Nutrition “Case Study” #1:

Have you ever said to yourself, “I’ve tried EVERYTHING possible to lose weight and NOTHING works!”? Do you believe that you can’t lose weight because of menopause, a slow metabolism, adrenal fatigue, or all three? If you answered yes to any of these questions, I’m here to respectfully tell you that you are most likely 100% wrong. You can lose weight. I’m sure of it!

For anyone that knows me reasonably well, this may seem like a strong, “in-your-face” stance to take, but I have your best interests at heart.  I have competed in “weight-class” sports for over 20 years, and have been working as a personal trainer for 12 years. I have yet to see a single person who is not capable of losing a significant amount of weight. Below I will go over a quick explanation of how I coach my nutrition clients, followed by a “case study” of two clients whom I am currently in the process of coaching.

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this article I’d like to preface by explaining two different stream’s of Nutrition Coaching that I implement with my clients:

1) Food Log Analysis and Weekly Coaching – This process involves my clients tracking their food intake by writing it in a journal. I review the journal weekly and make suggested adjustments in order to help them reach their weight loss/gain goal as efficiently as possible. There are no specific foods that are off limits and there are also no specific “must eat” foods that I require clients to eat. This type of coaching is most suitable for a beginner to intermediate level client (a client with either limited dietary knowledge, a significant amount of weight to lose, or both).

2) Flexible Macronutrient Dieting – This process involves me sending my client’s weekly guidelines for the amount of protein/ carbohydrates/ fat  that they are to consume on a daily basis. Weekly adjustments are made to numeric guidelines.  As with the method above, this method does not have any “must eat”, or “cannot eat” foods. Everything is on the table (pun intended).

Case Study:

Kevin and Rosanna are husband and wife nutrition clients of mine. They have been members at The Riverside Club for years and anyone who knows them can attest to how frequently and intensely they workout.

They both began a Flexible Macronutrient Diet with me 5 ½ weeks ago. Kevin’s goals were to lose 20lb’s and have that 6-pack of abdominals start to show through. Rosanna’s goals were to lose 14 lbs and feel leaner and tighter like a tiger.

Previously, on his own, Kevin had been trying carbohydrate cycling (alternating days of low, high, and moderate carbohydrate intake). Rosanna had been eating a diet consisting of very healthy organic and natural foods. Rosanna was also very frustrated (as hell) as she felt that menopause had brought her weight loss to an absolute stand-still. She had resigned herself to accepting that she would not be able to lose weight until the symptoms of menopause had passed.

Our Process:

 Since Kevin and Rosanna had similar weight-loss goals, we adopted the same process for each of them, consisting of 6 days of balanced macronutrient (protein vs. carbs vs. fat) intake, with one extra high carbohydrate day also known as a “cheat day”. We adopted this process for the first 3.5 weeks to establish baselines and to get used to the dieting process.

·    Since then, we have spent the last 2 weeks doing personalized carbohydrate cycling. This involves alternating moderate and higher carbohydrate days. At no point in this process have we (or will we) prescribe a “no-carb” or “don’t eat carbs in the evening” approach. In fact, Kevin and Rosanna have been encouraged to eat a majority of their carbohydrates – ½ to 2/3- in the evening.

·   With 3 ½ weeks left to go in this 8 week process, we will continue to manipulate our carbohydrate cycles and add a little bit more short duration HIIT (interval training) sessions to hit our goals.

After 5 ½ weeks of following my macronutrient guidelines, here are their results:

Kevin:

•   13lbs lost
•  2% decrease in overall Body-Fat Percentage

Rosanna

•  10lbs lost
•  4% decrease in overall Body-Fat Percentage

Prior to writing this article, I asked Kevin and Rosanna a few questions and asked for some feedback about their flexible dieting experience with me.

Below are their answers:

What have you found most challenging about this experience?

·         “It has been challenging to eat all of the food necessary to hit our daily targets.”

What has been most surprising?

·     “We thought that we were eating healthy before, but were surprised to realize that we weren’t eating in such a way to lose weight. Our portion sizes were off.”

What have you learned thus far from this process?

•    “Appropriate portions and macronutrient ratios for weight loss.”
•   “Education – more consumer awareness as it pertains to buying certain types of food.”
•   “How to better “eye-ball” the actual quantity of food you’re eating.”

What advice would you have to someone interested in following this coaching program?

•   “Don’t try and do this on your own, get help!”
•   “Make sure this is what you want and, if so, commit to it 100%.”
•   “Set aside time for your food preparation or else you will be destined to cheat/fail.”

Final Thoughts (from me):  The best advice that I can give anyone who feels that they have exhausted all weight-loss options is this: don’t give up! Arrange to meet with a fitness professional who can accurately analyze your food intake and tell you exactly what you need to do to lose weight. It’s not fair to put in all of the hard work, and not reap the rewards.

If I can help you in any way, drop me a line!

Kristian

innerimagept@gmail.com

www.innerimagept.com

Top Ten Nutrition Myths (Part 2)

Eggs are good, eggs are bad, eggs are good... Well, which is it?

This seems to be a subject that has been debated back-and-forth for years. Finally, we seem to be at a point where the overall consensus in the medical/ nutrition community is that eggs (ESPECIALLY the yolks) are VERY GOOD for you. 

Eggs got a bad reputation for the amount of cholesterol they contain.However, studies have shown that for the majority of people, dietary intake has very little impact on levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol in the blood. In fact, studies have also shown that eggs raise our levels of good cholesterol (HDL), and don't raise our risk or heart disease. 

Within the egg, half of the protein is contained in the white and half is contained in the yolk. All of the fat is contained within the yolk, as are a majority of the high quality nutrients such as your B Vitamins.

If you are being mindful of your calories, consider combining some eggs whites with a whole egg as a scramble...1/2 cup of egg whites scrambled with 1 whole egg provides 20g of high quality protein and 6 grams of high quality fat.

So...whatever you do, don't throw out the yolk! It's wasteful and just plain silly!

I think that most of us know by now that women SHOULD lift weights. Perhaps they should be even more focused on lifting weights than men should (especially as they age). Women are more likely to suffer from osteoporosis, but lifting weights can actually increase a woman’s bone density, even as she ages. The notion that a woman will get too “buff” or “bulky” from weight training is also completely untrue. Unless you are eating a huge surplus of calories, taking a little bit of the old “Vitamin S”, AND utilizing a high volume/ hypertrophy-based program, you will not bulk-up! So…fugget aboudit!

Last point on this topic is this: Women need not just focus on body weight exercises or integrated movements such as a reverse lunge into a step-up , into a hip-hop abs shimmy , then finished with a Jane Fonda leg lift. This notion that women should do “girly” workouts while men do “manly” workouts is silly, and quite frankly, it hurts my feelings :) If you want to tone up your arms, upper-back, glutes, and legs, don’t be afraid to do some bench presses, squats, and deadlifts with reasonably heavy loads. This is how you truly recruit enough muscle fiber to change your body composition by adding lean mass, which will ultimately increase your metabolism. 

The cool thing is, while women are usually at a genetic disadvantage (to men) when it comes to exercises such as chin-ups and the bench press, I have seen some very lean and mean women put men to shame in the squats and deadlifts… 

About 12-15 years ago, the BOSU ball entered the mainstream fitness world in a big way. While working at a big franchise gym in the city, I saw what almost seemed to be a urinating contest to see who could come up with the most creative or challenging exercises that involved the bosu ball, stability ball, or even, a combination of both. I questioned whether or not I was missing something by having clients focus on back squats, push-ups, and planks. With the creation of these unique movements also came the argument that these exercises were more “functional” than your conventional “old school” lifts. I define the term FUNCTIONAL FITNESS as training in a way that best increases your ability to perform daily tasks at work, home, and in sport. So… if we look at the movement pictured above, the term “functional" doesn’t really apply. That is, unless, you often kneel on a pillow with one knee in the air while hanging picture frames overhead. If that’s part of your daily routine, then this is the exercise for you!

If you want to change your body composition or get better at sport, loading up your compound exercises will always take the cake. If you want to be better at lifting your child overhead or carrying your groceries up the stairs to your apartment, keep your feet on the floor and do an overhead press or grab some heavy dumbbells and do a farmers walk.

When should you use the BOSU? The BOSU ball is not completely obsolete, and, to be fair, there are many other modalities that I could have “picked on” to make my point. In Summary, the BOSU certainly has a place in the world of injury rehabilitation, and EMG studies have also shown that a BOSU ball crunch recruits more rectus abdominis fibers (ab muscles) than a standard crunch. It can also help to decrease the likelihood of ankle sprains in athletes who have previously suffered a sprain. On the flip-side (get it? Like flipping over the BOSU ball on the other side, Ha!) one study actually showed that BOSU ball training decreased athletic performance in College Soccer athletes.

Squat, Deadlift, Rotate, Pull, Push, and you will get better at life!

Many people make the shift to eating Gluten- Free and/or Organic and often (perhaps not even consciously) give themselves a license to eat more food, because of the belief that it is healthier for them.

In many instances, the food may actually be healthier than what you were eating before, however, it may also be equally (if not more) dense in calories. If you start making some "super smothies" without measuring the quantities of chia, flax seed, coconut oil, acaiiiiiiieeeeeee berries, and the lot, you just might find you that your pants will start to fit a little tighter.

Also, when it pertains to making the decision to go Gluten-Free, be careful not to get caught up in the "hype". The reality is that less than 1% of the population are actually Celiac (disease which makes one intolerant to digesting gluten). Determining whether or not, you are "gluten intolerant" is a highly subjective exercise which often leads people to completely eliminate gluten from their diet when it may not actually be the culprit of their weight issues and or digestive problems. My two pieces of advice: If you want to try and eat organic and locally sourced food, go for it! Just make sure to be aware of how many calories you are putting into your body each day. Second piece of advice: Before you go on an all or nothing gluten-free diet, first try "cleaning up your diet" and cutting out a bit of crapola here and there. You might find some simple shifts like this will allow you to still eat some gluten while also still feeling and looking good!

This is the final weight loss myth in my ten part series. If you would like to be emailed a document with the top ten and other helpful tips, exercises, and videos, click on the link in my bio.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is based off of a formula which was developed by Belgian astronomer Adolphe Quetelet in the mid to late 1800's. The major issue with this test as a measure of one's health is that it does not take into account 3 crucial elements of body composition: bone mass, fat mass, and muscle mass. You could have two people of the same age, height, and weight who score the same on the BMI while having two drastically different body compositions in terms of fat mass vs. muscle mass. 

The mesomorph body-type that's highlighted in red in the picture (big bones and big muscles) often scores as obese on the BMI when they are some of the fittest/ healthiest people on the planet. With all of the advances made in medicine, I would love to see us take a step back from the BMI and a step forward towards measuring one's body composition. A 7 point Jackson-Pollock caliper (pinch) test could be done with reasonable accuracy in 4 minutes. I know some people may think this is a bit embarrassing, but seriously, think about all the other exams that our doctor or nurse has performed on us. 

If you're curious, and if you have the resources, I'd strongly suggest getting a body-fat test done. This will give you a clearer picture of your body composition, and also, of your improvements to that composition over time. If you're in the Calgary area, drop me a line and I will pinch you!

Thanks for reading!

Kristian Leach

innerimagept@gmail.com

Get Motivated!

We’ve all run into that “rut” where we just can’t seem to get motivated to go to the gym. Before you decide to give up, or a take a prolonged break, I suggest you give one or more of the five tips below a shot. You might find that a few simple shifts in your training can help get your mind re-energized and excited to train again!

5 Tips:

1) Change your Music - Load up some new music and playlists (ie.  The Spotify app has some great "energy" and workout playlists) to keep the workout fun.

2) Change your workout program every 1-2 weeks. The simplest way to do this would be to change your rep scheme...ie. spend 1 week doing 8-12 reps per set, the next week doing 12-18 reps per set, and the next week doing 18-25 reps per set).....obviously there are SO many ways to change your routine, but changing your rep scheme week by week will have a huge impact.

3) Add 1-2 new exercises each week, but no more. You can find some great exercises online by simply googling things like "dumbell squat variations", "push-up variations", etc.

4) Journal every workout and write everything down (ie. sets, reps, weight lifted). Try to better your performance of the previous workout and circle "personal bests" in your journal.

5) Try doing some shorter metabolic workouts (High Intensity, Short Duration)

An example would be to do 3-5 rounds of the following as fast as you can for time (click on the exercise for a video demonstration)

1) DumbellGoblet Squat x10 
2) BodyweightRows x 10 
3) KettleBell Swings x 10 
4) Push-ups (or variations) x10 
5) Stability Front Plank (FWD and BACK) x 10

If you’d like to receive free weekly exercise and nutrition tips along with exercise demonstrations, click below: NEWSLETTER 

Thanks for reading!
Kristian Leach

Weight Loss Myths, Part 1

Top Ten Weight Loss Myths Part 1:

When following a weight loss plan, one can often be bombarded with seemingly contradictory advice. If you have experienced this before, then you know how frustrating it can be when trying to figure out exactly what advice to follow. Below I will discuss 5 of the more common weight loss myths that still prevail in the fitness industry today. If you’d like to be sent Part 2 of this article, click here: NEWSLETTER and enter your email address.

If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you, so feel free drop me a line at innerimagept@gmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Kristian Leach

We've all heard the saying "If you eat carbs in the evening you will turn into a big giant Carbo-Wolf". Actually, I just made that up, but, this whole "no carbohydrates in the evening" myth is absolute nonsense. It has lead to some people to become afraid to eat carbohydrates in the evening, without having a shred of scientific evidence to back-up that fear. If you are at a caloric deficit (you expended more calories than you consumed) at the end of the day, you will lose weight. Research has shown that if you eat a set number of carbohydrates in a day, you will not lose more body-fat if you consume the carbohydrates earlier in the day versus later in the day, versus spread out throughout the day. Carbohydrates in the evening can actually help aid sleep by elevating our serotonin (feel-good neurotransmitter). A good night’s sleep can help decrease your cortisol (stress hormone) levels, which can actually help you lose body-fat. Bottom-line: be mindful of how many grams of carbs you are consuming in a day, but don't stress over eating them in the evening!

Several recent studies have shown that fasted cardio (cardio done on an empty stomach) and non-fasted cardio done at the same intensity for the same duration of time burn a relatively equal amount of fat and calories. There is no greater “fat burning” benefit to doing fasted cardio. One study also showed that protein breakdown doubled for individuals in the fasted cardio group. This means that the fasted cardio group was more likely to experience muscle catabolism (muscle loss)… Not cool! If you do know someone who appears to have experienced successful weight loss with their fasted cardiovascular activity; their success is most likely due to a consistent diet that puts them in a caloric deficit. Bottom line: make sure to eat prior to exercising and make sure to give yourself enough time to digest the pre-exercise meal or snack.

A 2004 study conducted by the University of Vermont found that 96% of people have a Resting Metabolic Rate that falls within 200-300 calories of the calculated normal rate for their bodyweight and age. In other words, 96% percent of people have a relatively “normal” metabolism. Before one makes the argument that their metabolism is slow, they should first spend a week or more tracking their daily caloric intake using an online app such as myfitnesspal. This is a great tool that will give you some solid feedback as to whether or not you are consuming more or less calories than your body requires to maintain your current bodyweight. If you do decide to track your calories, be prepared to weigh and measure your foods each day, as eye-balling can lead to a false calorie total. This can be a bit tedious, but it’s the only way to be sure of your exact daily caloric consumption. 

Not only do they not work, they may be doing more harm than good!

* Just as a clarifying point, I am discussing the weight loss potential of detoxes, and not the potential to detoxify (that is a probably a whole other article in itself) *

Diet detoxes actually do end up resulting in a lot of short term weight loss. Even as much as 5-10 lbs over a 7-14 day period. This is not due to a miracle potion however, but simple math. If you only consume 800-1000 calories per day of lemon water, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper drinks, all while chugging down some herbal laxatives, then of course you will lose weight (most of it water weight). One could lose a similar amount of weight eating 5 regular-sized MacDonald's hamburgers (1000 calories in total) per day, while likely preserving more muscle tissue than one would doing a diet detox/cleanse. I' m certainly not suggesting you do that either!

The research has shown that people who try these rapid weight loss cleanses end up losing hard-earned muscle tissue and re-gaining even more of the weight (after the fact) than they originally lost during the cleanse. I've seen so many people go through this cycle time and time again.

So...When it comes to sustainable and healthy weight loss, slow and steady wins the race EVERY SINGLE TIME. Instead of wasting your muscle and $59.99 on a miracle detox, try spending $1.25 on a notebook and begin tracking your food intake for a little while. It sounds boring and tedious, but it works.

Try making gradual, but not drastic, improvements to your dietary intake, week-by-week. The simple act of tracking your food intake may lead you to realize you are consuming more calories than you had actually thought, or eating too much of this food, not enough of this food etc.

Resistance training based programs lead to greater short and long-term weight loss when compared to programs that focus more on longer duration (30 min. or more) steady-state cardiovascular activity.

In fact, two independent studies found that long periods of cardio actually lead to weight gain by causing participants to overeat. Thus the picture of the guy eating pizza while running

A program focused on short intense bursts of cardio (i.e. Intervals, HIIT) combined with progressive resistance training is most effective for achieving both short and long-term weight loss.

Within the resistance training program try to focus on perfecting the “bang-for-your-buck” compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts, pushes, pulls, lunges, etc.

Beyond all that fancy exercise talk, the bottom line still boils down to being mindful of your daily caloric intake (do I sound like a broken record yet?? ;) A person has to create a caloric deficit of 3500 calories to lose one pound of body-fat. If a 150lb person walked at a brisk pace (3.5 mph) on a flat surface, it would take them about 18.5 hours to lose one pound of body-fat! Pretty crazy stuff, hey?

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for Part 2!

Kristian.

The Hangover Workout

Should you workout when you have a hangover?

Short Answer: Yes! 

As we all know, alcoholic beverages are quite dense in calories. , A 5 ounce glass of Apothic Red Wine has 122 calories, a 1.5 oz glass of Glenfiddich 12 year-old Scotch has 105 calories, and a pint of Alexander Keith’s Pale Ale beer contains a whopping 280 calories!

Couple these calories with some high fat/ high calorie food that is often paired with alcohol, and you may be sitting at a fairly high calorie surplus. Some estimates have people gaining as much as a half- pound of body-fat after a night of heavy drinking and eating.

So, why should you workout the day after a night of drinking? Here are my top four reasons, followed by my specific programming suggestions

1) Burn Calories – While you’re not likely to burn off the entire surplus of calories that you consumed the night before, you can certainly put a dent in it, and minimize the damage, so to speak.

2) Cure the “Booze Blues” – you can help combat the depressive effects of alcohol by using exercise to stimulate your happy neurotransmitters – endorphins can give both your body, and also your mind, a good pick-me-up!

3) Curb Greasy Food Cravings...at least a little bit. You might find that your need for a Big Mac and Fries, or a Denny’s skillet goes down after a workout. Working out when hung-over seems to curb people’s greasy food cravings to a degree. You might just choose to downgrade your Big Mac to a Subway Sandwich.

4) Pump up your “Lymph” System – exercising is a great way to increase blood flow and circulation. This increase in circulation help to stimulate the lymphatic system, which will allow your body to more efficiently expel some of the toxins that you consumed the night before.

The hangover workout:

Because consuming alcohol has left you dehydrated, potentially nauseated, and perhaps even with a splitting headache, my advice is to workout with moderate intensity. Not too low, not too high. No need to have to pull out the puke bucket ! 

smile emoticon

Try to consume 1L of water and a piece of fruit 45-60 minutes before training. Also, consider bringing a 1L water bottle containing approximately 250 ml of Gatorade and 750ml water. Slowly sip at this through out your workout.

The workout:

A) 10 minute cardiovascular warm-up

- This can be done on a bike/ treadmill/ elliptical etc.

B) 35-40 minutes of weight training

- A good way to burn calories without getting the intensity up too high is to utilize slow tempo weight training. My suggestion is for each repetition, take 3 seconds to control the weight in the eccentric (relaxation) phase of the lift, and take 2 seconds to actually lift the weight

Group 1: (x 3 rounds with 75-90 seconds rest between rounds)

a) Dumbell Goblet Squat x 8-10 reps

b) Flat bench dumbbell chest press x 8-10 reps

Group 2: (x 3 rounds with 75-90 seconds rest between rounds)

a) Seated Row x 8-10 reps

b) Bulgarian Split-Squat x 8-10 reps/leg

Group 3 (x 3 rounds, with 75-90 seconds rest between rounds

a) Flat bench dumbbell pull-over x 8-10 reps

b) Machine Hamstring Curl x 8-10 reps

c) Cable rope chop x 8-10 reps/side

C) Cool-down

- 5 minutes or cardio and 5-10 minutes of stretching

- Try to avoid the post-workout Big Mac and opt for a homemade sandwich 

- More water!

If you have any questions about this specific workout or anything else exercise/food related, fire me a message at:

innerimagept@gmail.com

What's up(plements)??

Pre-workout, fat burners, green powders, digestive enzymes, fish oil, multi-vitamins, shark cartilage...the list goes on and on.

Trying to figure out which supplements to add to your diet and what brands to buy can seem overwhelming. Walk into a health food store and you'll be bombarded by hundreds of supplements, all with some lofty claim of changing your life.

In this post, I'd like to identify the top three supplements that I recommend for the general population. I'd also like to identify the three most "bogus" supplements on the market today. Before I get into my "top three" lists, however, I'd like to preface by saying that most people who maintain a desirable physique can attribute their success to the foods they eat, rather than to the supplements that they take. Want to lose some fat, gain some muscle, and feel better? Eat a clean diet with a low to moderate amount of carbohydrates, and a fair amount of lean protein and quality fats, and get set up on a progressive fitness program which focuses primarily on resistance training.

My top 3 supplements

1) Vitamin D - for the price and potential benefits, you can't go wrong. Vitamin D aids in calcium uptake, and helps to support positive mental health. For Native Canadians, take 1000-2000 IU per day in Summer/Spring months and 4000-5000 IU in Fall/Winter months

2) Whey Isolate Protein Powder - For those that find it hard to eat enough protein in a day, whey protein powder provides a cost-effective, easily digestible, high quality protein source. Great for a meal replacement shake and post-workout shake.

3) Greens Powder - Most food logs I analyze lack green veggies. For some clients, I've realized that the reality of consuming 3 servings of green veggies per day just isn't going to happen. Green powders can be thrown into a shake and will provide you with an abundance of vitamins and minerals, keeping your cells healthy and making you feel good!

Honorable mentions - multivitamins, fiber powder, fish or udos oil, creatine

My top 3 DO NOT BUY Supplements

1) Fat Burners - there is no peer-reviewed research showing that fat burners actually work. Often loaded with guarana, caffeine, yerba mate, and cayenne, fat  burners are more likely to lead to dehydration and fatigue than actual fat loss. To my knowledge, the only "proven" fat burner on the market is CLA, a pill containing a special fat found in cows.  CLA has some research showing that is can positively lead to fat loss, but the results are neglible (ie. 0.25 to 0.5 lbs of fat loss per week). Simple adjustments to your diet can achieve far greater results without having to dish-out the extra cash.

2) Pre-Workout Supplements - perhaps the most heavily marketed category of supplements on the market today, pre-workout supplements such as Super Pump and N.O. Explode get away with making grossly exaggerated claims. They are usually loaded with caffeine, and the main "super" ingredient is an amino acid called arginine. The problem is that high doses of caffeine have been shown to impede the desired effect of arginine; arginine improves blood-flow to muscles but caffeine gets in the way of this process. If you really need to get "amped-up" before a workout, try coffee. It's much cheaper, and less likely to cause you to crash after your workouts.

3) Detox "kits" or cleanses - So much money is wasted on detox supplements. Again, there is no actual research to show that a detox kit, or a detox diet, do anything more to detoxify our bodies than we can naturally do on our own. One of the most popular detoxes on the market, is the Wild Rose Cleanse, designed by Dr. Terry Willard. You'll see that the "kit" is sold at what I estimate to be a 500% mark-up, and may actually make you less "healthy" than you were before you began the cleanse (many people report feelings of fatigue, headaches, and dizziness).

Dishonorable mentions - testosterone boosters (ie. tribulus), glucosamine, ephedrine

Terry Willard, founder of the Wild Rose Cleanse

In summary, you likely don't need supplements at all unless directed by a doctor or dietician. The supplements that you see on the shelves are part of a largely unregulated market which rakes in billions of dollars on grandiose claims that can't be backed up by actual research.

As I mentioned earlier, the BEST thing you can do is to eat a clean diet and limit your intake of processed/starchy carbohydrates and bad fats. If your plate usually consists of large portions of lean protein and green veggies, and smaller portions of starchy carbohydrates, you are doing more to change your body composition than any supplement on the market could!

Also, if you'd like to order any supplements from the most reputable and trusted source in North America click this link to visit : WWW.BODYBUILDING.COM 

I purchase all of my supplements through bodbuilding.com and have them shipped straight to my door. I am proud to call myself a bodybuilding.com affiliate.

Learn Your Compounds!

I remember when I was in Junior High School and my parents bought me my first set of weights for Christmas. The set was a beige-coloured, plastic, concrete-filled set of dumbells and a barbell that, even when handled properly, would pinch your hands and give you blood blisters.

Once I got this weight-set, I decided that I better buy an exercise book to learn how to use the weights. I went to Northlands Mall and bought the biggest, cheapest exercise book that I could find. It was $5 and it had a picture of a "well supplemented" man in short-shorts, white tube socks, and a purple sleeveless shirt. Despite it's provocative front cover, it actually turned out to be one of the best $5 dollar purchases that I have ever made.

While, initially, I had really interesting interpretations of the exercises and programming suggestions, there was one piece of advice in the book that I stuck to. Following this advice allowed me to get pretty strong for my size and age.

Fast forward twenty years later and I believe that piece of advice to be just as true today as it was then. The advice is quite simple: "Prioritize COMPOUND weight training exercises and spend less time performing ISOLATION exercises." To give you an option to read the long and the short of this article, especially if you're new to weight training, here is what will follow: I'll provide definitions and examples of compound and isolation exercises, benefits to prioritizing compound movements, and lastly some pictures of 4 compound and 4 isolation exercises.

Before I get to all of that, if you want the "Coles notes" of this article, here they are: try to make sure that 75% or more of the exercises you choose in a workout are compound. You can scroll down to see some pictures of 4 of my favourite compound exercises, or enlist the help of google, AskJeeves, and Youtube, to expand your repertoire.

So here we go: compound exercises are defined as exercises that involve the movement of more than one joint at a time. This in turn means that all compound movements utilize 2 or more muscles to lift the weight. Examples of compound exercises include: push-ups, lat pulldown, lunges, and leg presses.

Isolation exercises are defined as exercises that only involve the movement of one joint at a time. This means that isolation exercises only utilize one muscle to lift the weight. Examples of isolation exercises include: biceps curls, leg extensions, triceps extensions, and laying leg abductions.

3 major benefits of prioritizing COMPOUND exercises are:

1) Increase full-body strength: Because compound exercises utilize more than one muscle at a time, your bigger muscles are involved in the movements, which allows you to lift heavier loads. Lifting heavier loads with your bigger muscles is the best way to get your entire body strong.

2) Increase body's ability to burn fat: Compound exercises have a greater oxygen and energy demand on the body. If you are going through a "fat burning" weight training program that focuses more on compound than isolation, you will have a much higher EPOC (also known as the "After-Burn"). The higher the EPOC, the greater the demand on the body for stored fats to be utilized post-workout to replenish sugar/glycogen that was expended during the workout.

3) Improve day-to-day life: If you get stronger at compound exercises, you will find day-to-day tasks easier. Get better at deadlifts (compound) and you will be able to pick heavy objects up off of the floor with more ease and less risk of injury. Get better at squats (compound) and you will be able to jump up off of the toilet like a spring chicken. Get better at biceps curls (isolation) and you will be able to bring that mug of beer to your face with no effort at all!

We are all bombarded with the latest fad workouts and information overload in the fitness industry today. In light of this, I'm happy to know that some very simple workout advice that I got more than 20 years ago is just as valid now as it was back then. Below you'll find a few examples of isolation vs. compound exercises. If you'd like to learn how to incorporate more compound exercises into your routine, drop me a line at innerimagept@gmail.com  

COMPOUND vs. ISOLATION (pictures)