Monthly Archives: September 2011

Technological improvements in has radically improved connectivity across the world such that communication with readers is potentially within an instant and highly efficient. Given that we keep a very open line of communication with our readers via Twitter and Facebook, I can then provide up-to-date information on efficient exercise approaches and ensure readers utilize USPlabs products to their utmost.

Earlier in the winter of 2011 we decided to launch a special Friday edition where we combine a daily training program (per reader choice), with a follow up supplement protocol on Facebook. Readers cast their vote via Twitter (through either direct message or the “@” function) and decide the topic.

Previous editions of the USPlabs Iron Day have provided:

General Health and Fitness
Back and Legs for Power and Mass
Fat loss with bodyweight training
Complex training with Kettlebell option
Back Training for Power
Strongman Training for Sport
Explosive Hamstring Training
Complex Training
Intro to Mass Training Day
General Athletic Training Day
Recovery Training Day
Ultimate Fat Shredder  and Muscular PumpTraining Day
Shoulders and Triceps
Explosive Power for Athletes
Combative Athlete
Core Training for Strength Athletes
Power and Mass Training
Fat Shred training day
Chest and Triceps
Quad dominant
Explosive power and speed
Arms
Chest
Legs with Squat options
Back and Biceps
Law Enforcement

After considerable input the winning entry for this week’s episode of the USPlabs Iron Day is:

The winning entry for this week’s episode of the USPlabs Iron Day, which is quite honestly one of my personal favourites and most needed in the workplace:

Fat Loss with Complex Training

RED² (as directed, continuous twelve minutes)

Hurdle mobility drills, #9 & #10

Tumbling (over ten metres, repeat four times each)

• forward roll to stand
• bear crawl
• spider lunge

general physical preparation

• jumping jacks
• shuffle splits
• burpee’s
• fisted push-ups
• mountain climbers

30 seconds each, continuous motion, two sets in five minutes

Rope Skip

Perform a three minute round of skipping rope with the following between rounds

• jumping jacks
• fisted push-ups
• burpees
• shuffle splits

rest 30 seconds, repeat for two rounds in five minutes

Resistance training is broken into three basic complexes (1, 2 and 3), performed for total time under tension of sixty seconds each. Perform the first part of the complex for thirty seconds before moving to the second to complete the set. Once completed “complex one”, rest sixty to ninety seconds and move to “complex two” and then “complex three”. Repeat four total circuits.

1a) Dumbbell Snatch (hang)

1b) Reverse Lunge

2a) Deadlift (Dumbbells, touch weight to lower half from shin to ankle)
2b) Step-Ups

3a) Barbell Hi-Pull
3b) Bent-over-Rows (underhand grip)

“STS” model from the Renegade FIX™ 3 circuits

DMC™

static range of motion work

Step two in this plan is visit the Facebook page and the how to stack forum for expert advice on how to optimize your results.

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s as well as or Twitter.

John’s present supplement stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Yok3d, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle.

Prepared by John Davies
Photo: Steve Tauriello is Yok3d

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk

The peculiarity of the modern health, fitness and exercise market is that it spends the vast majority of time making many concerns sound highly complicated when they are the precise opposite. Partially because of a society far removed from the lifestyle of its parents or grand-parents generation and somewhat innocently many common notions have been lost but without a doubt much is related to the “song and dance” of generating sales. Exercise and diet need not be complicated and once you prune them to their essentials they are in-fact quite “simple” and the road to optimal health is straight ahead.

Whether training for sport, aesthetics or developing a proper fitness model in the workplace, many very simple approaches will derive the greatest benefits.

While the exercise sector has an annoying habit of re-packaging older movements with clever marketing phrases or for that matter convincing the public to drive to a gymnasium to walk on the treadmill, the diet sector is laced with tactics that turn simple solutions into the complex.

The beauty of a healthy diet lay in its simplicity that resurrects a traditional approach that not only improves overall health but values of a bygone era where the family dinner table, filled with sounds of those that matter the most, was the focal point and fabric of our lives. Wholesome foods prepared with traditional recipes, possibly passed down through our collective lineage that not only ensured our health but a structural part of life’s memories.

The oddity of how traditional diet, when concern was creating good tasting meals from ingredients that were naturally wholesome, given that was the only option, is that modern development carved out the sensibility. From the “fat-free” craze of the 1990’s to the more recent incessant need to eliminate or grotesquely limit carbohydrates, both lack a sound dietary foundation with the latter far removed from appropriate for athletes and the like.

While the fat-free craze has thankfully run its course and more a satirical reminder of a past decade, the decision of many to near completely purge carbohydrates from their diet is unsound for most exercise environments, sets a poor precedent of dietary habits and rife with nutritional weaknesses. A well balanced diet should contain a minimum of ten to fifteen servings of fruits and vegetables a day, though I tend to exceed that amount personally. Failing to maintain such a diet, within a high energy exercise regime as well as busy personal life and career will not only leave an individual physically drained with likely performance suffering and susceptible to injury. Naturally the rationale for such a diet is weight-loss, to which it is of-course successful but with a series of conditions most notably you are willing to risk the above problems.

Though it is very possibly to do so successfully with a type of carbohydrate cycling regime, the real answer to this “problem” was answered simply with USPlabs, “Anabolic-Pump”. As a key component in my nutritional program, “AP” (Editors Note: see "Anabolic-Pump on Facebook) works perfectly with eating carbohydrates and maintaining optimal health while increasing strength and reducing excess bodyweight.

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s as well as or Twitter. John’s present stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle.

Prepared by John Davies
Photos: Joe “The Prototype” Morrow

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk

Developing a workplace fitness program is far from a luxury item of highly successful businesses but in-fact a necessity for employers watchful over their financial “bottom-line” in lieu of exploding healthcare expenses. While I hope business leaders are enacting such approaches for conscientious reasons of caring for the lives of employees it also must be considered from the straight financial cost to ensure workplace fitness programs are establishes in every size business.

There are no magical solutions to this problem, nor can it be swept under the rug any longer as the perfect storm of an aging population, runaway obesity and soaring healthcare costs can only be met by a proactive approach that goes straight at the issue.

The workplace, once staff is either hired or suitably trained to manage said demands, is the perfect launching pad to assist with developing the positive lifestyle habits in the workforce but it come significant controversy. While a number of corporations have started the ball rolling with earnest efforts such as supporting employees develop exercise habits with financial reimbursement of expenses, a more straightforward approach must be put into place with the following five points as the foundation.

• Develop in-house (or independent contractors) “wellness coordinators” that are skilled in diet and exercise as part of a broader Human Resources department. This will cause a significant shift in the personal training sector as professionals who understand the severity of the problem.

• Dietician approved (either in-house or contracted) company supported lunch plans. Not only must lunch plans in the school shifts quickly shift to healthier options, so do business.

• Provide education to employees on proper diet, eliminating the habit of smoking and the benefits of exercise during working hours. This must go further than that the typical pamphlet on the lunchroom counter (that is rarely looked at and dust covered) but involve lectures, often online through company private network, Books and DVD’s. Reduce the chance of error or non-compliance and make it “fun”.

• Implement a plan (i.e. weight loss, eliminating smoking, daily exercise) for employees and families with an incentive plan of material benefits (financial or gift in kind).

• Develop exercise plan midday for both blue and white collar workers. While foreign to many this has been used in many parts of the work and improves company morale, productivity as well as overall employee health which in-turn reduces healthcare costs.

For many, if not most, reading the above five points will shock and seem over meddlesome by an employee but the basic need has boiled over and it cannot be ignored any longer. While some employees will naturally be resistant to lifestyle changes that will improve the quality of their life, nothing unusual for those in the personal training, health and fitness sector, efforts must be put into place as estimates are by 2030 obesity alone will cost U.S. businesses upwards of $950 billion, enough to cripple many sectors of the economy.

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s as well as or Twitter. John’s present stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle.

Prepared by John Davies
Photos: Curt “The Brute” Dennis Jr

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk

As the world grapples with an obesity epidemic the fact is undisputable that if left unchecked it will not only cause endless health problems with the citizenry but cripple economies. Managing the obesity epidemic is not simply a need to ensure the personal health of the citizens but undeniable fact for national economic survival. This is evidenced by the daunting predictions that health care costs will treble by 2015 with estimated national expenditure in the United States alone of $4 trillion, $950 billion associated to obesity as the total figure later approaches twenty percent of GDP. From both the humanitarian and financial bottom-line on the need of managing the obesity epidemic must sit at the task one for the health, fitness and exercise industry.

To solve this problem, a new route must be taken as it is clear “health and fitness” must be embraced within both the youth market, in both the home as well school systems and the most efficient route to adults, the workplace.

The next series of steps comes in the workplace which in many ways is the classroom for improving the health of the adult population in teaching proper dietary habits and merging exercise into daily lives. Whether sponsored by employers realizing it will reduce employee healthcare expenses or proactive government programs recognizing the same savings, the four major areas to be implemented in the workplace are:

• Offer a financial incentive plan that rewards employees for taking part in a standardized Health Care screening
• Screening streams into free diet plan and exercise plans as well as programs to eliminate smoking and cull alcohol and drug abuse
• Where applicable, make appropriate adjustments to workplace cafeterias such that healthy food options are stressed with the elimination of negative habit forming concerns. This will be controversial to some but one glance at most workplace cafeteria’s will not them as a harbinger of poor grade “foods” or simply a series vending machine that in-fact propel obesity. Employers, with soaring health care costs must address this issue without further delay as this “cost” will hit their financial statements quickly as well as harm employee health.
• Offer exercise programs / classes both during and after work hours, with the former well known to not only improve health but worker productivity. This must be company wide as “wellness programs” can no longer be the sole domain of white-collar or executive branches. This will further involve short breaks particularly in areas that involve manual labour, which will in-turn see a reduction of workplace injury and improving productivity.

While some will find this a massive shift in organizational behaviour in business it creates a significant positive financial incentive for employers and thus makes sense from not only a humanitarian level but from the “bottom-line”. Studies have suggested that employers with proactive wellness programs reduce health care costs by approximately twenty-five per-cent with a near ten-fold rate of return on the investment.

Summarily, workplace fitness does not improve the health of the population but there is ample motivation for all employers to embrace.

Join us all this week for insights into workplace fitness.

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s as well as or Twitter. John’s present stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle.

Prepared by John Davies
Photo: Tammy Bravomalo

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk

As the obesity epidemic shifts into top gear, the human cost will be enormous for countless generations to come. It is a near impossibility to both understand the magnitude of problems for those spiralling towards obesity but the children who have never lived within a society that sufficiently promotes healthy activities as well as diet. That might be the greatest test to come for the health, fitness and exercise industry given its importance to all of society as many when you suggest “healthy options” many have never been exposed to them from their childhood and hence find such adjustments a virtual “re-wiring” of habits embedded in their daily lives.

This applies to countless activities from walking to the store or work if under an hour, to eating only items from local farms if not your own backyard because if you are not exposed to such a lifestyle from your youth the shift is enormous. I know this quite well as many aspects I personally consider natural, i.e. walking many hours each day, playing recreational sports and only eating whole foods (i.e. “simplicity”), is extremely foreign to most.

However there is another aspect of this because quite often exercise and maintaining a healthy diet is not only a challenge due to time constraints og the hectic modern lifestyle but physically due to exhausting word demands. This is a fact of life for many, whether working in an office, a factory line, heavy construction or any number of environments that leaves you physically and mentally exhausted at days end, with little time remaining for family life. This exhausition plays its role in the obesity epidemic and left unchecked (if not targetted) will continues to spiral with soaring healthcare costs that will cripple many nations economies for years to come.

From yet another angle, the needs of “workplace fitness” is additionally of utmost importance for all businesses, given soaring health care costs, simply cannot absorb an unfit work force. Whether personal health and satisfaction to the economic "bottom line" and business productivity, improving health via workplace fitness is an absolute must. In the very near horizon, as well as in the present for proactive companies, “wellness” will not be exclusive to white collar or the executive branch but to every employee because of the significant financial savings and improved productivity as well as being a solid corporate citizen.

Where “workplace fitness” begins is understanding recovering from the days demands much like an athlete the day after competition is paramount importance (for both career and of-course personal life) and equally optimal health in employees is utmost concern for employers. This duality of needs serves "workplace fitness" as the perfect anecdote to the obesity epidemic but there can be no more delay. Exercise, as well as a healthy diet, simply must be stressed within the workplace, not simply as something you do on your own time and part of the day as shown in the recent General Health and Fitness training day.

Join us all this week for insights into workplace fitness.

John Davies is available on his personal page on Facebook , Renegade Training™’s as well as or Twitter. John’s present stack starts daily with the “athlete’s advantage”, Modern, Super Cissus, PowerFull and Prime, along with additional use of Recreate, Anabolic Pump and Pink Magic depending upon his training cycle.

Prepared by John Davies
Photo: Jake Wooley

Disclaimer
The information provided in “Instant Training Improvement Tips”, as well as this web-site blog is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice for any condition. Always consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any nutritional program or exercise program. By reading this disclaimer, you hereby agree and understand that the information provided in this column is not medical advice and relying upon it shall be done at your sole risk