As many of you are probably aware, I’m a big fan of Mike Robertson’s work so it probably isn’t a big surprise to see me reviewing his latest product here.  However, if I’m being honest, I’ve read almost everything he’s ever written so when I heard he was putting together a single leg training product I was pretty certain I already had a good handle on his single leg progressions.  While I tend to support Mike whenever I can, this wasn’t going to be an immediate purchase for me.  (Sorry Mike)

About a week after the launch Mike sent me a copy and having just finished checking it out I can say without a doubt the I was dead wrong.  I can honestly say that I was totally shocked at how much I learned!  As I told Mike in an email yesterday, his progressions using offset loading to reflexively train the core and other loading variations have changed the way I incorporate single leg lifts into my workouts to complement my core programming.

Moreover, the step up progressions in The Single Leg Solution are very similar to my own in many regards, but his rationale for where is places them in the overall progression of single leg programming has now forced me to overhaul all of my lower body workouts.  Despite the fact that I want to kill him for making me do this, I’m certain it will make my programs so much more effective.

So this review really serves two purposes.  First, it is to remind you (by way of my mistake) that just because you THINK you understand something doesn’t mean that you do.  And more importantly, The Single Leg Solution is a great tool for improving how you implement single leg movements into your programs.

If you include any of these movements in your training and you were on the fence about purchasing this product, let this be the deciding factor to push you over the edge.  You can grab The Single Leg Solution manual and DVD HERE.

You won’t be sorry you did!

A few weeks ago Mike Robertson asked me if I’d be willing to do a guest blog for his site.  Given my disdain for the recent explosion  of “Tabata” protocols, the topic was easy.  Check it out HERE and let me know what you think.

When it comes to treating shoulder pain most people would agree that instead of treating the shoulder itself, you might first investigate thoracic mobility, scapular stability, lower trap and serratus anterior strength, and any other root cause that might be related.

On the other hand, when it comes to excess body fat, the same trainer or coach might tell people to follow a nutrition plan and exercise to lose weight.  In other words, they treat the symptom (excess body fat) with exercise and nutrition instead of addressing the possible barriers that were limiting people from doing these things in the first place.

To this end, I think it is absolutely critical that anyone  who is overweight or working with anyone with body fat to lose address the real reasons the person is overweight to begin with.  While a client may be able to stave their regular barriers for a short period of time (i.e., a 12 week commitment to a fad fat loss program), they will eventually have to face these issues or lose all the progress that has been made.  Despite the fact that you’ve given a person your very best cutting edge training, nutrition, and supplement program, they’re bound to fail if these issues remain. 

Moreover, (as an astute blog reader recently pointed out) people who have been particularly overweight since childhood will have more fat cells than the average person which might make it significantly harder for them to keep weight off so staying on target is absolutely key.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog you’ll know that I’m all about assessing people and knowing what these barriers are should be part of any fat loss client assessment.  Below is a great chart produced by Dr. Arya Sharma demonstrating how one might assess for potential barriers for long term success.  Of course, this isn’t nearly as sexy as saying “get ripped in 12 weeks” or “abs in hours”, but it is the reality and I’d be willing to bet that anyone reading this blog right now that doesn’t have the body they desire has yet to truly identify and troubleshoot each of their barriers.

Whether there is 100 pounds to be lost or 10, if you address the symptoms (like treating shoulder by taking Tylenol) you can eliminate them temporarily, but they will be back.

And by the way, never once have I come to the conclusion that a client is overweight because they haven’t purchased the latest supplement, exercise gadget, training program, or cleanse.  Just sayin’.

Please share your thoughts!

Today I had a few random thoughts that were running through my mind that I wanted to put out there for you to enjoy (or ignore). 

1.  Babies don’t have kneecaps.

The other day I received one of those emails that includes a series of random facts, but this one contained the point that babies don’t have kneecaps.  Of course, I was intrigued so I picked up my beautiful daugther and sure enough there was no patella to be felt.   Being the geek that I am, I had to look this up.

As it turns out, babies technically do have kneecaps at birth, but they are made from cartilage instead of bone so you can’t really feel them and they don’t show up on an xray.  The patella starts to ossify (become bone) at around 3 years for girls and 4-5 years for boys.  Interestingly, if the cartilage kneecap is left to grow in tissue culture it will remain as cartilage which suggests that mechanical forces must be present for ossification to occur.  What is more interesting is that, since walking typically starts long before this, it leaves the question of which forces are responsible for iniating this process.  Or is it a hormonal response that is different between boys and girls?  Is it both?

And finally, another point that this brought up is that parts of the pelvic girdle and pubus do not completely ossify until the late teens or early twenties.  If form truly dictates function (as many people suggest), then does the fact that babies differ structurally to some degree negate any or all of the assessments that use the movements of babies as their guiding principles?

2.  The Biggest Loser

If all of the people who are “inspired” and “motivated” by The Biggest Loser took the time they spent watching the show to exercise or do food prep for the week instead the world would be a skinnier, healthier place.

3.  Bowel Buddies?

The other day I had the good (or bad) fortune to receive a free sample of a product called Bowel Buddies.  If you’ve never heard of them, they are essentially a cookie that claims to taste good and provides a small dose of dietary fiber.  The bad news is that they taste like sawdust.  The good news is that in Canada all of our packaging is labelled in English and French and the product flavor was pomegranate.  You’d think that the company making a “bowel product” might be more careful about their labels.  See if you can notice which word on a fiber supplement might discourage you from giving it a try.

Any random thoughts going through your mind today?

Yesterday I attended the 6th Annual McMaster Bariatric Conference put on by the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery.  The topic was obesity management and talks ranged included those discussing the risks associated with obesity as well as lifestyle, pharmacological, and surgical management of this condition.

 like myself so interested in the topic of obesity?  For me, body weight is more of a continuum than a distinct divide between lean and obese.  All of us are somewhere on that continuum and (based on statistics) most of us are more towards the obese end than the other.   

Moreover, almost 95% of people who lose a significant amount of weight by the usual commercial weight loss practices (i.e., get ripped in 12 weeks) will gain it back plus some additional pounds leading us closer and closer to being la rger and larger throughout our lives.  And I still believe that whether you’re 20 pounds away from your fat loss goal or 100 we are all subject to the same environment, marketing, and dieting practices.  While surgery (if we use it at all) might be used for the most severe cases, conservative management can probably benefit anyone looking to lose body fat permanently.

Here are a few notes I took at the conference that I’ll likely expand upon in an upcoming post:

- If your BMI is over 25 you are considered overweight.  If your BMI is over 30 you are considered obese (Class I).  OVer 35 is Class II obesity.  Over 40 is Class III.

- BMI does not account for muscle mass so lifters may not be truly obese.  However, if they are carrying excess fat around their midsection, there is still reason for concern.

- The total number of obese people in North America is levelling off.  However, the number of people with class 3 obesity is growing.

- Current statistics on obesity likely underestimate the number of obese because people with normal weight obesity (normal body weight, but high fat percentage) is not included.

- Normal weight obesity results in metabolic issues similar to having a BMI over 30.  These are the people we call “skinny-fat”

- The only group in North America in which obesity rates are still climbing is 6-9 year olds.

- Studies have shown that parents and phsyicians are unable to accurately determine when a child is obese.  In some studies as few as 18% of parents thought their children had weight problems when they were clinically obese.  Doctors didn’t fair much better.  You can’t treat what you don’t diagnose. 

- The best predictor for adult obesity is childhood obesity.

- 90% of obese kids have a lipid abnormility (high cholesterol or triglycerides) and 50% have hyperinsulinemia.

- 20% of obese children are likely to have a heart attack and 15% will have Diabetes by age 38.

- Obesity is second only to smoking as a risk factor for Cancer.

- Some people have now created the term “Diabesity” because of the strong link between Diabetes and obesity.

- Obesity is a chronic condition very much like hypertension.  When treatment is stopped, the condition reappears.

- Body weight is related more to “screen time” than to the amount of exercise you do.  In other words, turn off the computer and television.

- Frequency of activity breaks is related to weight loss more than total amount of activity time.

- A 5-10% body weight reduction shows improvements in lipid profiles, blood sugars, and various other obesity related disorders.  This should be the goal when health is the primary outcome.

- 50% of people on a suitable lifestyle plan (exercise + diet + behaviour modification) can maintain 5% loss at one year.  In other words, you need to treat only two people to achieve this result with one.

- 20% of people on lifestyle plan can maintain 10% at one year.  Need to treat 5 people to get one who does this.

- Lifestyle alone tends to maintain 5% weight loss, lifestyle + pharmacology allows 15%, and gastric bypass around 50% weight loss.

- People who do not lose weight while following a 900 calore per day VLCD (very low calorie diet) will likely not lose weight effectively with surgery.  Possibly due to genetics?

- Although many blame obesity on genetics, the number of genetic mutations that actually occur to cause such conditions likely only accounts for 5% of obese people.

- The most common form of weight loss surgery is the Roux en y Gastric Bypass.  The stomach is reduced to a small pouch (about 2 tablespoons) and the pouch is attached at a point further down to bypass the first part of the small intestine.  The procedure is restrictive (small stomach) and malabsorptive (bypassing absorption in the intestine).

- Gastric banding is an alternative type of surgery where an inflatable band is placed around the stomach.  This surgery is reversible, but gastric bypass is not.

- Gastric bypass is significantly more effective for weight loss than banding.

- Bypass surgery results in an almost immediate remission of Type II Diabetes in most patients.

- Pregnancy is discouraged for 2 years after weight loss surgery.

- After surgery a patient must never consume carbonated beverages again.

- Bariatric surgery requires supplementation to prevent nutrient deficiencies although they are still common.

- Depending on where the surgery is done, 3-40% of bands require removal (usually due to weight regain).

- In patients with BMI over 40 gastric bypass has a 20-35% failure rate at 10 years (again due to weight regain)

- Effectiveness of revision surgery is equally as high, but complications (leaks, infections, etc) are 2.5 times more common.

- Gastric bypass is also more effective than banding in children.  The youngest to date was age 9.

- Craniopharyngioma is a condition of the pituitary that can cause uncontrollable eating in children.  Surgery helps maintain weight.

- One presenter said that gastric bypass was “the real solution to childhood obesity because nothing else really works”.  He was a giant dink.

- Bariatric surgery is the most studied surgery in history.  The screening for this surgery is intense and includes surgeon, nutritionist, social worker, and phsychiatric consults to ensure suitable mental status to maintain weight loss.  Tests for obstructive sleep apnea and other issues are common as well.  Heart and brain surgery has much less screening.

- Patients who are not compliant with managing blood sugars or taking meds probably won’t follow post surgical instructions.

- ADHD has a strong relationship to obesity.  Sometimes treating ADHD causes patients to lose weight.

- Binge Eating Disorder is now officially a diagnosis in the DSM.

- Depression can cause cravings for carbohydrates which increase serotonin.  Screen and treat for depression when necessary.

- The incedence of previous sexual abuse is very high in obesity.

- The higher the BMI, the greater chance of having a history of mental health issues.

- There are increased rates of divorce after bariatric surgery.  Assessment makes sure support systems are secure prior to sugery.

My hope is that these points will make for a great discussion.  Thoughts?