Albert K. Park

           For the last week I have had tons of things bogging down my mind. I guess it's that time of the year when things get a little hectic. Not to mention right after I wrote the lower back pain article I ended up hurting my lower back. Real smooth Exlax, yeah I know. But more importantly there is a lesson to be learned in that and another article to be written on the importance of dead lifting form. It's coming soon.
          Another annonyance of stress has been the increasing fear of "dun dun dunn". The Thanksgiving Dinner! Everyone I meet and all my clients are really worried about how much this one glorious day will effect them. Meaning how long they will feel the effects. Below I am going to give you some bullet points to follow in order to easily get through this holiday without gaining an easy 10 pounds. Afterall Christmas feasts and parties are just around the corner.

• Before the holiday try eating healthy: Since we are all expecting a gut busting holiday that will lullaby even the crankiest babies to sleep, why not prepare your body to process all that goodness. What do you mean? I mean helping to naturally raise your metabolism through diet and exercise. Try eating 5-6 smaller meals each day which will force your body to continually process foods all day increasing metabolism.
• Avoid overloading on the sweets and carbs: Trust me I know the best foods are sweet and carb packed so I am not saying eliminate these completley. What I am saying is don't overdo it. Maybe this year you will have extra vegetables, no not the ones covered in marshmallows, but the green things.
• Make sure you watch how you eat the leftovers: This is where the majority of the weight americans pack on to their midsection comes from. It's not from that one feast but the 10 feasts that come during the next week. Don't worry I used to do and probably will still do the same thing, but try with me this year to really limit this. Usually we will pile on the goodies onto a microwavable plate, zap for 2 minutes, then have a thanksgiving feast repeat. Next thing you know, it's two hours later and your waking up in front of the t.v. confused and hungry again. This is what we want to avoid. Try smaller portions that have a minimal amount of sweets and carbs.

• Get back on your workout regimen: This is a vital aspect of maintanence. You can get really comfortable with missing a few workouts after thanksgiving, afterall you are coming back from seeing family and friends. You also have a weeks worth of leftovers waiting for you at home, something you look forward to even more than the weekends now. GET BACK TO WORKING OUT! Get back on your work horse asap before the fat finds a home on your hamstrings. Focus on one workout at a time. Come see me if you want and I will definitley make sure you get back to it.

     My gag reflexes fired as I spit out my mouthpiece and slugged some water. The comments on the article were right, this was no joke despite it looking easy. This is the beach body workout for fat loss by Craig Ballantyne that was posted on Nate Green's Blog. I did it with my Kickboxing Mouthpiece to restrict oxygen and incease oxygen capacity, dumb idea to try it the first time. Whatever here it is, maybe you can try it after flooding your glands with turkey gravy.

Beach Body for Fat Loss

• Repeated Vertical Jumps - 8 reps
• Pull ups - 2 reps before failure
• Lunge jump - 6 per side
• Close grip pushups - 5 reps short of failure
• 1 and a 1/2 Bulgarian split squats - 10 reps each side
• Regular Pushups - 2 reps before failure
• Bodyweight rows - 15 reps
• Bodyweight squats - 25 reps
• Mountain Climbers - 15 reps per side
• 1 arm KB swings - 10 per side

Instructions:  Perform all the way through until done. Rest 1-2 minutes and perform for 2-3 sets. Or as many times as possible in a 20-30 minute window.

Each round took me around 4-5 minutes. So it is a pretty fast and effective workout. Definitley works the entire body and a great way to burn fat.
          

Below are 5 main points that derived from the conversation.
1.) Bulk vs. Sculpt

          
           There is a huge misconception in this word because it doesn’t really portray what strength training does. You can’t really “tone” the body. What you can do is sculpt. You can sculpt muscles to make them look the way you want and with lean muscle mass on your body, the less fat you will have. Here’s the catch, if you don’t have any muscles to tone, such as in the case of a woman not strength training, then there really isn’t muscle to sculpt. So, let’s put on some lean muscle so we can start sculpting or “toning” if you like.


2.) Cardio Brainwashed


             In college I worked at the school’s gym and did time both in the weight room and cardio floor. Stereotypically the weight room was a shark tank, overflowing with stinky testosterone and the cardio floor
was a sea of women accompanied by the deafening monotone buzz of cardio machines. The sound still triggers goosebumps on my arm. Ladies, please, I’m begging you, don’t be the stereotypical working out female and spend hours on an elyptical machine

              The cardio machine has many downfalls. I will just bullet them to make it easy and keep myself from getting carried away.

- Reduces total muscle expenditure
- Almost all have handles that many depend on
- Deactivates stabilizing and balancing muscles that are vital to everyday
- Is fixed in a repetitive motion scheme which creates muscle imbalances

              With a cardio focused training program you train your body to progressively become more efficient at the given exercise. When your body adapts, it naturally wants to perform the movement with the least amount of energy used, hence efficiency. This is definitely not ideal for an individual seeking fat loss. Your program should continually become harder which forces your body to adapt time and time again. The repetitive movements effect how much your entire body gets involved.

                The treadmill is a moving belt that deactivates the hamstring and glute (butt) which would actually be pulling and pushing you through the movement when running naturally. Instead the belt takes the place of these muscles resulting in a quad (thigh) movement. So you sit there for an hour working out your quads, rep after rep, and you wonder why your legs are getting bigger and your butt isn’t getting any tighter. Think about it, take a second.

3.) Strength training to melt fat!

         Strength training is more beneficial than you think. For fat loss, weight training is the catalyst that is going to help melt away fat. Consider first that lean muscle not only tightens the body but promotes the reduction of fat. Lifting weights is also more often than not, metabolically more demanding than cardio. This means an increase in metabolism, which helps you to regulate food more effectively, and enables you to burn more calories after the workout is done. Even up to a couple days after your workout.

         I know that the calorie counter on cardio machines is fun to look at and it sure does give you a sense of accomplishment, almost like a pat on the back when you get off but that’s it. Although you may not burn as many calories during a strength training session, you will burn more fat in the days following.

Burning fat when I’m not working out? YES!

Unlike cardio workouts, a strength training exercise is exponentially more demanding metabolically. Even during a bent over row you are not just working your back out but you also use your biceps and triceps to help pull the weight, your core is stabilizing, and your shoulder is helping you to balance. More muscles used = more stress on the body = more muscles to repair = more calories spent for the next couple days as your body tries to repair and rebuild everything.

So when does it burn the fat? Great question.

         During aerobic exercises like the elyptical, your body is burning oxygen for energy. Strength training is performed in the anaerobic, a state where it resembles a sprint, no oxygen. So, instead the body uses glycogen for the energy.

4.) More Challenge = More Fun

                In Ms.Graham’s fourth grade class, we began learning our times tables I did in fact enjoy it. I enjoyed it all the way up to the point where I was acing every quiz and then I got bored. My test scores began actually dropping because I was more interested in her, she was smoking hot by the way, then I was the test itself. My mom finally got concerned and asked “Why are you failing?” . My response “I don’t know, it’s boring” . So she told me to try to finish first in the class every time, this intrigued me.

                   So for the next month or two I began finishing first in the class and returned to scoring A’s across the board. Point of the story, if your workout is boring, 2 hours on the elyptical machine, your probably not going to want to work as hard let alone do it.


5.) Women have an advantage over men!
               
                 Despite being able to see my own breath, the blanket of warmth from the sun made it an awesome morning to be outside here in Seattle. My friend invited me to go for a jog with her around the University of Washington area and I was totally down, apparently I had forgotten about the hilly terrain when I agreed to this. I met her down in U Village and we started. Her matching attire of hardcore running gear foreshadowed the intensity and misery I would be blindsided by.


After we finished, I barely made it to the end, I did my best to not sound so out of breath.

“Great run!”




“For sure!”

1.) Women are able to endure activities longer. This doesn’t mean you get to jump on an elyptical machine for an entire season of Grey’s Anatomy or whatever nighttime drama you watch. But it allows you to work exercises longer, so when it comes to strength training, it is important to progressively increase weight. Often time you will see trainers give women light weight to do for 15 reps just because they are good at it. This is absolutely ridiculous if it doesn’t make you work. So heavier weights doesn’t meaning your lifting to get hugemuscles, it just means to push yourself to an ideal working load. Why? Because you can handle it, and more.

2.) The next and what I think is the more important advantage is chemically related. When dealing with recovery from workouts, women have the ability to recover quicker then men. This is due to their efficiency and quicker production in producing Adenosine triophosphate. This is the chemical source of energy for muscle movement. So by a quicker production, the muscles are jam packed with energy faster then men after a workout. This means faster recovery for muscles to be ready for another workout. Damn, sounds good to me, I am thoroughly jealous.
Conclusion

             As I finished my salad at California Pizza Kitchen I walked away with a new, refreshing insight into women and working out. Most women don’t strength train, the ones that do probably aren’t on a goal specific program, and there is a huge stereotype that needs to be broken. By simply incorporating strength training into their working out fat loss is easy! If only I can figure out the rest about women I might have better luck in the dating field!

The walkway winds a swirving path up to the cobble stone steps that lay in front of the stained glass door, the familiarity of the sight was warm. The dark green grass of the front yard where a summer's work of slave like weeding was put in stretched all around the house. Going home to my parent's house is always awesome! Great home cooked meals, my old room, and some good ol family time.

I put down my overnight bag in my room, the old poster I had of Muhammad Ali standing victoriously over Sonny Liston in the first minute of the first round was finally starting to fade. It's funny how everytime I look at that poster it still get's me psyched up to train. Not a second sooner I heard my mom screaming for me to come and eat!

I don't know if you know anything about asian culture but here's a little perspective, mother's like you to eat. Eat until your full and then eat some more. Course after course, even desert has 5 courses. So after stuffing my face for an hour or two it dawned on me like a number 2 right in the middle of a Mid term! I am going to have to work off all the fried, breaded, sauced, and most delicious foods. But unlike in high school where I basically had the keys to the local gym and also had an arsenal of weights at home, there was nothing now!

After a quick tv session with my pops, I put on some shorts and laced up the sneakers and walked into our garage. I just want to take some time to really savour this moment.
The long flourescent industrial bulbs buzzed to dimly light the dark concrete floor, one flickered on and off desperatley trying to catch a steady stream of electricity.
An overwhelming smell of gasoline from an army of power tools and motor oil finds it sweet way to my nose. Call me crazy but I have come to love this smell.
This is the type of environment and atmosphere that you thrive in. I remember jumping rope and doing pushups for hours in that garage with nothing but system of a down and my mom yelling at me. It didn't matter that I had a 34.99 per month membership to the social testosterone tank that opened next to popeyes from 6 am to 10 pm, because I got some of the best workouts in my fuc*ing garage.

I knew without weights I would be doing all bodyweight work. No problem, some of the hardest things to do is bodyweight and if you can't do it you probably shouldn't be loading excess weight on you until you can do the "easy" stuff first. Right? Haha (evil laugh)

So this was my Garage Workout:
Warning: This will be hard

Jump rope 15-20 min
I go through this variation to help pass the time:
1.) Left leg 100
2.) Right leg 100
3.) Both leg 100
4.) Alternating 100
5.) High knee 100
6.) Varied your choice 100
7.) Skier 100
8.) Jumping Jack 100
9.) Speed 100

Bodyweight Circuit:
Performed 3-5 sets. I did 5

Pushups 20 (Set 1. wide, Set 2. Narrow, Set 3. Down side to side, )
Exploding Body Weight (BW) Squats 20
Shadow Boxing 2 min
Jumping lunges 10 each leg
V-sits 15
Shadow Boxing 1 min
Burpees 20
Prisoner squats 20
Shadow boxing 3 min

REPEAT

Remember you should be going through each BW exercise with perfect form and full range of motion. Each shadow Boxing session should be done with your feet and position continually moving, not just standing there.

Turn on some heavy music to get you going if your environment looks like the inside of a holiday inn. Or if your in a garage or warehouse or the parking lot outside of work get into the mindset to work even harder.

My workout was hard but very satisfying, it was just what I needed. Yes my mom busted in the garage to see what the heck I was doing, she just told me to turn the music down, typical, and make sure I drink a lot of water. "Thanks Mom!"

This was an email exchange from my friend. It was about his lower back and I thought hey there are tons of us suffering from lower back pain, this may help you too. Enjoy this is the actual words and exchange between us. (some names have been changed throughtout the email, you all understand)

Friend: "What kind of good core stabalizing exercises do you got pimpin, I need to get my back right."

My email:
"What's up buddy!

Hey sorry I had to dip out early form dinner on your b-day, lame I know bu I had to work late. Pre sale set up. Trust me I know. THank your dad again for me for dinner, great restaurant by the way.

Anwyays about your lower back. Your right on track with knowing that strengthening your core is going to be essential in being pain free, but really be careful in how you go about it and really listen to your body.

Starting off with a core strengthening program with back pain you realy have to avoid flexion and extension. So bending over motions and bending back motions. I'm sure your thinking how the heck am I going to be able to strengthen my core without those motions, don't worry! It's more than possible and should be extra progressive with you.

First thing you will want to do is flexibility focused. Mainly try to stretch the hips to increase hip mobility. A lot of lower back pain is increased due to a lack of mobility in this area and tends to make the hamstrings even tighter. When you can't retract your hips to pick things up, you bend over, not good for your back.


The stretch: go down onto one knee. Now take the knee that's up and move the foot a little more forward so it is a little uncomfortable. (It will feel like it's stretching already) then reach with the hand on the same side of the knee that's down and reach over your head towards the side the knee is up. You will feel it in the downed knee hip flexor.

This will help a lot, trust me!

You can also sit in a chair and pull one leg up onto the other. So the ankle of one knee is over the knee of the other. like how old men sit in a chair not how girls sit.
Now pull up on that knee that's horizontal towards your opposite shoulder. Also press down on the knee towards the floor.

So both these stretches daily and thoroughly. 2 to 3 times each. Hold each stretch for 40 to 50 seconds.

Now core strengthening:

So for you, really start with plank holds. You know the drill. Forearms on the ground hips straight for about 30 to 45 seconds. Here is the key, when you get your forearms down, make sure your upper back isn't rounded. Sag inbetween your shoulder blades. This will focus your core to work harder instead of your shoulders. 3 sets of 30 second holds should be good.

Do planks for your side too. When the front plank get's easy. Lift one foot up in the air to increase difficulty. Don't increase time yet.

Exercise 2:
Ab roll outs. So I don't know if you have access to a ab wheel or a barbell but these will also help you keep a neutral spine and work your core without flexion or extension.

Start on your knees then roll straight out, keep your abs braced tight and then roll up. Go 4 sets of 6 to start off.

Exercise 3:
Med ball circuits. So standing perpendicular to a wall, throw a medicine ball against the wall without turning your torso. For track and field we would twist our upper body in order to develop explosiveness in our hips but avoid this. Use your arms to throw and brace your upper body so it doesn't turn. Keep the abs tight, and use your core to prevent your body from turning to much. You can't toss it too soft or else your core won't work. So pick an 8 to 10 pound med ball and give a good toss.

Do both left and right sides.

Exercise 4:
This one is a regular pushup. But you are going to be doin it with only one foot on the ground. This doesn't mean the other foot gets to cross over the other one but means its up in the air and balanced. This will help keep your core tight and work it hard. Do 3 to four sets of 10 pushups to start with for each leg on the ground.

Exercise 5:

If you make it to and gym do exercises in a split leg stance. A good one is the standing the cable press. (Chest press from standing) do this in a split leg stance, it will help both increase hip mobility and core strength.

Friend, I hope these exercises will help. Once your core get's stronger and back feels better you can slowly start adding more challenging core work. But with lower back pain, a progressive program is vital!

Dude if you have any open time and we can coordinate our schedules, I know your busy with tons of things, I would love to show you these things at the private training facility down here in renton so that you can do them properly whenever you train your core.
Let me know if you need any more advice, want to check out some reading material on lower back pain, or just need another opinion on it.

Unfortunatley I know how bad it can hurt, especially when you get nerves pinched, remember my back from senior of high school and driving home laying down. Damn you Mr. Smith. So I hope this stuff will help in your back battle. Good luck bud.


-albert

In order to help and become more interactive with you all, there is a new facebook fan page for you to join. Albert park's complete performance and fitness experience on facebook. Just use the link on this page to lead you there.

It is a great opportunity for you to stay updated on new blog posts, all the new things I learn and read, and a chance for you to submit any questions for me to answer. Your questions can be anything training related from fat loss techniques, injury rehab, nutrition, and questions on any training methods your curious about. I will do my best to answer all of your questions and if there are questions I don't know the answer to, I promise I will research them and get back to you.

A lot of new articles to come, since I am reading some great books including "power training" by tony dos remedios and the "the new rules for training for women" by alwyn cosgrove.

-albert

Beads of sweat streaked meandering streams down my face, when my sweet dreams were invaded by “It” the terrorizing clown made popular in the “scary” 1990 motion picture. When they said parental guidance, they weren’t joking.

My best friend Michael was always into Halloween, haunted houses, and freaky movies. (He was also a fan of Goosebumps books and that show “Are you afraid of the Dark” man I hated that dumb show) One night, after some 7 year old negotiations, I finally gave in and agreed to watch “It”. Hey the 7 year old Mike was pretty persuasive. Little did I know, the movie was about a clown haunting kids like us, and “it” would haunt my dreams for years to come.




This Halloween seemed no different then the usual. Little princesses and spider men trick or treated, the weather was frigid and wet, college age and up girls dressed in slutty costumes (I didn’t mind this part), and all my friends used the unofficial holiday as another excuse to party. For me, Halloween 2009 would turn out to be one of the scariest ever!

On my lunch break at my day job, I pulled out my blackberry to check out the latest t-nation.com articles and reread some of my favorites like I usually do. With a belly full of a chicken breast salad and water I read Dan John’s article “4 challenges to Light your fire”. My palms usually get a little moist when I read his articles in anticipation of the grueling workouts he designs. He’s a renown strength coach and religious studies school teacher, probably because you really do need help from God to get through some of his workouts. This guy pulls weighted sleds carrying sand bags through the Utah snow in t shirts. Come on! If that doesn’t get you stoked I don’t know what does.


One of the four challenges really leaped out at me, since I’ve been doing a lot of KettleBell work for the last 6 months, considering my boss and mentor is a Russian Kettlebell Certified crazy European trainer from Slovenia. I mean that in the best possible way. The challenge was called the “THE BIG 55”.

The Big 55 was simple. It utilized two exercises with the Kettlebell (KB). KB swings and goblet squats. It’s name is derived from the rep scheme. 10 KB swings, 10 goblet squats, 9 KB swings, 9 goblet squats, etc….all the way down to one. 10 + 9 + 8 + 7 + 6+……..1 = 55. Get it? Good. The idea is to pick a weight that you can do 10 KB swings and goblet squats with and perform the rep scheme all the way down to 1 without putting the KB down. If this sounds easy, you probably have never done either exercise or don’t know what a Kettlebell is. Don’t judge.


(The swing: Maintaining a straight back, stand on your heels, look straight, and use an explosive hip snap on every rep.
Goblet squat: It is quite similar to a front squat. Hold the KB in front of your with both hands and the KB close to your chest. Squat. This will give you a more comfortable and natural straight-spine position)

So with getting off work late, I lost all motivation in the Halloween festivities and texted back my drunk friends telling them that Count Dracula (my costume this year) wasn’t going to make it out. Instead I decided to walk into the underground gym where I train and train others at, Hocevar Performance (shameless plug I know), to take on Dan John’s Big 55 challenge.

Have you ever been scared? Really terrified. A terror that triggers a chain reaction where you start sweating, your butt cheeks clench because you might sh*t on yourself, and you start breaking out into a repetitive prayer chant. Well, when I walked in to the gym drinking my pre workout concoction my body was blindsided by a new and uncomfortable fear. It was a lethal combination of “Oh this place is haunted, let’s get the f*ck out” scared and a “What was that growling sound” while your out in the woods at night scared. I could hear “The Big 55” laughing like a banshee.

It came and went in a mere 15 minutes but it’s effects were felt long after the last drop of sweat. Each swing told me to give up and each squat laughed at me. But as the last goblet squat was finished the KB smacked the ground as hard as my body. I layed motionless and breathed in breaths of freedom. Oh air, so sweet!

Dan John, you are truly a mad scientist and know how to force the human body to adapt and transform. Mike (Michael as I know him pre 17), tell “It’ that I am probably stronger, bigger, and faster than his psychopathic, middle aged, overweight ass and if he wants me he has to catch me first. If he does find a way to get me, I will be taking a Kettlebell straight to his clown skull.



Doesn't look good for you "CLOWN!"


Happy Halloween!