This Week's Top Tip - Use Compound Sets To Bring Up Lagging Bodyparts

The best way to bring up a lagging bodypart is to perform compound sets between each set of exercises. For example, if you're working chest and your calves need more development and are weak, between each set of presses, flyes, etc you would sneak in a set of calves during the rest periods.

This could also work well for developing grip and forearm strength - as the forearms recover extremely rapidly it's worth performing some grip, radial flexion, ulnar flexion, etc. between sets of an arms workout to help speed their development along.

This Week's Top Tip - Implications Of Low Zinc Levels

Based on research, zinc deficiency is probably the most important causes of low testosterone and low fertility scores in males.
Low zinc levels can decrease sperm output, cause testicular shrinkage, reduce testosterone, slow muscle growth, decrease immune function, slow wound healing and create problems with the skin and appetite. With all clients I will always perform what's called a 'zinc challenge', to quickly assess the status of a clients zinc level. In all the years I've been performing the test only 3 people have passed successfully, for the rest an 8 week zinc rebuilding protocol is prescribed to help elevate their body's zinc levels.
We can probably safely assume that the chances of your levels being 'optimum' are rather slim. If this is the case then I usually find an 8 week course of supplementing a good chelated zinc product of around 120mgs per day will do the trick.

Oh and those little white spots on your nails… a sign of zinc deficiency.

This Weeks Top Tip

Strengthening the external rotators of the shoulder and the scapulae retractor to the point of structural balance are the two best ways at improving your chin ups and pressing movements.

This Weeks Top Tip

Many 'experts' believe coffee isn't good for our health and can cause all sorts of 'problems.' However there have been so many studies backing coffee up, from increasing fat loss and strength output, extending one's life to improving brain health.

In the year 2000, two studies (one in the mainstream journal Neurology) showed that coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk for Parkinson’s disease. More recent studies have also shown that coffee drinkers are less likely to get Alzheimer’s and dementia, with a decreased risk of about 65% at late-life. It's also been shown to improve short-term cognitive function on various testing parameters like reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visual-spatial reasoning.

The mechanisms behind the health benefits of coffee could be the fact that coffee enhances detoxification in the body, and/or its anti-oxidant content and ability to increase insulin sensitivity and reduce the onset of type 2 diabetes... after all Alzheimer's can otherwise be known as type 3 diabetes.

Source: Caffeine as a protective factor in dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

This Weeks Top Tip

 Here is another reason you should ditch the treadmill in favor for weights.

Researchers have discovered that resistance training or in other words, training with weights, improved markers of blood pressure more effectively and efficiently than aerobic training. Resistance exercise increases blood flow which is known to reduce blood pressure.

Source: Changes in Arterial Distensibility and Flow-Mediated Dilation After Acute Resistance vs. Aerobic Exercise

This Weeks Top Tip

This is a top tip for anyone who finds it a problem remembering names, numbers, dates or even people's faces.
A lot of people believe that their ability to remember and retain information is down to perceptiveness and general brain activity. Little do they know that memory can be enhanced by eating the correct foods!
Brain cells, the primary component our brains are made out of, require what we call neurotransmitters to carry messages around.
Low levels of certain neurotransmitters can have impacts on our memory, specifically the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine and dopamine.

If you have a hard time remembering names and numbers it is a sign that you have a deficiency in the acetylcholine neurotransmitter.

For those of you who struggle to remember peoples faces it’s a deficiency in dopamine levels. 

If you are someone who struggles with the above then I've provided a short list below of the types of foods your diet should revolve around to help resolve the problem.

Here is a list of foods that help boost Acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter responsible for memory, concentration and focus:

Acetylcholine

• Egg Yolks
• Meat – Chicken, Beef, Pork, Mutton
• Fish
• Liver
• Dairy Products – Milk and Cheese
• Vegetables – Broccoli, Cabbage and Cauliflower have higher amounts
• Pine Nuts and macadamias are particularly good if eaten at breakfast
• Blueberries are also great at raising acetylcholine levels

Remember those clearly… and now for the next one.

Dopamine

Dopamine is responsible for learning, a very important feature that helps boost intelligent memory, the memory that contributes to your overall intelligence. A list of foods that boost this particular neurotransmitter:

• Protein sources – Meat, Milk products, Fish, Nuts, Beans,

I often find this information to be invaluable to clients of mine who need great memory for their job e.g accountants, mathematicians, historians, lawyers, policemen etc

This Weeks Top Tip

Flat pressing, whether it be with a barbell or dumbells usually plateaus off and many people struggle to make necessary strength improvements. For the majority of new clients I focus a lot on both incline and overhead pressing movements.

Prioritising these lifts over a 6-8 week period will prove to show great increases in flat pressing movements i.e the bench press.

This Weeks Top Tip

Applying a forward lean when performing the Seated Leg Curl will help to make this exercise more effective by recruiting a higher proportionate of muscle fibers and allowing for a greater stretch at the top of the movement.

This Weeks Top Tip - Leaner Legs

 For women who store excess fat on their legs, adding watercress into the diet can have a dramatic impact on leaning out the legs. The legs are a fat storage site for those people who have problems with high circulating levels of estrogen. 

Watercress is heavily rich in indole-3-Carbinol (I3C) and B-phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) two compounds that help to detoxify estrogen out of the body.

I recommend consuming a bag (60-75g) to two bags per day of watercress for 8 days then to take 8 days off, then repeat.

I've had great success using watercress and had one client drop her quadricep skinfold by 10mm in a week and another drop 9.6mm in 9 days!!

Start adding watercress to your meals to see the benefits for yourself

This Weeks Top Tip

According to a new study reported last Friday in the Journal of Pain, published by the American Pain Society, daily doses of raw or heat-treated ginger effectively relieved muscle aches and discomfort - and that includes even severe pain following strenuous exercise.

The scientists worked with 74 student volunteers who were divided into three groups. One group was given raw ginger, one group received heated ginger and the third group received a fake ginger placebo.

Muscle pain was induced in the volunteers by having them perform 18 eccentric muscle exercises. Then the research subjects were tested on 11 consecutive days to see if those taking the ginger had reduced muscle aches and pains. And they did -- dramatically. 

The results showed that both raw and heat-treated ginger lowered muscle pain intensity by 25 and 23 percent, respectively. 

Source: New Study Reports Ginger Effective For Muscle Pain Relief

This Weeks Top Tip - Squatting

The squat is an excellent exercise for adding size and strength to the lower body. It also has a fantastic carry over for most sports and will help improve performance in just about any lower dominate sport.

However having said that you need to earn the right to squat. 

Squatting isn't as simple as placing a barbell on your back and bending down with the knees. It's about engaging the whole body and for the body to move as a unit. I see people day in, day out placing the squat in their workout and the truth is, only about 2% of these people are able to squat with proper technique.

For the other 98% of you I strongly suggest leaving the squat for a few months to focus on structural balance and remedial work.

I structural balance every client of mine to see what imbalances both tension and muscular they have. To date I've only seen two people who have demonstrated proper technique for squatting. In most cases people will be tight in the hips causing them to lean forward. Many people have tight calves stopping them from keeping their heels on the floor and almost certainly, people have one leg stronger than the other - performing a squat with imbalances only increases the risk for injury and limits the training effect.

For those of you who are unsure of correct technique when it comes to performing a squat, ask any well qualified personal trainer and they should be able to help. Alternately you can locate a PICP 2 qualified strength coach and they'll be able to test for lower body discrepancies, recommend advice and have you squatting within about 8-10 weeks.

For locating a PICP Strength Coach please visit the following site:
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/TrainerDirectory/FindaCoach.aspx

This Weeks Top Tip

When Performing any pressing movements using dumbells, such as the flat dumbell press, it's best to take a semi supinated grip (palms facing in towards the body) instead of a pronated one (palms facing away from the body).

There are several advantages to this grip:

1. A semi supinated grip places less stress through the should joint. i.e it's safe for the shoulder
2. It allows for a greater stretch in the bottom position and greater range of motion
3. It recruits a higher percentage of muscle fibers of the chest and studies have shown it to develop quicker strength gains than using a pronated grip.

 

When teaching clients any dumbell pressing movements I always teach them the benefits of a semi supinated grip. Although some are reluctant, within a week they can all see an improvement.

This Weeks Top Tip

A recent study suggests by drinking four cups of an inexpensive, readily available green tea may help strip excess body weight. The study found that green tea as capsules or tea significantly reduced 2.5kgs of body weight over 8 weeks.

Source: Hursel R, Viechtbauer W, Westerterp-Plantenga MS. The effects of green tea on weight loss and weight maintenance: a meta-analysis. Int J Obes (Lond). 2009 Sep;33(9):956-61.

Top Tip For Tricep Training

The tricep muscle is comprised of three different heads - the long, lateral and medial head. It's impossible to purely isolated a single head of the tricep, however by the orientation of the upper arm in relation to gravity and to the body, you can affect the percentage of recruitment of each head.

For Example:

From Incline to Perpendicular - the further away your arms are from your navel, the greater the recruitment of the long head of the triceps.
E.g Seated French Presses, Overhead Tricep Extension w/rope.

Flat - Exercises in a flat position tend to recruit more the lateral and long head of the triceps.
E.g Close Grip Bench Press, Lying EZ Bar Tricep Extensions

Decline - The closer your arms are to your torso the greater the contribution of the medial head of the triceps at the top position. At the bottom position the lateral head does most of the work.
E.g Decline Close Grip Bench Press, Decline EZ Bar Tricep Extension.

You may also want to consider hand position. As a general rule, pronating the grip (palms down) increases recruitment of the the lateral head and a supine grip (palms up) increases recruitment of the medial head.

Knowing this information will hopefully add value to your workouts and place new size and strength onto your triceps!

This Weeks Top Tip

Women who reported high use of household cleaning products had a two-fold risk of developing breast cancer according to a scientific questionnaire and poll

Source: Self-reported chemicals exposure, beliefs about disease causation, and risk of breast cancer in the Cape Cod Breast Cancer and Environment Study: a case-control study

This Weeks Top Tip

Test subjects who had the lowest levels of blood serum vitamin D had significantly increased risk for developing Parkinson's disease. Those that had high levels of the vitamin demonstrated protection against the disease.

Source: Serum Vitamin D and the Risk of Parkinson Disease, Paul Knekt, DPH; Annamari Kilkkinen, PhD; Harri Rissanen, MSc; Jukka Marniemi, PhD; Katri Sääksjärvi, MSc; Markku Heliövaara, PhD Arch Neurol. 2010;67(7):808-811. doi:10.1001/archneurol.2010.120

This Weeks Top Tip

By taking a good quality multi-vitamin each day will help with fat loss and lipid panel improvement in obese women

 Source: Effects of multivitamin and mineral supplementation on adiposity, energy expenditure and lipid profiles in obese Chinese women, International Journal of Obesity (2010) 34, 1070–1077; doi:10.1038/ijo.2010.14; published online 9 February 2010

When working with clients, whatever the goal I will always recommend a good multi-vitamin to take each day. However not all multi-vitamins are created equal and some can even compromise you health instead of improving it. The products I normally recommend are from the UK's top health care professionals, Nutri.

Multigenics w/iron and Multigenics w/out iron

Please note: males should take a muti-vitamin product without iron and females with iron

You can purchase these two products through Nutri by calling: 0800 212 742 and Quote ID no. 3054468

This Weeks Top Tip

Training twice a day is the fastest way to improve your physique, whether it be for fat loss, muscle growth or strength

If you're lucky enough to have the time available for twice a day training I would definitely recommend it.

To avoid over training and total 'burn out' you need to allow at least a 4-6 hour window between your AM and PM sessions as well as keeping on top your nutrition and supplementation.

I would also recommend taking a 'deload week' every 3rd week whereby you only train once per day for that week to help improve recovery and avoid over training.

This Weeks Top Tip

The average weight of a human head is though to weigh between 4.5 - 5kgs constituting around 8% of your total body mass.

Research suggests that for every 0.5cm of forward neck displacement, the neck ages prematurely by 5 years!

With today's lifestyle being what it is, the majority of people suffer from poor postural aligment and a forward head posture.

Training the neck extensors are often over looked in most peoples programs, however if correctly trained,  can have a huge impact on upper body strength development.

This Weeks Top Tip

Eating a vegetarian diet is healthy?
Wrong!

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the annual all-cause death rate of vegetarian men is slightly more than that of non-vegetarian men (.93% vs .89%); the annual death rate of vegetarian women is significantly more than that of non-vegetarian women (.86% vs .54%) 

A Vegetarians diet often lacks important vitamins and minerals to help maintain a healthy lifestyle.

I strongly suggest all vegetarians supplement into their diet a good multivitamin, Vitamin B6/B12, zinc and some kind of protein supplement.

Source: (Am J Clin Nutr 1982 36:873)