TED Talk from Eric Berlow: How complexity leads to simplicity
I admit that I am totally adicted to TED talks.
This one is awesome and will only take less than 4 minutes of your time.
For fitness and exercise we are making it too hard.
This does NOT mean that physiology is not complex or simple. Far from it. I’ve often said that “physiology is messy” and “associated with every ‘bad’ engineering work like non-linear, anisotropic, etc” I’ve spent years studying physiology only to learn that I don’t know much! ha!
The INTERFACE of exercise is quite simple though!
Here are the 3 keys you must know for more muscle with less fat and pain
1) Measure your range of motion (if you want to know how, click HERE)
a) ROM (range of motion) is less -try a different exercise
b) ROM is better -great! Do that exercise
c) ROM is about the same -try something else to see if you can do better
2) Do each set until you one of 3 things happen:
a) your speed slows down
b) you have inappropriate tension
c) your breathing is altered.
3) Work to add overload with these 3 components:
a) volume (weight x sets x reps)
b) intensity (% 1 rep max or weight used)
c) density (volume/ time)
Rinse and repeat.
It really can be that easy!
Just think 3 x 3
Comments
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Standard exercise programs are broke, but not worries dear reader as I will give you a chance to win a program that changes all of this for more muscle, strength and less fat. Hold on as I tell you a short story.
Super Secret Program Story
I am sure you have started the latest wiz-bang, super secret, Russian Bear Wrestling, long lost exercise training program to add some muscle and strength (and drop fat); only to discover at about week 3 (or day 4!), that you feel like you got hit by a dump truck.
Your numbers in the gym may even drop.
You wake up feeling a bad soreness in your joints and you are cranky.
The program says you must continue on, so like a good student, you march blindly forward, only for things to get worse.
Your knee is now a trick knee since you never know when it will create pain.
Your gains in the gym have stalled and you do not even enjoy training that much any more.
Yikes!
What happened?
Standard Programs Are Broke
A standard program design does NOT account for YOUR body and YOUR lifestyle.
The squat is a great exercise, but maybe it is not great for YOUR body.
How would you know?
In standard programs, there is no room to change it up to your body and movement.
Maybe you had to stay up with a sick kid all night. Is your training going to be the exact same in the gym then? I doubt it.
The Solution (and how to get it FREE)
When I started training using the gym movement (biofeedback) protocol from the Grip and Rip DVD series, I thought it was pretty nutty.
I was used to a standard set and rep scheme that was programmed ahead of time. Now I was testing a couple exercises to see what was best on THAT day at THAT time for MY body.
Over time, I was able to set multiple PRs (personal records) in the gym. I did this day in and day out. Now, I am pissed if I don’t get at least 3 PRs a day.
How?
I am testing exercises, sets/reps (which only takes literally a few seconds) so that I know what is optimal for MY body.
I work to set a PR in
1) volume (amount of work down)
2) load (weight on the bar)
3) density (volume/time)
This is defined as “overload.” Each time I do a bit more and my body HAS to respond with more muscle, strength, and less fat.
Test your exercises, perform them with very little tension, work to add more overload.
This is the basis of the Gym Movement system outlined in the Grip and Rip DVDS.
It literally makes ALL other programs obsolete.
Your Turn (For FREE)
I was able to twist Adam’s arm (ok ok, I just asked nicely and Adam is a great friend) to allow me to give away a FREE copy of Grip and Rip.
Yep, totally FREE.
How Do I Get It?
All you have to do is place a comment below on why you feel you need Grip and Rip.
I will judge all the comments (must be in by this Wed Sept 23 at 6am EST) and select a free winner.
I will announce it this Wed AM and it will be sent off to you once I have contacted you.
I am NOT looking for 15,000 word essay, just state why you feel Grip and Rip will help you achieve your fitness goals.
The best entry (as judged solely by me, since it is my blog) is the winner!
Summary
Now you know why you probably have not made the best fitness gains so far. You have been doing what someone else THINKS is best for YOUR body.
Wrong.
Only your body knows what is truly best, so you need to learn the skills to listen to it, test it, and reap the rewards.
There are many hear that can comment on how well Grip and Rip has worked for them (chime in) and I love getting amazing emails stating how this worked amazingly well when nothing else did for them. I love it.
Summary
You can start adding comments right now. Only one comment per person. All must by in by this Wed Sept 23 at 6 am EST).
For those that don’t happen to win a copy, I will have a bunch of bonuses for you starting this Wed AM Sept 23 to encourage you to pick up a copy. In the meantime, enter a comment below on why you want a copy of Grip and Rip.
Here we go again, a tip inside my brain as to what is rattling around in there. Trust me, you have been warned!
1) Mushroomhead is a highly underrated metal band
Adam T Glass just found them and was blown away. Great stuff. I prefer their earlier work with J Mann, but the new upcoming CD still sounds pretty cool. Awesome live shows if you ever get the chance to see them–go!
2) One of my favorite quotes of all time
“The iron never lies to you..the iron will always kick you the real deal. The iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go, but two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.” – Henry Rollins
3) Axial loading is key for muscle hypertrophy
It seems that loading the body axially like squats and overhead pressing seems to have a greater trigger for muscle hypertrophy (bigger muscles).
There is not any direct research that I have seen on this looking at similar loads (volume), but adding squats and kettlebell clean and jerks into your routine can pack on some mass quite fast.
I added about 3-4 lbs in the past month by adding these in. I also increased my calories again and my stress level was a bit lower too. Make sure those movement test well though (ala Grip n Rip).
4) Corrective exercise
I think we are making it entirely too complicated. An exercise/movement either makes you better or worse. If it makes you worse, you are not doing it correctly for YOUR body, or it is not good for you at THAT time. We are either getting better or worse. Is corrective exercise any more complicated than that?
5) Bad foods
We need to stop putting foods into categories as “good” or “bad.” Very few foods are really bad. If something is really bad it will kill you fast. That is bad. A poorly prepared puffer fish will kill you very fast. I say avoid it, but even eating twinkies for a week straight will probably not kill you. You may look similar to a twinkie by the end of the week though.
Twinkies in their natural state
6) The goal of health
Along those lines our goal of health is backwards. People think they need to eat “clean” 100% of the time. Even the most strict, pre-competition bodybuilder types don’t need to do that 100% of the time and even then the pre contest period is short compared to the rest of their life.
Having people try to get to a goal of 100% is not realistic and will set them up for massive failure.
The goal should be to eat as “BAD” as possible WHILE maintaining health (blood tests) and body composition goals.
If you can do this at a 70% compliance vs a 90% compliance, 70% is better!
The ability to take in virtually any food item and convert it into fuel (termed Metabolic Flexibility) is key to health.
Do you want to have more freedom with your diet and eat the foods you love, or feel like you are boxed in and “never good enough”?
7) PhD programs are long, really friggin’ long
I knew when I start this, that it would be a long road. I had other warn me about it. I thought they were nuts. No way I was going to be in school for another 5-7 years after the 11 years I had already done. Screw that.
Well, fast forward to many years later and I am still plugging away at it. Very few things have I started that I have though long and hard about quitting and this is at the top of the list. The good part is that I am fully determined to finish, no matter how long it takes. I have decided it will not rule my life and as long as each day I am making progress, the end will come. And I can’t wait for that day. Wow. Once I graduate, all hell is going to break loose as my ability to output will go through the roof. You have been warned.
8 ) Poor exercise form
Adam mentioned this on a conference call and some are now sooooo scared of not doing an exercise correctly that they will not even TRY.
How can you get better at say a kettlebell clean and press, without ever doing one? The answer is you CAN’T.
The first rep is always the worst rep.
I am NOT recommending that you go load up the bar with a max load and do your first deadlift attempt ever with it. That is just stupid. But starting with the bar and doing a few reps and measuring your range of motion (biofeedback) to see if it is good is an excellent start. Then work to make it better every time. Not starting will not help you. To get better, you can video your movements and keep testing or find a local qualified coach to help determine what is best for YOUR body; not what looks picture perfect. The goal is better, not initial perfection.
9) I still love the TRX
Very fun to use and easy to travel with too!
10) You should train for falling and ill movements
I believe that if you may fall in life (which is all of us), you need to train for falling. Special thanks to Frankie for pointing this out and covering it in the Movement Certification.
Great discuss on this at Charlie Weingrofts blog.
11) Joint mobility is just one movement
Joint mobility,while it can have its place and does work, is only a handful of movement the human body can do. Plus, we learn by performing large (gross) movements first and then work to refine them over time. Why would we start with the smallest movements FIRST?
If you want to learn how to squat, I want to see you friggin squat first! I don’t give a crap at that point about your ankle dorsiflexion or the ability of you to active control your pinky finger. I don’t care. If I can’t correct your squat movement, I will then start to go to more fine and fin movements. I may end up with ankle work or even thumb mobility work, but I would not START there.
You must read this post on Joint Mobility from Frankie below. It is a MUST read.
I have changed how I look at things this year once again. Here are the top things I learned in 2009 below. Can you see how I do things differently now? If so, place a comment below
13) B-Stance Deadlifts are one of the most underrated versions
If you have a weakness in one leg (most of use do) and you want to bring up your deadlift, doing a B-Stance deadlift where once foot is closer to the bar than the other (think of a very mild or shallow lunge where one leg is about 4 inches back from the bar in an asymmetric stance). Check it out at
I am still not happy with modern shoes and we would all be better off training in a pair of Vibrams, flat shoes, or no shoes at all.
15) Joint Pain
I love GLC 2000 for joint issues. I have been using it for several months now and it is great. Others that recommended it to have tried it love it too. I have tried similar supplements like it in the past and they did nothing for me.
While I don’t have many joint issues, they did get a bit achy after many weeks of increased volume. I even tried to push it a bit more and still had no issues. I stopped taking it and within a few days to weeks, they got a bit touchy again.
GLC 2000 has a very high form of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, which are natural substances found in and around the cells of cartilage (joints). Glucosamine is an amino sugar that the body produces and distributes in cartilage and other connective tissue, and chondroitin sulfate is a complex carbohydrate that helps cartilage retain water.
I have some other theories that this should help connective tissue health, which then should help maximal strength.
If you go to the link below, you can pick up 2 for the price of 1 from Carl at Super Human Radio (which you MUST listen to).
Can you add 18 pounds of lean body mass in 3 months?
Joe Turner circa 1913
Can you gain 18 lbs in 3 months?
Yes.
Is this someone who is new to weight training?
No.
This sounds made up, are you sure it is real?
Yes and no drugs were involved either.
How?
Frank did this recently and was so excited with the results that he wanted to share the secrets with everyone.
I got him on the phone and extracted as much information out of him as I could.
I am now giving you the entire 1 hour audio for free.
The only thing I ask is for your email address.
Yes you will be added to my newsletter list, but you can unsubscribe at any time.
I will NEVER rent or sell your email to anyone else since I hate spam.
What are you waiting for?
Note, if you are already on my newsletter list, check your inbox as it is there waiting for you as a way to say thanks!
Rock on Mike T Nelson
PS
Time is closing in if you want me to guide you step by step to the best gains of your life.
Check out the offer below before it is gone!
Online Training and Gym Movements Biofeedback Free Teleseminar Call
Are you confused about your training?
Are you trying hard in the gym, but not making as much progress as you would like to?
Do you feel in the back of your mind there is a better way?
You are hoping for a cold summer so you can wear a sweatshirt to the beach?
You have weird pains that prevent any gains in the gym?
If so, keep reading.
To get in on this FREE conference call, sign up to my newsletter below and I will instantly send you the conference call recording
The feedback on the Gym Movement biofeedback training as shown in the Grip n Rip DVD keep rolling in. I have to be honest, I love opening my inbox and getting awesome emails from those who are putting it into practice and setting tons of PRs (personal records) in the gym. Awesome! Along the way, I have received lots of questions too. The downside is that it is getting harder and harder for me to get back to everyone in a timely manner. I get back to people but some times the delay is 7 days or more (sometimes it is not). I understand that this is not a scalable process, and at some point I will not be able to respond.
The Solution
If you are on my email newsletter, you know that I have decided to open up 4 spots in my online training program.
How This is Different
This is NOT your standard online training where I hand you a piece of paper and tell you to go nuts after you fork over $500 every month and hope you make good gains in the gym and find your abs. You are hiring me to guide YOU through the process of reading feedback from YOUR body for amazing results. At the end of 3-6 months, you are off on your own, headed towards your goals at the fastest pace ever AND you will never need another expert again to tell you what to do! You will using YOUR body’s own feedback for the best results of your life. Sort of like training wheels on a bike to get started, but once you get the training wheels off, you will never need them again. Sounds insane I know.
Evidence
Just go on to Twitter.com and search for #Preveryday and you will find tons of people setting PRs like never before. I won’t list all of them here, but it is crazy! Some adding 10, 20, 30 lbs of lean body mass over several months, adding almost 80 lbs to his bench press (and he was not new to training) and more.
I know others that charge $400 for the first month for a piece of paper and a standard program design that ignores your body’s feedback. If you want additional nutrition work, that is $150 to $200 more. Your first month is $600! I am sure they do a fair job, but how custom is it to you really?
Better is Better
The current price for 6 months is $200 per month and for 3 months is $250 per month. You pay at the start of each month, so you don’t need to pay for all of it up front.
What Do I Get?
You will get direct access to me via my email and my own personal cell phone number to call. I will guide you and make sure you are hitting a PR every day! I have been working with Frankie Faires (where I first heard of this type of training) for well over 2 years now. I have worked with other athletes of all types from SWAT athletes, weekend warriors and others in person and distanced based.
I can say without a doubt that this works better than anything I have ever used.
I can’t think of training any more like I used to do it. The results speak for themselves. I can guarantee that these prices will NEVER be this low again. As this catches on, the demand will keep increasing and I will keep getting better and better, therefor you will get better even faster. Once I finish my PhD, the price will go up yet again.
More muscle, less fat, no more sweatshirts at the beach
Bonus
I will give you the nutrition work (using the Precision Nutrition system) for FREE also. Dr. Berardi has a great system that he has used with thousands of people to get results. Everyone from weekend warriors to professional athletes.
Summary: What You Will Get IF You Are Selected
Access to me to answer all your questions
A template approach to get you started in the right direction
Full nutrition work
Supplement recommendations
Mobility work (if needed)
RESULTS
100% guaranteed. If you are not happy for any reason, you will pay nothing.
Where Do I Sign Up?
I only have 4 spots (note, 2 of them or all of them depending on when you read this may already be taken).
To get more information, email me by clicking EMAIL MIKE with the answers to these 2 questions 1) Why do you feel you need this program? 2) Are you an action taker and are ready to test your body for the best results ever? I have the right to pick the top 4 who I feel are the best qualified. My decisions are final. Not everyone will be accepted. I want action orientated people only. If you are not ready to small, consistent steps, I do not want your money.
If you are interested, get your email to me ASAP or hit me up via the contact page at the top.
In the event of a tie, the nod will go to the person who sent in the answers first. So, if you are ready to set a personal record every time you enter the gym and have an expert guide YOU with feedback from YOUR body, email me your answers to the two questions above right now.
Incentive Free Conference Call with Frank (a biofeedback tester)
I was on phone live recently with Frank for a free conference call. Frank is just like you and works as a barber. He has been doing the Gym Movement biofeedback training for a few months now and has made some incredible gains. I first met him at the Grip n Rip 2.0 Workshop and then a couple weekends ago.
Within a few months I seriously almost did not recognize him.
I know that sounds too good to be true, so listen in to the conference call and hear his story first hand.
Frank is NOT being paid in any way for this. I asked him to share his experience and he was more than willing to do so. You can get this FREE conference call download instantly by signing up to my newsletter below and I will instantly send you the call.
Rock on!
Mike N
PS
Outside of a handful of people in the Movement, you wil NOT find this offer anywhere else.
I can guarantee you this is the lowest price you will ever see from me on this offer. If you are not setting PRs in the gym after 30 days of working with me directly, I will refund all of your money, no questions asked. Your progress is guaranteed!! Email me now by hitting EMAIL MIKE with these questions
1) Why do you feel you need this program?
2) Are you and action taker and are ready to test your body for the best results ever?
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