tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268811872024-03-13T11:05:25.141-04:00Scott Abel BlogLearn about fitness, health, the Scott Abel Cycle Diet, and more.Scott Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02346258832072956026noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26881187.post-43193401428562974322014-09-23T10:46:00.002-04:002014-09-23T11:26:50.085-04:00We've moved to ScottAbelFitness.comYou can find Scott's new posts at<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://scottabelfitness.com/blog/">http://scottabelfitness.com/blog/</a></span></div>
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(See you there.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26881187.post-35421381407901248562013-09-09T12:00:00.000-04:002013-09-09T12:00:02.302-04:00More Tales from The Cycle Diet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had to smile and laugh at the irony of the situation.
There I was reading the comments on FB on a recent ad my marketers formulated for
my <a href="http://abelcyclediet.com/welcome/"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>Cycle Diet</u></b>.</a> Comments say a
lot about people. Putting the complete ignoramuses aside for now, the comments
regarding t<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">he Cycle Diet</span> made
me smile and laugh – ESPECIALLY considering where I was and what I was doing at
the time. But I’ll get to that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I signed with a marketing team a year or so ago and being
marketers they market products by presenting the most appealing elements of
said products – whatever that may be. For <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The
Cycle Diet</span> – they presented pictures of brownies and cheesecake and
lots of other goodies and comments from me and many of my clients regarding being
able to eat foods like this on a regular basis, and still control weight and
cosmetically-enhance their bodies. The comments went from skeptical, to rude to
ridiculous. One lady claimed eating a whole cheesecake “can’t possibly be
healthy.” Another guy wrote, “Anyone who buys into this nonsense is a moron.
Everyone knows you can’t eat foods like that and look like these models.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It made me smile to myself. I’ve been hearing that about my <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cycle Diet</span> for more than two
decades now. I’ll be grocery shopping for my calories spike day and cashiers
will say things like “You really eat that kind of food?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or when I’m out in restaurants I get comments
about drinking beer and eating dessert. All this just makes me smile to myself over
how blinded and twisted people are in their North American diet-mentality and
corresponding food phobia. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle
Diet is a diet of “inclusion” not “exclusion.”</b> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle Diet</span> is for people who love food – all food. It’s
not for people who are afraid of food or have negative emotional connections to
food or are orthorexic. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle
Diet</span> is the diet for emotional freedom and indulgence to be able to “enjoy”
food. But there’s way more to it than just eating cheesecake and donuts. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle Diet</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is a diet that trains and supports
metabolism</b>. And it trains metabolism in a way that there are positive
metabolic benefits from spiking calories. People don’t seem to understand that,
at all. They find it “gimmicky.” Whatever.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
But <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle Diet</span>
doesn’t just allow for a spike meal here and there, or a whole day off once every
7-10 days. Once the metabolism is trained and adapted then extended periods “off
the diet” are also recommended precisely to aid and optimize metabolic
function. It’s all about a healthy mindset as well. Most “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dieters</i>” would be scared to death to eat indulgently and indiscriminately
for several days at a time. They would perceive this as “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">failure</i>” and “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">diet suicide</i>.”
But people following <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle </span>Diet
are not “diet-mentality-oriented.” We look forward to these planned off times of
diet. And here is the irony of my reading all these comments on how and why <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle Diet</span> “won’t work” and
all the other negative comments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You see, I recently had to travel back east for business and
to see my folks. It had been 27 weeks since I had taken a break from both diet
and training at the same time. Biofeedback told me it was time for a break. I
was going to be gone for 5 days. As part of <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle Diet</span> I decided to take a break from diet and
training for the duration of my trip. It was also my birthday during the trip
as well – so this was also good timing. I had to drive from one city to another
for a business meeting. I recalled that there was Krispy Kreme donuts nearby.
We don’t have a Krispy Kreme donuts where I live. I thought it would be a great
treat for me that morning before my meeting. So I’m checking my emails at
Krispy Kreme and I’m reading all the comments of people who say no way this “<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cycle Diet</span>” thing can work. I’m
smiling as I enjoyed a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts – guilt-free – and then moved
on to my meeting. Later that night I met some friend for a few beers and a
steak and lobster dinner. I remember thinking to myself about all those negative
comments from people regarding <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The
Cycle Diet</span>. I remember thinking how glad I am that I will never be so
paranoid and obsessed and worried about food. I’m glad that food indulgence is
just another benefit of the modern world that I can enjoy on regular basis: And
that because of <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle Diet</span>
– my metabolism is better off for it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
a win/win situation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
So after 5 days of total indulgence I returned home. I
gained a whopping 3 lbs. By the following weekend I dropped 6 lbs. This left me
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THREE POUNDS LIGHTER</b> than when I
left: once again proving the benefits of knowing how to manipulate metabolism
with proper diet-orientation and strategy – and of course being able to
properly read biofeedback. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It’s nice to
have a metabolism work for you – rather than you being a slave to metabolism.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
But not all the comments were negative that day I sat at
Krispy Kreme donuts. There were also emails from my clients that happened to be
related to <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle Diet</span> as
well. A good client of mine just got married and was back from his honeymoon.
He was happy to report how much he enjoyed the food as part of his honeymoon –
and that his wife was also happy that there was “food-freedom” for both of them
as they spent this special time together. No ‘dietus-interuptus’ on their
honeymoon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Two other lady clients of mine were also reporting in after
a summer vacation. They too had been following <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cycle Diet</span> for a time. But both of these ladies were
previous “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dieters</i>” and still suffering
from the diet-mentality. When I instructed them to take their vacation time “off”
any diet regimen, they were both skeptical, but willing to try to finally let
go and not feel so guilty over enjoying food indulgence. They were both really
wanting to believe that enjoying food could be part of a vacation experience –
rather than thinking a vacation experience was going to “ruin” their diet
efforts. (Such is the thinking behind the North American diet-mentality.) But I
knew their metabolisms were ready. And they followed my advice and took the
time off diet and enjoyed their vacations with no food restrictions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
One wrote me that she was initially “worried” over having a
Coach’s “permission” to take that much time off her diet regimen. I just advised her
to trust the process. She reported that her history used to be she would try
hard to diet while on vacation – return home and feel like she missed out and
deprived herself and then ended up blowing her diet and bingeing alone anyway.
(This is what the “guilt” mindset leads to.) Now however she said she
understands. By indulging her whole vacation, she feels like never before.
There is nothing deprived from her, so she feels invigorated and motivated to get
back to her normal <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cycle Diet</span>
rhythm. But what convinced her <b>most</b> was that seven days after returning home her weight
was right back to where it was before she left. And that had <i>never</i> been her
experience before. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
The other one wrote me still in disbelief. She came home
from her vacation and 10 days later when she wrote me <b>she was now 2 lbs. lighter</b>
than the day she left for vacation. She still can’t believe it compared to the
ways she used to struggle mentally and emotionally with ‘what to eat’ while on
vacation. And she recalled listening to other ladies at the buffet line making
comments about guilt and weight – and she was so glad to be finally free of
living that way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
And so, as I enjoyed my Krispy Kremes that morning I smiled
and laughed to myself at the same time over the comments I was reading. The
skeptics who have never done the diet – being negative about it – mostly out of
ignorance and fear... And then <b><a href="http://abelcyclediet.com/welcome/">Cycle Diet</a> </b>followers like myself and those two
clients who wrote me that morning – not only enjoying atypical foods
guilt-free, but benefitting metabolically in doing so.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
As usual – some of you will get it – some of you will not –
some of you won’t want to!</span></div>
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Scott Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02346258832072956026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26881187.post-23916845610821760042013-08-12T09:30:00.000-04:002013-08-12T15:28:33.306-04:00Tales From the Cycle Diet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the things I always liked about developing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><a href="http://abelcyclediet.com/welcome/" target="_blank">The Cycle Diet</a></u></b> is the way it was
born. Unlike most modern diet approaches, The Cycle Diet didn’t come from research and theory and then the suggestion
that therefore this “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i>” work. <b>The Cycle Diet was born from
<u>experience</u>. </b>I was <u><b>already</b></u> doing The Cycle Diet with great success – even before it had a name; I was doing it even before I knew the science behind <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i> it was
working. (That stuff came later.) This is one reason I still remain so enamored with it. It was already
working in the real world AND THEN followed the science and research that
explained it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So many diets these days come with research, science and
speculation first – and then a proposal as to why a certain approach based on
all this supposition ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i>’ work. I
didn’t have to ‘propose’ the Cycle Diet ‘should’ work. It was already working excellently thank you. But
the reaction to the Cycle Diet
approach in the early days showed me just how different I was in terms of my
diet psychology than most other people in the industry. And this
diet-psychology formed the ground work for my later books like “<a href="http://bit.ly/e9hKq8"><u>Beyond Metabolism: Understanding Your Modern Diet Dilemma</u></a>”, “<a href="http://bit.ly/uLavWU"><u>Food Issues and You: Finally Facing Your Phantom Menace</u></a>” and my latest book
dealing with diet-psychology, “<a href="http://bit.ly/UPekvV">The Anti-Diet Approach to Weight-Loss and Weight-Control.</a>” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> So, in short, I
can say that is wasn’t just the science behind the Cycle Diet that informed my later work. It was the
<b>psychology</b> behind it as well. I just didn’t understand how and why people were so afraid of food! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So, with that said, <b>here is one of the tales of the early days of The Cycle Diet.</b> I still laugh
AND scratch my head when I think about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was attending a pro show where I had a few to several
clients competing. I had already made quite a name for myself locally, so lots
of people were looking for me in the audience. But this was also an
International show, so there were many people less aware of my reputation for
helping people with physique enhancement and making champions. And I should
point out that at the same time, there was no question I had a world-class physique
myself. People were always stopping me to ask for pictures and what not. During
this time I was also following The Cycle Diet, even though it didn’t really have a name at the time. But
what I observed around me just didn’t make much sense. People were either out
of shape or in shape with no in-between – and no one staying in shape. That
just didn’t make sense to me – to balloon up in weight after a diet, only to
have to starve and deny yourself back into shape again. And then with the
starvation this scenario created – to go back to gaining a ton of weight
off-season again. None of that made sense to me. So I developed The Cycle Diet as a way to stay
at or near contest-conditioning year round. And I was forging quite a reputation
for myself by doing so. But I digress:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So here I am sitting in the audience of this pro show.
Everyone starts pulling out their Tupperware of canned tuna, or dry chicken and
whatever. I pull out this huge family size bag of red licorice. It was really
fresh, which is why I bought it and the smell permeated the room. To my
surprise everyone started talking about it and pointing at me etc. There was a
look of puzzlement and bewilderment in their eyes as if to ask either, “Is this
guy crazy?” – or more like – “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How can he eat that and look the way he does</i></b>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Soon one person approached me to ask about my eating the
licorice – then another. Then some people actually wanted to take a picture
with me eating the licorice because “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">otherwise
no one would believe it</i>.” I found all this reaction very strange. People
were asking why I would blow all my hard work eating that food. Others would
say something lame like they wished they had a metabolism that allowed them to
eat some food like that. Here I was just going about my day, following The Cycle Diet cheat day, and
what I was eating was blowing people’s minds. I couldn’t believe all the fervor
and confusion. It would be years later before I realized that what was at the
center of all this was the difference between a healthy diet-psychology and the
typical North American diet-mentality and it’s component ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fear of food</i>.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I ended up giving this impromptu on the spot lecture. I had
to explain to them how they all focused on getting lean, but never focused on
supporting their metabolisms at the same time. I had to ask them if they really
though they could get fat in a meal, or in a day? I explained to them that
BECAUSE I indulged in food at the right time, my metabolism was always optimized
to burn excess calories, and not store them. It became clear to me that people
really did not, and do not have a very good understanding of metabolism. They
just see food as either good or bad. My explanations were making sense to some of
them. Some just looked at me like a deer in headlights – and others were just
salivating over my licorice. But I remember leaving that day being struck with curiosity
that these people were so afraid of food the way they were. None of them were
as lean as I was at the time either – not even close. And yet most of them
considered themselves to be “in fitness” – but their diet-mentalities were
anything but fit and healthy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I remember thinking to myself how glad I was that I could
healthily and that I could happily consume food – and that I was so grateful
that food would never consume me, in the way I witnessed that day. Years, later
in my research I uncovered that we are indeed “cerebrally wired” to enjoy food
and be emotionally invested in the act of eating. To this day when people see
me enjoying eating something indulgent they make comments like “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I didn’t think you would eat anything like
that</i>.” Comments like that these days just show me how trapped people are in
their diet-mentalities. One of the pleasures in life is to be able to enjoy
food – all food. And what the Cycle Diet delivers is the emotional connection that food is meant to be
pleasurable and indulgent – and not schizophrenically ‘special but forbidden.’
That is what I always liked about the Cycle Diet – to be able to enjoy food “guilt-free” as you/we are meant
to – as we were evolved to do. In fact in the early days I named <u><a href="http://abelcyclediet.com/welcome/" target="_blank">The Cycle Diet</a></u> – the “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have your cake and eat it too, diet</i>.” And
so much has changed since then – but sadly, so much hasn’t either. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And this is just one of many of my tales from my days and
experiences in the industry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And when it comes to healthy vs. unhealthy diet psychology
unfortunately as I always say:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Some of you will get
it; some of you will not.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
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Scott Abelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02346258832072956026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26881187.post-23507531995563970732011-10-31T14:59:00.000-04:002012-10-19T14:59:58.805-04:00Manifesto for Effective Coaching<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">This should be
considered Part 2 of my series on what real coaching is or should be – whether
on-line or in person. We need to think
more thoroughly about the role of Big “C” coach in the on-line fitness
industry. (see my book, The Abel Approach) What passes as “<i>coaching</i>” right now – is in fact, a travesty. And I will keep
repeating this until I see any signs that it is getting better.</span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">We need to outline the parameters by which a
real coach is supposed to <b>add value</b> to
a client’s experience – and then we need to ensure that as coaches, we fulfill
our side of the bargain in satisfying that responsibility. <b>There are too many weak, unskilled and talentless people out there
“appointing” themselves as coaches without nary any due consideration of the
true requirements of the role.</b> You think because you won a physique contest
or have a few certifications that this is somehow “qualification” for coaching
others. It’s not even close. A real “Big
C” coach must live and be that role<b>. It
is not because his ego wants to dictate to people, but because his spirit is
called to serve people</b>. And there is a fundamental difference between these
two perspectives. Below are some the main essential ingredients and
pre-requisites of the <b><i>craft</i></b> of coaching. Let’s look at
some of them. The real Coach must be able to -</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Act
and live by the principles that you advocate</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">“Be”
a role model, don’t “act” like one</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Be of
noticeable integrity, don’t just talk about it in others</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Impose
principled values</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Be
part of someone else’s solution, not detached and separated, like some kind of
“boss” </span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Help
someone establish reasonable and achievable performance goals, not absolute
ones</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Be
truly concerned with long-term client-progress and growth, not just short term profits
for yourself</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Provide
useful and constructive feedback within the triangle of awareness (physical,
mental, emotional)</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Emphasize
cooperation and interaction, not a one-way dictatorship</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Keep
the client engaged, and focusing on what they need to do and know, not on what
you as coach, do and know</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Be
encouraging in sincere and individual terms</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">When
being encouraging or critical, be fair and understood in both</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">D</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">on’t
use negative emotional “tactics” ever to try to coach someone – e.g. don’t try
to scare potential clients about how demanding you are as a coach. Treat others
professionally in the ways and means you would expect to be treated if roles
were reversed – in other words, as an adult!</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Realize
that often what you are seeking from the client as a coach is insight, not just
constant evaluation</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Keep
interaction real – personal methods of obtaining client-feedback will always
yield deeper and more meaningful insights than some questionnaire-type
approach. There is no substitute for real interaction. </span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">But along with
the above - are the character traits required of good coaches as well. And I
will get into that in another article.
And you cannot “learn” these as you go. A real coach has to be
honourable, genuine, noble, have high standards <i>for himself</i> not just others, be of high integrity, be sincere, have
it known what he stands for without having to announce it all the time. He must
be enthusiastic for clients in a mature way, not because it looks good to be
so. And the coach must have domain knowledge mastery beyond “certification
levels.” He must have good instincts for knowledge, information, and diplomacy
in interaction.</span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">The unfortunate thing about <i>the character trait requirements</i> of a
real Big “C” coach – is that these elements are easy to fake on-line, and easy
to manipulate people of lesser skills and intelligence to believe. <b>There is no way around it that the consumer
needs to also become more educated about what real coaching is or is not</b>. I
know complete morons with a pro card and a bucket full of pharmaceutical
enhancements that makes them think they are somehow equipped to “help and
service” others. Does that even remotely make sense?</span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Real coaching is
about developed and enhanced interpersonal, psychological, emotional,
sociological and evaluative, communication skills. You don’t acquire these
things in a weekend certification but in a life-long career experience devoted
to the cause - not of your own self-interest - but for helping someone else.
You also don’t receive these skills all of a sudden, because you won a
high-level physique contest at some time. Neither of these things translates
into coaching skills or prowess. But until consumers understand this, the
lowest common denominator will prevail. And coaching will continue to be little
more than a joke – its current state. </span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> But more to the point – the real Big “C” coach
who does possess these skills and has honed them over years of practice should
indeed warrant a premium price for it. There is a reason motivational speakers make
hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars speaking to corporate heads
each year. And that is because they produce intangible value. And real Big “C”
coaching works the exact same way. </span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Real coaching
requires a complex mix of social, interpersonal, psychological emotional and
relational skills, <b><u>ON TOP OF</u></b>
higher intelligence and the domain knowledge and technical skills within any
field or practice. Only all of these things together will create Big “C”
coaching value that rises to the top of the hierarchy of what coaching is
supposed to be. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">The most effective coaching mandate boils down to
this – passion, people, principles, and professionalism. </span></b></span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Real coaching
should never encourage room for coaches who want to play Boss-Cop or use the
role of coach to enhance some personal sense of status of glory. Real coaching
is service-oriented not ego-driven. The job is to help other people achieve,
succeed, or otherwise enhance their life-experience in a positive way. A real
coach does not pat himself on the back for that. That just illustrates selfish
motivations. And these websites need to stop “glorifying” coaches who seek that
very thing!</span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">As a coach, if
you are going to hold people accountable for their behaviour and performance
then you must surrender yourself to that same level of accountability – and not
because you feel you have to – but because this is just how you live your life.
I have no respect for so-called coaches whose lives are a mess – and yet they
have no tolerance for clients who are having troubles with application and
process. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial;">In real Big “C” coaching - understanding people – one
by one – and one on one – and how they react and respond to you as an
individual – is not an optional skill – it is an essential requirement.</span></b></span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">I think this is
enough to absorb for one article. And let’s call this <b><u>The Manifesto for Effective Coaching</u></b></span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">As usual, some of
you will get it – some of you will not. </span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">For those of you
who sincerely want to become better “Big C” real coaches, I suggest you also
read and do all the homework assignments in my book, “<a href="http://www.scottabel.com/store/product.php?productid=16161&cat=250&page=2" target="_blank"><b><u>The Coach Whisperer</u></b></a>.”</span></div>
<div>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">And I think we
also need to look at the consumer side of this equation as well in future
articles.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26881187.post-77063236062331647442011-09-05T15:04:00.000-04:002012-11-01T00:09:57.543-04:00Adhering to Real World Principles: Understanding Max Load Training<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some time ago Aristotle made the salient point that although methods are
many, principles are few. What a seminal point. But what I see is that
these “methods’ are so varied that they are violating key fundamental
principles. The result is that you the trainee are not getting results
from your gym time by following questionable methods that fly in the
face of real world principles. And this is the frustrating thing for me.
I train people <span style="font-weight: bold;">in the real world</span>.
I’m not sure what is being taught at certification courses these days,
but what is interpreted as “principles” is faulty at best. In this
article I want to use a real world example for those of you <span style="font-weight: bold;">training to gain size, muscle, and thickness</span>,
and have the mistaken belief that this is accomplished with “max
weights.” This is another term I have trouble with as it is quite
misleading, as we will see.
<br />
<br />
The other day I received an e-mail from a client who was a little
confused. While training, a personal trainer walked by and advised that
my client lighten the load substantially, and do 4/4/1 tempo "to get
more out of it." Say what? My client was confused because I had advised
to lift explosively, regardless of rep range. So, who is right?
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lirgYz5035bfuxMBi6gp9k1fUBHr5R97YGkTn2hmjhsxqFbtXyRyCQLPnCIVhysBccwP0lmqAQTNtUbuaLXp5SVL9mPKfZJ6EneqDJdFITcvDo4EizmIQhF_n4pP26sV-Fbi/s1600/barbell+squat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lirgYz5035bfuxMBi6gp9k1fUBHr5R97YGkTn2hmjhsxqFbtXyRyCQLPnCIVhysBccwP0lmqAQTNtUbuaLXp5SVL9mPKfZJ6EneqDJdFITcvDo4EizmIQhF_n4pP26sV-Fbi/s320/barbell+squat.jpg" width="219" /></a>Well, let me pose a theoretical situation and some questions. I lift
100 lbs for 5 reps, and you lift 100 lbs for 5 reps. I do 5 reps in
about 5 seconds, and you use the tempo above and take about 30 seconds
to lift it. Here are the questions: Who demanded more power from that
set? Who had more metabolic demand from that set? The answer to both is
me. Power, folks, is a rudimentary principle expressed in many ways,
but is essential to training for size, strength, thickness, etc. The
simple basic premise is that it takes more power to move a weight in one
second than it does to move it in two seconds. Over the course of a
workout this is seen as an expression of more work in the same amount of
time, or the same amount of work in less time. These are all
expressions of the principle of power. Notice the above “method” of
tempo violates that principle. Simple.
<br />
<br />
Next question. In the above example which one of us achieved the
most overload? The answer is that it is a trick question. If that 100
lbs is a weight we are used to performing, then neither of us achieved
overload for that set. Therefore, the advice of lightening a load you
can already do explosively, and take 4 times as long to do it, is faulty
logic that does not follow basic principles. It means negating max
load, and therefore negating the overload principle in general. This is
just one example of a “method” being faulty at best.
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
Now if you follow this so far then you may be thinking that max load
is therefore the way to abiding in the Overload Principle. Well yes,
and no. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Max lo</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">ad is not max weight!!!!</span>
This is the fault of the industry that details external cues as the be
all and end all of performance. How much you “can” lift is not the
deciding factor. The deciding factor is how much stress a muscle endures
as overload. These are entirely different things, as I will explain
below and use a real world example.
<br />
<i style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MY5ZwyVnp1T1PBPRgsGUfMyLvRkuRev2ED1zuq-WZMKRuVu0nInMapDrXZxsdNEodtKZ9SupYRIbCce8mO9yEdPHVXiviDuESkJUvNM5riUyEDATMrxJv5XBZTOLNslZn1t0/s1600/stock-photo-18556099-man-pressing-dumbbells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MY5ZwyVnp1T1PBPRgsGUfMyLvRkuRev2ED1zuq-WZMKRuVu0nInMapDrXZxsdNEodtKZ9SupYRIbCce8mO9yEdPHVXiviDuESkJUvNM5riUyEDATMrxJv5XBZTOLNslZn1t0/s320/stock-photo-18556099-man-pressing-dumbbells.jpg" width="320" /></a>First, let’s understand these basic principles in more concrete
terms. Power is an expression of force with speed. There are several
types of power. Of concern to us here are Explosive Power, and the Power
Expression itself. Explosive Power can be defined simply as force over
time. It can also be defined as the time it takes to get to max force
output. Or it can be expressed as recruiting fibers for strength
performance in a context of speed. So simple explosive power is
expressed as f/t. Force is defined as load or strength within this
context. This is where all the confusion on the gym floor begins.
Inexperienced trainers and trainees seem to think that the above
solution means to use a “max load” as in weight, and be explosive. This
is untrue for forcing an adaptive response. The example below
illustrates my point and I’m sure if you look around your gym you will
see many people making this same mistake.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>"To get access to the remainder of this article go to the next page and signup for the Scott Abel Inner Circle where you can access this article in full as well as many more!"</b><br />
<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26881187.post-18903901814891302382007-07-26T15:44:00.000-04:002012-10-22T15:44:54.081-04:00SODIUM: The unsung Hero to Performance and Looking LeanThis month I have decided to republish a popular article of mine that
appeared in several magazines like Max Bodysport, Musclemag (twice) and
several other publications. After over hearing a conversation between
level one Figure competitors the other day in my gym, I thought it might
be wise to republish this one, since people still don't seem to be
getting proper knowledge filtering through from all the marketing and
disinformation sources.<br /><br />Hope it helps. Again, some of you will
get, some of you will not. I welcome your comments on my Forums
section. (which will soon be updated by the way)<br /><br />
<div align="center">
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: 180%;">SODIUM:<br />The unsung Hero to Performance and Looking Lean</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia; font-size: 180%;"></span></div>
<div align="justify">
<br />Has
anyone ever pondered where old clichés and old expressions come from?
It is true that most adages handed down through time come from the
experiences and cultural milieu of their time period.<br /> So try to
imagine how expressions such as "he's salt of the earth" or "that man's
worth his salt" came to pass. In ancient times salt was precious. It was
traded as the most valued of all commodities. Having salt was as close
to life insurance as one could get. Given the preponderance of
modern-day phobias surrounding salt and sodium we seem to have a paradox
here. </div>
<div align="justify">
<br />How could something so important
to survival during one era be considered so necessary to avoid during
another? The answer may surprise you. While times have definitely
changed, human biochemistry and physiology have not changed that much.
Few of us toil under the sweltering heat of a pounding sun any more and
modern society has contributed much to the many modern stress-related
ills such as hypertension.</div>
<div align="justify">
<br />Never the less,
our need for the most important of electrolytes in our bodies has not
changed. In particular the metabolic needs of high-performance athletes
probably most closely resembles the needs of our ancient forefathers,
especially in regard to electrolyte ingestion. </div>
<div align="justify">
<br />Truth
be told, the anti-sodium campaign began as a commercial movement to
sell different foodstuffs and snacks under the guise of being healthier.
Much like the low-fat advertising movement, manufacturers care not so
much about accuracy in advertising as much as they do about what works
in advertising. As soon as the low-sodium content advertisements were
shown to create dividends, other food and supplement companies followed
suit to the point where, by default, consumers started to believe that
low-sodium was good and salt was in general, bad. People failed to see
that they had been internalizing advertising and not actual scientific
information.</div>
<div align="justify">
<br /> For generations
manufacturers have been marketing products by bombarding the public with
what ingredients their brand either does or does not have to make their
product sell better than the competition's. Pure snack/junk food
companies tend to focus mostly on better taste whereas companies who aim
at the health-conscious consumer will focus on the bad ingredients they
did not put in their product because they care so much about the
consumer's health. (yeah right) Like sheep, we follow along buying the
“low fat this” or “no sodium that” product not realizing or questioning
the motivation to do so. <strong>In regard to sodium intake, studies are
coming in regularly refuting its bad reputation and negative impact on
human health, performance and physiology. </strong></div>
<strong><div align="justify">
<br /></div>
</strong>Studies
in Canada at McGill and McMaster Universities have concluded that
unless one has a specific and serious condition which would preclude him
from taking in salt, then salt intake will produce no negative health
problems and could actually be health promoting. As a matter of fact <strong>only 10% of hypertension cases have a known cause</strong>, and almost all of them are genetic or stress related!!!! <div align="justify">
<br />As
an introduction this may well be more information than you wanted to
know, but it goes much further. High-performance athletes actually need
to go out of their way <strong>NOT</strong> to avoid sodium. In fact,
they need to ensure they get adequate amounts of salts daily to prevent
negative metabolic consequences, and to ensure maximum performance. That
is the focus of this article. </div>
<div align="center">
<br /><strong><span style="font-size: 130%;">SODIUM</span></strong> </div>
<div align="left">
<br />Athletes
who are concerned about maximum performance (and who among them are
not?) are decisive about what they eat for several reasons. Most
athletes know that the body is a complex computer that one can either
program by understanding sound dietary strategy, or instead by letting
the body program itself by using haphazard and misconstrued eating
patterns. Either way, meal formulation, and meal timing all are
programming our body’s computer, consciously or not.</div>
<div align="left">
<br />
Athletes eat for different reasons. Three of the main ones are 1) they
eat as a preventive measure to help them stay free from illness 2) They
eat for fitness by ensuring optimum energy stores, recuperation and
restoration 3) bodybuilders especially, find it vitally important to
follow certain eating regimens to produce a cosmetic effect i.e. a
leaner, harder physique. </div>
<div align="left">
<br />Having said that, the truth of the matter is that a <strong>high-sodium diet fulfills all three of the above criteria for athletes eating to improve performance. </strong>As
a matter of scientific fact, many negative problems having to do with
athletic performance or sub-maximal athletic performance or even failure
to improve begin when athletes and health enthusiasts mistakenly
eliminate sodium from their diets and these ill effects can last for a
long time.</div>
<div align="left">
<br />While addressing sodium is the
primary focus of this article, no nutrient acts on metabolism only by
itself. Any discussion on sodium is incomplete without mentioning
potassium and the hormone aldosterone.</div>
<div align="left">
<br />As an
electrolyte, sodium is the positively charged ion on the outside of the
living cell. Cations, anions and ions exist in an exact balance outside
and inside cells so that a change in the balance of one or more cations
or ions will cause a change in other cations and ions in order to
maintain cell integrity. Simply put, sodium is responsible for
regulating blood volume and blood pressure - although it serves other
functions as well.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /> During a set of
high-intensity muscle contraction blood pressure rises; this is a
primary response of high-intensity training. During high-performance
exercise the metabolism of the body is better served by a higher blood
volume since this translates into better oxygen and nutrient delivery to
working cells. Just as importantly, a higher blood volume results in a
more efficient removal of fatigue toxins. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /><strong>A low sodium intake translates into a lower blood volume, and over time this is disastrous to an athlete. </strong>Even in healthy people, low blood volume produces a myriad of problems.<br />Studies
at the University of Bonn concluded that a low-sodium diet (and the
resulting lower blood volume) was more health threatening than
hypertension itself - the main reason people are put on low-sodium diets
to begin with. </div>
<div align="left">
<br />These effects are even more
pronounced in an athlete's body. In a low-sodium situation the resulting
low blood volume delivers less oxygen and nutrients to working muscles
and also allows for greater accumulation of fatigue toxins that might
not otherwise occur with a normal or higher blood volume. The
consequences are overwhelming in terms of reduced recuperation and
overall weakness - pretty much the last thing that hard-training and
hungry-for-progress athletes would want to happen to their bodies. </div>
<div align="left">
<br />These are the result of trying to eliminate crucial electrolytes like sodium from one's diet.<br />This
is merely the exercise and performance aspect of low-sodium diets. Upon
closer inspection of electrolyte potassium it becomes even clearer that
a low-sodium diet makes the situation even worse in regard to optimum
electrolyte metabolism since potassium is dependent on sodium to be
effective for a number of reasons.</div>
<div align="left">
<br />Potassium's
responsibilities are primarily the regulation and control of skeletal
and cardiac muscles. The vagus nerve, which controls heartbeat, is
totally dependent on potassium.<br />The corollary to sodium, potassium is
the positively charged ion inside of the cell. (Sodium the positively
charged ion on the outside of the cell) While its independent functions
in the control of muscles has been pointed out, potassium itself is
dependent on sodium to maintain cell integrity - that exact balance of
cations and ions inside and outside cell walls, remember? </div>
<div align="left">
<br />Everyone
has been told of the benefits to muscles of eating and having potassium
present in the muscle cell. But, how does potassium get to be inside
the cell to begin with? It is the responsibility of sodium to deliver
potassium inside the cell. The cell wall is partially permeable to
sodium. <strong>It takes three molecules of sodium to get one molecule of potassium inside the cell</strong> and the process by which this is achieved is called "active transport." </div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
Potassium
cannot enter the cell without sodium. Sodium acts as a chaperon if you
will in the delivery of the all-important potassium into the cell. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /><strong>Therefore, for optimum cell integrity and optimum potassium delivery there must be ample sodium present. </strong></div>
<strong><div align="left">
<br /></div>
</strong>This
is even more crucial in athletes where electrolyte balance and exchange
takes place more rapidly and is more crucial for optimum performance.
Also, since the active transport of potassium inside the cell by sodium
is metabolically expensive, <strong>the activity of sodium-potassium
pumps can be adjusted by the thyroid hormones in order to regulate
resting caloric expenditure and basal metabolic rate (BMR). </strong><strong><div align="left">
<br /></div>
</strong>It
follows then that in a prolonged low-sodium situation the body may
lower BMR in order to control this metabolically expensive function.
This spells disaster for the dieting bodybuilder or competing athlete
who wants his BMR as high as possible and not lowered by a body
compensating for costs it cannot afford to incur. Even more importantly
in this metabolic circumstance is that cell integrity is jeopardized and
less potassium can be delivered less often to the cell. This is
disastrous for any serious athlete. It becomes painfully obvious that
this is the most negative electrolyte situation an athlete, especially a
bodybuilder, or Figure athlete concerned with cosmetic appearance could
get into.<br /><br />It is easy to illustrate how a body could get into
such a state of disarray. The primary avenue for the loss of sodium is
through sweat glands. No one, except our ancient forefathers, sweats as
much or more than high-performance athletes and bodybuilders.<br />High-intensity
training combined with interval cardio activity (Two training sessions
per day) and tanning, done consistently week in and week out, produces
an abundant loss of sodium through the skin. Combine this with the
extreme and prolonged attention bodybuilders, and well-intentioned
athletes give to keeping sodium out of their diet and you can see how
bad a situation becomes worse. <div align="left">
<br />The body, in its
efforts to maintain cell balance, takes matter into its own hands. (The
computer programming itself, remember?) In extreme (but never the less
all too common) cases the body sends potassium to the outside of the
cell in order to maintain some kind of cell integrity. Remember cell
electrolyte integrity is maintained in specific and delicate ratios and
balances.<br /> In an emergency situation, the body can only maintain some
kind of cell integrity by sending potassium (a positively charged ion)
outside the cell to replace the sodium that should be there. The result
of these metabolic consequences is, of course, weakened cell integrity.
Sometimes depolarization between electrically charged ions happens and,
since potassium has left the cell, there is muscle weakness, cramps,
listlessness and lethargy.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /> Note that it is <strong>not </strong>the low-calorie diets that produce these physical and psychological symptoms, rather <strong>it is due to a prolonged lack of sodium intake</strong>. The problem can be understood better by discussing the hormone aldosterone.<br />We can also understand why sodium undeservedly gets a bad rap and, of course, how to remedy the situation.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size: 130%;">Aldosterone Hormone</span></strong></div>
<strong><span style="font-size: 130%;"><div align="left">
<br /></div>
</span></strong>In
a normal metabolic situation electrolyte balance is delicately
maintained by urinary output. The kidneys regulate the concentration of
plasma electrolytes of sodium, potassium, and calcium by matching almost
exactly the amounts ingested to the amounts excreted. The final amounts
of sodium and potassium excreted in the urine are regulated by the
needs of the body.<div align="left">
<br /> Problems for athletes begin
when they needlessly start eliminating sodium while at the same time
their bodies are regularly losing too much of it through sweat and
cellular activity. This produces the negative stress response of the
release of the hormone aldosterone. Normally people have low levels of
circulating <strong>aldosterone. It is a hormone released in response to metabolic or physiological stress. </strong></div>
<strong><div align="left">
<br /></div>
</strong>The
release of this hormone serves several functions. The main effect of
aldosterone secretion is a reabsorption of sodium through the distal
tubules of the kidneys. Thus sodium that normally would have left the
body is retained because of the presence of this hormone.<br /> Normally
individuals can excrete a huge 30 grams of sodium daily when aldosterone
is not present. Yes that's 30,000 mg! This is an average person, not a
hard-training athlete. <strong>When aldosterone is present there is absolutely no sodium in the urine at all, none. </strong>Why is this a problem?<div align="left">
<br />Well, <strong><em>water always follows sodium</em></strong>
because sodium is positively charged while water is negatively charged.
Therefore, the more sodium excreted, the more water leaves the body.
But since, in the presence of aldosterone, sodium is reabsorbed and kept
in the body, and water follows sodium, water too is not excreted. <strong>The result is water retention.</strong>
Therefore a physique may be lean from months of dieting but look soft
and not lean because of sodium avoidance and therefore water retention,
mild to severe. But even mild retention as you know can be enough to
destroy an otherwise stage ready physique!!</div>
<div align="left">
<br />Remember,
and I repeat that the body is a complex computer system, which will
always program itself in favor of survival. Maybe well-meaning, but
misinformed, athletes and bodybuilders are now starting to get a clearer
picture of how important sodium is to the body, so much so, that there
are hormones and back up hormones, that insure it’s provision to the
body’s electrolyte balance.</div>
<div align="left">
<br />There is another
side to the aldosterone hormonal response, which can also spell disaster
for an athlete. Not only does aldosterone cause reabsorption of sodium,
but because of this, aldosterone secretion also causes a pronounced
excretion of plasma potassium. Again, in the absence of aldosterone
virtually no potassium is excreted in the urine. When aldosterone
secretion is maximal, however, there is up to 50 times more potassium
excreted than what is initially filtered by the kidneys. <strong>A reexamination of the situation reveals that a negative situation exists in such a physiological environment.</strong></div>
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<br /></div>
</strong> <strong><em>First
sodium is reabsorbed. Second, because water follows sodium, there is
water retention. (This in turn creates an osmotic imbalance.) Third,
because aldosterone also produces pronounced potassium excretion, the
result is further muscular weakness, cramping, performance infringement -
and usually the appearance of a very flat, tired-looking physique</em></strong>. Again, all of this results from the body's primary response to retain sodium in order to regulate blood pressure and volume.<div align="left">
<br />This
whole misunderstanding of electrolyte function has led to ridiculous
myths and misapplications of proper nutrition in the athletic and
bodybuilding communities. One of the most bizarre, which comes to mind
is the practice of bodybuilders to supplement potassium (e.g. taking
Slow K) just before a show. </div>
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<br />Why is this bad? </div>
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<br />Two
reasons: One is that it is impossible to load potassium inside a cell -
cell equilibrium is always maintained in exact ratios. If a certain
amount of potassium enters a cell, therefore, that identical amount must
leave. </div>
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<br />This creates the second problem of
potassium supplementation. Aldosterone secretion is also triggered by
excessive potassium in the blood. This leads to every single negative
metabolic situation already mentioned being created, via a different
route, that being too much potassium in the blood. </div>
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<br />Is
there a way to avoid such negative circumstances for an advanced
athlete or bodybuilder? Of course, there is. The problem begins with the
extremist-type mindset of many athletes especially bodybuilders.
Bodybuilders need to understand that this extremist nature is actually
hindering them.<br />It is important not to treat any dietary element as
either friend or foe. Not even saturated fats should be treated as a
dietary danger when taken in the right context, but that is a whole
other article. Back to sodium. <strong>Remember excess sodium is excreted and because water follows sodium so is water. </strong>But
for that to happen there must be more than enough sodium present or
replenished at all times! Otherwise the aldosterone response is sure to
follow.</div>
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<br />Measuring sodium needs is relatively
easy because making sure of its presence in the diet is the main
priority. A general rule of thumb is that two grams of sodium should be
taken with each liter of water replacement. Since most athletes are
under-hydrated water needs should also be assessed. </div>
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<br />Athletes,
male or female, below 150 pounds who train at high intensity levels
should take in at least two or three liters of water daily. Athletes at
the 200 pound level should be taking a minimum of three to four liters
daily. Athletes who weigh in excess of 225 pounds should take in a
minimum of four to six liters daily. </div>
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<br />At two
grams per liter of fluid replacement, it is obvious that most athletes
do not take in nearly enough sodium. For example, a 225-pound athlete
would need to ingest between eight and twelve grams of sodium daily.
That's right, 8,000 to 12,000 mg a day. This gives some indication of
how flat-out neglectful athletes are to their electrolyte needs.</div>
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<br />The
way to ensure ample sodium intake is through the prodigious use of
salty condiments. Sea salt, ketchup, mustard, barbecue sauce, etc. are
smart choices to ensure ample amounts of sodium. </div>
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<br />However,
be wary of MSG. Although it is high in sodium, MSG had been shown to be
a negative partitioning agent, which is to say it may channel nutrients
toward fat storage, whether the nutrients contain fat or not.</div>
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<br />MSG can also trigger catabolic responses because of its ingestion.</div>
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<br />
Most athletes associated with a higher sodium diet have reported
substantial progress by ensuring adequate sodium intake. They are
encouraged to do this by eating pickles and like foods on a daily basis.
Pickles on average contain about 20 to 30 calories and almost a gram of
sodium, so chopping them up into one's food makes good sense as does
eating them as a snack. </div>
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</div>
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We
all hear of hockey players and other athletes taking I.V drips post
game come playoff time to replace lost electrolytes. Most often these
I.V. drips are no more than saline solution; you guessed it, a form of
sodium infused water.</div>
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<br />Bodybuilders must get
over this sufferance thing when it comes to diet. Food is allowed to
taste good and having food that tastes good will make it much easier to
stay on a prolonged diet. It's funny, but even water-packed tuna canned
with sodium chloride (salt) as a preservative will add some much needed
sodium and will be cheaper and easier to find than water-packed tuna
with no sodium.</div>
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<br />But it is also important to
remember in my discussion of Sodium that I am speaking or Sodium proper
and not normal table salt. The two are not the same thing. Sodium
chloride is table salt (which is only 40% sodium, and is 60% chloride)
and it is the chloride bond that is metabolically problematic; and the
added iodine to that can be tricky for some metabolisms, which again,
ends up giving sodium in general, a wrongful bad reputation. Switching
to sea salt, as a condiment makes good sense. </div>
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<br />Finding a food prepared with <strong>Sodium Phosphate</strong> as a preservative will also serve a purpose. Sodium phosphate is known to be one of the best buffers around, or<strong> intra cellular buffers</strong>
to be specific. This type of buffer combats the metabolic acidosis
that workouts cause. Taking in 3-4 grams of Sodium Phosphate can
increase both aerobic and anaerobic performance, and who doesn't want
that. The effect can indeed rival the effects of creatine and other
substrates.</div>
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<br />Athletes who have been trying to
avoid sodium for prolonged periods of time and who switch to this
high-sodium approach will experience a temporary osmotic imbalance
resulting in water retention. This initial effect is only the body's
attempt to hold on to the sodium so rarely given to it. This retention
is merely temporary and will dissipate as long as sodium and water
intake, remain high.</div>
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</div>
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<strong>The athlete will then notice a higher volume of urinary output</strong>, <strong>more sweating, the appearance of a leaner, harder physique, and more pumped and full muscles in the gym</strong>.
(again, much like the effect of popular supplements on the market that
cost an arm and a leg for the same effect. Often read the labels of
these products and you will also find sodium)</div>
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<br />
I have tested, over and over, through the years the precepts of what I
prescribe to my top-level amateur and professional athletes and regular
Joe/Jane clients, time and time again with very exacting results. It is
important to me that athletes who are serious about making strides in
improvement and performance don't waste time making the same mistakes
that so many athletes and bodybuilders have made before them. </div>
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<br />My
best advice to any serious trainee or athlete is to get professional
advice from properly qualified and experienced coaches. (And please
remember “certified” does NOT = “qualified”) There are not many of us
around, but you will find that such coaches can make all the difference.<br /><br />If
you have followed the scientific information in this article, then you
understand the importance of “real sodium” in your diet. You should
never have to worry about “too much” since excess will be excreted.
Increasing your sodium and water intake is an easy and effective way to
improve “in the gym” performance and contribute to the cosmetic
appearance of the physique at the same time.</div>
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<br />It
seems to me in this modern age of internet “guruism” more and more
knowledge is being replaced by simple faulty logic. Time and time
again, I see great physiques of Figure competitors and bodybuilders
disappear in the last few weeks of contest preparation. Why? </div>
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</div>
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This
simple but faulty logic of low carbs to no carbs combined with no to
low sodium. Yes no carbs will induce diuresis, but that water will also
come from muscle, inside muscle where you want it. This displacement
as I said also causes potassium to also leave muscle. <strong>Combine
this with the effects of no to low sodium in the diet, and you can
guarantee disaster to the physique rather than a polished properly
peaked physique presentation.</strong> No amount of carb loading can
bring a physique back from this once it happens. That is why so many
people report looking better several days after competing. <br /><br />A little knowledge indeed can be a dangerous thing !!!!</div>
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Till next time.......Unknownnoreply@blogger.com