Lay off the salt Britney!

Weight fluctuations can be very frustrating. They can mask fat loss and play mental games, one day you are down 5lbs, the other you are up 7. For most people these fluctuations aren’t severe but they can be the source of a lot of confusion and frustration.

So why do we even bother, and what can you do to steer clear of the scale crazies?

The first step is understanding.

Most of your body is water, and that is the number one thing the scale reflects. The scale cannot measure bodyfat, even the so-called bodyfat scales are very inaccurate.

Don’t get me wrong, the scale is still a useful way to track progress–it has to go down, more so the more you weigh. But it takes some knowledge to understand and interpret the numbers. So lets see what affects your scale weight.

Why does water and scale weight fluctuate

Food

Food has weight – .25lbs of beef weighs… .25lbs! When you eat less, you have less of it in your digestive system and the scale takes note. When you finish the diet and go back to maintenance, or any time you eat more food, that adds to your scale weight. It’s not a bad thing, just something to take note of. After a refeed – whether planned or unplanned – you may not see your prior deficit number for 2 weeks, even if you didn’t gain fat.

Electrolytes–Potassium, Sodium, Magnesium, sources. Etc.

Your body is designed to retain sodium and excrete potassium. Normally, in a healthy diet, the two should remain in balance, leaving you with a healthy water balance. When you, for example, overdo the sodium, you end up holding onto more water. That can give you a soft, puffy look and also cause inflated scale weight. Again, it’s not fat, even though it looks like fat. It’s easy to correct by laying off the salt and taking some lite salt or high potassium foods like beet greens, potatoes and tomato products.

Foods High In Potassium

• Bananas
• Tomatoes & Tomato products
• Potatoes
• Beet Greens
• Brussel Sprouts
• Lima Beans

Training

All exercise, including weight training and even cardio, causes some muscle damage. That translates to inflammation and water retention that happen in the course of repair. Training also increases retention of glycogen (stored sugar that fuels your muscles), and glycogen is two-thirds water by weight. All that can translate to a scale increase, even while in a deficit and losing fat. If you just started your diet and also began exercising anew, weight staying the same rather than moving down can be a tough thing to deal with, but also a really good sign that you are in fact losing fat.

How to deal with this?

• Again, electrolytes work like magic… err, science.
• Taking a bath in epsom salts (magnesium) helps to reduce inflammation and swelling.
• Foam rolling followed by stretching also works great – which you should be doing before and after every workout anyway!

Read our article on mobility, flexibility and foam rolling!

Hormones: Dieting induced cortisol &amp PMS

There are also hormonal factors for water retention. For starters, your water balance is governed by aldosterone. Drinking more water causes you to decrease aldosterone production, which tells your kidneys to release water in their filtering process.

Letting yourself go thirsty has the opposite effect, namely you start holding more water.

Stress hormones also increase water retention, and dieting is stressful to your body. Caloric deficit and cortisol levels tend to have a direct relationship, and cortisol also causes water retention. When you refeed and flood your body with insulin, cortisol drops and so can water. This effect happens in many, but not all dieters.

Then for women there is PMS. In this case water retention is caused by temporary hormonal changes. Magnesium works very well in this situation, as does balancing sodium and potassium. Take a bath in epsom salts. Drink an electrolyte drink such as Ultima Replenisher. And above all, resist any urges to overeat as this is the worst time to do so. You won’t gain fat any faster than usual, but your body is primed for water retention so it will probably feel like you did.

Fat loss

As you are losing fat the body holds water in the fat cells until your body is certain it no longer needs that extra storage space. When you lose fat you develop a squishy, cellulite-y appearance. That’s actually good. It means fat has been lost and your body is storing water in an amorphous fashion, soon to tighten up.

Putting it all together

As you can see, scale weight is only a partial indicator of progress. So how do you make sure you are on track when the scale is all over the place?

1. Don’t freak out at weight fluctuations, they are completely normal.
2. Be sure you are in a deficit. Weigh and track all your food to be sure of your intake.
3. Use other means to track progress, such as tape measure, progress pictures, and how clothes fit.
4. Have confidence in your plan. Follow it fully for a month before making a judgement call. Most people fail because they start doubting the program and give up too soon. Negativity and doubt are your worst enemy.
5. Look at the overall trend. If you lose 8lbs in the first 2 weeks, and now its week 4 and the scale hasn’t moved, you still are at 2lbs/wk average. That should already be above your weekly fat loss goal, for example, if your goal is 500 cal deficit/day = 1lb per week since 3500 cal = 1lb fat.

Realize that when you lose 10lbs the first few weeks of the diet it is not all fat, it is not even mostly fat. Resolve to stick to the diet for the rest of the way until it is all fat. Focus on following your program and the results will always follow.

Let us know your questions and comments below!

Water & Scale Weight Fluctuations is a post from: theSwole

Beef Stew with leaks

Ingredients

• 2 lbs stew meat, cubed
• 3 large leeks, chopped (see notes***)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 stalks celery, in large piece
• Half bunch fresh parsley, minced
• 4-5 T butter (not all at once)
• Salt and Pepper
• Spices (I used thyme and paprika)

How to Cook

Put a knob of butter in a large stew pan and brown the meat on all sides. You will probably need to do this in 2 batches—when browning, the meat should take up no more than half the pan surface, otherwise it will steam. Be sure to season with salt and pepper while browning. Remove meat from the pan, sauté and season leeks and garlic (all at once is fine here). Return meat to the pan with leek mixture. Add celery, parsley and spices. Add water to cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer on low for about an hour, until meat is tender.

*** Leeks can at first glance seem difficult, as they can carry silt between the fine layers. However, learning to prepare them properly is greatly rewarding; leeks are not really so difficult to clean and possess a delicious and unique flavour. To clean a leek, lop it in half around where the white is turning to green. Should be a little above the V opening of the first concentric layer. You may need to remove this layer if it seems damaged or old. Next make a lengthwise incision about half-way through this piece of stalk. This will enable you to wash out any possible silt under a running tap. This piece is ready to be chopped. To prepare the green ends, remove the darker leaves until a bright green shoot appears. Trim off this piece and run under the tap similarly. The darkest pieces can be discarded, or some of them, if in good condition, used in a stew which cooks for a long time, as they tend to be tough.

Pot Roast

• 1 Roast (I usually make at least 2-3 lbs, in order to have leftovers)
• 1 T Butter
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1.5 c red wine
• .5 c balsamic vinegar
• sea salt
• pepper
• thyme (dried or fresh)
• 3 Leeks
• 3 Stalks celery
• 1 Large carrot

Preheat oven to 275. Heat butter in a large skillet and brown the roast. This can be achieved by letting it sit a minute or two on each side, in the hot pan. Try not to let the butter smoke, this is bad; adjust the flame as necessary. As it is browning, season the roast with salt and pepper. When it is browned on all sides, add garlic, thyme, wine and vinegar. Transfer to an oven-proof pan. Bake uncovered, about 40 min. Meanwhile, chop coarsely the vegetables. At 40 min, remove the roast and flip it. Add vegetables, along with more salt, pepper and thyme to season them. Try to cover the roast with vegetables, then cover the pan and return to oven. Bake another 45, at least, until total baking time is around 40 min/lb. You can then test that the meat is tender and cooked through.

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, cut in 8 pcs. (Ask the butcher to do this, or buy it pre-cut)
• 3 Lemons (juice only)
• Cayenne pepper
• Cinnamon
• Sea salt

How to Cook

Put chicken in large pan. Fill pan with water to nearly cover the chicken. Add salt and spices. Boil gently until fully cooked. The water level should now be quite shallow around the chicken, half an inch or less. Discard excess water, if needed. Add lemon juice. Simmer gently another ten minutes or until meat is gently falling from bone.
Use the above recipe for sweet potato fries as well, only difference is, they don’t count as a vegetable!

Red Pepper Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 red bell peppers, sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, julienned
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

How to Cook

Rub chicken with salt, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Heat oil in a large skillet. Brown chicken on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Add red bell pepper and garlic to skillet, cook until peppers just begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add basil and vinegar, cook 2 minutes more. Serve with side of your choice.

Omelette Pizza

Ingredients

• Butter
• Sea salt and cayenne pepper
• 3 eggs
• 1 T cream
• 3 slices mozzarella fresca
• pesto sauce
• toppings such as sausage, olives, cherry tomatoes, spinach etc.
• strong cheese, such as parmagiano or asiago, grated (optional)

How to Cook

Melt butter evenly to coat a non-stick skillet. Whisk eggs with cream and transfer to heated skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Halve each mozzarella slice and arrange evenly on egg. Add dollops of pesto and other toppings. Cook on medium until solid. Cover and cook until all egg is cooked and all cheese, melted.

Oatmeal

The name of this is a portmanteau of barley and oatmeal. It’s a very hearty, whole-grain breakfast that is made in the crockpot. It’s similar to oatmeal made with steel-cut oats, except that the grains are kept whole and the barley adds a nice flavor and springiness to it. You can add other grains, fruits, and nuts as you like. Just make sure that any grain you get is hulled, or you’ll have a bunch of chaff floating on the top of your boatmeal. The grains can be found at any natural food store and most grocery stores. You can make large batch of this at the beginning of the week and keep it in the fridge to eat over 5 days or so.
If you increase the recipe, just maintain the same ratio (but you don’t need to increase the salt as much).
This makes a ~4 cup batch.
1/2 c. pearled barley
1/2 c. hulled whole oats
4 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
Place all ingredients in the crockpot before bed. Put the crockpot on low. In the morning you should be awakened by the comforting aroma of boatmeal. Stir it up so it’s well-mixed. I like to put molasses or maple syrup on top, and sometimes a little cream.
When you refrigerate it, boatmeal will become semi-solid. Add a little water when you heat up the leftovers (microwave or stove top) to loosen it up.

Protein Jello

Ingredients

• 2 packets Knox unflavored gelatin
• 4 scoops protein powder, any creamy fruity flavor (I used peaches n cream)
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup of sliced strawberries, fresh or frozen

How to Cook

Put the milk into a large bowl (whatever bowl you want the jello to end up in) and sprinkle the gelatin into the milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes to bloom.
Blend the 4 scoops of protein powder into 1 cup of water (using either a blender or a shaker bottle) and set it aside.
Boil the 2 remaining cups of water and pour it into the gelatin/milk mixture, stirring for a good 2 minutes to make sure all the gelatin dissolves. Then add the protein powder/water mixture and berries, stir to combine, and refrigerate until set.

Protein Pancakes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup 2% milk
• 3 scoops ON vanilla whey
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 2 whole eggs
• Butter
• 1/3 cup blueberries

How to Cook

Throw a non-stick pan on the stove, set the heat to low-medium.
You don’t have to chop up the oats, but I did since I have a little blender. Add the whey and blend with the oats (or just mix em good if you don’t have a blender). Set that aside. Now blend the eggs and milk together. Mix the dry and wet mixes together in a bowl and add in the blueberries. If you don’t initially achieve a nice pancake batter consistency you can add more whey if it’s thin, or more milk if it’s thick.
Toss some butter in the pan and coat it up. Plop in some of your mix (you might need to give it a stir before each pancake because the ingredients will settle). Keep an eye on it, as it doesn’t take much time before they are ready to flip, and you aren’t looking for bubbles like with normal pancakes.

Salmon

How to Cook

My standard method for cooking fish is to throw fillets (fresh or frozen) on a baking sheet/tin foil, add some seasonings and bake on 400 until it looks done (about 10 min if fresh, 20 if frozen, but this really depends on thickness of the fillets, and personal preference for a drier or juicier finished product).
So then, here are some recipe combos using the above method. In general, pair fish with a vegetable and a carb or fat. Salmon can be pretty fatty on its own, so if you’re cutting, I generally recommend to eat salmon apart from a carb meal.

Recipe Combos

• Balsamic Vinegar
• Garlic
• Cayenne pepper and salt
• Soy sauce
• Rice Wine Vinegar
• Cayenne Pepper

Shrimp

The easiest way to confront shrimp is to deposit them, fresh or frozen into a large pot for par-boiling. Fill the pot with a couple of inches of water, add shrimp and simmer until pink. (This also works to defrost quickly if you bought the already cooked frozen ones). Turn off the flame, let it sit a few minutes, drain and rinse.

Buy “easy peel” or peeled, it makes things much easier! To peel boiled “easy peel” shrimp, find the slit down the back of a shrimp, insert your thumb under the shell and push to one side to remove half, repeat on the other side and detach the shell at the tail end. It may sound complicated, but it is easy and intuitive once you have the shrimp in your hands.

Shrimp Slaw

Ingredients

• 1 lb peeled shrimp
• 3 T coconut oil
• Purple cabbage
• Celery
• Green onion
• Cayenne pepper
• Sea Salt
• Rice vinegar (unsweetened)
• Sesame or Pumpkin Seed (optional)

How to Cook

Sauté peeled shrimp in coconut oil until slightly tanned and crispy looking. While this is happening, slice cabbage, celery and onion and place in a bowl. Add shrimp and mix. Add vinegar, pepper and salt to taste. Garnish with seeds.

Baked Vegetables

Ingredients

• Vegetables
• Olive Oil
• Spices

How to Cook

Preheat oven to 400°.
Cut vegetables into thinnish slices.
Season with sea salt, spices and half a tablespoon olive oil. Arrange on tinfoil. Bake 20-30 min, until desired toastedness.

Swole Spinach

This is easier than boiling, and it preserves vitamins and anti-oxidants better. Either buy pre-washed baby spinach, or wash and chop “adult” spinach. Heat a large skillet and add the spinach. If it is not already moist, add about a tablespoon of water. Push the spinach around the pan; it should begin to wilt. Season with salt and pepper.

Swole Recipes is a post from: theSwole

Joint-By-Joint approach

The warm up is the foundation which the workout is built on. If your workout is bad your training is bad. You open yourself up for injury and deny yourself of optimal training. Lets quickly examine what’s the purpose behind warming up.

The goal of any warm up is to increase blood circulation and raise internal temperature, especially around the joints. A good warm up increases joint lubrication and increases range of motion. It also aims to mobilize joints and loosen tight areas.

For this I follow Mike Boyl’s philosophy of joint-by-joint approach which tell us every joint has specific needs. Here’s the cliff-notes — you can read the main article here.

• Ankle — Increased Mobility
• Knee – Increased Stability
• Hip — Mainly mobility, but stability is also important
• Lumbar Spine (lower back) — Stability
• Upper Back — Mobility
• Scapula — Stability
• Gleno-Humeral (Shoulder) – Mobility

As such a warm up must address the needs for every joint. That doesn’t mean you have to do every movements for every joint, but you must find movements that fit those needs. For example a rotational squat addresses ankle mobility, knee stability and hip mobility. Thus it would be a great exercise to do for a warm up. On the other hand a movement like the scorpion is a terrible idea as it increase mobility in the lower back – a joint that requires stability.

Don't do this!

For the actual warm up progression, here’s what I recommend:

• Light to Medium Intensity Cardio
• Begin 2 minutes of light intensity
• Followed by 2 minutes medium, 1 minute light, 1 minute medium
• Foam Roll
• Static Stretches
• Dynamic Stretches
• Start Workout

Continue reading for what to do for every phase

Foam Rolling

Or soft-tissue work addresses varying muscle densities, tightness or knots in the muscle tissue. It’s critical to foam roll before you stretch as stretching knotted muscle increases the chance of a muscle tear.

Main areas to foam roll:

• Upper Back – Thoracic Spine
• Lower Back – Lumbar Spine

Note: Put your arms crossed in front of you, with the elbows parallel to each other. This will push the scapula forward enabling you to target the back muscles.

Note #2: Roll each muscle separately, don’t do both pairs at time.

• Glutes Max – your biggest glute muscle
• Glute Medius – An often neglected muscle, its a smaller glute muscle on the side of your hip slightly to the back, especially important for those with knee pain.
• TFL – The highest muscle on the front of your thigh

• IT Band – Split it up into 3 segments and roll each segment individually
• Hamstrings – Back of your thigh

• Thigh Adductors – Inside of your thigh, do the same as the IT band
• Quads – Front of your thigh

You can also use a tennis ball to roll the bottom of your feet, calves, tibialis anterior, chest, lats and upper back muscles.

You don’t have to roll every muscle group before every workout. Instead look for muscles that are especially tight. In my opinion the priority is upper/lower back, glute, glute medius, TFL, IT Band and thigh abbductors.

Foam roll everyday as well, not just for your warm up.

Static Stretching

I know static stretching before training leaves a poor taste in a lot of people’s mouth but doing some static stretching is essential. It’s important here to recognize tightness and address it. I recommend holding each stretch for 15-20 seconds but not more. Don’t stretch areas that you have sufficient flexibility in. The key is not to be tight but also not too loose.

Stretches to do:

• Psaos Stretch
• Hamstring Stretch — Especially for men
• Groin Stretches
• Hip Internal and External Rotation
• Shoulder Stretches

Dynamic Stretching

After you finished your statics, its time to move on to dynamic stretching. One key component for get a good dynamic warm up is isolating the muscle group you are targeting, stabilizing the other groups and slowly increasing range of motion. Attempting to jump into full range of motion often leads to incorrect muscle activation and improper stretching movement.

Do these stretches:

• Leg Swings Side to Side and Front to Back
• High Knees
• Walking Knee Hugs
• Walking Leg Cradle
• Butt kicks
• Scap Wall Slides
• Scapula Pushups
• Bodyweight Pushups
• Bodyweight Squats
• Ankle Self Mobilization
• Lunges
• Split Squats
• Rotational Squat
• T-Spine Rotation

Again with the mobility exercises you want to pick a handful that you always do. For example my favorites are leg swings, high knees, wall slides, ankle mobilization, lunges and rotational squat. It’s important to focus on the muscles that you will be training that day, shoulders, back, upper back for chest days – although you still want to do some lower body.

Workout and Activation Pattern

Now you’ve finished your warm up you have to move on to the exercise warm up. Which generally people pick up the bar and haphazardly go through the movements to warm up.What I have my clients do is something I called activation pattern. The idea behind it is to treat the warm up the same way as you would your heaviest set. Your form on your warm up should be optimal. Focus on the movement, come down controlled and drive up explosively.

The purpose of this warm up or activation pattern is to prime up the CNS for the movement. This also acts to remind your body how to move, and you will see a great increase in intensity and workload.

I hope this article has been helpful. I know I’ve neglected warm up for many years and wondered why my training would suffer. With a proper warm up you will have less injuries and better results. Please post any questions or comments you have!

The Ultimate Warm Up: Reducing Injury and Getting Swole is a post from: theSwole

Wild Iron Gym: Deadlift Tutorial is a post from: theSwole

If you are serious, get a food scale and weigh everything.  It’s not that you have to track forever, because I know it is tedious, but that you have to develop awareness.  You may think that a giant bowl of chips is a serving, when a serving is a handful.  You may also not know that your bowl is giant.

The pleasure of eating

Eating should be a pleasure.  Dieting is not an excuse to exercise your masochistic tendencies, rather, it should make you lose fat, as painlessly as possible. Unfortunately for many people fast food is one of their biggest indulgences. I had a client recently casually report eating a chipotle burrito, which he thought was at least a healthy alternative. After the total calories were tallied in it was a staggering 2100! I showed him the errors of his ways and now he can indulge without the consequences.

Fast Food Reloaded

We selected five popular fast food joints, scoured their menus, weighed the options and found the best selections. Obviously you will need more or less calories based on your diets so work that portion control. We tried to get the most protein while minimizing fat and carbs while at the same time getting the most nutrition.

Chipotle

With chipotle you can use this nifty calculator. Goal is to get a balanced meal and maximum amount of proteins while keeping the calories low. Start with a bowl if you’ll want guacamole or extra sauces, otherwise you could go for the hard tacos. Add either pinto or black beans, since unlike rice they have more protein and are lower GI. The meat choices are pretty much the same so get what you like. The Salsas are pretty low in calorie (15-20-40) so go hog wild. Be careful with the extras -guacamole, cheese, sour cream- as adding all three will bump you up another 375 calories. Chips, as usual, are terrible at 570 calories 73g carbs and 27g fat.

Our Choice

Burrito Bol

Black Beans
120 kcal
23g carbs
7g protein

Steak
190 kcal
7g fat
2g carbs
30g protein

Tomato and Hot Salsas
60 kcal
12g carbs
3g protein

Guacamole
150kcal
13g fat
8g carbs
2g protein

Total
520 kcal
22g fat
45g carbs
42g protein

KFC

So they are healthening it up a bit themselves, with the new Kentucky Grilled, and 395 calories for $3.95.  It’s not bad, if fast food were your only option.  But if you’ve got a kitchen, there’s no reason not to make a tasty Kentucky feast of your own. You can’t go wrong with the Kentucky Grilled but if you don’t want to die from rabbit starvation, get a side dish along with it. Any of the side dishes should be ok as long as you stick to one.

Our Choice

2 breast + 1 drumstick
430 kcal
80g protein
0g carbs

Mashed Potatoes (No gravy)
100 kcal
16g carbs

Green Beans
25 kcal
5g Carbs

Total:
555 Calories
82g protein
21g carbs

Burger King

BK was really a tough one. All the burgers were loaded with carbs and fat and it was difficult getting close to 50g protein without breaking 800kcal. Your best bet is to stick with the tendergrill chicken sandwich with an extra chicken breast or two. Getting it with mustard instead of mayo will save you 100 calories. And if you want to cut the carbs in half throw away half the bun.

A proper burger

Our Choice:

Tender Grill Chicken Sandwich
No Mayo
With Mustard
Extra Chicken Breast, Tomatoes and Onions
530 kcal
15g fat
57g carbs
43g protein

Skip the fries and dessert and drink water. If you must, opt for diet coke or if you REALLY need it get 3/4th diet coke and 1/4th regular as a last alternative.

McDonald’s

We found better choices at McDonald’s; their menu seemed more balanced. We skipped the beef burgers because they’re pretty low on protein for the calorie buck. The chicken sandwiches are better, with the grilled chicken classic leading the way with 420kcal, 10g fat, 51g carb and 32 g protein. If you pull the double breast and no mayo all on one bun trick, as with BK, you can get even better numbers. In the end we were drawn to the salads with the impressive “Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken” 260 calories, 9g fat, 12g carbs, and a staggering 33g of protein. Although the total calorie is low it allows for wiggle room if we want a side dish or dressing. A double order of chicken brings up the protein even more making the salad even more filling.

Only post-workout drink you need

Our Choice:

Premium Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken (double order meat)
312 calories (estimated)
9g fats
12g carbs
46g Protein

+Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
40 calories

Total
352
12g fat
16g carbs
46g protein

Subway

The supposed king of the healthy fast food surprising has some pretty calorie dense options. The good thing about subway is the customizability of each item. You get to choose everything and watch it being made so there shouldn’t be too many hidden ingredients. Maxing out in a meal can bring your calories above 2000 easily. A footlong with double meat, double cheese, and a variety of sauces, mayo, chips and a drink will do that. Stick to a 6″ or a wrap or even make your own salad and skip the starch vehicle all together. Go for lean but substantial meats such as chicken breast, roast beef, or even the subway club. Get double meat to bring up the protein, giving you a more filling sandwich that is still nutritionally sound. The breads are almost the same but we recommend the ’9-grain wheat bread’ for its lowest calorie (210) and lowest GI.

The cheeses are pretty much all the same, so if you need it, go with your favorite. Sub out mayo for light mayo or even better skip it all together and get some mustard. Sauces can be ok but if you already stacked with cheese/mayo consider skipping them. Your best bet is the fat free honey mustard or fat free sweet onion.

Make sure to stack a mountain of veggies (Read our Codex Of Leanness for more info) and opt for water instead of soda (or get diet) and no chips.

Swole Jared

Our Pick

Roast Beef (Double Meat)
230kcal
8g fat
0g carbs
40g protein

6″ Wheat Bread
200 kcal
2.5g fat
40g carbs
8g protein

Cheddar Cheese
40 kcal
3g fat
0
2g protein

Veggies + Water
approximately 0 kcal

Total
470 kcal
13.5g fat
40g carbs
50g protein

The double meat and the veggies make this sandwich especially filling and nutritious.

Note on Caffeinated Beverages

Soda is single handedly responsible for a large part of the obesity problem. It is used for hydration, taste, energy, digestion aid and everything in between. Ridding yourself of a soda addiction is three fold: combating the caffeine and sugar addiction and finding another source of hydration. Water takes care of the second part REALLY well. As for the caffeine, get your boost from coffee or tea or, hell, even caffeine pills: somewhere where that jolt doesn’t come with 14 tsp of sugar. Eating proper meals will help stave off the sugar addiction.

Here are some comparisons:

• 12 oz coca cola: 140kcal, 39g sugar
• 12 oz coffee w/ 1 fl oz half and half: 40kcal, 0g sugar
• 12 oz coffee w/ 2 tsp sugar: 30kcal, 8g sugar
• 12 oz coffee w/ 1 fl oz half and half AND 2 tsp sugar: 70kcal, 8g sugar

And here is a flexible recipe: (and perfect pre- or post-workout!)

Protein frap

12 oz cold coffee
30g whey (usually 1 scoop)
1 c milk (use whichever fat content suits your macros/goals)
1 c. ice, or less, depending on your blender’s abilities

Blend and serve!

Conclusion

Hopefully now you are better prepared to fight the fast food menace. Remember, fixing your diet isn’t about the perfect macro-split or eating clean all the time, it’s about better choices. So switching to diet coke alone might put you at a caloric deficit and on the road to weightloss. Beyond that, realize that change happens gradually, don’t force a lifestyle on yourself that will make you miserable and set you up for failure. Take your current lifestyle and work on improving it, soon enough you will notice that you have achieved your goals painlessly.

Hard Truths that Set You Free: Fast Food Reloaded is a post from: theSwole

Konstantinovs Deadlift 426kg(939lb) RAW,no belt is a post from: theSwole

The path to strength and size is one filled with injury and pain. Very few progress down that path, as bigger rewards carry with them bigger risks. At one point progress becomes simply surviving the workouts. If you’ve never been injured in some way while training, then I question your methods.

It’s not that injuries are badges of accomplishment, or a pre-requisite for a solid training program, but maximum training is dangerous, not healthy. It is possible to train hard and get results and avoid injury, but most people don’t even push themselves out of fear of entering that “danger zone.”  This article is not about training for health and fitness, it is about how to minimize health risks inherent in extreme training.  We’ll cover injury prevention and prehab as well as injury management and rehab.  You’ll also get a personal story on how I overcame my knee injury. Everything written here is my own opinion, it is not medical advice and if you are injured you should see a doctor.

Live to Fight Another Day: Tips to help you avoid and survive injury is a post from: theSwole

Branch Warren Video is a post from: theSwole

Video of the day: Andy Bolton Deadlift is a post from: theSwole

All serious lifters find themselves at a crossroads; they just graduated from Starting Strength or 5×5 and are looking for the next challenge. Often they seek to specialize, in hypertrophy, strength, powerlifting or even traditional weightlifting. But what if you didn’t want to be one thing, what if you wanted it all: strong and swole, is it even possible? Well that’s the goal of theSwole routine. It’s a hybrid program that aims to maximize strength and size gains . It borrows the most successful concepts from some of the most successful routines and puts them together to form a super-routine of sorts. Here you will find speed days, circuits, conjugate methods,and still some room for customization. Volume training is periodized with strength training to synergistic effect.

Just like the 5/3/1 program, reviewed in our recent article, TSR uses the concept of ‘waves.’ But that is where the similarities end. Waves in TSR are comprised of volume, speed and max days not weeks. So each training session you are focusing on a different capacity for a different muscle group. This means in a week you are at least having three different training sessions as well as getting stronger, faster, and bigger. This weekly structure helps facilitate recovery by avoiding pitfalls like ‘max week’ where you are facing full-body max-out. In addition, this program is intended for bulking, so trying to do it on a caloric deficitwill be detrimental. You need to eat at maintenance, or preferably at a surplus.

Here is a sample overview of the structure:

Week 1

• Day 1 : Speed Chest
• Day 2 : Volume Back
• Day 3 : Max Legs

Week 2

• Day 1 : Speed Back
• Day 2 : Volume Legs
• Day 3 : Max Chest

Week 3

• Day 1 : Speed Legs
• Day 2 : Volume Chest
• Day 3 : Max Back

Repeat (weeks 4-6)

Week 7

• Deload

The Split

TSR splits muscles into 3 groups. Chest/Shoulders/Triceps (i.e. press), Back/Traps/Biceps (pull) and Quad/Hamstrings/Glutes/Calves (legs). This setup is optimal as it allows for each muscle group to recover before the next training session. To further assist recovery, the program borrows from the conjugate method of rotating movements. This means each week you are training different movements than the week before. The advantage is constant progress and gains while at the same time avoiding specific movement overtraining and stagnation.

Each session consists of three core movements followed by supplemental exercises or a circuit. This allows for added volume while avoiding over-training. High repetition sets are included as another means to encourage hypertrophy and endurance. The aim is to maximize effect by activating all different muscle fibre types. For variation, the volume and length of the supplementary movements can be shortened or skipped on certain days.

Having covered the technical aspects of the program, the philosophy behind TSR is similar to that of Doggcrapp: make strength gains and you will get bigger. And since strength gains are quantifiable we can use them like a meter stick. So the first result to watch for with TSR is increased strength. That said, if you find your results stagnating, take stock of your diet and rest patterns, and if necessary, cut down on supplementary movements. The key to strength gains here lies in exercise rotation. You make small gains on a variety of movements that all add up creating a synergistic effect.

Each cycle lasts 6 weeks, or two rotations, so you’ll have maxed out on everything twice. You will then throw in a week of deloading, pick new movements and start over.

Strong.. yet swole

Approved Exercises

To get started,pick three exercises for each muscle group. For the main group you will pick one exercise for each day. For example, for max chest day, you might choose pin press. For speed chest, let’s say flat bench and hammer strength for volume. These will be the basis of your chest program for the next 6 weeks. The circuits at the end of each session remain the same, i.e. you will do the same legs circuit every legs day whether it is speed, max, or volume day; and the same push circuit every push day, regardless of what was emphasized. Again, if you are having trouble recovering, cut down on supplemental volume.

Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Note: Notation is always Reps X Sets, so 4 x 9 means 4 reps for 9 sets. The @ symbol signifies the percentage of max weight to use.

Chest:

Speed:
( 4 x 9 )
Flat Bench, Bands/Chains if you have them

Volume:

( 8 – 12 x 4 )
Incline Bench, Flat Bench, Dumbbell Press, Hammer Strength Machines

Max:

( Work up to 1 rep max, do 2 light warm up sets, and 3 warm up sets last one about 95% of your 1RM and then add 10lbs to your last max for the final set)

Flat Bench, Pin Press, Floor Press, Rack Bench

Shoulders:

( 6 – 8 x 4 )
Overhead Pin Press (varying heights), Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Push Press, Military Press

Triceps:

( 6 – 8 x 3-4 )
Close-grip Floor Press, Close-grip Pin Press, JM Press, Reverse-grip Close-grip Bench

Supplemental Circuit x 2 – 3

Side Raises x 20
Front Raises x 15
Tricep Pushdowns x 20
Reverse Flys x 12
Abs x 15-20
Hammer Curls x 12-15

Back, Traps, Biceps

Back:

Speed:
( 3 x 9 )
Deadlifts, chains and bands if available

Max:
( Work up to 1 rep max, do 2 light warm up sets, and 3 warm up sets last one about 95% of your 1RM and then add 20lbs to your last max for the final set)
Deadlifts

Volume:

( 8-12 x 4 )
Bent Over Rows, T-bar Rows, Dumbbell Rows
Second back movement:
( 6 – 8 x 4 )
Pull-ups, Hammer Strength Pull-downs, Assisted Pull-ups, Chin-ups

Third back movement:

( 8 – 12 x 3 )
Close-grip Cable Rows, Dumbbell Rows, Hammer Strength Rows
Supplemental SuperSet x 2 -3:
Barbell Curls x 10 @ 55%
Barbell Shrugs x 20 @ 40%
Dumbbell Curls x 15 @ 45%
Reverse Cable Curls x 10 @ 45%

Legs

Quads

Speed:

( 4 x 9 )

Back Squats, Box squats
Max:
( Work up to 1 rep max, do 2 light warm up sets, and 3 warm up sets last one about 95% of your 1RM and then add 20lbs to your last max for the final set)

Back Squats, Box Squats, Rack Squats
Volume:
( 8 x 4 )
AND
( 20 x 1)
Back Squats, Box Squats, Leg Press

Hamstrings

( 6 – 8 x 4 )

Good Mornings/ Stiff legged Deadlifts / Rack Pulls

Quads

( 8 – 12 x 4 )
Leg Press/Split Squats/Lunges

Supplementary Circuit 3 – 4:
Leg Extensions x 15 @ 40%
Leg Curl x 10 @ 45%
Calf Raise Circuit x 15 @ 40%
Decline Abs

Conclusion

The program may seem overwhelming at first, but its guaranteed to give you some ridiculous results. This program is seriously demanding so only do this if you are eating at maintenance or above, as overtraining can happen very easily. Also make sure to deload after every 6 weeks, that is do a week of light training or don’t train at all. If you have any questions, post them as comments or in the forums and I’ll happily answer them.

TSR: a new routine for muscle and strength gain is a post from: theSwole