it looks like even gym-rats are going green. Here’s Dr. John Berardi of Precision Nutrition being interviewed about what he does to stay green and still stay lean. Hey, if the Hulk can do it …
Pauline: Bodybuilders and athletes usually eat lots of meat, chicken and other meats. It takes an incredible amount of energy to first bring up all this beef, then the whole process to get it to our table. Have you thought about cutting down on it for the environmental benefits?
Dr Berardi
For me, that’s too extreme…especially since some meat production does tend to be more eco-unfriendly than other meats.
Most of the meat I get is raised locally. Some of it is free range and some of it is grain fed. I also get quite a bit of wild game meat – stuff like venison, elk, etc.
The truth is – I’ve gotta have my lean protein. So cutting down isn’t going to happen any time soon. If we’re keeping score, though, it’s important to note that less energy goes into locally farmed meat vs. factory farmed meat. Remember, not all meat is so costly to bring to our tables.
Eric Cressey gets angry with bad research and its effect on the public’s perception of how they should diet and exercise.
They claim that the results show that low-fat, higher carb diets outperform low-carb, higher fat diets when both diets are low in fat and total calories. In other words, the implication is that they are calorically equal – when in fact, the higher carb group received 155 calories more per day (14.3% higher caloric intake). Over the course of the four month study, the low-carb group averaged five pounds more (28 vs. 23) in body weight reductions. At eight months, however, they had regained 18 pounds while the low-fat, higher-carb group had continued to lose weight. It must be the carbs, right? Wrong!
Alwyn Cosgrove has a post on Abundance vs. Scarcity in the personal training market. He sets up the idea that some people have a mindset of abundance, and others of scarcity. Meaning, those with the abundance mindset think the world is full of plenty of opportunity for everyone whereas those with the scarcity mindset believe there is a limited amount, and to do well means (by necessity) that someone else must fail.
I call it going “Deep Sea Fishing for Water”. This can be a little deep (no pun intended) so bear with me….
It’s as if we chartered a boat and went out to sea, with the goal of collecting as much water as we could. When we get there – I start using a bucket to collect my water. You start using a tea cup.
Now ask yourself this — are you angry that I used a bucket? Do you feel as if I’m taking more than my “fair share” ?
In the personal training and fitness coaching market, there really is an abundance of potential clients. I’m never worried about helping out a fellow trainer for fear of them “stealing” my clients. That’s ridiculous. The United States has a population that is about 30% obese and growing (pun fully intended). Every year we graduate a larger number of high school students who have never had a serious PE class, who couldn’t run a mile to save their lives (literally, if a bear was chasing them, they’d be food).
Here’s the reality. If you’re a man, without any serious physical ailments, and under 70, you should be able to do at least 10 pull ups. You should be able to run a mile in less than 9 minutes (I’m being lax here). You should be able to do 100 crunches in a row, no problem; 50 push ups straight; and squat about bodyweight. I’m not joking. Any male of the species, if truly in shape, should be able to do these things. The amount of testosterone flowing in the male body is ridiculous compared to what women have. Men are quite literally on steroids. There is no excuse. These numbers are low. There are old old old men at Loprinzi’s that can do better than this.
All it takes is some work. And the pay off is huge.
For women there are similar standards. At least: 8 full push ups or 20 knee push ups; run a mile in less than 10 minutes; do 8 pull ups with 75% bodyweight (with 100% bodyweight if you have a small hip structure); Squat 75% bodyweight; 100 crunches, no problem. These could all be higher depending on bone structure.
For certain athletes these numbers would be different. Female Olympic lifters sometimes have a hard time doing pull ups because of the shear muscular weight they carry in their hips and legs. But, then they make up for that by clean and jerking their bodyweight (see below).
If you can’t do those things, I can help you. For that matter, a whole host of trainers could help you get better than you are now, even the crappy ones. All they have to do is encourage you to workout regularly. Most Americans don’t, therefor, it’s an open market. How many people do you know who can boast the aforementioned numbers? Can you?
This is Melanie Roach clean and jerking a ton of weight:
Precision Nutrition has a new interview with Dr. John Berrardi. He goes over all kinds of interesting stuff like: how he deals with athletes who need more calories; how he got Dave Tate to look so … well … not fat; and what he likes to parade around in early in the morning.
Nick Horton is head coach of the PDX Olympic Weightlifting team in Portland, OR. He is a Sports Performance and Strength Coach who believes in combining hard work in the gym with a fun and relaxed attitude. He is a competitive Olympic weightlifter himself, Highland Games thrower, and a recreational softball player.
Killer Comment!
"Don't trust ... anyone who claims that you can be fit without any effort on your part. Most importantly, pay attention to what you eat, try new things, take the time to learn about what you want regarding your health and fitness and how to achieve those goals, stop being lazy about it, and for Christ's sake stop with the self-imposed guilt about it all! "
--Jessica Fraver
