved that you can actually improve exponentially. As long as you are still studying of course

I’ve read 30 books this year so far, attended six seminars, read countless journal articles and business magazines, listened to audios and watched educational DVD’s. I don’t think I read 15 books the first year I was training people. I maybe didn’t read more than 30 books in my entire college education.

Craig Ballantyne told me that he has spent more money on education this year than he made his first year as a trainer – in fact he’s spent more than most trainers make in a year. I bet he’s learned more this year than he did back then. And I know he’s earned more (tip – that’s not a coincidence).

Keep learning.

–
AC

Which is a better motivator for you?

1) A time-based goal e.g. a six week fat loss program – lose as much fat as possible in 6 weeks, improve your chin-up ability as much as possible in a month -

or

2) an outcome based goal e.g. lose 10lbs – be able to do ten chin-ups – in other words a specific target -regardless of how long it takes

The results of those who responded were 50-50. Some were driven to dedicate a period of time and improve as much as possible – others were more driven to seek out a very specific outcome and pursue that – regardless of how long (or short) a time it would take.

What about you? If you’re a trainer or gym owner – understand that your clients my be motivated in completely different ways. It may require different promotions, different memberships and even different dialogue when you’re coaching them.

Just something to think about.

–
AC

Day A

Range of Motion, Activation, & Movement Preparation. (Dynamic Warm Up)

1A: Horizontal Cable Woodchops  2 sets        10 reps ea. way   0s Rest
1B: Ab Wheel Roll Outs                    2 sets          8 reps               60s Rest

2A: Front Squat                                 2-3 sets       6 reps               60s Rest
2B: Single Leg Ankle Mobility        2-3 sets       8 reps each        0s Rest

OR

2A: Deadlift                                       2-3 sets          6 reps               60s Rest
2B: Hip Flexor Stretch                    2-3 sets          30s each side    0s Rest

(Alternate using the front squat pairing and the deadlift pairing each workout day)

3A: TRX Inverted Rows                  2-3 sets         12 reps                60s Rest
3B: Reverse Lunges                         2-3 sets         12 reps ea.          60s Rest

4A: Push Ups                                    2-3 sets          12 reps                60s Rest
4B: Neutral Grip Face Pulls           2-3 sets          12 reps                60s Rest

Day B

Range of Motion, Activation, & Movement Preparation. (Dynamic Warm Up)

1A: Kettlebell Windmill                    2 sets              5-8 reps each side    0s Rest
1B: Prone Jackknife                          2 sets              10 reps                       60s Rest

2A: Bench Press                                2-3 sets          6 reps                         60s Rest
2B: Figure Four Hip Stretch          2-3 sets          20s each side             0s Rest

OR

2A: Chin-Ups                                    2-3 sets          4-6 reps                 60s Rest
2B: Leg Lowering Drill                   2-3 sets        6 reps each side        0s Rest

(Alternate using the bench press pairing and the chin-up pairing each workout day.)

3A: 3 Point DB Rows                        2-3 sets          12 reps each side      60s Rest
3B: Single Arm Single Leg RDL     2-3 sets          12 reps each side      60s Rest

4A: DB Overhead Presses               2-3 sets          12 reps                       60s Rest
4B: Swiss Ball Leg Curls                  2-3 sets          12 reps                       60s Rest

Notes:

 Use this program for 3 days per week on non-consecutive days e.g. Mon/Wed/Fri or Tue/Thus/Sat etc.

Alternate the A and the B program each training day. For example, weeks 1 through 3 will look like the following:

Week 1: Monday – Workout A / Wednesday – Workout B/ Friday – Workout A
Week 2: Monday – Workout B / Wednesday – Workout A/ Friday – Workout B
Week 3: Monday – Workout A / Wednesday – Workout B/ Friday – Workout A

Those of you who have been reading our work for a while will have seen the evolution of our programming, and the more astute amongst you will have noticed the similarities with for example, Rachel’s newest book, and the templates in the New Rules series.

So I thought I’d share with you a program from one of the other team members – Craig Rasmussen. This is a chapter that Craig contributed to the Results Fitness book.

The rationale for the program is outlined below and I’ll share the actual workouts later this week.
Here is some of our latest fat loss programming. Enjoy!

Fat Loss for Dudes
Craig Rasmussen

It may not be ingrained in our male DNA, but when most of us start lifting weights for the first time, it sure seemed like all of our workouts (no matter what the goal) were genetically predestined to be bench press, biceps curl, and triceps pushdown marathons 4-5 times per week and not much else. I know that my own workouts sure looked like this when I first started weight training way back in the late 80s.

I don’t get to visit the typical commercial gym too often these days, but each time I do, I feel like I have time warped back to the 80s as I see most guys doing the same stuff I did over 20+ years ago. For whatever reason, not much has changed and it’s not their fault, they just don’t know any better. So what’s a dude to do? I am going to show you how to do better based on several things that we have learned over the years.

First, let’s be honest dudes, you could probably stand to lose some “lb’s” of body fat (I should note, back in the 80’s and 90’s, we referred to guys most often as “dudes” in our vernacular instead of the currently in vogue term of “bros”).  A lot of guys, myself most definitely included, tend to find ourselves in a perpetual “bulking” or mass-gaining mode.

Why is this?

Interestingly, for a lot of us dudes, the mirror often lies and you will see a much leaner person staring back at you. If you were to take an honest self-evaluation such as a body composition test or take some simple photos with only your trunks on, you may be very surprised and/or shocked with the results. It can be a real eye-opener when you learn that you are more than likely not nearly as lean as you think you are. In other words, that 14-15% body fat that you think you are sitting at is probably much closer to 21-22%. If you have taken this evaluation and you have decided that it is time for you to get leaner, it is also high time that you overhaul your weight training program to make it more suited to the task at hand.

I write training programs at one of the leading fat loss gyms in the world and we have quite a few males who have come from the same place that you and I have come from. These guys are now typically middle aged and looking to shed some fat, stay strong, and still feel a bit athletic while holding on to their inner “dude.”

I am going to share with you what I feel are some of the biggest mistakes that I see most guys make when left to their own devices as it pertains to their weight training programs when seeking fat loss. Fixing these mistakes immediately will fast track your progress and get you to your fat loss goals. I am then going to share a snapshot of a training program that we have used with great success for dudes just like us.

1.  Dudes Organize Their Training Like a “Bodybuilder.”

I certainly mean no disrespect to the competitive bodybuilding community by the above statement, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with bodybuilding as a competitive pursuit. There is certainly a lot to learn from bodybuilders. In fact, most dudes get our first exposure to weight training through bodybuilders via muscle magazines and the Internet. The problem is that most guys think that following the routines of competitive bodybuilders is the best way for the average person to train for fat loss without really giving it enough thought. They will typically organize their training sessions in terms of the body parts or muscles trained. This is actually not very logical and not as productive as it could be since in reality your body works as an integrated unit and not as individual parts or muscles.

By the way, have you ever wondered how it was decided that certain muscles get their own day while others don’t? It makes no real sense to base how we allocate our exercises to our training days by simply considering muscle groups as the main organizing factor. It makes much more sense to base the allocation in regards to what the body does as it relates to basic human movements. If you think more in terms of training basic movements and the body as a whole (the way it actually works), you will actually train muscles as a by-product and get the results you desire.

I really like a quote that I originally heard from strength coach Nick Winkleman of Athletes’ Performance who stated, “When we just train muscles, we forget movements, when we train movements, we never forget muscles.”

The other big problem with this approach is that time is a major limiting factor for most typical dudes. We all have extremely busy lives with jobs and families. Do you really have the time to dedicate to training that a professional bodybuilder (whose job is usually his training) would have? I don’t think so. In our experience at Results Fitness (currently working with well over 300 clients multiple times per week on individualized programs), full body weight training routines done three times a week based on a split of basic human movements will work far better for most dudes, most of the time, in terms of fat loss training. This allows you to train with a higher frequency (you will actually hit muscle groups more often than typical body part split routines) and get better results.

At Results Fitness, instead of classifying our exercises by muscle group or body part, we classify them simply based on what they are – basic movements. The classification that we use is the following:

• Squat
• Hinge
• Push
• Pull
• Single Leg Stance
• Lunge
• Core

We will then allocate these movements to training days, as you will see in the sample program at the end of the chapter.

2.  Dudes Think More is Better.

More than likely, because of the heavy mainstream bodybuilding influence on general training that we mentioned above, most dudes usually think they must train on that good old 5-6 times per week body part split routine with extremely high volume to get any results. They also often think they must use multiple exercises for each body part with tons of sets. You must realize that you make gains while you are recovering from training, not during the actual training itself. There is also no need for exercises that are redundant. Think about it, what the heck is the leg extension going to do for you that the squat doesn’t? The key is to focus on quality and not so much on quantity.

As fitness expert Paul Chek has stated, “exercise is like a drug.” With the correct dose and the correct drug, you will get the desired response and it all works. If you overdose or take the wrong drug, you can do more harm than good and not get the desired response. One of the reasons why a three times per week full body routine works so well is that you get a high frequency of training without over doing it in terms of volume.

3.  Dudes Do Too Many Single Joint Exercises.

Is it a federal crime to do some biceps curls and triceps pushdowns? Nope, but when the volume/number of these types of exercises dominate your program, you will greatly diminish the effectiveness of your workouts, particularly when it comes to fat loss. If you focus your training on heavy, multi-joint (compound) exercises such as squats, deadlifts, various presses, push ups, rows, chins/pull-ups, etc., you will train much greater amounts of muscle overall, and this will lead to more calories burned during and after your workouts. As a general rule, the more muscle involved in an exercise the better.

But what if a dude’s goal is to also get bigger guns? Realize that spending the majority of your time and effort on getting stronger on chin-ups/pull-ups, various rows, and various types of presses will get your arms bigger faster than anything else. If you are unable to only do a single unassisted chin-up, what do you think will do more for your bicep size, those 25-30lb curls or focusing all your time and energy on working on that chin-up and getting to the point where you are doing multiple reps with an extra 25-50lbs hooked up around your waist?

4.  Dudes Neglect Lower Body Training.

Squats aren’t simply a leg exercise and deadlifts aren’t simply a back exercise. They are full body exercises that involve just about every muscle in the entire body.  If you have a 315lb. bar on your shoulders or upper back and you are getting ready to bang out a set of squats for 8 reps, realize that not just your legs are involved in the exercise. Your shoulders, upper back, core, etc., are all very heavily involved. They need to be big enough and strong enough to support and move that load.

A lot of dudes think, “I get enough “leg” work from running and playing hoops, so I don’t need to do squats, deadlifts, lunges, step ups, etc.” Sorry, but that’s just not the same thing! Understand that approximately 70% of your muscle mass is in your back, hips and legs. If you omit these exercises, you are severely limiting your results. Dare to be different and dare to get better results.  At our gym you will see everyone doing deadlifts, squats, lunges, and various single leg exercises, thereby training “legs.” It is part of our culture here and one of the reasons that we get the results that we do.

5. Dudes Rest Way Too Long Between Sets.

You know the scene at the local gym – guys taking 5-10 minutes between sets of the same exercise shooting the breeze with their buddies while discussing any number of topics and paying no attention to time. This is not very effective at all if your goal is fat loss! Research and practical experience has shown us that shorter rest periods lead to maximal metabolic disturbance possibly due to the hormonal influence that is set off by these shorter rest periods. It also allows us to increase overall caloric burn and total work performed in the time allotted for the training session. The key is being able to combine shorter rests without compromising the use of heavier loads in our compound exercises. How do we do this? Quite simply, we pair non-competing exercises with short rests (30-60 seconds) between them. As an example we might use the following pairing in a program:

1A: Push Ups             2-3 sets                      12 reps                       60 sec. rest
1B: Reverse Lunges  2-3 sets                      12 reps each              60 sec. rest

This allows us to increase the actual amount of work density done in a specified time period, as opposed to doing each exercise one at a time with longer rests, which leads again to better fat loss results.

6.  Dudes Think, “The Bench Press is More Than Just an Exercise, it is a Way of Life!”

I don’t think that there is any doubt that the bench press is the most overused exercise of all time. But, let me state this up front, there is nothing wrong with the bench press! I love the bench press (as most dudes do). The problem is when the bench press becomes your entire workout each time, rather than simply a part of your training program. In other words, most dudes simply bench press way too often and with way too much volume. This creates massive imbalances about the shoulder girdle. You need to strive for some sort of balance in the amount of pushing and pulling movements that you perform. Since most guys have been doing way more pushing for such a long time, it is a wise plan to purposely imbalance your training in the other direction in performing more pulls than pushes. You need to include lots of inverted rows, face pulls, dumbbell rows, and cable rows.

Remember the fact that 70% of muscle mass is in the back and legs? This will do your shoulders a lot of good and help out with the fat loss process all at the same time. By the way, in looking at the push pattern from a fat loss standpoint, the good old-fashioned push up is probably a better choice than the bench press actually, as it involves a greater amount of muscle mass and integrates the core to a greater extent at the same time.

With all of that said, let’s take a look at what a sample 4-6 week training program would look like……

2. Exercise is movement you do on purpose. It includes sports practice, jogging, yoga, backpacking, swimming, cycling, or anything else you think is important enough to take precedence over all the other things you could be doing at that moment. (New Rule #2a: If you can operate your cell phone while exercising, you aren’t actually exercising. You’re just proving you can walk and chew gum at the
same time.)

3. A workout is an exercise session that’s deliberately strenuous. You start with the goal of working up a sweat, pushing your muscles and your circulatory system toward their limit, and giving your body a challenge from which it will have to recover.

4. Training is a system of workouts designed to achieve specific biological adaptations.

==
Excerpted from “New Rules of Lifting for Life”

–
AC