This is particularly relevant for me because last week I broke the 5th metatarsal of my left foot, as you can see here:

You can see on the far left, just as the 5th metatarsal (toe bone) joins the cuboid bone, there is a dark line crossing the nub of the bone.  That’s a break.  Not a fracture, according to the consultant… A break.  Bones don’t fracture at my age apparently!

Disaster!

So now I need to figure out how to stay in some semblance of shape while having to spend most of the day confined to the couch with my foot up to reduce swelling and maximise the healing response!

Luckily I do have some kit at home.  1 x foam roller.  1 x baseball (for rolling with).  1 x 16kg Kettlebell & 1 resistance band & 1 17kg bulgarian bag.

They fitted me with an adjustable shoe so I can put some weight on it.

Without further ado, here’s my daily, minimal equipment…

Workout plan

Warmup: Foam roll, lower back (ball), quads, calves, triceps, lats, forearms.  Stretch chest.

Posture & Shoulder Pre-hab

A1. Wall angels 3 x 12 reps

A2. Band pullaparts 3 x 100 reps

A3. Lying dorsal raises, Y to Ws

Pressing:

B. Seated one arm KB shoulder press 4 x 10 – feet out in front, on the floor

C. 1 arm pushups on knees 3 x 3

D. Pushups on knees: 20sec press, 30sec rest

Glute cooldown work:

E. Glute firing pattern drills progressing to clams 2×8

Stretch hamstrings

That’s day 1.  On day 2 I replace B & C with the following…

Pulling: 45sec rest

B. One arm KB row, resting on knees: 4×15

C. Reverse curl with bag, kneeling: 4×12

… Otherwise the workouts are identical.

Conclusion

I hope you never have to do these workouts!  But if you do, these will at least keep you in some semblance of shape while you can’t stand!!  Note I haven’t started doing these until 3 weeks post injury.  I’ve found the foot and lower leg muscles tend to tense up while exercising and thus can impair the healing process.

But the rolling and stretching are extremely beneficial to encouraging blood flow

Here’s looking forward to a speedy recovery!

Your friend and trainer,

Richard

You are what you eat.  In truth, you are also what you don’t eliminate.

Do you sometimes feel like you need to detoxify yourself?  Wonder why you get ill so frequently?  Why you seem to gain fat easily but not muscle?  Science is showing us that, just as ancient and traditional cultures believe, health truly does originate in the gut.

This article contains a 3 step process to cleanse and heal your gut, and tremendously improve your health.

How’s Your Gut Health?

Do you:

1. Find it easy to gain fat but difficult to lose it?
2. Have food or hayfever-type allergies?
3. Have  energy lulls throughout the day?
4. Have strong food cravings for “bad” foods – sweets, carbs etc.?
5. Still feel tired even when you have a full night’s sleep?
6. Have a bowel movement less than twice a day?
7. Often feel bloated / visually retain water (does your skin seem loose and “jiggly”), especially around the belly?
8. Feel generally a bit toxic and in need of an internal cleanse / system reboot?

If the answer to any of the above is “yes” then…

Your Digestive System Probably Has A Toxic Build-Up

To understand how this happened, let’s read this definition of a toxin:

A toxin can be a food substance which the cells did not happen to eat and which, becoming superfluous, becomes a burden on the body. A toxin can also be a normal waste product of cellular metabolism. This too needs elimination. A toxin can be a foreign material which the body could never have used, but which, having gotten inside, now must he detoxified (catabolized), moved, stored or eliminated. A toxin can also be a substance which was incompletely metabolized at some point, so that it could have been used, but now has become a burden.

Interesting, eh?

Remember, as humans, our source of energy for our organs, nervous system and muscles comes only from one place – our digestive system.  But it’s not just our body’s cells that generate the energy from food.  Beneficial microbes which line the wall of the gut also generate energy for the body’s cells.  That’s if they’re working as they should.

There’s a LOT of non-food out there nowadays.  It looks like food, is advertised as food, but is not recognised by the body as food!

Guess what, people?  By the above definition, that counts as a TOXIN.

Remember, that’s most things that come pre-packaged, or god forbid, pre-made, in a container at the supermarket.

The Immune System

60-90% of your immune system is concentrated in your gut mucosa.

The importance of the immune system cannot be understated.  Dwelling in the modern era, our city environment is full of lovely little pathogens that want to come and live in your body and invite their friends to the party.

For them, a strong immune system is a nightmare.  They think they’ve found a nice new, warm home… They settle in for the night, maybe kick back on the nearest ganglion colony and open a few beers, then BOOM - the cops break the door down, crash their party and arrest everyone.  They’re locked up and taken straight to jail.  To the lymph nodes, then the liver, kidneys and finally thrown out to die in the great beyond.

By the way, I can’t recommend the following BBC documentary highly enough.  It’s a brilliant exposition of cell activity at a microscopic level.

Bookmark it and come back to it later - you need to read this first.

The Secret Micro-Universe: The Cell

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Let’s talk about allergies.

They are generally caused by something called Leaky Gut Syndrome.  This often starts with an imbalance of micro-organisms within the gut.  It has been estimated that there are 10 times as many micro-organisms within us, as we have cells.  And many of these are in the gut.

Widely speaking, there are two types of microbes in the gut.  Goodies, and baddies.

When you take antibiotics, the baddies AND the goodies get killed.  However it seems the pathogenic microbes (baddies) are more prevalent generally, and/or better at surviving in harsh environments.  Thus they tend to take over the gut and wreak havoc therein.

When the gut’s epithelial layer is damaged, it becomes less efficient, and can also leak undigested food particles into the bloodstream.

In case you didn’t guess, THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM.

Interpreted by the immune system as foreign bodies rather than nutrition, they are attacked.  That attack is what we know as an allergic reaction.  The immune system learns that these foods are enemies and begin to attack them, sometimes as soon as they touch the skin and before they are ingested.

An overactive immune system is like a rabid dog.  Biting out at everything and anything that comes too close, it exists in panic mode.

In panic mode, it can’t do what it’s meant to.

Leaky gut is a common syndrome, and one from which I myself have suffered.  However, I am well on the way to healing this, through the process I’m outlining for you.

Why Detox?

Some of the main outcomes you can expect from this program is a massive improvement in energy levels and/or motivation and an overall increase in immune system functioning.

If your immune system was working properly, you wouldn’t have colds and flu, chronic aches and pains, or any feeling of dis-ease within your body.  If you never have any of these.  Great.  You might as well stop reading right now (bye).

And for those interested in such things, operating with a more efficient digestive system will tend to normalise your body composition, which for many people may mean dropping some body fat.

The Blessed Herbs colon cleanse kit. It’s been updated since I first used it in 2002. Still does what it says on the tin!

Stage One of the Cleanse

R1: Remove (Days 1-9)

I’m interested in the causes of problems, not their symptoms.  So first we must remove the cause of digestive stress, namely the toxic build-up that’s in there, and the toxic food you’re feeding yourself.

Once the digestive system has been completely cleansed, it can get to work processing all those toxins that are still stored in your fat, muscle, organ and skin cells.  It never hurts to give your digestive system a rest as well.

The Clean-Me-Out-From-The-Inside-Please-Sir, Full Digestive System Cleanse.

So let’s explain days 1 to 9 of the digestive system clean-out, to ensure that any build-up in the digestive system is eliminated, or at least drastically reduced.

This consists of:

• A 3-day (largely vegetarian) pre-cleanse and
• A 5-day full no-solids cleanse consuming only liquids and herbal supplements
• 1 final day to break the fast

I like the colon cleanse from Blessed Herbs because it is made from natural substances rather than chemical ones, backed up by thousands of enthused testimonials, including my own.  I first used it about 10 years ago and found it to be extremely effective.  I also used it a few weeks ago and because I’m now much more knowledgable about nutrition, got even more benefit from it this time round.

My Suggested Modification of The Cleanse

According to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome (an excellent book on digestive system functioning and disorders), one of the best healing remedies for a damaged gut lining is bone or meat broth.  I recommend everyone drink copious amounts of this while on this cleanse.

While Dr. Natasha focuses on serious disorders like autism, ADHD and depression in her book, I believe her ideas apply to many people now who have let their digestive system get into quite a state (I’m talking about myself here too by the way – before I learned this stuff).  I would say that most city-dwellers suffer to varying degrees from digestive distress.  Thus most likely, her recommendation to consume bone broth is valid for you too.

Bone Broth

While modernity touts store-bought stock as more convenient and easy to use, it rarely carries the health benefits of homemade broth.

There is a copious amount of information out there on the web about this.  So I will just give you the key points:

• Enterocytes and other gut epithelium cells require collagen,
• When you ingest bone broth, it feeds the body with collagen and gelatin which are the building blocks of cells, bones, ligaments, cartilage and the brain.

I encourage you to read the references I’ve linked down the bottom for more information.  But I can say that after 2 weeks of consuming different types of bone broth (chicken, beef, pork) on a regular basis, I am definitely a believer!  I feel more energetic than I have in years.

Here’s the basic recipe:

• Get bones from butcher (chicken carcasses, beef bones, chicken necks & feet, pig’s feet – these are so filled with gelatin its amazing).  Often they’re free or very cheap.  It’s the sinewy material in and around the bones we’re looking for.
• Put bones in water, in slow cooker, or in crock pot in oven
• Add few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to help draw nutrients out into water
• Leave for 24 hours ideally (you can cook it for less but 24 hours seems ideal to extract the gelatin/collagen/good stuff
• Strain stock
• Put in fridge
• Heat & eat

I bought this Morphy Richards 3.5 litre slow cooker, it’s awesome, and just the right size for a few day’s worth of broth without being obtrusive in the kitchen.

3 Day Pre-Cleanse

This starts your cleansing process.  It’s explained well in the detox kit.  Key points:

• Cut toxic substances which acidify the body’s cells, including:
  • Alcohol / cigarettes
  • Stimulants / caffeine
  • Sugar
  • Starchy & refined carbohydrates
  • Artificial sweeteners
• Switch your protein sources to fish, beans, pulses
• Eat lots of non-starchy vegetables
• Up your water intake
• Start to take the herbal supplements in the evening, which will improve your frequency of bowel movements
• Prepare to fast by gradually reducing your food intake so that by the third day you are eating 1/3 normal meal sizes

This is where you start to feel hungry.  Sorry, but it’s true.

Because it’s quite a full-on experience, I decided to do a video diary.  It’s in 3 parts.  Here’s my intro in which I explain why I chose to do the cleanse, and a comment on my first few day’s experience on the program.

The Fast: 5-Day Cleanse

On the 5-day-cleanse, you consume only the herbal and fibre-based shakes that are part of the cleanse, and plenty of liquids.

• Apple juice – the cleanse kit recommends this as supposedly it helps the digestion and cleansing process
• Lemon & ginger tea – use fresh lemon & ginger and you can add cayenne pepper for extra cleansing
• Tulsi tea helps to lower the effects of both psychological and physical stress, lowers cortisol, reduces inflammatory responses, improves liver function as well as helping to fight infection.
• Any herbal tea or green tea will probably do fine, however I did completely cut caffeine and therefore avoided green tea
• Coconut water – great electrolyte replacement
• The cleanse recommends cooking a vegetable broth.  This is fine, but in hindsight I would consume a bone broth with added probiotic substances to ensure you are healing the body while also cleansing it.  But how can you get probiotics if you’re only allowed liquids?  By using only the liquid from probiotic foods like sauerkraut.  This liquid has been found to contain many more billion organisms than even the strongest pro-biotic pill.
• Take some fish oils every day (I was taking about 40g per day – 4 teaspoons, as well as 20g of a combination flax-seed and EFA oil).  This helps get some fat into the body so you don’t completely waste away!

Which Pro-biotic to use?  I use a probiotic called Bio-Kult, recommended by Dr. Natasha. It is a ‘therapeutic strength’ probiotic containing 14 different strains of bacteria. Many probiotic tablets have only one or two strains – if we have more types, we can encourage whatever is lacking to proliferate.

Here’s my second bit:

Warning: Read me first!

There are a few things you must know before embarking on a cleanse like this.  It’s not to be taken lightly.

On days 5 and 6 you WILL in all likelihood have so-called ‘mucoid plaque’ coming out of your bowels – old compacted food that was clogging up your intestines.

Next, and this is the most important point - you will be very sensitive to the foods that you put in your body for the next 2-6 weeks, and you need to be ready to adjust your diet in accordance with what your body is telling you it needs, while you heal it.

My experience is that I have become much more aware of and interested in foods that offer true nutrition, as opposed to the refined crap that is sold as food these days.  You need to commit to a repair / rebuilding process after the initial removal process.

Fasting FAQ

• Will I lose weight?  Yes you will.  Water weight, fat weight, possibly muscle weight.  But I believe you can minimise loss of muscle mass by having bone broth at least twice a day.
• Will I feel hungry?  The cleanse documentation says no.  I say yes.  Tough titty.  Deal with it!!  You’re going to survive,
• Will I still go to the toilet?  Obviously you’ll be peeing a lot – because you’ll tend to drink a lot of liquids to satiate your hunger.  But you should adjust the number of the digestive stimulator tablets to ensure you keep regular.  I had to up them to about 3 or 4 on a few days.  You’ll still be going on the fifth day, and what will be coming out will be compacted fecal matter built up from months or years previous.
• Will I have enough energy to work?  As you’ll see if you watch my video diary, I was mostly full of energy.  In fact, more energetic than I would have been normally.
• Should I train while cleansing?  Ultimately the best advice is to go with how you feel.  You may feel the most vigorous thing you can do while cleansing is to go for a walk.  Or you may feel that some stretching, or a jog, would be beneficial to help you sweat out any toxins the body is cleansing.  This is one of the few times that I wouldn’t recommend weight training.
• Will my skin break out?  Again, sorry, I don’t know the answer to this.  It depends how toxic you are!  My skin seemed to clear up, if anything, possibly because of the amount of liquids I was drinking.
• I don’t like how bone broth/sauerkraut taste, is there an alternative?  Yes there is.  Stop living inside your comfort zone.  Having said that, chicken bone broth tastes better than beef, and you can liven it up with some salt & pepper.

Breaking the Fast

There are instructions in the detox kit for breaking the fast, but they’re not very detailed.  I would follow the elimination diet process I’ve outlined below as closely as possible.  Don’t go straight back into heavy foods, although you may feel that you want to.

When I first did this cleanse it was at a spa in Ko Samui in Thailand.  One of the girls was so desperate to get back to her old habits that she broke the fast with chicken and rice.  Did she poop for the next 3 days?  Nope.

Start with the simplest, most digestive-friendly foods possible and gradually work up to those that are harder work.  It took me almost a week to get back onto eating things like red meat and sausages, 2 weeks to even try a slice of sourdough bread (it’s the only kind of bread I eat now, and rarely), and 3 weeks to try some pasta (again, now an extremely rare option).

R2: Rebuild (day 10 onwards)

Who wants pro-biotics anyway?

Beneficial gut flora is responsible for doing a lot of cool things to help us out.  Once you get into the details of this stuff, it gets pretty in-depth.  However, here’s a few examples of what gut flora does for us.

• They activate synthesis of lymphocytes – a crucial group of immune system cells.  In people with damaged gut flora there are far fewer lymphocytes in the gut wall, leaving it poorly protected.
• They synthesise the cells which swallow toxins, virii and bacterial debris in infected / inflamed tissues (neutrophils/macrophages)
• They keep pathogenic (so-called opportunistic) microbes at bay.  These little critters often consume nutrients that are meant for us and our little friends, and then generate their own toxins which our bodies then have to deal with.
• They help keep the immune system in balance, so that T-cells do their jobs correctly, fighting the enemy

Because of this it’s crucial to supplement with probiotic foods – either a straight supplement, or actual foods with beneficial bacteria, as discussed below.

A few years ago a new craze came about in the form of Yakult and other ‘live culture’ yoghurt drinks to improve digestion.  The problem was, they were absolutely saturated with sugar!  Too many sugary foods and processed carohydrates increase numbers of different fungi, Candida species in particular.  They can also promote population of the gut with worms and other parasites.  GROSS!

In addition, commercially made dairy products which advertise themselves as containing ‘live cultures’ will not necessarily live up to their claims once the products hit the shelves.

However you can be reasonably confident that fermented food products will still contain a good level of them, as will a good quality pro-biotic supplement pill.

Eat fermented foods like sauerkraut, kochumba or pickles before eating to help restore enzymes, hydrochloric acid levels and probiotics back to normal.

Regular (daily) servings of bone broth is also highly recommended to continue building the digestive system and providing nutrition without overly taxing the healing body.

Lovely roast free range chicken, cauliflower cheese, squash and bone broth in the slow cooker behind! You can still live well and be good to yourself.

R3: Re-Introduce (day 10 onwards)

Over the next 5 days to 4 weeks, you should gradually introduce one food item at a time to ensure you have a good response to it.  This is to make sure you don’t start consuming something you have an intolerance of, or allergic reaction to without realising it.

The first time I ate pasta after my cleanse was 3 weeks after breaking the fast.  It made me feel bloated.  Not going there again for a while.

Following Dr. Natasha’s guidelines, we should:

• Avoid any foods which we have a negative reaction to (bloating, gas, constipation, diarrhea, water retention)
• Consume probiotic foods, like sauerkraut, before every meals, to help the digestive system function optimally
• Continue to consume bone or meat broth daily (I now have this every morning after my hot water + lemon drink, and put some sauerkraut in it.  My energy levels have thus far been through the roof.  Seems gross?  Do you want healthy digestion or not??  Get into it)
• Gradually introduce dairy, ideally in the form of ghee or butter for cooking, from organic free range cows, and home-made yoghurt using raw milk (I buy mine at Islington Farmer’s Market)

Here was my exceptionally designed food re-introduction plan.  It’s not perfect but it was a useful guide as to what to introduce every day after the cleanse.

The pink ticks and crosses indicate which foods I felt good about and which I didn’t have a good response to. I recommend using advanced technology, as I did, for this process.

After I introduced some foods I didn’t quite feel right with them, so I left them for a few days, then tried smaller amounts, until my digestive system had healed enough to be able to tolerate them.

Final Reflection

Many of us spend hundreds of hours every month sat in front of a screen.  As a result, there are lots of people walking around, acutely aware of what’s on their screens, but not really knowing what’s going on in their bodies… In their digestive systems and their muscles.

Ask yourself – are you guilty of losing touch with your body at times?  Do you know how you respond to different foods in terms of energy levels or body composition – what effect they have on you?

The cleanse will make you increasingly aware of your digestive system’s responsiveness to food – and you may have to (sometimes radically) alter your diet to keep your body happy, or risk falling back into your old habits.

Conclusion & Debrief

Check out the last night of my fast, and morning after, just before I break my fast:

Good luck!  As always, I’m right here to help if you need it!

Your friend and trainer,

Richard

Additional Reading

• Colon cleanse from Blessed Herbs
• Bio-Kult Probiotic
• Cleanse & Purify Thyself, Book 1.  The original cleansing book by Richard Anderson who pioneered this same cleanse.  Very dense, fascinating material about why the cleanse works and what the different herbs do.
• Gut and Psychology Syndrome.  By Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD
• Why Broth is Beautiful, on the Weston A. Price Foundation website.  This is an very well referenced article about bone broth and its many and numerous health benefits.
• Another excellent one on bone broth from The Nourishing Gourmet
• There are a variety of different bone and meat stock recipes here, as well as a decent exposition of its benefits.  Jade Institute
• Nourished Kitchen also provides an interesting perspective on bone broth.
• Another good recipe for bone broth at Balanced Bites

However, the most important rule you should use in your diet is this:

Do what works.

If you find you’re not getting leaner on your current diet, you need to change the content or the portion sizes.  Or both.  If you’re reasonably systematic about it, you’ll can adjust the amounts you eat.  However if you don’t follow any sort of plan, you’ll have no way to tell what works for you and what doesn’t.

Always cook meat with butter in a pan, or grill it for a lower fat option.

Elsewhere I’ve discussed pre- and post- workout options, but I do not include them below, for brevity’s sake.  Good luck, and please provide feedback or ask questions if required!!

Monday

1. 80g / 60g porridge (oats).  200ml / 150ml full fat milk.
2. Chicken salad.  2 / 1 chicken breast.  Cos lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, whole / 1/2 avocado, vinaigrette dressing.
3. 200g/120g turkey & green beans.  Balsamic vinegar to flavour.

Snacks: blueberries, 20/10 almonds

Tuesday

1. 2 / 1 sausages, 2 / 1 bacon.
2. 200g / 120g tuna steak.  Broccoli, corgette.
3. Chicken stir fry.  2 / 1 chicken breast.  Peppers, mushrooms, bean sprouts, soy sauce.

Snacks: 30g/20g beef jerky, 15/10 pistachio nuts

Wednesday

1. 3 / 2 boiled eggs, spinach, balsamic vinegar.
2. Sausage casserole.  3 / 2 sausages.  2 / 1 bacon rashers.  Chicken stock, tomato puree, 100g / 60g mixed beans.  Worcestershire sauce, mixed herbs, garlic.
3. Burger salad.  2 x 80g / 60g burgers.  Oak leaf lettuce, green pepper, whole / 1/2 avocado, vinaigrette dressing.

Snacks: raspberries, 20 / 10 hazelnuts

Thursday

1. 200g/120g steak and green beans.
2. 280g/200g salmon fillet and broccoli.
3. Chicken curry.  2 / 1 chicken breast.  Make own sauce or use 1/2 recommended portion of pre-made sauce.  Plenty of vegetables of your choice.

Snacks: 200g/150g 0% Total yoghurt with 2/1 teaspoons flaxseeds.

Friday

1. 3 / 2 scrambled eggs.  Rocket / broccoli.
2. Chicken & avocado salad.  2 / 1 chicken breast.  Avocado.  Salad.  Dressing.
3. 280g / 200 salmon fillet and green beans.

Snack: 300g cottage cheese, 2/1 tablespoon natural peanut butter (no sugar!).

Saturday

1. 2 / 1 eggs, 2 / 1 sausage, 2 / 1 bacon, half cup baked beans.
2. 200g/120g turkey & green beans.  Balsamic vinegar to flavour.
3. Own choice.

Snack: Canned tuna, olive oil.

Sunday

1. 200g/120g steak & brocolli.
2. 200g/120g tuna steak salad.  Peppers, cashew nuts, vinaigrette.
3. Spicy chicken & spinach salad.  2 / 1 chicken breast.

Snack: 30g/20g biltong.  200g/100g 0% Total yoghurt.

Shopping List

Saturday

12 eggs.  400g/240g tuna steak.  6/3 chicken breasts.  400g/240g turkey.  7/4 sausages.  8/4 bacon.  0% Total yoghurt.

Broccoli.  Spinach.  2 avocados.  Blueberries.  Raspberries.  Pistachios.  Almonds.  Cashews.

Wednesday

560g/400g salmon fillet.  4/2 chicken breasts. 200g/120g steak. 160g/120g burgers. 100g/60g mixed beans.

Spinach. Oak leaf lettuce.  Green peppers.  2/1 avocado.  Green beans.  300g cottage cheese.

Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion.  You have to set yourself on fire.

Reggie Leach

I decided that as summer is coming up, it’s time to take some of my own medicine and drop some body fat.  Over the last year or so I have gotten markedly stronger and more muscular but because of my increased food intake, have also happened upon more body fat than I have had before.  Right now, I’m sitting at 13.6%.  While most of my caliper readings are single digits, the ones around the mid-section aren’t.  They need to go.

I also have an ulterior motive for leaning-down.  It’s the following little known secret:

The best way to bulk up is to lean-down first.

I ultimately want to be competing at the 93kg powerlifting category.  For my height, I feel too light to be able to compete adequately with others in my weight class.

So, over the next 3 short weeks, I’ll be going on one of my own fat-loss programs to see what everyone is complaining about.  It’s a short amount of time, but let’s see what difference I can make to my body composition.

Diet Program Requirements

Anyone who has been through one of my fat-loss programs will know that they involve the following elements:

• Decreased calorie consumption.  Burn more than you eat.  Everyone, even weight-watchers, knows that.
• Clean food & no alcohol, cakes, sweets, or other stuff you could consider ‘crap’
• Enough protein to ensure my muscle doesn’t turn to mush (2.5 x bodyweight in kg)
• Cycling of carbohydrate intake to coincide with moments of high metabolism, i.e. morning & post workout
• Fish oils to encourage metabolism of fat
• Optimal intake of vitamins and minerals to cleanse and provide resources for the body
• A combination of strength training and metabolic conditioning
• 3-4 Litres of water per day at least

So with these things in place, I now lay out my plan.  If you want more tips, Charles Poliquin has given a brilliant, more detailed set of 50 here.

Diet Component #1: Calories

I calculate how many calories I should be consuming on workout and non-workout days, using my carb-cycling codex calculations.

Looks like I should be on 2735 calories per day.  This takes into account the fact that I’m working out 4x per week and have an active job.  For someone more sedentary but the same weight as me this would of course be less.

This works out as:

• Protein 208g
• Hi carb day Carbs 340g
• Lo carb day Carbs 110g
• Fat 110g

Keeping Track of Calories

How do I know how many calories I’m eating?  I make sure I track my calories by entering them all into an app like the FatSecret Calorie Counter.  There are loads of calorie counter apps out there, but this one breaks down your macronutrients so you can see if you’ve got the right distribution happening.  I can’t emphasise how useful this is.  It’s not a requirement, but it does help understand what your intake is with respect to where it should be.  Yes, it takes time, but if you object to spending time on improving yourself, why not go and read the Men’s Health Abs in 60 Seconds article and see if that works for you.  You can find the same article in every edition.

Diet Component #2: Paleolithic Eating

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Having just said this, I don’t plan every single meal.  But I do plan the overall composition and frequency of my meals.  Most meals are going to consist of some form of protein; chicken, fish, eggs, turkey, steak, and some green vegetable, usually broccoli or spinach.  I’ll snack on things like tuna salad, raspberries, blueberries, nuts, protein shakes (in an emergency – not ideal because of the insulin spike post-shake), yoghurt (Total, not Muller!) and cottage cheese.  Boring but simple and easy to follow.  In all honesty, I can’t really write a better diet program than the one on the Caveman Strong website.  Luckily it’s free so have a look at it here:

Caveman Paleo Diet Nutrition Plan

Here’a a sample day.  Let’s take Monday which is a training day.

• 5am: wake
• 5.30am: 3x eggs, 140g thin sliced beef steak
• 6am-12pm: train my lovely clients
• 1pm: 220g salmon fillet, broccoli
• 4.30pm: pre-workout.  60g protein shake
• 7pm: post-workout.  60g protein, 80g instant oats
• 8pm: dinner.  240g chicken breast, broccoli.

Diet Component #3: Carb cycling

So what’s the deal with this carb cycling thing, I hear you ask?  Simply put – on a workout day, I eat more carbs.  For breakfast, then post-workout.  On a non-workout day, I hardly eat any carbs.  Permitted carbs are:

• Instant Oats from MyProtein as part of post-workout shake.  Fast absorption of good quality carbohydrates.
• Sweet potato, usually 1-2 hours after a post-workout  shake.
• Porridge, on a workout day (but I rarely bother – I prefer eggs or steak generally, both with broccoli or spinach.  They’re quicker to make and eat)

Diet Component #4: Supplementation

I determine which and how many supplements I need.

• Super greens.  A superpowered multivitamin equivalent with pro-biotics for gut health.
• Fish oils.  Highly concentrated fish oils from the Foundry shop.
• Instant Oats and Whey Protein from MyProtein.  Liquid post workout protein and carbohydrate for quick uptake into the muscles.  After having tried almost all protein brands, this is my favourite.  No stupid marketing, just does what it says on the tin.

Training

I write a four-week training program including the following components:

• Strength: to ensure I maintain, if not build, strength levels
• Conditioning: circuits and intervals to raise lactate levels and burn fat

Strength

The strength component looks like this

Tuesday

• Deadlift 3×5 160kg+
• Squat 5×10 90kg
• Hamstrings 3×5-10
• Tommys 3×10 15kg

Thursday

• Squat 3×5 120kg+
• Power clean 5×5 work up to 80kg
• Hamstrings 3×5-10
• Band situps 3×10

Saturday

• Bench 3×5 85kg+
• Military press 5×10 40kg
• One arm row 5×10 30kg
• Triceps 3×5-10
• Biceps 3×5-10
• Chin ups if I have anything left in the tank

Conditioning

The conditioning component looks like this.  Bear in mind I also cycle about 20mins per day at a moderate pace to and from work.

Wednesday

• Skipping warmup
• Kettlebell metabolic sequence – “The Widowmaker”  16kg bells.
• Snatch x 20, Clean & press x 10, Double front squat x 10, Double military press x 10, Double row x 10, Pushup on bells x 10
• For time – always aim to beat previous time.
• Tri-set x 3 to finish:
• Renegade Row & Pushup combo x 20
• Double KB swing x 50
• Skipping cool-down

Before and After Stats

I make sure I have pictures and measurements of myself before and after the program to see how well it worked!

Watch this Space

I’ll post my results and pics to let you know how I did!!

Strength is important to me, and I try to help my clients see it as important to them.  For fat loss clients, increasing their strength while getting them leaner is crucial.

This article will help people who want to:

• Stick to a diet
• Get stronger
• Decrease body fat

One of my very successful clients (also incidentally my girlfriend) is Sarah Franklin.

After being trained by me for about a year and getting progressively stronger, she decided to become a competitive powerlifter.  I’m proud to say that she recently qualified for the British Powerlifting Championships 2012 after competing in her first meet.

Sarah’s background is in Dancing and Performing.  After training professionally she pursued a career in fitness.  She is a Sports Massage Therapist and Personal Trainer.

Over to her to tell the story.

Step 1: Make the decision to change.  Set a goal.

I have to admit something here.  I was an expert self-saboteur with fitness goals.  In the past I’ve been fearful of the unknown.

But I love lifting and I love being a strong female.  So, casually looking at the qualifying totals for the British Championships one winter evening, I realised I was already pretty close to the qualifying weights.  This was a very exciting prospect for me and so I decided that my goal should be to compete at a national level!

Knowing I needed to compete at under 63kg, I stepped on the scales.  67kg!  I couldn’t believe it.  I felt intrigued though.  Could I drop 5kg in 50 days to weight in at under 63kg while still fueling my body enough to get stronger?

It was with Richard’s help that I had dropped to 62.5kg last year so I knew he could help me drop the weight without spending too much energy on spinning classes and lots of cardio.

Step 2: Make a nutrition plan!

A consultation with Richard (and advice from other trainers at The Foundry) produced a nutrition and water consumption plan.  Looking at my planned activity levels and basal metabolic rate, a daily intake of 1400 kcals was set, a calorie deficit of 500kcals per day.

I was to drink 4-5 litres water every day to stop my body retaining excess water.  This probably accounted for half of the weight that I dropped.

How much carbs & protein?

The plan was mostly low carb, each meal made up of 120-140g lean protein and veggies.  A max of 50g carbs pre or post workout was allowed but I had to ‘spend’ my calories wisely to afford half a sweet potato.  I was to eat three planned meals, weighing food using the portion sizes Richard outlined, and no rubbish.

Cheat meals!

Every 2 weeks I was allowed a cheat meal where I could choose to eat ANYTHING I wanted.  Every time I had a craving (e.g. Chicken Pad Thai and Oreo Cookies) I would think, “if I still want it on my cheat meal then I’ll have it.”  9 times out of 10 I didn’t!  I also completely gave up alcohol for a month.

Step 3: Make a training plan

I followed a variant of Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program twice a week (designed by my coach Martin Bass at BG WL Club.)  I also trained once a week with Richard.

Step 4: Have a support team

I made sure I told as many people as possible about my goal so I would have plenty of support and understanding, and more people to answer to if I didn’t achieve it.

While I felt great overall on such a clean diet and regular exercise, recovery and flexibility was still a challenge.  Sports Massage Therapist Phil McDougall helped me with soft tissue work.

Osteopath Ray Yong also helped me with a pelvis alignment issue and reinforced the importance of a ‘nothing workout’ to get a bit sweaty but nothing more.  So I swam regularly to stay active, burn extra calories and help circulation and recovery.

Step 5: Continually track progress to the goal

The pressure was on.  This goal felt different – it was more than just a fat loss goal.  I used every spare minute thinking about what and when I could eat next, updating my calorie counter app on my phone to see what I could ‘afford’ to have for dinner.

Watching the scales gradually decrease over the first 25 days was very exciting.

Then I got stuck at 63.1kg for over a week.  My stress levels exploded.  Normally I am very calm and relaxed but with weeks to go I was troubled by the smallest thing.

I tried to stay open to and analytical of what I was feeling and why.  This brought me back from the brink of madness on many occasions!  But on the whole I felt the drive and determination of wanting and needing to succeed.  So I stuck with the program and of course the weight came off in the end!

Richard helped me change how I thought and planned for the event and I believe it was my ability to stay positive and focused through the hard times that led to my achievements.

Step 6: Celebrate achievements

On the day, I weighed in at 61.4kg for the 63kg class, and achieved the following lifts:

• Squat: 80, 87.5, 90kg
• Bench: 37.5, 42.5, no lift 45kg
• Deadlift: 100, 107.5, 110kg

Step 7: Relax, reset and recommit

I spent the rest of the day enjoying sweet treats (baked by my own fair hands Saturday) and a Sunday Roast at the local pub.  Having had a day of eating whatever I wanted, I was keen to get straight back on track!

Now I want to maintain my current weight.  I never want to see 67kg looking back at me from the scales.  I feel so much fitter, lighter and body confident at this weight.

Next, a mixture of swimming, a few weeks of recovery workouts and then the beginning of a new set of strength programs to see me through to the British.

Conclusion

I loved the experience!  I am so proud of myself to have achieved a goal that I set and one that I have always struggled at – losing weight!  I feel relieved, elated, exhausted, excited and motivated more than ever for what comes next!  Feeling strong in mind and body!

Motivational sayings that helped along the way:

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

… Referring to the food and diet plan, keeping track of it daily and planning meals and/or a days food in advance.

Whether you believe you can or you can’t, you’re right

… Richard reminded me of this one when thinking about the weights I should aim for in training.

Sarah Franklin, 24^th April 2012

In every case there’s also a secondary gain from having that pattern – a buzz, the feeling of social belonging, the sense of easing some psychological or physical discomfort, etc.

That’s part of what makes it difficult to stop doing something that rationally you know is damaging to you.

Habits are a neurological pattern of activation which follow a specific sequence in your brain.  If you really want to break a habit that is holding you back, using up your limited energy reserves, and reinforcing a negative self-image about your willpower, you just need a process to dismantle this sequence, and to consistently interrupt the pattern.

A Simple Process for Overcoming Bad Habits or Addictions

Step 1: Establish that this is something you really want to give up.

Hopefully you remember from our previous instalment that the number 1 reason is Stress, and that cortisol is the primary stress hormone. Well, this month our old friend cortisol rears its ugly head again, so if you’re ready, here we go…

 2. Sleep & Rest

Like it or not guys and gals, if you get less than 8 hours sleep at night, you may have up to 80% higher cortisol levels throughout the day…

• Lowering your testosterone, growth hormone, and fat burning capacity
• Making your body up to 40% more resistant to the effects of insulin, and
• Leading to abdominal weight gain and potentially diabetes

Sleep and wake cycles

Remember, cortisol performs a key role in alertness and wakefulness - when we need to be active, cortisol is higher.  Like when we get stressed.  Cortisol levels shoot through the roof.  So cortisol is also a key hormone governing our sleeping and waking cycles.  A healthy body’s cortisol levels will vary throughout the day.  They will:

• Be highest in the morning, between 6-8am, when you need to be alert.
• Drop between 8am and 11am
• Gradually decline throughout the day
• Reach a low at around 2am, by which point you should be in the deepest stage of sleep (been under for at least 4 hours)
• Start to rise toward morning, to help you prepare for another day.

If you don’t allow yourself 8 to 9 hours of sleep, your cortisol metabolism doesn’t follow its normal rhythm.  You’re tired in the morning, but awake at night! In extreme cases you may wake in the night and be unable to get back to sleep.

The problem with our modern ‘late to bed, early to rise’ lifestyle is that our cortisol levels never have time to fully dissipate.

If you think that’s the case for you, the most anabolic (muscle-building, fat-zapping) activity you can do is sleep, sleep and sleep!

Insulin Resistance

On top of all of this, studies show that those who get less than 6.5 hours sleep are 40% less efficient at metabolising insulin.  Here’s what that means:

• Insulin normally helps move sugars and nutrients out of the blood, into the muscles.  E.g. after we eat.
• With high stress and/or little sleep, cells stop responding to insulin.
• So insulin stays in the blood, along with the sugars it can’t get rid of.

There are just a few problems with that:

1. The muscles don’t get the nutrients they need.
2. High blood sugar is toxic, damaging arteries, increasing blood pressure and likelihood of heart disease
3. As long as your blood contains insulin, the body cannot break down fat as an energy source – so fat stays where it is!!

“SUMMARY PLEASE!!” I hear you scream.  Here it is:

Lack of sleep…

1. Raises cortisol levels, AND
2. increases insulin resistance.

So (1) means you’re tired when you should be alert, and alert when you should be tired!

And (2) prevents muscle gain, creates fat gain, causes heart disease and diabetes.

When I do body-fat readings with my clients, I take a sub-scapular reading which represents insulin-resistance, and therefore, stress, lack of sleep and overall cortisol levels.  Typically, if it’s over 10mm (for a guy) or 15mm (for a girl), you’re in need of some major R&R!

So folks, 8 hours sleep a night, or… Fat city, here we come!!

3. Nutrition

I’ve written previously about nutrition and its importance.  So today I’ll say just two things:

1. If you want to drop fat, cut complex carbs (rice, bread, pasta, etc.) and limit fruit intake to 2 pieces per day, in the morning.  Replace carbs calories with protein.  This all comes down to controlling your insulin response from food.  Again, we’re talking about hormones and how they control your body composition.
2. If you don’t eat enough protein, you won’t build muscle.  If you want to be more ‘toned’ what you really mean is you want more muscle.  For that you need 1g protein per pound of body weight, per day.  Protein increases metabolism.  Carbs don’t.  Excess protein passes through the body.  Excess carbs stay.

So no matter how hard you train, if you don’t get your nutrition right, you won’t get the results you want!

4. Training

Without training, let’s face it, your body composition and strength aren’t going anywhere.

All the programs I design maximise muscle-gain, testosterone and growth-hormone production (yes, even the fat loss ones!! Shock, horror!).

That’s because when testosterone and growth hormone levels go up, cortisol goes down.  And so does body fat – in both men and women!

Remember – weight training increases testosterone.  Long, slow, distance cardio tends to lower it! So by training smart, you can manipulate your hormone levels and thereby achieve your goals much quicker.

So why put it last on the list?

Because if you’re training with me, the workout programs you’re doing will be more than enough to help you make great gains.  Turning up to the gym and being coached through a workout that’s been thought through, designed and planned with your needs in mind, is almost the easiest part of all this.

If your progress is stalling, look to The Big Four for answers.

Til next time… Stay strong, be healthy!

In this article, we’ll discuss the first of a 2-part answer to the question:

“Why do some people make faster strength gains and drop body fat quicker than others?”

Reason Number One: Stress

Almost all of my clients have “high stress” lives.  It’s probably the area that sabotages people most in achieving their fitness goals.  But why is that the case?  Well…

When you’re stressed, your body launches an evolutionary programme – “Fight or Flight.”

Cortisol levels shoot up and your body gets ready to run away or do battle…

Very useful when being chased by a lion!!

But when cortisol goes up regularly, fat storage also goes up.

And testosterone, metabolism, energy levels and sex drive all go…  DOWN!

So… Chronic stress makes you fat, weak, lazy and crap in bed!!!  Oh dear.

“What an outrageous set of statements,” I hear you squeal!  Here’s some more science.

Cortisol is a hormone released in response to stress.  In evolutionary history, stress was caused by life-threatening situations, but thanks to our “evolved” brains and society, it’s now triggered by things like work or social demands, deadlines, bills, traffic jams, phone calls and even text messages.  You name it, someone is probably getting stressed by it right now.

When stressed, we get a massive surge of energy, but at a major cost.

Muscles are broken down and blood sugar levels shoot up as the body cannibalises itself.

A fast paced lifestyle creates repeated stress situations.  That means:

o   Constantly elevated cortisol

o   High blood sugar and

o   A constant catabolic state (with the body breaking down muscle, bone and the immune system to keep itself in ‘overdrive’).

And studies show that this chronic stress leads to more belly fat, lower testosterone and muscle mass.

“But what about those people who get thinner when they get stressed,” I hear you asking!  Well, this response is more rare, but the same basic thing is happening.  Muscle mass is still wasting, but the high levels of adrenaline and blood sugar in this case decrease appetite, resulting in an overall loss of weight.  Remember, though – muscle is the first to go in this situation, not fat!

So what kinds of things create stress?  According to the research, the three major ones are:

1.  A fast paced lifestyle

2.  Less than 8 hours sleep per night

3.  Dieting (forcing yourself to eat less than you want to)

As you know, I coach my clients to make more informed food choices, but never to deprive themselves.  This strategy maximizes fat loss.  But many still wrestle with the first two types of stress.  Those who improve the most are those who’ve found ways of managing stress and reducing their cortisol levels.

1: Manage Stress However You Can

I used to coach corporate executives to improve their mental performance by using mental imagery.  Research shows that imagining creative solutions to problems and just focusing on chilling out at some point during the day greatly reduces cortisol levels.

Try these simple and proven methods:

1. Sit still, focus on your breathing, practice “letting your thoughts go” – 5 mins per day
2. Write a problem down on paper and mind map potential solutions – 5 mins per day

2: Take Daily Mini-Vacations

Don’t spend the whole day at your desk.  Get up, move around, especially at lunch time.  Eating lunch at your desk doesn’t allow the stress of the day to dissipate.  Instead, get some fresh air, meet a friend or colleague, chill out for 45 minutes and you’ll feel refreshed and de-stressed, ready for the afternoon.

3: Get a Massage

Massage has been shown to reduce cortisol levels by over 30% and increase feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin.  Plus if it’s a sports massage, you’ll gain flexibility benefits that will improve your training.

4: Get More Sleep

This is the most powerful and important way to optimise cortisol levels.  Sleep experts agree: 8 to 9 hours of quality sleep, every night. Studies have shown as much as an 80% increase in cortisol when sleeping 6 hours or less.

• Quick tip: 250mg Magnesium and 25mg Zinc will improve the quality of your sleep

Remember, by motoring through every day non-stop, you may be winning the battle, but you’re losing the war!  Take time to chill out, even for 5 minutes.  It’ll make you leaner, fitter and healthier.

Wishing you a stress-less month!

Your friend and trainer,

Richard

Q: Why do you always make me do deadlifts?

1. Engaging the maximum amount of muscle throughout the body at once
2. Strengthening the lower back, a key indicator of overall bodily strength (itself a significant predictor of longevity)
3. Strengthening the grip, another key indicator of overall strength
4. Boosting (actually, quadrupling) testosterone (yes that’s good for women too) and growth hormone levels which increase metabolism, muscle growth and immune system.  Don’t get me started on the waning levels of testosterone in the average modern male.

But what possible real-life application could deadlifting have, I hear you ask???  Well, remember your uncle Bert who blew a vertebral disc in his lumbar while moving his sofa next door <insert relevant lower back spinal disc-popping story here>?  I bet you £1,000 that wouldn’t have happened if he could deadlift twice his bodyweight.

Q: I want fat loss.  Why are we doing strength training? (OR)  Why do I have to do weight training to lose fat?  Can’t I just do some cardio?

Because you want a sustainable, long-term, maintainable change in body composition, not short term fat loss followed by long term fat gain… Right???  Let’s give you 4 reasons why training with heavy weights is better for fat loss than doing ‘cardio’ i.e. light, long-duration training.

Q: Why do you always make me do Kettlebells?

How about this – if you don’t want a strong back, don’t do pullups.  Don’t practice them regularly and get good at them.  In fact just forget about them altogether.

What’s that?  You want a strong back?  A back that supports you day and night, that keeps your spinal column healthy and prevents you looking ten years older than you really are, unlike most people who spend 8 hours+ per day sitting down?  Then you definitely want to do pullups, chinups, muscle-ups, anything that involves you pulling yourself from underneath a bar up towards it.

That’s why I do 150 pullups every week (note from RT: true at time of writing!!

Q: Why did you tell me to STOP EATING CARBS?

Because you told me you wanted less body fat and more visible musculature.  If we can’t see your muscles, it’s because the carbs are in the way.  Stop thinking about carbs as carbs.  Start thinking of them as fat.  Pure fat.  Because that’s what they turn into after you eat them.  Unless you eat them pre- or post-workout.  Then and only then, they just might turn into muscle.

Q: Why isn’t my flexibility improving / bodyfat dropping / chest getting bigger / abs getting leaner / body looking better / lifts getting stronger / hamstrings more flexible / etc.

Let’s take the example of the bigger chest.  Guys want a bigger chest – that’s great, it makes you look more manly and sexy and stuff.  But 1 hour a week isn’t going to get you that.  Let me ask you, when was the last time you did 200 pushups in a row?  What’s that, never?  Well, ok.  How many pushups have you done at home this week?  None??  Really?? Are you sure you want a bigger chest, or are you just saying that?

Same goes for all your outcomes.  Our workouts will get you closer to them, but unless you’re doing whatever needs to get done 3 to 4 times every week, you’re not moving closer to your goals.  You’re moving further away.  I used to do karate for 3 hours, four or five days a week.  That was at least five hours of stretching a week.  That flexibility has decreased, but never really left.  Dancers stretch for hours and hours every day.  You’re lucky if you do 15 minutes a day.  How long do you sit in the same position for every day?

Let’s not act surprised that your muscles are still too tight.

The point is, you know how to do a pushup, a hamstring stretch, a chest stretch, a plank, a one leg squat, or whatever.  But how often do you do these things?  I do overhead squats while I wait for the kettle to boil (note from RT: I now do wall angels).  But that’s me, and I’m weird.

If you want to find out what other types of “weird” things will make you strong and excellent, click here.

What contributed to these exceptional results?  I can summarise the answer to that question with 2 points.

1. Carb reduction.  He dropped carbs almost completely, using a 5-day off, 1-day on cycle.  This meant he had to increased his protein intake and regularity of meals. Most people don’t realise you canlose [fat] weight by eating more, IF you spread your food out over 5 or more meals in the day.  On a workout day, 2 of those meals may be pre- and post- workout protein shakes.
2. He trained a total of FOUR times per week during that 12 week period – twice with me, twice by himself.  Did you know that moving from 2 x training per week to 3 x will increase your results by 50%?  Now you won’t be surprised when I tell you that’s true of proper weight training rather than other “training methods” (i.e. cardio).

Training

I’m sure by now you’re asking the question, “What type of training do I need to do to get these results?”  I use a specific set of workouts which become progressively more difficult and intensive, but they’re always tailored to the individual.  Here’s the short version of what a fat-loss program like the one above typically contains:

• Training centres around developing strength in some key moves: Deadlifts, Squats, Presses and Pulls of all varieties
• Full body workouts, often supersetting upper and lower body work – this is inefficient for the body to do.  By the way, inefficiency is good when it comes to fat loss.
• Frequent Metabolic Circuits - a series of complementary exercises, often timed and in sequence, which raises the heart rate, and challenges the muscles and cardiovascular systems in as many ways as possible

Food, Sleep and Muscle

After 3 hours of no food, your body becomes depleted of nutrition and energy and starts looking around for protein and energy.  It finds an abundant supply — stored in your muscles.  The body starts to break this protein down so it can perform its various repair and cleansing functions.  This state of the body is called a catabolic state and things like lack of sleep (less than 8 hours a night), prolonged stress (more than 20 minutes a day) and infrequent feeding will get you there FAST.

Metabolism slows down.  Fat storage becomes highly likely. However, if you feed your body regularly, it will use the food and get rid of what’s not needed.  If you let it get into a starvation mode, it’ll try and hold on to anything it can get its hands on.

So, even if it’s a protein shake, a pot of cottage cheese, a boiled egg, a few sausages, a handful of nuts and dried fruit, a few spoonfuls of peanut butter, etc., get some nutrition in, every 2.5 hours!!