The Fallacy of More Is Better
Let us travel back in time... not that far, just to Monday's post. Building on the theme of "Magic Bullet" fitness, there's another fallacy that runs alongside Magic Bullet, kinda like those weird fish that attach themselves to sharks:
It's the mentality that more is better, if you're not gasping for breath and barely able to stand after the workout, then all is for naught! Oh, ho my friends! How far from the truth does that little fish swim.
This is not to say that I don't enjoy a good heart-pounding, sweat-pouring workout now and again (they're fun) or that you should never push yourself beyond your comfort zone. What I am saying is that progress and the value of a training session should not be measured on a) soreness b) tiredness c) vomiting. Matter fact, if the last one does occur, that's the signal your body gives you that you were an idiot and pushed it beyond it's ability to recover (both during the session and possibly after, depending on other stressors). Way to go, bucko.
Let's clear the air a bit and distinguish between soreness that leads to progress and soreness that leads to poop. (that's a technical term by the way.)
Most people, at some point or another, have experienced DOMS (the "Jaws" theme always plays in my head when I hear "DOMS"). DOMS is delayed onset muscle soreness. It usually manifests any where from 12-72 hours after a training session. There's a couple different theories on what contributes to DOMS but for the most part, it stems from microtrauma (itty bitty tears) to the muscle fibers during movements. The body repairs these tears to be more resilient to tears in the future, thus the muscle becomes bigger and stronger. It's similar to forming a callus: the skin is sore and tender, but eventually toughens up to prevent future damage.
This type of soreness is the kind we want for it leads to progress. Think about when you first start training again after a break or introduce a new exercise, at first whoooo buddy! Your muscles are pretty tender, but after a couple more sessions, those same exercises no longer leave you incapacitated afterwards. Those who train regularly, be it lifting, running, lightsaber dueling, will rarely be sore after a workout. This is a sign of progress since the muscles are now more resilient to the training stimulus (and they're stronger to boot!). Do you see how gauging a good workout on soreness is a rather inaccurate measure? The opposite is in fact true: the lack of soreness (over time) is an indication that the training program has a stellar balance of tearing the muscles and repairing them.
In contrast, workouts that cause soreness (or, one step further, real pain) either during or immediately after, are NOT ideal. Immediate soreness/pain is an indication that the body has been pushed too far, and potentially incurred more serious damage to the muscles, joints, or tendons that in can recover from. Over time, if the body isn't allowed to fully recover between training sessions, this could lead to actual injuries. This is bad. Instead of spending energy to repair the microtrauma of the muscles, the body is going to direct resources to repair the more serious damage.
For example, let's say you do a workout of 100 burpees, 400 m sprints, and 100 pushups. Your muscles will incur the microtrauma mentioned above (the kind that leads to strength gains), but you probably also had some damage done to the muscles and tendons surrounding your shoulders, elbows, ankles, and spine. All of which the body will prioritize in healing before dealing with the smaller tears in the muscles. Overall, you're probably not going to get much out of this workout in terms of strength and/or performance gains as your body is spending it's time with emergency repair crews at the joints and tendons (which, from your body's standpoint, are more important).
Therefore, if a workout that causes immediate soreness that's an indicator that the body has been pushed beyond it's limits (either at the muscles or joints or both) and will have a harder time recovering from the workout. As we learned from above, the recovery process is KEY to growing stronger and increasing performance. Thus, if recovery is impaired...fill in the blank, folks. (hint: progress is impaired)
So if you're feeling beat-up, exhausted, and shaky after each workout, I would say it's time to reevaluate your training. Sessions that lead to that are not sustainable over time. If the body can't recover, stress will pile up (even if you don't feel mentally stressed) the physical stress can actually inhibit your fitness goals by either a) cortisol, a stress-related hormone, is jacked up which hinders overall recovery (if it's too high. A little coritsol is part of the recovery process, but chronically high levels can eventually mess everything up). b) injury. Your poor body is just pooped. Bummer.
Take-Away:
1. Soreness is ok, especially in a new program or after a new exercise is introduced. Over time, the soreness will decrease and that's a mark of progress (the body becoming stronger and more resilient).
This is not to say that you should NEVER be sore; part of progressing is stressing the system a bit beyond what it's used to. There should be days throughout your lifetime of training that soreness occurs. But, it should not be....
2. Immediate soreness/pain, particularly around joints or the spine. This means the workout was perhaps more than the body could handle and, despite no actual injury you can see, the body IS injured and will require a longer recovery period. If that recovery time is absent, eventually injuries will manifest.
3. Basing the effectiveness of a workout on "soreness" or "tiredness" is not a fair gauge and often the wrong measuring stick. Instead, one should track progress by strength goals, clothes fitting (or not fitting. Growing some hamstrings can cause pants to be tighter), aerobic markers (such as, running a 100m faster, or the ability to rest less during a weight circuit), and other such performance markers over time.
A witty remark escapes me at the moment, therefore, just assume I said something that would be of a high caliber wit.
Post-Holiday Physique Quick Fixes
I apologize. I have no intention of giving you a "quick fix." Why? Because they don't exist. Yup, the media and fitness "experts" have lied to you. There is no such thing as "10 Minutes to Abz" or ,"Cleanse Food of the month" or any other such nonsense as that. Want to know the secret? 1. Consistency- eating well 90% of the time (you can have treats. But remember they're once-in-a-while occasions. That's why they're "treats.") and exercising regularly (not just in January).
2. Consistency
3. Consistency
Notice a trend here? This month we're going to be dispelling some of the proliferous myths of the fitness world as well as offer solutions to maintaing a healthy lifestyle, and your sanity, that actually work.
Below is a post I wrote a couple months ago in a fit of anger but drives the point home that a healthy, strong body takes time, effort, and consistency.
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While enjoying some quiet time, an advertisement blared over my classical music station (I was peacefully enjoying some Rachmaninov):
"No time for exercise? Tony Horton's 10 Minute Training makes blasting fat and building muscle easier than ever!"
The 10 Minute Trainer DVDs employ:
-"Super Stacking Technique" to combine cardio and strength training (Is that new? Uh, you mean like super-setting and circuit training?)
-Resistance bands and the "most effective moves" (Riiight because 5lbs of resistance is going to build muscle...SAPT-ers, is this correct?)
-A "10 minute" meal plan, not sure what that includes but somehow it helps.
-You're supposed to do 3 workouts/day (so really 30 minute trainer would be more appropriate) selecting from: cardio, total body and lower body workouts. (and the bonus of the Abs DVD...cause that's really what working out is all about... the ABZ)
Ahem, shall I?
Training methodology, professional opinion on the safety of these "moves" for untrained individuals, and lack of feedback on proper exercise technique aside, what angers me the MOST about these kinds of products is the "magic bullet" mentality. They make it sound like it's so easy, so fast and utterly mindless to develop a head-turning physique and/or jaw-dropping strength.
Here's a picture of me from my old bodybuilding days:
Any guesses on how long it took to look like that? (hint: more than 10 minutes)
4 YEARS.
Read that again and let it sink in.
4 years of HARD work, busting my butt in the gym 5-7 days/week, picking up heavy things (many, many times for a lot longer than 30 minutes), following a strict diet year-round (not to mention the restrictive competitive diet I stuck to for 12 weeks prior to a competition. Helloooo broccoli and chicken...every...meal...) Each work out and meal was meticulously planned and well thought-out; I tried my hardest every workout to focus all my thoughts on my training. Anything else, was put inside the "Not Work Out Box" in my head and every rep, every set had my undivided attention.
Did I mention that it took 4 years?
Things like this disgust me. I ABHOR how many products out there preaching the the "'body you want" is only "minutes away,"preying upon our society's collective impatience. Training for strength and or physique goals should require a lot of thinking (not necessarily in the sense that you write your own program, but you should be focused during your session); training sessions shouldn't be executed casually if you expect to reap any benefits. Remember my Iron Brethren, many things in life are fast an easy, strength and a healthy body are not one of them.
At SAPT, we "cook 'em slow" because we know that strength gains and physique changes take time and hard work. Check out two of our champs, Ron Reed and Ryan Dickt. Both have been training with us for years and working their tails off in the gym 3-4/week and gettin' AFTER it!
Heard of the workout "Insanity?" How 'bout try some INTENSITY?
THAT is what training looks like, even with the "little" stuff. Or this:
3 years of consistent training = 425 deadlift... and he's only a junior in high school.
And this:
Yup... guess what? Another consistent SAPT trainee. 300 lbs!
Don't fall for the short cut and train like you mean it.
Cleaning Up Holiday Faves: Desserts
Wanna know how to remember to spell"desserts" versus "desert"? You always want two desserts and only one desert ( in regards to the number of "'s" in each word).
Oh, the desserts are always the tricky ones to navigate during the holidays! They're so tasty yet can also, if you're not careful, leave you in an insulin coma afterwards. (Note: I'm NOT saying you CAN'T have dessert. Desserts are awesome and can be enjoyed in MODERATION during special occasions, such as a holiday. However, it's that whole "moderation" thing is usually the portion of that advice that is ignored.)
Today's post is a two-fold of excellence: 1. two quick dessert recipes that are for "oh crap, I was supposed to bring something!" moments and 2. links to recipes of delicious and healthier versions of desserts. Baking is really not my strong point, mainly because baking requires the cook to follow the recipe to a T. I do not do such things; I prefer just to throw stuff haphazardly around in my mixing bowls and see what happens. Baking like this generally results in disastrous, inedible food.
First quick recipe:
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter (or any nut butter) Cups (adapted from Joshua Weissman over at Slimpalate.com)
Ingredients - 7-8 ounces high quality dark chocolate - note: Do NOT use this. It was a messy disaster.
- ½ cup peanut butter (or any nut butter you prefer) - 1 tablespoon honey (you can also use stevia if you prefer, but honey gives it a gooey and delightful texture) - 1 tablespoon coconut flour (or regular flour. Actually, depending on the PB, if it's a thicker consistency, you probably won't need it.) - smoked sea salt for sprinkling (I skipped this, and it still tasted great. However, if you like the sweet-salty contrast, this will be fabulous) 1. Line a mini muffin tin with mini muffin cups.
2. In a small bowl add peanut butter, honey or stevia, coconut flour (if needed) and stir until well combined and place to the side.
3. Chop up the chocolate into pieces and melt it in a double boiler or place it in a bowl and microwave at 10 second intervals stirring in between each interval until melted. Just beware the cheap Trader Joe kind! I used their higher end chocolate, and it worked just find.
4. Using a tablespoon, spoon the melted chocolate carefully into the cupcake cups, enough to line the bottom of the cup and fill it about 1/2 inch.
5. Now scoop a teaspoon-ish size amount of peanut butter into each cup. Also perform this carefully. I had one (maybe two) instances of spilled chocolate... Not good. 6. Using the remaining chocolate, drizzle melted chocolate over peanut butter filled molds with just enough chocolate to cover completely. Or, if you're like me, I didn't seem to have enough chocolate so I had some peanut butter peeking out the top. They were still delicious.
7. Sprinkle smoked sea salt over each finished chocolate (optional)
8. Place lace in the fridge until hard, roughly 30-40 minutes.
Quick Pumpkin Cookies
- 3/4 -1 cup pumpkin puree (should you not have pumpkin on hand, dried fruit works well too. I've experimented with apricots and prunes with tasty success. The latter version was very helpful in the bowel department.)
- 1/2 cup peanut or almond butter
- 3/4 cup oat flour (just pulse oatmeal in a blender and ta-da! You can swap this out for 1/2 cup coconut flour if you need this to be a gluten-free recipe)
- 1 tsp vanila
- 1.5 tsp of pumpkin spice
- 1-2 Tbs honey
- 1-2 handfuls of chocolate chips or raisins (optional)
- Enough milk to thin it out a bit (roughly 1/2 to 1/3 cup)
PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 350 (I always forget this part).
1. Throw all ingredients, except the milk at first, into a food processor and pulse until fairly smooth.
2. Slowly add milk until the consistency is not super, super thick. Just slightly thick and sticky.
3. Toss in the chocolate chips, if you're using them, and scoop tablespoon (or slightly larger) size balls onto a cookie sheet.
4. Bake roughly 10 minutes and enjoy!
Now for some dessert links from ladies who are fantastic and innovative cooks. I hope you enjoy!
Raw Pumpkin Caramel Bars from Cara Lyons at carascravings.com
Gingerbread Cookies (gluten free) from Maggie Savage from sheletthemeatcake.com
Pumpkin Cake with Maple icing also from Maggie Savage
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp from the Balance Platter
Black Bean Brownies from Yours Truly
Ta-da! I highly recommend trolling around on those blogs too for other dessert ideas (there are a TON). Remember, moderation is key. You can have your cake an eat it too, just don't eat the whole thing. :)
In-Season Training Considerations for Wrestlers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iss4jIw-3Y8
Cleaning Up Holiday Faves, Part 2
In the last post, we cleaned up cranberry sauce, stuffing, and shepherd's pie. Today on the menu is chili, roasted vegetables, and sweet potatoes (or candied yams that seem to appear at most feasts). Chili, an excellent cold-weather food; hearty, warm, and very easy to make. If you have a slow cooker, awesome, just dump the following ingredients into the cookers, set it on low for 6-8 hours and enjoy! If you don't, I'm sad for you (and you really should get one. Life is much simpler with a slow cooker), but never fear! This can also be done on the stove in a big stock pot. The only difference is to saute the onions and garlic a bit before adding everything else. Once all the ingredients are in the pot, simmer on med-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes.
This recipe has pumpkin puree in it. I love using pumpkin as it adds extra "Umph!" to the chili by making it thicker. Pumpkin also has a decent amount of fiber, vitamins A and C, as well as a healthy dose of potassium. Make sure you use "pure" pumpkin puree, not the stuff for pies.
Also of note, this chili is absolutely loaded with vegetables (versus most chilis which are just meat and beans). The added bulk of the vegetables keep you full longer and you don't need to eat as much to reach satiety (thus saving a bit on calories).
Without further ado, I present, Pumpkin Chili!
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2-3 cups of diced rutabaga or potatoes (we use rutabega a lot, especailly in the winter since it's in season)
- 1-2 cans of beans of choice (we like black and pinto)
- 2-3 carrots, diced
- 1 each of red and green bell peppers, diced
- 3/4 cup frozen corn (or canned, but I think canned tastes funny)
-1 can of pumpkin puree
- 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
- 1-2lbs of meat of choice (ground beef or turkey. I use 2-3 chicken breasts and just shred it after it's done cooking)
- A generous sprinkling of the following spice: chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, and a touch of cinnamon. You can add any "heat" spices you want, such as a jalapeño or two. My heat tolerance is -45, so chili powder is as hot as I can go.
Slow cooker- throw it in, cook for 6-8 hours on low.
Stock pot on stove-
1. sautee onions and garlic in a bit of oil for 3-5 minutes.
2. Toss in the meat and cook until brown on the outside.
3. Throw everything else in and simmer on med-low heat for 35-45 + minutes.
Moving on to roasted veggies. Winter is a perfect time to take advantage of the root vegetables that grow abundantly this time of year. It's fairly simple to make, choose the vegetable combination that appeals to you the most, throw all of it into a baking dish, and roast away. Roasting brings out the natural sweetness in most of the vegetables so they're pretty flavorful. Since the flavors of the vegetables are brought out, there's no need for lots of oils or calorie bomb sauces saving your waistline. This is a great, healthy side for any meal this season.
Salt and pepper are always a go-to when it comes to seasoning, but experimenting with thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, and balsamic vinegar is not out of line either. Garlic, carmalized onions (added either before or after the roasting) also add a flavor burst.
Roastable Vegetables:
- Parsnips: somewhat sweet, I think they taste like a "clean carrot," and are excellent complements to more bitter vegetables such as brussel sprouts.
- Brussel sprouts- you have to be careful not to over roast them as they will start to become bitter. Slice these little guys up and toss in with they're root compadres.
- Butternut squash- peel and dice up in smaller chunks. Butternut squash is pretty dense, so in order to have softer pieces (without blackening the rest of the vegetables to a crisp), ensure that the squash are in smaller pieces so they'll cook more evenly. Butternut is also a bit sweet.
- Potatoes- either white or sweet, both options are healthy and excellent addtions to any roasted vegetable combination.
- Rutabaga- similar to butternut squash, it's pretty dense so make sure it's in smaller pieces.
- Beets- also a sweeter, earthier taste (and it turns your pee pink!) These guys go very well with balsamic vinegar and goat cheese.
Dice up any combination that appeals to you, toss with desired spices (or vinegar), roast in the oven around 400-425 for 30-45 minutes (or whenever vegetables are tender). Serve and enjoy!
Candied yams, these were a staple of holiday meals when I was a kid, are well, not so great for you. The excessive amount of sugar negates the health benefits of yams (or sweet potatoes, depending on who makes them). Here's a way to still enjoy the delightful tuber without sending your body into sugar shock.
This is adapted from Tosca Reno (Clean Eating)
- 2 lbs of sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 medium parsnips, peeled and chunked
- 1/2 to 1 tbs of olive oil or butter
- 1/8- 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and cinnamon
- 1-2 Tbs of maple syrup or honey
- Salt as needed
1. Toss in potatoes and parsnips into stock pot, cover with water, and boil until soft.
2. Drain, and blend in a blender or mash by hand in a large bowl.
3. As potatoes and parsnips are mashed or blended, add in the nutmeg, cinnamon, and maple syrup/honey. Add the oil in as needed to make smooth (you may not need it).
4. Blend until smooth, taste testing as you go. Add, in small increments, salt and sweetener to achieve desired level of sweetness.
Come back next week, we'll tackle desserts!
Welcome to the new SAPTstrength.com
If you've been a long-time reader of the SAPT blog or a SAPT client, please take a few moments to browse around the new site! There are still some bugs to work out and content to put in place, but all-in-all we hope you find the new site more informative and easier to use to get - and stay - in touch with all of us at SAPT!
