DESIGNING BETTER LIVING THROUGH STRENGTH
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EUGENIZATION
a personal training blog

Learning To Care, or, Avoiding the Suck.

August 4, 2009

A fellow trainer (name withheld) asks me how I can be so nice to my clients all the time, even when it’s clear they aren’t even trying.
The answer’s simple:  To them, they are trying.  They don’t know how far they are from fulfilling their potential.  In fact, their actual “potential” is as inconceivable to them [...]

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You Are N=1.

July 21, 2009

Most people believe that operating an SUV with the windows open is more fuel efficient than running it with the A/C cranked.  But if you run tests and gather actual data, you’ll find the opposite to be true (legions of sweaty passengers thank you, Savage and Hyneman).
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a field more built [...]

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Glut 4 Redux.

July 16, 2009

The problem with being a know-it-all is that other people assume (not surprisingly) that you know it all.  Then, when a particularly bright (and well-researched) client says something like this:
I think modulation of the GLUT4 transporter is probably the key to the whole insulin sensitivity issue post exercise.  What do you think?
…you can only shrug [...]

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Post Workout Nutrition – Milk and Cereal?

July 10, 2009

Every once in awhile (ok, well; often) a client will pass along a news story that’s so far off the mark that it makes me go Super Saiyan.  Here’s the latest one:
Cereal and Milk is the New Sports Supplement, Says Study.
Briefly, the new study looked at using a whole foods source – in this case, [...]

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A Quick Thought About Genetics and Exercise.

July 9, 2009

Joanne asks me:
What about (insert famous athlete’s name here)’s training program?  It got him/her to such success; shouldn’t we emulate it?
The short answer is no.  The reason?  You couldn’t survive his/her training program.  And even if you could, you might not have the same degree of success.
Shouldn’t we seek to emulate what the best performers [...]

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Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.

June 29, 2009

Do you know what the trouble is with looking solely at performance as a method of gauging results?  It’s easy to underestimate the beneficial impact of change.
Imagine, for example, that you’re a professional-level golfer.  Your coach tells you to switch your hand position because it will help to prevent that nasty habit you have of [...]

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Getting Fit Fast and Crunches.

June 26, 2009

Gretchen Reynolds recently had a couple of interesting stories in the NY Times:
Can You Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week?
Is Your Ab Workout Hurting Your Back?
Re: Getting Fit in Six Minutes a Week:
The take-home message is that researchers found that higher intensity (read: effort) yet short duration exercise bouts conferred equal endurance benefits as [...]

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I Can’t Perform This Exercise.

June 23, 2009

One of my young wards has an algebra final today that he has been dreading for the better part of the last two weeks.  The obvious reason: He’s “not so good in math.”  Now, mind you, he’s a thoughtful, insightful kid to whom most things (in school, anyways) come easy.
Often, when undergoing the learning process, [...]

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The Restaurant Analogy.

June 18, 2009

Often I’m asked why I disagree that fat loss is “merely a game of calories in vs. calories out” and maintain that it’s a function of hormonal tone.  Gary Taubes makes an interesting analogy:
If you owned a restaurant and hired me as a consultant to help you figure out why business is down, and I [...]

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Priorities: Part 2, or Nutrition in 5 Easy Questions.

June 11, 2009

In Part 1 of this mini-series, I proposed that creating an algorithm can help you minimize confusion and help you to wade through the muck of needlessly complex training systems out there.  I proposed a general method of cataloging “valid” exercise systems based on emphasis on strength, progression, and recovery.  Part of why it’s difficult [...]

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