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I apologize for the lack of updates this week as it has been a crazy one for me.  However the week has ended on a tremendous note with my sister and her husband having her first child making me an uncle to their beautiful girl Keira Grace!  At the same time, we’re ramping up for Cadence’s first birthday party this weekend so the days have just flown by.  I can’t believe it has been a year already!  I am so blessed. 

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In any case, I have just a few things to throw down in random fashion for you today:

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Happy Thanksgiving to my American Friends

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With all of my American friends and family celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend I want to wish everyone a Happy Turkey Day.  Although we’re not formally celebrating Thanksgiving in Canada this weekend (we celebrate in October because November is the month we build our igloos for winter and tune up our dogsleds for winter) I think this serves as a reminder to take a moment today to be thankful for all of the positive things we have in our lives and even for the challenges that we’ll have the opportunity to overcome.

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Free Brainy Gear Swag

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Last week I offered up a free Brainy Gear t-shirt courtesy of Alan Aragon and that has now been officially awarded by random draw to Trey just for dropping a comment on the blog.  Congrats Trey!

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Christmas Gifts for Fitness Fanatics

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This week my friend Leigh Peele put together a great list of Christmas gift ideas for fitness enthusiasts that is definitely worth checking out.  If you’re looking for stuff to ask for, this is a good place to start.  Check it out HERE.

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FREE Rotaters!!!  Comment and share to get ‘em!

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Several months ago some guy on Twitter named Chris Melton and I were having a discussion about shoulder internal rotation deficits when he mentioned that he was the co-creator of a product called The Rotater.  I asked him about it.  He sent me one.  A true bromance was born.

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If you’re unfamiliar with the Rotater, it is basically “a patented shoulder prehab, rehab and stretching tool that allows a patient or athlete to passively self-stretch internal & external shoulder rotation to increase shoulder function, range of motion and performance.

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When combined with our Strong Arm attachment, the Rotater becomes a mobile rotator cuff strengthening machine as well.”

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I have to admit that initially I was concerned about movement of the shoulder blade instead of just movement at the shoulder joint during stretching, but having played with the Rotater for a few months now I can honestly say that pinning the scapula in position by leaning into a wall or lying down on the back for some of the stretches basically solved that issue.

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Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the Rotater is a magic bullet for shoulder health.  Y still have to do your t-spine mobility work, scapular stabilization drills, and all of the other things your know you should be doing for shoulder health, but I truly believe that the Rotater is a great addition to your arsenal.

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As a result, I recently asked Chris if he’d thrown down a Rotater for my Christmas giveaway so you could experience this for yourself.

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He said “NO”.

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Instead of giving away one Rotater he said that he would give away THREE Rotaters AND a strong arm attachment for each!

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So check out the Rotater HERE…and then drop a comment below letting me know that you want one.

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But since there are three of them I’m going to wait until we’re over 100 comments on this one before I do a draw.  So if you want to score yourself one of these babies you’re going to need to drop a comment below and then share the holy hell out of this post on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social media you’ve got.  Once we reach 100 comments I’ll do a draw and you might just grab one of them for yourself.

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On your mark, get set, comment, and share!

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The draw for this item is now closed!  <—- Thanks for participating.

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1.  Get Your FREE T-shirt

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Don’t forget to comment on my last post before midnight EST tonight (Friday November 19th), to be included in the drawing for a FREE Brainy Gear t-shirt courtesy of Alan Aragon.

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2.  MIR 2.0 – What Has Changed

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After giving away a free copy of my friend Rick Kaselj’s Muscle Imabalances Revealed last week I had several people email to ask me about what exactly is new about the 2.0 version.  When I asked Rick to sum it up, he told me he’d already done so HERE.  Personally, I think that the addition of the “Training Myofascial Lines for Back Injuries” presentation is worth the cost by itself since this is a HOT topic in the fitness world right now.

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Truth be told, the one thing that  I find most awesome about this product isn’t just the material available now though.  I love the fact that if you’ve previously purchased the first version of Muscle Imbalances Revealed you automatically get access to MIR 2.0.  In other words, every time there is an update to the product (i.e., Rick learns more stuff or gets another smart person to contribute) you get the update for free.  I think this it a total score considering most fitness pros would just create another product and you’d have to purchase that as well.

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If you’re interested in getting Muscle Imbalances Revealed complete with ongoing updates you can pick it up HERE.

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Have a great weekend!

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So it is now November 17th and since the start of this month I’ve already given away 2 tubs of Nitrean protein powder, Advanced Techniques in Glutei Maximi Strengthening by Bret Contreras, Muscle Imbalances Revealed by Rick Kaselj, and as of Monday I awarded a copy of Bulletproof Knees by Mike Robertson to Bobby for dropping a comment on that post.

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Since my initial list of giveaways was announced I figured I should let you know that I’ve also added the Strength Training for Fat Loss DVD by Nick Tumminello to the mix and yesterday I got word from Mike Boyle that he’s going to throw down a free copy of his new book for the giveaway as well.  Keep your eyes glued to this blog and make sure to sign up for my newsletter (left side of the page), RSS Feed, Facebook, and Twitter to make sure you don’t miss an opportunity to score some FREE STUFF.

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And since I’ve been in a research geeky kind of mode this week, I figured I’ll thow down a FREE t-shirt courtesy of Alan Aragon today.  Alan quite simply has an incredible research review that I think EVERYONE should subscribe to, but that is beyond the point.  Today, I’m putting up one of Alan’s brand new Brainy Gear t-shirts up fror grabs.

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Simply drop a comment below letting me know you want one (and which one you think is the most awesome) and your name will go into the hat for a free shirt at the end of the day on Friday.

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What are you waiting for?  Get at it!

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A few years ago when I first heard Charles Poliquin mention Biosignature Modulation at a seminar I was completely blown away by the concept.  If you’re unfamiliar with the idea, Charles explained that he’d done caliper measurements on 12 skinfold sites with loads of athletes and discovered a relationship between certain hormones and the location of fat storage.

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Moreover, he suggested that these hormones could be affected by food, supplements, and training such that we could actually remove fat where we wanted to remove it.  Charles Poliquin had discovered the secret to spot reduction!!!

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I was so enamored with the idea that when Charles came to Toronto for a 3 day Biosignature seminar I was all over it.  My wife paid for my registration as a birtday gift (yep…she’s awesome like that) and I spent three days learning the protocol and brought it back to experiment with my clients.

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In the end, it worked.  My clients’ skinfolds went down, they lost fat, and looked better.  But since the program is pretty heavy on the supplements it could also get VERY costly.  What I eventually noticed was the clients I had that couldn’t or wouldn’t use the supplement protocols get exactly the same results.

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Over time I slowly found myself disenchanted with the system and I completely phased it out.  Below are my thoughts on the Biosignature Modulation system after having had a couple solid years to reflect on the protocol and its effectiveness.

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Note that these thoughts are not meant to attack or belittle coach Poliquin, but to express my opinion.  As Mike Boyle has said brilliantly, “there is a difference between disagree and dislike”.  Charles Poliquin was an early influence for me in this industry and has inspired me in many ways.

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My Restrospective thoughts on Biosignature Modulation

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As I see it, Biosignature Modulation relies on three central assumptions:

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1. Body fat storage is correlated with specific hormones

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While this may certainly be true (I can’t say one way or the other), a correlation does not equal causation.  In other words, just because the hormones and fat storage are related does not mean that hormones cause the fat to be deposited in certain areas.  There may be an association, but one may have nothing to do with the cause of the other.

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2 – Changing those hormones will cause changes in the location of fat storage

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Even if these hormones do cause fat storage in specific locations, evidence would have to support the notion that changing them would alter fat storage.  In the Biosigature system estrogen is reported to be the primary cause of excess fat store in the glutes and thighs.  If this were the case and it could be altered by changing the hormone then estrogen blocking drugs would decrease fat storage in this area.  I don’t believe that any research supports this claim.  As I’ve mentioned before, changing hormones doesn’t always result in the expected outcome.

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3 – Those changes can be brought about by manipulation of hormones with nutrition, supplementation, and training.

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This assumption is based on the fact that the two previous ones are true.  And while I can’t attest to the fact that there is no evidence for any of the strategies provided by coach Poliquin, one of the most popular seems to be the use of fish oils for accelerated fat loss in those with extra fat at the insulin sites (love handles being one of these sites).  I can say that without a doubt there is currently no scientific evidence to support this as explained by Alan Aragon HERE.

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And while you might argue that I haven’t really provided evidence that all of the protocols don’t work, I would suggest that the burden of proof when selling a product/service/system is not on the potential user, but on the person/company selling the system.  Their job it to convince me that the protocols stand up to rigorous testing and, in this case, I don’t believe they’ve met the requirement.

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But proponents say it works…

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With any popular system you will always get hard line proponents that are completely inflexible when it comes to questioning of their methods.  In terms of those using Biosignature Modulation, it can also contribute a rather sizable revenue stream to their business so letting it go can be economically challenging.  And, of course, there are those who are just afraid to question the protocol because it comes from Charles Poliquin.

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Personally, I’m not about to argue that those using Biosignature aren’t getting results.  What I would argue is that those results could probably be had with an appropriate diet and training strategy.  Moreover, when using Biosignature I never did see the specificity of fat loss that was suggested.  People lost fat, but it was pretty much what I would have expected with a good diet and training. 

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The one advantage of the protocol is that if people are spending a lot of money on supplements in addition to private training they might be more apt to stick to their plan.  As you’d expect, you will obviously see greater results with greater compliance which is a possible people report good results.

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In the end, if you’re considering taking a Biosignature course I’d suggest keeping your money in your pocket.  If you are considering using a Biosig protocol on yourself, I would highly recommend you skip it and stick to the time honored classics…nutrition, training, and consistency.

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There is no substitute for hard work.  There are no shortcuts.  If someone tells you differently they are selling something.

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Questions?  Comments?  Random Insults?  Leave ‘em below!

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If you’d like to read research for yourself, check out my product How to Read Fitness Research.

Last week’s Friday blog was kinda fun and since I think Fridays are pretty awesome, I figured I’d post more awesome stuff.

1.  First off, if you happened across the Consumer Reports article a while back about the toxic ingredients found in many protein powders it may have left you a little spooked about using these in your daily routine.  Fortunately, my good friend Nick Tumminello recruited nutrition guru Alan Aragon to share his two cents on the issue.  Check out Alan’s guest blog on Nick’s site HERE.

2.  My friend Bret Contreras wrote an excellent blog post recently on load vector training.  Absolute MUST read.  Check it out HERE.

3.  Last week I posted a video of Emily Azevedo doing an incredible feat of strength, but this week I also wanted to add an incredible video of my friend and colleague Neghar Fonooni (who also happens to be the long term girlfriend of Joe Sansalone whose Prone Y videos I posted a few weeks back).  Consider this more inspiration for young women wanting to train.  Simply badass!

3.  And since we’re talking about badass stuff here, watch Damien Walters kill it in this video.   I know he’s got a more recent one, but I still love this one the best.

Have a great weekend!

Recently a reader of this blog asked me to comment about those in the industry that are known primarily as internet marketers.  While most in the strength training and fitness industries talk about these people with disdain, I’m not sure I totally feel the same in all cases. 

I suppose the biggest issue that some people have with the internet guru who doesn’t work with someone in person is that they can’t possibly know anything about how things work in the real world.  To this I say bullshit.  My good friend Erik Ledin works primarily with bodybuilders and fitness competitors online and many of them are very successful.  Maybe you don’t want to be doing rehab online, but I’m not about to discredit anyone who is doing something or selling something that works regardless of whether or not they’re currently in contact with people.

Guys like John Berardi, Alan Aragon, and Lyle McDonald all come to mind when talking about making money online and I have no doubts that they’re all putting out good content.  As long as the content is good and it works for those who purchase it, I could care less who you’re working with.  There are a LOT of shitty trainers who actually work with people so I’m not sure how this suddenly became the criteria we use to determine whose products are worth buying and whose aren’t.

 
It seems to me that with many trainers and coaches if you’re making a lot of money online you’ve sold out and you’re not given the respect you might otherwise deserve.  To some trainers it appears that there is some sort of nobility to working endless hours until you’re burnt out and making minimal dollars until you reach the top.  To me, if you’ve created a fat loss product and it works (and it isn’t full of typos and plagiarism – you know who you people are) you deserve every cent you make whether you’re working with a single person or not.

On the other hand, the people that piss me off are those with huge lists who become affiliates of everyone on the planet who has a product launch and endorse them without any concern about whether or not the new product is a giant pile of dog turd.  These people, even if they have good products themselves, go on my blacklist because I have no respect for anyone who sells junk strictly for the sake of money.

 
Good products for money = Respect.  Bad products for money = Blacklist.

 
And for the record, none of this is meant to discredit any of the guys killing it in the trenches and still putting out great products.  You know who you are and these are always the top products on my list.

 
What are your thoughts on internet marketing and fitness products?

1.  I am so blessed.

Having had my daughter only 17 weeks ago I can only say that this has been one of the most exciting times in my life.  Despite the 2am diaper blowouts and the sleep deprivation, every morning I get to wake up to this beautiful face.

2.  My wife is incredible

Lest you think I’m one of those guys who falls in love with his children only to forget the rest of his family, I really do have to give credit to my wife for becoming an outstanding mother.  As I said, I am blessed.

3.  The Body Saw is sick!

Last week Nick Tumminello posted this  exercise on his site which I think is an incredible anterior core progression.

4.  How do you determine success?

If you’re a trainer and you’re working with a person that came to you to lose weight and they weren’t losing weight would you consider them a success?  Your damn right you wouldn’t!  In fact, it isn’t all that common for busy trainers to consider “firing” that client in order to accomodate someone who was more “dedicated”.  To be honest, up until a while ago I might honestly have done the same thing.

Then recently I had the good fortune to attend a journal club meeting at which exercise researcher Dr. Bob Ross was presenting.  Throughout the course of his brilliant lecture, he presented study after study that demonstrated waist circumference and cardiorespiratory fitness are much bigger predictors of mortality than body weight.  In fact, a fit person who is obese has less of a mortality risk than an unfit person who is of normal body weight.  And both cardiorespiratory fitness and waist circumference can improve without ANY weight loss as long as they are physically active.

While the ideal situation would be to have our client lose weight, reduce waist circumference, AND increase their level of fitness, is it not still acceptable to help them become healthier an extend their life even if they aren’t as dedicated to their nutrition as they should be?  Or are we so vain that the only thing worth accepting money for is the change in physical appearance?

Personally, I’ve decided that I’d rather have them reframe their goals from weight goals to health goals so that they’re not expecting results that are never going to happen given their current level of dedication.  In this way, I’m not promising something for their money that I can’t deliver, but I’m not discouraging someone from physical activity (which is something I don’t think anyone should do given the state of affairs in North America).

Check out a 27 minute presentation by Dr. Ross HERE and let me know what you think.  He’s a great speaker and the time flies when you hear him talk.

5.  High Fructose Hype?

Last week a study released by researchers at Princeton University suggested that High Fructose Corn Syrup may contribute to obesity more than normal sugar.  But is the evidence convincing enough to suggest that we should entirely avoid HFCS?

A while back I read a blog by Alan Aragon suggesting differently and saying it generated a lot of discussion is an understatement.  It has 371 responses as I write this!  But if you want to go toe to toe with Alan you’d better come equipped with studies because he’ll take you to school (which he does with those who oppose his views in the comments).

If you’re deathly afraid of high fructose corn syrup check out the blog.  It is worth reading.

6.  Crush It…Should be Crushed

A while ago I heard a lot of hype about Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Crush It so I picked it up and read it in a little under two hours.  If you know nothing at all about social networking and internet promotions this book might be valuable to you, but I found it a little bit more like a rah rah motivational speech than anything else.

Gary suggests working until three in the morning and really “crushing it”.  To me, the whole idea of working countless hours and leaving comments on every blog possible to drive traffic to your own blog is working hard, not working smart.  Granted, Gary is a millionaire and I am not so he’s obviously done something right.  I guess I just expected more information and less of a cheering squad.

Oh…he did mention something useful in the book.  If you distribute videos you may want to check out Tube Mogul so you can share them with various video sharing sites at the same time.  Mind you, it took Mike Boyle to point this out to me because I probably just glazed over this part when I was bored.

7.  Lottery tickets are God’s punishment for people who are bad at math.

Consequently, they are also my punishment because I always seem to get stuck behind people who are buying them.

8.  What if you won 50 million dollars?

A couple weeks ago while I was waiting behind a lottery ticket picker (do they really need to select their specific tickets?) I wondered exactly what most people in the fitness industry would do if they won the 50 million dollars that was offered that week.

I realized that I would definitely travel and I certainly wouldn’t work nearly as often, but I’d still train people because this is my passion.  If you wouldn’t, perhaps you’re in the wrong job.

Thoughts?  Comments?  Leave ‘em below.