After my post about a training week in Missy and My life, someone asked about the conditioning aspect. While we train with a work to rest ratio that allows for a strong conditioning and cardio-pulmonary adaptation, we do throw in some strict conditioning training as well. At the current moment, that type of training is in the form of finishers. We usually throw them in at the end of the workout somewhere between 1 and 4 times a week. Here's a great example of one that'll give you a killer cardio-pulmonary building, body fat burning session.
After a really hardcore strength training session, take 10 minutes for the following. (Oh yeah, when I say sprint I mean a 99--100 percent all out effort for the duration of the sprint)
30 seconds of wall drive sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 seconds of medicine ball slam sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 second of rope skip sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 seconds of medicine ball footwork sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 seconds of wall drive sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 seconds of medicine ball slam sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 seconds of rope skip sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 seconds of medicine ball footwork sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 seconds of wall drive sprints
30 seconds of rest
30 seconds of medicine ball slam sprints
Throw that in a couple of times a week and you'll see your conditioning really take off.
Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Upcoming Seminars:
A quick list of the upcoming seminars. Feel free to contact me here, on facebook or by email at bolerobrett@aol.com for more information and to register:
Friday, November 2nd at 6:30pm:
The Equilizers: Self-protection 102:
Alright, you find yourself in the middle of an assault and you grab a bottle. Now what? This exciting seminar will show you what to do. Learn how to use edged and blunt weapons; either improvised or designed; to stop an attack. We'll focus on knives, combs, toothbrushes, credit cards, screwdrivers, files, batons, sticks, rolled up magazines, bottles, pool sticks, books and more. Learn how to quickly incapacitate an attacker in a non-lethal way, and then how to get away.
Saturday, November 10th at 3pm:
The Power of Softness: Self-protection 103:
There's a reason why so many martial arts emphasize a soft movement. From Aikido to Baugua, and from Systema to Gracie Jiu-jitsut, the power of softness has been proven to be effective in real situations. Learn how to use it to stop a streetfighter, gangbanger, wrestler, boxer, or martial artist. We'll be covering the use of relaxed and soft energy for defending oneself against standing and ground attacks and against un-armed and armed attacks.
Saturday, November17th at 3pm:
Women's Olny Self-protection:
Let's face it, there are a number of situations that women may find themselves in that men may not; and vice versa. Learn how to deal with various assaults from the guy who gets a little too handsy to the groper to someone trying to rape you. Learn how to respond properly to both standing and ground assaults and how to escape and survive.
Saturday, December 1 at 3pm:
Countering Grabs, Holds, and Grapples: Self-protection against the grabber.
Most martial arts address sometype of defense against grabs, holds, take downs and ground attacks; but most don't address them in a realistic way. Learn how someone will actually try to use grabs and grapples against you and what to do to effectively and efficiently defend yourself against these attacks.
I"m looking forward to helping you all learn how to be safe and secure. Feel free to contact me at facebook or by email at bolerobrett@aol.com for more information and to register.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Friday, November 2nd at 6:30pm:
The Equilizers: Self-protection 102:
Alright, you find yourself in the middle of an assault and you grab a bottle. Now what? This exciting seminar will show you what to do. Learn how to use edged and blunt weapons; either improvised or designed; to stop an attack. We'll focus on knives, combs, toothbrushes, credit cards, screwdrivers, files, batons, sticks, rolled up magazines, bottles, pool sticks, books and more. Learn how to quickly incapacitate an attacker in a non-lethal way, and then how to get away.
Saturday, November 10th at 3pm:
The Power of Softness: Self-protection 103:
There's a reason why so many martial arts emphasize a soft movement. From Aikido to Baugua, and from Systema to Gracie Jiu-jitsut, the power of softness has been proven to be effective in real situations. Learn how to use it to stop a streetfighter, gangbanger, wrestler, boxer, or martial artist. We'll be covering the use of relaxed and soft energy for defending oneself against standing and ground attacks and against un-armed and armed attacks.
Saturday, November17th at 3pm:
Women's Olny Self-protection:
Let's face it, there are a number of situations that women may find themselves in that men may not; and vice versa. Learn how to deal with various assaults from the guy who gets a little too handsy to the groper to someone trying to rape you. Learn how to respond properly to both standing and ground assaults and how to escape and survive.
Saturday, December 1 at 3pm:
Countering Grabs, Holds, and Grapples: Self-protection against the grabber.
Most martial arts address sometype of defense against grabs, holds, take downs and ground attacks; but most don't address them in a realistic way. Learn how someone will actually try to use grabs and grapples against you and what to do to effectively and efficiently defend yourself against these attacks.
I"m looking forward to helping you all learn how to be safe and secure. Feel free to contact me at facebook or by email at bolerobrett@aol.com for more information and to register.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
A Brett and Missy Training Week!
Today I thought I'd give you all a little example of Missy and my current training schedule. Here you go:
Monday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
1.) Barbell Power Snatch from the hang 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
2.) Barbell Power Jerks 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
3a.) Barbell T-bar Rows 5 sets of 10
3b.) Double Kettlebell Military Press 5 sets of 10
Tuesday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
1.) Conventional Deadlifts 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
2a.) Reverse Hyper-extensions 5 sets of 10
2b.) Standing Abdominal Roll-outs 5 sets of 10
Wednesday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
25-30 Minutes of Prasara Yoga Flowing
15-20 Minutes of Qi Gong
Thursday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
1.) Barbell Power Cleans from the hang 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
2.) Bottom Position Barbell Bench Press 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
3a.) Lying Rear Delt Flies 5 sets of 10 per side
3b.) Kettlebell Crush-Grip Push-ups 5 sets of 10
Friday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
1.) Back Squats 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
2a.) Front Squats 5 sets of 10
2b.) 1-Leg Hip Thrusters 5 sets of 10 per side
Saturday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
10 minutes of Double Clubbell Swipes
20-25 minutes of Eischen's Yoga
10-20 minutes of Qi Gong
Sunday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening: 10-20 minutes of Tension Based Flexibility Work
There you have it, the current cycle for both Missy and myself. Talk with you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Monday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
1.) Barbell Power Snatch from the hang 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
2.) Barbell Power Jerks 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
3a.) Barbell T-bar Rows 5 sets of 10
3b.) Double Kettlebell Military Press 5 sets of 10
Tuesday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
1.) Conventional Deadlifts 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
2a.) Reverse Hyper-extensions 5 sets of 10
2b.) Standing Abdominal Roll-outs 5 sets of 10
Wednesday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
25-30 Minutes of Prasara Yoga Flowing
15-20 Minutes of Qi Gong
Thursday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
1.) Barbell Power Cleans from the hang 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
2.) Bottom Position Barbell Bench Press 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
3a.) Lying Rear Delt Flies 5 sets of 10 per side
3b.) Kettlebell Crush-Grip Push-ups 5 sets of 10
Friday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
1.) Back Squats 5 sets with 5-3-1 Protocol
2a.) Front Squats 5 sets of 10
2b.) 1-Leg Hip Thrusters 5 sets of 10 per side
Saturday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening:
10 minutes of Double Clubbell Swipes
20-25 minutes of Eischen's Yoga
10-20 minutes of Qi Gong
Sunday:
Morning: Joint Mobility Drills and Qi Gong
Evening: 10-20 minutes of Tension Based Flexibility Work
There you have it, the current cycle for both Missy and myself. Talk with you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Does Your Trainer or Coach Suck?
This past August marked my 18th year as a professional in the fintess industry. In that time (and before it) I've had the privelage to seek out and learn (and continue to study and learn from) some of the most amazing people in the world of fitness, strength and conditioning, health and longevity and nutrition. In that time I've met amazing coaches and trainers that have my absolute respect and admiration. Alos, I've met plenty of shitty trainers and coaches that have no business working with anyone. The unfortunate thing that I've found is that the shitty far outnumber the awesome. So, how can you tell if your trainer or coach sucks? Let's take a look at some sure fire signs:
1.) They don't teach you the basics:
It's pretty simple; much like you can't build a building on a crappy foundation, nor can you build a body on a crappy foundation. This is why the basics are sooooo important. Not only do they build a strong and healthy foundation, they also give you the most bang for your buck, they'll help you to reach all of your goals, they'll optimize your hormones, they'll keep you resilient and healthy, and they'll teach you how to move correctly. And, even if you stray from the basics for a short period to sophisticate your movements, you'll always come back to them.
So, what are the basics?
For barbells they're the sqaut (both front and back), the bench press and floor press, the bent row, the deadlift (both sumo and conventional), the overhead press (standing of course), the push press, the jerk, the clean and clean grip high pull, the snatch and snatch grip high pull, and the clean and jerk/ clean and press.
For bodyweight training they are the free squat and Hindu squat, the push-up (even though it's one of the most basic movments I hardly ever see anyone performing it with good technique), the pull-up/chin-up, body/recline rows, l-sits and their variation, bridging and handstand work.
For kettlebells it would include the 2-hand swing, the 1-hand swing, the clean, the high pull, the snatch, the overhead press, the push press, the jerk, the clean and press/clean and jerk, the bent row, the windmill, and a variation of the get-up.
It's safe to say if you don't know or havne't been shown these movements, your trainer or coach sucks!
2.) They plop you down to work on the machines:
Now, I could go off on a huge rant about open kinetic chains versus closed kinetic chains, how machines only allow you to work in a single plane of movement which leads to muscular imbalance and injury, how mahcines don't allow you to work your stabilizer muscles which leads to injury, how machines were created to follow the path of the "normal" persons movement and no normal person actually moves through the path that machines force you to follow and how that leads to injury and more; but let's just boil it down to this. In 95 percent of all cases, machines suck. Learning to use your own bodyweight and learning how to use free-weight based movements are much better. If your trainer or coach is putting you on the machines it means they either a.) don't care if you get results b.) don't care about your health and longevity or c.) have no idea how to train you for real so they plop you down on the machine because it's easier for them to kill the hour that way. Or, of course all of the above. Either way, it means your trainer or coach sucks!
3.) They try to get you to focus on the "cardio:"
If you follow the actual medical and scientific research as well as the real-world cases you'll see that all of the aerobic and "cardio" exercise out there pretty much stinks. It causes oxidative stress to your tissues which will lead to heart disease, strokes, cancer, and more. It causes your body to burn muscle tissue while preferentially holding on to stored body fat. It shuts down the production of healthy hormones. It stimultes your body to produce excess cortisol. It weakens and shrinks your heart and lungs leading to "Jim Fixx" syndrome (this is the syndrome where advanced marathoners, runners, bikers, etc. die of a heart attack in their 40's or 50's while out for their daily jog, bike, etc.). It wears out your joints and causes repetitive stress injuries. It slows your metabolism. And more.
Yes, your heart and your lungs are important. But guess what? Cardio-pulmonary health and endurance based fitness are not the same thing. You're much better off hitting some hard core sprint intervals to build up your cardio-pulmonary strength, power, recovery ability and reserve capacity while also building muscle, burning fat, and stimulating good hormone production.
Also, if "cardio" and aerobics are so good for burning fat, why is it that all of the long distance athletes that I know have skinny bird-like arms and legs and a fat, albiet small, tummy. They don't have ripped abs, built up pecks and shoulders, defined backs, chiseled arms and legs, or the like. But, all of the sprinters I know look like freakin' Adonis?
If you're coach or trainer is forcing you on the treadmill-to-nowhere, trust me, they suck!
4.) The are constantly nagging you to starve yourself:
In some of the earlier posts I've talked about how I've personally dropped over 20 pounds while adding 500-1000 calories a day to my eating. And I've had the same results from my clients. It's not how many calories you take in that count, it's what those calories are that does. Mix in some good nutritional timing and your pretty much home free.
If your coach or trainer is trying to get you to starve yourself, they have no idea what thery're doing and they suck!
Well, there you have it. Four pretty straight forward and simple ways to know if your trainer or coach suck. If they do, why are you giving them your hard earned money and your time. Get rid of them and find a coach or trainer that's awesome. I'll talk with you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
1.) They don't teach you the basics:
It's pretty simple; much like you can't build a building on a crappy foundation, nor can you build a body on a crappy foundation. This is why the basics are sooooo important. Not only do they build a strong and healthy foundation, they also give you the most bang for your buck, they'll help you to reach all of your goals, they'll optimize your hormones, they'll keep you resilient and healthy, and they'll teach you how to move correctly. And, even if you stray from the basics for a short period to sophisticate your movements, you'll always come back to them.
So, what are the basics?
For barbells they're the sqaut (both front and back), the bench press and floor press, the bent row, the deadlift (both sumo and conventional), the overhead press (standing of course), the push press, the jerk, the clean and clean grip high pull, the snatch and snatch grip high pull, and the clean and jerk/ clean and press.
For bodyweight training they are the free squat and Hindu squat, the push-up (even though it's one of the most basic movments I hardly ever see anyone performing it with good technique), the pull-up/chin-up, body/recline rows, l-sits and their variation, bridging and handstand work.
For kettlebells it would include the 2-hand swing, the 1-hand swing, the clean, the high pull, the snatch, the overhead press, the push press, the jerk, the clean and press/clean and jerk, the bent row, the windmill, and a variation of the get-up.
It's safe to say if you don't know or havne't been shown these movements, your trainer or coach sucks!
2.) They plop you down to work on the machines:
Now, I could go off on a huge rant about open kinetic chains versus closed kinetic chains, how machines only allow you to work in a single plane of movement which leads to muscular imbalance and injury, how mahcines don't allow you to work your stabilizer muscles which leads to injury, how machines were created to follow the path of the "normal" persons movement and no normal person actually moves through the path that machines force you to follow and how that leads to injury and more; but let's just boil it down to this. In 95 percent of all cases, machines suck. Learning to use your own bodyweight and learning how to use free-weight based movements are much better. If your trainer or coach is putting you on the machines it means they either a.) don't care if you get results b.) don't care about your health and longevity or c.) have no idea how to train you for real so they plop you down on the machine because it's easier for them to kill the hour that way. Or, of course all of the above. Either way, it means your trainer or coach sucks!
3.) They try to get you to focus on the "cardio:"
If you follow the actual medical and scientific research as well as the real-world cases you'll see that all of the aerobic and "cardio" exercise out there pretty much stinks. It causes oxidative stress to your tissues which will lead to heart disease, strokes, cancer, and more. It causes your body to burn muscle tissue while preferentially holding on to stored body fat. It shuts down the production of healthy hormones. It stimultes your body to produce excess cortisol. It weakens and shrinks your heart and lungs leading to "Jim Fixx" syndrome (this is the syndrome where advanced marathoners, runners, bikers, etc. die of a heart attack in their 40's or 50's while out for their daily jog, bike, etc.). It wears out your joints and causes repetitive stress injuries. It slows your metabolism. And more.
Yes, your heart and your lungs are important. But guess what? Cardio-pulmonary health and endurance based fitness are not the same thing. You're much better off hitting some hard core sprint intervals to build up your cardio-pulmonary strength, power, recovery ability and reserve capacity while also building muscle, burning fat, and stimulating good hormone production.
Also, if "cardio" and aerobics are so good for burning fat, why is it that all of the long distance athletes that I know have skinny bird-like arms and legs and a fat, albiet small, tummy. They don't have ripped abs, built up pecks and shoulders, defined backs, chiseled arms and legs, or the like. But, all of the sprinters I know look like freakin' Adonis?
If you're coach or trainer is forcing you on the treadmill-to-nowhere, trust me, they suck!
4.) The are constantly nagging you to starve yourself:
In some of the earlier posts I've talked about how I've personally dropped over 20 pounds while adding 500-1000 calories a day to my eating. And I've had the same results from my clients. It's not how many calories you take in that count, it's what those calories are that does. Mix in some good nutritional timing and your pretty much home free.
If your coach or trainer is trying to get you to starve yourself, they have no idea what thery're doing and they suck!
Well, there you have it. Four pretty straight forward and simple ways to know if your trainer or coach suck. If they do, why are you giving them your hard earned money and your time. Get rid of them and find a coach or trainer that's awesome. I'll talk with you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Monday, October 1, 2012
A Personal Update
As many of you that read this blog on a regular basis know, a few months ago I weighed in at a lean and powerful 191.5 pounds. Currently, I weigh in at a ripped and powerful 168.2 pounds. That's a difference of 23.3 pounds, with about 90 percent of that weight loss being from body fat.
That's a pretty good loss in anybody's book, but even more so when you look at the fact that I haven't been trying to lose weight. I've added between 500 and 1,000 calories to my daily eating; I haven't been doing any type of "cardio" training. My training has been exclusively made up of powerlifitng and bodyweight training. Yet, while flying in the face of conventional "wisdon" I've dropped more than 23 pounds in a very short period of time.
So, again people, it's not the amount of calories that you put into your mouth that count and it's not hours of slaving away on the treadmil-to-nowhere that are going to make the difference. It's timing your nutrients correctly and making the proper food decisions mixed in with good strength training that's going to allow you the ability to change your body.
Starting this week, it's time for me to shift gears and go back to some serious mass building. Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
That's a pretty good loss in anybody's book, but even more so when you look at the fact that I haven't been trying to lose weight. I've added between 500 and 1,000 calories to my daily eating; I haven't been doing any type of "cardio" training. My training has been exclusively made up of powerlifitng and bodyweight training. Yet, while flying in the face of conventional "wisdon" I've dropped more than 23 pounds in a very short period of time.
So, again people, it's not the amount of calories that you put into your mouth that count and it's not hours of slaving away on the treadmil-to-nowhere that are going to make the difference. It's timing your nutrients correctly and making the proper food decisions mixed in with good strength training that's going to allow you the ability to change your body.
Starting this week, it's time for me to shift gears and go back to some serious mass building. Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
One of the Greatest Movements you can do!
Alright, I know. I say the word snatch and I'm going to have half of you giggling like 6th graders. However, having a good snatch is one of the most important things you can do for your health and fitness. Okay, I'll admit it, now I'm giggling a little too. It's kind of like when you're talking about the importance in kettlebell training of having a good rack. You can't help but giggle. Now, back to being serious.
The snatch is truly one of the royalty of exercises. Let's think about it for a second: it works basically every single muscle group from head to toe. It really hits the ultra-important posterior chain. It develops incredible speed, explosivensess, power, strength, coordination, balance, agility and more. It's the largest possible range of motion that you can use while still holding onto your exercise apperatus simply because you pull the apparatus from the floor to lock out over your head in one movement. It helps to promote a better functioning brain due to the numerous split-second movements that need to happen. It builds muscle, bone and connective tissue and makes them stronger and more resilient. It burns body fat. It helps to kick your hormones into healthy high gear. And, it kicks your heart and lungs pretty hard too. Oh yes, the snatch is right up there with the deadlift, the squat, and the clean and press/ clean and jerk as being one of the king of exercises. In fact, I'd hit the snatch a million times over for core development over most any other type of "core" training (yes there was a pun intended there, I'll admit it. But, it's still a true statement.)
And you'll never get bored with the movement. The variety that's involved with the snatch is unreal. With just the barbell version you have a power snatch from the hang and from the ground; a split snatch from the hang and from the ground; and a squat snatch from the hang and from the ground. Add to that both a snatch grip high-pull from the hang and from the ground and you've got a shit-ton of variety right there.
Then you can look at including 1-arm and 2-arm dumbell snatches, 1-arm and 2-arm kettlebell snatches, sandbag snatches and Bulgarian bag snatches and more. Hell, you could pick up a heavy log or stone and use them as well. You also have rotational versions, single leg versions adn more. The variety can be pretty much endless.
Maybe one day you grab the ol' barbell and work on 5-10 sets of singles, doubles or triples to really work the hell out of your entire musculatur. Then a few days later you finish up your workout with a good 10-minute kettlebell sport set. Then a few days after that you hit a strong 15:15 Bulgarian bag sprint session to really get the ocnditioning up.
Overall, the snatch is one of those must have movements in your arsenal. It's just that phenomenal of a movement. Now, go train hard and smart and check out the new blog at www.brettsmartialarts.blogspot.com. I'll talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
The snatch is truly one of the royalty of exercises. Let's think about it for a second: it works basically every single muscle group from head to toe. It really hits the ultra-important posterior chain. It develops incredible speed, explosivensess, power, strength, coordination, balance, agility and more. It's the largest possible range of motion that you can use while still holding onto your exercise apperatus simply because you pull the apparatus from the floor to lock out over your head in one movement. It helps to promote a better functioning brain due to the numerous split-second movements that need to happen. It builds muscle, bone and connective tissue and makes them stronger and more resilient. It burns body fat. It helps to kick your hormones into healthy high gear. And, it kicks your heart and lungs pretty hard too. Oh yes, the snatch is right up there with the deadlift, the squat, and the clean and press/ clean and jerk as being one of the king of exercises. In fact, I'd hit the snatch a million times over for core development over most any other type of "core" training (yes there was a pun intended there, I'll admit it. But, it's still a true statement.)
And you'll never get bored with the movement. The variety that's involved with the snatch is unreal. With just the barbell version you have a power snatch from the hang and from the ground; a split snatch from the hang and from the ground; and a squat snatch from the hang and from the ground. Add to that both a snatch grip high-pull from the hang and from the ground and you've got a shit-ton of variety right there.
Then you can look at including 1-arm and 2-arm dumbell snatches, 1-arm and 2-arm kettlebell snatches, sandbag snatches and Bulgarian bag snatches and more. Hell, you could pick up a heavy log or stone and use them as well. You also have rotational versions, single leg versions adn more. The variety can be pretty much endless.
Maybe one day you grab the ol' barbell and work on 5-10 sets of singles, doubles or triples to really work the hell out of your entire musculatur. Then a few days later you finish up your workout with a good 10-minute kettlebell sport set. Then a few days after that you hit a strong 15:15 Bulgarian bag sprint session to really get the ocnditioning up.
Overall, the snatch is one of those must have movements in your arsenal. It's just that phenomenal of a movement. Now, go train hard and smart and check out the new blog at www.brettsmartialarts.blogspot.com. I'll talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Thursday, September 20, 2012
New blog posts coming soon and a new blog as well
Wow! I can't believe that we're closing in on the end of September and I haven't posted once this month. I better get back to work.
Starting in the next few days I'll be back posting on a regular basis, and I'll also be adding a new blog at www.brettsmartialarts.blogspot.com. It'll be related to all things martial arts.
I'll leave you with a quick golden nugget as I leave: "You can't outtrain poor eating."
Talk with you all soon.
Yours in strenght and health,
Brett Stepan
Starting in the next few days I'll be back posting on a regular basis, and I'll also be adding a new blog at www.brettsmartialarts.blogspot.com. It'll be related to all things martial arts.
I'll leave you with a quick golden nugget as I leave: "You can't outtrain poor eating."
Talk with you all soon.
Yours in strenght and health,
Brett Stepan
Friday, August 31, 2012
Looking forward to teaching these upcoming seminars!
Saturday, September 15th:
Personal Protection: Using natural instincts to survive handgun, knife, baseball bat, club, and empty hand attacks.
Saturday, September 22nd:
The Truth Behind Eating For Fat Loss: Busting the myths and exposing the real truth behind calories, fats, protein, carbs, vitamins, minerals, nutrient timing and more.
Saturday, September 29th:
Pain Free and Youthful Forever: Joint mobility drills to free yourself of aches and pains, sicking points, and more and how to once again move with grace and agility.
Saturday, October 6th:
Strength Training 101: The Proper mechanics for the basic bodyweight exercises, barbell exercises, and kettlebell exercises.
Each of these seminars will be starting at 3pm on their respective Saturdays. For more information or to register feel free to contact me at bolerobrett@aol.com
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Personal Protection: Using natural instincts to survive handgun, knife, baseball bat, club, and empty hand attacks.
Saturday, September 22nd:
The Truth Behind Eating For Fat Loss: Busting the myths and exposing the real truth behind calories, fats, protein, carbs, vitamins, minerals, nutrient timing and more.
Saturday, September 29th:
Pain Free and Youthful Forever: Joint mobility drills to free yourself of aches and pains, sicking points, and more and how to once again move with grace and agility.
Saturday, October 6th:
Strength Training 101: The Proper mechanics for the basic bodyweight exercises, barbell exercises, and kettlebell exercises.
Each of these seminars will be starting at 3pm on their respective Saturdays. For more information or to register feel free to contact me at bolerobrett@aol.com
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
A little bit on fat loss
After looking at my training philosophy many people will ask me this,"Brett, can your methods be used for losing fat or for weight loss?" I always laugh a little, but the truth is people just can't see how training with powerlifting, Olympic lifting, Strongman, Kettlebell, and gymnastic methods with some sprinting thrown in can lead to dropping the fat. Especially when I don't tell people to count calories, or cut calories.
So, no cutting calories, no wasted hours of aerobic based training, just strength training and sprinting mixed in with intelligent eating. Can it work?
I could bore you with the details of literally hundreds of testimonials from my clients about the amount of fat they've dropped, or I could put you into a nice slumber talking about the science behind why these methods work. But I'm not going to.
Instead I'm just going to use myself as an example.
A few months ago I weighed in at a pretty powerful 191.5 pounds. Currenlty I"m weighing in at a pretty lean and bad ass 172.0 pounds. That's a 19.5 pound drop in weight.
While that alone may not be anything to write home about, you have to stop and think about the fact that I haven't tried to lose weight at all.
Let me repeat that, I'm currenlty down almost 20 poudnds without even trying to lose weight.
Instead I've been up-ing my caloric intake from between 2,500 to 3,000 calories a day to 3,500 to 4,000 calories a day. I train 5 days a week for between 20-40 minutes at a time. Four of those sessions are pure strength building sessions with the fifth being a rope skip sprinting session.
Yet, I'm still down almost 20 pounds.
The only dietary changes that I've made, aside from adding calories and eating more, is the macro-nutrient ratio and the nutrient timing of my food.
The only training changes that I've made is to add a little more emphasis on pure strength development.
So, if someone can use my methods and drop the weight without trying to, without the mindless hours on the treadmill-to-nowehre or the stationary bike, and without cutting any calories (but actually adding them); do you think they'll work for someone that's purposfully training to drop the weight?
You bet your ass they will.
Talk wtih you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
So, no cutting calories, no wasted hours of aerobic based training, just strength training and sprinting mixed in with intelligent eating. Can it work?
I could bore you with the details of literally hundreds of testimonials from my clients about the amount of fat they've dropped, or I could put you into a nice slumber talking about the science behind why these methods work. But I'm not going to.
Instead I'm just going to use myself as an example.
A few months ago I weighed in at a pretty powerful 191.5 pounds. Currenlty I"m weighing in at a pretty lean and bad ass 172.0 pounds. That's a 19.5 pound drop in weight.
While that alone may not be anything to write home about, you have to stop and think about the fact that I haven't tried to lose weight at all.
Let me repeat that, I'm currenlty down almost 20 poudnds without even trying to lose weight.
Instead I've been up-ing my caloric intake from between 2,500 to 3,000 calories a day to 3,500 to 4,000 calories a day. I train 5 days a week for between 20-40 minutes at a time. Four of those sessions are pure strength building sessions with the fifth being a rope skip sprinting session.
Yet, I'm still down almost 20 pounds.
The only dietary changes that I've made, aside from adding calories and eating more, is the macro-nutrient ratio and the nutrient timing of my food.
The only training changes that I've made is to add a little more emphasis on pure strength development.
So, if someone can use my methods and drop the weight without trying to, without the mindless hours on the treadmill-to-nowehre or the stationary bike, and without cutting any calories (but actually adding them); do you think they'll work for someone that's purposfully training to drop the weight?
You bet your ass they will.
Talk wtih you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
A quick but humorous thought:
Wow, it's been since mid-July since my last post. Man, I've got to get back to doing this regularly.
Anyway, today's post is going to be short but sweet.
It's funny that about a decade ago or so I kept on hearing the following from so many people:
"Brett, once your in your thirties it'll be tough to stay flexible."
"Brett, remember, when your in your mid-thirties your metabolism is going to slow down."
"Brett, it's going to be harder to stay as lean and fit once your in your thirties."
"Brett, you won't be able to keep on getting stronger once your in your thirties."
And so on and so forth.
I find this funny because I"m now 36 and I haven't seen any of these statements to be true. I'm currently the strongest that I've ever been. I'm in better shape than I've ever been. I have better flexibility and mobility. I'm leaner. My metabolism is so quick that I have trouble eating enough to keep weight on. My muscle mass keeps on increasing. And more.
So, to all of you who told me that things would start getting harder in my 30's I just have to laugh a little. It's really not the age, but how you take care of the body that counts. I'm looking forward to the next decade and sending out a similar message to all of you that are repeating those same statements about being in your 40's.
Now, go train hard and smart.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Anyway, today's post is going to be short but sweet.
It's funny that about a decade ago or so I kept on hearing the following from so many people:
"Brett, once your in your thirties it'll be tough to stay flexible."
"Brett, remember, when your in your mid-thirties your metabolism is going to slow down."
"Brett, it's going to be harder to stay as lean and fit once your in your thirties."
"Brett, you won't be able to keep on getting stronger once your in your thirties."
And so on and so forth.
I find this funny because I"m now 36 and I haven't seen any of these statements to be true. I'm currently the strongest that I've ever been. I'm in better shape than I've ever been. I have better flexibility and mobility. I'm leaner. My metabolism is so quick that I have trouble eating enough to keep weight on. My muscle mass keeps on increasing. And more.
So, to all of you who told me that things would start getting harder in my 30's I just have to laugh a little. It's really not the age, but how you take care of the body that counts. I'm looking forward to the next decade and sending out a similar message to all of you that are repeating those same statements about being in your 40's.
Now, go train hard and smart.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Thursday, July 19, 2012
A Training Day In The Life Of: Missy Edition!
Alright, for today's post I wanted to share a training day in the life of my beautiful bride, Melissa. So here's Missy's training day from this past Tuesday:
15 minutes of warm-up including foam rolling, joint mobility, cable work, dynamic stretching, loaded dynamic stretching and bodyweight movements. Then on to the work:
1.) Sumo Deadlifts: 5 sets of 3 reps with 275 pounds. Resting just enough between sets to let me do my sets.
2a.) 1-arm Kettlebell Rows: 4 sets of 8 reps per side with 88 pounds
2b.) Walking Lunges: 4 sets of 8 reps per side with bodyweight plus 70 pounds.
Perform 2a.), rest 30 seconds, perform 2b.) rest 30 seconds, and repeat until all of the sets are done.
3a.) 1-leg Natural Leg Curls: 4 sets of 10 reps per side with bodyweight.
3b.) Standing Abdominal Roll-outs: 3 sets of 6 reps with bodyweight.
Perform 3a.), rest 30 seconds, perform 3b.), rest 30 seconds and repeat until all of the sets are done.
5 minutes of joint mobility for a cool-down.
Missy was tearing it up really well.
Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
15 minutes of warm-up including foam rolling, joint mobility, cable work, dynamic stretching, loaded dynamic stretching and bodyweight movements. Then on to the work:
1.) Sumo Deadlifts: 5 sets of 3 reps with 275 pounds. Resting just enough between sets to let me do my sets.
2a.) 1-arm Kettlebell Rows: 4 sets of 8 reps per side with 88 pounds
2b.) Walking Lunges: 4 sets of 8 reps per side with bodyweight plus 70 pounds.
Perform 2a.), rest 30 seconds, perform 2b.) rest 30 seconds, and repeat until all of the sets are done.
3a.) 1-leg Natural Leg Curls: 4 sets of 10 reps per side with bodyweight.
3b.) Standing Abdominal Roll-outs: 3 sets of 6 reps with bodyweight.
Perform 3a.), rest 30 seconds, perform 3b.), rest 30 seconds and repeat until all of the sets are done.
5 minutes of joint mobility for a cool-down.
Missy was tearing it up really well.
Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Drop that Body Fat!
Did you know that if you increase the level of growth hormone being produced in your body, your body will naturally burn off excess body fat?
It's true.
According to Dr. Ronald Klatz, "the amount of growth hormone after the age of 21 to 31 falls about 14 percent per decade, so that the total 24 hour growth hormone production rate is reduced by half by the age of sixty." This, along with deminishing levels in the production of androgenic hormones like testosterone and progesterone is part of the reason why the average person begins to lose muscle and gain fat as they age.
However, it doesn't have to be that way.
Now, performing bouts of long duration exercise like jogging and riding the bike can help you lose weight, a huge amount of that weight loss will be from lost and eaten away muscle tissue, including muscle tissue from the heart and lungs which can lead to "Jim Fixx" syndrome. Along with that, this long duration training will also shut down your production of growth hormone and the androgenic hormones.
Heavy resistance training, on the other hand will stimulate the production of growth hormone and the production of the androgenic hormones and help you lose weight. And that weight loss will be mainly from body fat, not from muscle.
By training your anearobic energy system, through heavy resistance training and sprinting, you'll not only drop the excess body fat, but you'll also slow down the aging process (it's wonderful what increased natural production of growth hormone and the androgens does), improve your immune system, create stronger bones and tendons, create stronger muscles, stabilize and keep the body more injury proof, and you'll look much better in or out of your clothes.
There's a caveat though; you have to work your ass off. Use heavy, multi-joint movements (squats, deadlifts, cleans, snatches, etc.) with smaller rest intervals between sets. This will flood your system with lactate which is part of the way that it tells your brain to produce more growth hormone and more androgens.
So, if you want to drop the fat, drop the bike. Instead pick up some heavy-ass barbells and start working.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
It's true.
According to Dr. Ronald Klatz, "the amount of growth hormone after the age of 21 to 31 falls about 14 percent per decade, so that the total 24 hour growth hormone production rate is reduced by half by the age of sixty." This, along with deminishing levels in the production of androgenic hormones like testosterone and progesterone is part of the reason why the average person begins to lose muscle and gain fat as they age.
However, it doesn't have to be that way.
Now, performing bouts of long duration exercise like jogging and riding the bike can help you lose weight, a huge amount of that weight loss will be from lost and eaten away muscle tissue, including muscle tissue from the heart and lungs which can lead to "Jim Fixx" syndrome. Along with that, this long duration training will also shut down your production of growth hormone and the androgenic hormones.
Heavy resistance training, on the other hand will stimulate the production of growth hormone and the production of the androgenic hormones and help you lose weight. And that weight loss will be mainly from body fat, not from muscle.
By training your anearobic energy system, through heavy resistance training and sprinting, you'll not only drop the excess body fat, but you'll also slow down the aging process (it's wonderful what increased natural production of growth hormone and the androgens does), improve your immune system, create stronger bones and tendons, create stronger muscles, stabilize and keep the body more injury proof, and you'll look much better in or out of your clothes.
There's a caveat though; you have to work your ass off. Use heavy, multi-joint movements (squats, deadlifts, cleans, snatches, etc.) with smaller rest intervals between sets. This will flood your system with lactate which is part of the way that it tells your brain to produce more growth hormone and more androgens.
So, if you want to drop the fat, drop the bike. Instead pick up some heavy-ass barbells and start working.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Monday, July 9, 2012
The Immortal Wisdom Of Dr. Mel Siff
Today's post is going to be a quick one. The great Dr. Mel Siff said this of training, and I don't think I've ever heard it said better:
"Never try to train minimally. Also, never try to train maximally. Always strive to train Optimally."
I don't think I've ever heard it better.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
"Never try to train minimally. Also, never try to train maximally. Always strive to train Optimally."
I don't think I've ever heard it better.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Some great words from Will Smith
"Too many people spend money they don't have on things that they don't want simply to impress people they don't even like."--Will Smith
I have to hand it to Will, that's a great quote. And it's so true. It's amazing how many people really spend a huge amount of their time simply trying to impress others. I see it all the time in the fitness industry. People that haven't produced any actual results since 1995, yet they try to impress everyone with how hard their training is, how long they train for, how many reps they do, what type of circus stunts they can perform, or what ever.
It's amazing how, when you step aside of your ego, and let go of the need to impress others and instead focus on what really counts, that's when the results come. Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
I have to hand it to Will, that's a great quote. And it's so true. It's amazing how many people really spend a huge amount of their time simply trying to impress others. I see it all the time in the fitness industry. People that haven't produced any actual results since 1995, yet they try to impress everyone with how hard their training is, how long they train for, how many reps they do, what type of circus stunts they can perform, or what ever.
It's amazing how, when you step aside of your ego, and let go of the need to impress others and instead focus on what really counts, that's when the results come. Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
An interesting conversation
The other day I enjoyed a wonderful get together with some good friends. It was an awesome time. At one point in the conversation someone brought up the old saying, "If I could only do it over again, how different I would do it." I couldn't relate. I shocked everyone in attendence when I mentioned that I personally have no regrets and nothing that I'd like to do over again or do differently in my life. They all seemed really suprised and asked me why. I told them that everything that I've experienced has made me in to who I am, and I wouldn't change that for anything. And I personally view that as a great way to live.
I've had this conversation with a number of people in the past and many times they'll question me on some of the major events that have occured in my life. A lot of times people will ask if I'd have changed anything leading up to when I broke my back. And, truth be told, no I wouldn't. Yes, at the time it hurt like hell and it sucked. Rehabing sucked even more. But breaking my back was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I learned a great deal about things in my life that I was doing wrong, what the human spirit is really capable of and what really matters in life. Things I may not have learned about without this incident happening.
I tend to look at any of the "negative" things or "failures" that I've experienced in life in the same way. I've learned much more from these events than I ever had from the successes. I tend to look at it as God and nature want to teach me what I need to learn in order to become the person that they want me to be. I'm a little stubborn though, so sometimes they have to slap me across the cheek and really teach me the hard way.
I've also been asked, "Well, don't you wish that you had started dating Melissa sooner, or that she had come into your life sooner?" And again, I'd say no. We started our relationship exactly when we were supposed to. When she first came into my life I was a young, insecure, immature punk. I needed to grow into being a man before her and I started our relationship.
I've also been asked (back when Melissa and I were still competing professionally on the dancsport circuit), "Brett, don't you wish that you started dancing as a kid. Imagine where you'd be right now if you had." Again, no. Dance came into my life at the exact time it was supposed to. Had I started when I was a kid I probably would have been burned out by it and moved on to other things in my life before I was an adult. Having found it when I did was perfect.
Now, I'm not saying that I have any secrets to life or that I'm perfect or anything like that. I just know that I love who I am and I love my life. I also know that I love the direction that my life is heading and where it's going. All of this is a product of everything (both good and bad) that has happened up until this point and I wouldn't change a thing. It's a wonderful feeling when you can look back and truly say, "I have no regrets and I wouldn't change a thing."
I'll talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
I've had this conversation with a number of people in the past and many times they'll question me on some of the major events that have occured in my life. A lot of times people will ask if I'd have changed anything leading up to when I broke my back. And, truth be told, no I wouldn't. Yes, at the time it hurt like hell and it sucked. Rehabing sucked even more. But breaking my back was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I learned a great deal about things in my life that I was doing wrong, what the human spirit is really capable of and what really matters in life. Things I may not have learned about without this incident happening.
I tend to look at any of the "negative" things or "failures" that I've experienced in life in the same way. I've learned much more from these events than I ever had from the successes. I tend to look at it as God and nature want to teach me what I need to learn in order to become the person that they want me to be. I'm a little stubborn though, so sometimes they have to slap me across the cheek and really teach me the hard way.
I've also been asked, "Well, don't you wish that you had started dating Melissa sooner, or that she had come into your life sooner?" And again, I'd say no. We started our relationship exactly when we were supposed to. When she first came into my life I was a young, insecure, immature punk. I needed to grow into being a man before her and I started our relationship.
I've also been asked (back when Melissa and I were still competing professionally on the dancsport circuit), "Brett, don't you wish that you started dancing as a kid. Imagine where you'd be right now if you had." Again, no. Dance came into my life at the exact time it was supposed to. Had I started when I was a kid I probably would have been burned out by it and moved on to other things in my life before I was an adult. Having found it when I did was perfect.
Now, I'm not saying that I have any secrets to life or that I'm perfect or anything like that. I just know that I love who I am and I love my life. I also know that I love the direction that my life is heading and where it's going. All of this is a product of everything (both good and bad) that has happened up until this point and I wouldn't change a thing. It's a wonderful feeling when you can look back and truly say, "I have no regrets and I wouldn't change a thing."
I'll talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Stop Using Your Age As An Excuse!
The other day I was flippng through the channels on the old TV and I came across TMZ. I"m not a fan, but it's good for a laugh or two. On this particular day they had a picture of Shemar Moore on the beach. They were all amazed at how ripped he is especially since he's 43. Really, come on people, 43 isn't old! The next day I was listening to a radio talk show and they had just intverviewed some guy and they were amazed that he was ripped at 39 years old! Again, really?
I think it's time to share a little secret with some people; It ain't your age that counts! The following pictures have people in them that are all between the ages of 40 and 80. According to most people's thoughts on aging, everyone here should be ready for the scrap heap with "how old" they all are. Yet I think that you'll see, these guys are all pretty impressive. Along with Shemar I've added some shots of Randy Couture (who's 48 I believe), Steve Maxwell (who's 59), Sylvester Stallone (who's 65 I believe), Clarance Bass (who's 70), Peter Ragnar and a few others that I don't know by name or age.
I think it's pretty clear by the shape all of these guys are in that it's not the age that counts, it all comes down to how you treat your body.
If you've spent 30, 40, 50, or more years loading up on junk food, processed food, and all that other crap; and you don't vigorously exercise of course you're going to be out of shape. But, it's your actions and the choices that you've made that have caused your body to go down the crapper, not your age or your genetics or any of the other B.S. that people cry and whine about.
However, if you eat the way that nature inteded you to, you exercise vigorously, get the right amounts of sleep, and learn how to deal with and minimize the stresses in your life; it doesn't matter how old you are.
Now, stop using age as a freaking excuse, get out there and train hard and smart, eat right, and kick some ass! I'll talk with you more later.
Yours in strenth and health,
Brett Stepan
I think it's time to share a little secret with some people; It ain't your age that counts! The following pictures have people in them that are all between the ages of 40 and 80. According to most people's thoughts on aging, everyone here should be ready for the scrap heap with "how old" they all are. Yet I think that you'll see, these guys are all pretty impressive. Along with Shemar I've added some shots of Randy Couture (who's 48 I believe), Steve Maxwell (who's 59), Sylvester Stallone (who's 65 I believe), Clarance Bass (who's 70), Peter Ragnar and a few others that I don't know by name or age.
If you've spent 30, 40, 50, or more years loading up on junk food, processed food, and all that other crap; and you don't vigorously exercise of course you're going to be out of shape. But, it's your actions and the choices that you've made that have caused your body to go down the crapper, not your age or your genetics or any of the other B.S. that people cry and whine about.
However, if you eat the way that nature inteded you to, you exercise vigorously, get the right amounts of sleep, and learn how to deal with and minimize the stresses in your life; it doesn't matter how old you are.
Now, stop using age as a freaking excuse, get out there and train hard and smart, eat right, and kick some ass! I'll talk with you more later.
Yours in strenth and health,
Brett Stepan
Monday, June 25, 2012
Some things I've learned:
 |
| Me, trying to master the rings v-sit |
1.) Dieting can help you lose weight, but it's also very catabolic. In other words, the weight you lose will mainly be from healthy and functionl muslce. Not a good thing.
2.) Cardio, Aerobics and Long-duration training can help you lose weight, but (like dieting) it's very catabolic. Again, most of the weight you lose will be from healthy and functional muscle. Not a good or healthy thing.
3.) The above two points are part of the reason why, when most people lose weight, they end up looking like smaller versions of their fatter selves. Because they are.
4.) Training your Anaerobic system through hard resistance training and sprinting will help you lose weight as well. Anaerobic training promotes muscle growth. This means that the weight you lose will be mainly from extra body fat. This is a good thing!
5.) The above point is part of the reason why people who tend to lose weight through resistance training and sprinting end up looking like physical specimens and anatomy charts rather than smaller versions of their fatter selves.
6.) To quote Dr. Al Sears, MD, "The importance of protein can be summed up in one word: Nitrogen. Nitrogen is responsible for creating every cell in your body and fueling cellular regeneration. And the only source of nitrogen you have is protein. For every 50 grams of protein you'll get 8 grams of nitrogen. To put it in perspective, your heart alone requires 8 grams of nitrogen a day to function normally. So imagine eating only 40 to 60 grams of protein a day like many diets recommend."
7.) Some of the most impressively developed people I've ever known come from backgournds in gymnastics, Powerlifting, and Olympic Weightlifting. These people developed their bodies with full body workouts, compound/multi-joint movements and avoiding muscular failure. So, do you really need to work each body part individually, use special machines, or take every set to failure or beyond for great development? NO!
8.) If you look up people like Eugene Sandow, John Grimek, The Great Maxic, Steve Reeves, Chuck Sipes, Reg Park, and Bill Pearl you'll see some of the most impressive men you've ever seen in your life. They're all ripped! On top of that, each one was also known for their overall health and strength. They developed they're bodies in a time before most supplements and steriods. Now, ask yourself this, "Do you really need all of that supplement and steriod garbage to create a great physique?"
9.) Squats are a phenomenal exercise for developing the entire lower body, and creating a very strong and durable overall body. They can help you add mountains of muscle (I personally used them to gain 22.5 pounds in 4 weeks last year), drop bodyfat, and improve you athleticism and health. Front squats, Back squats, Overhead squats, bodyweight squats, kettelbell squats, they're all good. I don't care which ones you do, just do them!
10.) Barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, clubs, sandbags; they're all wonderful tools to have in your tool box. As long as you use them correctly, with the right methods and for the right reasons.
11.) Incredibly hard work can make even the worst program work. Not working hard will make even the best program not work.
12.) Your body's adaptive response will dictate how it changes. If you constantly challenge it, it'll respond by growing stronger. If you don't challenge it, it'll respond by getting weaker. The choice is up to you.
13.) The average person loses between 9 and 27 percent of their lungpower per decade. This means that by the time you retire you could have already lost between 40-90 percent. This is not good for your health, disease resistance and longevity. However, by challenging your lungs with hard exertion followed by recovery time (think about sprint interval training) you'll trigger the adaptive response to make your lungs stronger and more powerful. This will not only allow you to maintian, but to even improve your lungpower. You truly can have the lungs of a 30 year old when you're in your 70's.
14.) Vigorous exercise and hard training are crucially important to your health. But, no matter how hard you work, you can't out-train poor eating.
15.) I think that most people will agree that if you challenge your muscles with high resistance, they'll grow stronger. Guess what, your heart's a muscle too. It'll only grow stronger by challenging it with high resistance.
16.) Deadlifts not only work pretty much your entire body while also stimulating healthy hormone production, they also build muscle and connective tissue and burn fat; and they are truly a functional movement. Think about it, how often during your life have you had to squat down and pick something up off of the floor? It happens to most people almost every day.
17.) Eating multiple meals a day was created by bodybuilders in order to become as gigantic as possible. So, why do so many people use the strategy to try and lose weight?
18.) One of the benefits of having a good amount of good fats in your diet is they help with the optimization of your hormones. Since your hormones are the messengers between your brain and your body your health, physique, and more are all regulated by them. Keep your hormones good, and your health awesome by adding in the right amounts of fat. It's not your enemy!
19.) Your neck holds crucial things like your spine. Train it hard and keep it strong!
20.) Three full body, vigorous workouts a week has helped countless people achieve their goals.
Well, there are twenty of the many things that experience and great coaches have taught me throughout the years. I'll write some more later. Take these things and apply to your life what will help you reach your personal goals and I'll bet you won't be disappointed. Talk with you later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Thursday, June 21, 2012
One Of Our Worst Enemies
A handful of years ago I had worked my way up the performing between 1,000 and 1,200 push-ups a day, six days a week. The amazing thing is, there was literally no difference between the results that I got from doing 200 push-ups a day and the results that I got form doing 1,200 a day. My strength didn't improve, my physique didn't improve, my athleticism didn't improve. Yet, I felt that need that I had to do more, had to hit those thousand or more a day.
A little bit later I had a young lady train with me. I set up a pretty intense program for her that was a lot of hard work, yet only took about 15-25 minutes a day to get through, and it was only a 3 day a week program. Over the course of a few months she dropped 40+ pounds of body fat, she gained about 10 pounds of healthy muscle, she dropped inches and sizes, she become much stronger and much more conditioned, and she completely transformed herself into an impressive hottie. Yet she was disappointed. She was mad because she wasn't doing 2-3 hour workouts 4-5 days a week like some of her friends were, even though her results far surpassed her friends' results.
So, what do these stories have in common, both me (with my push-ups at that time of my life) and this young lady (with her need to put in more time) were trying to fulfill our egos and impress others. It wasn't the results that mattered (even though that should be all that matters), it was the ability to have the bragging rights that did. And this is one of the biggest enemies that we all face when it comes to our fitness goals.
Using my client from the above paragraph as an example you'd think that most people would be ecstatic. After all, she was getting much better resutls, she looked better, she felt better, she was healthier, and she was in better shape than her friends. And, she was able to do it in less time per week then they were putting in in a single day. Yet she was mad because she wasn't able to brag and say, "oh yeah, well, I'm doing 6 hours a day, 7 days a week!" Her need to fulfill her ego and impress her friends actually got in the way of the results she wanted to achieve.
The same thing is true for me and my old push-up fixation. Even though I had long stopped getting any benefit from the addition of more reps, I continued to pile them on, wasting precious time and energy while getting nothing in return. All so I could impress people by saying, "yeah, that right. I do over a thousand push-ups everyday!" It doesn't seem worth it, does it. Why put in the time and effort for no reward other than the abilty to brag.
Thank God I learned my lesson. These days (both with myself and with my clients) it's all about the results. They are what matters. If I can get you or myself the results that we desire in half the time, why should we care what the person doing twice as much for less results thinks. Shouldn't our results really be what speaks for itself.
So, instead of trying to fulfill some ego or trying to impress others with your training, focus on what you're getting out of it. Are you reaching your goals? Are you becoming healthier, more fit, and stronger? Are you growing as a person? If you are, who cares about trying to impress anyone else? I'll talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
A little bit later I had a young lady train with me. I set up a pretty intense program for her that was a lot of hard work, yet only took about 15-25 minutes a day to get through, and it was only a 3 day a week program. Over the course of a few months she dropped 40+ pounds of body fat, she gained about 10 pounds of healthy muscle, she dropped inches and sizes, she become much stronger and much more conditioned, and she completely transformed herself into an impressive hottie. Yet she was disappointed. She was mad because she wasn't doing 2-3 hour workouts 4-5 days a week like some of her friends were, even though her results far surpassed her friends' results.
So, what do these stories have in common, both me (with my push-ups at that time of my life) and this young lady (with her need to put in more time) were trying to fulfill our egos and impress others. It wasn't the results that mattered (even though that should be all that matters), it was the ability to have the bragging rights that did. And this is one of the biggest enemies that we all face when it comes to our fitness goals.
Using my client from the above paragraph as an example you'd think that most people would be ecstatic. After all, she was getting much better resutls, she looked better, she felt better, she was healthier, and she was in better shape than her friends. And, she was able to do it in less time per week then they were putting in in a single day. Yet she was mad because she wasn't able to brag and say, "oh yeah, well, I'm doing 6 hours a day, 7 days a week!" Her need to fulfill her ego and impress her friends actually got in the way of the results she wanted to achieve.
The same thing is true for me and my old push-up fixation. Even though I had long stopped getting any benefit from the addition of more reps, I continued to pile them on, wasting precious time and energy while getting nothing in return. All so I could impress people by saying, "yeah, that right. I do over a thousand push-ups everyday!" It doesn't seem worth it, does it. Why put in the time and effort for no reward other than the abilty to brag.
Thank God I learned my lesson. These days (both with myself and with my clients) it's all about the results. They are what matters. If I can get you or myself the results that we desire in half the time, why should we care what the person doing twice as much for less results thinks. Shouldn't our results really be what speaks for itself.
So, instead of trying to fulfill some ego or trying to impress others with your training, focus on what you're getting out of it. Are you reaching your goals? Are you becoming healthier, more fit, and stronger? Are you growing as a person? If you are, who cares about trying to impress anyone else? I'll talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Monday, June 18, 2012
Some Personal Stuff
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| Me, having fun with some handstand practice at the park! |
One of the questions that I'm often asked is what type of methods do I use in my own training as well as in the training of my wonderful bride and all of my athletes and clients?
It's actually pretty simple. Because my first priority for my clients and myself is optimum health, I make sure that evey method passes the health test. If it hurts someones health and wellness, I'm not into it. From there I look at how the methods are going to affect people's performance in their daily lives, especially for my athletes. If it's not giong to make them more effective in their sport, I don't use it. Then I'll look at how the method is going to do in the realm of creating a physique that someone's going to be proud of.
Overall I tend to use the following:
Gymnastic and Martial Arts Based Bodyweight Training
Olympic Weightlifting
Powerlifting
Strongman Training
Kettlebell Training
Indian and Iranian Club Training
Sandbag and Bulgarian Bag Training
Medicine Ball Training
Odd Objects Lifting and Carrying
Sprinting, Hill Sprinting, Rope Skip Sprinting, and Swim Sprinting
Qi Gong and Tai Chi
Yoga
Joint Mobility Training
Breathing Drills
Basically, I people to master their own body; to lift, carry, and throw heavy shit, and to jump and sprint. Then I have them recover through a mixture of breathing, stretching, mobilizing, and rest.
Talk with you more later.
Yours in strenght and health,
Brett Stepan
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The Real Goal:
“It’s the human condition to grow old and die, but you don’t have to live your life as a weakling or accept fragile health, a poor appearance and lack of vigor as inevitable. Those who make training a lifetime pursuit tend to live very well for all of their years. The rewards of lifetime training include health, discipline, confidence, and strength. You just plain feel good.”--Grandmaster Bradley J. Steiner
Bradley J. Steiner wrote those words almost two decades ago, yet they become truer to me every year.
It’s nuts that in our society only 30 percent of all adults perform any type of exercise on a daily basis. And only 5 percent exercise vigorously. Yet vigorous exercise is one of the keys to lifelong health, vitality and well being.
Most people tend to view exercise as a chore they need to do in order to drop a few pounds. So, they’ll embark on an exercise program, lose a little weight, start feeling and looking better, then stop and go right back to the lifestyle that caused them to be fat and out of shape in the first place. Then they’ll bitch and moan and begrudgingly start the entire process over again.
Anyone ever hear of Einstein’s definition of insanity.
Instead, I say that you make vigorous exercise apart of your daily life and look at it being a life long goal. Start viewing your exercise not as a chore, but instead as your time to practice and play with new skills. Skills of strength, endurance, flexibility, vitality and health.
I’ll guarantee you that you’ll not only look and feel better, you’ll actually be better. You’ll improve your physique, your hormones, your health, your vitality, your strength, your stamina, and more. The positive effects will even creep into every other aspect of your life. After all there’s a reason why so many of the most successful business people in our country will freely talk about how they achieved their success only after they got themselves in shape. Vigorous exercise can play a huge role in improving any and all areas of your life.
It astounds me how many of the people that I know that are my age or even younger that already possess bodies that are ready for the scrap heap. I remember as I turned 30 hearing from so many people, “Brett, now that you’re 30 things are a lot different. Your metabolism is going to slow down. You’ll lose your flexibility. It’ll be harder to stay in shape. You’ll lose your strength.” And so on and so forth. Yet, as I’m approaching my 36th birthday I’m currently stronger, faster, more flexible and mobile, have more stamina and endurance, and carry more healthy and functional muscle mass then I ever have before. I also feel better, look better, perform better, and I’m healthier than ever.
And I’m not alone. The people that I respect like Scott Sonnon, Charles Poliquin, Brooks Kubik, John E. Peterson, Steve Maxwell and Clarence Bass are all in their forties, fifties, and even seventies, respectively, and they’ll all have had the same experiences.
So I say that starting today stop looking at exercise as a bad thing and as a chore. Start looking at it as something splendid and fun, something to be integrated with your lifestyle. Start playing and practicing instead of working out. And make it a lifelong thing, not something that you’ll do for a month or so and then give up.
As Bradley J. Steiner said, “Realize how important your training is to you and resolve never to quit. Your personal reward will make any title pale in comparison.”
Now go out and train hard. I’ll talk with you later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Bradley J. Steiner wrote those words almost two decades ago, yet they become truer to me every year.
It’s nuts that in our society only 30 percent of all adults perform any type of exercise on a daily basis. And only 5 percent exercise vigorously. Yet vigorous exercise is one of the keys to lifelong health, vitality and well being.
Most people tend to view exercise as a chore they need to do in order to drop a few pounds. So, they’ll embark on an exercise program, lose a little weight, start feeling and looking better, then stop and go right back to the lifestyle that caused them to be fat and out of shape in the first place. Then they’ll bitch and moan and begrudgingly start the entire process over again.
Anyone ever hear of Einstein’s definition of insanity.
Instead, I say that you make vigorous exercise apart of your daily life and look at it being a life long goal. Start viewing your exercise not as a chore, but instead as your time to practice and play with new skills. Skills of strength, endurance, flexibility, vitality and health.
I’ll guarantee you that you’ll not only look and feel better, you’ll actually be better. You’ll improve your physique, your hormones, your health, your vitality, your strength, your stamina, and more. The positive effects will even creep into every other aspect of your life. After all there’s a reason why so many of the most successful business people in our country will freely talk about how they achieved their success only after they got themselves in shape. Vigorous exercise can play a huge role in improving any and all areas of your life.
It astounds me how many of the people that I know that are my age or even younger that already possess bodies that are ready for the scrap heap. I remember as I turned 30 hearing from so many people, “Brett, now that you’re 30 things are a lot different. Your metabolism is going to slow down. You’ll lose your flexibility. It’ll be harder to stay in shape. You’ll lose your strength.” And so on and so forth. Yet, as I’m approaching my 36th birthday I’m currently stronger, faster, more flexible and mobile, have more stamina and endurance, and carry more healthy and functional muscle mass then I ever have before. I also feel better, look better, perform better, and I’m healthier than ever.
And I’m not alone. The people that I respect like Scott Sonnon, Charles Poliquin, Brooks Kubik, John E. Peterson, Steve Maxwell and Clarence Bass are all in their forties, fifties, and even seventies, respectively, and they’ll all have had the same experiences.
So I say that starting today stop looking at exercise as a bad thing and as a chore. Start looking at it as something splendid and fun, something to be integrated with your lifestyle. Start playing and practicing instead of working out. And make it a lifelong thing, not something that you’ll do for a month or so and then give up.
As Bradley J. Steiner said, “Realize how important your training is to you and resolve never to quit. Your personal reward will make any title pale in comparison.”
Now go out and train hard. I’ll talk with you later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Friday, June 1, 2012
The Truth About Changing Your Body
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| Jonathan Horton |
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| Jen Grasso Ferruggia |
The fact of the matter is simple, in order to create a favorable change in your body you must hit it with a stimulus strong enough to force a favorable adaptation. In other words, you have to hit it hard and heavy and with enough intensity to force it to blow torch those pounds of fat and build that good, healthy lean musle.
Training and eating in "moderation" doesn't work. By definition the best results that you can ever achieve by following moderation are moderate results. However, being that the world is far from a perfect place, usually those results fall far below that. In fact, if we look at the fact that you have to provide a strong enough stimulus to force a favorable adaptation, moderation should never even be mentioned. Instead, it takes an extreme.
As strength coach Craig Ballantyne so expertly put it, "incredible effort is needed to create incredible results."
So, if you want to lose the gut, drop the love handles, get rid of the saddle bags, and ditch the waggly underarm drop the 2 and 5 pound dumbbells, get rid of the 5 pound kettlebells, don't look at Zumba; instead get out there and bust your ass! Squat hard, deadlift heavy, master your chin-ups, work on your handstands, sprint. Then fuel yourself with good protein, good fats, and lots of veggies and water and get some rest. You'll see the results.
Talk wtih you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
A Simple Breath
It's amazing that one of the most profound things that you can do for your health is also one of the easiest and most taken for granted. Simply, breathing.
Ancient health practices such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong are remarkable. These gentle moving, deep breathing practices have been proven to have outstanding effects on health, wellness, and longevity. Not to mention on one's personal outlook on life and their ability to handle life's stresses. Among some of the benefits include increased lung capacity, improved cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure, increased flexibility and mobility, improved cognitive function, better balance and coordination, increased recovery ability, improved immune functioning, and more.
Yet these practices are disregarded by many because these arts are often called "too easy." Many people have a view that if something's not completely strenous, it must not be good for you. However, like the ever famous yin and yang, there has to be a balance between the strenous and the gentle.
Now, I'm not saying that practicing some tai chi or qi gong is going to get you jacked or shredded. You won't build up a mighty six pack, and it probably won't help you to bench 700 lbs. But, there's more to the story than that. If it improves your health, improves your balance, and improves your recovery ability, isn't it also going to improve the other areas of your physical training?
I know that I've personally used tai chi and qi gong on my off days as a form of active recovery, and on my on days as a form of cool down from my other training. And I can tell you from experience that it's helped me come back stronger and better.
I've heard some people scoff at the notion that tai chi and qi gong can help you exercise your internal organs. They'll say things like, "Yeah right. You can't train your internal organs!" Yet if you asked them, each of these people would also "verify" that cardio training will train their heart and lungs. Funny, last I cheked the heart and lungs were internal organs.
Whether or not this claim is true, there's more than enough other reasons to include the practice of tai chi or qi gong into your daily training. I'd say, consider finding yourself a good instructor and start learning how to breath and move again. You'll never regret making that choice.
Also, I've found that with all of the strength, power, and explosive training that I do (whether it's in powerlifting, Olympic lifting, kettlebell training, gymnastics training, or my own expression of the martial arts) being "forced" to move slowly and gently and to take my time with the movements is something that my own body craves.
Anyway, I'll talk with you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Let Your Children Play.......
As more and more parents are getting their children into more and more organized sports a sad thing is happening. The increased rate of kids being seriously injured and requiring surgery has been exploding. I personally have known kids as young as 10, 12 and 14 that are beyond having their first knee surgery, some of them are on their 2nd or 3rd. I personally find this very troubling.
Many studies recently have come out which talk about why this growing number of injuries is occuring and many of them point to one simple thing: kids aren't being allowed to be kids. Instead of climbing, jumping, tumbling, rolling, wrestling, etc. they are playing tee-ball, soccer, volleyball, etc.
Now, I'm not against getting your kids into sports, far from it. I know the value of athletics first hand and I know how it's not only a great way to get kids activel but also a great way to teach life lessons such as team work, respect, building character and more. However, when a child is allowed to simply be a kid they natrually play in a way (climbing, tumbling, wrestling, etc.) that builds up their muscles, their bones, and their connective tissues. This leads to a more durable, more resiliant, and stronger and fitter child. One that isn't as susceptible to serious injuries. When the child is taken from being able to play naturally and build this natural strength and resilience, and they are put into sports without having their bodies being strong and stable, that's when the bad things start to happen.
Now, because of this their are some various school districts throughout the country that are addressing this issue by haveing an hour long, organized play simulation time. In other words, they are bringing kids into an organized type practice where they are guided through drills (similar to sports drills) that are supposed to mimic the type of play that kids would naturally do; and the resulting fitness, strength and durability that comes with it.
Really....WTF! Wouldn't it instead make more sense to just let your kids play naturally and be kids? Maybe have them play one sport (instead of the 3-6 sports that I've seen some kids being put into) and really enjoy themselves while also giving them the free time to explore and be kids. Doesn't that make more sense, or am I just crazy? Do we really need an organized session of simulated play time, can't the kids just climb, jump, run, and twirl the way they naturally would?
On a related note, another valid option would be to make sure that the kids were able to exercis properly to strengthen themselves up, become more fit, and build up stability and resilience. It's funny that, even with more and more parents putting such emphasis on organized sports, that parents are still hesitant to let their kids strength train.
Now, I know that there's this huge myth out there that says that if you let your kid train with weights or kettlebells or perform hard bodyweight exercises that somehow your going to damage their growth (epiphysial) plates. But this is simply not true.
There have been numerous studies that have shown that while injury to an epiphysial plate may cause bone deformity there is actually little risk of this occuring with strength training especially when you compare it to other sports.
Dr. Mel Siff says it best when he said, "As for the risk of weight training stunting growth, closure of the epiphysial plates is related primarily to hormonal influences, not injury." In Facts and Fallacies of Fitness, Dr. Siff noted, "It has never been shown scientifically or clinically that the periodic imposition of large forces by weight training on the growing body causes damage to the epiphysial plates. It is extremely misleading to focus on the alleged risks of weight training on children when biomechanical research shows that simple daily activities such as running, jumping, striking, or catching can impose far greater forces on the musculoskeletal system than very heavy weight training.
Dr. Siff also noted, as varified by Charles Poliquin, that bone density scans have proven that youngsters who do competitive Olympic Weightlifting have higher bone densities than children who do not use weights.
Also, as shown by Russian research and published in the book School of Height, young athletes that lifted heavy weights stimulated more bone growth.
In other words, if you want you kid to remain healthy and injury free, let them play naturally and build their bodies up. From there, find a good strength coach to teach them how to strength train properly. Doing these two things will help your hcild grow up fitter, stronger, healthier, and with less chance of becoming one of the growing population of kids that's already needing surgery because of their sports related injuries.
Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Many studies recently have come out which talk about why this growing number of injuries is occuring and many of them point to one simple thing: kids aren't being allowed to be kids. Instead of climbing, jumping, tumbling, rolling, wrestling, etc. they are playing tee-ball, soccer, volleyball, etc.
Now, I'm not against getting your kids into sports, far from it. I know the value of athletics first hand and I know how it's not only a great way to get kids activel but also a great way to teach life lessons such as team work, respect, building character and more. However, when a child is allowed to simply be a kid they natrually play in a way (climbing, tumbling, wrestling, etc.) that builds up their muscles, their bones, and their connective tissues. This leads to a more durable, more resiliant, and stronger and fitter child. One that isn't as susceptible to serious injuries. When the child is taken from being able to play naturally and build this natural strength and resilience, and they are put into sports without having their bodies being strong and stable, that's when the bad things start to happen.
Now, because of this their are some various school districts throughout the country that are addressing this issue by haveing an hour long, organized play simulation time. In other words, they are bringing kids into an organized type practice where they are guided through drills (similar to sports drills) that are supposed to mimic the type of play that kids would naturally do; and the resulting fitness, strength and durability that comes with it.
Really....WTF! Wouldn't it instead make more sense to just let your kids play naturally and be kids? Maybe have them play one sport (instead of the 3-6 sports that I've seen some kids being put into) and really enjoy themselves while also giving them the free time to explore and be kids. Doesn't that make more sense, or am I just crazy? Do we really need an organized session of simulated play time, can't the kids just climb, jump, run, and twirl the way they naturally would?
On a related note, another valid option would be to make sure that the kids were able to exercis properly to strengthen themselves up, become more fit, and build up stability and resilience. It's funny that, even with more and more parents putting such emphasis on organized sports, that parents are still hesitant to let their kids strength train.
Now, I know that there's this huge myth out there that says that if you let your kid train with weights or kettlebells or perform hard bodyweight exercises that somehow your going to damage their growth (epiphysial) plates. But this is simply not true.
There have been numerous studies that have shown that while injury to an epiphysial plate may cause bone deformity there is actually little risk of this occuring with strength training especially when you compare it to other sports.
Dr. Mel Siff says it best when he said, "As for the risk of weight training stunting growth, closure of the epiphysial plates is related primarily to hormonal influences, not injury." In Facts and Fallacies of Fitness, Dr. Siff noted, "It has never been shown scientifically or clinically that the periodic imposition of large forces by weight training on the growing body causes damage to the epiphysial plates. It is extremely misleading to focus on the alleged risks of weight training on children when biomechanical research shows that simple daily activities such as running, jumping, striking, or catching can impose far greater forces on the musculoskeletal system than very heavy weight training.
Dr. Siff also noted, as varified by Charles Poliquin, that bone density scans have proven that youngsters who do competitive Olympic Weightlifting have higher bone densities than children who do not use weights.
Also, as shown by Russian research and published in the book School of Height, young athletes that lifted heavy weights stimulated more bone growth.
In other words, if you want you kid to remain healthy and injury free, let them play naturally and build their bodies up. From there, find a good strength coach to teach them how to strength train properly. Doing these two things will help your hcild grow up fitter, stronger, healthier, and with less chance of becoming one of the growing population of kids that's already needing surgery because of their sports related injuries.
Talk with you more later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Friday, May 18, 2012
A Training Day In The Life.....
I"m often asked what a typical training day is for me, so here what yesterday had in store.
7:20am: 15 minutes of a mixture of Joint Mobility Drills mixed in with 4 sets of the following: 10 second Parallel Bar Tuck Planche Holds, 10 second Parallel Bar Straddle L Holds, 10 1-arm Push-ups with the feet as close together as possible (5 reps per side)
8:30pm: Upper Body Assistance Work and Conditioning Day:
1.) Parallel Bar Handstand Push-ups (Touching the hands to the shoulders at the bottom of the movement) 6 sets of 5 reps with bodyweight, with 45 seconds of rest between sets
2a.) Weighted Neutral Grip Chin-ups 8 sets of 6 reps with 45 seconds rest, using my bodyweight (181 lbs.) and an additional 90 pounds.
2b.) Basic Gymnastic Rings Maltses Cross Holds 6 sets of 10 second holds with bodyweight, with 45 seconds rest
Pefromed a set of 2a.), rested 45 seconds, performed a set of 2b.), rested 45 seconds, and repeated until all 8 chin-up sets were done and all 6 crosses were done
3.) Weighted Parallel Bar Dips 1 set of 8 reps with bodyweight and an additional 100 pounds
4a.) Gymnastic Rings Body Arm Curls 3 sets of 11 reps with bodyweight, with 30 seconds rest
4b.) Front Straddle Lever Holds 3 sets of 10 second holds with bodyweight, with 30 seconds rest
performed 4a.), rested for 30 seconds, performed 4b.), rested for 30 seconds and repeated until all 3 sets of each movement was completeld
Add in a few minutes of warm-ups before the evening training and a few minutes of cool downs afterwards and you have my training day for yesterday.
Today is set for lower body assistance work and some hard conditioning. The training card is a mixture of barbell high pulls, plate push sprints, medicine ball slams, kettlebell swings, and farmer's walks. It should be a good one.
Talk with you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
7:20am: 15 minutes of a mixture of Joint Mobility Drills mixed in with 4 sets of the following: 10 second Parallel Bar Tuck Planche Holds, 10 second Parallel Bar Straddle L Holds, 10 1-arm Push-ups with the feet as close together as possible (5 reps per side)
8:30pm: Upper Body Assistance Work and Conditioning Day:
1.) Parallel Bar Handstand Push-ups (Touching the hands to the shoulders at the bottom of the movement) 6 sets of 5 reps with bodyweight, with 45 seconds of rest between sets
2a.) Weighted Neutral Grip Chin-ups 8 sets of 6 reps with 45 seconds rest, using my bodyweight (181 lbs.) and an additional 90 pounds.
2b.) Basic Gymnastic Rings Maltses Cross Holds 6 sets of 10 second holds with bodyweight, with 45 seconds rest
Pefromed a set of 2a.), rested 45 seconds, performed a set of 2b.), rested 45 seconds, and repeated until all 8 chin-up sets were done and all 6 crosses were done
3.) Weighted Parallel Bar Dips 1 set of 8 reps with bodyweight and an additional 100 pounds
4a.) Gymnastic Rings Body Arm Curls 3 sets of 11 reps with bodyweight, with 30 seconds rest
4b.) Front Straddle Lever Holds 3 sets of 10 second holds with bodyweight, with 30 seconds rest
performed 4a.), rested for 30 seconds, performed 4b.), rested for 30 seconds and repeated until all 3 sets of each movement was completeld
Add in a few minutes of warm-ups before the evening training and a few minutes of cool downs afterwards and you have my training day for yesterday.
Today is set for lower body assistance work and some hard conditioning. The training card is a mixture of barbell high pulls, plate push sprints, medicine ball slams, kettlebell swings, and farmer's walks. It should be a good one.
Talk with you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Thursday, May 17, 2012
A Huge Congratulations to Some People That Really Deserve It!
For today's post I wanted to give a huge shout out to all of the wonderful ladies that took part in my Godess Project Challenge. Over the course of 8 weeks, each of these wonderful women lifted hard and heavy, sprinted hard, and ate well and they all finished strong with huge trasnformations in their body. The average loss of body fat for the 8 weeks was a full 5 pecentage points, basically going from (let's say) 25 % body fat down to 20 % body fat. You ladies all worked your tails off, you really put forth the effort and the dedication, you lost plenty of inches, changed clothing sizes, gained strength, improved your health, and are looking killer. Great work you all! I'm incredibly proud of each and every one of you. And, I'm looking forward to what Phase 2 will bring.
Monday, May 14, 2012
A Change of Thinking....
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| The Always Inspiring John Grimex from "Strength and Health" Magazine in 1943 |
AS some of you out there know, along side beign a strength coach, I spent a number of years as a professional dancesport competitor and instructor. The other day one of my former students sent me a different kind of question. She's in the process of planning her wedding and her question was, "Brett do you think that after someone get's married, it's a good time to let themselves go?"
I pondered this question for a few moments thinking about all of the old jokes that are out there about someone saying, "yep, now that I'm married I don't have to workout anymore," and so on and so forth. But, I had never actually had someone seriously ask me that type of question.
I answered her by saying that I personally don't believe there's ever a "good time" to let yourself go. Staying fit and eating clean are two of the weapons that we have in our arsenal to stay healthy, young, and vibrant.
Her question got me thinking about a comment made by another one of my clients. This particular client is in their mid-forties and, through her training and eating, she's doing things now that she never thought were possible. She's also doing things now that she hasn't been able to do since her mid-twenties, only she's doing them better. She's noticed huge changes in all aspects of her life including aches and pains disappearing, a skin condition that she had previously has gone away, she doesn't get stiff and sore doing daily activities like gardening or shoveling her and her neighbors driveways during the winter, and more. When she excitedly tells some of her friends about how much easier her daily life is since she's been training they've actually said to her, "So. Why would the person training you care about stuff like that?"
These two examples really make me think because it really shows how many people only think about eating correctly and exercising correectly in the context of how it'll either make you look or if it'll get you into your "skinny" jeans. It really is amazing how many people miss the boat on the whole deal.
This is also the reason why you'll see so many people who'll decide that they're sick of being fat and sick, so they'll go on a diet. They'll starve themselves for a little bit of time until they reach a certain weight or a certain size. Then they'll stop and go back to living the same lifestyle that got them sick and fat to begin with.
I'm proposing a chang of thinking, one to a health first mentalilty. One of the people that I most respect in the fitness industry is Scott Sonnon. Coach Sonnon has a wonderful fitness hierarchy that I think more people should look at and follow. It's a health first hierarchy. Start with your health and vitality in mind, exercise and eat in a way that will allow you to live the healthiest life that you possible can. Next, focus on your mobility and your quality of movment. Really, how healthy or fit are you if simply standing up from the ground is hard work? Learn to move like a child again. Then, move on to focusing on exercising and eating that will help you with your daily life. What's going to make the particular struggles that you face on a daily basis easier to deal with. Then work on your attributes, what you can do during your workout. Then, focus on your physique and how you look.
I'll be willing to bet that if you start to train and eat with health, movement, and improvements in your daily performance as your focus, you'll build the body that you desire.
Just look at the picture on the top of this post. The Legendary John Grimek, Olympic-style weightlifting Champion, Undefeated Professional Bodybuilder, Awe-inspring Strongman. And there's a reason why the magazine that this photo came from is titled, "Strength and Health."
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Friday, May 11, 2012
A Little Bit Of Alpha Crew Philosophy
I believe in the sanctity of the human body.
I believe in the divine right of every body to possess a body that is strong and beautiful and radiant with energy.
I believe that the care of the body is a sacred responsibility – the first that we accept and the last that we lay down.
I believe Nature is the great physician, and health is the inevitable reward of those who sit at her feet and learn her ways.
I believe that sickness is the offspring of ignorance, and that the greatest teacher of humankind is he who bears the flaming torch of right living to those who dwell in darkness.
I believe that in the true art of healing there is no mystery and no vagueness, and that he only can help the sufferer who faithfully interprets the methods of nature.
I believe that physical betterment and moral welfare go hand in hand.These words were written by golden age physical culturist Lionel Stongfort, and I believe that there is great truth in them. These words are part of the Alpha Crew Credo.
These next words are from a high school football coach who gave, I believe, one of the all-time great inpirational speeches check it out on youtube at http://youtu.be/G1GWBB7qrBA
Another great one for the Alpha Crew Credo:
Today gentlemen, I am honored to coach you
More honored to be leading you onto the field of battle
But theres another honor to be bestowed upon you
And that is in the answer that comes with that question:
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Thats right, and you need to remember that all through this game
I will conquer what has not been conquered
Defeat will not be in my creed
I will believe what others have doubted
I will always endeavor to pull esteem, honor, and respect out of my team
I have trained my mind and my body will follow
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
I will acknowledge the fact that my opponent does not expect me to win
But I will never surrender
Weakness will not be in my heart
I will look to my comrades and to those who are a part of me in this world and those who have trained me
And I will draw strength from them
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
I will gladly go out into the field of battle
And I will move in everything I can do
And I will reach my field of battle by any means at my disposal
And when I get there, I will arrive violently
I will rip the heart from my enemy, and leave it bleeding on the ground
Because he cannot stop me
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
To my side I have comrades, comrades that have been with me through thick and thin
Who have sacrificed their blood, sweat and tears
Never will I let them fall, never will I let them down, and I will never leave an enemy behind
Because our opponent does not know my heart
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
No one will deny me, no one will define me
And no one will tell me who and what I am and can be
Belief will change my world
It has moved continents, it has moved countries, it has put men on the moon
And it will carry me through this battle
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Defeat, retreat: those are not in my words
I dont understand those definitions
I dont understand when things go wrong
I dont understand mistakes
But I do understand this:
I understand victory,
And I understand never surrendering
No matter how bad things go my heart and my mind will carry my body through limits and weakness
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Today will be that day
Not tomorrow, not next week, but right now, right here
In your house and in your homes
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
History will remember me
I will not let worrying affect my cause
I will define myself
I will write my own pages
And no one will tell me what I cannot be
I will never give up
Not until Ive given everything I got
Because who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
More honored to be leading you onto the field of battle
But theres another honor to be bestowed upon you
And that is in the answer that comes with that question:
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Thats right, and you need to remember that all through this game
I will conquer what has not been conquered
Defeat will not be in my creed
I will believe what others have doubted
I will always endeavor to pull esteem, honor, and respect out of my team
I have trained my mind and my body will follow
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
I will acknowledge the fact that my opponent does not expect me to win
But I will never surrender
Weakness will not be in my heart
I will look to my comrades and to those who are a part of me in this world and those who have trained me
And I will draw strength from them
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
I will gladly go out into the field of battle
And I will move in everything I can do
And I will reach my field of battle by any means at my disposal
And when I get there, I will arrive violently
I will rip the heart from my enemy, and leave it bleeding on the ground
Because he cannot stop me
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
To my side I have comrades, comrades that have been with me through thick and thin
Who have sacrificed their blood, sweat and tears
Never will I let them fall, never will I let them down, and I will never leave an enemy behind
Because our opponent does not know my heart
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
No one will deny me, no one will define me
And no one will tell me who and what I am and can be
Belief will change my world
It has moved continents, it has moved countries, it has put men on the moon
And it will carry me through this battle
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Defeat, retreat: those are not in my words
I dont understand those definitions
I dont understand when things go wrong
I dont understand mistakes
But I do understand this:
I understand victory,
And I understand never surrendering
No matter how bad things go my heart and my mind will carry my body through limits and weakness
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Today will be that day
Not tomorrow, not next week, but right now, right here
In your house and in your homes
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
History will remember me
I will not let worrying affect my cause
I will define myself
I will write my own pages
And no one will tell me what I cannot be
I will never give up
Not until Ive given everything I got
Because who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Who am I? I AM A CHAMPION!
Talk with you all later.
Yours in Strength and Health,
Brett Stepan
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Fitness Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm.....
1.) I don't know if you've heard about the Calorie Restriction Society, by they are an organization that promotes the belief that we can live longer and healthier lives by limiting the amount of food that we eat. If you visit their site you'll notice that they also put up huge warnings about the dangers of cutting out too many calories and cutting calories too quickly which include things like: Loss of strength and lean muscle mass, loss of bone mass, depression, disruption of hormones, diminished sex drive, diminished energy and more.
According to their site they eat an average of 1,400 and 2,000 calories a day.
Now, I want you to notice that a society that's based entirely on eating less still has a bottom number of calories of 1,400 a day for someone to eat because this is what's needed to ensure proper amounts of vitamins, minerals, macro-nutrients, etc.
So, if a society that's all about starving oneself for health never has you drop below 1,400 calories a day because of the dangerous consequences to one's health, why do so many people try to use diets that have them eating as low as 1,200 calories, 800 calories, or 500 calories a day? Hmmmmmm.....and some of these diets even have the word "healthy" in their title; double hmmmmm....
2.) I'm still amazed how often I hear this, "lifting heavy weights for low reps will make you huge, while lifting light weights for high reps will make you toned." Because of this numerous people that don't want to get big and bulky will choose to lift light weights for 100's or even 1,000's of reps and wonder why they're getting nowhere. Let's take a look at this:
In this photo John Inzer is deadlifting close to 800 pounds. John competed in the 165 pound weight class. As you can see, John's pretty darn toned, those arms and shoulders are pretty damn impressive. On top of that, John moved huge amounts of weight for low repetitions. Yet, John competed while weighing only 165 pounds. Now I don't know about you but 165 doesn't seem huge and bulky to me. I'm personally at 181 or so and I wouldn't consider myself huge or bulky even though I'm almost 20 pounds heavier than that. Hmmmmm......
This picture is of the Great Gama. He was one of the premiere wrestlers in the world during the early 1900's. He stood about 5'7" and weighed in at around 260-265 pounds. I'd say that the Great Gama was a pretty big and powerful dude. Yet his training consisted of hundreds and even thousands of reps of bodyweight training and club swinging. He was performing high reps without the heavy weights, yet he was huge. Hmmmmm.
So is it really true that low reps with heavy weights will make you big and bulky while high reps with lighter weights will get you toned? Hmmmmmmm.....not on your life. Last time I checked muscle tone was caused by tonus, or, residual tension in a relaxed muscle. Tonus, as related to muscle tone, is caused by a mixture of high resistance and high intensity training coupled with a low body fat percentage. Sounds to me like you get get pretty toned from lifting heavy weights for low reps (just check out most of the Olympic lifters and Powerlifters out there, especially as you get into the lower weight classes, Shawn Frankl comes to mind).
3.) How is it that so many marathon runners never actually run the full 26.2 miles while training; instead hitting around 20 miles or so at their tops (usually they'll say that they train this way to avoid injury and over training), but then they're suprised when they hit the 20-mile wall while their actually competing? Hmmmm....isn't this kind of like a basketball player only practicing for three quarters, or a hockey player only practicing for 2 periods, and then wondering why they got gassed during the last period or quarter? Hmmmmm......
4.) It's funny that aside from some plumbing differences and the need to interact with different dominant hormones, men and women's muscle tissue is identical. Identical muscle tissue, technically speaking, will respond to the same stiumli in pretty much the same manner. So why is it then that so many women think that they need to train differently then men in order to get the toned body that they want? Hmmmmmmm
5.) I keep on hearing that Pilates lengthens your muscles. Now, I'm not saying anytihng against Pilates here, but take a look at this picture:
Arnold here could do Pilates until the cow came home and he's never going to look like are dancing guy on the Right. Also, dancing guy could hit the weights all day and he's not going to look like Arnold.
I have nothing against Pilates, but it doesn't actually lenghten your muscles. Exercise will build your body to the best that it can be, but it won't change the type of muscle bellies that you have.
6.) Take a look at these two pictures for a second, if you will:
The one on the left is a gymnast and the one on the right is an Olympic Weightlifter. They're both pretty damn impressive specimens in my book. Both men grew up and train in sports where every workout consists of full body workouts. So they'll usually train 5-7 days a week, training their entire body at each session, and in some cases training their entire body a few sessions per day every day. There's no body part split where they'll train their chest on Monday, their back on Tuesday, their shoulders on Wednesday, etc.
So how come everyone seems to think that you need to split up the body into seperate pieces and isolate every part in order to create an impressive body. To loosley quote Strength Coach Jason Ferruggia, "you don't see a foot ball team working just upper body plays one day and lower body plays the next. You don't see Martial Artists working on just left leg kicks on one day and right hand punches on the next. The football player practices the entire game of football every day and the martial artist practices their entire art everyday."
So why try to split the body up? Hmmmmmmm......
Well, I could go on forever on a topic like this, but I'll stop here. Keep training hard and smart and feel free to leave a comment below.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Why BMI (Body Mass Index) Sucks!
Would you say that Brad's Obese?
Are any of the above Obese? I'd say not on your life, but according to the Body Mass Index (or BMI for short), each and everyone of these folks is either overweight or obese. And that right there should really show you why the BMI is a bunch of horseshit!
The BMI was designed to replace the old height/weight charts created by health insurance companies. But the question remains, is it accurate and useful in any way?
You can calculate your BMI by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared. Or, if you'd prefer to spare yourself the mathematical trauma, just head over to The Department of Health and Human Services, they have a little calculator there that will do the math for you.
Now, according to the BMI, in order to be considered "at a healthy weight," you have to score at or under a 24. A 25 through a 29 score means that you're overweight, and a 30 or above means that your obese.
Let me start out with myself as an axample. I'm currently 5'7" tall and weigh in at a pretty ripped 181.5 pounds which puts me at a BMI of 28.4, meaning that I'm very overweight and closing in on obese. In order to reach a "healthy" BMI I would need to drop to 153 pounds. Let me do some math here, At 181.5 pounds and a body fat percentage of 8% I currently have aprox. 14.52 pounds of fat on my body. If I were to lose every ounce of fat on my body (which is not a healthy thing to do) I'd weigh 166.98 pounds (let's say 167 to make it easier.). This would still leave me with having to drop an additional 14 pounds of healthy muscle mass in order to make it to what the BMI says is healthy. Do you have any idea how emaciated and sick I'd be if I actually went through and dropped that much weight? My health would plummet!
To loosely quote legendary Strength and Conditioning Coach, Charles Staley, "Since a pound of muscle burns approximately 18 calories a day, my metabolic rate would be lowered by 513 (this would be my personal metabolic drop rather than coach Staley's) calories a day. Also, this dramatic loss of muscle would certainly profoundly reduce my strength levels. While I have more than enough strength to get through my daily activities, muscle mass and strength both gradually decline as we age. So I always look at muscle like "money in the bank:" the more I have now, the more I'll still have when I'm 60, 70, or 80 years of age. So the bottom line seems to be, if I choose to adhere to NIH's guidelines, my health and functional status will surely decline!"
A very true statement indeed. I'd personally shut my metabolism down by 513 calories a day and lose a ton of healthy, health promoting muscle and really end up screwing myself over if I decided to stick to what the BMI tells me is healthy.
In fact, basically any athlete or anyone that has any type of muscle mass would have to do the same because, if you have muscle mass on your body you are obese according to the Body Mass Index.
Now let’s also think about the large number of people who will score very acceptable numbers using the BMI, but who in fact are overfat. Despite what many people think, it’s common to find people who appear to be of normal or even low bodyweight, who in fact are overfat, because they have such low levels of muscle mass and high levels of body fat.
.
As an example let’s take another person that’s my height, but they weigh an “acceptable” 150 pounds. Now, let’s put them at a 50% body fat. In other words, half of their bodyweight consists of pure lard. This person will obviously have serious risks of numerous diseases, they’ll be sickly, they’ll have premature aging, and more general maladies; yet, because of their BMI they would be considered “healthy.”
Hmmmm, this BMI thing is starting to look really screwed up don't you think?
Let's review for a second, if someone's athletic, muscular, lean, fit, and healthy; chances are they have a BMI that says that they're overweight or obese. Yet, is someone is in terrible shape, overfat, sick, and weak they can still have a BMI that is considered heathly.
I don't know about you, but I'd have to say that the whole BMI thing is a load of crap!
So, how do we know if we're at a healthy or unhealthy bodyweight? Pretty simple, go and have someone that's qualified measure your body fat percentage. Chances are that if you're at a lower bodyfat (I'd look at the 8-12 for men and the 10-15 for women, in general) you're probably living a pretty healthy and active lifestyle. You're probably not insulin resistant, you probably don't have adrenal fatigue, your hormones are probably doing pretty well, you're probably training hard and eating clean, and you're probably getting the right amounts of sleep and maximizing your overall lifestyle. It's really hard to get to those type of low percentages if you're not exercising hard, if you're eating like crap, if you're not sleeping, etc.
To quote coach Staley again, "I don’t know why this is such a hard pill to swallow— it’s bodyfat, NOT bodyweight that determines your health and functional capacity. There will never be a height/weight chart, regardless of what anyone chooses to call it, which can predict optimal bodyweight, because such charts never take a person’s muscle mass into account."
If you still think that BMI is the way to go here's a few more people that are ocnsidered overweight or obese by the BMI standards: Harrison Ford, Will Smith, Gina Carano, Christian Santos, Herschal Walker, Adrian Peterson, Vin Deisal, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, anyone in the NFL, anyone in the NBA, anyone in Major League Baseball, Jon "Bones" Jones, really anyone in any weightclass sport that's above the welterweight division, etc. etc. etc. I could go on, but I think I've made my point. Talk with you all later.
Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan
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