CRAIG PRODUCTIONS LLC

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

Don't Call It A Comeback...

09.04.2010 13:04:22

Aw’ite, lil Weedhoppahs, he spoke! Tony hit me up on FB. And I quote…”I'm not talkin Trash. Just statin’ the facts! BEST POSER IS MINE!"

Ohhhhhhhhhh BABY!!! Love it! But thass all you got, T? C’mon man, you was talkin’ big bow-wow when Jules was texting me. As the brotha’s say, “Don’t be scurred…” Hit me wit y’best shot…or was that your best shot? I know, I know…I got the blog, I got the ‘puter…but I promised to print everything you said. So in essence, this is your blog through the Ironman as well. But for now, all I gotta say is, “I’ma break it down and do whatever I gotsta do…I’m tellin’ you now, I got moves for you…By the time I’m done you gonna cry out loud…cause the applause you hear is for me from the crowd!!!” ~chuckle~

Hey, word must be gettin’ out about the pose-off. Turk Fickling, who arguably was the best poser of the 90’s and who I’ve been workin’ to get back on stage just for something like this hit me up on a text. And I quote…”I heard you got a battle goin’ on with Tony R??" And Elaine Craig chipped in as well off of T’s FB post… "Oh, it's ON and it's FUN!!!! hmmm...should we have Mark [Mason] shoot a little preview video to put on the site to tempt everyone? Bwaahahahaha!" Finally, Mark Sindayen, who is an awesome poser in his own right, commented, "T Ruggiero is challenging you for the posing award. T-Man and Dave…I gotta see this. Now you two are gettin me motivated!"

Ok, America…it’s up to you…hit me, Elaine, or Tony up and let us know what y’think. How should we do this? Should we let all-comers in? Rules & Guidelines? Let’s have AMERICA’S TOP POSER right here in the PNW! I ain’t sayin’ nuthin…I’m just sayin’ what I’m sayin’…J

Four weeks tomorrow. So what am I doing in prep for this? Nothing much, to be honest with you. I’ve got two weeks to go for Spokane’s NOC in which I’m gonna…oh…wait…I can’t say what I’m gonna do cause I can’t let T in on it. But I will say this…cardio is at a solid hour of hard intensity seven days a week. Also, having Jeff back is definitely good for the ole muscles. They were telling me last night, “We missed Jeff. We missed that push. Why can’t you do that with anyone else or by yourself?” It’s all good, muscles…as long as your bromance is back don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s even better when your #1 training partner is also your chiropractor. Did I ever tell you guys about the time Jeff had to save me on legs? And it goes a lil somethin’ like this…

Years ago at my big gym, Jeff and I were on legs. He was doing his usual 9-10 plates a side on leg press and I was at my usual 7-8 plates on the other leg press. It’s immaterial that Jeff’s plates were 45’s and mine were 10’s – a push is a push! I finished before him and went to the Frank Zane Leg Blaster. That’s a great piece of equipment that allows me to squat without the compression factor on my back, which isn’t good for a person with a bad case of scoliosis. I was on my last set at light weight. Went down and couldn’t come out of the hole…my back and hip literally lost all feeling. We later deduced that it was an impinged nerve that caused instantaneous muscle weakness. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

I called over to Jeff – “Jeff…help…something’s wrong with my back…I can’t stand up!”

Jeff was doing a set of leg press. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay…just can’t push up out the hole…my back and hip don’t seem to be working…I’m stuck.”

“Ok…lemme finish my set and I’ll be right there!”

That’s right, America! My used-to-be-bestest workout partner in the whole world left me under load while he finished his set. A real trooper, that Jeff. I’ve always said, once you start your workout, you let NOTHING stop you from finishing it! But I digress…

Back on point…the nutrition is impeccable. Here’s a typical day’s eating (and training) for me right now…

2 scoops protein w/1 tbsp CapTri brand MCT oil along with all my thermic agents and supps (and Excedrin to get this ole body movin’…) 30 minutes prior to morning cardio.

60 minutes of hard cardio.

50 gms uncooked oatmeal (2-3 pks Splenda added in)

2 tbsp CapTri added in Oatmeal

1 slice Dave’s Killer Bread

4 oz Protein (either chicken or turkey)

Train with weights – one bodypart a day (standing calves one day, seated another) no 2^nd cardio just yet…

BIG protein shake post-workout – can’t give out the secret ingredients – that’s proprietary information (ya’ll will get it in a lil bit…gonna blog on that topic soon)

150-200 gm wt chicken

250 gm wt stir-Fry veggies

100 gm wt cooked rice or red potato

2 tbsp CapTri

Repeat above meal twice more before bed.

If I get hungry between meals I’ll plug in a Parrillo bar, Parrillo cookie or brownie or both. I typically have a diet pop at night but will cut it out the last week. My water is at a little more than a gallon/day right now. As I said yesterday, nuthin fancy…nuthin magical – just good old-fashioned training, cardio, and nutrition – something that’s stood the test of time. Y’know…it’s funny how so many new supps come and go, and all these crazy food plans and diets come and go, but the tried-and-true methods never go out of vogue. People are constantly asking me what’s my ‘secret’ for doing so many shows and coming in with the same dialed-in look. It’s simple lil’ weedhoppahs…I’ve been following this plan for close to 20 years. I believe in it, I live it, and I benefit from it. I learned a long time ago that I’m not gonna be a mass monster, so I made the decision to stay lean, do shows, entertain the crowds, and have fun with this.

Hey, I’m out…time to eat. But before I go I’ve just gotta say that Bren – one of the fellow bloggers – has a killer routine! Still a little rough in a couple places but by the time she hits the stage it’ll be spot on. I’ve got confidence in her! And she’s dialing in nicely, especially for someone that’s carried so much weight for years. Oh…and mine and Cindy’s couples routine…I said this a couple blogs ago – it’s gonna be one of the best I’ve done, and that’s saying a lot, what with Janet Guenther’s creativeness for our past routines and what me and Marga Overby did at the EC this year. You guys will have to call it – heck, I like em all! I suppose I could pick a favorite if pushed, but I’d rather not. They’ve all been excellent, entertaining routines.

Sleep tight, Tony…don’t let the posing bugs bite! Peace…

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

CHALLENGE!!!

09.02.2010 13:31:54

T – CHALLENGE!!!! That’s right, all you lil weedhoppahs out there in Cyberland. Tony has officially issued a challenge to the Dr. in which HE GUARANTEES that he’ll take me out for the coveted “Best Poser” award! Don’t know if you guys remember an old movie with Gregory Hines, his brothers, Scatman Crothers, and many other Tap Dancer greats. The premise was simple…there were all these guys who claimed to be the best tap dancer. Anyone who wanted a piece of someone else simply yelled CHALLENGE! It was on then. You saw some of the most incredible tap dancing you could imagine. A song would be put on and each man would have time to free-tap. The beauty of those scenes was that they were not choreographed. Every single tap dancer, during a challenge, would free-tap with the camera rolling – no second takes as that meant you couldn’t hang. These guys wanted to make the movie as realistic as possible. Don’t know how this is gonna work out, but I’m all for a free-pose off. The fire within has been lit, the challenge has been issued. Ya’ll don’t wanna miss the 2010 Washington Ironman Naturally. The Dr. has a new genre of music that is off-the-hook! He’s practicing new moves and puttin’ together new combinations that have never been seen on stage before. Tony – say y’prayers. This is gonna be like in the movie Friday, in which at the end Chris Tucker looks down at Tiny Lister, the movie’s bully, and says, “You got knocked the ^*%& out!” ~chuckle~

Now I gotta be fair…Tony, any time you wanna rebutt or diss back, I’ll give you equal time in the blog. I don’t want this to be one-sided and be the only trash-talker. I know you’ve got a lot to throw back at me. I promise to print word-for-word what you say. You can text me, email me, FB me…the choice is yours – I’ll post it. No foul language, that’s the only rule…unless you hit below the belt and say I got skinny calves and no quads…then it’s on like Donkey Kong, Big Brotha!...oh…wait…I DO have skinny calves and no quads…ok T – nuthin’s off limit.

Now America, in case you guys are wondering where all of this is coming from, some of Tony’s comrades’’ have been FB’ing me and giving me the 411 on what he’s been saying. Years ago Turk talked trash in which he said his boy would take me out at the Ironman. Every day he called me, egging me on. All that did was light a fire under me. Needless to say I took out his boy with ones straight across the board. Lesson learned. Looks like history will repeat itself…Hahaha. Like mild-mannered Bruce Banner says, “Don’t make me angry…you won’t like me when I’m angry…!” Ya’ll know I’m playin’, right? I got big love for Tony if you read the last blog, but it’s always fun when one doesn’t take oneself so serious.

Hey, gotta give a HUGE shout-out to Jeff Kahrs, my old training partner, chiropractor, and now (once again) new training partner. You gotta go back a long ways in the blogs but I wrote about my top 5 training partners. If I recall, Jeff was number one or two. It was close between him and The Farrison (Kim). Just having Jeff back each day has been a blessing in more ways than one. I can push myself hard, America, but when you’ve got that one person who somehow manages to get you to mentally and physically dig deeper without saying a word…that’s a great partner! Jeff is like that. I’ve been sorer the past three weeks with him than I’ve been working out with numerous other people over the years. I’m making gains in the weights (which I hope will lead to gaining back some of the lean I’ve lost over the years) I didn’t think I’d ever be able to achieve again, attributing it to age. I’m eating cleaner every day. Foods are locked and loaded. Cardio is a solid intense hour. You guys know I’m a firm believer in 60 minutes of High Intensity Steady-State cardio (HISS) as opposed to 30-45 minutes of HIIT cardio. The biggest thing is I once again WANT TO work out. Over the past few months I’ve trained and done shows, but I was missing that edge that I had in my 40’s. Now I’ve got two great ‘motivating’ factors (ya’ll know I STILL hate that word, right?) – the Pose-Off Challenge with Tony and Jeff back. Life is good…

As I prepare for Spokane’s Night of the Champions, I’m really liking how things are coming together. Now I’m no Joe DeRousie or Matt Porter, but I know that when I dial in to my best potential I don’t look half-bad. Tall and thin, but there’s still a decent amount of muscle on these ole bones. My old nemesis and buddy, John Shephard is training for the NOC and Ironman as well. When John dials in to his best look, which is in the high 150’s/low 160’s, he’s a tough opponent. Don’t know who else is gonna be there, but you guys know me…”The challenge is from within, the Opponent is yourself, the Victory is silent, the Reward is having met the challenge…”

Speaking of Matt Porter, I never blogged after the Tacoma show. Matt looked absolutely incredible! Big, hard, dry, and that color…Matt, I don’t know what you do (well, actually I do cause you told me) but under the lights you literally look like a Greek statue in some of your poses. You have almost the same color as Niels Anderson statues. Dude, you looked good up there – big ups. It’ll be fun to see you and Big Joe DeRousie go head to head one day…Ali vs. Fraizer 4?

America, hit me up on FB as an add so you can know when I post a blog if y’wanna. Gotta run…time to put in a lil posing practice. The music is calling me…peace…

Hey, you know what I just realized? I don’t hardly write about what I do in prep for shows anymore. I’ll get back to doing that soon – promise. But for now, I eat the right foods at the right times in the right amounts, I do my cardio, and I lift weights! ‘Nuff said…?

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

Maaaaan, Where You Been??

08.31.2010 09:51:37

I’m embarrassed, America! I’m embarrassed to say that once again I promised to blog more often and once again I failed to produce. But I got lots of good excuses! My dog ate my Cliff Notes…I left my computer at work…I was out of the country…I had emergency brain and toe surgery…my chiropractor had to put Humpty-Dumpty back together again…okay, okay…lies all of em, but I did have a busy summer! Built a deck, had a HUGE 2^nd Annual 55^th Surprise Birthday Party (yes…I threw my own surprise birthday party – the surprise was whether everyone I invited showed up), re-landscaped part of my yard, tore up my wood floor in my kitchen and put in tile (no, I ain’t doin’ yours, so don’t ask…), tiled a friend’s kitchen counter (re-read previous statement…)…the list goes on and on and on. Every time I felt like blogging I laid down until that feeling went away. I just needed that “Calgon, take me away” month or two. But no worries…I’m back as we’ve only got 5 weeks till the Ironman and I’ve got a whole lot to say! Gotta get you guys caught up, so here goes…

When last I left you I was in preparation for Andre Scott’s Oregon State BB Championships and Jeremy and Tonia Williams Washington State. I also did Chris Algeo’s Northern Classic here in Tacoma. Won my class in each show, lost the Overall in each show. Best Poser at the Northern Classic. I went old skool love ballad at the Oregon and Wash. St. shows as I was so busy I just didn’t have time to choreograph my usual type of routines. Bumped it up to my usual standard at the Northern.

Speaking of routines…I understand there’s a guy out there named Tony Ruggerio who claims that he’s gonna win the Best Poser at the Ironman!!! T – I’M CALLIN’ YOU OUT, BROTHA!! Ok…lemme ‘splain before you guys get all trippy on me. A couple days ago Jules hit me up on text and said…well…rather than write about it, I’ll just re-type our ‘conversation’.

Jules: Tony is guaranteeing he is taking Best Poser at Ironman…

Me: You tell Tony that the Dr. will once again operate…

Jules: He says your plain Jane routine at Wash St. ain’t gonna cut the mustard. Says you’re gonna need more than a pair of cowboy boots…J

Me: That was to lull everyone into a false sense of hope…

Jules: He’s laughing…

Me: Tell him, “Keep Hope Alive!”

Jules: Laughing harder now…

Jules: He says he will say a prayer for you…

Me: Tell him that I’ma beat him like a ghetto step-child…

Jules: “This is the time weedhoppah surpasses sensai”…says Tony. “He’s gonna hang his posing trunks up when I’m done with him. He is DONE!”

Me: “I floats like a butterfly n sting like a bee…cain’t nobody dance like me n Ali…”

Me: Tell Tony that when I’m done with him his mama will hold him in her arms and say, “Thass alright baby…you knew he was always better than you anyway. Maybe when he’s dead you can finally win a best poser…”

Jules: Too bad you aren’t here…would be fun to hear you guys jab in person…

Me: T can’t hang with me playin the ‘dozens’…

America, I’m from the HOOD!!! You either rank or get ranked on! And I promise you, if you got ranked on, you gonna run home cryin’ cause they come hard! Nothin’s off limits…where ya’ll think the TV show “Yo’ Momma” came from? That’s not new. Crackin’ on someone has been around for ages.

Now I hope ya’ll realize that Tony and I have been friends for close to 15 years and we roll like that, so it’s all good. Everything said was outta much love and respect, so don’t be trippin’! But I will say this…I’ma wipe the floor with him at the Ironman. Got a new genre of song that you guys will hear – it’s off-the hook! You don’t wanna miss this routine! Ok…lemme stop before I can’t live up to my own hype…

Hey, big shout out to m’boy, “The Other” Dave Patterson! I heard from him the other day. Ya’ll remember him…we competed against each other back in 2000 at the Evergreen St over in Wenatchee and then two weeks later at the Ironman. I took him out at the first show and he dusted me at the second one. Lemme set the record straight here…Dave (the other Dave) is one heck of a bodybuilder! I was lucky to win. Seriously! He was using the Evergreen as a tune-up and was about 10-12 lbs over where he wanted to be. I won simply because I was harder. He had the size, shape, symmetry, and muscularity! I only had the hardness FOR THAT SHOW! Two weeks later it was a laughing matter. As soon as I saw him backstage I knew he would win…face drawn in, hands lean…the look of a competitor who’s ready to do battle and win. For all you little weedhoppah’s out there, Clint Eastwood said it best…”A man’s gotta realize his limitations.” I can never, with a capital N-E-V-E-R take out the other Dave Patterson when he comes in contest shape. Too big, too muscular, too symmetrical.

Why am I saying this? Because at least once every single show, I hear someone backstage complaining about his or her placing. Can I offer a bit of perspective here? Before you start complaining, take a real long, hard look at that body in the mirror. Ask if that body has done EVERYTHING it needed to do to prepare for the show. If the answer is yes, then the judging is out of your hands as is your placing. You’re dealing with subjective judges. If they like your look, you win. If they don’t, you lose. What’s so hard to understand about that. If the answer is no…well…you probably got what you deserved! It’s okay to admit that sometimes sometime is just plain better than you. That’s the case with me and Dave…he’s just plain better!

Dave now lives in Wyoming with his wife and he works in law enforcement. It was always my hope that I’d run into him again…not to beat him – Lord knows that wouldn’t happen unless he was off his game – but to simply compete against him and have fun with him. How cool would that be to have had Dave Patterson take 1^st and Dave Patterson take 2^nd show after show? Add to that he was a good poser as well who very well could have taken some Best Poser awards (hey…I’m sure he’d take the challenge to bump his game up when it came to posing – that’s what competition is all about…), and we’d have the northwest trippin’! “Which Dave won? White Dave? Black Dave? Big Dave? Skinny Dave?” Then, when he died, I’d just lie and say that I was the Dave Patterson who won everything all the time!! Hahahahaha…Dave, I know you’re reading this, so you know I’m joking! Seriously, I’m glad to hear from him, and glad to hear that everything is well in his life. He hasn’t competed since the Ironman in 2000, but as he said, “I’m getting the itch!!!!” I’m almost afraid to say this, but hey dude, the invitation is open to come on back out here for one more go-round. You can even stay at my house and “The Two Dave’s” will walk in and walk out together – hardware in hand!

As I said, I’m 5 weeks out from the Ironman and 3 out from Paul and Ivan’s Night of Champions over in Spokane. I’ll hit you guys up later with some of the stuff I’ve been doing. For now…gots’ta run…gotta routine I need to put together…The Dr is out…peace…

The Dr

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

Woe is me...

07.16.2010 06:48:06

America, I’ve hit a new low! But before I get into that, let me say to the young weedhoppahs out there – Enjoy your youth! Train hard. Train heavy. Train fast. Train with a ferocity that defies human logic and understanding. Do high reps, low reps, intermediate reps. Do drop sets, strip sets, and descending sets. Do straight sets, compound sets, supersets, and multiple sets. Do slo-mo, quick tempo, and rest-pause training. Do it all, young ones. Train 5-6-7 days a week, twice a day if you feel the need. Train as if your life depended upon it, even though it doesn’t. Train like it’s your last workout even though it won’t be. Why do I say all of this? Because one day it will all be over. One day your warm-up weight will become your max weight. You’ll spend 40 minutes of your 50 minute workout loosening up the joints and warming up the muscles for that one all-out 25% of what you used to do set! And you’ll be ecstatic when you get it! Time catches up with us all eventually, America. And it caught up to me this past week.

The Dr. hurts. He can no longer operate! Plain and simple. I’m tired of playing the bravado game, pretending that life is hunky-dorey, a piece-o-cake, and full of sugar and spice and everything nice. This body is broke down, tore up from the floor up, and about to cave in! It’s a train wreck that’s already happened but hasn’t yet fallen off the tracks to the chasm below. I’m barely holding together. I give thanks to my Chiropractor, Dr. Jeff Kahrs, for that. Jeff, an ex-training partner (and hopefully current one if I can ever get my butt in gear and complete the shower for him to use after the workout so he can go back to work in a pre-funk smell…) has put Humpty-Dumpty back together again so many times I feel like Frankenstein. He doesn’t really fix me as I’m beyond fixing, but he keeps me from regressing faster than I normally would. My neck goes out more often than Tommy Chong gets high. My hips and back hurt worse than Lindsey Lohan looks with her new ‘enhanced’ lips. Sleeping is like being the new guy in prison going to bed and your cell door is wide open – it ain’t gonna happen! Hey Doc, I haven’t slept literally in two nights because of this blown neck, so The Dr. will be lookin’ for a lil’ hands-on tomorrow…as we say back in the ‘hood…”Cmon main…hook a brotha up!”

I pulled out all the stops this past week, America. I had a level of conditioning I wanted to attain. I knew what I needed to do, and doggone it, I was gonna do it! My sis, who lives with me, watched me get out of the chair last night. She just shook her head, it was so comical. Both hands on the armrests, a couple of rocks back and forth, and then push off to the bent-over, hands-on-knees position which is held for several seconds as I catch my balance and wait for the body to say, “Ohhh, you wanna stand up? Ok…” She watched as I walked my hands up my massive Twiggy legs (hey…to Twiggy my legs ARE massive…) to my now-famous “Gorrilla-with-a-stick-stuck-up-his-butt-stance.” I move from the Homo-Sapien to the Homo-Erectus position. Elaine asks, “You alright, Daveed?” I robotically turn to her (that’s the only way I turn now…) and respond with a silly grin on my face, “I’m good.” She shakes her head and walks upstairs. She’s learned better than to ask dumb questions, like “Why don’t you stop this insane madness called bodybuilding?”, or “Maybe you should go see a doctor…” Like the guy in prison who dropped the bar of soap in the shower and wants to pick it up…again…it ain’t gonna happen!

We had a fashion show at our church a few weeks ago. One of the outfits the Dr. modeled was an Adidas Sweatsuit with an UnderArmour sleeveless tight-fitting spandex type material underneath. You KNOW the Adidas top came off once I hit the runway, America. I’m not braggin’ but I didn’t look too bad for an ole man. Best-built physique of the show, I humbly say to you. Took out all the young’uns. Prior to the start of the show, one of the young studs ambles up…

“I bet I could out-bench you…”

“You probably could!”

“How much do you bench?”

“Not as much as I used to.”

“How big are your arms?”

“Bigger than yours.”

“I still think I could get you…” he snorts, nostrils flaring, mane waving, Banta Rooster feathers changing color in the breeze.”

“Dude, add y’daddy and I’d still kick your butt. My toes have done more than you can dream. Get outta here talkin’ trash.” I turn and walk away. Good thing there wasn’t a gym there (yet) America, or my response likely would have been, “…Probably could…” as I hobble off. What happened to ‘much respect’ in the world, America? Young’uns…I tell ya. Was I ever like that???

I poke fun because I don’t take myself serious anymore. The glory days, if any, are long gone. Regardless of skill level, athletic ability, or genetic potential, age becomes the great equalizer for us all, given enough time. Jeff is the same age as me, but he’s still the Brahma Bull in the gym because of great genetics and chiropractic care. ~chuckle~…give it another 20-25 years or so…we’ll be racing down the retirement home hallway in our motorized wheelchairs. I can see it now…two geezers talkin’ trash to each other as they change our diapers…

“I always have been able to and I’ll always be able to outlift you, Dave.”

“Dude, you can’t even put your teeth in, you’re so messed up! And who’s Dave?”

“At least I still got teeth, even if they ain’t real…”

I’m in the middle of the deep end of the pool with a 45-lb plate strapped around my waist treadin’ water. I’m sinking fast. Oh, I promise I’ll pull it together for Saturday and any other show I do. That’s what “over-medication” is all about. The thrill of entertainment is now greater than the thrill of victory. So for all you lil’ weedhoppahs out there prepping for this weekend, to paraphrase the old grizzled desk sergeant from the classic TV series, Hill Street Blues, “Let’s have fun out there!” See ya’ll in a couple…peace!

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

07.14.2010 13:57:32

I love Clint Eastwood, America. He has some of the greatest one-liners in movie history. “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do!” “Go ahead…make my day!” And my personal favorite – “A man’s gotta realize his limitations!” This definitely applied to me this past weekend at the Oregon St. Bodybuilding Championships. Lemme ‘splain…

After the fiasco in barely getting there in time to compete (read the previous blog to get caught up on what happened…I’ll wait…), I walked offstage with my trophy. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I spaced on the fact that I needed to go back onstage for the Master’s Overall. I grabbed my glasses and started walking back to the pump-up room when one of the backstage helpers yelled…

“Dave…where you goin’? You’re up for the Overall!”

“Is that now? Man…I’m really out of it.” So I put my trophy down on the ground, dropped my glasses, and headed back out. I was up against Carl Washington, a friend who’d competed in the USA’s or Nationals a couple of years ago and done very well. Carl had the classic bodybuilder’s body – shorter in stature, thick upper body, wide flaring lats, small waist, and great quads. He won the Overall Master’s a couple months ago at the Bill Pearl Classic with a great look. Me on the other hand…tall and thin, no quads or calves, and a crooked back! It was the Budweiser Clydesdale going up against the broke-down racehorse about to be put out to pasture. It was Optimus Prime bringing it to Jerry Lewis, Jet Li against Bruce Leroy, Michael Jordan against…well…you get my point, America. This was No Mas - No Mas all over again! But I was up for the challenge in my own inimitable style…

“Carl, this is a joke, dude…a no-brainer! Be ready for me to have some fun with you out there.”

“Hey man, I’m game. What’cha gonna do?”

“I ain’t got a clue, but just go with it, okay?”

“”Man, I’m always up for havin’ a good time….”

So Turk calls us out. Carl first, me second. Once we hit our mark I just look at him and smile. A few people in the audience chuckle. Turk starts calling out the ¼ turns and we hit them on cue. Then he calls out the mandatories…Front Double Biceps. We hit it. Front Lat Spread. Hit that too. Side chest…I kinda look at Carl and start laughing. He laughs and says, “I’ma back up close to you for this…” Now you can really see the disparity between us, as if one couldn’t notice as soon as we walked out. The audience snickered. Someone actually had the audacity to yell, “This is a beatdown” as if I didn’t already know it. Back Double Biceps, Back Lat Spread, Side Triceps…all those went without incidence. On the Side Triceps, I just start crackin’ up and shaking my head as we’re posing. How bad was this beatdown? The head judge must have given Turk the Overall winner slip in record time – less than 10 seconds after we walked out. I don’t think he even collected anyone else’s votes, not that it mattered. Turk called, “Front Abdominal/Thigh…” I shook my head again, started laughing, hit some funky ab shot and glanced over at Carl as he finished his pose. The audience was rollin’ by now. Turk calls the last pose, “Most Muscular…” I just stopped, looked at Carl and bowed in respect and deference to him. HE stops and says, “My momma always taught me to respect my elders…you first!” He got me, America! I started to hit the pose, and just fell out laughing – couldn’t continue. I jumped on him and pretended to beat him down. We gathered ourselves, stood waiting for the call, and just as Turk was about to announce the winner, I started backing offstage pointing at Carl. I blew him a kiss, the audience howled, and that was that!

If y’can’t have fun with this, America, what CAN you have fun with? Never take yourself so serious that you forget it’s just a contest, and in the big scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter, does it? Because we win (or lose…) a contest doesn’t change the oil conditions in the Gulf, doesn’t fix New Orleans, and doesn’t solve world hunger and Aids. This is coming from a guy who still competes to win, but keeps his priorities in order. Okay…enough of the philosophical stuff…

Hey, ya’ll know I didn’t like my look Saturday. Even though I was on task the body didn’t respond as it usually does. Call it age or whatever you want, but I didn’t get the desired results I was after. So I changed things up starting Sunday. I dropped the bottom out of my carbs and went to 2 hours a day of cardio. When I say dropped the bottom out of carbs, it means I’m down to just enough to function mentally…about 65-75 gms/day from all sources. I don’t like this feeling, but it’s already working. I feel like crap though! I can see a difference and feel a difference in the body. I don’t wanna do nuthin’ but sleep. I slept through my 3 alarms this morning and was late for my chiropractic appt. Recently I’ve been doing an hour and a half to an hour forty-five minutes of cardio each day and have dialed in nicely. This time it didn’t work so I went back to 2 hours a day. America, I ain’t got no hair, but I’m sure if I did it would be hurtin’ right now. Ahh well…this too shall pass. Oh…and I went back to total body workouts for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Today’s workout was painful and I’ve still got tomorrow to go. I wanted to slap Joyce ‘cause she was tellin’ me to suck it up, it’s my contest, you can quit if it’s too much for you, you can do this…all the crap I say to my people. I hate it when my words come back at me…

I’m out, America. Gotta eat my last meal for the night. Just finished grillin’ some chicken breast. Since I’ve eaten all my allotted carbs for the day, I get nuthin’ but chicken! No veggies, no barbecue sauce, nada! But hey…I ain’t complaining…I lied…I AM complaining! Gimme a break, America – I got two more days of this crap…a brotha’s gotta be able to vent sometime. And you know this to be true because after all…I am The Dr! Peace…

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Whining??? There’s No Whining in Bodybuilding!

Tags:

Oregon St BB Champ Review...

07.12.2010 15:32:30

America, I haven’t been ignoring you, contrary to rumor. But…I have been AWOAGE (absent without a good excuse) for over a month! My last blog was June 7^th. Actually I’ve got a lot of excuses…don’t know if they’re good or not but I’ll get to em one day.

Yesterday (Saturday, July 10^th) was the Oregon State Bodybuilding Championships. I went down to do Dre’s show as I hadn’t done it in several years and promised him I’d do it this year. I’m also heading to Jeremy & Tonia’s show, the Washington State, this coming Saturday. Ya’ll better be there – it’s gonna be off the hook as Jeremy is having a Vegas theme. Hmmm…maybe I could go as “Belvis” (think for a sec, America…you’ll get it…). N-E-Whoo…Dre’s show was great! Had a good time seeing all the regulars and meeting new competitors. I did okay…didn’t quite dial in the way I wanted but I lucked out and won my class. Got killed in the Overall though, but lemme start at the beginning as this was quite an interesting experience…on par with the trip to Bend with Todd Scott and me.

So I ride down with Guy and Marga Overby. They were nice enough to allow the brotha to sit in the back of their BMW, but I had to take my shoes off and have on clean socks before I got in. Just kiddin…they actually allowed me to eat oatmeal in the car as they picked me up around 5:45 AM Saturday morning. America, the last time I got up that early I was 23 years old and in the military! Not even Halle Berry could get me to wake up that early…well…okay…maybe Halle…and Beyonce…but I digress!

The morning show goes smooth. I did my thang, Guy did his, and a couple other young ladies who I worked with, Keri and Haley, did theirs as well. After prejudging, Haley asked me what time the night show started. I didn’t know, but Guy chipped in, “Starts at 7 pm.” We were good to go, so we all headed out to the hotel. Once we checked in, I went to Subway and got my usual foot-long double meat turkey on 9-grain honey oat – hold the mayo, cheese, and oil please.

I went back to the room, and between bites, practiced my routine. I decided to go slow this time – throw an old-skool ballad love song at em by The Dells – “Stay In My Corner”. Since I’d posed to this song 10 years or so ago, I knew it’d be easy to choreograph, so I only needed a couple of days before the show and 25 times or so Saturday afternoon. After about 15 times through I had it nailed, and had half the sandwich down which was enough for me, so I took my usual post-prejudging nap at about 3:30 pm. At 5 pm I get up, start working on the other half of the sandwich and continue practicing for another 45 minutes or so. Guy texted me at about 6:10 and said they’d be ready to go in about 10-15 minutes. “K”, I shot back. A few minutes later I got the text, “We’re on our way down”, so I headed down. Met em in the lobby and we were off to see the Wizard! It was a nice, leisurely ride back to the venue, America. We’re laughing, joking, and having a good time.

We pull into the parking lot and I notice an abnormally high number of cars for such an early time. I make an off-the-cuff remark..something like – “Man, there’s a lot of cars here. Wouldn’t that be something if the night show started at 6 and we come rolling in late?”

Guy laughed and replied, “No worries…it starts at 7”. Marga finds a parking space quite a ways from the entrance. Just as she turns the car off, my cell rings.

“What the heck…,” I say. “Who could be calling me…?” I see its Keri on the I.D. “What up, Baby Girl? You inside?”

“Dave, where are you?”

“I’m out in the parking lot…we just pulled in. We’ll be in in just a minute…”

“Dave…they’re calling your name! You’re up next!”

“WHAT??? WHAT TIME DID THE NIGHT SHOW START?”

“It started at 6…” America, I couldn’t get off the phone fast enough!! “Guy, the night show started at 6 – not 7. We gotta get in there. They’re calling me now...Marga – I need my bag, quick!”

“Marga’s like, “Huh?? What?? The night show already started?” Guy’s sayin’, “Pop the trunk, babe…we gotta get our stuff…I coulda sworn it started at 7…”

I grab my bag and I’m pullin’ a Usain Bolt – making a mad dash for the entrance which is like a mile away (okay…it was more like a block, but it seemed like a mile…). America, Usain Bolt I’m not – I’m an ole black man with two bad knees, an artificial hip, a case of scoliosis, and luggin’ a gym bag full of crap tryin’ to run across a parking lot – not a pretty sight to say the least, and outright comical looking back in retrospect! I started out like the hare, leaving Guy in the dust, but ‘bout halfway there that ‘bear’ jumped on my back and by the time I got to the backstage entrance I was barely upright and holding onto the walls! Oh…and Guy had passed me…and HE was a huffin’ and a puffin’ as well!

I enter backstage and literally EVERYONE says, “Dave, they’ve been calling your name. Where you been? You’re up right now!” My class was lined up America, and I was the first one scheduled to pose! I literally jumped out of my clothes, grabbed some oil, but the expediter said, “Dave, you’re up – no time for oil.” I dropped the oil, ran to the music guy, said “Hit it”…and went out and rocked the house. If you didn’t know any better, you’d have thought I’d been there all along. I was on automatic when I hit the stage, America – even with everything that had just transpired I was still able to pull it together and make it do what it do!

But the reality of what happened hit as soon as I walked off. It was then that I realized that Guy was in the Master’s 0ver 40 – the class BEFORE me! That’s right America…Guy missed his class. As ecstatic as I was that I’d got there in time for my class, it was bittersweet because my friend missed his. I felt so bad for him. But God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good! Guy thought he’d been DQ’d because he missed, but that wasn’t the case. He also thought he wouldn’t be able to pose. But Andre truly is a great promoter. He allowed Guy to pose in the other category Guy had entered – Open Men’s Light-Heavywt. Everything worked out just fine. Like Ice Cube said, “Today was a good day…”

I learned a couple of good lessons from all of this America. One, the responsibility to know what time a show starts falls squarely on each individual. I do not blame Guy. And I definitely don’t want him to feel bad about what happened. But just as I teach all my people that they are ultimately responsible for literally everything that happens, so it is with me. I simply didn’t check. I promise it won’t happen again! Oh…and in case you’re wondering if Haley showed up on time, she did. She checked with someone else and verified the correct time. Did I mention that this was her very first contest…shame on me!

The second thing I learned (well…I already knew this…) is to be ready for anything when it comes to your routine. I’ve said it before, your routine needs to be so nailed, that an earthquake could happen and you’d still be posing. Speaking of that, one of the middleweight competitor’s music scratched, skipped, and stopped. He didn’t miss a beat! He just kept on posing and got great audience response. Didn’t blame the music guy or anything. He knew his routine so he did it. That’s what I’m talkin’ bout!

Hey, I’m out America…still gotta get up early and knock out that first session. I’ll holla at’cha later this week…promise. You know this to be true, because after all…I am “The Dr.!” Peace…

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

The Great Debacle: Part II

06.07.2010 15:04:18

"Sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re a fool than to open it and remove all doubt!” Unknown author

America, in the last blog, I talked about the differences in human macronutrients in regard to optimal protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake. The take-home message was that what works for you may not work for your BFF, sister, or even your identical twin! Be careful when receiving a nutritional plan from me or any other trainer and passing it along thinking it will work for someone else. If one plan worked for everyone…well…there’d only be one plan out there, right? Anyone who suggests only one specific nutritional plan for every person is gonna have problems because of the differences in individual metabolisms from person to person. And the reality of the problem is that only a small percentage of all those people will get excellent results. Most will achieve moderate results at best, and many will get poor results. Then the trainer or coach will ask, “What are you cheating on, ‘cause you can’t be following the plan. It works for ‘everybody’!” The trainer refuses to believe that his or her plan is flawed simply by the fact that no one plan works for everyone! So the blame is projected onto the client. Now you’re runnin’ ‘round all stressed out tryin’ to figure out if you’re truly doing everything that you were told to do. Madness, America! Oh, ya’ll ain’t listening to me…I just said something!!!

Back in my Exercise Physiology class at PLU my professor, Dr. Evans, warned us, “Be careful of agreeing with statements that have ‘always’, ‘never’, ‘no one’ and ‘everyone’ in them. There are not very many absolutes in this world outside of ‘Once you are born, you will die’!” I say that to say this…when you hear or read about the latest, greatest plan or product that ‘guarantees’ results regardless of work ethic, nutrition, sex, age, height, weight, and body composition, and that you’ll build an incredible 3,477% of muscle while brushing your teeth, and burn an astounding 6,393% of bodyfat while readin’ this blog, and you’re thinking about trying it, well…I have a special pig that flies that you might be interested in as well…

So how do we make sense of all of this nonsense, America? How do we find out what works best? After all, aren’t we all after the same end result – optimal positive change? We need to know that our daily efforts in the gym are not being sabotaged by what we’re doing in the kitchen, and vice versa.

In the case of all of this macronutrient mis-information I can say without reservation that there’s no substitute for experimentation and documentation – the S.W.A.G. (Scientific Wild-A$$ed Guess) if you will. As you continue to play this game and progress, you need to be willing to change things around to see how your body responds to various manipulations of protein, carbohydrate, and fat. When it comes to the new bodybuilding nutrition we don’t wanna live by “There’s only one way to skin a cat!” Don’t believe that there’s only one way to diet down, America. You want to experiment with different plans so that you can see what works, but you also have to give your body enough time with a new plan to see if it actually works.

Guy Overby, one of the guys I’m helping, is coming down nicely. Today, at 5 weeks out, his carbs are still at 350 gms/day. For one week we’re gonna change things up slightly just to see the effect. Nothing drastic which will cause him to drop like crazy – just a slight repartition of macronutrients. He’s on a one-to-one ratio of protein to carbs – 350 gms of protein to 350 gms of carbs. He does that every day and has been coming down slowly. But I want to carb-cycle him for a week to see if that might work better. So we’re switching up to one day lower-carb/one day normal carb/lower-carb/normal carb routine through next Sunday to see the effects. Notice I didn’t say LOW carbs! He’s lean and full now with a small layer of BF. Why would I want to overdiet him and run the risk of stringing him out? So what am I doing with him? Sorry America – that’s privileged information – can’t give out all my secrets. Besides, it probably wouldn’t work for you anyway, remember? […Insert shameless plug…you wanna know what works for you? Gimme a call and we’ll schedule a consultation…and yes…I do charge! End shamless plug…].

I’ve got another guy who I’m working with, John Pizarro, who’s doing something totally different as far as his nutrition and he’s coming down just as smooth. Keri, down in Vancouver, is on a plan that works for her, whereas Bren is doing well on her plan. All different plans, all good results. Another example real quick…Guy is at 50-60 minutes of cardio first session and just bumped to 50 minutes second session whereas John has been at two 60-minute sessions for a couple of weeks. I haven’t even started my second sessions yet, and my first sessions are 45-50 minutes. All three of us are doing the Oregon St. and Washington St in five and six weeks. Bio-chemical individuality, America! Everybody is different.

While experimentation is very important, without proper guidance you’re pi$$ing in the wind. My job is to provide that guidance – to make things a bit easier for you, not to say, “Dude, just do this." Even though we have bio-chemical individuality, there are a few factors than can provide insight into what range of macronutrient intake may work best for you as an individual. Those factors include lean body mass, age, training status, and body type. So let's take a look at each of these factors and see how they affect our recommendations.

Lean Body Mass. Pretty straight-forward here. All things being equal, people who have more muscle tissue will tend to burn more calories, since muscle is more metabolically-active than fat tissue. The more muscle you have, the more food you get to eat. In addition to requiring more total calories during a bulking phase (but not too much more, because excess calories have greater potential to be stored as bodyfat) more muscular people are also able to tolerate more calories during a cutting phase (unless you let yourself get too fat and didn’t give yourself enough time to diet down, at which point you’ve got to drastically cut carbs and calories to lean out).

A middleweight male competitor will eat more calories than a lightweight man, all things being equal. Factor in the dark side and things change, but we’re not talking about that. A heavyweight woman will eat more than a figure competitor, in general. They may eat the same foods, but the ratios and amounts have to be customized. Since a larger person has more muscle, he or she will be able to store more glycogen (carbs), which means more food. This also means more protein to optimize protein synthesis (growth). Now is it possible that a 5’1” figure competitor could out-eat a 5’6” female bodybuilder and still get lean? Sure! But those are the rare extremes, not the norms. This blog is already long enough! Let’s stay in that 66% of the bell curve, okay?

Age. This is a factor that affects all of us. As we age, our metabolic rate tends to decrease as our physical activity decreases, and this decreases our caloric requirements. But it also affects the optimum intake of specific macronutrients. When we’re young (puberty to late teens), our bodies are very much hormone-driven. Insulin (and to a lesser degree, GH) is released in large amounts to facilitate growth. Young individuals can tolerate much greater carbohydrate intake and require less protein to optimize muscle protein synthesis, as young people are much more sensitive to the anabolic effects of amino acids. This changes as we move into adulthood. We become less tolerant of carbohydrates and less sensitive to the anabolic properties of insulin. Our muscle growth becomes less growth hormone (Insulin, GH, systemic IGF-1) driven and more driven by nutrition and proper training. Protein requirements increase for adults as the body continues to age. We crest at 28-35 years old and then the inevitable happens…we begin to start losing muscle – slowly at first, but then the juggernaut starts picking up speed. Proper training and nutrition can delay it but everyone ages, America! There’s no drug, no Pandora’s box or Fountain of Youth out there that will stop the inevitable.

There’s also a shift as we get into our 50’s (where I’m at) and 60’s. We’re much less insulin-sensitive and far less sensitive to the anabolic effects of amino acids. Thus, our carb intake will need to decrease and our protein intake will need to increase to compensate for these differences. I see this now in me. I just can’t take in the high carbs like I used to. The days of 400-500 gm carb days for me are gone. I used to be able to eat a cup of uncooked oatmeal, a couple pieces of toast with jelly, and still junk out and not gain a pound. Now I get a horrible headache if I eat ½ cup oatmeal with one piece of plain toast. I was a donut junkie growing up – maple bars and cinnamon rolls were my favorite. Now let me eat 1/3 maple bar and I need Excedrin for a couple of days! Sugars hit me harder and faster than when I was younger. I also find that protein now works better for me as far as feeling better. So in general, younger individuals should be able to consume more carbohydrates and less protein, but the older we get, the less carbohydrates and the more protein/fat we should consume, to make up our caloric balance.

Training Status. Obviously, all things being equal, the more intensely you train, the more calories you’ll need to consume to optimize recovery and growth and make up for the amount of calories burned during training. Someone undergoing a vigorous routine that causes more muscle damage will need more total calories and probably more carbohydrates to fuel training, possibly more protein for recovery, and maybe even more fat. So although total calories will need to increase or decrease, depending upon training frequency, intensity, and duration, the ratios of protein, carbohydrates, and fat may not change that much. Once the proper ratio is determined for each individual, that ratio should hold for a while, but once again, factors can come into play which can cause a shift in the macronutrients from season to season and show to show.

One note…if you’re restricting your carbs for the sake of contest and you’re training intensely, your protein requirements will actually increase. How much? Can’t answer that, but in general, if you follow the 1.5 gms/lb BW formula, then I’d recommend bumping it up to 2 gms/lb BW, especially if you’re more of an Ectomorphic individual.

Body Type. We’ve covered the Ecto-Meso-Endomorphs in several previous blogs so I won’t bore you with the details again. To net it out, endomorphs are individuals who tend to have more difficulty losing body fat while dieting and more difficulty keeping body fat off while bulking. For these individuals, they usually should consume fewer carbohydrates, because they tend to have lower insulin sensitivity, and they should consume more protein and fiber, because protein and fiber have beneficial effects on thermogenesis.

Compare this with typical ectomorphs who have difficulty gaining weight, but have no trouble losing body fat. These individuals should consume more carbohydrates and less protein, because they are more sensitive to insulin and they do not want to create excess thermogenesis from greater protein intake, which will make it even more difficult for them to gain weight and muscle. Obviously, mesomorphs will fall in-between endomorphs and ectomorphs, in terms of recommendations.

Recommendations? I’m so glad you asked! Rather than give canned food plans, I use formulas. The formulas individualize each person from the scientific perspective. From there it’s the S.W.A.G. I build each diet starting with protein, plug in the veggies, determine how much fat I think each person should take in, and from there it’s the manipulation of the carbs that take you either up, hold you, or lean you out. Add in the cardio and you dial in. Not rocket science, America, but cha’better know what you’re doing if you want that optimal look you’re after.

Long blog today, America…y’boy is out! Time to eat, watch a lil’ tube, and then hit the sack. Holla if y’need help! Peace…

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

It’s what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts! John Wooden – 1910-2010

Tags:

The Great Debacle: Part I

05.29.2010 13:13:53

America, I don’t know if all of you knew this, but Marga Overby, my Mixed Pairs partner at the Emerald Cup this year, was featured as the cover story in the newest issue of the Parrillo Performance Press. You can check out her story at http://www.parrillo.com. Big ups to Marga and Guy for ‘makin’ it do what it do!’ Speaking of couples, I’m in the market for a female partner for the summer and fall shows. We have to match up well as far as physiques and we’ll need to be in the same geographical area to practice, practice, practice! I’ve got a couple of songs that I’d like to do, and with the right partner I think we can make something happen, not to mention that it’ll be entertaining for the crowd. You might be asking, why not Marga or Janet (my usual partner)? Well, Marga is Guy’s wife and mixed pairs partner. He was so gracious to allow me to use her for this one routine. We rocked it but she’s back with her hubba hubba husband. Janet is taking time off and will probably not be doing the shows I want to do. So if any of you ladies out there can stand to work with me, you’ve got a good look and will dial in nicely (hey…I always wanna win, remember…), and just want to have a lot of fun onstage, then contact me via email, phone, FB, or this blog. Now accepting applications…~chuckle~

Speaking of Guy Overby, once again he came through in the clutch. He sent me a link to a great article that I was going to rework and then post, but I saw that it was part 3. So I went into the archives, found the first two articles, read em, saw that they also were very good, and decided to rework and add my own style to them. This is the first in a series of three. The original article was titled “The Great Macronutrient Debate Part I, by Layne Norton. Much of his stuff is left in. I changed a few things around, added some stuff that works for me, and renamed it. So before you yell “plagiarism” I’ve given credit where credit is due. Everything that Layne said I’ve said before in other articles and blogs, but it’s nice to read a different style on the same subject. I was thinking as I read it, “This guy knows his stuff and I like his style of writing.” Hmmm…wonder why? ‘Nuff said? Good – enjoy!

The Great Debacle: Part I

“Differences of opinion can be creatively stimulating as well as frustrating.” Jim Coleman

When it comes to bodybuilding nutrition and trying to decipher what protein, carbs, and fat intake to implement, things can certainly get confusing for us. If you ask certain gurus out there, they will tell you that carbohydrates are absolutely useless and need to be completely cut out. Others will shout from the rooftops that a high carbohydrate intake is required for maximal anabolism. Old-school bodybuilders may tell you that the only thing that matters is eating a zillion grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Many of these gurus will also make it a point to discredit the arguments of anyone else who has a difference of opinion from their own. In fact, a more appropriate quote to use for this article may be "Opinions are like a$$holes. Everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks."

To be sure, there are many times when I feel bad for our readers getting so much conflicting information from so many different sources. So who’s right? Should you be cutting all carbs out and following modified versions of Adkins but with a bodybuilding emphasis? Should you be eating so much protein that you need to raise your own cattle in order to cover the staggering cost of your beef eating (remember the old commercial for Wendy’s with the lil’ old lady who shouted “Where’s The Beef?”)? Or should you be eating so many carbohydrates that you spend half the day in a delirious insulin coma (Momma, is that you?”)?

Well I’m here to settle all this nonsense for you, hopefully for the last time. All these gurus are right… and they are all wrong. What a shockingly un-helpful revelation, huh? But as John Parrillo so eloquently put it over 30 years ago, “All diets work, and all diets fail!” Let me explain what I mean. Despite us all having the same metabolic pathways, our bodies are strikingly different from individual to individual in their responses to various macronutrient profiles. Perhaps this is why even in the scientific community we see quite a bit of variability in the outcomes of controlled studies examining different macronutrient profiles. Increasing information about gene polymorphisms and different individual tolerances to drug and nutrient responses has made it very clear that in the coming years, nutritional advice is going to need to shift from generalized recommendations to specific targeted recommendations for the individual. That’s why I’ve preached for over 20 years that ‘cookie-cutter’ type nutrition plans don’t work. There’s no way you can put everyone on the same plan and expect them all to get the same results. Just not possible!

A practical example of what I’m talking about would be the case of a few actual clients I have worked with in the past. I’ve changed the first couple names to Sam and Dave to protect the innocent. Both Sam and Dave were approximately the same age (52 and 55 respectively), same height (about 5'10") and roughly the same weight to begin prepping for their shows (about 175 pounds). They both ended up at approximately the same weight for competition (about 160 and 162 pounds respectively). They both had similar structures and started at almost the exact same body fat.

As a coach, if you just looked at their stats on a piece of paper you’d think they should be on the same plan. After all, same height, same weight, same age, same %BF…what would make you think otherwise? And if you had them following generalized recommendations from a cookie-cutter type formula for protein, carbs, and fat intake, then it is likely they both should end up with similar, if not exact results. But within a few weeks of working with the both of them I realized that they had different tolerances to macronutrients, carbohydrates in particular. Sam couldn’t go above 75 gms per day and he was able to get completely shredded. Dave, on the other hand, tolerated carbohydrates extremely well and I was able to keep him up around 200-250 gms per day. But in the end, both of them got shredded and both of them won their respective shows. Right now I’m working with two guys who, 7 weeks out from their show (the Washington State), are both in excess of 300 gms of carbs/day! As it stands now, I plan on keeping them high – above 200 gms – through the show. I’ve already had to build their carbohydrate intake recently. As the science of nutrition evolves, we’re seeing that the old “starve em to get em lean” philosophy is no longer holding true.

Now I have hundreds of other examples of clients who have a similar story. I’ve worked with people who got contest-lean on 400 grams of carbs. I’ve worked with people who had to drop all the way down to 50 grams of carbs per day to get lean enough! That’s a huge difference! It took me a while to figure out one female, but after a couple of months, she worked best on 125 gms of carbs/day with 20 gms at each meal. Another female had to cut out literally all carbs and just go with the 25 gm wt (17 gms of carbs) of oatmeal as her starchy carbs for the whole day for almost 12 weeks. As we’ve seen here however, finding exactly where you fit in the macronutrient continuum can make the difference between winning and being the pudgy person onstage who everyone asks, “Are you kiddin’ me???”

This is the reason that I always chuckle when I hear people talk about “doing Dave Patterson’s diet” or “following Dave Patterson’s diet program.” There is no such thing. What works for me may not work for your metabolism. I’ve worked with thousands of people over the years and all of them had different plans, at least subtly based on how they responded to various manipulations in protein/carbohydrate/fat intake. Whether they were a regular client or a competitor, each plan was customized and individualized. It still is. I might start with a general broad plan for the first week just to see in which direction I should head, but very quickly I start changing things to make it work for that particular individual. Experience has taught me that I can look at someone and categorize them – i.e., I can roughly figure out what their macros are simply by looking at and talking with them. This is my SWAG (Scientific Wild-A$$ed Guess). It gets me close. From there it’s the art within the science. But to do this, I need time – enough time to figure out your metabolism and system. All the variables have to be considered…cardio, weights, sleep, job, stress level, mindset…everything comes into play. That’s why there’s no such thing in my book as a “one-plan-for-every-person” program. You might want to consider that and ask your trainer about that the next time you start dialling down for a show.

For a fortunate few, I’ve determined that they tolerated carbohydrates extremely well. This meant some individuals got to consume large amounts of carbs off-season, pre-contest, and right up to the show while staying lean! For others, it meant staying high-protein, higher fat and moderate-to-low-carbs, even in the off-season in order to prevent excess fat gain. So if you hear someone talk about “Dave Patterson’s diet program” you can be sure that they have no idea what they are talking about. I have about 20,000+ diet plans, and every time I pick up a new client that number grows.

As discussed previously, it seems that many trainers and coaches out there champions a certain macronutrient or a certain type of diet and tries to apply that to every single person. As we’ve just demonstrated, that is the exact WRONG way to do things. Are there people out there who respond well to low-carb, high-fat diets? Absolutely! Are there people out there who shrivel up like Lorena Bobbitt’s ex-husband when he looks at her when they follow a low-carb diet? You bet your unsalted nuts there are. All the macronutrients have various benefits; the biggest thing is keeping a balance that is beneficial for your individual metabolism. So before we go any further, let’s quickly look at the benefits of each.

Protein: I’m not going to beat you over the head with the importance of protein. Unless this is the first time you’ve ever read on protein, you know that protein is important. High-protein meals have been shown to increase muscle protein synthesis more than ‘adequate’ protein meals. Protein also has a thermogenic effect and high-protein diets have been shown to cause greater fat loss, compared to normal protein diets. But you can have too much of a good thing, so it’s important to keep protein in balance. In general, somewhere between one to two gms of protein per pound of bodyweight is the accepted norm, but remember, you’ll have to experiment to find your optimal amount. And one final note…it could change from show to show based upon LBM, conditioning, age, and lots of other variables.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates increase muscle glycogen and spare dietary and muscle protein from being oxidized (burned) and used as energy. This saves the precious amino acids from dietary protein for what they are intended - muscle-building purposes. Furthermore, carbohydrates have been shown to have a synergistic effect with dietary protein on muscle protein synthesis. That’s why you should always take in carbs you’re your protein. The amount should be determined through trial and error. Insulin has also been shown to decrease protein breakdown. So as you can see, carbohydrates do have benefits, but need to be controlled to prevent excess fat gain.

Fats: Fats provide energy and are important for cellular integrity, turnover, and may be protein sparing. Fats provide for joint lubrication, healthy skin, hair, nails, teeth, and so many other functions. But the reality is that (in general) fat makes you fat. Now again, if you happen to be one of the few individuals who can tolerate large amounts of fat, then you’re one of the few lucky ones. But most cannot and will not.

So the big question is: How do you figure out where you fit? What is optimal for YOUR body’s metabolism? Well, I’ll be frank and say that there is simply no substitute for experimentation, documentation, and patience. Try different things and see how your body reacts, but make sure you are patient enough to give everything enough time. This means that you DON’T jump from plan to plan to plan every week, or every time you read about this or that diet, or even if your BFF tells you that his ‘guru’ (me included) is all that AND a can of pork-n-beans! This also means tracking your protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake and documenting your response to various macronutrient profiles. The only way you’re truly going to be able to make this happen is to weigh and measure your foods. I’m not talking pieces and cups either. I’m talking grams and ounces. Buy a food scale people! Write it down until you learn what works for you. At the start of every single pre-contest diet I weigh every single thing that goes into my mouth. That’s the only true way I can tell what’s working for me.

Now I know for some of you, that sounds like a lot of work, but let me tell you something, if you want to build a great physique, then you had better be ready to work your butt off, and if you are afraid of counting macronutrients, then all I can tell you is to cowboy up and get over it. Besides, programs on the net like fitday.com make tracking your intake very easy, compared to when I got into the game and had to do it on pen and paper. Did I mention I had to walk to and from school in 10 feet of snow uphill with no shoes on – both ways!!!? So for exact macronutrient intake, I’m not going to be able to help you much with the exact amounts that will be optimal for YOU without working with you, and anyone who says they can determine that for everyone and put it in an article either is flat-out arrogant, ignorant, or a snake-oil shyster.

The best I can do is give you some general recommendations to get you pointed in the right direction. In general, you want to eat enough protein to maximize anabolism, enough fat to get optimal fatty acid intakes, and keep carbs as high as you can while still losing fat at an appropriate rate. As discussed previously, the exact amount will vary greatly from person to person. In the next blog I’ll elaborate on my recommendations and show you how to use some basic information to give you insight as to what may be optimal for your body.

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

05.24.2010 16:13:29

I was thinking about how I wanted to start this blog, America, but I’m drawing a blank, so I’ll just get right to the point. Here’s the rest of the article on the hCG diet by Tom Scheve that’s the latest, greatest, but certainly not the last piece-o-crap diet to surface. Remember, anything in the [brackets] and black are my thoughts, not the author’s. Enjoy!

The HCG Diet Craze – Part II

HCG and Weight Loss -- the Calorie Crash

Five hundred calories doesn't give you much to work with as far as dinner options go. [In fact, 500 calories is considered lower than the typical VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) which consists of anywhere between 700-1000 calories.] Though subsequent hCG diets have tinkered with the elements, most programs hold pretty true to the original formed by Dr. Simeons.

Each round of treatment lasts a minimum of 26 days, and 23 of those days require a daily injection of hCG. [There are now oral tabs that you can swallow or sublingual tabs that are placed under the tongue and dissolve, and liquid drops that are reputed (by the manufacturers, of course…) to work as well]. Treatment may last as long as 43 days (with 40 injections), unless a patient loses 34 to 40 pounds (15 to 18 kilograms) before the allotted time has passed. Patients don't receive hCG injections for the last three days of any treatment period so that it can cycle completely out of their bodies before they resume a normal diet. (It also takes about three days for hCG's effects to "kick in.")

Why stop after 40 days? Simeons noted that subjects seemed to develop immunity to hCG after 40 days and required a six-week break from the diet to fully resensitize to it. Simeons recommended no more than four total treatments, separated by breaks.

In addition to receiving shots, dieters are instructed to cut their daily intake of calories to 500 a day, but not until after the third shot. Once the hCG is active in a dieter's body, its release of long-stored fat provides the body with the calories it needs to burn to get through a day (a day, it should be noted, without much exercise). As long as fat deposits are being released for use, the 500 daily calories being ingested is supposed to be enough to sustain the dieter without the crazy hunger pangs one would normally experience on a 500-calorie diet. Once a dieter drops the excess weight, the treatment must stop, because hCG only affects stored fat. Once that's used up, the body will quickly reject a self-imposed limit of 500 total daily calories. What little food can be consumed is supposed to be high in protein and low in starches, carbohydrates and high-fat foods. Alcohol is forbidden, and updated versions of the diet sometimes include additional appetite suppressants, such as daily injections of phentermine or other stimulants.

But what does the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) make of all this? Find out in the next section.

[A few questions here Doc Simeons…if I’ve only got 15-20 lbs to lose to say, dial in for a show, will this plan work for me or is it just designed for the grossly or morbidly obese couch potatoes who have so much excess weight to lose that cutting down to 500 calories a day is not a threat to survival until they reach their “set point”. My second question is, what would happen if I just ate my normal foods and took hCG? Would I still lose? What would happen if I just took hCG and didn’t eat anything? Would I lose more weight? Finally, you say that I’d suffer crazy hunger pangs if I went on a 500-calorie diet without hCG …isn’t it true that if I were grossly or morbidly obese that I could not eat anything for several days or weeks and lose weight and not get hungry because my body is tapping into its own fat stores? Just a few questions, Doc…]

[Sidebar here, America…I can answer the last question from experience. When I was in the Master’s program at PLU I was assigned a morbidly obese woman to work with on nutrition and exercise. I didn’t have a clue as to how much she should eat, so I asked my professor, Dr. Evans, the former Director of Exercise Science at Stanford University. He said, “David, she has so much bodyfat that you literally do not have to feed her anything for the first 200 or so lbs she loses. Her body will naturally burn stored fat as a fuel source until she reaches her set point – that point in which losing anymore weight without doing it right will be considered a threat to survival and her body will begin hoarding fat.” Over a six-month period the woman lost over 150 lbs. I had her on a VLCD with walking around a track as her only exercise – and she had to build up to that. Her caloric intake was between 750-800 cal/day. After six months she bottomed out on weight loss so I slowly started increasing her calories. When I graduated she was at slightly more than 1000 calories with a total weight loss of 225 lbs and still losing].

HCG as a Dietary Aid: What Say the FDA?

The FDA has provided its stamp of approval to the use of hCG -- as a fertility drug. In your attempts to lose weight by tricking your body with the presence of a pregnancy-related hormone, your body may turn the tables and help you get pregnant [if you’re female and having sex]. Within five years of its discovery, hCG was already being packaged and marketed to the public as a fertility drug. (If you're a woman who doesn't want to get pregnant, you should be extra-careful if you're taking hCG.)

Aside from fertility, the FDA doesn't approve hCG use for any other reason, including weight loss. However, lack of approval doesn't prevent hCG's use as a dietary aid. As long as you have a doctor willing to write a prescription, you can obtain hCG. With a surge in public interest in the hCG diet (owing almost entirely to a large marketing push of this dusted-off 60-year-old diet craze), there's no shortage of weight-loss clinics staffed by doctors who write such prescriptions all day long. There have been reports of people obtaining hCG (or something being passed off as hCG) on the Internet, despite the need for a prescription to obtain the drug. Such practice would bring up issues of safety and effectiveness of the doses being provided through the black market.

There have been few reports of health problems developing as a result of the hCG diet, although there are some risks, among them an increased risk of blood clots, headaches, restlessness and depression. [I don’t know if this is true or scare tactics…but if they are true, then at what dosage do the risks occur?] Also, you may feel…well…like you're pregnant -- swelling, breast tenderness and water retention, anyone? HCG can also cause a potentially life-threatening condition called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).

Proponents of the diet point out that hCG is clearly safe for pregnant women and the fetuses they carry, and that dieters receive a much smaller dose of hCG than is found under normal conditions in pregnant women. [Seriously??? Did you really expect the proponents of the diet to say anything other than that, America? I mean, by the time this diet runs its course, it will have brought in billions].

The hCG diet isn't covered by insurance, and it can be somewhat pricey: A consultation visit may run around $150, as well as follow-up visits after a month. The costs of the injections (which can be self-administered) is around $10 a pop, and this cost (as well as that of any additional appetite suppressants) may or may not be included in the cost of the office visits. [I’m sure each geographical area has its own pricing structure.]

So if hCG has been around for 60 years or so, why the sudden interest and resurgence? Like most diets, more than likely someone dusted off an old research paper or book, found the orginal paper by Simeons, and said, “Hmmm…there’s money to be made with this. Lemme re-work it, re-formulate it, re-write it, and present it as a ‘new’ diet – the latest, greatest, fastest, easiest, safest, and best way to lose weight. By the time the American people realize this is just another scam, I’ll have soaked them for millions, if not billions of dollars.” For example, Atkins has been around since the 1950’s and has been presented as Atkins, The New Atkins, The New and Improved Atkins, and several other diet names that base their plans off of Atkins.

The Showdown Between HCG and Placebos

Diet and exercise is the way to go when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight.

While the initial study performed and published by Dr. Simeons backed his claims of the hCG diet's effectiveness, subsequent studies have produced the type of results that don't get mentioned on late-night diet-fad infomercials. [Here’s where the science hits the fan…]

Most independent, peer-reviewed studies of the hCG diet have shown no difference in weight loss between subjects on a low-calorie diet who received hCG injections and subjects who received a placebo [source: Conis]. One study even showed that both the placebo group and the hCG group reported major hunger pangs throughout the treatment.

Regardless, once a person stops the hCG diet, he or she will have to adopt a normal and healthy lifestyle [known as ‘behavior modification’], or the weight's just coming back. [Once again I make my statement, “All diets work…all diets fail! They work as long as you follow them and stop working the day you stop following them]. Proponents of the hCG diet maintain that the purpose of the diet is to break food addictions and abnormal eating behaviors, and that the month or so of treatment allows a person to do so. In this sense, the diet hopes to achieve short-term weight loss with long-term behavioral modification. [It has been my experience that very few individuals have the discipline, willpower, and ‘motivation’ (ya’ll know I hate that word...) to develop lifetime behavior modification in only one month].

Of course, eating well-proportioned meals is much easier when you're injecting stimulants and hunger-suppressing hormones. If you gain weight again, the doctor or clinic -- upon the follow-up visit -- may recommend you start the treatment over again. [“Surprise, surprise, surprise”, to quote Gomer Pyle]. Therefore, you may just scrap real attempts to change eating habits and sign on to long-term use of chemicals without fixing the real problem: your diet and exercise habits.

A month-long course of hCG injections and crash dieting will likely help you lose weight, but a key question is: Is this the best way to permanently modify poor eating habits?

In addition to the reliability of a new diet fad popping up to replace the one before it, there's another constant when it comes to dieting -- no matter what you do, maintaining a healthy weight depends on eating right and exercising.

Sources

Advanced Weight Loss & Rejuvenation Centers. "Frequently Asked Questions." (Oct. 28, 2009)
http://www.advancedmedicaldiet.com/FAQ.html
Conis, Elena. "HCG diet was largely discredited long ago." Los Angeles Times. Nov. 2, 2009.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-nutrition2-2009nov02,0,1542034.story
Craven, Lindsay. "Weighing the pros and cons: A look into the HCG diet craze." Yes! Weekly. Sept. 30, 2009.
http://www.yesweekly.com/article-7555-weighing-the-pros-and-cons-a-look-into-the-hcg-diet-craze.html
Diets in Review. (Oct. 27, 2009)
http://www.dietsinreview.com/diets/hcg-diet/
Fox Chase Cancer Center. "Pregnancy Hormone HCG Protects Against Breast Cancer Even In Short-term Treatments." ScienceDaily. Apr. 25, 2009. (Oct. 28, 2009)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090420170752.htm
Hebert, Emily. "Craziest Diets of All Time." Elle. May 13, 2009.
http://www.elle.com/Beauty/Health-Fitness/Craziest-Diets-of-All-Time
Lunenfeld, Bruno. "Historical perspectives in gonadotrophin therapy." Human Reproduction Update. Sep. 23, 2004. (Oct. 29, 2009)
http://humupd.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/10/6/453
Simeons, A.T.W., PhD. "Pounds & Inches: A New Approach to Obesity."
http://hcgdietinfo.com/HCG_Diet-Dr-Simeons-Manuscript.htm
WebMD. "Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)." May 14, 2008. (Oct. 26, 2009)
http://www.webmd.com/baby/human-chorionic-gonadotropin-hcg
WebMD. "What is the South Beach Diet?" (Oct. 27, 2009)
http://www.webmd.com/diet/south-beach-diet-what-it-is
Wolf, Buck. "Belly Laughs at Early Fad Diets." ABC News. Jan. 10, 2005.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=1537630
Wright, Becky. "Buyers beware: HCG has legality, dosage issues." Standard-Examiner. Oct. 26, 2009.
http://www.standard.net/topics/features/2009/10/26/buyers-beware-hcg-has-legality-dosage-issues
Wright, Becky. "HCG: Is it every dieter's dream come true -- or is it the impossible dream?" Standard-Examiner. Oct. 26, 2009.
http://www.standard.net/topics/features/2009/10/26/hcg-it-every-dieters-dream-come-true-or-it-impossible-dream

Once again America, “There Are No Shortcuts!” I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…”There ain’t nuthin new under the sun, what you’re tryin’ to do has already been done!” (Whoudini). While it’s possible and probable that some individuals will achieve decent results following this diet, it is not a long-term solution. Its draw works on people’s mindset – instant gratification. That’s what caused Bren to give it a try. She tried to speed up the progress of an already successful program. Dr. Simeons recommended little or no exercise for the average person. There’s no way this plan will work for competitors. It will mess you up big-time. You’ll lose time, muscle, energy, stamina, endurance…everything you’re working so hard to develop. Look, you all know how you feel on a contest diet of 1200-2000 calories/day, especially when you’re doing 2 or more hours of cardio a day and training on weights like a madman. If you go on this hCG diet, I can pretty much promise that a puff of wind will knock you over in a month (if you can survive that long doing the cardio and weights…but I’m bettin’ against you!) Do yourself a favor – don’t get so fat in the off-season, and start farther out on your diet until you learn how to stay within range.

I’m out, America…holla at’cha boi…peace!

The Dr.

http://www.facebook/drbuff

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

05.23.2010 14:12:31

America, I was talkin’ with Guy Overby a few days ago. He said something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. It wasn’t bad…just made me think. We were talking about clients, training, this blog, and stuff like that and Guy summed me up perfectly…”Dave, you’re a 50/50 kinda guy. Half the people will love you and take to what you have to say and half the people will hate you and either disagree with or not like anything you have to say.” I smiled through the phone. “I’m cool with that, Guy. I learned a long time ago that if I waste my whole life trying to make everyone happy or like me or not step on toes then all I’ll do is make myself miserable. I’ve got better things to do. I’ve never asked everyone to like me, and I’m not concerned if they don’t.”

I heard a great line years ago that I now use …”What you think of me is of no concern to me.” I realize that what I say can sometimes be controversial and some people may think that I’m singling them out. Actually it’s quite the opposite. I don’t write about anything that I haven’t seen, heard, experienced or done many times over the years. If it doesn’t make sense to me, or is flat out wrong, I’m gonna bring it up. There’s too much wrong information and mis-information out there. Now just like I have the right to disagree with what others write and speak on, you do to, America. You don’t have to agree with me - in fact, it doesn’t concern me if you agree or disagree. I’m here to write about stuff that I believe will help you in not only your contest prep but life as well. But I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if you’re gonna step to me, step correct! Bring your science, your research, anything that will back up what you want to prove. I will always give a person his or her right to speak their mind, but I tune out nonsense quickly. “Nuff said??

The next couple of blogs is on a new “diet” I heard about a couple of days ago. I met with one of my people, fellow blogger, Bren Dixon, Friday. I hadn’t seen or talked to her in a while. The conversation went something like this…

“What’s up, Bren? How you been? It’s been a while…”

“Oh my gosh, Dave…so much has been going on…(not y’business, America…). But I need to talk to you but you have to promise that you won’t get mad or angry at me.”

America, I’ve learned over the years that when someone says that they’re settin’ you up for somethin’ big. “I promise,” I said. I don’t get mad anymore – disappointed maybe, but not mad. Ain’t worth it. What’s going on?”

Well, there’s this diet out that I’d been hearing good things about…”

Fast forward past me sighing, rolling my eyes, holding back words (I’d just promised, remember?), and I just listened. Bren is gonna blog on her experience so I won’t go into too much detail. My job is to spit the truth about this “diet”, especially as to how it relates to bodybuilding, fitness, figure, and bikini.

“Why would you do something like this, Bren? I’ve already got you mapped out. You’re steadily coming down. You’re on track. Why would you want to go and do something like that?”

“Dave, to be honest with you, I’m scared (ok America…that softened me just a bit…). I don’t know if I’m going to make the Ironman and I don’t want to go in it looking bad and I know you won’t let me step onstage looking bad and I just thought that if I could ‘speed things up a bit’, I could get ahead of the game and then build back the muscle I may lose…so how bad did I mess myself up?”

“Well, let’s get a comp and see where you’re at. Hopefully you haven’t lost lean. To be honest Bren, you may have cost yourself three weeks by doing this. There’s a reason why my tag line in my business name says “There Are No Shortcuts!” Bren, I’ve been doing this a long time. I still haven’t found a quick or easy way to accomplish a hard task. We’ll see…”

There’s a whole lot I left out, America. We didn’t even get to the workout we talked so much. I went online and looked up the hCG diet. After looking at dozens of sites and learning about this crap, I found a great article that I’m going to share with you. The first part is coming up shortly. I can tell you right now I’m not a fan of it. First off, it sucks big time in that it fat loads for the first two days. Then it cuts your total calories to 500 per day for the next 26-28 days. You’re supposed to stay on this madness for 30 days and then come off for upwards of 6 weeks and then repeat it up to four times. The article will go into greater detail. THIS IS NOT A DIET FOR BODYBUILDERS, FITNESS, FIGURE, AND BIKINI competitors. It just doesn’t make sense! The goal of every competitor is to build muscle. This plan will just about always eat it if followed exactly as outlined. It totally cuts your carbs down to much less than what the brain needs, much less having glycogen stores to lift hard and heavy. You can’t do intense cardio, you won’t be able to get through your workouts…it’s just stupid, America! Since the brain isn’t getting enough carbs (it uses carbs in the form of sugars as brain fuel) it will convert protein into usable carbohydrate energy (fat isn’t converted into sugar – only protein is). This plan, if it works at all, and it won’t because it doesn’t teach behavior modification, is designed for the couch potato. In fact they STRONGLY recommend that you do as little physical activity as possible – absolutely no lifting of weights and definitely not to the degree that competitors train. Light cardio a few minutes a day is what they ‘allow’. Yea…wonder why?? They know that if someone starts training on this crap they’ll pass out and possibly end up in the hospital if not worse. Ok…lemme settle down. I think you guys get my point. Since I just started ‘learning’ this, I decided to let a good article speak for me. But I promise you that I’ll continue to read on this, and the next time I blog on it I’ll thoroughly know it. On to the article by Tom Scheve…

The HCG Diet Craze

Every year, it seems like the media finds a new diet to tout -- along with the clinics that cater to the fad and customers who swear by the results. Fads in recent years include the South Beach Diet (choosing low-carbohydrate foods), the Atkins Diet (radically reducing carbohydrates), the baby food diet (replacing some meals with baby food) and the Master Cleanse (adopting a liquid diet comprised mainly of lemon or lime juice).

These diets gain quickly in popularity. The media faithfully reports the appearance of the new fad, the rising number of people adopting the diet and testimonials of success from satisfied, slimmed-down believers. But soon enough, there are reports of the dangers involved with unusual weight-loss schemes that often involve cutting out much-needed food groups, or eating only a certain food or food group. Then, follow-up stories trickle from unsatisfied customers, or from former believers who have since gained the weight back. More or less, by the time this cycle runs its course, it begins again with a new diet fad.

Diet fads, crazes and schemes are nothing new. In the 1920s, overweight consumers were marketed "reducing soap," the ads for which promised to eliminate fat on any part of the body that was washed with this miracle soap. From the 1920s through the 1950s, some people would partake of the tapeworm diet, which didn't require much change in diet, other than consuming a tapeworm. The belief was that the tapeworm would helpfully join you in eating your meals, albeit from the comfort of its home in your intestines. As many current diets are developed by doctors, so it goes with diet trends and devices of yesteryear. In the mid-1950s, a Swedish doctor developed a fat-busting vibrating belt that required nothing more of a person than to stand there and let the belt helps shake loose all those excess pounds. In the 1920s, Babe Ruth himself often used similar vibrating-belt devices to lose weight, and the results -- or rather, the lack thereof -- remained evident throughout his career.

Another diet trend has caught traction in the American imagination, and it promises to help the dieter lose a pound a day, or even more. It's the hCG diet, and it was developed by a doctor who believed that a hormone found in a pregnant woman's body could help overweight men and women lose weight -- and keep that weight off after returning to a normal routine.

HCG, Fat and Pregnancy

I detect some hCG.

In 1927, researchers discovered that pregnant women's urine contained a substance not normally present outside of pregnancy: human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. This represented the first modern pregnancy test, and to this day, we still check urine for signs of hCG to determine pregnancy. Doctors also look at hCG levels (among other factors) in pregnant women to assess risk of birth defect.

HCG may play many roles, but one function it performs is guaranteeing that a developing fetus receives the calories and nutrients it needs to grow, nearly independent of the daily caloric intake of the pregnant woman in those early developmental months. How does it do this?

We aren't ravenous for fatty foods for no reason. Our bodies like to maximize caloric intake in case lean times are ahead. In the case of women, excess calories tend to wind up in "problem" areas such as the hips, buttocks, abdomen and thighs. However, once pregnant, fat from these areas is released in the presence of hCG, and this fat then makes its way to the fetus. This way, if a woman doesn't consume the nutrients needed for fetal growth, her fat reserves will suffice. (Structural fat, such as that found in the face or layered beneath the entire skin, isn't affected.)

HCG is produced by a woman early in her pregnancy, and levels of hCG in the bloodstream peak at around 14 weeks. After that, levels gradually decrease. HCG's presence in a pregnant woman seems to occur in the timeframe when a woman would be least likely to know she is pregnant, and therefore least likely (especially in ancient -- and leaner -- times in human history) to be consciously trying to secure nutrients to sustain a pregnancy.

Furthermore, hCG was soon found to be gonadotrophic, meaning that it prompts genital development, and was soon used as a treatment for boys experiencing a delay in adolescence or genital development due to disorders of the pituitary gland.

It was during research in the 1950s when one doctor, A.T.W. Simeons, noticed that boys being treated with hCG for underdeveloped gonads were also able to lose excess weight by eating much less without any accompanying hunger pangs. His interest in hCG soon shifted to its potential as a diet aid, and he published a paper touting its effects, as well as developing a dietary regimen for use of the drug as a weight-loss tool.

So, how few calories is one instructed to consume on the hCG diet? You'll find out in the next section, and you may be shocked.

Tomorrow I’ll finish sharing the remainder of the article with you, America. There are a couple of sections in which I might [bracket] my comments so as not to confuse Tom’s writings with mine. But I want to expand upon a few points he makes and explain why this diet is not good in general, and definitely not good for competitors. Till tomorrow…I’m out! Peace…

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Sometimes you need to keep y'mouth shut, y'head down, and just go handle y'business!

Tags:

The Bill Pearl Classic - Part III

05.13.2010 14:31:48

America, I’m going to wrap up my conversation(s) with Todd Scott with this blog. There’s absolutely no way I can remember everything we talked about during our 15 hours in his truck. So I’ll just give you as much as I have noted out and call it good, and in future blogs, if anything comes to mind I’ll net it out. To be honest with you, it’s nothing new or revolutionary – just two guys who have been in the sport for years talking about what they’ve seen, heard, and experienced. But I gotta tell ya America…it would’ve been nice if you were a fly on the window ‘cause we brought up a lot of stuff about a lot of things. Talk about a knowledge base…but before I do that, I just have to share what happened this morning with my girl, Keri, who’s going in the Oregon Ironman this weekend. I told her, “You KNOW I gotta blog this…” She just laughed.

Keri drove up from Vancouver to see me this morning. I wanted to see her one last time before she stepped onstage to run her through her last total body depletion workout and work with her a bit more to polish up her posing. She’s doing figure. I decided to train her first, then pose, and then she’d do cardio. She didn’t have her gloves when she walked out to the gym so I loaned her a pair. We went through a circuit-type routine at a fairly quick pace as I’m wanting to deplete her glycogen stores but not get her sore. The first set through was 25 reps on everything. The second set, which was a bit tougher, was 12-15 sets. She was on Triceps Pressdown on her second time through (or was it her third…heck, I don’t remember…) when I looked at her hands. The Velcro straps were on the inside of her hand – palm side, if you will. I looked…and looked again, this time with a puzzled glance. I’m thinking, “Hmmm…straps go on the backside of your palm. So how did she get those straps to face on the inside…” and then it hit me. I asked, “Keri, do you have your gloves inside out?” But just that fast I realized that couldn’t be the case because I gave her the gloves and watched her put ‘em on.

“Girl, you got your gloves on the wrong hands. How in the world did you do that? Doesn’t that feel funny or hurt?”

She stopped the exercise. “Oh my gosh! No wonder everything felt so weird. I thought it was just in the gloves you gave me. Maybe there was something different about them.”

America, the gray palm of the left glove was on the back of her right hand and the gray palm of the right glove was on her left hand – no lie! I just looked at her.

She started laughing. “It’s the diet, I swear – I don’t have any carbs and I can’t think straight. I’ve never done this before.”

“You KNOW I gotta blog this, don’t you? Don’t be mad, but this is too funny!” She just kept laughing and said, “Okay, but be nice.”

Okay…on to me and Todd. We covered posing, talking about all three genres – bodybuilding, figure, and bikini.

“So what’s your take on bodybuilding posing?”

“What are you talking about? The ¼ turns, mandatories, or routines?”

“All of em.”

“Well, you can definitely tell who works on their posing and who doesn’t. I mean, some of those guys don’t have a clue as to what they’re doing. They really should hire a coach. I don’t know why they think they can do this alone.”

“I know. I’ve talked to so many guys over the years and said, “You need help on your compulsory poses. Some listen, but many don’t. The funny thing is, women will typically hire a coach because they know they need help. But a guy…his ego is too big to ask for help, and I’ve seen too many guys lose a show because their posing sucked.”

“Yea, I get that too. They’ll come up to me after the show and ask, “So how’d I look?” I’ll say, “Your physique was on point, but dude, your posing was waaay off. Who you working with?” “No one…”, they’ll reply. “You need to hire someone to work with you on your posing. You looked good, but your posing might have cost you a placing or two. You just didn’t present yourself in the best possible way.” “Thanks man…I’ll get in contact with you…” – and I never hear from ‘em again until I see ‘em at the next show looking the same. So what about routines?"

"Dude, don't get me started. The music plays, a guy poses, and never the two shall meet."

"I know...it's like they put their routines together a couple days before the show. You can see it in their eyes and body language. They get out there, hit a few poses looking down the whole time like they're accessing memory, and then walk off."

"Yep. I've talked to too many guys who do just that. They tell me they just threw something together a day or two before the show. And then they wonder why they don't get any applause."

"So what’s your take on Figure and Bikini?”

“I don’t know…I mean, Figure is pretty much locked in but I liked how Elaine and a couple other promoters are now allowing the girls to walk center, stage right, and stage left to present themselves at the night show before they go upstage. It allows the girls to display a bit more personality and bring their own charisma to the stage. Much better than just standing center stage and turning. Bikini started out doing that, and I’ve always wondered why Figure never did it. If they keep that in, that’ll be good for the sport.”

“I didn’t like Bikini when it first started but it’s growing on me. But what I’m noticing is that some of the girls are quickly ‘morphing’ for lack of a better word in their posing. It’s becoming more suggestive quickly. I mean, at the Spokane show, all a couple girls needed was a pole!” (Don’t get bent outta shape, America…I’m spittin the truth! I actually heard several women spectators out in the audience say similar things…).

“Hey, did you see the Sandy Williams video that Paula posted on FB? That was a real good explanation of what they’re looking for in Bikini.”

“Yea…I saw that. It was good. As Donnie Whetstone said, and I now say as well, Bikini is “Street Hot” whereas Figure is “Stage Hot.”

“So what about Women’s Bodybuilding? Where do you see that going?”

“Man, I don’t know about that. I read an article in one of the mags which said that to bring back women’s BB they need to get the guys out of the women’s side -off the judging panel, and stop em from training women. And they need to stop rewarding ‘bigger and more muscular is better’.”

“Dude, that’ll never happen, but I do agree that something has to be done with women’s BB. And until the women themselves stop doing anything and everything and whatever is necessary to win, it’s gonna continue to die a slow death.”

“What’s your take on HIIT vs. Steady-State training?”

“Aw man, I’ve blogged on that several times. HIIT ain’t new. That’s been around since the 50’s. These so-called ‘experts’ have just given it a new name. And all they’re doing is comparing high intensity training to low intensity training. That’s like comparing walking to running or sprinting – which will burn more calories? Duuuhhh! I really wish I could bury this bone for the last time, but I know it’ll get dug up again and be posted and reposted, written and re-written until enough people finally understand that regardless of what type of cardio you do or what piece of equipment you use, its gotta be INTENSE enough to get any results. I’ve said this so many times I make myself sick…”Intensity SHRINKS immensity! If and when they realize that, maybe all this madness will stop.”

“You’re Parrillo, right?”

“All the way, baby! Been using his supplement line for over 20 years. Gone away from it, come back to it, left again, came back again. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing better and cleaner out there on the market today.”

“You use CapTri?”

“That’s the only oil I use.”

“I love his bars and powders. Like you said, they’re clean. Not loaded with a ton of crap.”

“Yup. The funny thing is, many people who know Parrillo go on his products when they start their pre-contest diet 8-12 weeks out. Why not stay on the best year-round? Doesn’t make sense to me. The other thing is, everyone who writes now has taken his information and made it theirs. I have Parrillo’s original Sports Nutrition Guide from over 20 years ago that says every single thing, and more, that Will Brink and so many other online ‘experts’ say. I don’t have a problem with them saying it, but at least give credit to where you got it from. Will has never done an ounce of real research, doesn’t have a degree, but is an “expert”…please!”

“I know. I’ve been following John for close to 20 years and so much of what I learned about training and nutrition I learned from him. He definitely knows his stuff. You ever meet him personally?”

“Nope – never made it out his way. But I do talk to him on a regular basis when I call and place orders. He’s funny – cusses like 5 sailors, but he’s good people.”

America, like I said yesterday and earlier, we talked about so much stuff! This is just snippets of what we chatted about. We probably spent a solid hour on Parrillo alone! Fascial stretching came up, Parrillo’s workout philosophy came up, on and on…I can honestly say that we probably had a lecture/seminar worth of information that was passed between us this past weekend. Sorry ya’ll missed it. Hey…that’s a thought…I might talk to Todd and see if we can set something up – a major seminar with some of the heavy hitters out there that will tell it like it is…get a couple guys, a couple girls, and just let you guys fire away at us. Maybe even set up some kind of training as well. Actually that’s exactly what I used to do back at my big facility before I shut it down. Don’t mean to brag, but John’s ‘bootcamp seminar weekend’ was my brainchild. I had been doing that a couple years and told him about it. Seriously! Hey, somebody had to think of it…why couldn’t it be me???

Okay…I’m out, America. No more Bill Pearl Classic stuff – at least of this magnitude. Like I said, if I remember anything of significance I’ll interject it in, but other than that, consider this dog dead…peace!

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

Comments 2 | Read more...

The Bill Pearl Classic - Part II

05.12.2010 15:14:40

America, I promised you last night that I’d cover my conversation with Todd Scott down and back. Unfortunately I’m old! That means that my memory, which once was sharp as a tack is now as dull as Oprah is round. Sorry…couldn’t resist…N-E-Whoo…I jotted down and will continue to jot down what we talked about, and as I remember, I’ll relay it to you. So let’s get started with what we convoed on. In no particular order…

We covered the high-fat vs. low fat diets. Todd asked me if I was a fan of the high-fat diet.

“Nope,” I replied. “I don’t care what you say, fat makes you fat. If you take too much of it in either during the day or at one time it’ll store as bodyfat. It’s that simple.”

“So you’re not in agreement with Dave Palumbo’s plan?”

“No. Are you?”

“No. I know of many competitors who follow it though. Some swear by it but most don’t get the results they’re looking for. They usually go into shows smooth holding that layer of bodyfat saying its water.”

“Don’t you just hate that? Competitors who are fat one week out tellin’ everyone “I just gotta drop this water and I’ll dial in…what a bunch of [crap]. Do you know why they’re not making progress?”

“Why?”

“Easy. There’s three somatotypes in the body – Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph. Ecto’s are naturally thin. That’s me. I’m a true ectomorph. Let me stop lifting weights and I drop weight and muscle like crazy. Meso’s are naturally muscular – they’re the athletic type and build muscle easily. You’re more of a natural mesoporph. Endomorphs are naturally round and gain fat easily. Endomorphs are carb-sensitive and can gain fat from eating carbs just by smelling ‘em. So it only makes sense that an endo would do well on a high-fat diet as long as the calories are sufficiently reduced. But that diet-down plan wouldn’t work for me as I need carbs to hold onto my muscle. With you as a meso, it might work for you but then again, it might not…everybody’s different.”

“Yea, I know. [so-and-so] is on it and he got decent results but didn’t look as sharp as he should have. Another gal looked really smooth. I think Palumbo puts everyone on pretty much the same plan and adjusts just a bit to make it seem like it’s a customized plan.”

“Lots of online trainers do that, dude. I find it hard to believe that people pay big dollars for some guy or girl who lives in Florida or So. California dial them in and they’ve never seen em outside of a picture. Sometimes they don’t even get that – just some numbers, your credit card, and BAMM…there’s your “customized” workout. What a joke and scam. To me, the way it works is that if you get enough gullible people buying your plan, you’ll hit a few who dial in perfectly. Those are the ones you market to everyone else to make it seem like you’re the world’s greatest trainer.”

“I know! I like to have that person standing in front of me so I can pinch him or her and see how they look in the mirror. A one-dimensional picture can’t show me that to where I can give them my best input. I think it’s just a cookie-cutter type of mealplan.”

“I agree. So with that said, are you a red meat person or not?” This was another topic, America.

“Red meat doesn’t work for me. Again, as an Ecto I respond best to chicken, turkey, egg whites, and white fish. I eat red meat and it has a tendency to sit on me and within two or three days I’m all bloated and feel sluggish. How does it work for you?”

“I’m pretty much like you but I can eat it without the ill effects. I know that Dre and Turk are big red meat people…”

“Yea…Turk pretty much puts all of his people on red meat. He’s big on that…”

“I usually put the naturally muscular or people who have a tendency to gain bodyfat easier on red meat. It seems to work better for them.”

“Yup. That’s the Meso’s and Endo’s. I think that Turk just naturally attracts those types of competitors so he has good success with his people on red meat.”

“I’ll play it by ear myself…might start someone off on chicken and if they don’t seem to be making progress, switch em to red meat and see what that does. Sometimes you just gotta play with this stuff. That’s why I’m not a big fan of the one-diet-for anyone-or-everyone mentality.”

“Dude, I knew there was a reason I liked you! We think alike. I’m so tired of competitors saying that this plan or that plan is the “best” plan. You’ve gotta be smart enough to recognize when something isn’t working and knowledgeable enough to know how to correct it. You know what I can’t stand? The student who learns from you and suddenly wants to become the teacher. He or she only has one or two contests under their belt. What makes them think they’re now the expert? I still screw up every now and then and I’ve got over 30 years in this game.”

“I know. And the sad thing is, they only know one way to dial someone down – what they did. So now we have the blind leading the blind…so what’s your favorite protein foods?” Another topic…

“Well, my “big five” are fish, chicken, tuna, turkey, and egg whites – all white meats/foods. Whey and Hi-Protein blends are right under that, with red meats following. I place those two under the white foods because one can’t live off of protein shakes and we already talked about red meats.”

“Yea…I hear you. I have so many people who ask why they just can’t get their protein from shakes all day. I tell em that even though shakes give you the caloric and nutritional value, you don’t get the energy burn during digestion because of the partial pre-digestion of the shakes.”

“Yup…if people really understood the science of nutrition they’d realize that there’s nothing magical out there. You just gotta find out what works best for you and then do it. Why do these guys make it more difficult than that?”

“I know. So I’m assuming that you don’t work well with vegans…?” Moving on to another topic although slightly related…

“They’re the hardest to meal plan because they don’t or won’t eat meat for whatever reason, whether it be religious, personal, or whatever. They think they can get their protein in from combining starchy carb.”

“That’s so stupid! Don’t they even have a clue about the number of carbs they’ll be taking in if they tried to get their protein from combining say, beans and rice or beans and corn?”

“I know. Yea you can get 40 gms of protein a meal by creating the complete profile combining beans and rice, but you’ll also be taking in 150-200 gms or more of carbs. How do you ever expect to diet down with that amount of carbs? So what’s your favorite carb foods?” Another topic…

“Well obviously I’m an oatmeal person, and I love one or two slices of Dave’s Killer Bread. I just created a great recipe for yams, but I’m usually a rice and potato person. What about you?”

“I’m a brown rice person after oatmeal each morning. I love that stuff. But I know so many people who don’t like it for whatever reason – it’s too tough or crunchy, has a weird taste…they just don’t know how to make it. I take a little chicken bullion cube and put in the water with the rice as it starts to cook. I use a rice cooker so the bullion blends right in and absorbs into the rice. Man, it tastes so good…”

“I hate brown rice…”

“Like I said, lots of people just don’t know how to make it…”

“It’s not that…I just don’t like the taste. Besides, the difference between brown rice and white rice on the glycemic index is only 10 points. And who eats just plain rice by itself. So as far as I’m concerned, you’re okay in eating white rice if you combine it with protein, veggies or a little dietary fat…slows down the rate of absorption and lowers the glycemic index. You just have to know how much to eat for your physique.”

“True, true...but most people don’t know that.”

America, that’s it for tonight…I’ll continue tomorrow. Now I gotta say this. There’s no way I could remember word for word who said what, but I can promise you that everything I’ve written was said at one time or another. Remember, we were on the road for over 8.5 hours going down and right at 6 hours coming back up. We talked about so much stuff I can’t even remember it all. To be perfectly honest with you, this is just a snippet of what we talked about. I’ll catch ya’ll on the pm tomorrow…I’m out – peace! Oh…and don’t forget to hit me up for a friend on Facebook. The link is below. Holla at’cha boi…

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

The concept is simple - lift weights, do cardio, and eat right. It's the APPLICATION the concept that's difficult!

Tags: Bodybuilding | Dave Patterson | work ethic

The Bill Pearl Classic

05.11.2010 14:32:47

What’s up, America? How y’livin? I had a great time this past weekend down in Bend, OR at the Bill Pearl High Desert Classic BB Championships. This was my first time going down there and it was a blast! The venue was great, the crowd (about 400 people or so) was loud and cheered throughout, the competitors were on point with their physiques, and the MC was off-the-hook good! Oh…wait…I was the MC, so lemme just say that I made it do what it do! I’d like to thank Bill and Michelle Haynes for putting on a quality show. They did a fantastic job of bringing everything together and making the contest ‘competitor friendly’. That’s what it’s all about for us sometimes – just feeling like we’re being taken care of through the whole show. Those two and their crew worked their butts off and it showed. I’m definitely going back next year!

There were some quality physiques in the show. Congratulations to Jessica Hickman for winning the Figure Overall. Carl Washington also cleaned up by winning the Master’s Overall and doing well in the Open class. The Overall Open Men’s winner was the middleweight – his last name slips my mind…I believe his first name was Joshua. He was sliced, diced, and dry as all get-up. The boy looked G-o-o-d! Big props to him for taking the whole show. Jacques and Kris Pitcher put on a quality show once again, with Kris taking her class in Women’s lightweight bodybuilding, Jacques taking Men’s lightweight, and they won the Mixed Pairs. Not bad for a night’s work. I don’t know how many of you know of Johnnie Wiggins, but he’s rapidly making a name for himself in the NW not only with his physique in the Master’s Over 40 class, but with his posing as well. “Salsa Johnnie” as I now call him, had the women swooning as he swiveled and gyrated his hips throughout his routine. If I could move like that…but I digress. I wish I could remember all the other class winners and competitors, but unfortunately I didn’t bring a program home.

There’s no way I could write this blog and not mention the outstanding guest-posing routines of Paula Williams-Gulman and Todd Scott. Paula is a lil’ bundle of energy – she was all over that stage with attitude and sass. And Todd…what can I say? Once again he re-invented himself. He came out as Humpty-Dumpty, fell off his wall, and re-emerged as the ‘Humpty Dancing Bodybuilder’. Great routine! Oh…and Paula’s kids did a cute little Jr. Firecracker’s group fitness routine. They were really good! And y’boi as the MC??? I had a great time! I had co-MC’d with Kim Farrison years ago, and with all the lectures, seminars, and workshops I’ve done over the years, gettin’ in front of the mike wasn’t a big deal. I had a lot of fun interacting with the competitors AND audience. And a good time was had by all…

So lemme tell you what happened though. Bill had set it up for me to ride down with Todd Scott. For those of you who don’t know of Todd, he’s a top national-level competitor getting ready to go back once again this coming October and see if he can take his class. He’s a middleweight, but don’t let that fool you. This boy is bad! N-E-Whoo…Todd is supposed to drive over from Moses Lake where he lives and pick me up early Friday afternoon. Well…he got called into work the previous day so that blew that schedule. After getting off work (he drives for UPS and had to deliver all the Mother’s Day flowers) he rushes home, changes, and heads out about 8 pm. That should put him here at my place around 10:30 or so. Unfortunately he hits a major delay which costs him more than an hour. With all the road construction happening on freeways at night, he ran smack dab into one of em. Life sucks. Like I said, that set him back a bit so he knocks on my door around 11:30-11:45 pm. I’m thinking, “Dude, I really don’t wanna drive all night. I ain’t a night person. This is my bedtime!” I ask if he wants to spend the night and we can get up early and head out. He says, “Naw…I got Nicky (his wife) out in the truck so we’ll drive straight through so she can crash while we go to pre-judging tomorrow.” So I throw my few things in and off we go.

Nicky’s sleeping most of the way down there so it’s primarily Todd and me talking (I’ll come back to our conversations later – we had good talk). We’re making good time and everything is going good. Made a couple pit stops to refuel and grab a bite to eat, but other than that it was drive, drive, drive. I’m gettin tired though, America, because I’m not a night person. I’m usually in bed by midnight yet that’s almost what time we headed out. I’m doing everything I can to stay awake to help keep Todd awake. Fast forward to about 4:30 am.

I’m thinking, “We should be seeing signs that’ll direct us to Bend. Hmmmm, where they at?” We had driven through Portland, driven through Salem, and was coming up on Eugene. I said to Todd, “Bend can’t be too much farther ahead. I heard it’s a six hour or so drive from Tacoma, and we’ve been on the road about that long. Keep your eyes peeled.” Todd nods in agreement. We pass Eugene – no sign.

I say, “I can’t believe there’s no sign for Bend. Have you seen any?”

“No, I haven’t seen anything. Hey honey, can you check the GPS on the phone and see how far we are from Bend. The address is on that flyer,” he replies.

Nicky types in the address and goes, “Take the next exit a couple miles up the road.” We do that. “Take the exit getting back onto I-5 heading north…uhh-ohh…”

“What,” we both ask?

“I think we drove too far. It’s taking us back up to Eugene it looks like. It says Bend is 123 miles away and we’ve got another 2 hours drive.”

I looked at Todd. Todd looked at me.

“Didn’t you know how to get to Bend?”

“I’ve never been there. I thought you knew so I didn’t MapQuest it.”

“Dude, I though YOU knew, so I didn’t MapQuest it. I’ve never been there either!”

That’s right America, We drove over an hour out of our way before we finally figured out we didn’t know where we were going. The old joke, “How many bodybuilders does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” came to mind. No, I ain’t gonna tell it here…

So we get on the right road, drive another two hours, and finally pull into Bend about 7:30 am. I’m exhausted but I feel even worse for Todd. He’d been driving all night and had gotten up at 6 am the previous morning to go to work. In essence he’d been up over 24 hours. I KNOW he was tired. We checked in, grabbed a bite to eat, and then crashed for a couple hours before heading to pre-judging. I promise you this America, I will NEVER assume that someone else knows where we’re going if I ride with them or they ride with me. I’ll always be proactive and get the directions myself. Lesson learned!

I promised I’d share some of our conversations with you. I lied! Actually I didn’t lie – I will share, just not tonight. I’m tired and I still have to eat, so I’m out. I’ll finish up this blog tomorrow – I promise! Peace…

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Real Bodybuilders don't ask directions!

Tags:

There's A New Sheriff In Town...

05.07.2010 15:16:10

America, I was talking with a couple of ladies earlier this evening. We were talking ‘bout much-o-nuthin’ when one of them said, “I need some motivation to help me lose this 20 lbs.” The other one replied, “Girl, I hear you. I could stand to lose 20-25 lbs myself. But Ima keep tryin. It’s just hard though, you know, what with the job, kids, and everything else I have going on. But like I said, I’m tryin’ to eat right and exercise, but some days it’s just hard.” They then looked at me. I guess that was my queue…

“What?? Why you guys looking at me. I’m just listening…”

“Yea, but you know how to motivate us and keep us going.”

“Well, first of all, I don’t ‘motivate’. I teach. And second, I’ve talked with you guys before and wasted words. I ain’t going through that again. Like I used to tell my clients at PTS…’If you’re not serious, don’t waste your money and my time’.”

One girl said, “You don’t understand…I really need to do this. I’ll really try this time and follow what you say…”

That was it for me. In less than 5 sentences she’d used the “Try” word three times. I called her out on it. “I’ll try means I’ll fail. One of two things will happen if I give you information. You’ll either do or you won’t do. In other words, you’ll either follow what was told to you or you won’t. “Try” doesn’t come into the equation. So here’s the deal. I’ll map you out again but I want you right now to tell me you WILL follow it – and not as best you can either, because that’s just the long way of saying, “I’ll try’.”

They both started laughing. She said, “You know us too well, David. Well, one day I’m gonna really do this, and I’m gonna call you when I’m ready…”

We laughed and joked a bit more on that subject and then moved on to something else. But my point had been made – and more importantly, it was received. Even though they both wanted to get in shape, they weren’t ready to commit to it – not just yet. The thought was there, but the act wasn’t. When they’re ready I’ll help them. Until then…

That leads me into what I wanted to talk to you about, America. Several years ago, prior to closing my big facility and having all these surgeries, I, as Personal Training Systems, had a pretty good bodybuilding team. We were known for putting quality people in shows. All my people looked good – I wouldn’t put them in a show unless they were ready to step onstage. We even won a couple team awards back then. Now I’m not saying that everyone who competed from my team won – far from it! But they always looked good, they brought a polished, professional look to the stage, and they all knew how to pose. No one ever embarrassed him or herself. Back then Figure was just getting started so I worked with the bodybuilders and figure competitors. Well, since I’m all healed up and training more people, I’m once again going to start another bodybuilding, figure, and now bikini team. So for those of you out there who don’t have a coach/trainer and are attempting to do this on your own, here’s your chance to hire, in my humble opinion, one of the better trainers in the area. I’m not dumb or egotistical enough to say that I’m the best trainer out there, but I will say this…I know what I know, and that’s all that I know. The question is, how much do I know vs. how much someone else knows? There are lots of good trainers out there. If you have a trainer that you like and that trainer is getting you the results you’re after, then by all means stay with him or her. I don’t want to be known as the guy who goes around ‘stealing’ other trainer’s people. But if you’re having beef with your trainer, or your trainer isn’t getting you the results you want (and you’re following the program mapped out for you…), or you simply can’t afford the rates your trainer is charging, feel free to give me a call. I believe there’s enough pie for everyone to get a slice.

So how will this work? Well…first off, to get the best rate you have to be on the team. That only makes sense, right? I’ll charge far less than most other trainers. Now I know that some trainers don’t charge anything, but this is how I make my living. As one of my professors once said, “You are paying for this knowledge and education. You are entitled to charge for it.” But I will say this…if your trainer isn’t charging you anything and you’re getting good results from him/her, stay with that person. But sometimes free isn’t always the best way to go, especially if the results aren’t forthcoming. I ain’t sayin’ nuthin, I’m just sayin’ what I’m sayin…

I’m still working on prices, but I promise you the rates alone will make you go “hmmm”. I’m still deciding what will work best for all parties concerned – whether to have a per session fee schedule or charge a monthly rate - sort of like a lawyer ‘retainer’ fee. I might even have a monthly rate with a small charge for certain services. We’ll see. I can do this because I own my own facility out back of my house so there’s no need for me to charge the typical $60-75 or more/session that other trainers charge. If you’re not part of the team or you’re just a regular client, then you’ll pay normal rates for my services. Like MasterCard says, “Membership has its privileges.” All competitors on the team will get T-shirts, team uniforms…the usual garb that goes with being on a team so that we represent the team when we go to a show. The plan is to also pay all entry fees for each competitor, but only if they’re ready to step onstage. In other words, you do the work and prepare yourself properly and I’ll cover the cost of your competition.

The goal is to recruit, work with and train, and put in quality competitors once again. I’m not interested in numbers – just having a ton of people from my gym/team entered in a show but no one looking very good or placing well is not what I’m about. You all know my philosophy – “I will NOT beat myself!” That will be our team slogan. I expect each competitor to put forth their best effort. I’m not looking for perfection but I am looking for excellence. We’ll have seminars, get-togethers, and whatever else is needed to ensure that we’re all on task. I will be available via phone, text, email, or personal consultation. For those of you that don’t know me, let me just say that I’m brutally honest. I don’t mince words in how you look. I will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Your family, friends, fellow gym rats, and others can do that. My job is to ensure that you look your absolute best for the category you’re competing in. I will tell you honestly if you’re ready for a show. You will always have to right to compete, but if the look isn’t there I’ll tell you. There’s no way I can tell you where you’ll place, so my favorite saying to everyone I put in shows, including myself is, “You’ll take somewhere between 1^st and dead last.” That’s the only guarantee I have outside of helping you achieve your best look.

If this is something you or someone you know might be interested in, contact me via my cell or email below. You can also hit me up as a friend on Facebook. I’m going to start the team June 1^st of this year. The goal is to have our first group of competitors for the fall shows. As I said, I’m not interested in a certain number of competitors, but rather the quality of each competitor’s physique. I’ll be adding more on this as pertinent thoughts and information come to mind. In the meantime, make it do what it do, America! I’m out…peace!

David “Dr. Buff” Patterson, MPE, CSCS

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

The Aftermath...

05.04.2010 13:04:32

America, it was a good spring season…1^st and Overall Master’s at the Vancouver, 4^th in a tough class at the Emerald Cup and 1^st in couples with Marga Overby (with arguably the best couples routine I’ve ever done…on par with Janet and mine’s Chicago-themed routine in which I was in drag), and then getting the opportunity to guest pose two routines over in Spokane at the Empire Classic. This coming weekend I’ll be the MC down in Bend at the Bill Pearl Classic. Should be fun. I ain’t no Kim “Kong” Farrison, but we’ve co-MC’d shows back in the late 80’s-early 90’s, and I’m known for runnin’ my mouth!

So how do I feel and what am I doing now that the spring shows are over? Well, before I get to that, lemme re-visit the past 2 years to set the tone and bring new readers up-to-date. June 10^th, 2008 – that’s the day I went in for total hip replacement and knee surgery on the left side. I was flat on my back for 10 days in the hospital. The types of surgeries I had required that. I didn’t even get out of bed until 4 days post-surgery. It was 3 days before I realized I had a catheter in me (I was wondering why I never had to use the bathroom…). Two months post-surgery I started doing cardio – the elliptical, my cardio of choice.

Sidebar here, folks…I’m so sick and tired of people talking about cardio variety burns more bodyfat and certain types of equipment burn more fat than others…give it a rest, will ya!! I’ve said it dozens of times before in this blog and I’ll say it again – it’s your INTENSITY on cardio that burns bodyfat, not the type of equipment you use. Prior to ellipticals coming out I used a bicycle and got into great contest condition. Prior to the bike I used a great piece of equipment that was actually the precursor to the elliptical called the Skywalker. I got into great contest condition. I’ve even used the old HealthRider and gotten into great contest shape. I’ve been using the elliptical 100% of the time for the past 10 years, if not longer. I’m tired of people saying this piece or that piece works better. Y’wanna know what works best? INTENSITY!!! I’ve said this before - when it comes to weight training, all things being equal and genetics factored out, intensity builds immensity as far as muscle. When it comes to cardiovascular training, intensity SHRINKS immensity as far as bodyfat. Oh, ya’ll ain’t listening to me, America. I just said somethin’…

N-E-Whoo…three months post-surgery I started lifting weights again. It was all upper body but each Monday I’d get in the leg press and see if I could do it. The first time I couldn’t even get my left leg up to the platform. The second Monday I got it up there but couldn’t push it up. The third Monday I could push it up but couldn’t lower it down past 20 degrees. The fourth Monday I could lower it down about 45 degrees. Each week I got better until by month five I was able to start doing leg extensions, leg curls, some light leg presses, and light Smith machine squats.

Ten months post surgery I stepped onstage at the 2009 Emerald Cup. I was proud of my conditioning and look even though I looked like an emaciated ghetto step-child looking back in retrospect. I just needed to see if I could still do this or if I was done. I rolled right into training for the 09 Ironman as well. Looked better, but still not 100% back to “Dave Form”. Started training for the 2010 EC and along the way decided to do the Vancouver – hadn’t done that show in almost 10 years. So…netted out, from 3 months post-surgery to the Tuesday before the EC, I never took a day off of training, not one! If I happened to miss a scheduled day, I always made it up the following day and kept on schedule.

That brings me current. The Tuesday before the EC was legs. I did 3 sets of leg extensions, 3 sets of leg curls, and then called it quits. I was tired. Through the remainder of the EC I only did cardio. The following week was the Spokane show. Again, no weight training as I was still tired both mentally and physically – just cardio. Last week I walked out to my gym, looked around, and walked back into the house – no weights last week either. I still wasn’t mentally and physically ready. Just stayed with cardio – 45-50 minutes a day.

Today was the first day in almost 3 weeks that I touched a weight outside of backstage. It felt great! My mind was clear, the body wasn’t tired, and the weights felt light. Yea, I know…I’m gonna be sore as all get-up by the end of this week, but I’m cool with that. I hadn’t really thought about the fact that I’d trained continually for almost 2 years – I was on a mission. But fatigue and age finally caught up with me. It’s funny how if this would have been a client I’d have told him/her to rest after each show (or better yet, told them to don’t do so many shows…) as they were still in the recovery and healing stage from the surgeries. But nooooo…not me! I believed I was the Energizer Bunny – I could just keep goin’ and goin’ and goin’…well, I found out I’m not him.

So now I need to figure out what would be the best training protocol for me at double-nickel (that’s 55, folks…). I’ve been on a 5-day split for over 15 years. Will my age allow me to continue to push to the same or greater degree I need to be competitive? Will I be able to recover on a 5-day split or will a 2-on, 1-off or 3-on, 1-off work better? Or how about a one-day-on, one-day-off routine? Mean’s I’d hit each bodypart every 10 days. I’ll get plenty of rest but will I continue to make progress? June 10^th will be 2 years post-surgery. I believe I’m 100% healed, but perhaps I’m not because of the constant training and stresses I’ve imposed on the hip and knee joints the past two years. The knee still gives me problems. How do I handle that? Those are questions I now need to find answers to.

This will be one big experiment, America. And I’m the guinea pig. But as far as I’m concerned, all of this is a learning process for not only me but for anyone else I teach/train/talk to who’s going through something similar. I’ll be able to extrapolate what I’ve gone through and done and come up with a plausible plan-of-action for anyone else. So for those of you that have ‘issues’ with your body as far as joints, hit me up. I’ve pretty much run the gamut on joint issues.

Now if you’re wondering what I’m doing with my nutrition, that’s easy. My junk food was last Friday night over in Spokane at Paul Hughes house. Had a scoop of ice cream on top of a fudge brownie with chocolate syrup drizzled over it. Yesterday I went out with my daughters and had a nasty chicken sandwich with coleslaw and something else on it. The fries were good though. Other than that I haven’t junked. Not after the Vancouver, not after the EC. Just don’t feel like it. I’ve only gained 5-6 lbs since contest. Hey, remember, I’m old. I learned a long time ago that the best way to keep youthful, tight skin as long as possible was to maintain weight, eat the right foods at the right times in the right amounts that were conducive to building a healthy matrix, get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water, do cardio…hmmm…sounds a lot like a pre-contest diet doesn’t it? I’m upping my total calories to around 3500-4000 to see what that will do as far as potentiate muscle building on this ole frame, but I’m not gonna eat and get fat. I still believe I can build a few more pounds of lean, or at the very least, get back to where I was at 45 or so. I have to believe that, America…if I don’t then what’s my purpose and reason for training? Isn’t that why all of you train – to improve beyond your current condition? I’m no different.

I’m out America…need to eat one more meal before bed. Gonna hit you up with something I’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout for quite a while…you’ll have to check out the next blog to see what it is. Holla at’cha boi…and make it do what it do, baby! Peace…

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

Comments 1 | Read more...

Three Goals Set; Two Goals Met

04.28.2010 14:28:37

America, you ever have one of those days, or even weeks, where everything you think about doing, you forget. I’m having one of those moments now. I think of stuff I wanna write about in the middle of the night, and then WHAM…come morning all thoughts are gone. Same thing happens during the day. I could be thinking of something I want to say while I’m out working on the yard, and by the time I get in the house, I don’t remember. Yea, yea…I know…I’m old, but that ain’t it, so no smart comments. ‘Sides, I’ve heard em all…

Hey, big ups to Joe DeRousie for winning the Overall at both the Emerald Cup and Empire Classic. I knew of Joe but never talked to him until we spoke at the EC. Great guy! I remember looking at him backstage thinking to myself, “Dang, this boy is b-i-g”, not to mention dry, hard, and all the other superlatives that go with looking good. I finally got the nerve to go say hi, thinking he’d blow me off and go about his business. But he was so cool it surprised me. As focused as he was on prepping backstage for the show, he took a few minutes to chat with me. He even said he read my blog! Go figure! We spoke some more at Spokane. Got a couple shots with him that I’ll post on FB soon. I’m just glad he didn’t do couples at the EC! He and Susan Thorpe smoked Mixed Pairs in Spokane and had a good routine for putting it together in less than a week. Can you see me standing next to him in comparisons? It would be like a toothpick next to the mighty oak tree! I’m 5’11” and all of a buck sixty while he’s 5’8” or so somewhere around 230. That’s alright, Joe…I ain’t mad at’cha! Anytime you wanna bump big guy, holla at’cha boi…yea…right…! He’s good people, America – straight up, honest, and tells it like it is. I wish him well in his Nationals’ quest for his pro card.

Okay…thoughts are coming back, so here goes…I set three goals in getting ready for the EC. First, I wanted to achieve my best look and condition in several years. The goal was to not beat myself. What with the hip replacement, knee surgery, and all the other physical crap I had going on with this body, I needed to see if I could still do this. I can. I’m smaller than I’ve been in recent years, but I realized that I can still get the conditioning. Now, two years post hip-replacement, it’s time to see if this ole body can make one more run at it. The goal is to push even harder, eat cleaner, and stay closer to contest weight so that I will have less cardio to do. That’s the one thing I noticed – my hip did talk to me a bit once I got to the second session of 45 minutes or more. It didn’t like doing that much work on a daily basis so I’ve got to make some adjustments to ease that workload. So the first goal of conditioning and not beating myself was met.

The second goal set was actually two-in-one. I wanted to have the best posing routine for both my individual routine and our Mixed Pairs routine. That was met as well. If I may brag just a bit, Marga and I rocked the house AND we won our class. She brought attitude to her side of the routine – the ‘sista’ in her came out. A lil’ finger wavin’, a lil’ head bobbin’…nice! And yes, that really was ‘her man’ that came out at the end of the routine. Big thanks to Guy Overby for loaning me his wife, playing along, and getting a shirt made that said “I’M HER MAN”. For those of you that didn’t see the routine and have no idea what I’m talking about, Marga and I posed to “I Got A Man” by Positive K – an ole school rap song. Great song, great routine. On the individual routine, I did D. J. Kool’s “Let Me Clear My Throat”, another ole school rap song. Great beat, and the thing I liked about it was that it was interactive with the audience. In my opinion, the crowd loved it. Even my partner, Kim “Kong” Farrison, the best MC in the country, gave big props, and that’s saying a lot coming from one of the all-time best posers in the NW back in the day. So goal two was met as well…

The downer? I didn’t take my class. That was the primary goal. Don’t get me wrong, America…I was pleased with my look, I loved the routines, but the bottom line is I compete to win. I knew this would be a tough show as the EC is always tough. In 14 years of competing in it I’ve only taken my class once. I’d love to do it again before I retire. You’ve heard me say that if I do everything I’m supposed to do then there’s no way I’m gonna diss my competition. And it’s not gonna start now. And even if I’m not on task, I still won’t talk bad against my fellow competitors as they did their job. They were better, pure and simple. I couldn’t have taken them out no matter what I did for this EC. They were bigger, more muscular, and just as hard. I talked with all of them backstage and congratulated them on their placings. This really was a tough class this year. I was totally satisfied with taking 4^th place (man…that’s still hard to say and swallow even though I’m cool with it ~chuckle~). For those of you who can’t wrap your head around what I’m saying, just ask any competitor who took second by one point if they’re ‘happy’. I’d venture to say no. Marga took second in her class by that one point. The winner, Joanna Wilson, looked incredible, as did Marga, but Joanna got the nod. If one judge would have flipped his or her vote Marga would have won. Joanna went on to win the Overall Women’s. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…if you TRULY have the mindset of a competitive athlete, anything less than 1^st place leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. I’m not gonna water it down any more than that, America! I hate losing. I accept defeat, but I hate losing! As I’ve been writing this blog I’ve been watching the NBA playoffs. Their slogan says it all – “Win or go home”. A couple teams got knocked out of the playoffs tonight. They’ weren’t happy. That’s how I feel.

So what’s next? Well, I’m set to MC the Bill Pearl Classic down in Bend, OR on May 8^th. I promised Andre “Bam Bam” Scott and Jeremy Williams that I’d do their shows, the Oregon State and Washington State BB Championships in July, and then it’s back to Spokane for the Night of Champions, and you know I’ve gotta do the Washington Ironman. That’s on my plate…I might take a couple more bites if I feel the desire.

Well…I’m out. I’ll be back later this week. Holla at’cha boi…peace!

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Thoughts determine what you want; Action determines what you get!

Tags:

Keri Baird: Guest Blogger

04.27.2010 12:45:50

America, I know I haven’t written in quite a while, but I’ve got good excuses…okay…I lied…I ain’t got no excuses – I was just lazy! N-E-Whoo…I’m going to get back into the groove this week. I’ve gotta lot of stuff to talk to you about, some things I need to get off my chest, some on the two contests (actually it was three, but the Empire Classic was a guest posing for me – I didn’t compete), some on my new training regimen…just a lotta stuff. So ya’ll keep checkin’ back. I promise I’ll be regular once again.

I picked up a new figure competitor a while ago. You guys know how I like to have my people write about their first few experiences with me – not to toot my own horn, but rather to give you an understanding of having a qualified trainer vs unqualified or attempting to go it alone. Keri Baird has so graciously written a blog that I’d like to share with all of you. So kick back, put down the 40, and enjoy…

Keri Baird: Guest Blogger

I started training with Dave in February with a goal in mind of competing at the Oregon Ironman on May 15^th. I had followed Dave’s blog as I trained for the WA Ironman last year and found myself very intrigued with his knowledge in the sport of bodybuilding and everything else he had to share. I thought to myself, “This is a guy who really knows what he’s talking about and says it how it is!” At the end of January I was reading some of his blogs and he had said “holla at’cha boi if you have any questions on training and nutrition.” That sentence spoke to me but I figured with me living in Vancouver it wasn’t possible for me to really train with him so I decided to email him and ask if he knew of anyone in my area I could get in contact with. When I received a response from him he mentioned that he has other clients that drive up from my area to see him and that we could work something out. So we set up our first session on Saturday, February 6^th . . . a day I will NEVER forget! As Dave would tell you that was the day I had my first REAL leg work out! I think I did the “Potty drop” for over a week, my legs were so sore! Ha ha! I learned so much that day! As I look back on that day, a very important thing I learned is that it really does come down to the intensity that we need to put forth to achieve our goals. Yeah, I have worked out before and I thought I was working hard but Dave showed me a whole new level! He spent so much time with me and explained to me his expectations of me as his client. He said “I don’t expect you to be perfect, but I do expect you to be excellent.” He also made it very clear to me that he will tell me how he sees it! If I ask him a question, he will give me an honest answer. So if there is a question that may come with an answer I will not like . . . I don’t ask! That is what I want; I do not want to hear I look good if I do not, especially from my coach! Sure my friends and family are going to tell me I look good, but I want to know I look ‘Figure competition good’! Dave can and will tell me his honest opinion, and that is something I value and respect from him as my trainer. We sat down and he outlined a nutrition plan for me to follow and he let me know we would adjust things according to how I was looking and where we were at. He introduced me to Parrillo supplements and in my opinion they are by far the best I have ever tried! Yum! Each session I learn so much, I can’t get enough! For me, what makes it great is that all the guess work is taken out of it. Dave, as the coach, tells me exactly what to do, so for me as the client, all I have to do is follow the instructions and I’ll see (and am seeing) incredible results! Yes, its hard work and I have days that I question myself on why I am investing so much of my time and money into this and think it would be so much easier to just quit but I will not let that happen. I know I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES and I will PUSH MY LIMITS to ensure that I REACH MY GOAL! I WILL NOT BEAT MYSELF!!!

This past week was my most challenging so far. With my boyfriend being out of town, one sick child, and my two year old turning into a monster (per Dave it’s due to me changing due to lack of carbs) I really thought I was going to lose it! I have to admit I broke down in tears a couple times but I’d get over it and just do what I needed to do! I had to rearrange my workouts but proudly I managed to get in every minute of cardio and every set and rep of weights! As I explained to Dave what had been going on he informed me on how my feelings and emotions are normal for the point that I am at and that it may even get worse . . . but thank goodness for Parrillo cookies and brownies! J We are less than three weeks out from the OR Ironman and I am excited and anxious to see the daily changes in my body. At this point, I am in better shape than ever before and I am so thankful for all of the knowledge and guidance Dave has provided me with. He genuinely cares and shows that by checking in on me when he had not heard from me and now he has me checking in with him almost daily. It’s a great feeling to know I have a trainer who is there for me whether it be to answer my questions or even just to let me vent! Thank you Dave!

America, I appreciate the kind words Keri spoke, but as you know, I’m only as good a trainer as my clients will allow me to be. All I do is talk. I’m sure that if you were to ask all of my clients over the years, both bodybuilding and regular everyday folk if I’m a good trainer, there would be some that would say I didn’t do anything for them. I’ve said this before – I don’t take credit for a person’s success because, on the flip side, I’d have to accept responsibility for those that fail. My shoulders aren’t that big to carry that load (but Big Joe DeRousie’s are…I’ll get to him later…) nor is my ego that swollen to believe that I’m the world’s greatest trainer. I’ve said this many times – I know what I know, and that’s all that I know. The question is, how MUCH do I know? And if I know enough, can I, in an articulate, intelligent, meaningful way relate that to a client to get him or her to do the necessary well to achieve their goals? If I can do that, then I’m a good trainer TO THAT PERSON. To those that have not done or did not do, and will not accept personal responsibility and accountability for their own actions and looks to blame others for their failures, then I’m a lousy trainer. Keri has taken everything I’ve said and ran with it. She’s not made excuses. Her life is hectic just like so many others. But she finds a way to get the job done.

I can honestly say that when Keri first called me and sent me to a site to view some of her contest pics, I was like, “uggghh, what was she doing stepping onstage with that look?” Oh, don’t gasp in amazement that I said that, America! How many times have you been sitting in the audience and looked at someone walk out and say either to yourself or the person sitting next to you, “What in the world is (s)he doing up there? Doesn’t (s)he know how bad (s)he looks? How could his/her coach put him/her in looking like that?” As Kurt Angle, the professional wrestler used to say, “It’s true, it’s true!”

The last time I saw Keri, the week of the EC, she already looked significantly better than her previous contest look, and she still has 3 weeks to go. I’ll see her this Friday to map out her last two weeks of nutrition, cardio, and weights. We’ll keep in contact literally daily at this point. She will look good for this show. She will have exceeded her previous look by leaps and bounds. I’m proud of her for staying the steady – for “makin’ it do what it do!” And the goal is to get her a cover on Parrillo Performance. As Martin Lawrence always said on his show, “You GO, girl…!”

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

The body cannot go where the mind has not been! See it, believe it, achieve it!

Tags:

I Will NOT Beat Myself! - Part VI

04.17.2010 12:04:26

Two men enter…one man leaves! “Every athlete who steps into the arena, onto the court, the field, the stage, or wherever they compete, if they are truly competitive, expects to win. Only one will. All the rest will have achieved victory in reaching their best potential, but there can only be one ‘Best of the Best’. Will it be you?” David Patterson

Tomorrow is the big day, America. My work is done. I cardioed exactly as outlined months ago. I trained until muscles said, “Dude, one more rep and we’re gonna tear.” I’ve pushed through pain and injury. For the last month I was meticulous on foods. This last week I’ve done several things differently as I experimented on me. I’m not privy to share them just yet…gotta make sure everything works and then adjust for each client before I present it to the world. But I will say this – this week’s SWAG (Scientific Wild-A$$-Guess) was nothing like I’d done before. I’ve always done things the same way, give or take a little of this or that. This time I went in a totally different direction. And you know what? It didn’t hurt me! So once again the science holds true that if one is lean enough one can do literally anything for several days with no ill effects. But the key is to be lean enough. Everything starts there.

I want to win. I plan on winning (as does everyone else in my class…). I have not worked this hard to do anything else but win. I did not work for 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, or lower. But I will accept defeat gracefully and with full humility if I do not win, for my competitors have also worked just as hard, if not harder than me. I will congratulate them and shake their hands. And then I will come back home and train harder…

There’s nothing else to do. There’s nothing else to say. It’s now up to the judges…peace!

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mobile: 253.576.4859

Don't give me excuses...give me results!

Tags:

I Will NOT Beat Myself! - Part V

04.14.2010 14:09:51

America, short blog tonight. Nothing of significance or importance to report. Did my morning cardio – pushed harder than yesterday! Did 3 sets of leg extensions and leg curls and called it quits – legs are just too tired and sore. I’m not gonna make any changes in them between now and contest anyway, and I need them to rest. So the rest of the ‘workout’ I stretched to open them up and posed between stretches, working on all the routines I’ve gotta do over the next few weeks. Other than that I ate my foods as usual, adding in an extra potato and Parrillo Bar. That was my day.

Here’s what I noticed – not just today but most of my contests…as soon as I get to ‘exhale’, meaning that the hard training is over, I get totally fatigued. The mental stresses are gone and I can let down. That’s when the physical fatigue sets in. Normally I go another day or two before I’m done, but I’m cuttin’ it short this time around. Typically this means that I’m still a bit tired going into the shows on Saturdays, but this time I believe I’ll be fully recovered with what I’m about to do. I’ve shared a lot of what I know with you, America, but there’s still a couple things that I’ve got up my sleeve that I keep to myself. Hey…I’m a competitor – I hate to lose! I didn’t bust my butt all this time to take 2^nd or worse. I will accept whatever place I’m given with dignity and grace as I have no control over my competition and judging, but I never enter a show with any other purpose than to take 1^st place. If some of you can’t identify with that, then…well…we just have differences of opinion on what competition is. I ain’t mad at’cha!

I’ve done my prep, I’ve been on task, and anything more will simply deplete me more than I want. So now I’ve got 3 days to rest and recover. That means I get to stretch more, pose more, and just chill around the house, sleeping, relaxing…doing whatever I want except train. For those of you who feel the same way, I’d highly recommend something along the same lines. If you’ve got a coach or trainer, ignore everything I’m saying and listen to him or her. Now is not the time to create drama or conflict.

Well, that’s it for tonight…the increased carbs are definitely kicking in now…my house is set at 67 degrees and I’m about to pull my sweatshirt off, I’m so hot…nice! Holla at’cha boi, America…I’m out…peace!

The Dr.

Personal Training Systems

“There Are No Shortcuts!”