Month: June 2009

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The Full Diet Break

Among others idea that I “formalized” in my Guide to Flexible Dieting was the idea of taking a break of 7-14 days during a diet where calories were brought to maintenance.   I didn’t invent the idea by any stretch, Dan Duchaine had been advocating that a decade before me.  But I like to think that I brought the idea to the mainstream.  That is an idea I call the full diet break.

What is A Full Diet Break?

Whenever I bring up this topic, I tend to get sort of confused looks from people.  What do you mean I’m supposed to take a break from my diet?

As I opined on the podcast, I have no idea if this is just an idea endemic to America (where we suffer from a long-history of a Puritan work ethic) or is just common to dieters but most people who are trying to lose weight or fat seem to feel that the key to success is to be as miserable as possible for as long as possible.… Keep Reading

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Becoming an Expert with Deliberate Practice

Today I want to talk about becoming an expert.  I mean, how hard can it be?  Towards this goal, I want to quote something from Dan John’s book Never Let Go from a story he told about a wrestling coach named Dan Gable.  Basically Gable’s philosophy was this:

If it’s important, do it every day; if it’s not important, don’t do it at all. – Dan Gable

And while he was discussing this quote in a slightly different context (how he programs training for different movement patterns), it gave me the idea for today’s article which is about learning skills and becoming “expert” at something.  Of course, I’ll be focusing on training applications in this article but, as it turns out, the ideas are general enough to apply to a lot of different areas.

What Defines an Expert?

It may surprise some readers to realize that there is actually quite a bit of research into the topic of developing expertise. … Keep Reading

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Four Models for Genetic Muscular Potential

A question that comes up with some frequency on forums and message boards, usually from newbie lifters is along the lines of “What is my maximum genetic muscular potential?”

Invariably this leads to a repetitive and pointless argument between those who believe that there are genetic limits to such things as muscular gains and athletic performance and those who believe that anything can be accomplished if you just try hard enough or have the right work ethic.

Now, it should go without saying that nobody can really say upfront what someones genetic potential actually is.  Until we live in the world of Gattaca where we can do a full genetic scan and know what it means, nobody can say ahead of time what someone can or can’t achieve.  Well, not unless you look at some pretty ludicrous extremes (you’re not going to see someone at 400 pounds ripped any time soon for example).… Keep Reading

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4 Reasons to Change Body Composition

While I’ve written numerous articles on the topic of body composition I should probably address a more fundamental question which is this: why do people want to change body composition at all?   That is, what reasons (good or bad) might people have for wanting to gain (or even lose) muscle or lose (or even gain) fat.    As there are four potential goals that someone might have, there will be four potential reasons for them to change body composition.

Reason 1: Why Lose Fat?

At any given time, some ludicrous percentage of the population is trying to lose weight and/or fat.  If you’re not clear on the distinction, I’d point you to my article on what body composition means.    As so often is the case, context is key and different populations usually have different reasons for seeking this goal.

Bodybuilders and Physique Athletes

It’s probably safe to say that bodybuilders and other physique athletes are the ones who are at least the most visible in terms of their extreme levels of fat loss. … Keep Reading

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Weight Training While Dieting

When people are trying to lose fat or change their body composition, they often ask how they should weight train while dieting.   Should they continue lifting heavy or switch it up to lighter weights and higher repetitions as is so often recommended by pro bodybuilders?   Or is some other approach better.

In this article, I want to look first at the primary goal of dieting along with the two primarily “types” of weight training that might be done on a diet.  Finally I’ll give specific recommendations for how to optimally weight train while dieting and show some sequencing examples.

The Goal of Dieting

So what is the goal of dieting? For some people it’s simply to see their weight on the scale go down, to see the numbers drop.  But while the scale has its uses (and always will), this isn’t or rather shouldn’t be the actual goal of dieting. … Keep Reading