New Rules of Lifting for Women Interview

Now available -- Click HERE to get your copy.

For an interview with Lou, Cassandra and myself (thanks to Kevin Larrabee) answering some reader's questions about the book - click here

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

Free Cardio...

What if I gave you a free cardio session each day, in which you burn the calories without stepping on a treadmill? Would you be interested?

The thermic effect of food (TEF)- or thermogenic effect - is a term used to describe the energy expended by our bodies in order to consume (bite, chew and swallow) and process (digest, transport, metabolize and store) food.

For most people this total number typically accounts for about 7-10% of calories consumed based on the Standard American Diet (SAD....)

Breaking it down ...Protein foods typically have a TEF of 25 -30%. Carbohydrate foods require about 5-10%. Fruits are around 15% Cruciferous vegetables are around 30% and fats are somewhere between 0 and 3%.

So you can see where I'm going with this ... if you just exchanged 100 calories of carbs for 100 calories of protein -- you'd actually in effect - burn off another 20-25 calories. If you swapped 100 calories of fat for 100 calories of vegetables -- you'd eat up an extra 27-30 calories.

So let's say you are the typical person eating a highly processed, low fiber, low protein diet. You eat about 2500 calories and burn about 7% of those calories.

2500 - (7% of 2500) = 2325 calories absorbed

But then you switch to a higher protein diet, low in refined carbs and very high in whole foods, vegetables and fruits. You could easily increase the thermogenic effect.

2500 - (16% of 2500) = 2100 calories

That would mean you'd burn an extra 225 calories by doing nothing! For most people that's the equivalent of about 20-25 mins on a treadmill!

Small changes add up to big differences in the long term.

Add in a solid fat burning exercise program -- and you're well on your way to six-pack abs this Summer!

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

January Q&A III

Q: I am currently 260lbs at about 30% bodyfat. Obviously I need to drop some fat.

Here is my plan:

Diet: I'm going on a zero carb diet.

Weight Training:

Mon: Chest and Back

Tue: Legs

Wed: Off

Thu: Arms

Fri: Off

Sat: Full Body Circuit
Sun: Off

I'm also going to walk for about an hour every morning on an empty stomach but I'll make sure to keep my heart rate in the fat burning zone.

Is there anything you'd do to upgrade or modify this?

A: I'm pretty sure that this has been sent to me by one of my colleagues as a complete joke. This can't be a real question. Or certainly not from someone who has ever read anything I've written. However - I'll bite....

You are 260lbs and 30% bodyfat. Which means that any program will pretty much work as long as you're expending more calories than you consume- so you will see results merely increasing your activity levels - regardless of your program. Then again - Jarod saw results by eating two sandwiches per day...

But you are asking me how would I "upgrade" this? So you're really asking if I could get you better or faster results. I'd start by throwing this plan out...

260lbs @ 30% means you have easily a good 60lbs of fat that you can afford to lose. And you have an "arm" day? Come on.... do you really think that at 30% body fat you're going to need to do extra curls to help you drop fat?

Your weight training program is based on a bodypart split. That might be great if you were a precontest bodybuilder - but for you it's hardly effective given the fact that you are pretty much obese and have so much fat to lose. An arm day works so little muscle - it just isn't going to make much of a demand on your body to force it to burn fat.

Low intensity steady state cardio on an empty stomach? You have got to be kidding me. There are several studies showing that not only does low intensity aerobic work do almost nothing in terms of real world fat loss - but that there is zero difference at low intensity in terms of actual fat oxidation . The reality is - if you burn 3500cals per day and eat only 3000 cals - you'll lose fat. Do you really think that the fat loss would be 'different' or 'bigger' if you burned the first 500 calories before you ate?

As for the fat burning zone - that is just ridiculous. I'm not even going to go into it - it was a complete misinterpretation of the physiology. As my friend Alan Aragon has said - caring about how much fat you burn during a workout makes about as much sense as caring about how much muscle you build during a workout.

A zero carb diet is ok - but it's probably overkill. I can't imagine that your problem is too much broccoli, cabbage and tomatoes, or an overdose of watermelon.

Here are my changes:

• Change to full body workouts or an upper-lower split - with three to four weight training days per week.
• Diet - try to eat around 2600 calories per day for the next month - keeping your protein intake high, keeping starchy carbohydrates to a minimum but pile on the vegetables (click here for more fat loss nutrition information)
  
• Cardio/energy system work: I prefer interval training - it burns more calories while you are doing it, burns more calories after you have done it (EPOC) and in every single head-to-head study is shown to be more effective than steady state work. However in your case it may be too intense - so I'd just add 2-3 moderate to high intensity cardio sessions per week.

Overall - this plan (essentially the same plan I recommend here) should help you to drop about 1% of your bodyweight per week.

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com
PS - I just did an interview with Kevin Larrabee and Jimmy Smith of The Fitcast. Check it out.

Countdown to the Great Unveiling 2008.

Memorial Day is May 26th -- and that holiday weekend is considered to be the unofficial start to the Summer in the USA.

My friend Jason Ferruggia (Mens Fitness technical adviser) has called it "Judgment Day -- The Great Unveiling" - the first day of the year when the shirts come off and we see how good your eating habits have been and how effective your training has been.

So Memorial Day weekend is 17 weeks away.

Why not make Memorial Day 2008 your..

LEANEST.
WEEKEND.
EVER. ?

Step one: Picture yourself on the beach, at the pool or at the barbecue after 16 weeks of training and fat burning nutrition with 16, 24, 32 or even more pounds of fat GONE. Imagine how different your body would look...

Step two: Focus on how you feel being leaner and more defined than you've EVER been.

It all starts with the success mindset. As success guru Stephen Covey says - begin with the end in mind. You have to picture and believe the outcome first.

But that's not enough -- you need --

Step three: a plan.

Your plan should include a nutrition program that will help strip your body of excess fat. Your plan should include a resistance training program that helps maintain and shape your muscle mass and elevate your metabolism, as you get defined and cut. And your plan should include an energy system routine that (in the words of Mens Fitness magazine):

"incinerates fat faster than a crematorium on sumo night!"

(They were talking about the Afterburn program when they said that!)

I'll be honest- if you hired me in person today to train you for the Memorial Day Weekend - we'd be using the principles I outline in the Afterburn program. If you want to have the leanest body you've ever had, lose weight and burn fat - all you have to do is follow those steps. It really is that simple.

Make it happen.
--
AC
www.afterburntraining.com

5% down, 95% to go.

Today is January 22nd.

That means 21 days (3 weeks) have already passed in 2008. That's a little over 5% of the year gone already.

So let's do a quick "goal review" or a Resolution recall.

Are you 5% towards your goals?

If your goal was to lose 50lbs of fat - you should be down 2.5lbs right now if you're on track. If your goal was to increase your income by $10,000 this year - you should already have made an extra $500.

Now I know goals are not always achieved linearly - particularly not fat loss or financial goals -- but you'll hopefully see my point.

An easy goal that I always set is just a specific number of workouts that you are going to do. Then you just mark them off. Last year my goal was 250 workouts. I performed 270 workouts by the end of the year. My goal for 2008 in this category was to increase that by 10% - 297 workouts.

To be on track I need to have completed about 14 workouts by now. This morning I completed workout 21 of this year.

I am also planning to launch six new products this year. I've already launched the first one (the Metabolic Acceleration DVD). For one of my business projects - as of yesterday I'm at 5.5% of my annual goal. For another I'm at about a 4% increase over the same point last year (which is slightly behind schedule).

The point is - you need to constantly assess where you are in relation to your desired outcomes.

Are you on track?
Are you headed in the right direction?
Have you even moved off the starting line?
Yes? Congratulations - 2008 is shaping up to be a great year for you.

No? Don't worry - just step up your ACTION a little bit and catch up.

5% down - 95% to go. You've still got time to make some major changes in your life this year.

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com
PS - for those of you who need help in taking action and staying focused on your goals - do what I did and grab a copy of the Magic Hundred

Guest Blog - from your Belly Fat!

..ok not really - it's from my friend Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training- and it's a good one!
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A Letter from Your Belly Fat

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Dear Friend,

This is a letter from your ol' pal, belly fat. We had a great run this summer, didn't we? Lots of good times, great food, and plain ol' sitting around eating too much.

Well, I'm thinking about sticking around another year if you don't mind. But you might need to get a bigger pair of pants, as I was thinking about expanding my place down here.

So do me a favor, avoid that interval training you were thinking of doing. The last time you did that stuff, I nearly had to look for a new place to live. I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West in the land of Oz. Did you hear me yelling, "Help me, I'm melting!"?

Instead, stick to that slow cardio stuff. Sure I get a little sweaty, and the ol' brain up there thinks it's doing "a real fat burning workout", but it's never enough to melt me outta here.

Another thing, keep listening to those experts who say strength training doesn't burn body fat. Since research shows they're wrong, if you added strength training to your program, you'd practically need to throw me a going away party!

After each one of those superset workouts you tried last January it felt like someone lit a match under our collective butt. I was burning up down here!

But boy oh boy, I sure was glad you gave that up and went back to just lifting utensils and not dumbells. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to celebrate another summer together this year.

Sometimes I wonder, what did you ever do in college without me, your trusted belly fat? Back then, you were probably one of those people that couldn't wait to get to the beach to show off your body, not like these days.

Nope, stay in the shade and keep the cover-up clothes on, that's the way to go now. Besides, its a lot closer to the cold beer and the BBQ when you're sitting in the shade avoiding all the fun down on the beach.

Well, it sure was good catching up with you. I'm sure we'll be in touch more often, as long as you stay away from that Turbulence Training workout routine.

Brings a tear to my eye whenever I even think about that workout program and all the belly fat it's burned. Heck, it's fried more belly fat than a frying pan!

So again, if you want to keep your dear old belly around for another year and another summer, don't use Turbulence Training - otherwise, its all over pal, and you'll never see me again.

Belly Fat says, "Don't use this"
==>Turbulence Training

Your friend and spare tire,

Belly Fat

PS - Seriously, don't go near that Turbulence Training program unless you want to see me, Thunder Thighs, Manboobs, Jigg Lee Arm Fat, and Luv Handles pack our bags and hit the highway.

It will be a sad farewell, and you'd be stuck with ripped abs, gorgeous glutes, and toned arms, and you know how much attention those guys get from the opposite sex. Who needs it, I say.

-----

Classic stuff! Check out Craig's Program - here

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

12 Tenets of Conscious Living

I got this from Anthony Robbins and thought it was great:

12 Tenets of Conscious Living

Each New Year brings changes - a new commitment to health - to how we spend our time - and a renewed dedication to those we love.

Each day within the year brings an opportunity for change.

We are here for a reason - and it is a magnificent one.

We are limited by nothing. We are called to create a masterpiece and to give more of ourselves.

1. Live a life of service.

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Mahatma Gandhi

2. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

"We need lots of love to forgive, but we need more humility to ask for forgiveness." Mother Teresa

3. Be kind.

"Life is short. But there is always enough time for courtesy." Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. Be remarkable.

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." Les Brown

5. Seek unity.

"Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man, as self sufficiency." Gandhi

6. Strive for wisdom.

"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life." Immanuel Kant

7. Be grateful.

"When you are grateful, fears disappear and abundance appears." Anthony Robbins

8. Think critically.

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking." Albert Einstein

9. Be brave.

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt

10. Be humble.

"Do you wish people to think well of you? Don't speak well of yourself." Blaise Pascal

11. Be creative.

"A creative person is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others." Ayn Rand

12. Be present.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." Anne Frank

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

Rapid Fire Q&A II

Q: I am a 140lb female trying to get leaner. A nutritionist told me that if I am above 25% body fat( I am right there) I should eat no more than 30g of carbs per day, but when I drop 5% and get in the low 20's - I should adjust that to 0.25g of carbs per pound of body weight per day. Do you think this will speed up my fat loss results?

A: Ummm. Let's review -- You are currently 140lbs at 25%. That means you have 105 lbs of lean mass and 35lbs of fat. So you'd get 30g of carbs. And then you lose 10lbs of fat - so you're now 135 at 22% body fat.

If I do the math correctly - you'd now be up to a whopping 33.75g of carbs. Or an extra 15 calories per day.

Do you see how unrealistic this recommendation becomes when you start to get "real world"?

I don't think there is any nutritionist in the world that has carb intake for fat loss narrowed down to one hundredth of a gram per 500g of bodyweight - that's extremely exact. I'd love to see the data that this person collected at 0.24g and 0.26g of carbs per lb (that obviously didn't work) to come to this extremely precise recommendation.

So - I think it's completely fictional advice.


Q: In the Hierarchy of Fat Loss article - you talk about "metabolic resistance training". Can you explain exactly what that is?

A: Basically it's using resistance training exercises, and instead of adjusting load to focus on strength vs hypertrophy - we adjust load and rep speed to focus on more metabolic demands. In my experience this is the fastest, and most time-efficient way to drop body fat and outperforms any other method.

I have just released a DVD that covers several methods of using this type of training - including timed sets, density training, complexes, tabata training and finishers. We launched it at the Perform Better event this weekend and sold out.


You can pick up your copy of the DVD here.




--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

So...What's chemotherapy like?

"Chemo? Not too bad. Once you get used to the 'round the clock vomiting, watching your veins turn black and the feeling that your bones are made of napalm...it's a day at the beach."

-- Carter Chambers
(Morgan Freeman)
'The Bucket List'

"...that's a pretty close description. Even if it's under-exaggerated a bit..."
Alwyn Cosgrove
(And every cancer patient on the planet).
Keep fighting. Never stop. Never.

www.LiftStrong.com

Rapid Fire Q&A

Q: I have just found out that my high school reunion is in eight weeks. I need to drop fat, shape up my muscles -- everything! It's a very formal event and I need to look good - but with my work and family commitments I can only work out at home and don't have much equipment. What would you do?

A: Seriously - I'd hire Valerie Waters. Valerie trains exclusively female celebrities, but she's known quite honestly as the fastest body transformation expert there is. Training movie stas sounds like a cushy job - but Valerie's income depends on delivering the look required (e.g. a superhero or a spy) in only a few weeks - often with only a few hours of training time per week. I've seen her clients change their looks completely in extremely short time periods.

The bad news is she's probably unavailable. The good news is you can pick up her new training manual - Red Carpet Ready - and get all of Valerie's insights.

Q: You've been interviewed a lot. Which interview do you think gives the best insight into your mindset?

A: It's still the one Dax Moy did with me last year -- available here. You'll need to sign up to hear it - but based on the feedback I've had, this interview remains at the top of the list. I think Dax did an amazing job with this one.

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

New Rules of Lifting for Women - Sample Chapter

A sample chapter of the New Rules of Lifting For Women - "Step away from the Treadmill" can be read here

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

Knowledge and Nonsense

Jamie Hale recently sent me a copy of his new book - Knowledge and nonsense - The Science of Nutrition and Exercise. It's a thick book coming in at 483 pages (including 30+ pages of references) -- covering an absolute TON of information about training and nutrition. In fact - Jamie goes through the science behind most claims and establishes which are valid and which are nothing more than "facts" from advertising executives!

I think it's fair to describe Jamie as a bit of a Fitness Skeptic. He wants to see scientific evidence and real world proof to back up any claims before he's convinced. However - he's definitely not a complete cynic - you know - the kind of guy who constantly bashes everything regardless. He knows what works and doesn't and isn't afraid to tell you the difference.

If you are serious about training and get fed up with the infomercial hype - get this publication as your reference.

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

First Perform Better Event of 2008

Just got back from San Francisco at the first Perform Better seminar of 2008.

I was speaking alongside Mike Boyle, Gray Cook and Juan Carlos Santana. I consider myself still a student of this field - so I not only present, I sit in the back and take notes on the other speakers presentations. The Perform Better events are designed so that the morning portion consists of lectures, and the afternoon is a "hands on" practical session.

As promised to the attendees - here is the workout we performed in the afternoon session (each group did slightly different versions) :

Movement Prep:
Lunge Complex
Lateral Band Walks
Inchworms
Sumo Squat to stand

Activation:
Y raises, T-raises - progressing to T-push ups
Hip thigh extensions

Core:
Planks
Walk ups.

Strength Portion:
Push up and prone jack-knife combo paired with SHELC
Valside Reverse Lunge paired with VS Mountain Climbers
Kettlebell Goblet Squat and Press paired with Kettlebell Swings.

ESD:
Tabata Protocol - alternating lower body and upper body.

Thanks to all who attended. And a special mention to Danny and Michelle from ThriveTraining.net in San Ramon - definitely one of the top places to train in the area.

After the seminar - the Perform Better team headed to the HP Pavilion in San Jose to watch the Sharks play (and beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2) - and then to watch a team strength training session immediately afterwards (like a lot of NHL teams - the Sharks lift immediately after the game). A big thank you to Mike Potenza the Sharks strength and conditioning coach for setting that all up.

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com
PS - The Perform Better team will be in Los Angeles this Saturday. Hope to see some of you there.

Excuses....

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com

Does research help or hinder?

A question I get asked a lot from seminar attendees and interviewers is :

"Is there any new information/research that has you reconsidering any of your current views on health, training, or nutrition? "

Quite honestly-that never happens.

While I read a lot of research, I don't think that good coaches and trainers ever change their minds on training based on new research. A good coach is already seeing what works with his or her athletes on a regular basis. In fact it's not uncommon to see studies that are investigating what coaches, nutritionists and trainers are doing and looking to explain them.

What I think research does well is help us to understand how and why certain results from existing methods occur, rather than actually find different methods.

For example - we developed the Afterburn Fat Loss program based on real world clients training in our gym over the years. The program was created, developed and refined based on results gained from real people. It wasn't created for a website or a magazine article - it was created based on client results.

And I can honestly say that it is the most effective fat loss program that there is. The question is "why does it work so well?"

Afterburn uses a combination of metabolic resistance training and interval based energy system work. For example - the Tremblay study from 1994 showed that when corrected for energy cost - a specific type of interval training burned nine times more fat than traditional aerobic training.

I (and others) have hypothesized that it's because of EPOC - because it raises resting metabolism and burns more calories after the session than other forms of exercise. I've always proposed that as the mechanism behind the Afterburn program.

However - recent research and discussion (admittedly on aerobic exercise) has suggested that EPOC may not be as big a factor as we have originally thought.

So does this change my approach to fat loss?

Absolutely not. What we still know is that interval training was nine times more effective than aerobic training. What we still know is that the Afterburn system has been the most successful fat loss system ever with our clients.

So is it because it burns more calories during the session, creates metabolic disturbance, raises resting metabolism, has an EPOC effect, creates an up-regulation of fat burning enzymes, or is just an amazing tribute to the magic fat loss fairies who then bless you with a reduction in body fat? :)

I don't know and although I'm interested to find out - I just plan on keeping using effective systems to get fast results with my clients and leaving the details for the scientists to figure out.

If we found out that electricity worked completely differently than we currently think -- I'd still be able to switch a light on and be happy with the result.

--
AC
www.alwyncosgrove.com
PS - I'll be in San Francisco this weekend presenting for Perform Better. Hope to see some of you there.