Proper Scheduling for workouts! Balance your lifestyle in a healthy way!

Hey Guys

    So I got a question today that I think it is a fairly common one and is one I have overlooked quite frequently when thinking of blog ideas! That is the question of Scheduling!

   One thing a lot of people don't schedule into their agendas, is adequate rest, and appropriate downtime.  Too many people work out when they feel like it, or when it is convenient but what many may fail to see is the benefits.  Scheduling adequate rests and recovery days allows you to get the most out of your workouts, feel better while doing it, alleviates soreness, increases affects and results, avoids overtraining and injury, and keeps you healthy!

    The ideal schedule I can plan will involve 3 things.  Weights, Cardio, and Yoga with 3 workouts for each a week  For those of you that don't want to do yoga, you can avoid it and shift your runs to fit the off weights days.  However, I do really recommend yoga for your body's overall health, and it is used daily for thousands of professional athletes for muscle balance and control.

The Master Schedule:

Sunday: Cardio (Long steady low intensity run)

Monday : Weights

Tuesday : Cardio and Yoga. Cardio should be high intensity, and ideally should be done before yoga in the day.

Wednesday: Weights

Thursday: Cardio and Yoga.  Cardio should be high intensity, and ideally should be done before yoga in the day.

Friday: Weights (Feel free to make fridays workout a little harder and longer.  Still remember we don't do more than 8 exercises a workout (before core exercises), but try to introduce high rep or failure exercises in supersets. (if both are low weight or high rep count them as one exercise)  Remember supersets are done when you do one exercise and immediately do another before getting rest.  Ex. Push ups and body squats, or lunge walk and wall sit.

Saturday: Yoga.  This can be a a nice long yoga session and should be a feel good yoga workout for you on a more relaxed weekend.



      That brings us to the next question of weight workouts for 3 days a week.  This can be done in two ways effectively.  Whole body workouts on each day, or rotating a four day routine with upper/lower splits.  Upper/Lower splits mean you do one section of your body a day.  For this I would recommend a four day routine that would cycle as follows:

Week 1
M: Upper body
W: Lower body
F: Upper body

Week 2
M: Lower body
W: Upper body
F: Lower body

     The other option would consist of working a variety of muscles on the same day.  While I do support doing entire body workouts, still try to keep your routine to 8 exercises or less (excluding low impact, high rep or endurance type supersets) before you do core.  Use the four day routine to have focuses on certain days. For example,  if you find you didn't get a lot of back in on one upper body day, make it more focused on the second upper body day.  This will ensure you don't forget body parts, keep variety and make sure you get all your muscles in.  These are also great workouts to focus on multi joint movements that will work a variety of muscles at the same time!


   In closing, the main idea is you always want to try to get days in between when you did a similar thing last.  The most important thing is to spread out are muscle groups for workouts.  Don't ever work chest on monday and chest on tuesday if you get my drift.  You need at least 48-72 hours in between muscle groups for adequate rest and growth.  Cardio and Yoga are lower key and are spread out throughout the week in order to help the recovery of your muscles.  It keeps them moving and recovering not to mention helps those joints stay healthy and balanced!  If you need more information on yoga, I have a number of great people I can get you in contact with.

Hope this all helps!

Cheers, Ryan Trueman

The Must See's of 2013!

Hey guys!

     I will periodically put posts into this folder that I believe are the must see's and most important reads of 2013.  That way, they are easy to direct people to, and easy for you to get the most information in the least amount of time!  The link will be posted on the right side of the main page!

Enjoy!

The facts big food companies don't want you to know!

Natural healthy ways to boost your testosterone levels!

The facts on Gluten!

The healthy food list!

How to use rest the right way to reach your goals!

The facts on Cardio!

The importance of cheat day!

The facts on creatine! 

What 200 calories looks like!

What foods will make you fat, Glycemic index numbers!

Frozen Chocolate PB cups!

Cardio tips

By Many Requests! Here it is, A List of Healthy Foods! A must see if you want to lose weight!

Hey guys,

  Going with the theme of what is good for us what is bad for us, here is a chart that works well for giving you an idea of what are the best foods for you!  They are sorted by food groups, and you will notice that the font is colored.  The color of font gives it a rank as a healthy food.  The legend for the font colors is as follows:

-Green font - Great! ( low carbs, high polyunsaturated fats)

-Blue Font- Great! (low carbs, high saturated fats)

-Yellow Font- Good! (low carbs, high saturated fats)

-Purple Font- Acceptable (moderate carbs)

-Red Font- Okay (moderate carbs, low-moderate fats)

        This should be an easy way to help you decide what is healthy and what is not.  If it makes the list, it is alright to have but always try to be in the yellow and up!  To all you cheese lovers, you still have to keep your cheese consumption to a reasonable amount, so don't go eating a block of cheese after you read this.   These foods are chosen based off of the ketosis diet style, and more information on the keto diet concept can be found all over the internet.  To sum it up quickly, the idea is to keep the body in fat burning mode rather than carbs curbing mode, and it is affective and scientifically backed.  It does fit very similarly in all levels to the diet I preach, and all of these foods will work the same for our purposes.  

NOTE: While I agree with the low carb ideas of the keto diet, I do still recommend adding high protein instead of their recommend moderate protein.  If your body was a brick house protein would be the bricks.  They will be nothing but positive and shouldn't be avoided.   

Food Group	Food Items
Cheese	American Cheese Blue Cheese Cheddar Cheese Cottage Cheese, 1% milkfat Cream Cheese Feta Cheese Gouda Cheese Mozzarella Cheese, whole milk Parmesan Cheese Provolone Cheese Ricotta Cheese, whole milk Swiss Cheese
Dairy	Almond Milk (unsweetened) Coconut Cream Coconut Milk (unsweetened) Egg Greek Yogurt, whole milk Heavy Cream Soy Milk (unsweetened) Whipped Cream (unsweetened)
Dressings	Balsamic Vinegar Blue Cheese Creamy Ceaser Ranch
Fats and Oils	Almond Butter Almond Oil Avocado Oil Butter Canola Oil Cocoa Butter Coconut Oil Fish Oil (cod liver) Flax Seed Oil Grape Seed Oil Hemp Seed Oil Lard Macadamia Oil Mayonnaise Olive Oil Peanut Butter Peanut Oil Safflower Oil Sesame Oil Soybean Oil Sunflower Oil Sunflower Butter Vegetable Oil Walnut Oil
Seafood	Anchovy Bass Burbot Carp Cavier Flounder Haddock Halibut Herring Mackerel Salmon Sardines Sole Tilapia Trout Tuna Tuna (canned) Clams Crabmeat Lobster Mussels Oysters Shrimp Squid
Flours, Meals, and Powders	Acorn Flour Almond Flour Almond Meal Cocoa Powder (high saturated fat) Flax Seed Meal Protein Powder Psyllium Husk Sesame Seed Flour Splenda
Poultry and Fowl	Chicken, Breast Chicken, Legs Chicken, Wings Duck Goose Quail Turkey, breast Turkey, ground Turkey, bacon
Fruits (low sugar)	Avocado Blackberry Cranberry Lemon Lime Green Olive Raspberry Rhubarb Tomato
Fruits (moderate sugar)	Apple Strawberry Watermelon
Meat	Beef, corned Beef, Ground 70-90% lean Beef, Hot Dog/Frankfurter Beef, Ribs Beef, Roast Beef, Pastrami Beef, Sausage Beef, Steak, Filet Mignon Beef, Steak, Ribeye Beef, Steak, Round Beef, Steak, Sirloin Beef, Steak, Striploin Beef, Tongue Balogna (pork, beef, chicken) Lamb, Chops Pepperoni (pork, beef) Pork, Bacon Pork, Chops Pork, Ham, 11% Pork, Liverwurst Pork, Loin Pork, Prosciutto Pork, Sausage Veal Venison, Steak
Nuts/Legumes	Almonds Brazilnuts Cashews Coconut (high saturated fat) Hazelnuts Macadamias Peanuts Pecans Pistachios Walnuts
Seeds	Chia Seeds Flax Seeds Hemp Seeds Pumpkin Seeds Safflower Seeds Sesame Seeds Sunflower Seeds
Vegetables (low sugar)	Arugula Asparagus Bok Choy Broccoli Broccoli Rabe Cabbage Cauliflower, raw Celery Chard Chicory Greens Cucumber Eggplant Endive Fennel bulb Garlic Green Bean Jalapeno Lettuce, Grean Leaf Lettuce, Romaine Parsley Radish Spinach Soy Bean Zucchini
Vegetables (moderate sugar)	Artichoke Brussel Sprouts Carrots, raw Celeriac Kale Kohlrabi Mushrooms Okra Onion Pepper, sweet, red Pepper, sweet, red Pepper, hot, red Pepper, sweet, yellow Pumpkin Snow Pea Spaghetti Squash Turnips

Cheers guys! Hope this helps answer all those questions, and help get you eating all the healthy options there are!  It's not just spinach and chicken, there are a ton of healthy options!

Ryan Trueman


Chart credit to: contraros.com

The facts on Gluten and why pastas, breads, and cereals are making you fat!

Hey Guys,

    I was talking to one of my new clients this weekend and she had asked me about the importance of eating whole grain breads.  When I promptly told her that any whole grains will make you fat, she gave me a puzzled look.  She knew a candy bar was unhealthy, but she was never really taught that a piece of toast was unhealthy.  So here I noticed a lack of communication on society's part to get you the facts on Gluten, and that is exactly what we are going to provide. 

    First of all the main reason whole grains are bad for you is because of a substance caled gluten.  It is used in things like breads, pastas, and cereals and it's main purpose is to provide some chewiness/substance and help bread to rise.  What comes with it however, is a whole lot of bad.  

   Gluten gives you a huge spike in your insulin levels.  This spike (more info can be found under my carbs article) puts your body into storage mode and this mode is what ultimately makes you fat.  In essence, gluten does the same thing to your system as a candy bar would!  But wait, it get's worse.  Ever find yourself looking for healthy alternatives, and you make a sandwich with fresh veggies and meats and put it between two slices of whole wheat bread and think to yourself, I am being healthy?  What you don't know is that two slices of whole wheat bread has a higher insulin spike than a candy bar.  This means, that sandwich just hopped on the fast train to your love handles and you didn't even get to eat a dessert!  Note: white bread is one of the worst things you can eat, so just do yourself a favor and always avoid this if you can.

    Gluten also is just plain awful for our digestive system.  Gluten is extremely difficult to break down, and some studies even suggest that no one at all can break it down properly.  We simply don't have the enzymes in our body.  This means that gluten can irritate your large intestine and lead to stomach aches and bowel issues.  Additionally, constant exposure to this irritation can lead to being more likely to develop celiac disease.  Celiac disease in simple words is when the intestine walls have been damaged, can no longer absorb certain vitamins and can become inflamed easily.

   Last one we will talk about here is how gluten obstructs the absorption and uptake of essential vitamins and minerals.  Note the word essential.  Don't let gluten aid in degeneration. 

To sum it all up here are the three things you need to remember:

-Gluten spikes insulin levels (makes you fat) just as much if not more than candy will

-Gluten damages your digestive system and can cause celiac disease

-Gluten blocks essential vitamins and minerals from being absorbed


   

          Further information can be found in a great book called Wheat Belly

Cheers,

Ryan Trueman
 *Note: I do believe in using heavy carbs like pastas in carb loading before highly aerobic activities. However, as a everyday meal it is a poor choice.

Because of your awesome feedback on this post already I just went past 10,000 views! Thanks so much guys and keep spreading the word!  The steps and tricks are easy, the information is explained, and the differences are life changing!  

Abs, Abs, Abs! A revamped version of an already awesome exercise!

Hey guys,

     Sorry I have been really busy this week with Grad School interviews and sending out everyone's new programs guys.  With the great response to the last ab exercise, I have decided to put up another!

      This exercise is the Plank on an exercise ball and is a revamped version of the plank (if you are a beginner, add the regular plank into your routine!)  Research has shown this new style can double the effectiveness of the plank.  This all keeping in mind that the plank is one of the best ab exercises already!  The plank works by forcing your abs to work as stabilizers and stop your body from moving or shaking and will help build tight, less bulky abs.  The key here is to find a way to increase the need to stabilize your core.  So we introduce the exercise ball!  By putting the ball under your elbows, you will put yourself in a much more unbalanced position.  Try it today! 3 sets for as long as possible a few times a week!

    Note: Make sure you push yourself and keep your abs engaged.  If your abs are too exhausted to hold you, your lower back will take much of the load and can cause damage.  If your abs quit on you, you quit on the exercise.  Keep that lower back healthy with proper planks and a strong core!

Cheers!

Ryan.Trueman@dal.ca

The best ab exercise you aren't doing!

Hey guys,

        I am an abdominals fanatic and I love the burn and beating they can take, so I have tried a lot of ab exercises over the years.   This one has to be one of my favorites that works for even a beginner gym rookie!  This exercise is called the myotatic crunch or the half ball crunch and I try to do it at least once a week even in the bulk season!

        This ab exercise can be seen in the video below and should be done at the same speed.  The speed is the most important part here guys!  The constant load your abdominals bear from the instability of the ball mixed with the speed control stress, makes for an awesome exercise! If you find it easy go slower or ad weight to your hands.  Additional to speed, another major thing to remember is to not go past vertical at the top, and try not to pause unless you know you aren't.  When you sit up passed straight, your abdominals will get a rest and you will reduce the effectiveness of the exercise.  I recommend 12-15 reps for 3 sets with around 30 seconds rest.

THE MYOTATIC CRUNCH

Try it out for yourself!

Cheers

Ryan Trueman

The importance of having a Cheat Day! It's even in our biology!

Hey guys!

      I have answered this question a lot over the break, and I feel I should stress the importance of having a cheat day!

       First of all let me explain quickly what happens when we eat.  Keep in mind when reading this, we are no longer Neanderthals but have only been civiled for a short period of time and that our body is still very primal.  When we eat our body stores food or uses food for repair/energy.  It stores some food for the sole reason that we may not get food again as we were once hunters.  This allows us to have an energy source on hand at  all times.  Our bodies metabolism is what essentially burns and signals energy consumption.  When our metabolism is high, we will burn a lot of fuel and not store things like fat as easily.  When our metabolism is slow, we will burn few calories and conserve energy aka store things like fat.
    When humans go a long time eating perfectly (high protein/ healthy fat diet) our bodies will slow our metabolism down and will burn less energy.  Not only this, but your body will be more affected by carbs when you do eat them.  This is where the atkins diet often fails.  People go carb free for too long, and then when their body is introduced to carbs again, they are taken up and stored immediately.
However, there is a solution! A CHEAT DAY once a week will actually help your metabolism!  By eating "bad" foods like sugar and carbs, you are shocking your body, which will then help build your metabolism up and keep your body burning calories more efficiently!  Think of it as having a quiz scheduled every friday of the week rather than having one surprise you every now and then.  Much like you would perform better on consistent testing, your body will perform better with a structured cheat day.  It will keep your metabolism up as well as prepare your body for future carbs!

This chart shows how primal our evolution still is! We were wild hunters for over 4 million years compared to the ~12,000 years we have been civilized and cultured!  Our bodies being built for the past is another reason why refined white sugars and syrups are so unhealthy for us, we aren't built to handel all this fructose!

  It gets better!   Not only will you improve physiologically, psychologically cheat days are affective too! A cheat day is something to look forward to, and it therefore is a reward day.  It makes eating clean worth it so you can have one day of all those bad foods you want and not gain any unwanted weight.  My tip is make a list.  If I am craving say cookies on a tuesday, I write it down on my want list.  It helps take away some of the craving and leads to a gratification for the craving.  Not only does it help you eat clean, but it makes eating it later taste even better!

   You can also keep your metabolism up by eating breakfast first thing, or eating slow burning proteins like casein protein before bed!  When you sleep your body thinks it is starving because of your lack of nutrient intake.  This leads to slowing down your metabolism.  Slow burning proteins and breakfast help keep us out of starvation mode (ketosis) and keeps our metabolism up!


Note: It is still not healthy or ok to have trans fats.  Trans fats are bad for because of their molecular shape, not because they are fat.  They are hard to burn and get rid of regardless of time.

So for the love of god, don't give up that Willy's Poutine for good!

Bonus tip!  If you find it hard to eat clean for 6 days in a row, try introducing 2 cheat meals (two meals, not two days) a week into your diet.  It can allow for a guilt free instant cheat and similar metabolism effects!

Cheers, Ryan Trueman

The facts on Creatine! Why you get big and how it works!

Hey guys, I have had a lot of questions coming in lately about creatine, so here it is!

Creatine (this is healthy for kids and for those that think it's a steroid read below for sure!)


       I have talked to many concerned parents over the years about creatine and their thoughts that it is unhealthy.  People believe that because creatine makes you gain mass and put it on quickly it has to be a steroid.  Here is the real story, it's not, nor does it react in any way similar.  Creatine is an energy system used and created by the body all the time.  Creatine is actually the main energy system when oxygen isn't around.  For example the first 7-10 seconds of a sprint is almost strictly stored phosphocreatine and the lack of oxygen to give us energy is what gives us the burning feeling due to a build up of Hydrogen ions in the blood (not lactic acid like many people think, although this is also present).  

Creatine can be seen in blue here.  It is used when you need energy right away (aka fight or flight response) when there is no oxygen to create it.  Thus it is in short supply and runs out quickly.  Creatine supplementation can help replenish this energy system quickly and efficiently.  Fun fact: it takes about 5 minutes for this energy system to regenerate to around 80-95%!

    Then why do we gain size if it is an energy system?  The reason you gain size is that using creatine leaves us with a biproduct of water.  Water is stored in the muscle and thus you get the bulkier size.  It is water weight and will therefore be lost when you are off it, however the muscle you generate while on it will stay.  This is why it is a great alternative to testosterone boosting products, it gives you the energy to get the size and is non hormonal.  Keep in mind creatine does let you work at a higher intensity but will not really be all that beneficial for aerobic workouts.

Natural sources of creatine can be seen above!

Which type to buy?
  Creatine monohydrate is fine and is cheap (around $15-30 at Popeye's) and the serving size is usually around 5 grams.  I recommend around 7 or 8 grams as you will lose some from digestion.  It works best if taken before and after a workout.  Don't waste your money on expensive creatine pills with all the fancy scientific words on the label.  Often times they are misleading and ultimately making false claims.  Regulation on supplements isn't as good as you would think, and many false claims can be made for up to 2 years before companies get caught!  Companies like hydroxycut and superpump got in a lot of trouble for their mislabeling. 

Long story short:
-Creatine is safe/healthy for everyone and is even in many foods we eat like steak
-The added weight is mostly due to water retention
-It allows you to work out at a higher intensity
-A lot of results can disappear quickly if used short term



Cheers,
Ryan

The 7 posts of 2012 you shouldn't have missed! Start 2013 with the right information!

Hey guys,
      I recently got asked by a few followers this questions, "What are the posts you believe are the most important to read?"  So for all of those starting this new year, or even for all the regulars, here is my list of what I believe to be my most important blog posts (in no particular order):

Carbs are the junk in your trunk

A comprehensive movie on what the food industry does to trick you!

5 easy changes you can make!

10 tips to putting on muscle (previously a facebook post and unedited)

Fat loss secrets!

Key mistakes

Key mistakes continued

Additional favorites by views!

New Years Tips

What I have tried out

Ab routine 

Arm routine

Kay testimonial 

Gym etiquette

Fat Burners and Pre-workouts


This should help those who have missed some of my posts and I think a lot of drastic changes can be made by just reading a few of these!  It's easy if you are educated!

Cheers, Ryan

Ryan.Trueman@dal.ca