Alan Aragon Seminar Overview

As some of you may have seen Alan Aragon is in Australia at the moment. Just this past weekend he presented at a seminar in Sydney and I was lucky enough to attend.

The event was held at the Museum of Sydney which was a nice location in the CBD to hold the talks. We arrived at 8.30 am to register and get our seats for a 9 am start. Large numbers of fitness industry professionals and nutrition experts were in attendance (I'm not sure how many but the room was more or less full, so I estimate around 50 people). Beforehand I bumped into Alan in the lobby and the first thing he said was "I thought I was going to be bigger than you!" lol!

Lectures kicked off at 9 am beginning with a crash course in science literacy. Alan spoke about the spectrum of evidence ranging from unscientific anecdote to higher levels of scientific evidence. He also went into detail about the different types of scientific studies and review methods that exist. I think this was a good way to kick off the talks because it laid a basis for everything else he was going to talk about and gave a general, conceptual understanding of the scientific method.

Alan getting ready to drop some science

After that Alan got into the meat of his talks covering the scientific evidence in regards to various topics and the conclusions we can draw from that evidence. I don't want to go into too much detail about these topics or give too much away because it would be unfair to Alan, the event promoters and all the people who paid good money to attend the seminar. However I will say that the seminar was largely focused on nutrition with some mention of training and other topics. There was also ample opportunities for people to ask Alan questions.

I want to also talk about Alan's ability to speak. He really is a very good presenter. I'd put him up there with Eric Helms in ability to convey what he wants to say clearly and in a way that the audience can understand. It says to me not only that he is an accomplished public speaker but that he really knows his shit! Additionally Alan includes a fair bit of humor (dat trolling) in his talks which I think was a nice touch because it just made the day more enjoyable for everyone.

Outside of the lecture room Alan is a very approachable, genuine and easy going guy. Just easy to get along with and talk to. He stayed behind to take photos with and speak to each of us at the end of the day. We even caught him by coincidence for a drink at Opera Bar later in the evening, lol.

Epic Bro Fist

Getting completely out-angled by Alan

The event itself was well run. We were welcomed at the entrance by Jill and Charlotte of Two Buff Girls at the beginning of the day when we checked in, the location was easily accessible and comfortable, we received gift bags from the sponsors Bulk Nutrients and during the day we were provided with breaks to forage for some paleo snacks and so out brains didn't get over trained from all the science sir Aragorn was dropping. I'd like to express a warm thankyou to Jill and Charlotte from Two Buff Girls (http://www.twobuffgirls.com) for putting on the event so that all us Sydney-siders could learn from Alan. Looking forward to future events hosted by Two Buff Girls.

Also a thankyou to Alan for coming out all the way to Australia to present for us. No doubt we all learned a lot and for me it was a great experience meeting you outside of the interwebz :)

There are limited tickets still available for the Melbourne seminar this weekend and they are available at:

http://www.twobuffgirlsevents.com.au

Alan also does a monthly research review, the Alan Aragon research review (AARR) which you can subscribe to right here -> http://alanaragon.com/aarr.html

Thanks for reading guys. Remember you can get in touch with me or follow me via the following avenues. Coaching inquiries are best directed directly to email.

Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - http://www.muscleacademy.com.au
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon

- Evan

Fitness Industry Extremism

This is going to be a fun topic to write about. I find this one really funny because people in the fitness industry (especially bodybuilding) love to take everything to the extreme. I wonder sometimes whether people want to attract attention, sound cool or whether they actually believe in what they are saying. Anyway let's get into it.

Titles of Training Videos and Articles

What is typical of these kind of media are people using extremist terms to describe training certain body parts. They can also be used on social media at times by bodybuilders who have uploaded perhaps a photo of themselves training. Generally you'll see things like "Blast your Biceps!" or "Crushing Calves" lol. Note the mandatory use of the common letter at the beginning of both the body part and the adjective. You can't just have a video which says "Training Chest" it has to be something EXTREME like "Punishing the Pecs!".

 Jay Cutler blasting his biceps

Talking about Training at the Gym

This kind of talk usually results from the question "what ya trainin' today?", which is a useless question in and of itself because nobody actually really cares what you are training, it's just a filler comment. But that's a different topic and I digress. The question sometimes results in an answer like "just smashing a bit legs" which leads me to think two things 1. "smashing"? What are you smashing them with a sledgehammer or something? and 2. which "bit" of your legs are you smashing? Similarly the response may be "just smashing some biceps" ... "some biceps" ... just some random biceps? Which ones? It's funny to listen to the way people talk in the gym. Oh and of course I can't forget the use of the word "aye" which is added onto the end of the sentence ie "Just smashing some chest aye". Ah, gets me every time.

The "No Pain, No Gain" Mentality

This is also known as the "go hard or go home" mentality. This occurs both with people training with weights in general and amongst some personal trainers. I'd actually go as far as to say that it's common place. People tend to hold the belief that more is better. Train to failure and beyond, break through the pain barrier, use extreme intensity techniques, take no rest days, train until you vomit or collapse, the more pain the better etc. The idea that if you aren't training balls to the wall all the time you aren't training hard enough is not only false, it's not even close to being an ideal way to train for progress. My best guess at where this comes from is that bodybuilding is an activity where you are trying to accrue and retain as much muscle mass on your frame as possible. So the end goal is extreme (retention of extreme muscle mass) and I think that people therefore associate that you must go to extremes on all fronts eg pain, fatigue, intensity, rest periods to achieve that goal.

The Dreamer Bulk

I'm sure we've all seen this one. Some of us may have even taken this approach at some point. The goal in this case is of course gaining muscle mass and often you may hear the phrase thrown around "gotta eat big to get big". Well that's true you do need to eat in a caloric surplus to gain muscle but rates of muscle gain are generally quite slow for natural lifters. In fact depending on training age and dosage the rate of muscle gain for some enhanced lifters is not going to be exactly off the charts. But still people think that somehow gaining a huge amount of weight which is largely body fat is going to cause them to gain a lot more muscle mass. Now I'm not saying that there is no context under which one should bulk but in many cases it is smarter to gain enough body fat to improve leverages and then to stay either at maintenance calories or in a slight surplus (depending on a variety of factors). Huge calorie surpluses are just going to cause you to gain fat which you will inevitably have to lose later (which doesn't bode well for any additional muscle tissue you may have gained as a result of that surplus).

The Aesthetic Movement

Somehow the obsession with "aesthetics" that has arisen in recent years has turned into the "let's be shredded all year round" movement. It would surprise me if the majority of people who follow this kind of thing actually have an understanding of what aesthetic physique qualities are (but that's another topic). Anyway, unless you have an outstanding metabolism staying shredded year round probably means that you will be in a caloric deficit year round. And that means you won't be gaining any muscle (unless maybe anabolics are involved). If improving your physique and maximising the aesthetic qualities (eg symmetry, proportion) are goals that are important to you then it's probably an intelligent idea to stop trying to be ripped all the time and allow yourself to eat consistently above maintenance for decent periods of time so that you can actually improve those things. And as a side note that I may address in future blogs, that goes for the bodybuilders who do 16 comp preps every single year. %^*# sake just have an off season for once!

Labeling things as "good" and "bad"

People in fitness often label things absolutely as good and bad. This can relate to food choices, training methods, exercise choices, supplements, equipment, exercise technique etc. Unfortunately it's not always that simple. It's not always black and white but rather there are shades of grey. In other words there is no good and bad, only context.

Hitting PRs

Now this is an interesting one. Hitting PRs (lifting the same weight for more reps or more weight for the same reps) is important to some degree if your goal is hypertrophy because progressive overload is one of the major factors involved. I actually encourage people strongly to focus on progressive overload. However I want to note that goals always need to be at the forefront of our minds when it comes to this kind of thing because getting too wrapped up in getting stronger can be a negative thing. If you are focused on achieving a personal best lift at all costs, form can really go out the window and you are risking a one way trip to snap city. For example if you are deadlifting the heaviest weight you've ever lifted but you get stuck at the knees, your back is rounded and you are hitching back and forth until you eventually lock it out ... did you really hit a PR? IMO no you didn't. My suggestion in this case is to leave your ego at the door, use an intelligent approach to progressive overload with realistic expectations of the rate of strength (and muscle) gain and have lots of patience.

Ok that's about it for this one guys. Like Jason Blaha would say "I hope this was informative and I will see you guys next time, but let me give you guys a bicep shot first". 

Me giving Jason a bicep shot

Remember you can get in touch with me or follow me via the following avenues. Coaching inquiries are best directed directly to email.

Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - www.muscleacademy.com.au
Facebook - www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon

- Evan

Is it necessary to do isolation exercises?

This is a question that I was asked yesterday and I want to address here in this blog so that everyone can have access to my thoughts on it. To be more specific the person asked this question in relation to building a good physique and it was asked along the lines of "if I just do the major compound movements in each workout will that be enough to build a good physique?". I will answer the question in relation to this context.

Firstly the positives of doing a bunch of compound movements only (let's say for example squat, deadlift, bench press, OHP, row):

- The major muscle groups are covered
- These exercises recruit significant amounts of muscle fibres
- There is a lot of potential for progressive overload
- It is an efficient way to train
- Potential for training frequency to be high
- Recovery is likely to be good

Of course there are down sides to doing only compound exercises:

- Numerous muscle groups are trained either minimally or not at all
- Volume is limited by fatigue on each exercise
- Weak muscle groups are not addressed
- Repetitive stresses caused by the same movement patterns and a lack of balance in opposing muscle groups can lead to injury
- Lack of variety can become boring

If you were to train using the exercises above or similar exercises then you would be neglecting the calves, abdominals, upper traps, biceps, rear delts, triceps (long head) and to some degree the lats. Like the name implies isolation exercises isolate muscles meaning you are able to specifically target areas that don't get much work. If you were to avoid isolation exercises your physique would be likely to lack completeness and proportion.

Additionally isolation exercises are a really good way to add extra volume to muscles that are already being trained by the big compound movements and to your hypertrophy routine in general. Isolation exercises are also fairly easy to recover from so you can add a reasonable amount of accessory work without hampering recovery excessively.

If you have one or two weak muscle groups that aren't covered by the major compound lifts and you aren't doing any isolation work at all then you've pretty much doomed that muscle to always being under developed. For example if you have weak biceps they probably aren't going to grow to a great degree from rowing and may require some more targeted work to respond.

Ever noticed that when you keep doing an exercise for a really long period of time that sometimes you get an injury related to that movement. Sometimes it can be due to faulty mechanics, however other times it can just be due to the repetitive strain of doing the same thing over and over. I'm all for exercise consistency to produce adaptations from progressive overload but only as far as that does not cause negative progress or time off from lifting.

Again doing the same movements workout after workout for a long time period can become stale and boring. Having some isolation exercises in your routine to add some variety can be beneficial in avoiding hating your workouts and becoming unmotivated. Additionally it is often the case that isolation exercises can be subbed out for other exercises when required and it won't really make a huge difference to progress as much as it can with compound movements which have a complex motor pattern and involve large amounts of weight.

In summary my answer is clearly that isolation exercises are needed if the purpose of training is to build a good physique. If you disagree with me or want to add anything to the discussion why not let me know in the comments section below or on social media.

Remember you can get in touch with me or follow me via the following avenues. Coaching inquiries are best directed directly to email.

Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - www.muscleacademy.com.au
Facebook - www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon

- Evan

Stop Buying Into Fads and Gimmicks

Fads and Gimmicks

The fitness industry is absolutely full of fads and gimmicks. Infomercials, gurus, personal trainers, magazines, supplement companies and retailers - just some of the people and things you might find are trying to sell you bullshit products and concepts.

Chances are we have all bought into something (perhaps many things) that was rubbish either financially or conceptually at some point in time. I know I've been there and done it. I've walked into supplement stores and been sold a heap of supplements. I've spoken to the "big guy" in the gym and asked for training advice. I've read bodybuilding magazines and articles without questioning the information. I can't say that I've bought a whole bunch of fitness equipment that has been gimmicky at least so that is something.

The thing is fads have always existed in the fitness industry and they always will exist. Me writing this blog post won't do anything to change that. So if we can't change the problem, what can we change to create a solution? We need to change ourselves and the way we respond to marketing and information.

How to avoid being a sucker

1. Educate yourself - This is the most important thing you can do. The difficulty of course being that it's difficult to decifer what is true from what is false. Some suggestions for learning - follow those who practice evidence based fitness, seek out and read journal articles, read reputable and referenced articles, watch videos, listen to podcasts, read books and ebooks, attend seminars, subscribed to evidence based research reviews, work with a good coach, join evidence based fitness groups. The more you learn, the better position you will be in to make informed decisions. You will start recognising what is garbage, what is useful and what you are still unsure about.

2. Use logic - Whilst using logic doesn't always work because logical things are not always necessarily true it is a reasonably good way to do things. This is especially true when combined with a good knowledge base. A logical mind is a powerful tool. More often than not people do things that aren't ideal simply because they didn't think things through logically.

3. Question everything - When you learn something new, you need to ask yourself how valid that piece of information is. Does it have any evidence backing it up? How reputable are the sources of that evidence? Secondarily, does it make sense? In other words do your research and check whether things are evidence based rather than blindly following what you are told or what you read.

4. Stop thinking physique = knowledge - Separate the two. Lots of factors go into building a good physique that can be completely outside of knowledge eg drugs, genetics. Someone can have a good physique and poor knowledge, a good physique and good knowledge, a poor physique and good knowledge or a poor physique and poor knowledge. So stop looking at someone's physique and associating that with their knowledge of fitness.

5. Avoid looking for the golden ticket - It doesn't exist (well outside of drugs). But drugs aside, there really are no "secrets" to building muscle. If you want to build muscle do these things: eat a surplus of calories, eat enough protein, apply progressive overload to your training, be consistent, be patient. Guess what? Those are the main things you need to do! But it seems either nobody wants to hear it because it's boring or people expect unrealistically fast results. Natural bodybuilding is a long and gradual process. You need to be patient. Once you get to the advanced level, strength and physique progress can become extremely slow. Of all the people that started lifting at the same time I did, hardly any of them are still lifting and only a couple are still natural. To me that says a lot about how much patience and dedication natural bodybuilding requires in order to be successful.

6. Use your knowledge and experience to expand on the basics - If you can develop a pretty good base for your training and nutrition then use what you have learned to fine tune or improve what you are doing (or at least to experiment). This might include things like tweaking macronutrient ratios, adjusting calorie targets, implementing strategies to manage recovery, structuring training variables within cycles of a training program etc. Some of these things can make a big difference to your progress but you really need to have a basic structure in place first before you start playing with the pieces of the puzzle.

7. Think long term - Today I saw someone post on facebook that they were going to try an eight hour arm workout because he had seen Rich Piana doing it. Not only is this a waste of time but it's likely to cause a lot of unnecessary soreness and fatigue that will affect one's ability to work out for days following. Additionally it carries a high risk of injury. My point in mentioning this is it's always better to think long term. If doing something now could affect you negatively this week, in a month or down the track and the risk/reward ratio is high then you probably shouldn't do that thing. Consider longevity and create a plan for long term success.

If you can implement these seven things to the best of your ability I think you'll generally be on a pretty good course to getting where you want to go without getting bogged down in bullshit. I hope you have found this helpful. If you disagree with me on any of these points or have any more ideas for navagating through fitness industry fads be sure to let me know.

Remember you can get in touch with me or follow me via the following avenues.

Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - www.muscleacademy.com.au
Facebook - www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon

- Evan