Interview with Prep Coach john Meadows - Part 1

Hey Guys,

Today I am re sharing a interview I did with John Meadows. This is one of the most popular blogs I have ever done and for good reason! John is one of the best in the business and his thoughts on anything to do with Nutrition are well worth listening to!

Mike:              Hi John, can just tell people a bit about yourself really if they are not familiar on your work on T-Nation.com and with the website itself mountaindog.com. Tell us a bit about yourself and your unique approach to nutrition where a lot of people differ with being more health-based.

John:               I’ve been around a long time and I’ve had a corporate job for a long time. I left that job a couple of years ago. People have really just started to hear about me in the last three to four years but the truth is, I’ve been around for a long time. I was just one of those guys that would compete once a year and then I would disappear just because of my work responsibilities. I didn’t really have time for much else. I actually started in this industry when I was back early in my teenage years. I actually started competing when I was 13 years old, which is pretty silly when I think back about it. I see this kids now that are 13 years old and I think wow, I was in a body-building show when I was that age. That just seems crazy.

Mike:              Yeah, you were a kid yourself.

John:               I used to be just a super sponge with this stuff. I remember when I was 13 years old, I remember watching the 1985 Mr. Olympia and I could tell you the placings. It was Haney, Beckles, Gaspari, Makkawy, Mike Christian, Barry de May, Tom Platz, Sergio Oliva, Bob Parris and Frank Richard. That was the top ten. I remember I watched them on my VHS player. I recorded it. Obviously, I watched it over and over and over and I was really inspired. I wanted to look like those guys. I didn’t really know what it took. I would just save up money and if I didn’t have the money, I would go to the store and sit on the floor in the aisle and read the magazines. I really enjoyed it.

                        I kept training. I was in a lot of sports in high school. I ran track. I played football. I was in wrestling up to a certain point. I gave that up because I didn’t like rolling around on the mat with another sweaty guy. It just lost its appeal to me after a while. I continued into my teenage years. I went to college. I continued to compete. When I was 19 years old, I won my first really good title. I’ll never forget that. I was in college and I didn’t have any money. The guy that was helping me worked for John Parillo. I’m not sure if you are familiar with John Parillo. He was a really, really big name. He is still around. He was a really big name back then in the industry. He is the guy that really brought on the whole fascia stretching stuff. Whether you agree with it or not, he’s the guy that brought that up.

                        John’s guy had a connection with a food market, so he would bring me boxes of tuna and essentially what I ate for my first contest was tuna, bags of lettuce and an occasional sweet potato.

Mike:              Well balanced…

John:               (Laughs) Yeah, well balanced. I’m lucky I didn’t die! It was brutal. It was the worst contest diet. It was absolutely brutal. I remember in between every single class at college I went to sleep. I just got back to my room and went to sleep. I was so tired. I ended up winning the show and I was ridiculously lean but not having money made those choices pretty simple for me. I didn’t have the luxury of having filets or all the other things I eat now. I had to keep it really, really simple. Then, of course, when the show was over, I made the classic mistake that everybody else makes. I remember saving some money and going down fast food row here and going from burger joint to burger joint to pizza joint. I don’t even know if I saved money for it. I probably used my credit card. I probably maxed out my credit card in one night.

                        I remember gaining 30-35 pounds in two days, which is just a ridiculously stupid thing. A lot of the things that I do, Mine are a result of the mistakes that I’ve made along the way. I look at all of the mistakes I’ve made and I try to learn from them and I try to incorporate that into my plans so that other people don’t make those same, dumb mistakes. I continued to complete through my 20’s and here I am. I am 41 now. The last three contests I’ve done, I’ve gotten second place on all three of them. I keep just barely just missing that pro card. That’s okay, it just pushes you to get better.

                        Here I am now. Like I said three or four years ago I really started getting my views out there. I started thinking a lot more about my philosophies and trying to tie it together. In terms of nutrition, It was in a situation where I got really sick in 2005 and I almost died from a vascular disease I had in my large intestine and that forced me to take a really deep look at the digestive system. I had some time in the hospital and then when I got out of the hospital, it was six months actually before I ended up going back to work because of various issues I kept having. I spent a lot of time just going back to the drawing board and trying to re-learn nutrition. Were my methods good, bad or whatever? I found a lot of holes in my way of thinking. I tried to educate myself.

                        I was one of those guys that wouldn’t eat fat. I thought cholesterol and an egg yolk was bad for you. I was exactly one of those guys. I’m embarrassed to say it but I was. I also had probably a superman complex where I felt I could go out and pig out on fast food, eat a ton and really the way to get really big was to just shove as many calories in your as you could at no regard. I do agree that sometimes you have to go on calorie overload and your metabolism wants that. That was just my philosophy in general. I just wanted to shove hamburgers and French fries down and have caloric excess and I can grow. That might have something to do to with digestive stress (laughs).

                        In terms of training, training is what I really, really enjoy. It’s the same story. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve trained in a lot of different techniques. I’ve trained under some extremely smart people. I’ve had some great coaches. The things that I think work really well now, a lot of them are not typical. You take training sequence, sequence of your exercises. I never hear anybody talk about that. In my opinion, that should be one of the biggest cornerstones or foundations of your training routine. There are certain exercises that you could do at certain points of time that are advantageous and the big thing is I look at this now, now that I’m in my 40’s from a longevity perspective. How am I going to be able to train hard for a long period of time without injuring myself? It’s a big deal. I can tell you that if I go into the gym and I do what a lot of these people say, which is to bench press first, squat first, then lift first, I can tell you that I start pulling things and I start suffering injuries.

                        It’s not a matter of training scared. It’s a matter of training intelligently. If you are a power lifter, you are concerned about getting the weight from point A to point B, if you are a body builder, you are concerned about placing tension on a muscle period. I find that for example, if you do a bench press second or third, you’re not going to be as strong because you are going to be a little fatigued, but your muscles are going to get the tension. You tendon and ligaments aren’t going to take the beating. I have a lot of people, they hear about my routines and how hard they are and how brutal they are but then they tell me, “Oh, my God, my joints feel better than they have ever felt. My joints feel awesome.”

                        That’s music to my ears because that’s one of my goals is to keep people healthy. There are a lot of things about training too I just really enjoy, I really like talking about. That’s just one example. I know that’s a very long-winded answer to your question.

Mike:              No, no it leads us really next to some more stuff. One of the reasons I really wanted to talk to you, obviously, the majority of the people who read this site are combat athletes mostly. They are just grapplers, wrestlers etc. One of the things that is very neglected I think in the sport overall is health. You mentioned before, I know you are very big on getting your blood checked regularly, your cholesterol, triglycerides and everything like that. Many people ignore it completely in combat sports as a whole. I was hoping to get a bit of your uptake on what is the minimum that people should be looking at, say every six months, every 12 months to be getting checked so they are keeping within that healthy bracket? They love the sport, exactly the same as body builders and want to be doing it for as long as possible and this is the thing that no one is getting checked. It’s one of the things I think is really going to come around and bite them in the ass later on. I was hoping to get a bit of your view on the minimum people should be keeping an eye on this as they are going through the training.

John:               Absolutely, I typically like to have people get their labs done every six months. Some of the things we are looking for, when I hear the term cholesterol, let me just give you my perspective on cholesterol. I will put a disclaimer out here and say that I’m not a doctor, I’m not an expert but I am entitled to my opinion so here is my opinion. My opinion is that the total cholesterol is a pretty meaningless number. I followed a lot of Uffe Ravnskov’s work. He wrote The Cholesterol Myths and I have followed some other people too, Malcolm Kendrick and some other pretty smart people but based on what I’ve read with people with an IQ that is 10,000 times higher than mine, that total cholesterol number doesn’t seem to mean a whole lot.

                        People get worried about anything that goes over 200. There is actually a lot of data out there that shows lower cholesterol people have a higher mortality rate than people with higher cholesterol, particularly with older women. There is a direct correlation as their cholesterol numbers lower, they are at more risk. Anyway, I don’t really put too much into that. Then you get into HDL and LDL, lipoproteins. That’s another really, really gray area right now. The traditional thinking has always been that a high HDL is good and I think there probably is something to that, if you look at what it is measuring. LDL is the one that is really, really tricky because we have heard a lot of different things. We have heard that really you have to look at the particle size, these small particles are more dangerous and can get lodged in your arteries and the larger, more buoyant, fluffy particles are like beach balls. They just bounce around. They don’t really do any damage.

                        There is a school of thought that says particle size is very important and you can get that checked in your labs. Not every lab place will do that but it’s very easy to get done here. I have all my people get it done. Then you’ve got another part of this, another school of thought that is the LDL oxidized or not. You can check somebody’s antioxidant status and you want somebody’s antioxidant status to be good because they are probably going to oxidize less cholesterol. There are actually some pretty cool studies out there with vitamin E. A couple of years ago, I heard about Red Palm Oil. It’s one of these tropical oils, like Coconut Oil that people were really scared for a while, “Oh my God, all the saturated fat” but Red Palm Oil has a really unique blend of vitamin E. It has all the tocotrienol, tocopherol and it has all those things. If you go out to Pub Med and you type in Red Palm Oil and LDL oxidation, you will see some real cool studies that show a reduction in oxidation.

                        There is a lot of gray area. I’m not sure that I would worry too much about LDL still at this point. The thing that I have always been taught was that the ratios I look at are a little different than most people. What I have always been taught is that your HDL needs to be high and your triglycerides need to be low. Those are the two factors that you really want to look at. Triglycerides, to me, seem like a really big deal. The nice thing about triglycerides is you can control it very easily with your diet, specifically with your carbohydrate intake. You lower your carbs a little bit, clean them up and you will see your triglycerides will lower.

                        Of course, you’ve always got genetic issue where no matter what people do they are going to be at risk. I’m not addressing that but generally speaking what I like to see is lower triglycerides and higher HDL. If you get those two things in order, I’m not going to promise you that you will live to be 100 but seems like the odds stack up in your favor in terms of longevity. I also tell people to not freak out and worry about this stuff constantly because you know what the worst thing in life is in terms of killing you? Stress. It really is.

                        We’re built to handle bouts of stress. We’ve got this fight or flight thing that we have that handles that pretty well, but what we are not meant to handle is these constant low-grade levels of stress. Does my wife love me anymore? Am I going to be able to make my house payment this weekend? Should I go bail my kid out of jail? These just are just constant levels of stress.

                        To me, that’s what does more damage to people than anything. The number one thing I tell people is if you want to improve your health, first of all let’s start figuring out ways to reduce your stress. As silly as that sounds, it makes a big difference to me.

Mike:              Talking about stress and things like that, which management is a big thing, again, it’s a neglected thing for everybody I think when reducing stress and just relaxing really and not taking ourselves too seriously. One of the things I read about or it was on one of your podcasts back when you were lowering your own cholesterol and taking a closer look at your own blood is about how much you improved your own blood work. One of the things you talked about was how previously you had a very low fat diet but then now you have a good quality fat at the right time in your client’s diet and your own. One of the things I would like to talk about that obviously is how it helps reduce inflammation in the body that you brought up previously. You mentioned briefly exercise selection and sequence, which helped me. I recently had shoulder surgery, so any kind of overhead pressing but when I sequenced it, it helps me out tremendously, so thank you.

Part 2 coming next week!

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Next instalment of article series

Hey Guys,

Recently I have been sharing this great article series on someone dieting down to a very low body fat for the first time.

If you have been reading along you can find the next instalment HERE

Thanks for reading!

Stay healthy,

Mike

PS Sorry if you have been trying to get in touch with me this week. I've travelling and haven't always had an internet connection. If you have E mailed me, I'm working my way through them and will get back to you shortly!

Great article on dieting down to 7% body fat - Part 2

Hey Guys,

Last week I posted a great article on a powerlifter dieting down to a very low body fat percentage for the first time. While not many of the people who read this blog are bodybuilders, it is always interesting to find out how people approach different goals (plus summer is coming and I know you all want to look a little better).

You can find the second instalment HERE

Next part coming next week!

Stay healthy,

Mike

Great article on getting down to 7% Body Fat

Hey Guys,

Today I thought I would share with you a great article on a power lifter dieting down to single digit body fat for the first time. The first time you really diet down is always the toughest and your body fights you nearly every step of the way. However after the first time it get a little easier (much easier if you use a coach).

You can find the first part of the article HERE

I will post the second half next week.

Enjoy!

Stay healthy,

Mike

Great Training article for Beating the World Squat Record

Hey Guys,

Here is an article by Amit Sapir on how he broke the world squat record.

While most of us won't have a cat in hells chance of breaking the world squat record, it's really interesting to see how he programmed it and how he worked things out.

Ignore all the supplements stuff but read the bit on programming.

You can find there article HERE

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Great Video on Branding from Mark Lobliner

Hey Guys,

As I know a fair few of you who read this blog are either self employed or are looking to move into the fitness industry, I thought that I would share this great seminar from Mark Lobliner.

In the video Mark talks about the importance of branding and how it relates to being self employed and how your own personal brand can have a direct effect not only on your own career but also on your potential earnings.

In this age of the internet it is highly important to be personable with not only clients but also colleagues within your own industry. With hat in mind this is a great free video for people looking to improve themselves and keep learning.

Stay Healthy,

Mike

PS don't for get that the FREE EBOOK IS NOW LIVE on the website! Just click this link for your free download!!

What it takes to succeed.

Hey Guys,

I've often wrote many times in the past about what it really takes to accomplish a goal.

Any goal that is worth having (to YOU, not other people) will always be really hard work. It will require you to work hard, sacrifice thing and become uncomfortable. This is the law of the universe, not mine. Everything has its price and you can either pay it or you can't. Can't pay the price, can't have it and no amount of excuses will change that.

I think that we can all be a bit guilty of forgetting that sometimes (me included). It's to easy to become commutable and stop really working hard for what we want.

We go a little soft.

It's easier to stay in bed rather than get up and put the work in. It's easier to take sort cuts rather than giving your best. However it is only our very best efforts that provide us with the results we need.

In this article Matt Kroc talks about what it takes to excel in powerlifting, bodybuilding and just being successful.

Well worth a read, it reminded me of some of the things I have been neglecting in my own lift.

Stay healthy,

Mike

Great Article series

Hey Guys,

Today I want to share with you a fantastic article series by Dave Tate.

If you haven't heard of Dave Tate then I highly recommend that you read the articles. The full article series covers the following,

• Bodybuilding
• Powerlifting
• The Westside method
• Progressive Overload
• Using a coach
• Diet and Nutrition
• Injuries and injury prevention
• How he would set up a programme year round for a new lifter.

Even if you don't lift you can probably take a lot from the article series.

You can find the first part of the series HERE

Stay Healthy,

Mike

FREE SEMINARS!

Hey Guys,

As its Monday and I feel like being generous I am going to give away 3 FREE NUTRITION SEMINARS FOR YOUR CLUB OR GYM!!

All you need to do is click on this link, fill out the form and say I WANT A FREE SEMINAR in the comments.

3 gyms will then be chosen at random on Friday!

For the seminar I can cover whatever nutrition topic you like or simply have it as a Q&A format. Some of the topics I have covered in the past,

• Setting up a nutrition plan
• Weight cutting
• Gaining muscle
• Health
• What foods work best
• Workout Nutrition
• Contest Prep
• Reducing soreness
• Preparing for competition
• The difference between same day weigh ins and day before weigh ins.
• Refuelling after weigh ins
• Hydration
• Weight cutting tips and how to do it safely 

To get the free seminar all you need to do is click on the link above and fill in the form on the website!

The seminar will be completely free, however if you are a fair distance away from the North East of England there will be a slight cost for travel (whatever the cheapest train ticket is).

Stay Healthy,

Mike

Great Video on Reverse Dieting and Metabolic Damage

Hey Guys,

Today I want to share with you a video on reverse dieting and help prevent (and cure) metabolic damage.

Metabolic damage is a really popular topic these days with loads of athletes, fighters and competitors wondering if they suffer from it.

While I think a lot of the stuff put out there is just bad marketing by coaches who are trying to get more clients by scaring them into leaving their coaches, it is still a valid topic and anyone serious about their nutrition should take a look at this.

This video is by Layne Norton and he goes into great detail about what he does with his physique clients after shows or long, hard diets.

Its a great watch so take a look (bit long but worth it).

Stay healthy,

Mike

Interview with Stu Yellin

Hey Guys,

Some of you will know Stu if you are based in the states but some may not. Stu is a great Nutritional and Bodybuilding coach based over in the USA dealing with a large variety of clients.

As Stu launched his first ebook this week (well worth checking out) I thought I would repost this chat we had a while ago.

Enjoy!

Hey Guys,

Today I have the absolute pleasure in talking to Prep Coach Stu Yellin. For those who don't know Stu, he is a world renowned Diet and Training coach that has had clients ranging from physique athletes right through to NFL stars and NPC competitors. He also walks the walk taking Pro cards in the Natural WNBF and USBF federations over in America.

Now I personally love talking with other coaches and athletes from all sports as their is nothing better than sharing ideas and tips that can help each other (we are all one etc). So after following Stu's career and writings on forums I was over the moon when he agreed to have a chat with me.

Hi Stu, firstly thanks for taking the time to chat to me! Lets jump right in!

1. 1.     As a Pro body Builder and someone who has been asked to prep a number of athletes, what things do you think that bodybuilders are doing in their prep that athletes are missing or over looking?

I think it’s safe to say that with bodybuilders, there seems to be more of an understanding of the importance of just how much of a role your adherence to proper daily nutrition, even in the ‘off season’, will affect your results on game day.  Now before people starting slamming me for possibly disrespecting performance athletes (I always refer to bodybuilders and figure women as ‘physique athletes’ by comparison), let me just explain my thinking, and why both groups can benefit from utilizing the latest sound strategies

In terms of body composition, performance athletes simply have a little more leeway because of the nature of their sport. Yes, no one wants to carry around extra bodyfat if they don’t need to, but the best MMA fighter doesn’t need to be the guy with the shredded intercostals in order to be acknowledged as the best in their sport.  Similarly, a few extra lbs of adipose weight aren’t going to negatively impact a linebacker’s performance on the football field.

Physique competitors preparing for a contest are essentially putting their bodies in a position that goes against every biological survival impulse we have.  Like performance athletes, they have undergone brutal training in preparation for their task, yet the physique artists have done so while in a climate of inadequate calories and nutrients.

No sane performance coach would ever restrict his athlete’s nutrients for such an extended period, least their performance suffers. It’s more about skills than visual aesthetics when you’re discussing improving performance. Sure improved body composition is an added benefit for any athlete, but with the bodybuilders, it’s the be-all-end-all, and as such it gets a much higher percentage in the ‘what do we focus on?’ pie chart.

So what we’ve got is the performance athlete whose performance is all that matters, with bodyweight and composition as only a secondary at best focus.  If you’ve got a boxer who rightfully feels that he fights better at a heavier weight, then despite the fact that he may have an obviously protruding gut, how can you argue with his success in the ring?

 This is why you will constantly hear gym rats and even professional calibre bodybuilders discussing concerns such as peri-workout nutrition, nutrient timing, and all sorts of tiny little tweaks that can possibly be made within the strict guidelines and daily limits of a pre-contest diet. When I design nutritional programs for amateur and even professional athletes, I’ve always tried to finesse these approaches into their plans. All athletes, whether performance or physique oriented, should use every tool at their disposal if they truly desire to reach the optimal levels of their capabilities.

2.     As weight manipulation is an important part of cutting for athletes and bodybuilders alike. What approach do you take with clients that that have to adhere to weight classes?

There’s a saying in bodybuilding that you should “step onstage at whatever weight you look best”.  Often times people get a number in their heads of what they feel they’re supposed to weigh.  This more often than not results in a very sobering instance of realizing that you’re not carrying as much muscle as you previously thought.   With a first time client, there’s always a degree of uncertainty.  From having spent considerable time onstage myself, as well as been seated at the judges’ table many times, I like to think that I can make a fairly educated guess as to what weight class a physique competitor will end up in.  Usually, it’s easy to call.  Sometimes though, you get a competitor who will fall right on the cusp of two classes.  This is where you need to weigh the aspect of being the largest individual in the lighter class with the amount of suffering and time constraints required to make that drop.

When dropping bodyweight (fat weight), there are a few guidelines I like to do my best to adhere to:

1- Seek constant progress.  Something unexpected will always throw a monkey wrench in the works, so always be pushing for movement.

2- The more time you have and the slower you can do this, the less drastic things have to be.  Experience shows that this allows for better muscle retention, and with athletes, much less possible reduction in performance.

3-Expect little hiccups.  Sometimes progress may appear to halt, or even completely cease.  Always have options available for adjustments, but at the same time, don’t jump the gun.  I’ve had many clients’ weight hold steady for 2 weeks straight and then suddenly, without any changes in our program, yield a very substantial weight drop overnight.

4- Keep your eye on the desired outcome.  For a bodybuilder, you need to look a certain way.  That means values on the scale are of no concern at the end of the run.  For an athlete, the outcome is to perform at peak levels.  Anything that will inhibit training leading up to an event, as well as during the event itself needs to be properly addressed.

 3.     I’m a big advocate of a solid peri workout protocol and I know that it is something that you have used in your past preps. What approach do you use for clients, and does it vary or do you stick with rough approach and manipulate macros?

 I think every hard training individual can benefit from some degree of nutrient timing.  Essentially, that’s what a good peri-workout approach is, targeting certain macros at a time when your body can benefit the most from them.

How I approach placement of certain nutrients in a diet plan has to do a lot with specific goals for the individual, as well as what the daily #s will allow. Obviously fuelling athletic performance and trying to strip the most body fat possible are going to give you different guidelines to adhere to.

My own thinking has evolved over the years from the basic gym dogma of a ‘magic 20 minutes window’ where you supposedly must race home and get your carbs and fast absorbing protein to a more performance supported approach.  The “old school” method, while definitely a worthwhile and productive protocol, is based more on addressing issues after the fact.  What I mean by that is that while the uptake of glycogen and aminos are indeed accomplished at accelerated rates post training, it does nothing in terms of improving your actual workout for that specific day.  Yes, topping off your body’s stored glycogen will influence your next training session somewhat, but some might argue that anything you can do to improve that day’s training will result not only in greater growth, but greater muscle retention when dieting to strip away body fat.

This is why we’ve seen such an influx of pre-workout products, as well as a staggering variety of drinks designed to be ingested during your actual training sessions.

My personal approach when dieting for contests was to provide the majority of my carb intake for the day before my training, with a smaller amount (depending on my #s for that specific day) sipped during with various other ‘goodies’ that I felt would most benefit my goals.

When I have a basic client who merely wants to drop a few pounds, obviously I’m going to give them a very different protocol than a serious competitor, or even more different than a professional performance athlete. Still, my basic application of nutrient timing and maximizing performance, whether in the gym or on the field, is fairly standard.

4.     Intermittent fasting is now creeping into Combat sports and many people want to know how best to structure this for multiple training sessions. Do you ever use this approach with clients, especially ones that do AM cardio?

 Ahh, the old fasting question.  This seems to be the big thing that people either love, or think is just the latest gimmick.  First, let me preface my opinion by saying that I haven’t tried it myself, so those who are fans can take my opinion with a grain of salt if they choose.

Whatever one’s goals, whether purely physique based, or a muscle for improved performance perspective; the bottom line is always either muscle growth, or optimal muscle retention.  This being the case, the underlying support for dietary protocols should always be to create an anabolic environment in order to maximize protein synthesis. The reason you can read about bodybuilders and athletes engaging in the usual frequent feeding schedule for the last 50 or so years is due to the situation it creates within the body.  Needless to say, fasting does not have the same effect.  While some people will point out recent studies indicating a degree of heightened reaction to nutrients after a short fast, until someone actually produces a champion level physique utilizing a fasting approach, I will hold my judgement on it being a worthwhile approach and I certainly won’t risk using it with clients who pay me based on my track record of proven results.

With regard to AM cardio, you’re always going to have a lot of conflicting opinions simply due several variables upon waking.  Yes, your body has been running off of a greater amount of fatty acids during your sleeping hours.  Yes your blood sugar levels are considerably low. However, as much as these issues sound like everything you need to know in order to reinforce a belief in fasted cardio, there have been too many studies pointing to the fact that it doesn’t really make a difference.  As I’m a big fan of interval work with my clients, I like to think that you get more out of a well fuelled (that means some carbs!) interval session than you would from an unfuelled lengthy bout of steady state work.

I will note though that there is always the added convenience benefit of AM cardio to consider. Simply ‘getting it out of the way’ is something we can all appreciate. Additionally, I have read many respected coach’s theories on how any morning exercise can potentially improve your insulin sensitivity for the rest of the day, which is an added plus for anyone. If someone chooses to make use of morning work, I would suggest that even if you eschew carbohydrates beforehand, a simple bit of BCAAs, and a good thermogenic can prove be worthwhile.

5.     Do you consider any of the approaches you use unusual? Or have things that you believe strongly in but isn’t backed up yet by studies (I don’t like the term ‘broscience’.

 Well, I don’t think I do anything that any other coach or competitor might find especially odd, however the average person would certainly look at my food choices, selection of coolers depending on how long I’m going to be out, or even my habit of using a baby-spoon to eat certain foods (peanut butter for instance) and definitely make some judgements.  As far as things that aren’t backed up yet by studies, I can’t really think of anything that would really stand out.

  I’m certainly not someone who clings for dear life to his research journals and shouts down anyone who believes in any approach that hasn’t been scientifically studied. There have been many instances where gym rats have been several steps ahead of the guys in the white lab coats.  Anecdotal evidence isn’t completely useless; it’s sometimes all you have to go on in the absence of clinical studies.  I like to think that the guys at the top of their respective sports are the ones who are willing to listen to all suggestions, irrespective of their source, and then objectively weigh their value.

6. A lot of the readers of this blog read it for insight into how to recovery from surgery and injury. Could you give us some details into your own recent injury and the following surgery and recovery?

            My own recent injury involved a torn labrum (grade 6) with additional tearing of the spinatis and fraying of my biceps tendon.  It certainly was a shock to me, as I had never really had any shoulder issues.  If anything, I figured that with so many gym goers constantly lamenting how much their shoulders hurt after a day of bench pressing, the fact that mine didn’t meant that I was going to escape any serious training related injuries. Unfortunately, after 20 years of hitting the iron, even the most careful trainers can shows signs of wear and tear. As the surgeon explained it to me, I must have had the injury for quite some time, but due to the extreme amount of compound musculature I had built around what is normally a fragile joint, I never even realized what was going on.  All it took to finally break the camel’s back was fighting to remove a shirt on an especially hot summer day by pulling it over my head!

            Following the actual surgery, I was informed that it was one of the worst cases they had ever seen, and that in addition to what they’d already told me, I had no cartilage left in the joint at all. So while so many people go in for shoulder surgery and have torn muscles or connective tissues reattached, reinforced, or debrided, due to the lack of blood blow to the labrum, my injury was not ever going to really get “better”. It was simply a matter of letting the body knit itself back together around whatever the surgeons had done, and see what I was capable of, both in and out of the gym.

            I didn’t want to get ahead of myself and tell people I was done competing, or say for certain what show I was going to ‘come back’ at because to be honest, I really didn’t know what to expect.  I had never been in so much pain, and even the simplest everyday movements were a painful ordeal.

            The one thing I figured that I MIGHT be able to have some effect on, was the extreme level of muscle loss that I knew to expect.  I had never been one to be able to hold onto my size during prolonged layoffs, so I knew I had my work cut out for me.

            Diet wise, I did my best to maintain some regularity of an eating schedule, ensuring that I was getting decent levels of protein, carbs, and healthy fats throughout the day.  I even made sure that the few supplements that I knew would help my body maintain as anabolic an environment as possible remained mainstays; creatine, BCAAs/CHY, Fish oils, and even some extra minerals at night.

            In terms of training, for 6 months I was in physical therapy 3-4x/week. All upper body work was out aside from the few exercises work with very humbling weights that the DPTs incorporated into helping me regain full ROM and some semblance of every day strength. Lower body though was a different story.  I was equipped with a sling for a while, but it wasn’t uncommon to see me training legs 4x/week, even using my one good arm to secure myself into various leg training machines! Squatting was out, but man did I spend a lot of time doing leg extensions and curls.

            After such a schedule of PT, I eventually found myself on my own in the gym doing what I could for upper body.  Obviously certain exercises are pretty much off the table for me these days, but aside from the very limited work I can do for my chest, I’ve at least gained back enough muscle that anyone who had never stood onstage with some of the best competitors in the world would be very happy seeing my reflection in their mirror. The hardest thing though was not feeling completely beaten upon seeing how much I had lost. Sure I may never look as good as I did at my best, but I busted my butt in the gym every time I walked in long before I ever thought about stepping foot onstage, and nothing about that has changed.

7. What top 5 tips would you give to someone who was recovering from an injury/surgery?

            1-Don’t get ahead of yourself.  Doctors don’t know it all, and everyone is different.  Listen to what they tell you.  Despite not always giving you the news you want to receive, they are always going to tell you what they believe is the truth in terms of getting you healthy.

            2-Control what you can.  If like me, you can’t train at all, you’d be amazed how much damage control you can do simply by staying on top of  your diet. Don’t be the guy or girl who just rolls over feeling sorry for yourself, and later looks back wishing you had taken more initiative.

            3-Pushing too hard too fast can set you back more than you can ever imagine. Do everything you can to regain range of motion and strength levels, but don’t be an idiot.

            4-Research, research, research! Read up on other people’s experiences, what helped them and what didn’t.  You never know what magic tidbits you may stumble across that you may never have thought of on your own.

            5-Eyes on the prize.  Setbacks don’t mean your journey is over.

8. You mentioned that sometimes clients stall at a certain weight for a while. While this is rare that it happens with combat athletes, it can occasionally happen. How do you help reassure physique athletes when this happens?

            I forget which strength coach originally used the Hard Boiled Egg analogy for changing body composition, but I find myself repeating it quite a lot lately. The explanation is that when boiling an egg, to all outward appearances, nothing is occurring. Inside the shell though, there is quite another story transpiring. Too many people focus solely on the bathroom scale as an indicator of “progress”. Unfortunately this is not merely only one of many pieces of data that can be useful to a trainer, but very often it’s the least important.

            Something that I feel helps quite a bit though when a client stalls, is to remind them that I’ve not only worked with so many different individuals over the years, but I’ve actually walked the walk myself. During those contest preps, there have been many times when I wouldn’t lose any scale weight for a couple of weeks, only to suddenly drop 3 lbs the next week as if by magic.

            At a certain point though, especially if you’re working with someone who is more experienced than you, you have to have a little faith and trust the process. The human body never works as perfectly as we want it to in terms of changing our body composition. Variables as seemingly mundane sounding as water levels can have a considerable impact on what the bathroom scale or even the mirror is telling you.  So far, as I’ve been able to explain concepts in simple enough terms to have an athlete understand what’s happening, and what we’re actually trying to do with our approach, none of my athletes have completely freaked out and lost their minds.  At least not yet anyway –lol.

9.  Biotest products. These are very hard to come by in the UK, I am personally going to be reviewing a few for my clients. What would you recommend? Are there any that you advise your clients to take?

            I guess that living in the States, I never really think about various supplements being difficult to come by, but I have heard this before from people living over seas.  The most basic staples of my nutrition plan has been a quality protein powder, and high dosed fish oils.  Long before so many people recognized me as “that guy who’s always on T-Nation” I was using Biotest’s Metabolic Drive powder as well as their Flameout gel caps. Not a month has gone by in the last decade where I haven’t still relied on them in my daily diet.

             Having gotten into bodybuilding in the early 90’s, I really got to see the supplement industry grow from just general health and snake oil products into actually turning out  items that had a profound effect on an athlete’s performance. Now that doesn’t mean that everything out there is cutting edge and must have, but for the most part, it usually means that the basics are certainly of a higher quality.

            If we’re discussing Biotest products though, I’ve certainly tried and made use of many of them over the years. Instead of rambling a bit, let me just list a few of my favorites that I’ve recommended on many occasions:

            -Metabolic Drive Protein Powder – To me, a quality protein powder is one of the most basic staples for any athlete of trainer.  Finding one that has as excellent a breakdown of macros, as well as being comprised of multiple sources (whey and casein), means a truly excellent all-purpose product. Not to mention that Met-Drive mixes quite well and tastes great when thrown into typically boring foods such as oatmeal or cottage cheese.

            -Flame Out & Curcumin – To me, the combination of these two supplements has truly allowed me to deal with beaten up and aging joints while still banging away in the gym relatively pain free. To say that I live on them would be an understatement. Having tried getting away with store brand fish oils in the past, I learned that sometime you’re just better off paying for quality in the first place.

            -Finibars – These I typically just refer to as carb-bars, or even performance bars.  Every good athlete understands the roles of carbohydrates in their diets, however, for someone who has difficulty in reaching specific numbers each day without feeling overly bloated, these truly save the day. When I would be dieting for a contest, and really trying to cram in what many would consider a fairly good amount of carbs each day, there was no way I could do it all from oatmeal, Ezekial bread, potatos, or any of the usually expected dieting sources without feeling unable to move, yet alone train. Even on my lower carb days, when I would do minimal weight work and some cardio, I’d still eat 3 of these before hitting the gym. Never did I ever even feel like I had just eaten. Try that with a Cliff bar, or a Granola bar and see how you feel about hitting the weights for a few hours.

            -Plazma – I used to use something called Anaconda, which, in my opinion, was the perfect workout drink in terms of its basic component (CHY) as well as the various scientifically proven “goodies” that went into it as well (Beta Alanine, Citruline Malate, Creatine etc). This is the updated and improved product that has taken its place.  I relied on this all through my years competing, and with the beatings I subjected myself on a daily basis, it’s amazing that my strength never lagged, nor did I become one of those guys who always dropped a ton of muscle from dieting. I credit intelligent eating and supplementation with that.  There’s a ton of BS products on the market these days that do nothing for muscle growth, and yet people waste their money on them in hopes of finding that one magic supplement. If you ask me though, a quality approach to getting nutrients during your training can make a huge difference in someone who is pushing their body to the limits.

Now, do I recommend them to all of my clients?  You have to remember that I have quite a varied client base.  It’s completely possible to make progress with just good quality foods.  Of course I’m not going to lie and say that I don’t feel they can make a difference.  When I started out, I was really using much in the way of supplements, especially higher quality stuff.  I was broke, and paying my rent, food, and other expenses pretty much cleaned me out.  As I progressed as a competitor, winning a good number of shows, my girlfriend (now wife) agreed that as I had potential, I should do everything I could in order to see just how far I could go.  Luckily things panned out, and I’m not the guy who blew all his money on crazy products, never winning a show, or even coming close to turning pro. So for me, it was definitely a worthwhile investment.  For someone else, you have to ask yourself if it’s an investment that can pay dividends for you.  Are you going to drop money on expensive products but then eat like crap and half-ass your training? If that’s the case, save your money.

10.  The pump. I have a theory about using the pump for athlete recovery. What are your opinions on it when it comes to clients and your own training?

 I think the ‘pump’ is a concept that can be useful, or simply misunderstood.  As I interpret the question, I assume you’re alluding to the increased blood flow to aid in nutrient delivery and waste product removal. This can certainly be helpful in terms of recovery, whatever your sport.  In terms of bodybuilding over the last few years, it’s as if people suddenly started considering the concept of facial stretching in an effort to improve potential muscle growth by expanding what might otherwise be a constraining sheath. While both of these reasons are not the be-all-end-all of anyone’s training progress, I will give credit to trying to use any approach at your disposal to make progress.

            As full muscular recovery is not fully accomplished in the few hours post training, making use of pump movements, even the day after an intense session can have positive effects in terms of both possibilities I’ve mentioned.

            There’s an often forgotten old school technique called a ‘feeder-workout’ that entails training a body part again the day after an intense session.  Now while I believe 2 hard sessions for the same body part in a row can be counterproductive, having the second one as more of an easy, pumping, recovery focused approach can prove to be quite beneficial.

            Too many athletes are quick to overlook how much the body must do to fully recover and make progress between training sessions. In my opinion, that’s where even an advanced trainee can always seek to optimize their approach.

 Thanks for that Stu!

If anyone would like to chat to Stu or see what he has been up to, you can catch him over at hisWEBSITE.

Got any thoughts or comments? Post them below and lets have a chat!

Stay healthy,

Mike