If you’ve been to enough social gatherings you’ve inevitably met one of those people who, when talking to you about fitness, firmly pats his large, rock solid belly and says “It’s all muscle”.

In fact, you too might be looking at your stomach in the mirror and thinking “Wow, this is pretty solid and I can hardly grab any fat.  If I crank up the training and diet hard for 12 weeks I’ll be ready for the beach”.  Or maybe you’re not worried too much about it at all because you’re going to smash a new total at your next meet and being a little thick through the middle isn’t really your biggest concern.

Whatever the case, I feel it is my duty to tell you that you and your friend from the party are freaking ticking time bombs!  Abdominal obesity is a killer and you can only ignore this fact for so long before it comes up to bite you in the ass.

In the photo below you can see a cross section of the abdominal cavity of a person who has low levels of visceral fat (left) and a person who has a high level of visceral fat (right).  The white stuff inside of the abdominal wall is the fat and you can see clearly that it has essentially surrounded each and every organ in that cavity.

 If you’re thinking “shit, that can’t be good”, you’re right.  Take a look at the liver of a normal healthy person (left) and someone with a fatty liver (right).  Keep in mind, of course, that the liver plays a role in the elimination of insulin in the body and if it is not functioning properly because it is encapsulated in fat, you’re on an express trip to a date with type 2 Diabetes. 

Of course, if your liver is covered in fat, your heart is probably affected too right?  You’re damn right it is!  Take a gander at the two hearts below.  Notice that the heart on the top (front and back views) is smaller and has few fat deposits.  The heart on the bottom, on the other hand, is hypertrophied and is covered in fat.

Interestingly, but probably not surprisingly, liposuction can only remove the fat beneath the skin.  It can’t remove the fat inside of the abdominal wall so even if you look better and manage to reduce your waist circumference, you’re still just as dead as you were before.  In the picture below you can see the reduction in the subcutaneous fat (below the skin), but the visceral fat is the same.

It seems that now, the only plus side to liposuction (for men at least) is that about 34% of women who have liposuction in the abdominal or hip region experience an increase in breast tissue amounting to approximately one cup size.  I’m not even kidding.  You can check out the abstract HERE.

Basically what I’m getting at here is that if you’re the typical off-season bodybuilder who just gets fat and calls it “bulking” or you’re one of those guys who espouses the get big (i.e., fat) to get strong mentality you might want to change your game plan.  Otherwise you might end up pushing up daisies instead of barbells.

As usual, drop me a comments below to let me know your thoughts.  More importantly, please share this with those you feel could benefit from this information whether they train or not.  Obesity is an epidemic that affects all of us.

Recently my friend Mike Scott sent a group of fitness professionals and rehabilitation specialists a question:

“In 4 (FOUR!) sentences or less, name your favorite resource for strengthening, conditioning, health, OR rehabilitation information. This can include books, journals, seminars, websites (NOT GOOGLE), or anything else you can think of. You can only include ONE resource my friends, so make sure it is your favorite.”

Now THAT is a tough question.  Check out the list of answers HERE and then swing back by to let me know what your favourite resource is in the comments section below.

PS: Don’t come back and tell me your site is the best site on the internet you arrogant buggers.   

Let’s face facts for a second here.  The vast majority of people that lift weights do so for primarily aesthetic reasons.  Sure, many of us want to be stronger, faster, and healthier.  And there are certainly those who train exclusively to improve their sports performance, but in the end I’d be willing to bet that training to simply look better is the single biggest motivation for the average trainee.

So why do many strength coaches crap all over bodybuilding?  I could speculate that it has something to do with the rampant steroid use among high level competitors or the fact that some of them have more oil in their muscles than I do in my car.  Or it could be the mental image of a bunch of oiled up, tanned, men and women posing on a stage in their bathing suits.  I can’t really say for sure.

But what about people who aren’t interested in competing?  What about those who are purely interested in gaining the leanest, most muscular physique possible within their own biomechanical and physiologial framework while keeping an eye on structural balance and joint health?  Is bodybuilding training really so bad for the body that we need to crap all over their methods?

I guess the question I’m really asking is whether it is possible to create a lean and exceptionally muscular physique without sacrificing structural balance and joint health.

And in line with that question, is there room for exercises that are deemed my many coaches as unfriendly for the joints (such as the guillotine bench press) or useless (direct arm training)?

As with everything, I think it comes down to assessment.  If you’ve read my blog you’re probably aware that I am a big fan of movement based testing with such as Assess and Correct, but beyond that I feel that it is really important to use the appropriate assessments to inform your decisions for each individual goal.

For dealing with obesity I use the Edmonton Obesity Staging System, for performance I look at the demands of the sport, and when training for aesthetics I like to do a true visual assessment to direct training.  I should note here that I don’t care much for body fat testing in leaner individuals as this is less important than the physical appearance changes.  I could care less what the number says if a client’s appearance doesn’t reflect it.

Here is a sample of a simple client assessment I use for evaluating a physique in which I can comment on muscle size or relative proportion:

- Upper traps:
- Front delts:
- Lateral delts:
- Rear delts:
- Biceps:
- Tricep long head:
- Tricep lateral head:
- Forearms
- Lower chest:
- Upper chest
- Upper back width:
- Upper back thickness:
- Lower/Mid back erectors:
- Abdominals:
- Obliques:
- Quads:
- Glutes:
- Hamstrings:
- Calves:
 
Highlights:
 
Needs Work:

General Impression & Plan:

Combining this with the movement based screen I should now know what muscles need to be worked (yes, I sometimes work muscles not movements…I know…blasphemy) and which movements should be contraindicated for that person.  If arm training is warranted, I’ll do arm training because I’m not in the business of sticking to a “training arms is for wussies” paradigm because it is popular.  I’m in the business of getting results.

Would I use the guillotine bench press, sissy squats, or upright rows?  Probably not.  But this is primarily because these are not the most effective movements in the first place and I can find exercises to hit the same muscle groups with less risk.

Are joint health and building a muscular physique mutually exclusive?  I would have to say no.  Do you agree?  Feel free to share your thoughts below!

And thanks to my blog reader Rob for putting the idea for this post in my head.  I hope I answered your question.

This past week I had a chance to be interviewed by my good friend Patrick Ward.

In this interview I talk a lot about why I’m sometimes viewed as being overly skeptical of many things in the fitness industry and exercise science.  I also get a chance to talk a little bit about some of the ”big rocks” in my training philosophy. 

Drop by and check out the interview HERE.

Have some questions you’d like me to answer in an upcoming blog?  Leave me a note in the comments below.

As many of you know, I’m a huge advocate of reading (or learning) for at least an hour per day.  Since my beautiful daughter was born almost 8 weeks ago she and I have been putting in our time reading and watching some great stuff.

Outliers - By Malcolm Gladwell

This book provides a very insightful look at what makes people successful in their respective fields.  Despite what you might think about working hard, Gladwell suggests that this is only part of the equation.  Although I’m not 100% sold on every single assertion that was made, it certainly was enough to open my eyes to the possibility that there are other factors at play.

More importantly, Gladwell’s writing style is interesting and easy to read which is refreshing if you’re looking for something thought provoking, but not overly intense.  If this isn’t enough to convince you, consider that I’m now reading another Gladwell book called The Tipping Point and have his other books Blink and What the Dog Saw on my bookshelf already.

Fast Food Nation - By Eric Schlosser

Honestly, I could probably tell you all about this book and how it explains the production, flavoring, and marketing of your food, but it really wouldn’t do justice to the vast amount of information that is covered about the effects of corporate power on our food supply.

Consider that companies like Nestle make baby formula (Gerber), food (Cheerios, Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s), coffee (Nescafe), chocolate (Kit Kat, Smarties), and then when you get good and overweight they can sell you food replacements like Boost, Powerbar, Jenny Craig, and even the medically managed weight loss product called Optifast.  Need some water for that shake?  No worries, they sell that too.  Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, and S.Pelligrino are all Nestle products.  And by the way, they are also feeding your pets.  Nestle makes Alpo, Friskies, and Fancy Feast.   Once they start making caskets they’ll have us covered from cradle to grave.

Imagine what would happen if the goverment tried to mandate changes to the foods we eat to make them healthier.  Imagine the power of corporations to resist.  Although the observations about Nestle are my own, I’m sure you get the idea.  Fast Food Nation is well worth the read.

Note that this book led me to investigate further the treatment of animals during the commercial production of the food we eat.  Check out the galleries on THIS SITE if you’re interested.  Consider this fair warning that the images there are graphic and disturbing.  They also are not intended to convey that I think all industry operates like this…but it certainly opens your eyes.

StrengthCoach.com

Recently I’ve spent a fair bit of time on Strength Coach.com and I really enjoy the content.  The weekly articles are great, but I have to admit that the forum is really where it is at.  

Unlike many other web forums that are chock-full of nonsense by written by any idiot with a keyboard, here you can often read and participate in discussions bright folks like Mike Boyle, Bret Contreras, Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove,  Nick Tumminello, Charlie Weingroff, and many others that I’m probably forgetting to name.

Personally, I’ve read some people’s responses in the advanced forum and had to look stuff up or ask questions just so I could understand what they’re talking about.  As a result I’ve learned a ton of new stuff in a short period of time.

I think this is an incredible resource and totally worth checking out.  It’ll cost you a buck to try it for 14 days and if you don’t like it you can bail.

Oh yeah…while I’m on the Mike Boyle front I should also mention that I just watched Functional Strength Coach Volume 3 and think this is a great resource for any up and coming coach.

Fat Is Not Your Fault

After interviewing Dr. Bryan Walsh a few weeks back I decided to check out his Fat is not Your Fault Program.  Frankly, I’ve grown a little tired of the overhyped rapid fat loss programs that are basically just some variation of a low carb diet which is why I think this program is so interesting.  Dr. Walsh not only emphasizes the importance of diet, exercise, and mindset, but he also identifies several other possible roadblocks to fat loss success that you’re not going to see in your typical fat loss program.

I’ve already read the manual and am currently about half way through watching the videos and am loving the information so far.  Never have I really given as much thought to adrenal health and gastrointestinal function as I have since seeing this product.  If you’re successfully navigating the fat loss world, I’m not sure you’re absolutely in need of this program, but if you or a client have ever had difficulty losing fat despite being totally on plan, this would be a worthwhile investment.  Personally, I’m thinking of making Dr. Walsh’s screening questionaire (which is included) as part of my battery of forms for my clients.

Z-Health R Phase Manual

At the persistent enouragement of Mike T Nelson I’m checking out the Z-Health system.  To be honest, I have yet to start reading/watching this, but it is next on my list so hopefully I’ll steal a few pearls of wisdom from this as well.

What great stuff are you reading right now?  What’s next on your reading list?  Drop me a comment and let me know.