Words of the Wise

[Emma-Leigh]

Thought I would post these wise words from Alan Aragon -> Something to note for everyone.....

• Keep your eyes on YOU. It's fine to get inspired by others' physiques, but you have to set your own personal standards. People tend to fixate on their weaknesses, while at the same time obsess over the strengths of others. That's a surefire way to stay eternally frustrated. It's a healthier approach to acknowledge your own strengths, and use them as benchmarks by which to bring up your weaknesses. Learn to give yourself a pat on the back for the improvements you make. Keep your eyes on YOU, don't let the achievements of others dictate your obsessions.
  
  
• March to your own beat. Everyone has advice to give, and it's important to listen, but ultimately, you have to adapt and mold all advice to your own sensibilities. Although it's not always easy, I try not to be inflexibly dogmatic about what I teach. In many cases, what's known pales in comparison to the sprawling expanse of the unknown. Over time, you'll get to know your body better than anyone else, and what some might sell as natural laws should really only be ideas or options to consider.
  
  
• On these lines, training and nutritional programs pulled from the "experts" shouldn't always be followed to the letter, especially for advanced trainees. Beginners without a clue may need to follow a script with zero deviation, since the alternative might be tripping over their own feet. But with more advanced trainees who have a more highly developed sense of individual response, there should always be a margin for personal intervention and adjustment. The best programs out there are at best good guidelines from which to morph better stuff for the individual situation.
  
  
• Question fitness advice given to you by others. "why" is one of the most powerful words you can put in your vocabulary. Investigating the reasoning behind the advice will often reveal that the answer is "just because", rendering the advice anywhere from helpful, to dangerous, to just a plain waste of time and resources. I encourage my clients, students, and colleagues to question everyone's advice, including mine. I firmly believe that the better you can sharpen your thinking, the better you can continue to sharpen your physique.
  
  
• Scientific research is not bias-free. It's not free of financial interests. It's not free of study design flaws, and it's not perfect. However, it's the best tool that we have for getting closer to understanding the way the body works, the way that nature works. As imperfect as science is, it beats the **** out of hearsay and gym dogma.
  
  
• Many folks into fitness & bodybuilding have this unproductive tendency to think in black & white extremes. They'll scapegoat certain foods, while glorifying the magic bullets. They rarely see the integration of how various components comprise the big picture.
  
  
• Maintenance of a given level of progress is indeed a legitimate goal. In fact, people should consciously build plateau phases into their programs. Everyone hates to hear this, but the plateau phases should get progressively longer. When you step back and think about it, isn't the ultimate goal a plateau of sorts? It makes good sense to give your body regular practice at maintaining. Everyone is so hell-bent on perpetually pressing forward with their goals, that it actually holds them back.
  
  
• A major training mistake I've made in the past - one I think that we've all done - is go more by the numbers than by the feel, letting the numbers dictate the workout rather than letting the muscles do it. I was overly concerned with the quantitative awareness of load progression, rather than what one of my old training partners called "finding the pump". This might be more of a bodybuilding thing than anything else, but people should work up to a point where they are indifferent towards the number stamped on the iron. Trainees should practice developing a sense of optimal resistance for the given goal of any set, even if you're completely unaware of the actual weight. Blindfolded sensation-based training, so to speak.
  
  
• Don't be overly cheap with your time off from training. Athletes' careers are notorious for being slow-motion train wrecks. There are 3 main ways your body lets you know that you need a break: Fatigue, illness, and injury. Fatigue is a bit more insidious, manifesting itself as persistent stalls or decreases in strength or endurance. Most trainees out there wallow in fatigue most of the time, which is a damn shame. Illness and injury are the classic agents of forced layoffs. The best strategy is to stay not just one, but a few steps ahead by taking a full week off from training - I'm talking don't even drive near the gym - about every 8th to 12th week.
  
  
• No one's physique ever fell apart as a result of a periodic week of rest. On the other hand, there are plenty of folks whose great physiques won't last very long, due to bad shoulders, elbows, and knees.
  
  
• Fad diets and fad diet practices should be avoided (and laughed at). Carbs will send you to hell. Sugar is worse for you than *******. Fat is no longer the bad guy, so now it's time to drink a pint of fish oil after every meal. Protein is your savior, eat as much of it as you can. If it's isolated from food and put in a pill, it's GOTTA be better for bodybuilding. C'mon now. A mix of patience + realistic progress expectations is typically the best cure for the compulsion to adopt fad practices or try fad diets.
  
  
• Stop splitting hairs over the "rules". The beauty of food is that, unlike drugs, its physiological effects have neither the acuteness nor the magnitude to warrant extreme micro-management, especially when it comes to nutrient timing relative to training. A half an hour difference here or there really isn't gonna make or break your physique.
  
  
• The first law of nutrient timing is: hitting your daily macronutrient targets by consuming a predominance of minimally processed foods is FAR more important than nutrient timing. The second law of nutrient timing is: hitting your daily macronutrient targets by consuming a predominance of minimally processed foods is FAR more important than nutrient timing.
  
  
• Bodybuilding is a breeding ground for obsessive-compulsive behavior. The irony is that many things people worry about simply have no impact on results either way, and therefore aren't worth an ounce of concern.
  
  
• Worrying about how much fat is burned while doing cardio makes about as much sense as worrying about how much muscle is built while lifting weights.
  
  
• If you have to chew it, it ain't anabolic. [/sarcasm about postworkout nutrition]
  
  
• The better someone's genetics are, the more of a dumbf*ck he is.
  
  
• Avoid food avoidance.

[alan aragon]

Take TWO!

Love ya, Emmz

[Emma-Leigh]

Take TWO!

Love ya, Emmz

^ Back at you, Alan ^

.... Let's hope it sticks this time!

[Ronny520]

# The better someone's genetics are, the more of a dumbf*ck he is.

HAhahah i love that one. It's so true. A friend of mine has body fat of probably 8% and claims he eats fast food nearly every day. I believe it because i've seen it. Surprisingly enough he's ripped.

[MountainSong]

Thanks Alan & Emma. I love it~~gonna put it on the fridge to remind myself~~

[robmad]

thanxs emma for the great thread. i am just beginning my week of rest because i am trying to incorporate this into my workouts every 8th week and i needed to read this to keep resting! i thought twice about going to the gym today to do "just cardio" and now i have renewed my resolve to keep my a** out of the gym for the week! everyone on this site should read this and think about it!

[vixen09]

That is an awesome post. I really didnt think I should stay out the gym a whole week! Now I am considering it, I have been getting alot of injuries/aches and pains. Its really hard when your so obbsessed with working out to tak Bue a couple days off. But if my body needs it I will do it

[karlavgreene]

I read this before and I am so glad I reread it today. Just what I needed! Thanks

[MotivatedMami]

That was awesome. Just copied and saved for keeps.

[RockPower11]

# The better someone's genetics are, the more of a dumbf*ck he is.

HAhahah i love that one. It's so true. A friend of mine has body fat of probably 8% and claims he eats fast food nearly every day. I believe it because i've seen it. Surprisingly enough he's ripped.

That is pretty funny

[Lella01]

Hi Alan, This is really great stuff, I've been really down about myself for the past few weeks, I'm in Aus and I'm wondering if I may post some of it (all with full disclosure that I'm not the writer) on to some of my friends not on here? If not, thats okay too!

[bri87]

I need to print several copies and keep one everywhere!

[princessTiffany]

Crazy good stuff. Helps me out so much. I'm glad I'm being exposed to it early on instead of messing up, getting frustrated and quitting forever. This definitely helpes me "prepare".

[alan aragon]

Hi Alan, This is really great stuff, I've been really down about myself for the past few weeks, I'm in Aus and I'm wondering if I may post some of it (all with full disclosure that I'm not the writer) on to some of my friends not on here? If not, thats okay too!

Yeah, that's fine...sorry for the late response, haven't snooped around the women's forum in a while.

All - I'm glad you're benefitting from this post.

[Jay-doll]

"Worrying about how much fat is burned while doing cardio makes about as much sense as worrying about how much muscle is built while lifting weights."



Can someone please explain this to me?

[Emma-Leigh]

"Worrying about how much fat is burned while doing cardio makes about as much sense as worrying about how much muscle is built while lifting weights."



Can someone please explain this to me?

^
In very brief terms:
- The main substrate your body uses in cardio (eg: fat, glycogen/ glucose, amino acids) will vary depending on intensity, your diet, your fitness level and a bunch of other factors... But, generally speaking - low intensity cardio will burn primarily FAT where high intensity will require carbs/ amino acids to fuel the activity.

- This has (for many years) lead people to the conclusion that if they want to 'lose fat' they need to do low intensity cardio (usually 'first thing in the morning without eating').

- HOWEVER ->> the issue is that LOW intensity cardio is not very taxing, and burns fewer calories for a given time... SO -> unless you do a BUCKET load of it (eg: 4-8 hrs a day type stuff), the overall calories burnt are LOW, and the effect on EPOC (post exercise oxygen consumption) is non-existent.

- High intensity cardio, on the other hand, burns more CALORIES during and post the event. This means that you burn more calories DURING and AFTER the session.

- And, at the end of the day/ week - an accumulation of more calories burnt = more fat loss.

[Jay-doll]

Okay, that makes sense.

Thank you, Emma-Leigh

[eekrodg]

Thought I would post these wise words from Alan Aragon -> Something to note for everyone.....

Great Thread

[vongi]

haha, this stuff is GOLD - esp for noobs like me. saweeeet lol

[fitmom43]

Thank you Alan and Emma!!!! I needed this. I have hit a plateau and it's been driving me absolutely insane!!! You guys Rock!

[Ms. Becca]

Great WORDS!

[dummydam]

yeah great words...keep it going

[hieronymous]

#

*** Maintenance of a given level of progress is indeed a legitimate goal. In fact, people should consciously build plateau phases into their programs. Everyone hates to hear this, but the plateau phases should get progressively longer. When you step back and think about it, isn't the ultimate goal a plateau of sorts? It makes good sense to give your body regular practice at maintaining. Everyone is so hell-bent on perpetually pressing forward with their goals, that it actually holds them back. ***


This is gold.

[TrueAmateur]

#

*** Maintenance of a given level of progress is indeed a legitimate goal. In fact, people should consciously build plateau phases into their programs. Everyone hates to hear this, but the plateau phases should get progressively longer. When you step back and think about it, isn't the ultimate goal a plateau of sorts? It makes good sense to give your body regular practice at maintaining. Everyone is so hell-bent on perpetually pressing forward with their goals, that it actually holds them back ***


This is gold.

No sir... what YOU said... now that's gold.

[ANewMelly]

I am new to the site and really just starting on my journey. My cubicle at work is covered in motivating pictures and thoughts. I am going to print this out and add it to my motivation. Thank you so much for sharing, and thank you, Alan, for writing it.

[ThePurplePassioner]

This was great. I am restarting my transformation process and this will truly help.

[inaka_rob]

I am ocd about gym stuff.... I get way to bogged down in all the little details. as if 30 secs here, or 30 minutes there is going to make that big of a differnce.the stress is much worse on my body I am sure.

[afrisbee122]

Emma Leigh is always inspirational

What an amazing person. She has helped me mentally, through her posts, each time I visit

[tlam12]

Thought I would post these wise words from Alan Aragon -> Something to note for everyone.....

Unfortunately, it may take awhile for this to sink in for some beginners. I love this. Thanks to both you and Alan.

[Pinkpower5]

I needed this. Thank you.