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

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

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

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

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

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

Some things I've learned:

Me, trying to master the rings v-sit

Over the almost 36 years that I've been on this planet I've had the wonderful pleasure of studying under and learning from some amazing people. Here's an incomplete and short list of some of the things that I've learned from them and from experience:

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