If you read my article on rep schemes and pathways of energy , I shed a little insight on how to determine what goal each rep range supports as far as muscular growth, strength, muscular endurance and aerobic endurance. Of course, we live in an absolute society: people who are trying to gain muscle often avoid cardio out of fear of burning calories, which in reality, neglects the most important muscle in the body, the heart. On the other end of the spectrum, many people, especially women, avoid lifting relatively heavy out of fear of gaining massive size (which is all but impossible – trust me as someone who is focusing on adding as much lean body mass as humanly possible :). Ladies, I’ve trained hundreds of females over the years, and I have yet to find one that gains muscle mass as easily as most think they will.

The key to training is variety. It’s easy to fall into the same ol’ same each and every time we walk into the gym. I catch myself starting at the same spot on a specific workout day and fighting the urge not to do exercises in a specific sequence. We are creatures of habit!

Most workouts don’t continue to work after an initial shock to the body because they ignore many important variables that are crucial to progression. So, what are a few things we can change up to not only keep our workouts fresh, but to also overload the body in a different way and force progression?

Exercise selection

-It is so easy to get comfortable with a certain group of exercises for a certain body part or group of body parts. While I do believe that there are some core exercises that everyone should be doing no matter their goals, don’t be afraid to mix it up and try different variations of the core exercises.

Order of exercises

-As with exercise selection, it’s easy to follow the same order of exercises. Hey, we are creatures of habit and comfort. It’s not comfortable to not be as strong at a particular exercise because instead of doing it first, we chose to do it fourth, but there’s some benefit in that. When the primary muscles are a bit fatigued, it forces the secondary groups to pull their weight and become stronger.

Number of reps and sets

-Too many people think that they should be doing 3 sets of 10 without much thought of ever breaking out of that zone. Sometimes, my squat workout may consist of 15 sets of anywhere from 1 to 20 reps. I might do 8 sets of 10 reps of one exercise, or 1 set of 100 of another exercise. Through rep and set scheme, there are many different ways to provide overload and shock the body, so don’t marry one set/rep scheme. Be creative!

Resistance (Weight) and weight progression

-This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s anything but for most people. Adding 5 more pounds to a certain exercise may seem like an overwhelming task, but it is critical for progression. Women avoid it because they believe it will make them bigger, but if you read the Reps and Pathways article, I explain again why that isn’t the case.

It’s not just the ladies. I see many guys guilty of the same thing. For example, they decide they want to bench press. They start out with the same weight for a certain number of reps, increase to another familiar weight for another familiar number of reps and so on and so forth until they get to where they’ve always been. Then, they may try 5 more pounds. Either they’ve exhausted themselves getting there (had they cut out all of the fluff sets they would’ve been able to do 20 more pounds) or they get one rep and then during their next bench press workout, they don’t use that as their new baseline, just going through the same old movements. The importance for forcing a strength increase cannot be over-emphasized. Lift weights to make the muscles stronger – NO ladies, you will not get big and bulky…

Rest time between sets

Few people deviate from their comfort zone here either. I see some people that feel they need to be doing something every 5-15 seconds, and I see some guys resting 3-4 minutes between every set. Again, MIX IT UP! If you’re able to go every 5-15 seconds, add some weight and take a bit more time to recover, allowing the muscle to perform at optimal strength. If you’re lifting heavy and feeling you need to take 3-4 minutes between sets, force the muscle to adapt to less recovery time and cut your rest period in half, and occasionally mix in some quicker, circuit type work to increase muscular endurance.

Tempo (speed) of reps

Ever performed a bench press or a squat using a 10 second negative? Try JUST ultra-slow reps for a few workouts and if soreness is what you’re after, you’ll feel a deep soreness like you’ve never felt. In contrast, there’s time for explosive quick movements. While the eccentric portion should nearly always be controlled (and I believe in an explosive concentric portion), concentrate on varying the tempo of the eccentric and static portions of lifts for increased fiber stimulation.

Pre-exhaustion

Many advanced athletes use pre-exhaustion techniques to enable themselves to train heavy compound lifts with less resistance. For example, performing leg extensions before squats or a variation of a fly before a bench press are ways to accomplish pre-exhaustion.

Supersetting, Giant Sets, etc

-Want to add a little intensity to your workout? Try super sets, triple sets, and giant sets. In short, these are styles of training involving different exercises for one set. For example, you can use the same group (db bench press followed by flies) or antagonistic body parts (bicep curls and tricep pressdowns) without rest between the two exercises for added intensity. Giant sets are similar, just incorporating three or more exercises into one “set” (squats + leg presses + lunges, for example).

Body parts on specific days (split)

-Depending on your goals, there may be several different reasons to train using a certain split, but every split has different benefits. Whether you’re breaking your workouts down by one or two bodyparts each day, an upper/lower split, full body 3-4 times per week, or based on movements (push/pull split), experiment using a variety of splits often, allowing different muscle groups to work together on certain days and mixing up how many times per week you train.

Time of day you exercise

-Want to optimize the body? Don’t let it get used to training at the same time each and every day. Of course, much of this has to do with schedule, but on occasion, throw the body a curve ball and workout at a much earlier or later time and notice how the body performs differently at different times using different training styles.

I cannot overemphasize this, but the body can and will adapt to absolutely anything, so it is extremely important to use as much variety as possible. Be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater – depending on your goals, many principles will remain consistent, however, keep it fresh by manipulating these variables and watch your body progress to new heights quicker than you’ve ever imagined.

When I tell a client that no two workouts are the same, I say so with each and every one of these variables in mind depending on their goals and the current training focus. Are you getting the most out of every one of your workouts?

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Now that the blog has well over 1000 posts, I am going to add a “Most Popular” (or most important) articles on the sidebar to help people find important information. While I enjoy writing the rant posts and ripping bogus workout routines (especially P90X :) and other things, I’m going to keep the sidebar to the nutritional information that you can use to develop your diet strategy, my main training articles, supplement guidelines and the other information that will assist readers in their body transformations and fat loss endeavors.

If you’d like to suggest a past post to be listed, let me know. If there’s a topic you’d like to see me cover, I always take suggestions into consideration.

I hope everyone’s has a great Wednesday – maybe it will cool off here in San Antonio. As summer comes to an end, there’s never been a better time to embark on your own body transformation program. It’s not easy, but the success rate of my clients is extremely high – make the next success story yours!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

The number of repetitions performed for a specific goal is one of the most confusing topics for most novice exercisers for a few reasons. The myth that higher reps help define a muscle or sculpt a certain body part that is regularly perpetuated by uneducated personal trainers and other sources of misinformation is a large reason for this. I’ve discussed this hundreds of times here on the blog, but to reiterate, “sculpting”, “toning”, and/or “defining” are simply the product of lowering body fat levels. No movement, weight training or otherwise, spot reduces fat from a certain area, no matter how many reps you may do of the exercise. Body fat must be removed from the entire body and without surgery (liposuction), one cannot control where the fat is lost from (crunches and Ab Ripper X do not sculpt the midsection).

In this writing, I’m going to discuss some general guidelines on rep ranges, the pathways of energy (what fuel is being used during a specific rep range) and a few exceptions to help you determine what rep range you should be training in for your specific goals. Hopefully, it will help you better understand why you perform a certain range of repetitions and maybe debunk a few myths about “getting large and bulky by lifting heavy weights” and a certain rep range being used for “sculpting and toning”.

First, it’s important to understand that simply performing a certain rep range means nothing if the load that is being used is not adequate. For example, if I refer to the 10-12 rep range, I am implying that the last 1-2 reps are near or at maximum effort. Sorry, but training is a lot more than just going through the motions.

Below are a list of goals obtained from weight training. As you will see, toning or defining a muscle is not listed. The best way to lose fat? Increase the resting metabolic rate by intense weight training and increasing lean body mass. The actual increase of muscle is a very slow process, and most people have a very low capacity for muscle growth. Read: women, you will not get big and bulky.

So what is the deal? One personal trainer says anything over 8 reps is a waste of time. The next Beach Body fad (okay, that’s a joke, so P90Xers, please don’t waste the time to send me a message unless you just want to chat :D) is 100+ rep sets. Is the holy grail of training somewhere in between? Does it matter which exercises are used for specific rep ranges?

Before I move on to specific rep schemes, I want to cover two important topics that will help you further understand the body’s response to training. Over the last 15 years, I’ve written about Energy Metabolism and the Pathways of Energy numerous times, and with good reason: understanding these principles make it easier to understand how to reach specific training objectives.

But I need to preface THOSE TWO sections with one simple question.

What is ATP?

-Without getting overly technical here and boring the everliving piss out of you, ATP is simply the molecule that stores energy in a form that can be used for muscle contractions. Energy from the body revolves around using the current ATP stores and rebuilding those stores quickly for more workload. Every human movement requires ATP. Unfortunately, the muscles are limited in how much ATP they can hold. Larger muscles are stronger muscles. Why? Because they hold more ATP!

ATP Production/Pathways of Energy
ATP/CP Energy Pathway:
-This pathway is anaerobic, meaning it requires no oxygen for energy use. Think explosive movements (one all out rep, tearing a car door off or lifting it off of someone in a panic – it happens).

Glycolytic Pathway:
-This pathway is also anaerobic. Once you’ve depleted all stored ATP, the body must breakdown carbohydrates to produce more ATP (glycolytic – think, glycogen, glucose, etc). Glycogen is stored in the muscle cells and glucose is found in the blood. See the importance of carbohydrates BEFORE training?

How effective your muscles function in this pathway is determined by several factors:
-How quickly can you get rid of lactic acid (get rid of the burn, get back to work) – increased workload leads to overload of the muscles which is stimulus for change.
-How well you can tolerate lactic acid build up. I’ve had numerous novice clients that completely lock up at the first sight, while more experienced exercisers can push through it.
-How far can you push it before the pain makes you say “to hell with this”.

Oxidative Pathway:
This is the aerobic pathway. It’s tough to understand this for some, but this is the pathway which most ATP is actually produced – it just takes much longer (which is why one cannot all out sprint for 5 minutes).

Obviously, you’re doing a bit more to build lean body mass in the other two pathways, which explains why marathoners and distance athletes typically aren’t muscular (please, don’t confuse “skinny” for “lean”. There’s a big difference). But here’s something that causes a ton of confusion: this is the only pathway in which fat can be used directly for energy. This is why many people believe that they’ll get rid of fat faster by doing cardio, and during the exercise, more carbohydrates are used as intensity as increased. When carbs become depleted at high intensity cardio? The body will tap into muscle for protein (the aminos leucine, isoleucine and valine). The effect? Lost lean body mass, slowed metabolism, less definition.

Don’t be confused: even with extreme volume lower intensity cardio, fat loss is still greatly limited, and the body has a very small window before it will look to breakdown muscle mass for energy.

Energy Metabolism
Physical activities can be based into four groups based on the energy systems (below) that are used to support these activities.

1. Strength/Power
-Energy coming from immediate ATP stores. All out, one rep effort that lasts typically no more than 3 seconds.

2. Sustained Power
-Energy coming from both ATP and available Creatine Phosphate (CP) stores. Near all out effort from 0-10 seconds.

3. Anaerobic Power-Endurance
-Energy from ATP, CP, and lactic acid. 400 meter sprint, 50 rep leg press, 100 yard swim sprint, lasts 1-2 minutes.

4. Aerobic-Endurance:
-Energy from the oxidative pathway, typically any event that lasts over 2 minutes in duration.

With this being explained, is it anymore clearer as to why I refer to P90X and circuit training as cardio based programs with minimal effect on body transformation (you’re spending most of the time in the oxidative threshold, never allowing ATP/CP stores to reload).

And without further adieu – which rep ranges are appropriate for your goals?
Training Goals/Appropriate Rep Schemes
It’s important to understand how muscle fibers are recruited – the body will attempt to use the smallest fibers when it can (slow, then intermediate, then fast twitch fibers).

Goal: Strength/Power – 1-5 reps
Optimal rep range for strength and power are lower reps, usually somewhere in the 1-5 range. As the reps increase, the capability of the load to increase strength and power begins diminishing.

Heavier weight means more muscle fibers recruited and strengthened, enabling us to place a higher degree of overload in other rep ranges, leading to greater muscle development.

Exercises that greatly benefit from training in overall strength and power rep range: compound exercises such as squat, bench press, dead lift. Due to injury risk, it is not optimal to work in this rep range on most isolation and single joint exercises.

Regardless of your overall training goal(s), a foundation of strength and power will transfer well across the spectrum in all rep ranges and training objectives.

Goal: Overall Muscular Hypertrophy (growth) 6-12 reps
The moderate rep range of 6-12 reps is probably the most commonly used rep range and for good reason, as it has many of the benefits of the higher and lower rep ranges. This rep range combines the capabilities of moderately heavy weight to increase intensity, while also allowing the individual to perform a set that lasts long enough to allow the muscle to remain under tension (and cause that lactic acid burn that so many people enjoy).

Exercises that will benefit you most during the muscular hypertrophy rep range: you’re pretty safe here with compound and most isolation exercises, but consider joint structure, tendon and ligament strength and stabilizer issues before going overly heavy with some movements (and by heavy, I mean lower reps vs higher reps).

Goal: Anaerobic Strength Endurance 12-20 reps & Aerobic Strength Endurance 20+ reps

I’ve decided to combine these two goals into one, although they’re very specific. For most guys, they’re reading this thinking “Well, I really don’t have a need to do anything over 12-15 reps, right? WRONG. These rep schemes cause massive glycogen depletion. Why do you care about that? The body compensates by forcing the muscle to hold more glycogen (the main source of fuel for muscle contraction), making the muscle become more efficient. Glycogen also buffers lactic acid – meaning you can do more before the burn becomes so severe that you have to stop.

As far as exercises, you’re safe with any group. Obviously, higher rep compound exercises are a bit more difficult (think 25 rep squats) than isolation work. You can also group cardio based work into this threshold as well.

Putting This Information To Use In Developing Your Workout
Should you be training in one rep range? I think a better question is “why limit yourself”? While I prefer to warm up with lighter weight, due to fiber recruitment and the energy pathways, it makes more sense to perform your heavy work early in your workout before transitioning to single joint/higher rep work. But don’t be afraid to experiment: I often perform 20-50 rep leg presses, 25 rep squats, 20 rep bench presses and other rep schemes to keep things fresh and offer different types of stimulus. Don’t “marry” one rep range. Your specific goals are important, but injury history and risk aside, I’ve given plenty justification to train using every rep range.

Need clarification? Feel free to leave questions or comments below!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Weight training is no different. When I work with someone, we begin at the basic level: form must be perfected. There’s NO cheating. Safety is paramount. Ironically, when I train people that have in-depth exercise histories, they often respond to my training very quickly because those “bottom 2 inches” of a given exercise, control of the weight and attention to detail on proper form recruits muscles they’ve long considered problem areas and helps them rapidly get through a self-perceived plateau.

Here are five basic things that every weight trainer should pay close attention to:

Range of Motion.
(ROM) This refers to the complete movement of a joint. To improve a joints ability to perform, every muscle spanning a specific joint must be recruited and trained appropriately, which is accomplished by performing exercises at complete ROM.

Resistance.
Simply put, the resistance is the load of a specific exercise. Resistance must be small enough to perform the full Range of Motion while keeping proper form yet heavy enough to tax the muscle for the desired amount of repetitions.

Repetitions.
Repetitions are the number of times an exercise is continuously performed during a “set”. In an upcoming post, I discuss how to determine the number of repetitions based on one’s goals, as a lot of people are confused and mislead by numbers of reps and what is achieved by performing a specific range of reps.

Rest.
Amount of rest between sets is also directly related to a specific training goal. The body has numerous pathways of energy and each pathway is utilized based the amount of rest between sets. Training is very specific, and the body will respond directly to how it is trained from a workload, repetition and rest standpoint.

Recovery.
Weirdly enough, recovery may be the most important, yet most dismissed of the five R’s. The body changes at rest during recovery. Training is simply the stimulus. There is a fine balance between training the body often enough to stimulate progress, while not taking too much time off between sessions to avoid regression.

These principles are broad, yet important to understand to take your body to the next level. The body is highly adaptive, and based on condition, what is appropriate for one person who may be trained may be entirely too much for someone who hasn’t trained. With that being said, being undertrained (not doing enough) is as common as doing too much.

Find an expert fitness trainer to help you determine what is the right balance for you!

Strong mind, strong body – be educated!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

I hope everyone is having an amazing Monday after a nice, warm weekend. I kept a very low profile this weekend, relaxing and recovering. If you’ve seen the replay of the UFC fight from the weekend, you’re probably as in awe as I am of Anderson Silva’s pain threshold whether you are a fan of MMA or not!

I know a lot of people have seen the Vibram Five Fingers, and more times than not, have probably been more repulsed by the way they look than to ever consider buying them. I’ll admit, I was in the same boat. I’m definitely not one of those people who follows the masses “to be different” for no reason. But shoes have always been an issue for me.

My feet are completely flat. Since I’ve continuously added small amounts of muscle mass over the years, my feet have continued to grow (I’m 5′11″ and I wear a 13.5 shoe). I’ve worn every brand of shoes, different width, different levels of supports, Orthotics, special socks, etc, but have never felt a great deal of comfort in my feet. Throw in the fact that I enjoy lifting extremely heavy weights that would obviously apply some form of pressure to the feet (squats, deadlifts, leg presses) and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why my ski size feet are usually a bit tender. Well, WERE tender.

I’ve had my Vibram Five Fingers for almost two weeks now, and I must say they are unlike any shoe that I have ever owned. Yes, I totally get that they look a bit weird:

But don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The model I have (Vibram KSO) is the version of their shoe that can be used for anything: climbing, running (yes, barefoot running is becoming extremely popular), swimming, surfing, and LIFTING/FITNESS. In short, the shoe provides the comfort of being barefoot with the safety of a shoe. The sole provides a great deal of traction on most any surface.

Here’s a quote from the Vibram website: “The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.

Many experts believe the shoes we wear not only cast the foot in a protective form, but also weaken our foot and leg muscles, leaving them underdeveloped and more prone to injury. And while there are many occasions where traditional footwear is essential for protection, safety, and security, it is equally important to stimulate and exercise the foot in a more natural state on a regular basis.

That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.”

I completely agree with this analysis. From a user standpoint, my feet have never felt better. At a weight of 5 ounces, the shoe is so ridiculously comfortable that I usually forget that I have shoes on at all.

I paid $85 for my shoes at Run Gear Run here in San Antonio. They are sized in European sizes, so I’d recommend trying them on. I’ve found them on the internet for as low as $67, but with shipping, one might as well actually check them out in the store to ensure proper fit. Also, beware of fakes (which, at $67 may be a concern).

It does take a little bit of time to get used to them. I’d recommend wearing them for a few days before making your final judgement. Initially, you may have a bit of soreness in the lower legs as some of the stabilizing muscles adapt (depending on your activity) but I personally didn’t experience this. Oh, and putting the shoe on may seem a bit awkward at first, but I’ve found if I get the two big toes in first and then go to the smallest toe and work my way toward the center, it is pretty simple. They are machine washable and extremely durable.

Again, I know they may not be the most stylist of shoes, and you probably aren’t going to wear them to the office (unless, perhaps, you’re a personal trainer and your office is a gym as mine is), but in any other activity (pool, beach, river, exercise, hiking, etc) I would not hesitate to recommend them.

If you’ve tried them out, I’d love to read your comments on them!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

How should one adjust? I realize that most people try to temporarily increase intensity by just doing more work. More cardio. More days of lifting weights. What does this do? Simply put, it pushes you further in the hole.

While many fitness goals can and will be achieved simultaneously, it is important to prioritize other goals, and to become more and more specific as we become closer to reaching our fitness goals. Working out and training is so much more than just going into the gym and moving weights. It isn’t simply about how many sets you do, how many plates you move or how many calories you burn. Everything has a specific goal and at times, each goal needs a period of where it is a priority. These periods of times are called training microcycles. Combining multiple microcycles together gives you a training macrocycle.

A microcycle may be a few days up to several weeks. There’s no minimum or maximum time frame, and each is dependent on the individual. During my own personal fitness program, I rotate different microcycles for strength, speed, power, muscular endurance, cardiovascular optimization and other goals. The key is that I never completely sacrifice any of these goals to bring the other one to where I need it, just make it temporarily secondary. For example, if training for muscular endurance is my primary goal, I do not forego strength, speed, and cardio – I simply focus on including all forms of training in a complimenting way while one goal receives priority.

The biggest mistake I see most people making is that they never change things up. Initially, it is important to develop that basic level of fitness including the entire spectrum. However, most individuals never escape this initial form of training, thus, they reach frustrating plateaus.

You MUST mix it up. This is also important from a nutritional standpoint as well. A “Diet” isn’t a “diet” whatsoever – what your doing at the dinner table must compliment what you’re doing in the gym, and different microcycles of nutrition (higher vs lower calories, rotational carbohydrates, different periods of macronutrient adjustment, etc) are keys to breaking through sticking points and continuously making progress.

All plateaus are fixable – do not allow yourself to fall into a groove!

Boyd Myers
San Antonio Fitness Expert
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

I’ve mentioned many times that although I am a competitive bodybuilder, the main reason I put so much effort into this blog is to let people know that I am very intimate with the science behind body transformation, training and nutrition. Of course, I feel that it is my responsibility to practice what I preach. I don’t feel that I can be an effective role model by walking around with a gut looking like I don’t know where the gym is or that I’ve been in it in a while.

Where do the perpetuated myths come from? Basically, everywhere. Magazines are ran by supplement company ad revenue, so they say whatever the supplement companies want them to. They basically regurgitate the same workout programs over and over as “cutting edge” and fill the magazines with fluff about the latest supplement breakthroughs. Like the “I feel it” with a new supplement, a lot of people do an exercise and think “Wow, that burns, it must work” and they ignore the basic, compound exercises for the isolation “burn” and their progress the is completely slowed. Of course, asking the “in shape” person is the popular way, and while many people who are in great shape work hard, most won’t admit that they’re blessed with great genetics, have been training for years or that they don’t know what they’re talking about. Finally, never listen to a supplement salesperson – they’re trying to make a buck. If a supplement made THAT kind of a difference, it’d be illegal!!!

When you’re developing a workout program, it’s important to keep these seven laws in mind. These aren’t bs from a magazine – these are the absolute basis of any successful training regimen. The success and effectiveness of any training program depends on how these laws are implemented.

1. Principles of Individual Differences
-Simply put, while we are all the same from a basic blueprint standpoint, we all have differences: exercise histories, conditions, response to training, genetics and habits.

2. Overcompensation Principle
-The body responds by adaption: callouses from friction, muscles grow in response to training. Cut tissue scars. It’s a natural response: manipulate it for fat loss and muscle gain and take advantage of Mother Nature’s generosity.

3. Overload Principle
-Exercise at a resistance beyond what is normally encountered and you will force the body to adapt. Simply going through the motions won’t get it done. Intensity is key.

4. SAID (Specific Adaption for Imposed Demands) Principle
-If you want to become a better cardiovascular athlete, train for it. Explosive? Train explosively. More defined? Focus on gaining muscle and losing fat. There’s no one size fits all training program.

5. Use/Disuse Principle
-Layman’s Terms: Use it or lose it. If you don’t train, it will go away. Bright side is something called muscle memory: once you’ve “been there”, you are never starting from scratch again.

6. Specificity Principle
-This discusses the progression of training. Establish general fitness and then focus on specific goals. Basically, you cannot walk before you crawl.

7. GAS (General Adaption Syndrome)
-You can’t train all out all the time. High intensity training periods must be followed by lower intensity training to allow the body to recover and change. Different types of training require different amounts of recovery. Remember that while it’s important to allow different muscle groups time to relax, the body, as a whole, is ONE. The Central Nervous System also needs recovery time as well (hence, you can’t train all out everyday and expect to make optimal gains).

Review your program – is it custom made for YOU? Does it force your body to overcompensate? Do you progressively force overload to force adaption? Are you training specifically for your goals? Are you building in recovery time of lower intensity (but not permanently staying low intensity)? If you aren’t, it’s time to start making optimal use of your workout time and employing these principles.

Questions, comments, criticisms always allowed here!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

I’ve been writing very comprehensive fitness and body transformation blogs for a little over 5 years now. Of course, the first San Antonio Personal Trainer blog crashed and burned a couple of years ago (gotta love computers) and that led to me starting the Fat Loss – Body Transformation blog that you’re reading right now. Since this blog started, I’ve laid it out, and I’ve made it pretty simple. Changing your body isn’t about getting huge or toning or firming. It’s simply about removing body fat, increasing the metabolism, maintaining or gaining lean body mass (and ladies, you are not capable of becoming big and bulky).

I am an expert in the arena of body transformation, drastic fat loss and performance nutrition. You don’t read about the latest fads here. I don’t “diet chase” or get squarely behind one type of training (aka Beach Body Coaches and their glorified cardio routines). My approach is based on science and experience. I don’t believe in making up a catchy term that embodies common sense and pretend it is new and revolutionary (shake weight, P90X, Nutrisystems, etc, etc, etc).

Here are the things you need to be concerned about when it comes to drastically changing the body:

-Intensity, intensity, always intensity. I’m stealing this concept from General Patton, and replacing the word “Audacity” with “Intensity”. It isn’t about quantity of exercise, but about quality. Get in, do work, and get out. Don’t bullshit around.

-From a nutrition standpoint, worry about 1) What you eat, 2) When you eat it and 3) How much you eat. Everyone has different foods that work well for them. How do you find out? Try them. I have posted a few very complete food lists here on the blog and have explained nutrient timing in-depth numerous times. That little search function on the side is your friend.

-Your training should be centered around compound exercises with supplementary isolation exercises, NO MATTER YOUR GOAL.

-Long, boring cardio done daily should only be your concern if you are an endurance athlete. Regardless of what many personal trainers believe, long, excessive cardio is not the basis of body transformation nor fat loss.

-While excessive cardio is poison to your progress, you should develop a moderate to excellent cardiovascular base and should never be limited on your ability to train with intensity because you struggle to recover between sets. Brief, intense cardio (under 40 minutes and in most cases, 30 min max) will lead to a more desirable change in your physique and not that “Kenyan Marathon – Somalian Refugee” look I often refer to.

-Understand that the body works in systems and one system always takes priority. For those that believe you can get your “cardio in with your weight training” and put a ton of focus on heart rate during weight training don’t understand the Kreb’s Cycle. Weight training is to stimulate the growth of lean body mass. Lean body mass has two states – it is growing or it is shrinking. There’s no middle ground here – toning is the addition of lean body mass and the subtraction of body fat. Training at a high heart rate takes the focus away from maximizing lean body mass growth stimulation (the glycolytic and CP/ATP pathways) and puts more focus on the oxidative systems. Thing I’m wrong, P90Xers? IF high heart rate training stimulated muscle growth, then how come marathon runners have very skinny legs, while sprinters have defined, desirable limbs? Again, max heart rate training is important, as the heart IS the most important part of the body. But you will get the most out of your training by specifically focusing on cardio and resistance training at separate times.

-”Now let’s talk about supplements” is a common phrase I hear. No, let’s not. Keep it simple – in MOST cases, all that most people should be buying are healthy fats (EFA, Sesamin), BCAA’s (Scivation Xtend) and a protein blend (Syntha6, ProComplete40) and in some cases, a pre-workout jolt (I like Arginine and Caffeine). Of course, many people need to have nutrient deficiencies corrected, and that is a specialty of mine. I often recommend different supplements such as 5HTP, Melatonin, GABA, Arginine/Orthinine/Lysine, and many other specific antioxidants and minerals – but understand that most of that depends on specific cases, goals and other factors. Most people spend WAY too much money on supplements that they do not need. Nothing gives you amazing results – if it did, it would be scheduled and controlled, and the purchase of those items could lead to agents kicking your door off it’s hinges and seizing your assets! My point is that in no way, shape, nor form should supplements be considered the cornerstone of your training program.

-Most of the things that most personal trainers have their clients doing are designed to look fun, not help them in absolutely any way. “Wow, I want to try that” – that trainer is banking on 3 or 4 people saying that. I don’t get why most personal trainers have their clients doing a lot of silly exercises that will not yield results. I learned a LONG time ago that as a personal trainer, your success only depends on your the success of your clients. When they’re making progress, marketing takes care of itself. I am proud to say that I have not paid for one form of advertising in over 5 years!

Want to read more? Check out the search function on the side, and look for these topics:
-Nutrient Timing
-”Big and Bulky” (debunking myths about women and weights)
-compound exercises
-exercises you should do
-supplement recommendations
-food list

Of course, my clients get much more specific guidance on their programs and needs, but I guarantee that no blog anywhere will tell you more about what you need to make progress right now and help you evaluate your program as a whole.

I totally understand that most people do not want to think that they’ve been wasting time, but I’m amazed at some of the simple adjustments so many people could make that would make a world of difference.

You have the desire, the motivation and are willing to put forth the effort – why on earth would you settle for marginal results? Progress is ALL that matters.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

Training legs is hard. Actually, it all out sucks. Why? They’re the biggest muscles in the body and big muscles require a lot of oxygen, which means more blood which means the heart has to churn to deliver the goods. The plus? Bigger muscle fibers burn more calories at work and during rest. Want to be lean? Defined? Work your legs.

Well defined legs are rare, yet extremely impressive. In fact, while most people study a physique starting at the top and looking down (shoulders, chest, arms, etc), I actually judge someone’s build starting at the legs.

Without further adieu, here are the biggest mistakes when it comes to training the legs.

1. Without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest mistake made regardless of what your fitness and body transformation goals are, is to NOT train legs. Running is not a substitute for compound movements such as the squat and all variations, the stiff-leg dead lift, and the leg press.

2. Not using a full range of motion. Sorry, but partial squats and leg presses aren’t getting it done. Get the full range of motion down. If the weight is too heavy to do the full ROM, swallow your pride and go lighter.

3. Depending too much on machines. I have no problem with leg presses – actually, I love them. But stability and full muscular development is achieved by full range of motion on free weight movements.

4. Choosing isolation movements over compound movements. As mentioned, those compound movements should be the core of your training. Leg extensions are an accessory exercise that should be used sparingly. Posterior core work? The leg curl doesn’t cut it – good mornings, sldl, glute-ham raises are where it is at and complete leg development.

I’ve said it numerous times here on the blog: leg training is the singular most important body part for overall development. The hormonal response to leg training is insanely important for body transformation, fat loss and muscular development!

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454

My question for them? Why not?

Age. Genetics. Lower hormone levels. Children. Responsibilities. These things are excuses or obstacles, but they aren’t things that can prevent you from getting to a certain level.

“The best shape of your life” is not something that should be looked at in the past tense, but something that is going to happen.

It’s never too late. I don’t dabble with mediocrity. I do not allow my clients to settle. If it’s something they want, they can have it. Desire is a very powerful thing. When discipline and motivation are thrown in, that desire will become reality.

I feel sorry for those who are willing to settle. I am glad that I am not one of those people, and I impose that same type of belief system on each and everyone of my clients – definition, condition, energy, competition – the sky is the limit. “Realistic” is what you make it. You are in control. I’ve trained 50 and 60 year olds for their first fitness competitions. I’ve helped a 58 year old get ready for her first sprint triathalon. Just because you have never “had abs” in your life does not mean that you can’t obtain them now. It IS possible.

The time is now – you are the only thing holding you back.

Boyd Myers
Personal Trainer in San Antonio
Owner, San Antonio’s Top Personal Training Studio
16613 Huebner Rd (corner of Huebner and Bitters)
210.391.1454