The following is a transformation success story from Superhero Shredding 2.0 member Justin Walk.

What made you decide to originally pick up Superhero Shredding 2.0?

[divider style=’left’]

Christmas of 2013, I weighed in at 255 pounds.

I remember having such a hard time keeping up with my oldest son, who at the time was only one year old. Being a nurse, I knew how important my health was, so I decided to change my diet. With my new eating habits, I lost fifteen pounds in a couple of months and was feeling better.

So I wanted to do more.

After spending some time on the internet looking for workout programs, I found Fitmole. The various workouts and diet advice seemed legitimate.

I got down to 220 pounds in the fall of 2015 and hit a plateau.

After my and my wife’s second son was born in December 2015, I knew I needed to put in more work to be able to keep up with the two boys. So I picked up Superhero Shredding 2.0.

Ultimately, for me, the discipline and effort for self-improvement are valuable lessons that I want to display for my family, and this program gives me the tools to do so.

What kind of results have you gotten?

[divider style=’left’]

Other than the fat loss and lean muscle gain, I am able to do things that I haven’t been able to do since high school ten years ago.

Running a mile, hill sprints, and endless amounts of energy all have come with the improvements.

Being a male nurse, I tend to get called a lot for patient lifts. A couple of years ago, I struggled, and now I am able to do solo lifts.

How have your lifts in the gym improved?

[divider style=’left’]

Being a high school athlete, weight lifting was familiar to me. However, I have to be honest here. When I first saw the workouts provided on Fitmole, I was definitely intimidated by deadlifts. So I did tons of research on YouTube and other fitness sites on deadlifts.

[pullquote align=”right”]One bad day of eating will not ruin your body just as one good day of eating will not fix your body. [/pullquote]

Before SS 2.0, my max deadlift was 275 pounds; I just hit 445 pounds two weeks ago. Deadlifts are my absolute favorite exercise!

Other lifts have improved as well.

• I couldn’t do a proper pull-up, and now I throw a 45 pound plate on a belt and do 6-7 reps.
• Dumbbell rows have gone from 65 pounds to 130 pounds.
• Dumbbell bench press has gone from 60 pounds to 95  pounds.
• Leg press is four reps at 590 pounds.

Essentially, every lift has improved. Just about everyone at my local gym is strong, so it definitely feels good to move a bunch of weight as an added bonus.

What was your diet like?

[divider style=’left’]

My diet could easily be criticized by the majority of fitness experts. I only eat clean when I am feeling sluggish or bloated. I enjoy pizza and burgers on occasion.

My only focus is hitting my protein count, which is, right now, around 165 grams a day. And I’m trying to stick around my calorie goal.

My daily calorie goal for the past few months has been right around 2100, but I don’t freak out if I go over.

One bad day of eating will not ruin your body just as one good day of eating will not fix your body.

An average day usually looks like this:

• Breakfast will be either a coffee or four or five scrambled eggs and toast.
• Lunch will be two or three chicken breast fillets with hot sauce or salsa for extra flavor and a steamed green vegetable.
• Dinner is typically my post workout meal, and so I enjoy whatever meal my family is having; I try to be relatively strict throughout the day in order to have a “free meal.”

Did you take any supplements? If so, what kind?

[divider style=’left’]

I use whey protein as a post workout if my next meal isn’t soon after.

I attempt to hit my protein goal with meals, and if not, then I will supplement. I take a daily dose of creatine and a pre-workout or a coffee as needed.

I have tried other supplements, but these are my fundamentals.

Besides the physical benefits, what other benefits have you seen from transforming your body?

[divider style=’left’]

I will tell you, it is really nice to come home after a workout and have my wife blush.

My oldest son likes to pretend that he is Spiderman, and he says I am the Hulk which is always fun. It is nice to buy fitted clothes, and they actually fit my shoulders.

[pullquote align=”right”]Before SS 2.0, my max deadlift was 275 pounds; I just hit 445 pounds two weeks ago. [/pullquote]

However, all of my clothes are too big, which is incredibly frustrating and awesome.

Non-physical benefits would be confidence; not so much in how I look but what I can do.

I feel better now than I did five years ago, and I actually feel younger.

With my results so far, I feel more challenged and determined now than when I first started. Self-improvement is such an important key to have.

What’s the #1 piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to transform their physique?

[divider style=’left’]

Focus on getting stronger.

Move more weight this week than you did last week.

Strength cannot be understated.

If you want big, round shoulders, get stronger. If you want a chiseled chest or defined abs, get stronger. If you want to have the absolute best body you can have, get stronger.

When all else fails, strength doesn’t. Your body will change, and you will get your desired transformation. But if you are not getting stronger, it will not happen.

Even if you don’t get the definition, or if you don’t get rid of those love handles, strength most definitely counts for something.

To get badass results like Justin, checkout Superhero Shredding 2.0.

[thrive_link color=’red’ link=’http://superheroshredding.com/?cfid=63′ target=’_self’ size=’medium’ align=”]Learn the exact step-by-step system Justin used to transform his body[/thrive_link]

The post Justin Walk’s Fitmole Success Story: “I feel better now than I did five years ago, and I actually feel younger…” appeared first on FitMole.

The following is an interview I did with Matty Fusaro and FusaroFitness. Matty runs one of the most popular Youtube channels on fitness with over 78,000 followers and a huge fan base.

I love Matt for his no BS approach to transforming your body.

Enjoy the interview.

1. What’s up, Matty!  So how did you get started in working out? What motivated you?

My entire life ever since I was a kid I was athletic and involved in sports, but in my early teens my love for food and overindulging took control.  When I turned 17, I developed an interest in the “fitness” lifestyle but never really trained with purpose or intention; it was just a hobby.

I’ll never forget when my two older brothers Mike and Jay told me they would give me $20 if I could do 1 pull-up.  I tried my hardest – I ran and jumped but couldn’t get myself over that bar.  Today, I would give them $50 if they can do more than me [laughs].

Going into my senior year of high school, I realized it was time to change my life.  My wardrobe consisted of 15 hoodies because I was too insecure to wear a t-shirt most of the time.

If there was ever a trip to the beach, waterpark or even hanging out by the pool with friends I would try to avoid the event because I wouldn’t be seen without a shirt on (yes I did swim with my shirt on).  I got fed up living that life and would Google “what is the fastest way to get a six pack?” rather than just work for it.  After endless hours of cardio and marketing hype about the quick fixes, I had to find a better way.

In January of 2011 I decided to take “before” pictures and immediately wanted to delete them, but had a feeling that would end in regret so I kept them in a folder and never opened it up.  I went trough a few phases of diet obsessions, overreaching and under eating but as time went on I continued to learn.

Fast forward a few years, I took on a genuine interest in fitness and nutrition and was motivated to improve my physique and expand knowledge.  Fitness and health has become a priority in my life and I love the challenge of building my education, surrounding myself with positivity and always working hard to improve my quality of life while helping others do the same.

Needless to say, it felt damn good to go back into that folder of before pictures and visually see the transformation.

2. If you could go back and do it all over again, what would you do differently with your workout and diet?

Man I wish I could haha!  I interact with beginners on a daily basis and I usually give them all the same advice.  Do your research, read, learn, and track your progress.  When I first started there wasn’t an abundance of information on macronutrients and diet like there is today.

We relied on popular websites and magazines, and most of the time it was a boatload of BS myths and misinformation.

I would have taken as much time as needed to learn about and understand macronutrients, micronutrients, flexible dieting etc. so I wouldn’t have to be a slave to the handful of “foods that work” and not classify foods as dirty and clean.

In regards to training, I would find a program in line with my goals, stick to it and track my progress.

One of the biggest reasons people fail to see results in the gym is because of program hopping and not documenting their training sessions.  I was guilty of going into the gym just to lift, but realized I wasn’t really getting stronger or bigger.

Having a log of your training is crucial if you want to visually see the progress you are making!

3. What does your current workout look like?

I am a sponsored athlete and being coached by The Strength Guys and we work together to build my training phases.

Currently I am following a mix of DUP (daily undulating periodization), Russian strength methods, tempo training and exercise sequencing, training 5 days per week with two rest days.  An example of a training week would look similar to this:

• Day 1: Surovetsky Bench Press Strength day
• Day 2: Deadlift and Lower Body Hypertrophy
• Day 3: Upper Body Hypertrophy
• Day 4: Lower Body Muscular Endurance
• Day 5: Verkhoshansky Contrast Load Bench

Days 1 and 5 focus primarily on the Barbell bench Press, while days 2 and 4 place emphasis on deadlifting.  Day 3 is a complete upper body hypertrophy day.

All of these days include accessory work, some examples being:

• Pull-ups
• Barbell Hip Thrusts
• Prone Raises
• Face Pulls
• Leg Curls
• Rows
• Skull Crushers
• Barbell Curls
• Calf Raises
• Chest Flys

Sets, rep ranges, percentages and rest times differ for each day and for each exercise but the intensity is always high.  I also always make time to work in mobility, stability, and plenty of core work.  It is a pretty demanding program, but training isn’t supposed to be easy.

4. Do you have muscle building tips or tricks that have helped most with your gains?

My main tip, as I stated earlier, would be logging your training and focusing on progressive overload.  As far as muscle building tricks or tips, I would stress the importance of learning the motor pattern correctly and understanding the basic functions of the muscle.

When you know what a muscle is supposed to do, it makes it much easier to understand HOW that muscle should work. Proper mobility and form is crucial as well!  People get so caught up in supersets, drop sets and muscle confusion and forget about the main goal of constant progression.   My YouTube channel also has great videos and tutorials on proper ways to perform movements to optimize your training.

5. The IIFYM (if it fits your macros) approach to dieting is huge in the YouTube fitness community.  It’s almost reaching a scary cult status haha.  What’s your take on it?

You’re definitely correct about it becoming a “cult” as people fight and defend it to the death.  My only issue with the acronym “IIFYM” is for some people who don’t understand dieting, it implies one can eat whatever they want as long as it fits their macros, but they tend to forget about the importance of nutrition.

In my opinion the most important thing about diet and nutrition is flexibility, which will ultimately lead to a greater adherence.  I believe the majority of ones diet should be comprised of minimally processed, whole, micronutrient dense foods, following an 80/20 or 90/10 approach.

With the 80/20 approach, 80% of my caloric intake would come from minimally processed, whole, micronutrient dense foods while the remaining 20% can be used at my own discretion, as long as I met my nutrient intake.  I aim for 2-3 fruits and vegetables per day, 30-40g of fiber and drink plenty of water.

I am not a fan of cookie cutter meal plans that say “eat this not that.”  Since I track my macronutrients I just make sure to get a balance of carbohydrates, protein and fats.  My diet typically changes from day to day although there are a few foods that’s are staples in my nutrition:

• Chicken
• Sweet Potatoes
• Lean Beef / Turkey
• Oatmeal
• Egg Whites
• Rice Cakes
• Greek Yogurt
• Almond Butter

The list goes on, but I also eat ice cream, pizza, and other foods typically deemed “unhealthy” in moderation.

Flexible Dieting > Food Classification!

Simply put, categorizing foods into being clean, dirty, healthy and unhealthy should be avoided. This brings about a negative mentality and is often one of the reasons why “diets” fail. I encourage the clients I work with to be more flexible with their food choice. By tracking macronutrients (we will talk about this later) you are in complete control.

6. If someone who was skinny fat came up to you and asked for help, what would you tell them to do?

I would tell them to watch this video!

Skinny fat is definitely something that is difficult to deal with and I have been there before.  I feel as though it is something that has to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.  Some people are more fat than skinny and can benefit from dropping the body fat for health reasons, where others just need to build a foundation of muscle.

I think the majority of people who are skinny fat suffer with the psychological feelings more than anything, so it’s important to base your decision of cutting or bulking on how the person feels (unless again their actual health is a concern and they need to lose fat first).  We also have to take into account whether or not this individual is an untrained beginner with poor eating habits etc., but overall I think the video covers a good basis of information on the topic!

7. What’s your take on supplements and what supplements are you taking right now if any?

I see people every day spending hundreds of dollars on supplements, either because they heard they worked, their friend told them to buy it, the marketing was great, or it got a 9/10 review on a bodybuilding website: all of which are 
horrible reasons to purchase them.

The truth is that most supplements are not worth your money.  I only like supplements that are proven to work and have research showing that they are effective, although you can’t argue with the power of placebo.  I just personally hate to see people waste money on supplements loaded with filler and proprietary blends, hiding the actual ingredients!

Some of the supplements I currently take are:

• Fish Oil
• Vitamin D
• Multivitamin
• Whey Protein
• Creatine Monohydrate
• Beta Alanine
• Citrulline Malate
• Caffeine (sparingly)

Also, if you enjoy using supplements and would like to save some money, you can use my discount links and codes below!

MyProtein (US) – Enter “MATTY15” for 15% off

MyProtein (UK) – Enter “MATTY10” for 10% off

For more info on supplements I highly suggest checking out this guide by my good friends over at Examine.com – Supplement Goals Reference Guide.

7.  Your YouTube channel is huge (over 78k subscribers at the time of writing this).  What’s next for Fusaro Fitness?

The overall goal always was and always will be to help others.  Fusaro Fitness is set out to inform and educate the masses on nutrition and training while motivating people to transform their lives.  The mission is to inspire people to become the strongest version of themselves mentally and physically. We are helping thousands of people everyday to look, feel and perform their best while enjoying the process!

I love what I do on YouTube and look forward to putting out more quality and entertaining videos, I will continue my online coaching services for those in need, and I will do my best everyday to spread awareness about fitness, and hopefully someday travel the world!  I have no plans of slowing down as an entrepreneur and there is much more to come with Fusaro Fitness so stay tuned!

• Website – Fusaro Fitness
• My Youtube Channel – https://www.youtube/mattyfusaro
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/FusaroFitness
• Instagram – http://instagram.com/mattyfusaro
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/fusarofitness

The post 7 Questions With YouTube Fitness Superstar Matty Fusaro appeared first on FitMole.

Can you build muscle with weights?

For years, everyone thought this was impossible.

But what if I told you that building muscle didn’t require you to be able to squat 500 pounds and that you could build muscle just as efficiently with nothing but your own bodyweight?

That would be the best thing since sliced bread, right?

I got to sit down and talk with Todd Kuslikis, a bodyweight expert (and creator of Bodyweight Overload) who specializes in helping people build muscle with only bodweight exercises (no gym required).

It’s pretty badass stuff, check out the interview below.

1) Hey Todd, thanks for agreeing to do this interview. So to start can you give us a quick rundown of who you are and what you do?

My pleasure! My name is Todd Kuslikis and I am the founder of AShotofAdrenaline.net. It’s a website that helps people transform their bodies and their lives using bodyweight exercises.

I particularly focus on helping men that are skinny build mass. Most people don’t know it but I also have a day job.

I work with individuals that have had a closed head injury or spinal cord injury and help them through rehabilitation. The human body is so fascinating from every angle and I thoroughly enjoy learning about it and applying what I learn to help people live a more fulfilling life.

2) So it’s obvious you’re a big fan of bodyweight exercises. What made you focus on bodyweight exercises versus traditional weight lifting?

My history of martial arts taught me that bodyweight exercises can be just as effective for staying in shape as weight lifting. I still remember some of my kenpo classes.

We would do extreme calisthenics for about an hour. Our drills were super tough and left you on the ground barely able to catch your breath. We would then practice forms or sparring after that. It helped to condition the body very well.

It’s not that I am against weight lifting. Weight lifting is a tool that people can use to build muscle. I do think people are more likely to get injured, if they don’t know what they are doing with weights, but it still can be a very effective tool.

I have been in love with bodyweight based training for a long time because for me it is more than a system of physical fitness. Bodyweight exercises is a tool for self-mastery.

I regularly work on more challenging moves such as front levers, handstands, pistol squats, etc. After you start achieving some of the advanced calisthenics moves, it really boosts your confidence in all areas of your life which makes it even more satisfying.

3) You have a program called Bodyweight Overload which is designed to help people build muscle with only their bodyweight. What is it? How does this work? It seems to go against everyone’s belief that you must lift heavy to build muscle.

Bodyweight Overload is a 6 week program that is designed to build muscle mass. I modeled it off of the same principles that body builders use to build muscle with weights. Weights don’t help you build muscle. It’s actually the resistance against  the muscle that helps build muscle. It doesn’t matter if that resistance is an external weight or your own bodyweight.

There is a very popular idea that bodyweight exercises are used to get someone lean and weight lifting is used to get people big. One of my goals with the program was to prove this notion wrong.

Bodyweight Overload isn’t easy. The workouts take about an hour and are very intense. However, people see great results with it.

4) Take the bench press for example. If someone wanted to get a big and muscular chest, they would focus on getting really strong at the bench press. How does Bodyweight Overload compete with this since you’re only using your own bodyweight?

That’s a great question. Let’s use the most popular bodyweight exercise as an example, the push up.

It is comparable to the bench press as it works the chest muscle in the same way. In Bodyweight Overload, I talk about two principles that are used to help people build muscle with bodyweight exercises.

The first principle is Bodyweight Distribution. When someone normally does a push up they keep their weight evenly distributed across both arms. They do push ups until they fatigue. The problem is that if they are fatiguing in a higher rep range than they are not building muscle but building endurance.

In order to do an exercise for a long period of time your muscles need oxygen. So if you are cranking out 40, 50 or 60 push ups then you’re training the capillaries in your muscles increase in diameter to let more oxygen in. This allows you to do the exercise longer. This is a problem if you want to build size.

In order to fatigue the muscle to build size, you have to fatigue it within a lower rep range. Bodyweight Distribution is the key. Try shifting your weight over to one side or the other. Keep 75% of your weight in one arm and 25% of your weight in the other arm while you do the push up. You’ll instantly feel a huge difference and fatigue in a much lower rep range.

The other technique that I talk about in Bodyweight Overload is called, Angular Training. Essentially, you change the angle of an exercise to make it harder. Remember, that the goal is to fatigue within a low rep range so that you induce hypertrophy instead of endurance. We can take the push up as an example again.

Instead of doing the normal push up, try elevating your feet onto a chair. You’ll change the focus of the exercise from the middle part of your chest to the upper portion of the chest.

If you are really extreme try combing both techniques together!

5) What would you say are the biggest mistakes people make with bodyweight training and building muscle?

I am going to share with you the secret to getting bigger. I’ll share it but most people won’t believe it. Or even if they do believe it, they won’t follow it. The secret to getting bigger is to eat big.

Eat clean and eat big. Get a ton of protein in your diet, especially after your workout along with healthy fats. This will help increase testosterone levels.

In terms of training, the biggest mistake is not staying consistent with your workout plan. I have an article about how people are workout whores and like to jump from one shiny workout system to the next. It’s so unhelpful and stunts the effectiveness of your efforts.

I am a firm believer in not doing the same thing for a long period of time because the body adapts but you need to give your workout plan enough time to work.

6) Can you give us some examples of exercises you use to build muscle with bodyweight exercises? For example, if I wanted to grow my biceps or shoulders, what would I do?

I use the same standard exercises that most people use but I apply the principles of hypertrophy to the exercise. For example, if I wanted to grow bigger biceps the “what” is less important than the “how”. The principles of hypertrophy are simple and talked about at length in my Bodyweight Overload system.

1. Fatigue the muscle in low rep ranges so you induce muscle growth and not endurance.
2. Do high volume. You will not gain size if you are doing just a couple of sets.
3. Low rest periods. You shouldn’t be resting for 2-3 minutes in between sets. Rest for 60-90 seconds max. If you are resting longer than you are focusing more on strength than muscle growth. The two are connected but strength has more to do with neural adaption while muscle growth has more to do with increasing the size of the muscle fibers.

——————————————-

Great stuff, Todd.

A lot of guys always complain about not being able to  build muscle because they can’t go to the gym or don’t have the proper equipment, but using Todd’s principles you really have no excuse not to build muscle.

I personally will continue to lift weights but plan on incorporating some of the stuff from Todd’s Bodyweight Overload program, especially when I travel.

For more on Todd:

Todd’s website: http://ashotofadrenaline.net/

Build muscle with just your bodyweight: Bodyweight Overload

The post How To Build Muscle Without Weights: Interview With Todd Kuslikis appeared first on FitMole.

1) Clint, you have a program called Reveal The Steel. What it makes it different from the bajillion other fitness products on the market?

What I’ve ultimately tried to do with Reveal The Steel, is make it accessible to anyone looking to improve their physique from ‘average’ to ‘elite’. I’ve included my own story, the pitfalls, and a complete outline which doesn’t rely on supplements, specific dieting rules nor training schedules to get the job done.

I’ve outlined the ‘blueprint’ which is, I believe, VERY flexible and can be adapted to anyone’s lifestyle. Want to train 3 days? fine. Want to train 5 days? Also fine. There are many more rights than there are wrongs in the fitness game – I aim to prove that with this book.

2) And what motivated you to create a program like Reveal The Steel?

Being a guinea pig for sooo many similar training programs – I’ve spent many years trialing many, many techniques and I wanted to condense it all down into an easily-digested format that even I use myself. I’ve taken out the fluff and just provided solid programming that anyone from beginner to advanced levels can run with and adapt to suit their goals.

3) Anybody who reads your blog will know that you’re a no-bullshit kind of guy. What’s the one thing in the fitness industry right now that pisses you off beyond words?

Besides the ‘fitspiration’ that seems to flood my Facebook feed, the main irk I have with the industry is the scare-mongering that perpetuates through media outlets.

Folks are so quick to jump on a ‘headline’ and share it with their friends seemingly before they’ve even had a chance to read the article, and discover that the content disproves the headline in the first place.

4) You went through a pretty amazing transformation yourself (in the before/after pic on Reveal The Steel). What made you decide to transform your body? And what do you contribute the majority of your success to?

I spent years of my youth harboring poor lifestyle choices. It took a pretty savage ‘wake-up call’ from some friends of mine at the time who were quick to point out my ‘shape’.

You often don’t see yourself slip until it’s pointed out – I definitely was a product of little to no exercise and heavy alcohol consumption.

The success part comes from persistence and never losing sight of the big picture – the physique you want will come EVENTUALLY – you just have to persevere and lower your expectations. It took years to get to a point where I was ‘OK’ with how my body looked without a shirt on.

5) Where do you see most people go wrong when they try to lose weight?

Besides program hopping from one to the next, I’d say a lot of people tend to give up too easily. The other MAJOR factor which I’d consider the cause of all this program hopping, is the fact the internet is brimming at the seams with information. Literally thousands of trainers offering their own ‘spin’ on fitness advice (myself included).  Pick one or two sources of knowledge at a time, and RUN with it. Listening to too many fitness leaders all at the same time will likely lead to confusion, and potentially a self-destructive mindset of “nothing’s working – I give up!”

In terms of weight loss specifically, I think folks generally consume more calories than they expend and don’t even realize it. Unless you’ve tracked your calories at least ONCE, you’ve probably got no real idea of what your baseline or ‘maintenance’ level of calories is – let alone the level required in order to shed pounds!

6) What about muscle building, where do most guys screw up there?

Too much program variation I’d say – gym-goers are scared of doing the same thing twice and will look for something new to ‘shock the muscles’. This kind of mindset is counter-productive when it comes to building muscle.

Stick to a hypertrophic specific program for at least 6-8 weeks before changing it up – or even just adjust rep ranges from 8-12 to 4-6 and vice versa.

7) Thanks for doing the interview Clint

My pleasure Keith – be sure to head to the Crude Fitness facebook page where I’m ‘most active’ and ‘like’ it to receive a daily does of fitness humor (not a guarantee ;)).

For more info on Clint:

Clint’s blog – Crude Fitness

Clint’s awesome training course – Reveal The Steel

The post Clint Nielsen Crude Fitness Interview – Destroyer Of Fitness Gimmicks appeared first on FitMole.

If you frequent my blog, then you know I hate all that flashy fluff and marketing BS.

So you can imagine how shocked I was when I stumbled upon Clay Rogers and his Incline Cardio approach to fat loss. Clay and I share similar philosophies and approaches to getting lean and building a celebrity physique so check out the interview below where I drilled Clay on his approach to cardio and why it’s such a great way to burn fat and even build your six-pack.

1) First off thanks for doing this interview, Clay. Can you give us a brief summary about yourself?

Well, the first thing I’m always quick to point out when asked to do that is, “I’m in no way a ‘fitness expert’ or ‘guru’…hell, I’m not even certified in anything fitness-related.”

So, there you go. My life is primarily lived outside the gym.

What I am is basically just a persistent nerd. When I want something, I just don’t give up on it until I’ve got it totally figured out – and getting six-pack lean and proportionally muscular (in the “underwear model” or “Hollywood actor playing a superhero” kind of way) was one of those ideas I got hooked on a long time ago.

As in, years ago.

But despite researching my butt off and perfectly applying every single tactic I could find…from the “basics” to the most “cutting-edge” research available…my results were always dismal. Embarrassingly dismal. Nowhere near what I wanted.

But it’s just not in me to give up on something like that.

So over the years, out of necessity, I ended up stumbling onto and developing all kinds of alternative physique transformation methodologies that DID work when nothing else would. Some are weird, some fly in the face of what most experts would tell you is the “right” thing to do based on all the latest research…

But frankly, I don’t care if something’s “right” or “wrong”.

I just care if it produces results.

A lot of people have asked me for my methods – so I teach them now, usually with astounding results (because I can teach it effectively from the perspective of a “normal” person who struggles to normally see any results at all).

And what I teach flat-out produces results – even if it’s weird at times.

2) You have a pretty cool approach to cardio called “Incline Cardio.” Can you give us a brief explanation of what that is exactly?

A lot of people are under the impression that ALL exercise has to be extremely intense to be effective. That’s what’s constantly preached to us in the media and mainstream fitness magazines.

And while I do believe extreme intensity is necessary at times (muscle growth for example), I have discovered what’s essentially a fat burning loophole.

This exploit is basically extremely low-intensity cardio, performed in a very specific way, for a very specific amount of time, done at a very specific time of day.

This is what Incline Cardio is.

Instead of focusing on pure calories burned, Incline Cardio strategically elevates hormone levels (the real key to massive fat loss) while attacking fat stores for energy and indirectly building your abs.

This all comes from extremely low-impact walking.

I hate hyping things up, or billing them as “magic bullets.” I’m not a fan of that. But believe me when I say Incline Cardio is as close to a  fitness “magic bullet” as I’ve come across.

3) Is Incline Cardio superior to other types of cardio such as HIIT or plain old jogging?

Now, this is where we must make an important distinction.

I definitely wouldn’t say it’s superior to all other types of cardio. It all depends on what your goals are.

Personally my goals are:

• Building lean muscle mass
• Getting lean
• Being healthy
• Being full of natural energy at all times (this isn’t related to ‘function’ or athleticism)

For these four main goals, Incline Cardio is ideal.

And this is for four basic reasons:

1. It basically has the same hormonal benefits of HIIT (that whole “you burn more fat after you perform it” thing people tout) – from a hormonal stand point, HIIT and Incline Cardio are essentially the same.

2. Incline Cardio can be performed up to 6x week which is very difficult to do with HIIT without running into the risk of overtraining.

3. Incline Cardio doesn’t interfere with weight training. In fact, it can enhance your weight lifting efforts due to it’s low impact on the body and hormonal benefits.

4. The best part – Incline Cardio can be performed up to 2x a day…even on a “6x a week” schedule. If you’re looking for massive fast fat loss results, I highly recommend this.

And this barely scratches the surface of its true benefits.

Basically, it’s a convenient, low-impact way to generate huge results. I’ve regularly use it both with myself and with hundreds of my clients to build muscle while losing fat – something most “gurus” say is flat-out impossible for a natural athlete and lifter.

Also I forgot to mention:

– It’s just as effective as it is for women as it is for men.

– It’s low impact enough that almost anyone can use it (how helpful is it to people with knee/joint issues to be told to perform HIIT for fat loss?)

I could go on and on here.

Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m hating on HIIT.

HIIT is awesome!

In fact, it can be strategically used with Incline Cardio to get results extremely fast. But, in my opinion… if your goal is pure fat loss, HIIT is a bit overkill and unnecessary.

4) This sounds awesome. There’s just so much hype around HIIT these days. What made you go back to this “old school” approach to cardio.

To be honest, I discovered Incline Cardio almost completely by accident.

Like others, I was still in the “HIIT is the only way to effectively lose fat” and “you can’t lose fat and build muscle at the same time” mindset when I discovered Incline Cardio.

During this time, I was at a new gym where my main goal was muscle growth.

And somehow “magically,” without any huge changes to my routine, I was building more muscle than ever before.

The craziest part – I was losing body fat at the same time!

A lot of people are under the impression that ALL exercise has to be extremely intense to be effective. That’s what’s constantly preached to us in the media and mainstream fitness magazines.

It  even got to the point where my friends and family were asking what I was on, in a fun way.

Honestly, I was kinda of wondering what I was on, too. I was in this new gym for approx 5 weeks.

I was traveling – and when I came home, my results flat-lined and even went backwards a little bit. And this is despite eating the same diet and following the exact same workout plan.

After a bit of reverse-engineering, I’d discovered what was producing the results.

It was the uphill walk that I did after each workout (My gym was located at the bottom of a hill and I lived on top.)

The moment I did the exact same walk exactly the same on a treadmill, the results came back instantly.

Since then I’ve refined it, and even tried implementing running, sprinting ,stair stepping, and everything in between… but walking has definitely been the most effective.

I now preach the benefits of walking to everyone…

5) Can you tell us the best way to combine incline cardio with weight training? Would we do incline cardio after thee workout, on off days, or both?

In a perfect world, you’d do both!

Incline Cardio is most effective when done right after an intense workout – either weight training or HIIT. But it’s still effective if performed on it’s own on “off” days.

But the best part is that if you REALLY want to massively boost your results, you can perform it earlier in the day after your workout AND later in the day on its own (or vice versa) 2 times per day.

This is my recommendation for folks who need the fastest results possible.

6) And if someone is trying to lose fat, how often can they do incline cardio?

Because it’s such a low-impact activity, you can do it up to 6x week…even if you’re doing the “accelerated results” program done 2x-a-day.

But you don’t need to do it that much.

It really just depends on what your fitness goals are. Do you want to lose fat extremely quickly, at a moderate speed, at a slow pace, or do you just want to maintain your current physique.

It really depends- 1x a day 2 days per week all the way up to 2x a day 6x week – it all depends on you final goal.

7) You said before that incline cardio helps you train your abs and build a six pack, how exactly does that work?

Ah yes…

I didn’t say much about this in this interview, but this is absolutely one of the biggest benefits of Incline Cardio.

What I found out is that abs are best developed via what I call the “Abdominal Stabilization Principle” – they’re used as stabilizers in your body (to hold your torso upright and stabilize you during pretty much everything you do), and that’s the best way to develop them…via stabilization movements.

I definitely don’t recommend crunches or sit ups. They’re pretty horrible in my opinion, and this is because they don’t follow the stabilization principle discussed earlier.

On the other hand, Incline Cardio perfectly follows this principle.

Because of the exact speed and incline used, your abs are essentially taking over the entire movement, and thus get trained the entire Incline Cardio sessions.

In other words, Incline Cardio is not only the most effective way to rapidly lose body fat…

But it’s also one of the most effective ab developers as well.

I’ve got galleries of full blown six pack developed quickly exclusively via Incline Cardio, with no direct ab work whatsoever.

Like I said earlier, I hate hype and I hate hyping things up.

But Incline Cardio is one of the few “jack of all trades” movements I’ve ever done. There is really nothing else like it, and I swear by it, not only by the results it produces but for helping me achieve and maintain my <10% bodyfat physique year round.

———————————————————————–

And…end interview!

This has been one of my favorite interviews.

Be sure to check out the Incline Cardio system and leave your thoughts and comments below.

The post Getting Ripped With Incline Cardio – Interview With Clay Rogers appeared first on FitMole.

I have an awesome interview for you guys today.

I recently got a chance to chat with Sol Orwell who runs the website Examine.com, an absolute beast of a supplement website.

And unlike most shady supplement sites, Examine backs all it’s info with scientific papers.

So if you’ve ever wanted to learn about a particular supplement, it’s benefits, and whether or not you should take it, go to Examine (not Wikipedia).

1) The supplement industry is one of the most controversial and shady industries in the world. What can consumers do to avoid being scammed by the “latest and greatest” supplements on the market?

Well, that is part of why we created Examine.com. There is a lot of hyperbole and studies taken out of context that make supplement X seem amazing and the solution you’ve been seeking.

Really, you just need to be cynical. The old truism “if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is” holds here.

2) We all know that the only sustaining a calorie deficit over time is the only way to lose weight. But are there any supplements that are actually proven to expedite weight loss?

It depends on how much you are talking about. Illegal drugs like DNP and clen can strip away a lot of fat, but if you take them incorrectly, they can literally kill you.

There are two common supplements that do help people who are not obese:

– ECA stack, commonly used by bodybuilders. Read more: http://examine.com/supplements/ECA/  For those in the US, ephedrine by itself is not available, but bronkaid is used as a substitute.

– Yohimbine, which is actually useful when you are lean enough and only dealing with stubborn body fat. Yohimbine helps mobilize the fat, and then you must do some light cardio (eg brisk walking) to actually “burn” that fat. Learn more: http://examine.com/supplements/Yohimbine/

For people that are obese and unhealthy, some supplements that are worthwhile for general health can also help reduce bodyfat (they do not help reduce body fat in people already lean). Berberine is a good example of that.

3) What about gaining muscle? Besides anabolic steroids, what are some useful supplements for building muscular size and strength?

The two most proven muscle builders are creatine and beta-alanine. Creatine works because it gives your cells more (immediately available) energy. This lets you do a few more reps.

Beta-alanine has a more cumulative effect, so that taking it repeatedly over time lets you get in more volume, which again, helps you build more muscle.

While not a problem for most people, having adequate protein intake is also important.

Other commonly touted products like glutamine are useless, unless you are in a deficient state (which is very very rare – most common in burn victims).

4) Increasing testosterone levels seems to be all the rage these days.  What your thoughts on  “testosterone boosting” supplements? Does it actually help you build muscle and lose fat?

Overhyped.

Testosterone boosters like tribulus (very popular) and others have never even been proven to increase testosterone. Some supplements do increase your libido, which people mistakenly conflate with increasing your testosterone.

That is a false assumption – you can increase your libido without your testosterone level increasing at all.

On the flip side, it is not uncommon for people to be deficient in a critical mineral (zinc or magnesium being two common ones in athletic people, vitamin d in the general population), which can decrease testosterone. Increase the intake of those minerals (via diet or supplementation) will take your testosterone levels back to their proper *baseline*levels.

5) Thoughts on different types of protein? In terms of body composition and overall health, are there any noticeable differences between protein sources – whey, casein, soy, rice, hemp, etc…?

Pretty much a non-issue. Most people who lift weights take enough protein that worrying about complete vs incomplete, leucine content, etc is irrelevant.

Far more important would be to focus on keeping stress levels low, getting adequate sleep, making sure you have enough vitamin d, etc…

6) Let’s talk about multivitamins? If one is consuming a nutritionally dense diet, would you say they still need to take a multivitamin?

The quick and easy answer is that supplementing with a multivitamin is not needed.

They are good if you have a horrible diet, but they lost their benefits if you have a solid diet. I personally do not take it.

7) Are there any essential supplements that you believe the everyday man or woman should take simply for the sake of maintaining good health?

In general:

• ZMA if you are active (if you are deficient in your diet)
• Fish oil, if you do not regularly eat fatty fish
• Vitamin D, if you do not live inside the tropics and get adequate sunlight
• Creatine, if you are a vegetarian

The smart thing to do is to run through your diet and see if you are below 50% of the RDA for anything.

Older females may need calcium (can easily use casein proten for this), and iron is a moderately common deficiency (but best handled by an MD and not supplementation).

8) Most overrated supplement? Most underrated supplement?

Most overrated would be a tie between glutamine (a useless muscle builder) and tribulus (a useless T-booster). Glucosamine is also in the running for joint-health, but we still need to research more.

Most underrated would be berberine. Read about it, it’s quite amazing: http://examine.com/supplements/Berberine/

Also be sure to check out Examine’s Supplement Goal Reference Guide.

The post Interview With Sol Orwell (Examine.com) – Paving Through The Supplement Bullshit appeared first on FitMole.

1) So for those unfamiliar with intermittent fasting (IF), can you give us a super quick rundown of IF what your approach, Eat Stop Eat is all about

IF is really nothing more than learning to take periodic, planned breaks from eating. Eat Stop Eat is a system of Intermittent fasting where those breaks are 24 hours long, and are taken once or twice a week…

2) We know intermittent fasting is a great way to lose weight, but what about building muscle? Does fasting benefit muscle building?

I think so.

Calories are permissive to the muscle building process, but not the absolute driving force, especially if you are not 16 years old and undergoing juvenile growth.

This means there is an amount of caloric energy that is needed to grow muscle (I erally have no idea what this amount is), but it is definitely not a driver, meaning you can’t just keep adding more calories and gain more muscle (Otherwise, we wouldn’t have an obesity epidemic, we’d have a bodybuilder epidemic.)

So honestly, we don’t really have an exact number for how many calories you need to build muscle mass.

This is where intermittent fasting can come into play…you can slightly overeat in the name of gaining muscle, while throwing in a 24 hour fast every now and then to help alleviate some of the body fat build up that occurs during most bulking cycles.

3) We all know you’re super flexible with your diet, but what exactly does a sample day of eating look like for you on a non-fasting day?

I’m get up around 7 ish. The kids are out of the house and off to school/preschool by 9am. I’ll have my first coffee between 9:30-10 AM.

If I’m going to workout, it normally happens around 10-11 AM.

Then I’ll have lunch around 12 or 1 pm where I’ll also have coffee #2. I pick the kids up from school at around 3. We’ll usually have a snack around 3-4 PM (Snacks can be whatever is around the house, yogurt,  apple slices, apple sauce…whatever). Dinner is at 5 or 6 PM for the kids…my wife and I may eat with them, or we may eat later at around 7’ish. The kids are in bed by 8 (hopefully) and I’ll have a Guinness, maybe some snacks, then bed by 11 PM. Rinse and repeat.

I really just eating when hungry.

We have ‘date night’ every Thursday so I’ll almost always have steak at my favorite restaurant. And at least once or twice on the weekend, we’ll have bacon and pancakes for breakfast.

I have creatine, protein powder and a pre-workout supplement in my house – I’ll use them when I feel lazy and can’t be bothered to cook for myself, or go grocery shopping.

Realistically I probably have some form of chocolate every day, probably ice-cream once or twice a week, alcohol probably 2-3 times a week. Red meat once or twice a week… It’s really nothing fancy nor outrageous.

After almost 7 years of fasting once or twice a week I know when I’m hungry vs when I want food. I know the amount that is dieting, the amount that is neutral and the amount that is overdoing it. I adjust as needed.

4) What is your take on fasted training, yes or no? And do you think there’s any benefits to taking BCAA pre-workout like so many fitness gurus say?

I used to like fasted training, but now I tend to view my fasts as recovery time. I like training legs on an empty stomach, but not necessarily ‘fasted’.

Actually when I think about it I usually like training on a fairly empty stomach, but I don’t go out of my way to be in a fasted-state when training.

I think the massive benefit of recommending pre-workout BCAA is the money you can make recommending pre-workout BCAAs.

But it’s really not going to hurt your training or your weight loss.

And, I understand the rational, but to me it’s the equivalent to getting up in the middle of the night to drink a protein shake. Sure it makes sense on paper, but really… the chances of 6 grams of BCAA or a 2 AM protein shake are not what’s holding to make or break your progress.

5) In your opinion, what is the #1 benefit of Eat Stop Eat opposed to more conventional diets?

Flexibility. Hands down.

People like to look past the flexibility since it’s not a sexy marketing term.

They like to look for complicated hormonal pathways or metabolic ‘loopholes’ to say it’s the major benefit, but in reality, learning to go without food, and being flexible with your eating is the biggest benefit.

6) 2012 has been a big year for intermittent fasting, with the BBC documentary and more major news outlets like Huff Post covering it. But intermittent fasting still hasn’t really hit the mainstream. Do you ever see IF becoming “6 meals per day” popular?

I think it will become Atkins big, but it will suffer the same fate.

People will take it to extremes and become zealots, then it will be labeled it as dangerous by the media. This seems to be the fate of all good ideas in health and fitness.

The best way to get attention is to rally against something that gets too popular. See powerlifting, CrossFit, Paleo, and bodybuilding,   as examples

7) This has been awesome. Thank you for taking the time to do this, Brad. Last question – what’s next for Brad Pilon, do you have anything exciting on the horizon?

More updates to my books Eat Stop Eat, How Much Protein and possible rewrite of Anabolic Again. My goal is to keep these as cutting edge as possible.

———————————————————–

For more info on Brad Pilon:

Brad Pilon’s blog: BradPilon.com

Brad Pilon’s books: Eat Stop Eat (my review), How Much Protein, Anabolic Again

The post Brad Pilon Interview – 7 Questions With The King Of Intermittent Fasting appeared first on FitMole.

Whereas most fitness bloggers simply write about how to eat and train, Chad takes to the next level and incorporates a lot more motivational and mindset content into his site.  And this is what 90% of hitting your fitness goals is all about – creating the right mindset and having the motivation to push forward no matter what.

Enjoy the interview!

1) First off thanks for doing this interview Chad. So to start off, can you give us a brief overview of who you are and what you do?

No problem Keith, thanks for setting it up.

For the past year or so my life’s focused around my site and the mission with the site: helping 1 million guys build their dream body, and dream life. Unlike a lot of other fitness sites, I don’t only focus on fitness, but bring a lot of lifestyle content to my reader’s as well.

The name of the site explains it best: be legendary. unconventional tactics for fitness, life and work.

2) So what is your approach to training and dieting

Good question. I don’t have a view of training or nutrition like “this is the best way to do it and everything else is second best.” I don’t think that’s true in training or nutrition. Some things work better for some people than they do for others. You have to find what works best for you.

However, no matter what you’re doing, you won’t reach your goals if you don’t work hard and if you lack discipline. Everyone’s looking for the quick fix. It doesn’t exist. If you work hard, you can turn even the worst program into a successful one. Which is something that people don’t want to come to grips with, so they never reach their fitness goals.

There are principles I feel work better than others obviously. But that’s a slippery slope, if I get started talking about that stuff we could be here for hours. Regardless, work hard, want it bad enough, and you’ll make it happen.

3) Do you believe it’s possible to build muscle and burn fat at the same time?

I do. In fact it makes sense.

When you’re gaining muscle, you’re increasing your metabolic rate. In turn, burning more fat. If you eat the right way, and train the right way, it’s possible.

4) Well said Chad. You also post a lot of boxing videos on your Youtube channel. Are you a competitive fighter? Do you have a background in boxing?

I was a competitive amateur fighter. I love the sport and any chance I get to put boxing content up on my site or on YouTube I always get it up there.

5) What would you say is the #1 mistake people make when trying to build the body of their dreams?

People quit.

They don’t want it bad enough. Everyone who wants it bad enough to work hard, eat right, and stay disciplined will build the body they want to build.

Those that don’t, won’t. It has nothing to do with genetics and everything to do with work ethic and will-power. The fat person that says they’ve tried everything and nothing works is lying to themselves. They didn’t stay disciplined, they quit, and they didn’t work hard enough. The same for the skinny guy (which used to be me).

People don’t want to hear that but it’s true. Your success is completely under your control. That’s why I talk so much about motivation on my site. That, more than anything else, will contribute to your transformation.

I can show you what to eat and how to train, but you have to do it. Knowing this, I give a lot of tips to stay motivated on my site and in the members areas for my products. I don’t want people to leave that kind of thing to chance. Which is what’s usually done. Motivation needs to be taken seriously. It needs to be practiced.

Not staying constantly motivated, oddly enough, is probably the biggest mistake people will make. It’s been my biggest mistake in anything I’ve failed at.

The post Be Legendary – 9 Questions With Chad Howse appeared first on FitMole.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Fitch of Global Bodyweight Training, who also placed #3 in the Top 50 Social Media Fitness Bloggers contest.

What drew me to Mike was his incredibly unique approach to bodyweight training. Whereas most trainers simply recommend the same old push up and pull up, Mike really goes above and beyond these standard exercises and shows you that you don’t need weights to build a lean, ripped, and incredibly functional physique.

Enjoy the interview!

1) First off thanks for doing this interview Mike. So to start off, what exactly do you do and what kind of training do you specialize in?

I consider myself a Bodyweight Athlete, Coach, Educator, and Student. I’m continuing to learn every day and even more so as I continue to develop programs and teach. Bodyweight training as a discipline has been increasing in popularity a great deal over the past year, and names like “bodyweight athlete” and “bodyweight coach” are titles that you’ll hear more and more as the style grows.

I personally like the title Bodyweight Athlete a lot, because it conveys the idea that the practice isn’t confined to just one discipline, but rather encompasses a wide range including parkour, hand balancing, breakdancing, bar calisthenics, general bodyweight training, and more.

All of these disciplines share the same foundations, though, so the carry-over between them is incredible. They are all Bodyweight Athletes, using movement, gravity and their own bodies to accomplish amazing things.

As this trend continues, soon everyone will know what a Bodyweight Athlete, or Bar Athlete, is. It’s an exciting time in fitness. I think everyone is itching for a change.

2) You have some pretty crazy looking exercises that go way beyond the standard push-up and sqaut like the tornado pull up and front kick-through. How exactly do you come up these unique exercises?

Well first of all, I never take credit for inventing an exercise. There are only so many movements that the body is capable of so I’m sure everything has been done before.

However, one of my main goals with fitness programs is to make sure the total body is being challenged in multiple ways, and I find that developing or exposing unique exercises is a great way to accomplish that in a way that keeps it fresh and fun. I really like combination exercises that keep the body moving in multiple planes of motion, and there is a lot of opportunity to come up with creative ways to put together traditional exercises.

I spend a lot time just moving in the gym and figuring out combinations of movement that make sense on a biomechanical level. I then break it down to figure out how to get the most out of each movement, and decide what I consider to be the most effective or “correct” form for the exercise. Then, if it’s something that I personally haven’t see before (or can’t find on YouTube), I give it a name that makes sense to me.

For example, the Tornado Pull-Up that you mentioned takes two traditional exercises that I clearly did not invent – a pull-up and a trunk rotation – and combines them in a new way that adds an extra dimension to the pull-up. Then I made up the name “tornado pull-up” to play on the incorporation of the rotational movement.

3) So what made decide that you wanted to focus solely on bodyweight training?

Well, I’ve been in the fitness field for 12 plus years as a personal trainer and coach.

Plus, I’ve always been interested in alternative styles of training, anything that goes outside of your traditional isolation or machine-based exercise.

Two years ago I found myself in a phase where I was lifting a lot of weights and focusing mainly on strength and hypertrophy. I was literally 50 lbs heavier than I am now and I just didn’t like the way I felt.

I seemed to always have nagging injuries. Eventually I just got burned out and found myself not wanting to even touch another weight. So I started checking out other disciplines that were completely bodyweight based. Beginning with gymnastics, I worked my way through parkour, circus arts, hand balancing, bar workouts and even breakdancing.

The transformation I saw in my body and the sense of achievement with every workout was astonishing.

I’ve never MOVED better and most importantly, I’ve never felt better! The change made such an impact on my life that I wanted to share it with the world. It’s empowering to know that you can build a perfect physique with nothing but your own body and gravity.

I was hooked, and haven’t used a weight in my own training since.

4) Personally I’m a huge fan of heavy lifting (no disrespect) but I know there are a lot of advantages to doing bodyweight exercises as well. In your opinion, what are the main advantages of doing bodyweight exercises vs. weight lifting?

No direspect at all, I’m not a weight hater and I honestly miss kettlebells and Olympic lifts. But, I personally really wanted to dedicate myself fully to the practice of Bodyweight Training (BWT). That’s one of the main differences – BWT it truly is a “practice” and a discipline. You can’t just turn off and go through your exercises on auto-pilot, you have to be present with every workout. It’s all about self mastery and is something that I will be working towards for the rest of my life.

BWT is 100% progressive and skill based, so with every workout you are attempting to advance your personal progress. It’s a pass/fail scenario, you can either perform the exercise or you can’t, there’s no middle ground.

I believe that translates into a greater sense of accomplishment when you reach your goal – for example, it might be great to add a few pounds to your bench press, but you’ll never forget the day you get your first muscle up, or nail your first human flag. Even as far as I’ve come, there are still exercises that I hope to achieve over the next few year.

The way we achieve results is different with BWT. Since we’re not adding external loads, we have to challenge ourselves by adding complexity or figuring out a way to take a higher percentage of your own weight. For example, just changing the angle of your body can make an exercise much more difficult.

Two years ago I found myself in a phase where I was lifting a lot of weights and focusing mainly on strength and hypertrophy. I was literally 50 lbs heavier than I am now and I just didn’t like the way I felt.

You can also improve any specific ability like strength, endurance or power by manipulating your tempo, volume, reps or complexity. If you just wanted to focus on mass, you can choose a BW variation that will keep you in a certain rep range to illicit that response. It’s an incredible versatile method of training.

But I think the real advantage of BWT is the neuromuscular challenge. You’re forcing the body to communicate with itself, “linking” all of your stabilization systems and truly synergizing the muscles of the entire body.

Think about it this way: let’s say you are performing a bench press for a 5 RM. In this case you only have to have the strength of the prime movers and the stability of the shoulder girdle. The rest of the body is supported by the bench. However, if you were to perform a variation of a single arm push up that you can only complete five reps of (your single arm 5RM), you now have to perform multiple functions throughout the entire body.

You still have to posses the strength of the pec, deltoid and triceps, but now the entire stabilization system of the shoulder joint and all of the muscles that stabilize the scapula have to be fully functioning and firing. The trunk muscles have to all be working together to handle the torsional load and maintain total tension to stabilize the spine.

All of the muscles of the lumbo pelvic hip complex are active to keep the hips in line with the shoulders. Basically every muscle is ON and working. The demand on the neurological system is completely amped and creating both strength and stability throughout the entire chain.

To put it simply, you’re getting more bang for your buck with each exercise.

These are just a few perks of BW training, the list goes on.

5) You have a workout program available called The Animal Flow Workout. What exactly is that?

The Animal Flow Workout was created by fusing elements of multiple bodyweight training disciplines, intended to increase mobility, flexibility, stability, power, endurance, skill and neuromuscular development.

As I was exploring the different disciplines I mentioned above, including parkour, breakdancing, and gymnastics, I noticed that there was a lot of carry-over from one discipline to the next. One of the things that seemed to repeat quite a bit was the use of quadrupedal movements (crawling patterns) that were animal- inspired.

It might be great to add a few pounds to your bench press, but you’ll never forget the day you get your first muscle up, or nail your first human flag.

It turns out that animal movements have been used for health and conditioning for literally thousands of years. They are so beneficial for all aspects of physical ability that I turned all of my attention to creating a program that used animal inspired forms, with the addition of what we call “switches and transitions” that were similar to the moves I learned in breakdancing and parkour training.

When you combine the Animal movements with the flow of the transitions, you get a super intense workout that allows you to create an endless flow of energy, challenging you through multiple planes of motion.

The benefits of The Animal Flow are incredible.

It can be used for sport specific training, conditioning, cardiovascular training, weight loss, and even physical therapy. It’s become popular with all kinds of fitness professionals and athletes – fighters, team coaches, personal trainers, yoga practitioners, parkour athletes, and, of course, general fitness enthusiasts who just want a fun, challenging workout.

6) So if people are trying to lose weight and get a lean and ripped body, would The Animal Flow Workouthelp them accomplish that?

Absolutely! One of the best things about the workout is you can use it however you want. It can be used as a killer dynamic warm up to increase flexibility, mobility and stability; as a complete workout that you do by yourself or as part of a class; as one component of a circuit; or as high intensity interval training.

You’re using all your muscles and stabilization systems, providing excellent overall conditioning. You are using so many muscles that the caloric expenditure and high oxygen demand make it ideal for fat loss.

The response has been insane, from people who love doing it, and from personal trainers and physical therapists who love using it with their clients.

We’ve been receiving videos from people all around the world getting their Flow on! We have The Animal Flow Workout as digital download or hard copy DVD that you can purchase through our site GBWT.

We’ve also begun offering workshops to fitness professionals that want to be certified Animal Flow Instructors, and have been selling them out around the country.

7) What would you say is the biggest reason people don’t reach their fitness goals?

There can be multiple reasons people don’t reach their fitness goals. If someone is having a hard time dropping body fat, it’s probably their nutrition.

As they say, you can’t out train a bad diet.

Other reasons include lack of consistency and setting unrealistic goals.

Additionally, pushing yourself into an injury can be a major set-back. That’s why one of the things I repeat all over my videos and posts is the importance of form – when form breaks down, the exercise should stop, period.

8 ) Alright so I’ve been dying to ask someone this for the past 5 years. I’m a huge fan of Parkour, mostly because it looks absolutely badass and I know you include it your training. In movies like District 13 and the beginning scene of Casino Royale, they showcase some pretty crazy moves that seem too good to be true. I know they’re just movies, but seriously, are the Parkour moves they show in movies possible in real life? 

I have to tell you, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some incredible free runners and parkour athletes and have seen them first hand do things that I would’ve thought impossible.

I would say the majority of the stunts are legit, although some of the building to building gaps or drops may be wired. Those guys are absolutely badass and deserve maximum respect for pushing the limits all of the time.

9) Awesome, so what’s next for Mike Fitch and  Global Bodyweight Training? Do you have anything excited coming up?

The rest of this year is full of exciting things! As I had mentioned before, we are offering Animal Flow Certification Workshops throughout the country and will hit Europe by the end of the year.

We’ll also be working on a collaboration with Dr. Perry Nickelston from Stop Chasing Pain to create an adaptation of the Animal Flow workout video that is geared toward physical therapists. It will combine some of his techniques with Animal Flow moves for integrated rehab.

Outside of Animal Flow, we’ve just started production on our second full-length DVD which will be completely focused on the skill of hand balancing, beginning with the basics and moving through how to progress into advanced moves.

And finally, we are working on getting the entire GBT System up and available as a membership site. More to come on that later.

10) Thanks for your time Mike, is there anything else you’d like to say?

Sure, I want to challenge everyone to get out there and move their own bodies. Step outside of your comfort zone and incorporate more bodyweight training into your routines.

Everyone can go to our site and brows through the exercise library for some great tutorials to choose from. Oh, and keep checking out FitMole, it seems that guy Keith is doing some pretty solid stuff!

**********************END INTERVIEW**********************

Awesome stuff Mike!

So yeah…. after doing this interview I’ve come to the conclusion that I really need to start diversifying my training more. Currently all my training revolves around heavy lifting with maybe a couple sets of push ups, pull ups, and dips thrown in. And this is fine if you’re strictly training for aesthetics, but it would be nice to be more flexible and mobile. I guess it’s time to start training like an animal.

If you enjoyed this interview and Mike’s approach to bodyweight training, be sure to check out his blog at GlobalBodyWeightTraining and also be sure to check out his Animal Flow workout program.

The post Bodyweight Training, Animals, And Jumping Off Buildings – An Interview With Mike Fitch appeared first on FitMole.

I got to ask Craig several questions on his new workout program TT Metabolic Resistance Training which is a workout program that shows you how to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

Enjoy the interview!

1) For everyone who doesn’t know, can you give us a brief overview of what Metabolic Resistance Training(MRT) is?

MRT is best described as a hybrid-fusion of bodybuilding set and rep schemes with an interval training twist all in a total body workout system.

So for example, anytime you use supersets or circuits to train with an elevated heart rate and insufficient recovery, you are doing metabolic resistance training.

2) Can you give a brief rundown of how a MRT workout is structured?

The TT metabolic resistance training workouts consist of hand-picked exercises (using dumbbells, kettlebells, bodyweight, and even barbell movements) put together in supersets or circuit fashion.

Each exercise is best performed in the 8-12 repetition range and there is no rest, or minimal rest, before moving on to a non-competing exercise in the superset or circuit.

You’ll start with the major muscle groups and work down to less complex exercises, including new- school total body abdominal exercises.

Now, you can include traditional interval training within the circuits, or you can use the futuristic metabolic finishers that have become standard in my MRT programs and are preferred by my clients because of the variety and because frankly, they are just a heck of a lot of fun to do.

3) But don’t you need to do long distance cardio to lose weight?

Long distance cardio is long, boring, and ineffective for losing weight.

And we can thank Drs. Tremblay and Bouchard, fat-burning researchers from the University of Laval up in Canada, for proving back in 1994 that short, burst interval training was much better than long, slow, boring cardio for fat loss. Interval training is a key component of MRT workouts.

[Here’s a video of Craig explaining what MRT is]

4) So what benefits does MRT have over traditional body part split training routines?

In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Arnold Schwarzenegger popularized bodybuilding with his multiple-set, heavy weight, high-volume workouts.

And while the way Arnold trained is closely related to today’s MRT workouts, there is one flaw in how he trained and how you want to train for maximum fat loss.

You see, by focusing on just one body part per day at such a high volume (like Arnold did), only two things were going to happen…

First, if everything went according to plan, you’d build a massive amount of muscle.  And second, what happened in most other cases (i.e. in people who were NOT using steroids), was that the high volume of chest exercises in one day would lead to shoulder injury. If it didn’t, then the high volume of shoulder exercises or back exercises in the next two to three days would cause shoulder injury.

The total body MRT workouts and less frequent workout schedule help you burn fat, get lean, and stay injury free.

5) Are there any differences between MRT and interval training?

There are big differences between MRT and interval training. Intervals refer to short, bursts of cardiovascular activity, such as running, biking, swimming, rowing, etc.

MRT is a total body, fat burning and muscle building workout, using resistance training exercises. This includes everything from classic bodybuilder exercises to bodyweight movements.

In addition, interval training is often a component of MRT workouts.

Both training methods have similarities, such as incomplete recovery between work bouts, high heart rates, and lots of sweating – and results.

6) MRT seems to be the “it” thing of 2011, do you see it going away any time soon?

Not at all. Of course, MRT has been around for decades, but it’s just now being polished and refined into the most effective and efficient fat burning workout possible.

We’ll continue to see MRT workouts evolve as smart trainers grasp the concept and implement new crossover ideas into the mix.

It’s an exciting time to be using MRT workouts for building a better body and losing fat. Lots of cool workouts and exercise variety is on the way.

*****END INTERVIEW*******

Thanks for doing this interview with me Craig. If you’re interested on how to lose fat and gain muscle, then definitely check out TT Metabolic Resistance Training.

The post Interview With Craig Ballantyne: The Lowdown On Metabolic Resistance Training appeared first on FitMole.