Horrifying!

Don't try this at home, or anyplace else!

http://community.fitnessanywhere.com/blogs/mfp_interviews/archive/2009/11/06/crazy-intense-trx-exercises.aspx

Don't misunderstand me: I am impressed as hell that the guy in the video was able to perform these moves without killing himself or anyone else in the process. But as a workout I think this is pretty dreadful, and here's why:

When I'm putting together a workout for a client of any level, the question I am always asking myself is: is this the least risky way to get the job done? In my opinion it's simply irresponsible for a trainer to choose unnecessarily unsafe exercises no matter how "cool" they are. If there's a safer way to get the same training effect, that's what the trainer should choose for his or her client whatever that person's level of fitness.

Mind you, I'm not saying the trainer must avoid all risk. That's simply not possible. A training program always involves some risks. About the only way to be sure of avoiding an exercise related injury is not to exercise, and that's a risky course in itself. We all know the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle! Exercise of some kind is pretty much always the safer option.

But beyond that, it's negotiable. When it comes to program design I have very few hard and fast rules. What's unacceptably risky for Client A may well be the safest alternative for Client B. Just as an example, say Client A is a hypertensive gentleman of 58 who hasn't seen the inside of a gym since his college days, and Client B is a twentysomething who's been involved in sports consistently since his high school days, and is prepping for his first powerlifting competition. Both gentlemen have a stated goal of getting stronger, but their programs and the techniques I use with them are going to be completely different. I'm not going to be having Client A using heavy loads right away, because his joints can't handle it. And I'm going to coach him not to hold his breath during the concentric phase of lifting, because he can't afford the temporary spike in blood pressure. For Client B, however, heavy loads are a must, and the additional spinal stability he will get from holding his breath makes that the less-risky alternative for him.

Always be suspicious of a trainer who speaks in terms of absolutes!

That being said, it's hard for me to envision any set of circumstances under which a combination move consisting of a TRX suspended lunge segueing into a kettlebell snatch would be the safest option. In such an unstable position I don't see how it would be possible to generate enough power at the hips to perform the snatch correctly. Maybe with a very light kettlebell ... but then wouldn't it be safer and better and equally as effective to superset TRX suspended power lunges with kettlebell snatches using a heavy enough weight to challenge an advanced athlete? It might not look as cool, but who cares? The point is to improve the athlete's conditioning, not to make him put on a show for the amusement of spectators and the greater glory of the trainer!

What do you think?

The Female Body Not-Such-A-Breakthrough-As-All-That

Don't get me wrong: there's a lot to like about Rachel Cosgrove's new book, The Female Body Breakthrough. If you're a twenty- or thirtysomething cardio queen who's tired of spending an hour a day on the elliptical with little to show for it, and you want to make some serious changes in your shape and body composition, you need this book. Rachel makes a great case for making a paradigm shift: giving up starvation diets and marathon cardio sessions in favor of weight training and frequent small meals.

Thing is, none of this is exactly a new paradigm. Some of it has been around so long that it has acquired its own set of critics and debunkers. In the chapter on nutrition, for instance, there's a reference to the thermic effect of food. This is something Tom Venuto talks about in Burn the Fat Feed The Muscle and The Body Fat Solution, and I think John Berardi discusses it as well in Precision Nutrition. Basically, it's the idea that every time you eat you force your body to expend energy digesting what you consume, thus stimulating your metabolism. Great if true ... but proponents of intermittent fasting such as Brad Pilon say it isn't.

Anyway, if you're a regular reader of this blog (or any other fitness blog for that matter) you probably already know most of what's in The Female Body Breakthrough. Metabolic resistance training. High intensity bodyweight conditioning sessions. No long slow boring steady state cardio. Meals every 3 hours or so, with protein at each meal. No processed foods. Et cetera et cetera et cetera, as the King of Siam would say.

What does set The Female Body Breakthrough apart from, say, The Body Fat Solution, The New Rules of Lifting For Women, and all the other excellent entry-level body transformation guides on the market, is that it's written by an actual woman with years of actual experience changing her own body as well as the bodies of her clients. Rachel Cosgrove is what I like to call a metamorph: someone who has gone back and forth from being a chunky aerobics instructor to an ultra-lean, muscular physique competitor, to a skinny-fat triathlete, and back again to the lean, toned look she currently sports. She's dealt with bulimia and post-competition binge eating, and she rides the hormone rollercoaster every month just like you do (at least if you're a premenopausal female.) She doesn't just know about this stuff, she's lived it in a way that Tom Venuto, Lou Schuler and the rest have not. To me that gives her some extra credibility. If you've got a skinny-fat cardio queen in your life who wants to make some changes, and you're looking for a fitness book to give her for Christmas, Rachel's just might be the one.

Don't bother, though, if your friend is indifferent to looking "hot." To me the biggest problem with The Female Body Breakthrough is that it presumes its readers are primarily interested in looking hot and sexy. A catch-phrase that's reiterated throughout the book is: Be A BITCH, "BITCH" being an acronym for Be Inspiring, Totally Confident, and Hot. The feminist in me finds this more than a little cringe-inducing. Not that I have a problem with women striving to Be Inspiring, Totally Confident and Hot, but I don't happen to believe that those qualities should be reserved to those who have attained a low bodyfat percentage. To me, being a BITCH--being confident, empowered and sexy--is all about what's happening between my ears. What my butt looks like in jeans has nothing to do with it..

Mind you, I don't really fault Rachel (I don't think she'd mind my calling her Rachel) for not fighting that particular battle in her book. Judging by what I see at the gym every day, she's got enough of a fight on her hands getting women off the treadmill and into the weight room. If she can succeed there, who knows--her readers may find they are so empowered by their strength gains and improved fitness that they stop worrying so much about what they look like to potential sex partners.

Now that's what I call a paradigm shift.

Metabolic Density Training With Kettlebells

Kettlebells and metabolic resistance training go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Like Fred and Ginger. Like vodka and ... more vodka :)

Of course I also love metabolic work on the TRX ... but sometimes the kettlebells just call to me.

Today was one of those days. I'd planned to do a metabolic resistance workout on the TRX, but for some reason the kettlebells were more alluring.

So, here's what I did:

12 minutes, as many rounds as possible:

TGU, 2 R/L x12 kg (I got 6 rounds--not bad!)

Rest 3:00

12 minutes, as many rounds as possible:

12 swings x 16 kg
5 pushups

(I got 15 rounds--again, not bad!)

In other news, I ordered Rachel Cosgrove's new book, The Female Body Breakthrough, from Amazon. I should be receiving it on Monday. In case it's not obvious, I reallyreally like the Cosgroves. I consider The New Rules of Lifting (Alwyn Cosgrove in collaboration with Lou Schuler) a must-read for fitness buffs of both genders, and my hope is that Rachel's new book will be similarly indispensable.

Once I've received the book and had a chance to read it, look for my review!

More HKC photos

Here I am doing a goblet squat. I have no explanation for the expression on my face. Maybe I was wishing the kettlebell was a 12 kg coffee cup?

Here I am attempting a shoe get-up.

Here I am getting my arm and shoulder externally rotated by Geoff Neupert, Senior RKC. Thanks, Geoff!

Again, I have no explanation for this picture, but I like it. I take my training very seriously, but myself? Not so much!

The Cosgrove Cabo Vampire Workout

Today, for reasons that presently escape me, I decided it would be a good idea to do the Cabo Vampire Workout. This sweaty little bit of unpleasantness is something that Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove claim to have done on the beach in Cabo. Personally I don't believe a word of it. Maybe they think they did it, but that would be the mescal talking.

Seriously, this one was bad enough in San Francisco in November. I can't imagine doing it out in the tropical summer sun. I would end up in a puddle mourning my beautiful wickedness like the evil witch in the Wizard of Oz.

But then I'm not a Cosgrove.

Anyway, here's what it was:

Metabolic density training, 20 minutes:

10 TRX single leg squats R/L
10 TRX inverted rows
10 TRX suspended incline presses
10 TRX suspended lunges R/L

I got 7 rounds, although I wasn't keeping close watch over my time so I think I went a little more than 20 minutes.

superset, 3 rounds:

10 TRX swimmer's pulls
10 TRX sprinter's starts with power R/L (the original workout called for shuttle runs, but since I was training inside I substituted)

TRX suspended crunches, 2x12

Oh, and it's a vampire workout because it drains away all your energy. This is per the Cosgroves, not me, though I wouldn't disagree.

Also if by some chance the workout as written isn't miserable enough for you, you could always read New Moon during your rest periods. That'll suck out your will to live for sure.

Weird workout day, even for me

It began with a short run on the beach. No dolphins today, but I did see pelicans of all things. They're common in the Half Moon Bay area a little further down the coast, but I've never noticed them in the city before. Maybe they were hoping to see dolphins?

The run went pretty well considering I'd beaten myself up pretty thoroughly the day before in ballet class plus rehearsal plus cycling. The cycling class was an intense interval training session that got my heart rate up to 171 at one point. Bear in mind, I'm 47. My estimated maximum is 179 according to the usual charts, which of course reflect averages, meaning that for 50% of the population they overestimate and for 50% they underestimate. I am in the latter fifty percent. In fact, my actual maximum heart rate seems to be about 190. This is strictly a genetic thing and not an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness or lack thereof. But anyway, after hitting a high of 171 I was able to lower my heart rate to 106 within only 2 minutes or so. That's pretty good. Generally speaking an athlete should be able to lower his or her heart rate by 40 beats within 3 minutes of ending a workout. The quicker you can bring your heart rate down, the fitter you are. This is another reason to wear a heart rate monitor during your workouts: so you can track your progress in this respect.

Anyway, because I'd gotten my heart rate so high in cycling class on Thursday I wasn't sure how much of an effort I'd be able to put forth during my run, but in fact it went pretty well except for not seeing any dolphins.

A little later in the morning I hit the weight room for a little squat/bench press/pull-up action. The pull-ups went surprisingly well but I was weak as a kitten on the other two exercises. When I'm doing a low-rep strength workout I always throw in a couple of light specific-warmup sets so I can gauge how much it's safe for me to push it during the actual work sets, and I could pretty much tell when my back started complaining after 8 reps with only a measly 95 pounds that it was not going to be a good strength day. So I played it safe, focused on form and range of motion, and still feel as though I got a lot out of the workout even though I never used more than 145 pounds for my heaviest set.

I'm actually not totally committed to making barbell back squats a regular part of my routine again. Mike Boyle says they're not the best for building leg strength because they put the low back in a functionally weak position, so that it tires long before the legs do. I suspect that in many cases he is absolutely correct. What I'm not so sure about is whether the alternative he suggests--the Bulgarian split squat--is a better choice. His theory is that the BSS puts the back in a functionally strong position and the legs in a functionally weak one, so that it's the legs that'll give out first. This makes some sense to me, but at the same time I wonder whether most athletes have the balance and flexibility required to get the most out of the BSS. I think it's an absolutely wonderful exercise but it would never have occurred to me to use it as a replacement for conventional squats.

On the other hand, I'm always happy to test out a theory :) And I do love single leg training. Bear in mind that there's a thin line between love and hate here.

Anyway, after I finished the strength portion of my workout I did a few sets of 1-arm swings, then headed upstairs to an empty studio for some pointe practice. This was when I noticed that things were seriously amiss. I couldn't find my center and I couldn't pull up. The connective tissue in my ankles felt weak and "loose" for want of a better word. And I couldn't remember my choreography to save my life.

Then I remembered what day it was in my cycle, and all became clear.

Yummy!

In the interest of upgrading my diet some, I've been on the lookout lately for new and interesting foods that will give me the nutrients I need without completely repulsing me from a sensory standpoint.

Not every experiment has been a success. The powdered wheatgrass ... well, let's just say that it must be an acquired taste. Still, I could see it being a useful thing to have with me when I'm traveling and can't count on getting my usual 37 servings of veggies.

The kombucha drinks from Synergy, however, have been a big hit for the most part. A few of the flavors are a bit disgusting but I really like the Gingerade and the Trilogy (ginger, raspberry juice, lemon juice). They're tart, fizzy and refreshing. At least, I like them. My husband thinks they're too sour to be drinkable but then he likes orange juice, which I find to be unacceptably sweet. I have no idea whether there's any evidence substantiating the claimed health benefits of kombucha, but I certainly don't think it's doing me any harm so I plan to continue drinking it.

I'm also really liking nonfat Greek yogurt from Fage. It's thick, creamy and delicious ... and has 25% of the recommended minimum daily calcium requirement as well as 20 grams of protein per 1-cup serving. That's a lot of nutrient value for 120 calories! I like to mix in berries and sprinkle walnuts on top for a ''sundae" that's packed with anti-oxidants and essential fatty acids as well as calcium and protein.

Interestingly I find it a lot easier to eat well when my workouts are going well. I think it's because when I'm performing well I'm inspired to want to do even better the next time and I know that eating the right stuff will help. Or something like that.