To Front Squat or To NOT Front Squat

Powerlifting involves three main lifts… SQUAT, bench press and deadlift.   Big numbers in back squatting pretty much indicates your manhood (only in the strength world).   Who wants chicken legs right?   I agree to a degree.  I don’t think the back squat is a be-all exercise though.  Here’s why…

I watch Youtube videos of a great strength coach Elliot Hulse a lot.   He has a no nonsense approach to “being a stronger version of yourself” and has many videos online.   He is a successful businessman, trainer and strength athlete.  Those are three great reasons to believe what he says.  

One video hit me and it was about front squatting.  He explains that back squatting is great BUT front squats are better for athletes.  I will post the link to the video but first I want to explain why it hit me so hard…

A few years ago I decided on my own that I was going to replace regular back squats for front squats.  I felt I could keep a more upright position and go deeper while squatting and really get a killer ab workout in without stupid crunches.   Actually, my legs and core were more sore than doing back squats and a more direct abdominal exercise. 

I hammered away at fronts for months and months.  Every once in awhile I would add some progressively heavier singles of back squats AFTER my front squatting sets.  I started competing in Strongman and had the idea of doing a powerlifting meet in my head so I wanted to keep the ‘groove’ on my back squats.  Simple.

One day I was curious and wanted to see what my back squat max was and started working my way up.  All alone in the local gym’s power rack I got up and smoked a 485lbs squat!   I know… Nothing crazy…BUT I didn’t do endless sets of back squatting to get there.  I went from a 405lbs struggle to a solid 485lbs.   Why?  I fixed my weak points.  The weight of the bar did not crush me as the weights got heavier because my core and upper back were so much stronger.   I was able to go deeper so I had stronger hamstrings. 

Speaking of stronger hamstrings, what happens when you increase their strength? STRONGER deadlift!   Many people train squats and deadlifts on the same day but I found deadlifting and back squatting on one day just too taxing.  One or the other would suffer depending on the order of exercises that day.  I am now back to FRONT squatting on it’s own day and deadlifting on it’s own as well.  Result? My back gets more rest after deadlift day and I still can blast my quads and increase their strength for stuff like transport pulling.  Front squats have an extreme functional carryover and also fix your weak areas. 

Check the Elliot Hulse video here … it has even more info than my experience with front squats! (more scientific too)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEwzyHeAlos

And of course… follow each workout with some BCAA’s and NutriWhey!!

Stay “ALL NATTY” folks, your goals can be reached naturally!!

Rich

Do You Take Care of You Body?

This entry was written by Alison Orr, one of the newest members of Team Cygen.  Alison has appeared on the stage many times as a fitness and bikini competitor and is currently training herself (and others) for the upcoming season.  This is Alison's first entry...enjoy!!!

Sure you do!  That’s why you eat right, exercise and take the appropriate supplements for optimal performance.  You have high expectations of your body; you push, train hard and heavy, follow these crazy diets and are barely able to walk out of the gym after a session.  Whether you are an athlete, a competitor or fitness enthusiast you thrive off this way of life.  Exercise is a great stress reliever, makes you feel good with all those positive endorphins being released.  It really is a mind, body, spirit thing. 

But what do you do for after care? What happens when you are sick? You’ve tweaked your shoulder, hurt your back.  Do you continue to train?  As they say “no pain, no gain” right? Wrong!  I’ve learned the hard way and have experienced this though clients and myself.  We all think we’re invincible, got to push through this.  Why would we listen to our bodies? Because if we don’t we’re really going to hurt ourselves and may require surgery down the way.

I tweaked my hip back in the fall, thought I could train through it-nope.  One morning I woke up and couldn’t walk on it.  I was hobbling around like an old lady.  It required a month of massage, and acupuncture to get it back.  I now train more sensibly.  It’s not about how heavy I can go, but am I performing the exercise properly, I make sure to stretch after each workout and warm up the muscle with a light set or 2.  Those foam rollers are a wonderful thing, it’s like having a massage therapist on a daily basis.  I also highly recommend seeing a massage therapist at least once a month.  Don’t go when your injured go as a preventative to injury.

I write this blog to you house bound.  I’m trying to fight off a flu bug.  Nothing major has transpired-because I’m listening to my body.  I’m resting, drinking plenty of fluids even though sitting still is killing me.  I’m dying to train.  I don’t feel bad, but I don’t feel 100% so I’m listening to my body and resting it so it can heal and grow strong.  Its competition prep time but I won’t make any gains if my body isn’t at 100%.  So listen to your body and rest, recuperate because that’s when you make the most gains physically and mentally.  Happy training and enjoy those rest days!

Alison Orr, Cygen Athlete

Metabolic Damage: Fact or Fiction?

Steve Doucette is a national level bodybuilder and a member of Team Cygen Labs.  Here he talks about the facts and fiction of Metabolic Damage and how to avoid it…Enjoy!

Lately this issue has become somewhat of a hot topic, particularly in competitive female physique events (figure, fitness, bikini, bodybuilding). It’s no secret that as competitive athletes taking the stage, getting lean will require caloric deficit. For years, much of the population involved competed in local or national shows, perhaps once a year, for a few years. As the sport became more popular we began to see athletes appear at a number of shows throughout the year. And with the increase in popularity, so did the increase in elite competitors. Diets became stricter, cardio levels began to rise. Guru trainers capitalized on training these individuals, and to no surprise, the diet/training programs became more competitive. It was not unreasonable to see diets severely low in calories, coupled with high cardiovascular regimes.

Metabolic damage became a hot topic along the way, where we see people claiming to have slowed their metabolism to a degree where they could not get ‘in shape’ using previous standard protocol diets. Were they completely ruining their metabolism by the constant yo-yo diet approach? My answer is maybe. The basic premise in yo-yo dieting causing metabolic damage is intuitive, and part of a cycle of dieting without allowing recovery. Essentially, the competitor competes in a show, and throughout the process, the inevitable drop in metabolism occurs. With a drop in body weight, the body requires fewer calories to sustain that bodyweight. Contest is over, and the individual returns to not only previous normal caloric intakes, but likely excess intakes – cravings from a long grueling season of dieting kick in, perhaps multiple binge eating episodes… This can continue for weeks (or months) as part of a psychological and physiological process that is trying to get your body back to where it ‘belongs’. The problem is that during this ‘eating phase’, not nearly enough time was given for the body to adjust to the caloric needs. This is why it is not uncommon to see an individual return to or exceeding pre dieting bodyweights / bodyfat in a short time post-contest. At this point, because of the sports continued popularity, and addictive-like properties (let’s face it, many of us get addicted to the stage limelight), another contest is just around the corner.

Therefore the athlete once again returns to the ‘diet’. This time, at perhaps a slightly higher bodyweight but a still yet-to-be normalized metabolism, the individual discovers fat loss was not quite as easy. Perhaps this means a slight drop in calories or increase in cardio that they were accustomed to on ‘diet #1’. The athlete was however successful, but the problem may become an issue if this cycle continues. The contributors to metabolic damage include:

1.       Competing multiple times per year

2.       Adding too much bodyfat between diets

3.       Most importantly the combination of 1&2

But just how common is metabolic damage? I don’t know the answer to this. However what I do know is that it has become an excuse for many rather than truth. I am ok with that. The sport requires discipline, and more than many can afford to give. Again, no problem with that. The sport is not meant for everyone. However, the term metabolic damage has been tossed around in the fitness community freely without being educated on the matter. Individuals with better than average knowledge on nutrition and fitness will often roll their eyes at an obese individual claiming they do everything right but still don’t lose weight due to their underactive thyroid. Meanwhile, that said individual does almost no activity, and eats 2-3 large bags of potato chips in front of the tv before bed each night. Seriously… the thyroid wasn’t the problem! On the other side of the coin, having an underactive thyroid is a valid excess in some cases, yet perhaps not as often as it seems to be used as a scapegoat. In my mind, metabolic damage is a real thing. Just as the issue of underactive thyoids. However, both problems have solutions, and neither is an excuse. If you actually do have metabolic damage, this is not something to ignore. Take as much time away from competing as you can and get it corrected, SLOWLY. But on the flip side, do not blame metabolic damage for being unable to get lean unless you know truthfully this is the cause. The body is an amazing thing – it can recover from even the most grueling periods of time in a relatively short window. There is a difference between metabolic damage, and simply over-doing it post contest.

Crushing the Christmas Calories

By: Joel Guevarra

Joel has been in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years starting as a fitness assistant and moving his way to Strength and Conditioning Coach for many elite athletes.  These days Joel continues to train athletes but has added Brazilian Jiu Jitsu student and Cygen Labs Brand Manager to his resume. Enjoy his latest blog post!! 

  

So now that the Christmas tree is put away and the cookies are all gone (hopefully), it is now time to ring in 2013.  With every new year comes new year’s resolutions.  Most of us look to better our health and fitness so here are some tips to keep you on track and not “fall of the wagon” in February. 

Firstly, I’ll be honest with you...I know that this is a blog about new year’s resolutions but I do NOT believe in them especially when it comes to health and fitness.  I think you should ALWAYS look to better yourself all year and not just starting January 1st...So maybe let’s change the term “New Year’s Resolution” to “All Year Transformation”.  Keep this in mind when you are grinding it out at the gym.

So here are a couple tips that will help you achieve your goals and maintain them.

1.    Set a definitive goal.  Just saying that you’re going to lose weight isn’t enough.  Instead of staying “I’m going to lose weight” say “I will lose 15 pounds by March 1^st”. This gives you a deadline and a number to reach. 

2.       Be unique in the gym.  It’s easy to compare yourself to others in the gym (especially this time of year when the gym is packed with new years resolution’ers).  Just because the person beside you is squatting 315 or running on the treadmill at neck breaking speeds doesn't mean you have to.  Remember that you are completely different from them so workout at your own pace and do things you enjoy doing such as bootcamps, zumba, yoga, hi intensity circuits but whatever the workout always work out hard.   

3.       Be unique in the kitchen.  Everyone likes different food and has different body types so you don’t have to eat the same way as the guy or girl sitting next to you at the gym.  Get creative with your clean eating so you can have fun and enjoy your food. 

4.       Pre-cook all your meals.  There is nothing worse than coming home from a workout to find out there is nothing to eat.  This is when majority of people cheat on their diet.  Pick a day when you can cook a bunch of meals for the week so you don't have to worry about those unscheduled cheat days.  Mine is Sunday's...why you ask?   it's my training off day and well....football is on and since I'll be inside watching the games, I might as well doing something productive right? 

5.       Focus and visualize.  Picture how wonderful it will be when you reach that goal.  How happy you’d be, how easy it will be to do things that you might not of been able to do before, and the looks you’ll get when you show of the “new” you. 

 

This is a great starting point for your journey to your “All Year Transformation”.  Again I am saying all year because your journey doesn’t end just at one goal.  You have to maintain it and go on to the next!

Happy 2013 everyone and see you all in the gym!  TRAIN HARD AND TRAIN SMART!!!