Back To Basics

Everyday I get a question on what someone thinks of a certain exercise. "Doug, what do you think of the 1 foot elevated push-up, on a bosu ball, with a dumbbell balanced on my back, during a thunderstorm, and the Beatles playing in the background.?" Too many people try to complicate their programs so much that they are no longer effective. That same person that asked the above question most likely skips half their workouts and has a double cheeseburger and a bud light as their post-workout meal.

Don't get me wrong, there is place in a workout for a 1 foot elevated push-up on a bosu ball, but for the average Joe or Jane they need to focus on the basics. If you have not consistently stuck to a designed program for 4-6 weeks you need to go back to the basics. What are the basics?

In my opinion, the most basic program you can do is a full-body program, 3 times a week, with a day off in between each workout. Before you start throwing in all these complex exercises, super-sets, negatives, and all the other things, you need to build a foundation. YOU WILL NOT SEE RESULTS IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GOOD FOUNDATION BUILT!

This full-body program is what I consider to be the most basic of programs, and for a beginner, does an excellent job at building a solid foundation that can be built on.

Program completed: Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

Rest: 30-45 seconds

Tempo: 2/1/2

Sets/Reps: 3sets of 10reps

Exercises(In this order):

Squat

Chest Press

Back Row

Shoulder Press

Triceps Pressdown

Biceps Curl

Abdominal Plank

The science behind this program is simple. You take each muscle group, largest to smallest, and choose a fundamental exercise for that group. Keeping the rest periods short adds some endurance to the workout, and the tempo is a pretty standard tempo, nothing too slow or too fast.

Now, is this a program for a elite athlete, or a power lifter? Hell no! If you're EDUCATED on what you're doing, and have been lifting properly is this the appropriate program for you? Hell no! However, if you go into the gym with no plan, shoot the shit with your friends, and come out accomplishing absolutely nothing, this may be a good program to build your foundation. If you go to the gym less than the Red Sox beat the Orioles, then this may be a good program to build your foundation.

A house can't be built without a foundation. If you have your foundation built, then you need a more specialized, periodized program. However, I can guarantee you most of the population out there does not have their foundation built, and doing this program CONSTANTLY for 4-6 weeks will build a solid foundation.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

As always, any questions or comments shoot me an e-mail.

Best,

Doug Spurling, BS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spuring Strength & Speed

Dspurling@une.edu

What came first the chicken or the egg?

I wanted to share this article with you all one more time. I had yet another encounter of someone mentioning they are throwing away the yolks of their eggs and only eating the whites. Little do they know, all the nutrition is in the yolk. Read the article below and you will see why eating the whole egg is the better choice.

Click here for the truth about eggs

Best,

Doug Spurling, BS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spurling Strength & Speed

dspurling@une.edu

German Body Composition

Did you indulge in a few too many fruity drinks with umbrellas or friend clams on the beach this summer? Got a few extra pounds that need to be shredded for an upcoming wedding? Is your sport starting up and you need to get whipped into shape quick? If your goal is to get into better shape and shed some baggage I have a program for you.

German Body Composition, GBC for short, will rip fat off your body quicker then you can put a whoppie pie down. In a nutshell, the program is based on short rest intervals, super-setting different body parts, pushing you lactate threshold to the max, and increasing your growth hormone.

Here is what a German Body Composition program looks like:

Day One: Chest and Back

A1. 6 Incline Dumbbell Presses at 45-degree angle
Rest 10 seconds
A2. 12 Incline Barbell Presses at 45-degree angle
Rest 10 seconds
A3. 25 Incline Dumbbell Press at 30-degree angle
**Rest 2 minutes
**Repeat 3 times

B1. 6 Weighted Chins
Rest 10 seconds
B2. 12 Bent-over Rows
Rest 10 seconds
B3. 25 Seated Cable Rows
**Rest 2 minutes
**Repeat 3 times

Day Two: Legs

A1. 6 Squats
Rest 10 seconds
A2. 12 Lunges
Rest 10 seconds
A3. 25 Leg Extensions
**Rest 2 minutes
**Repeat 3 times

B1. 6 Leg Curls
Rest 10 seconds
B2. 12 Romanian Dead Lifts
Rest 10 seconds
B3. 25 Reverse Hypers/Back Extensions
**Rest 2 Minutes
**Repeat 3 times

Day Three: OFF

Day Four: Arms and Shoulders

A1. 6 Seated Dumbbell Presses
Rest 10 seconds
A2. 12 Seated Lateral Raises
Rest 10 seconds
A3. 26 Front/Posterior Raises
**Rest 2 minutes
**Repeat 3 times

B1. 6 Dips or Close-Grip Bench Presses
Rest 10 seconds
B2. 12 Skull Crushers
Rest 10 seconds
B3. 25 Cable Pressdowns
**Rest 2 minutes
**Repeat 3 times

C1. 6 incline Dumbbell Curls
Rest 10 seconds
C2. 12 Standing Barbell Curls
Rest 10 seconds
C3. 25 Standing Pulley Curls
**Rest 2 minutes
**Repeat 3 times

Day Five: OFF

REPEAT

Seems pretty simply on paper, but with the short rest intervals you will be panting more than a German Shepherd on a hot August day. If your up to it, give this program a try and let me know how it goes for you.

As always, any questions regarding fitness, sports, or nutrition please don't hesitate to contact me. I am always looking for blog topics.

I hope you're out enjoying the final few days of nice weather, because before you know it we will be digging ourselves out of that fresh white powder!

Best,

Doug Spurling, BS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spurling Strength & Speed

Dspurling@une.edu

Thursday Hodepodge

I finally got a day off from the craziness of the ICU, ER, and rehab center of the hospital. I know I am long overdue for a blog post so I made sure I took the time today to give you guys some good reading. Today is going to be a little hodgepodge of everything.

1. P90x is going great. I have shredded about 30 pounds so far with about 5 weeks left in the program. Yes, I may have lost some muscle size, but I am in the stage in my workout life where I don't need to bench 400lbs and squat mountains. I would rather look good naked. Plain and simple. Once my football days were over, I realized that I didn't have to weigh 295lbs and be bulky, I had no use for it. So now, I am working on getting as lean as possible. I am hoping to get down to about 235 with my current weight being 260. The reason P90x is so challenging for me is because of the massive change. When you train for strength and power, like a football player, you train with real heavy weight. Rarely would you ever see me doing something for more then 6-8 reps. As a result, when Tony wanted me to do 12 reps + on everything, I was a bit thrown off. However, because there was such a drastic change in the program, it caused a drastic change in my body. I encourage anyone who has ever thought about doing P90x to give it a try. I am not selling it by any means, it is really nothing special. However, what got me was the drastic change in pure volume of reps for each workout.

2. I got a question from a viewer about what supplements to take. You hear kids today taking Jack3d and all these other sugar filled products that claim to help in every way possible. The truth is, most of them are crap. The saying that America has the most expensive urine has never been so true. Most of these supplements don't even get absorbed by the body, and end up just getting excreted into or toilet. Thus, that $45 dollar bottle of Jack3d ultimately ends up getting flushed down the toilet with your steak and corn you had last night. For the average Joe and Jane, you only need a few basic supplements. Now, yes a hardcore athlete or bodybuilder may need more, but for the weekend warriors who are just trying to look good this is what I recommend.

A. A good complete multi-vitamin-taken twice daily9(see previous blogs for why)
B. Fish oil
C. 100% whey protein

Those three things with a well balanced diet will produce any results you want as long as the diet and program are followed.

3. For those idiots who think its cool to drink and drive. Follow me around for a day and see the 19 year old girl in a halo brace, the 21 year old guy who has so much brain trauma he can't remember his own name let alone how to go the bathroom or even walk, the 45 year old who crashed his motorcycle after leaving the bar and now needs to spend the rest of his life in wheel chair because both of his legs were amputated above the knee, or the 18 year old girl who has a fractured pelvis and fractured C1 because she was texting and slammed into a tractor trailer. These are things that I see everyday at my job, and I love it. It has made me realize the true value of life, and to take each day as a gift. Finally, nothing is more rewarding then giving that 21 year old a handshake goodbye as he steps up into his moms SUV after receiving treatment for his injuries. Just please, do me a favor, never drive drunk and never text and drive because I can tell you first hand through hundreds of experiences, the outcomes are not pretty.

A little exercise stuff a little life lesson stuff. A little bit of everything on this Thursday. Send me an e-mail with any questions or topic ideas, I would be happy to write about them.

Now get your butt of the couch and go enjoy this beautiful weather!

Best,

Doug

Update on the P90X

Some of my loyal fans have probably wondered where the heck have I been? The others, well I'm going to tell you anyways.

So I am 1 month into P90X and I am loving the results. It was a large adjustment at first for me. The reason being I had always trained real heavy weight, low reps. My training was more for power, size, and strength. So very rarely would you see me do more then 8 reps per set. Well, when I started p90X, I was shocked. They wanted you doing 12-15reps an exercise, and sometimes maximum reps. Well, this was quite humbling. I may of been able to bench a mountain, but have me do max reps on push-ups, FORGET IT! So, I started off pretty slow. However, once my body got use to it, I started seeing some great results.

As far as the results go, I could not be happier. I started the program on Day 1 weighing in at 292lbs. My max push-up was about 34, and my max pull-up was about 2(yeah don't laugh, remember what I said about training style). On the last workout of Month 1, I weighed in at a slimming 274 lbs. I am up to about 48 push-ups and 6 pull-ups, and that number is increasing daily.

Now, you may look at those numbers and say that is pathetic. Well, it is slightly! However, you have to realize, like I mentioned above, I had previously only trained for power and strength, so my body shutdown and needed a break after about 6 reps. So, this high rep thing took some getting use to.

My goals for this program are to be able to do 75 push-ups in a row, as well as 15 pull-ups. I also would like to weigh in below the 250 mark. Some of you out there might think of 250 as being heavy. Well for someone at my height(6'6"), and the build I have, that would have me pretty lean(abdominal definition lean). Also know that I haven't been below 250lbs since 8th grade! With 2 more months to go, I am more then confident that I will not only reach my goals, but surpass them as well!

As far as why I haven't posted in awhile. Well, on top of running my personal training business, I am also working some crazy hours at the local hospital. I am also in preparation of applying to graduate schools. So, life is a tad crazy right now. I will keep you posted as to how this is going, and look forward to some comments below.

All the best,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

What's the deal with P90X?

I am sure most of you have heard of the at home workout system, P90X. Now, I would agree that 99% of the programs/products sold on TV are complete junk. However, P90X seems to be one of the very few that produce true results. I have had several friends and clients transform their bodies greatly with the program. I have had several people ask me what I think about the program. Well, you know what I told them? I really don't know. I have always stuck to the philosophy that I will never have a client of mine do something unless I have tried it myself first. How could I recommend a program, if I have not done it myself?

A quick story. I had a client last summer who came to me for weight loss. We worked all summer long and saw minimal results. I consulted with some other professional in the field and they recommended giving him a colon cleanse. Well, I have never done a colon cleanse. So yes, you guessed it, I did the colon cleanse first. The cleanse consisted of only drinking cranberry juice for five days! Yeah, that's it! So as my girlfriend was shoving delicious food in my face, for five days I survived off cranberry juice. Well, I got a few things out of it. First, I will NEVER drink cranberry juice again. Second, I lose 18lbs! Finally, I felt re-energized and had an understanding of what it did to the body. So, I went ahead and had my client give it a try. He finished the 5 day regiment having dropped 20lbs and feeling great.

The whole point to that story? I will never recommend or prescribe something that I haven't done myself. So, as a birthday present my girlfriend got me the P90X package. I will be starting it on Monday, May 23rd. I will be keeping track of EVERYTHING! So, look forward to updates, before and after pictures, and much more!

Best,

Doug Spurling
Spurling Strength & Speed
dspurling@une.edu

How much Jack3d does it take to get Jacked!?

Every day I always can count on someone asking me two questions. The first one, how tall are you? The second one, which supplements can I take to lose weight or gain muscle? Well, I don't think I can control the first question, but maybe this blog will decrease the number of times the second questions gets asked. No, don't get me wrong, I am glad people are coming to me for advice before the go piss away their money at the drug store. One last pro claimer, I am not a dietitian nor a nutritionist. I simply have experience with supplements and have done a plethora of research on them to know what is good for the body, and what is not.

The first step is taking a look at the word supplement. A supplement is an accessory or something you add to your diet. Supplements CAN'T replace an unhealthy diet! So, before anyone goes off and adds any supplement to their body, they need to have a healthy diet. Once your diet is in check for several months in a row, consistently, then there may be some things that can be beneficial for you.

The first one we look at is a multi-vitamin. A multi-vitamin is just that, a pill that contains multiple vitamins. It is always a good idea to take a multi-vitamin twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. Your body can only absorb about 50% of the vitamins at once, so those one-a-day pills are junk unless taken twice a day.

Fish oil would be next on my list. Fish oil has shown several benefits including joint health, cardiovascular health, healthier skin complexion, and some fat loss. Each brand contains different dosages, so typically just follow the directions on the back of the bottle.

Next up is protein. There are several types of protein including egg, soy, casein, and whey. In my opinion whey is the best overall protein. It is fast absorbing and typically doesn't hold a ton of sugars. You should remember back from one of my previous blog posts that depending on your goal you should get between 1-2 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. This can be done with the proper foods such as eggs, meats, nuts, and dairy. However, there will be days when a protein shake may be needed as a snack to give you that extra protein. Try to stay away from the premixed protein shakes. I suggest 100% whey protein that comes in a jug and you simply mix it with water.

Those three basic supplements can cover the general person. Now, my advanced lifters and athletes, they might need a little more. You might want to take a look back at my blog on creatine, a great supplement for advanced lifters. However, it doesn't matter who you are, you should not be taking any supplements until your diet is in check.

The important thing to remember is supplements just like everything today, is a business. All of these companies are just trying to make as much money as possible. So, they write things on their bottles like muscle gain, fat loss, and lose 100lbs in one month. The sad thing is, so many people each day fall for these gimmicks. Sadly, 99% of the time they are literally just pissing away their money. America is all about the quick fix, they want a pill to do all the work for them. Well, I got news for you. If you want good results, that will last a life-time, you need to work hard and have a good diet. There are no secrets!

Questions or comments? Shoot me an e-mail or comment below.

Best,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Spurling Strength & Speed
dspurling@une.edu