Questions & Answers

Honestly, my following comments have absolutely nothing to do with who is in office, but more to do with the "State of the Union"

When everyone was battling it out to get a seat in the oval office the economy was an area of discussion. "we will cut here to save money" "we will do our best to trim the deficit" so on and so forth. 

I was just watching the news and found it rather disturbing when I heard that it may cost close to 150 million to host this  "inaugural party". Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, U2 just to name a few are all a part of an event that will cost more than any inauguration to date.

What is clinical nutrition?

Clinical nutrition is the study of the relationship between food and the well-being of the body. More specifically, it is the science of nutrients and how they are digested, absorbed, transported, metabolized, stored, and discharged by the body. Besides studying how food works in the body, nutritionists are interested in how the environment affects the quality and safety of foods, and how these factors influence health and disease.

It's a never ending situation for me; I am constantly getting hit with questions of “how can I effectively market myself?" I always answer the same way and it will never change: you have to be in the faces of the people, in shape, and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Period!

There seems to also be a belief in the industry that if someone has a certain amount of exposure (even if it is a ton) that there should be pay involved, simply for being involved in the marketing of one’s self. Here is the bottom line, my friends: You have to constantly be proactive to further your career. A magazine cover or twenty won't suddenly warrant that you get paid to be involved in efforts to market yourself. Of course there are jobs that you should be paid for, but you really need to understand the difference between the two.

Clark,

I’m having an argument with my friend who says that bodybuilders aren’t athletes. What do you think?

Scott Crews

Santa Monica, CA

Scott,
What are you trying to do to me here? How am I supposed to be PC and answer this one?

Let me say this: Like many generalizations, there’s an element of truth to the notion that bodybuilders are short on athletic skills that require stretching, moving, and hand-eye coordination. The reason is simple: in their quest for size and strength, many bodybuilders neglect specific training protocols that could make them more athletic.

On the other hand, because strength is important for athletes, bodybuilders have a solid foundation of conditioning from which they can improve their athleticism, and I’ve seen some very athletic bodybuilders over the years. Many have made solid transitions into “sports entertainment” or otherwise known as wrestling. Now those guys are athletes!

I was thinking of becoming a personal trainer, how do I get started?
John Richards, Austin, TX.

John, congratulations on making a decision to tackle such a noble pursuit. We need more qualified people to step up and help an unfit population of Americans. As you are aware, there are a number of overweight, not to mention morbidly obese, people in this country.

The first and most important part of the process would be to become certified and gain an understanding of the human body and how it works. There are a number of organizations that can help you in that process. I am personally certified through the ISSA and I feel they are one of the best.

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.