Today’s post is a guest blog from John Berardi. I completely agree with John about this topic. I’m sure you’ll find it eye opening.

Last week, a study suggesting that eating more than 7 eggs per week can lead to premature death. Uh, oh. I eat about 21 whole eggs a week (3 per day) – So do I (Nate).

So I guess I should be dead already. But instead of getting worried, I’m chuckling. Laughing at the absurdity of it all. You see, this idea, the idea that natural foods like eggs, lean meats, soybeans, whole grain cereals, etc. can inherently be bad for us, is so absurd that the only thing an intelligent person can do is chuckle.

First of all, the “egg study” is flawed and virtually meaningless. Second of all, the media has it all wrong about the “goodness” or “badness” of specific foods. You see, very, very few foods either qualify as good or bad (except when referring to high fructose corn syrup and trans fats).

Instead, it’s our own physiological environment that sets the stage for how the food reacts within our bodies. Control the environment and the food part becomes ridiculously simple. If you’ve ever been confused by the seemingly contradictory nutrition information out there, you’ve got to check out this week’s article.

Good vs. Bad Foods: Eggs!

It’s time to put the good food vs. bad food debate to bed once and for all.

Until next time,

JB

When it comes to fat loss and conditioning, you have to learn to push past the pain and discomfort and the mental blocks and keep striving toward the end result. As I’ve said before, it’s simple, but not easy. It takes focus, drive, determination, discipline and simple, hard work.

As Dan John (a strength coach in Utah) has said before:

“Fat loss is an all-out war. Give it 28 days, only 28 days. Attack it with all you have. It is not a lifestyle choice… it’s a battle. Lose fat, and then get back into moderation. There’s another one for you: moderation. Revelations says it best: ‘You are lukewarm and I shall spit you out.’ Moderation is for sissies.”

I started my next 12-week training phase on Sunday with some interval training. I performed a five-minute warm-up with some bodyweight exercises and then proceeded to run my intervals. It was tough, but it felt good. Sprints done with a 1:2 work-to-rest ratio are no joke (1 minute sprint and two minutes of a light “jog” before repeating for 6-8 sets). I finished with another five-minute bodyweight circuit as my cool down. The total workout took just under 30 minutes.

Today was my weight training day, and it was brutal! It consisted of complexes followed by a four-exercise circuit using fairly heavy weights and moderate reps targeting the whole body. The training session ended with some ab work.

The rest periods were short, and the exercises were difficult. The entire workout from beginning to end took just under an hour. It felt good and let me know that the next several weeks will not be easy, but the sessions will be effective. Not only will I take my conditioning to a whole new level, but I’ll be shredded in no time.

Tuesday is considered an “off” day, but this is typically the day me and some friends go for a bike ride and climb the rope and perform a few other exercises. We’ll see how this day goes and if it causes any problems with my current training program soon enough.

Wednesday will be another weight workout similar to today (with different exercises, sets/reps) and Thursday will be a short, but intense conditioning workout. I’ll talk more about this later this week. Friday will be the last weight training workout for the week using the same exercises as today, but different set and reps. Saturday is an off day.

I’ll let you know more about this “secret” training program in the next few days! Stay tuned!

I have completed testing of my 1RM in several key lifts that I used throughout my 12-week program. The front squat and bench press were performed under the supervision of a spotter (my training partner) but at no point did he touch the bar or assist in any way. These are all clean reps. Here are the results:

Monday, April 7, 2008

Front Squat: 205lbs (1.4x my bodyweight. My goal is 1.5x my bodyweight)

Bench Press: 215lbs (1.475x my bodyweight. My goal is 1.5x my bodyweight)

The front squat was performed through a full-range of motion all the way until my butt touched my ankles. This is how I perform all my squats. If you are going to “parallel” or above, you are cheating yourself. Go as deep as your flexibility allows.

I could have possibly hit 210lbs on the front squat, but I stopped at 205lbs as it was a tough lift. On the bench press, I attempted 220lbs, but my partner had to give me some assistance. I knew I could get 220lbs on my own, but during that particular lift, I could tell that I didn’t set myself right on the bench and the train happened to be coming by and blaring it’s horn right in the middle of my set (there are train tracks very close to my home).

My all-time best bench press has been 225lbs, and I’ve only hit that a couple times in my life (and always at a heavier weight). So if I can hit 215-220lbs at my current weight, I’ve actually improved and am stronger than I’ve ever been before.

My morning weight on Monday was 145.8lbs and my evening weight was 147.8lbs (Remember, I’m only 5’4″, so don’t harp on my weight or give me the “You need to bulk” speech. I’m not a bodybuilder and have no interest in “bulking” as some people recommend). I weighed myself completely naked after going to the bathroom upon waking and also naked in the evening prior to showering.

This means I have lost a few pounds in the last 12 weeks, as I started at about 150-151lbs. But I have become significantly stronger during that time.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Deadlift: 315lbs (2.16x bodyweight. My goal is at least 2x bodyweight which I have acheived)

Power Clean: 155lbs (1.06x bodyweight. My goal is at least 1x bodyweight which I have acheived)

Although I had deadlifted 305lbs for two reps last week, all I could manage during my testing day was 315lbs. I probably could have added 5-10lbs, but I didn’t want to chance injury since I really had to grind that rep out to get it. I was also sore and tired on this day and didn’t want to overdue it.

As for the power clean, 155lbs was no problem at all. So I moved up to 165lbs. I should have had it just as easily, as I pulled the weight as high as my collar bone, but I just couldn’t force myself to get under the bar. This is the “fear” that a lift like the power clean (and the power snatch) tend to give someone. Due to the weight and the speed of the bar as well as having to get “under” the weight quickly, it tends to play a mind trick on the brain. I know I can get 165lbs, but I will need to make more attempts at it and get my mind set in order to do it. Overall, I’m happy with 155lbs as it’s more than my bodyweight.

My morning weight was 145.6lbs. I forgot to weigh myself that evening, but I’m sure I was a pound or two heavier in the evening.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Overhead Press: 125lbs (.87x bodyweight. My goal is 1x bodyweight)

Weighted Chin-up: Bodyweight (145lbs) + 65lbs = 210lbs (1.45x bodyweight)

I should have been able to overhead press more than 125lbs as I did it for two reps last week. I struggled to get it for one rep on Friday and then went for 135lbs but was unable to get it past the sticking point a few inches off my collarbone. I even attempted to push press it, but still got stuck. After a few unsuccessful tries at 135lbs and one unsuccessful try at 130lbs, I called it quits. My shoulders were fried, and I had lost strength since the previous week.

Unlike the other workouts where I used straight sets of each exercise and finished testing one lift before moving to the next, I alternated sets between the overhead press and the chin-ups to save time and hopefully get a strength boost from training an agonist/antagonist movement. I’m not so sure it helped after the result of the overhead press.

As for the chin-ups, they went well. I kept increasing weight each set until I finally reached my top weighted set using a dip belt with an additional 65lbs attached. This amount plus my current bodyweight (~145lbs) gave me a total of 210lbs. I believe I could have used 70lbs, but that would have been the most as I had to squeeze out the rep with the 65lbs attached.

On Friday, I weighed in at 144.6lbs in the morning and 144.0lbs in the evening. So somehow, throughout the entire week, I actually lost weight. I attribute this to two things:

1) I wasn’t working out as much as usual or doing near the amount of work as all previous weeks since this was a “back-off” week and testing week.

2) I wasn’t eating as much because I wasn’t training as much.

Overall, I came close to meeting my strength goals as mentioned in a previous blog, or I met them or exceeded them. The true test will be if I can continue to at least maintain my current strength or increase it as I embark on my next 12-week phase. Stay tuned for more about my new training phase!

I have been extremely busy this week with work and other commitments, so I haven’t had a chance to finish updating my workouts this week.

I did test my front squat and bench press 1RM on Monday, and I tested my deadlift and power clean 1RM tonight. I decided to break up tonight’s workout into two days, so I will test my overhead press and weighted chin-up strength tomorrow (Friday).

Once I finish tomorrow’s workout, I will post all 1RM’s for the week along with my daily bodyweight measures.

So far, I’ve either come close to meeting the strength standards I posted in an earlier blog, met those strength standards or exceeded them. Stay tuned….

I recently finished a 12-week training plan that I developed myself using the knowledge I’ve gained in the last few years. In the past, I have followed programs written by other strength coaches. Some of them worked well and others didn’t. But during that process, I learned more about my body and how it responded to certain training programs.

One problem I’ve noticed about many training programs is that they don’t focus on all areas of strength, health and fitness. For example, there are plenty of training programs that are strictly designed to increase strength or build size. But they rarely, if ever, address other areas of strength (endurance, explosive strength, speed strength, relative strength, etc.), conditioning (cardio) or even overall health.

Many programs will plan an elaborate training program focused on weights but neglect conditioning. Some will even suggest not performing any sort of conditioning exercises while following the training plan.

So I decided to take the knowledge I have from all the books I’ve read and from my own experience and develop a 12-week plan that focused on raw strength, metabolic conditioning, strength endurance, explosive strength and overall conditioning. I achieved an increase in all of those things in the last 12 weeks – a feat that is not easy to accomplish.

Here’s how my training program was organized:

Monday: Full-body Max Strength Training + Explosive Strength + Metabolic Conditioning Finisher (these workouts took about 1 hour from start to finish with a training partner)

Tuesday: General Physical Preparation (GPP) – This typically included a bike ride, some rope climbing and some other bodyweight exercises for fun and recovery from Monday’s workout. Although I never performed many sets of the exercises (2-4), some of them were tough. Rope climbing is a strength workout in itself. These workouts varied in intensity depending on how sore or tired we were from Monday’s training.

Wednesday: Metabolic Conditioning (I used a variety of short, but intense workouts that were different each week. I used ideas from Ross Enamait, Mountain Athlete and others). These workouts typically took less than 30 minutes and most were 15-20 minutes.

Thursday: Full-body Max Strength Training + Explosive Strength + Metabolic Conditioning Finisher (these workouts took about 1 hour from start to finish with a training partner)

Friday: Bodyweight Training for strength endurance and conditioning (I used Craig Ballantyne’s Bodyweight 100-500 for these workouts. CLICK HERE to learn more about Craig Ballantyne and Turbulence Training). They ranged in length from 6 minutes to 43 minutes depending on how many exercises and reps I had to complete during each workout.

Saturday: Interval Training (Metabolic Conditioning). This included various sprint workouts ranging from 800m intervals down to 20-30 yard sprints.

Sunday: REST

Overall, this plan worked very well. I increased my strength in all the core exercises, I became leaner and much more fit, and I became more explosive with my box jumps and explosive exercises like power cleans.

I’m currently testing my 1 repetition maximum (1RM) in all the core lifts that I trained during the 12-week program. The main lifts used throughout the program on my full-body training days included:

Front Squats
Bench Presses
Barbell Rows
Deadlifts
Overhead Presses
Weighted Chins
Power Cleans

I will be testing my max strength in all of the lifts above (except for the barbell rows – no sense in training for a 1RM in that particuar lift due to the potential for injury). I will report back on my totals by the end of the week.