Questions & Answers

Get rid of it!

It seems we depend a lot on other practitioners to fix our aches and pains. Back pain - get an adjustment at the chiropractor, sore neck - go to the massage therapist, shoulder pain - go get acupuncture, knee pain - replace it! Although I believe those modalities are beneficial for some, I also know that oftentimes people ignore where the problem actually stems from.

For the last 3 years, I have studied Posture Alignment with The Egoscue Method and Yoga as Therapy with Doug Keller. Both believe that if you fix your posture, you will not have pain. From personal experience, I understand the importance of proper alignment. I suffered from SI joint pain for weeks before realizing that the pain was stemming from rotation in my torso and hips, not where my symptom was. After realigning my upper body there was an immediate effect on how my lower body felt and functioned.

Once upon a time, long, long time ago there was a man and a woman sitting by a tree. Suddenly they hear a sound; a crack of a branch,. The ground begins to shake and suddenly a thunderous roar fills the air. The man and the woman take a quick glance at each other and immediately, as if their bodies were machines, they begin to run. Their hearts began to race, their legs took them from rest to full speed in seconds; it was their body’s instinct that carried them to safety. As they reached safe harbor, they sat down on a rock and all was well; they were at peace once again. The man and the woman never saw the creature that loomed behind them; they did not need to see the danger to know how to respond because their instinct kicked in.

This is the story of how our bodies respond to stress, and it happens every day. When we face stressful situations in life, whether running from a predator, dealing with a deadline, or a bumpy time in a relationship our body releases sympathetic hormones (aka the “fight or flight response”) to allow our body to act. However, the problem is that unlike the cave man and woman previously described, we aren’t always able to run away as our body was designed.

The magic question on this site is how do you bulk up? Well bulking up as you know has to do with how much you eat and how many calories you consume. I personally haven’t bulked up in about 3 years but the biggest I’ve ever been was about 235 to 240 and I was still under 10 percent body-fat. What I did to bulk-up was I ate about 5 solid meals a day and I took about three to four protein drinks a day. I made sure I followed a very high protein diet and I still consumed my carbs but I never overdid it. Some of the sources of the protein I ate during my bulking up phase was mainly chicken, turkey, steak, and fish. I made sure I was eating somewhat clean but with lots of protein that was high in calories. I was big on counting calories because it helped me know how much I needed to consume to be at my maximum desirable weight.

The protein drinks I took were each about 600 calories. So with just protein drinks I was consuming 2,000 to 2,400 calories a day. Also during that time I took No-Explode which was a great supplement to take for incredible pumps during your workout. I also took K3, Kre-Alkaline which is similar to creatine without the bloating and I also took glutamine which was great for recovery purposes. All of the supplementation I took together allowed me to push harder in the weight room which helped me achieve great muscle growth along with the heavy eating. I probably averaged over 4,500 calories a day during this bulking up phase.

We all have been in situations when we’ve travelled out of town or out of the country for business or pleasure, and we’ve always thought to ourselves, “how I can still stay in shape without getting to a gym?” Well, I can tell you of 4 exercises you can do in your hotel room to maintain your fitness level. These exercises are push-ups, chair dips, resistance band training, and jumping rope.

The push-ups obviously are an exercise that most of us are familiar with. This exercise works your triceps, chest, and shoulders. This is one of the best exercises you can do to maintain your upper body in your hotel room.

The second exercise you can do is chair dips, which are incredible for you triceps and chest. I’ve read many fitness articles with Arnold Schwarzenegger talking about how he used to do chair dips to stay in shape while living in his hotel room.

Yesterday I did an AMAZING workout flipping a 600 lb. tractor tire, and today I am definitely feeling the effects of it from the base of my skull to the bottoms of my heels.

When Ziad first broke it down to me, he made it very clear it wasn't a dead lift, but more of a full body press (you'll see the video soon). It is a very EXPLOSIVE and INTEGRATIVE movement, otherwise it can be very dangerous. Apparently a recent trainee blew his Achilles tendon while attempting to flip. Maybe he wasn't properly warmed up.

As you know, I am an advocate of "non-traditional" workouts that challenge you on many levels. My approach to fitness, since I stopped bodybuilding competitions, is to do exercises and programs that actually apply to life, athletics and everyday situations.

“What goes up, must come down.” When ‘70’s music sensation Billy Preston immortalized those words in his catchy tune, he must have been thinking about some of the professional bodybuilders gracing the posing dais these days. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s in vogue again to “bulk up” or should I say, “pork out” in the so-called off-season. This was a common practice from the 1950’s through the 1970’s, but I thought that common sense had prevailed during the bodybuilding renaissance of the 1980’s and that bulking up was as passé as bell-bottom jeans. I was wrong! These days, you’d think that reverse anorexia and dysmorphia were spreading like SARS in the pro bodybuilding community. I mean, in the off season, some of these guys look like they are pitching their tents at the local all-you-can-eat buffet!

Let’s look at the facts: You DO have to eat extra calories and protein to pack on quality muscle. But bloating yourself up with a lot of extra pounds of fat and fluid doesn’t just look bad, it hurts your health, not to mention not doing a thing for gaining muscle mass. My philosophy is that you can get just as BIG as the guys that are porking out, without overeating. That means you can stay leaner and healthier, not to mention looking better, year-round . I mean, who wants to look like a porker for 9 months out of the year? I want to be able to proudly display the results of my training efforts when I have to take my shirt off, without making excuses for my condition! And now, in the middle of summer, you can’t afford NOT to look good!

Here are some thoughts on those things that help me to stay in my best shape year-round, while still gaining muscle…

Abs…lets face it, chicks love ‘em, guys want ‘em, and they turn heads at the beach. If that isn’t a good enough reason to put down the pizza and beer, how about the functional reasons for having strong lean abdominal muscles? Improved posture, increased overall strength, and improved performance in all sports. But, I guess it is back to the basic reason we want abs…they just look good when you have your shirt off, so I’ve listed my all time, top ten favorite abdominal exercises for your training pleasure. Some of these are basic exercises and some may be new. Either way, if you incorporate the following exercises into your routine, just a few each workout, you will find they are all effective and work the abdominals from a variety of angles, utilize various tempos and require that you pay attention to what you are doing.

Lets get one thing straight first: no amount of any exercise will give you a “six pack” if you have a layer of fat around your middle. You need to lean down to about 10% body fat or less before your abdominal muscles become visible.

What’s my point? You’ll never see your abs if you eat like crap! That’s why you’ll need to continue, or start, to eat balanced, portionally correct meals that are designed for you.

Let’s assume, however, that you’re doing what you need to do in the food department. You’ll want to train your abs to really bring out that definition and strengthen your body’s core for top performance in all activities.

I recommend training your abs every other day, after your weight workout so you remain safe in the gym. I am an advocate of this because if you train your abs first, there is a chance you’ll weaken your core and risk injury when doing exercises like squats or something.

I usually choose two or three different ab exercises and perform 4-5 sets of 10-12 reps for each one, unless otherwise indicated.

These are my top 10 favorite abdominal exercises. If you don’t have all the items necessary to perform these exercises, send an e-mail to clark@clarkbartram.com and I’ll let you know where you can get them.

While looking on the Internet a few days ago I was amazed at the number of diets out there that were absolutely out of balance nutritionally. The people and or companies that come up with these so called “magic bullets” really concern me. I have been serious about fitness and nutrition for over 25 years and there is no substitute for the combination of sound knowledge and diligence.

There is a saying in my favorite book, the Bible, which says “In all your getting, get wisdom for it is the principal thing”. I believe anything worth doing is worth doing well. Building the body is a process that takes time and dedication, if it was easy we would all be in great shape. Do not be deceived by some of claims of these so-called miracle diets. Since about 75% of your body’s improvements are due to nutrition, a balanced diet is a must. The body needs a proper combination of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to function optimally. In my opinion, any diet that sounds too good to be true, probably is. I have tried just about everything out there, as far as supplements go, to get the most out of my body and I always ended up returning to the basics, plenty of quality food and water, a good multi-vitamin and a protein supplement.

AB FICTION EXPOSED: 7 Myths, Misconceptions And Downright Lies About How To Get And Keep Terrific Abs - Revealed, Shattered And Answered!

As I sat down one day to write an abdominal training article I decided to cruise the internet looking for some new found abdominal training principle I may have overlooked in the past twenty plus years. When I typed in “abdominal training” on Google I saw everything from how to get a six pack in 6 minutes to crazy infomercial gadgets that guarantee success with little or no effort.

I’m not here to bash anyone at all, that’s not my M/O. I understand sales presentations and I’m all for doing the minimum to get the most, but I’m convinced that we have a dilemma on our hands. EVERYONE seems to be an “expert” these days. I’m seeing more and more of these so called “experts” in many areas of fitness and abdominals seem to be the body part of choice.

Expert (somebody with a great deal of knowledge about, or skill, training, or experience in, a particular field or activity)

Again, I’m not suggesting that they aren’t, but how do we know who to trust, especially when no one can seem to agree on anything? What have these people accomplished in their lives, what is their educational background, better yet, what is their practical experience? Do they have abs themselves?

I think you understand where I’m coming from and probably share my frustration. I’m absolutely sure there are many people out there who know much more than I do, and having abs isn’t a requirement for having knowledge.

In no way am I claiming to be an “expert” myself, but I do practice what I preach. I have made my living, very publicly I might add, by having ripped abs year round. Does any of that have to do with genetics? Yes, absolutely, (we’ll cover that later) but more importantly I have adopted a lifestyle that is conducive to keeping me in business. I’ve tried almost everything to get ripped and wasted a bunch of money along the way. I think I’m perfectly qualified through “life experience” to help you and try to help you avoid some of the common pitfalls that are out there waiting for you to innocently walk by and fall in.

Anyway, beware of what you read, believe, and do; you never know who you’re hearing from.

With all of that said, I would like to address some MYTHS and MISCONCEPTIONS about abdominal training.

MYTH #1 - You’ll only get Great Abs by Genetics

True and False! I mentioned earlier that part of my abdominal development was a result of great genetics, so I would be lying myself if I said anything different. Yes, if you have good genetics chances are you won’t need to work as hard as someone who doesn’t. What does this mean for the person with seemingly poor genetics? NOTHING. You can still develop great abs. They may not look like Shawn Phillips (most people won’t and that is because of genetics and hard work), the big split down the middle of his abs is due to the linea alba having a different structure than mine and yours)

The linea alba is a fibrous structure that runs down the midline of the abdomen in humans and other vertebrates. The name means white line and the linea alba is indeed white, being composed mostly of shiny white collagen connective tissue. It is formed by the fusion of the aponeuroses of the abdominal muscles, and it separates the left and right rectus abdominus muscles. In muscular individuals its presence can be seen on the skin, forming the depression between the left and right halves of a "six pack."

See the difference between the line down the center of his abs and mine? His is much more separated. See how he has six visible abs and I have eight? Am I more ripped? NO! Are his genetics different than mine? YES!