Thursday 25 August 2011

Evolutionary Correct Guide to Running - Matt Metzgar

Matt Metzgar: The Evolutionary Correct Guide to Running
 

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Doug McGuff - Ancestral health symposium

After decades of working rotating shifts I cannot understand how a 3 hour time change keeps me trapped in circadian hell for days on end. Perhaps coming back to a long string of rotating shifts does not help. Nonetheless, I had a great WOW on Saturday before work.

SuperSlow Systems Pulldown (done in Jreps 1/3rds)

Nautilus Pullover with SS retrofits

MedX Chest Press

MedX Row with SS retrofits

MedX Leg Press

Without a doubt the Ancestral Health Symposium was the best conference I have ever attended. All of the presenters that I saw were excellent, and there were many that I spoke with that I will definitely go back and watch the videos of their talks. You can also see these lectures at ancestryfoundation.org. Some general comments about the meeting are as follows:

-I have never been at a gathering that had such an outstanding collective body composition. Now this is certainly not a scientific observation, and there is a lot of selection bias when you consider people who are motivated enough about health and fitness to travel from all over the globe, but there is enough observational data to suggest that the paleo diet (in all of its various incarnations) definitely works. There was a wide variation in exercise approaches, but they were almost all high intensity. However, my overall impression is that the diet was most responsible for the incredible condition of this crowd.

-The internet is a powerful tool for freedom. In times past a movement like this could have been crushed by “the powers that be”, and notions of ancestral health and dietary approaches most certainly have been in the past. However, the internet allows such a free flow of information that the best ideas can still percolate through an ocean of viagra ads, porn sites, gambling sites and get rich schemes to be found by a motivated individual. Once a few rational minds find the best information, sparks get thrown off and eventually a wildfire results. The AHS certainly felt like such a wildfire. As Stephen Guynet said “this is like being IN the internet”.

-Once the wildfire is set, it becomes evident that being a high-calibre expert does not require that you come from a prestigious institution. Some of the really excellent presentations did come out of major universities, but some of the best came out of seemingly nowhere. For instance, be sure and watch Denise Minger’s lecture. This is a young lady in her 20’s who refused to bow to the “argument from authority” and disemboweled T. Colin Campbell’s China Study. Finally, the absolute best lecture that I have ever seen anywhere was given by Tom Naughton. Please look for his lecture, as it should be required viewing on the first day at every medical school in this country.

-I noticed a pattern where those participants from prestigious universities felt that “change” in the field of nutrition and metabolism should be enacted through legislation or by bringing supporting data to large regulatory agencies such as the USDA or FDA. Being brilliant themselves, they tend to feel that the really smart people should be in charge in order to make things safer for the populace. Those from more independent backgrounds seemed to have more confidence in the sort of spontaneous organization that made this meeting possible in the first place. To paraphrase Tom Naughton “we need to keep doing what we are doing and in the process show these large institutions that they are irrelevant”. I guess you can tell which camp I fall in.

-The Efficient Exercise Crew (Skyler Tanner and Keith Norris) put me through a quick workout on their ARX equipment. It is a motor-driven resistance system similar to the infamous Cra-Z-Train workout I experienced and many have seen on Youtube. Due to scheduling problems, it had to be done in a storage area of the Ackerman building and the machine was not completely assembled. As a result I got a little too much rest between sets, and the setup on the chest press and belt squat was a little less than optimal. One neat difference I noted was that the turnarounds now involved a definite end-point and squeeze technique rather than the brief respite I experienced on the Cra-Z-Train prototype. Hopefully others got to try it under better circumstances during the movement sessions. If so, please comment.

-The Paleo approach or Ancestral Health field has advanced to the point where there is some significant discourse and differences of opinion. While several theories clashed, the discourse was refreshingly polite. As for me, it seems that all of the incarnations are producing great results for their adherents. In the end it may be most important to “not eat crap out of a box”.

-Having talked with some of the most serious adherents of this approach to diet, I wonder how much my observation data about recovery intervals may be related to how bad people’s diets are and how much more we may be capable of with an ideal diet. I certainly have noted improved recovery and response and wonder what others experiences have been.

-I definitely plan on attending AHS12

book review - Body By Science (Doug McGuff)

Ultimate Exercise - Personal Weight Training

Body By Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week, by John Little and Doug McGuff, MD now available!

Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week

Ultimate Exercise Video Seminar and Demonstration Workout

click here for more info

Result-Producing Training Approach

We understand that proper exercise is a stimulus which acts on your body to demand an adaptive change. There are three fundamental variables involved in this relationship which we use at Ultimate Exercise to produce the best results for our clients.

I. High Intensity- To stimulate your body to make an adaptive change your exercise intensity must cross a certain threshold before your body will respond. By training to muscular failure, we send an alarm to your body that more muscle and improved metabolic are needed. Also, we use a training protocol called "SuperSlow" which involves lifting and lowering the weights over a 10 second time frame. This eliminates acceleration and momentum which keeps the muscle under continuous load and more effectively fatigues the muscle.

II. Brief Workouts- All of our workouts last 20 minutes or less. We desire the minimum amount of exercise that will produce the stimulus for adaptation. Anything beyond this amount of exercise only acts to consume precious recovery resources.

III. Infrequent Workouts- Reaching the required stimulus intensity threshold consumes a large amount of your body's resources and the subsequent adaptive changes are metabolically expensive. Replenishing resources and making metabolic investments takes time. Reintroducing the stimulus (a workout) too soon will interrupt these processes.

IV. Precise Record-Keeping- Keeping precise records of your workout performance allows us to know if we are manipulating the variables of intensity, duration, and frequency appropriately. By doing this our clients can show progress on every exercise of every workout.

Ideal Training Environment

I. Privacy- during your workout only you and your instructor are allowed in the training area.

II. No Distractions- no mirrors, no music, no phones ringing, no children, no loud colors, no plants, foliage or decorations.

III. Continuous Professional Supervision- Your instructor will monitor every aspect of your workout, never leaving to answer the phone or deal with other clients. Your instructor will be professionally attired in dress slacks, shirt and tie.

IV. The Best Equipment- We use Med-X and SuperSlow Systems equipment. All of our Equipment is specially modified for using the SuperSlow training protocol.

V. Environmental Control- The temperature is kept at a stable 61 degrees F. Research has shown that this is the optimal temperature for performing high intensity exercise. Also the facility is impeccably clean.

the ideal training environment

A "No Compromise" Facility

Your time is valuable and we will never waste it by having you do any form of exercise that is inefficient or non-productive.

You will not find any aerobics equipment. It would be easiest if we simply "gave clients what they wanted", but aerobics is not done at Ultimate Exercise because it is an activity that consumes precious recovery resources for no productive purpose. Instead, we spend large amounts of time educating our clients about the actual requirements of proper exercise.

We train our clients very infrequently. During the first few weeks our clients train twice a week. Within 2-3 weeks all of our clients go to once a week training. This is not just something we can "get away with", it is an actual requirement for the production of the best results. Make no mistake, we could make more money if we trained clients 2 or 3 times per week but the results would suffer. At Ultimate Exercise we want the client to be paying for results, not time spent in the gym.

Ultimate Exercise is under the direct control of those who will provide your training. We do not have to answer to investors or shareholders. Our only concern is the production of rapid, uninterrupted results for our clients.


articles library - Dr Doug McGuff (Bosy by Science)

video library - Dr Doug McGuff (Body by Science)

VIDEOS »

doug-1Recently Dr. McGuff gave a brief seminar about the content in our book Body By Science at a book signing that happened to be recorded on video tape. I’m going to post this seminar as a series, covering different topics covered in the book ranging from “cardio” to “Whom Can You Trust?”
It is my hope to provide higher quality videos of this talk (and others) on this site in the near future. In the meantime I will upload these excerpts on Youtube.com and post links to the presentations here on this blog. The first one is up and (as always) Doug gives a masterful presentation of the material covered in our Introductory chapter. The link to watch this video is below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-ufSYBcZa0
doug-2I have just added Part Two of Dr. McGuff’s lecture on Body By Science in which Doug provides an overview of Chapter One. The central theme being what exactly are “health” and “fitness” and why they are not necessarily intrinsically linked. Here is the link to Part Two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NxnywlDOb0
doug-3In this excerpt, Dr. McGuff explores the true nature of cardiovascular exercise during a seminar he gave at a recent book signing. The realities of “anaerobic” and “aerobic” pathways and his concept of “Global Metabolic Conditioning” (the touchstones of Chapter Two) are examined in detail. Here is the link to Part Three:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiHhc7eLpQY
doug-4In this video (taken from a recent lecture Dr. McGuff gave at a book store), Doug speaks about Chapter 3 of our book Body By Science, in which he details the Dose-Response relationship of exercise. Along the way he touches on the content of other chapters such as Enhancing The Body’s Response To Exercise (Chapter 6) and Tweaking The Exercise Stimulus (Chapter 7). Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUaJxsLBaHY
doug-5This is a two-part video that contains Dr. McGuff’s presentation of some of the key points of Chapter 9 of Body By Science. This is an excellent summary of the actual science underlying how human beings lose body fat and the role of high-intensity exercise in optimizing the fat loss process. Here are the links:
The Science Of Fat Loss (Part 1): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzA-E8zb-Ds
The Science Of Fat Loss (Part 2): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToGt_GYCUmY
doug-6In this segment, Dr. McGuff explains the proper role of strength training for athletes and contrasts it with skill training (an important distinction that we cover in great depth in Body By Science). In addition, he elucidates the supreme importance of strength training for seniors, revealing how it enhances both health and (to an amazing extent) functional ability. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSGCcjCjAlk

BODY BY SCIENCE (VIDEO 7): THE “BIG FIVE” WORKOUT

doug-7In this video Dr. McGuff provides an overview of Chapter 4 of Body By Science, which details the “Big 5″ workout. He covers such topics as exercise selection, aggressive fatiguing of muscle, why multiple sets aren’t required, and the tremendous importance of recovery in between workouts. The link to the video is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eNBTZiZnLY

BODY BY SCIENCE (VIDEO 8): DEALING WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

doug-8In this latest installment of our Body By Science video series, Dr. McGuff discusses the importance of strength for people with range of motion limitations and why only slight modifications and adjustments (primarily equipment modifications) need to be employed. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1L9GamP2dA

BODY BY SCIENCE VIDEO 9 (BENEFITS OF STRENGTH)

doug-9In this installment of the Body By Science video series, Dr. McGuff explains some of the benefits of proper strength training as it pertains to enhanced functional ability and even longevity. In addition, he relates how and why proper high-intensity strength training might not be for everyone. Here is the link to the new video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfnPRM3iYVA


























http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txsd0rIsPR4

doug-11In this installment of “The Big 5″ Workout series, Dr. Doug McGuff demonstrates the exercises and protocol involved in this basic workout. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USyj-RgHFl0
doug-12In this third installment of the “Big 5″ Workout series, Dr. Doug McGuff is shown demonstrating the remaining exercises of the “Big 5″ workout as detailed in Body By Science. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tI4bOiSAaQ
doug-13In this installment (Part 4 of 4), Dr. Doug McGuff discusses the metabolic effects of the “Big 5″ Workout as detailed in “Body By Science.” Here is the link to Part Three:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnDRtLyBFdg
wendy-1Ever since Wendy posted her WOWs on our blog, we have had a huge demand from our women readers for more information on how Wendy trains. In this installment in the Body By Science video series, Wendy McGuff demonstrates her “Big 4″ Workout that she performs once every 14 days following the principles espoused in the bookBody By Science. This is Part One of a two-part series. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUBa1T_y8SU
wendy-2As promised, here is the conclusion of Wendy McGuff’s “Big 4″ workout that she performs once every 14 days, adhering to the principles found in the book Body By Science. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2djxhCQWq0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYABzPgcBbQ
ue2In Part Two of this inside look at Ultimate Exercise, Dr. Doug McGuff continues his tour of his facility, explaining the intricacies of the equipment he employs in the training of his clients —Body By Science style. Here is the link to Part Two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6_99fPkN0U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HR155f4op4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhpfLcam-rw
blair1At Nautilus North we’ve been experimenting recently with a “Done In One” workout that consists of three exercises (a Chest Press, a Pulldown and a Leg Press) that are performed for one repetition each. The idea being to load the muscle and have it move very slowly for one repetition (or, as happens sometimes, a repetition and a half) until the muscle groups involved have been fatigued or inroaded to the point where they cannot produce enough force to prevent the weight stack from coming down. To make the inroad deeper we’ve been using what would be considered light weights and it’s a fine line in that the weights must be light enough to effectively isolate the targeted musculature yet heavy enough to ensure a sequential recruitment of fibers takes place, resulting in failure being reached in approximately 1-2 minutes. As indicated in Body By Science, as one progresses in strength, it is sometimes necessary to reduce the volume of one’s workouts to a “Big 3.” This is one way of performing a “Big 3″ workout.
To this end, one of our trainers (Blair Wilson) is using this protocol and enjoying very good results. The global metabolic conditioning effect is phenomenal. I recently video recorded Blair going through his workout (this was his 2nd performed in this fashion) and also recorded his post workout response. As Blair is one of our trainers, the atmosphere was more relaxed and, of course, whenever a hard workout involving legs is performed it is mandatory that other trainers put the grab on the poor trainee’s aching legs as often as possible after the workout (I know, we’re not very nice — at least to our trainers).
Blair is a great guy and a terrific athlete. He recently returned to Nautilus North after three years in Australia where he worked for Sea World as one of the trick skiers in their ski shows. He’s an excellent barefoot skier, wake boarder, and accomplished at jumps. While he was in Canada he played “A” level ice hockey (an informal study that Blair did with hockey players is mentioned in Body By Science). Blair trains on average once every 7-10 days and typically performs a “Big 3″ workout. Here are the links to his workout and post workout videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAcZgAX3MBA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMn0xcpe3YM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXew9qWPtiA
doug-talkThis is Part One of a talk Dr. Doug McGuff recently delivered on the reasons why he and John wrote Body By Science, in which Doug touches on certain fallacies in exercise and the need for a science based approach. Here is the link to Part One of this presentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9cDm1tRyR0
doug-presentation-2In Part Two of Dr. Doug McGuff’s Body By Science presentation, Doug takes a hard and critical look at what exactly constitutes “Health” and “Fitness.” Here is the link to Part Two of this presentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3nt6XPhEZw
doug-presentation-3In this installment of Dr. McGuff’s Body By Science Presentation, Dr. McGuff discusses the type of workout required to stimulate the body to produce the type of health and fitness benefits that he discovered in the two earlier presentations. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvpzuGhc57c
doug-4In this fourth installment of his Body By Science presentation, Dr. Doug McGuff explains the concept of “Global Metabolic Conditioning” that results from the performance of proper strength training. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf_fDA2pBG8
vee-chinThis is NOT a new video, but I thought visitors to our site might be interested in seeing Vee Ferguson of Exercise Inc. (Indianapolis) performing a 2-minute chin up (one minute up, one minute down) under the watchful eye of Bo Railey. This is an incredibly intense workout for the upper torso as Vee demonstrates phenomenal physical strength. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_23cl5n8NaQ













vee1This is the first video of a multi video series on workouts featuring the protocol contained in our book Body By Science. In this video, Dr. Doug McGuff puts trainer Vee Ferguson through his weekly high-intensity workout. The video was shot at Bo Railey’s facility Exercise Inc., in Indianaoplis. Ferguson is an amazingly strong person as evidenced here: 300 pound Nautilus pullovers and negative-only chins with an extra 200 pounds strapped to his waist. There are more videos coming. Here is the link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3wwW_UMmyc