Simply Put, The Greatest of All Time...

I usually spend a good deal of time researching information for whatever particular topic I want to blog about before I post. But today is a little different. A lot different, actually. For today, we mourn the loss of the greatest entertainer of all time, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.



No matter what your background, race, age, or religion, he affected us all. And no matter what one may or may not feel about the man's personal life and decisions, no one can deny his artistry. His music is incomparable and unmistakably one of a kind.

Michael Jackson sold nearly 1 billion solo albums throughout the course of his 40-year career, making him the highest selling music artist ever. These numbers are sure to increase with the learning of his passing, as people rush to their nearest record store to secure a piece of his legacy. I earlier stated to a fellow blogger that, "200 years from now, people will STILL know about Michael Jackson." We call that legendary.

I'm going to Best Buy today to find myself fresh copies of "Thriller", "Off the Wall", and "Bad". My plan is not to listen to them, but to preserve them in their orignal packing and present them as a gift to my 3-year old daughter one day when she's old enough to recognize greatness.

1958 - 2009

Now, what are you going to do?

CAS

The Hardgainer's Guide to Nutrition: EAT!

A fraternity brother of mine recently asked me if I had any advice for him on how he could gain some weight. Like a lot of us, he's a hardgainer: thin bone structure, long limbs, naturally lean body composition, and a naturally high metabolism. For guys like him, losing weight is NOT the problem. It's gaining weight that's the real predicament.


Outside of using a training routine that requires the use of a ton of heavy squatting, pressing, and rowing, there's only one other trick of the trade (that's legal): Eat food. Eat lots of food. And do it often.

This doesn't mean you should eat everything in sight. Try to consume as many calories per day as possible while staying away from refined sugars and fatty foods. Eat too much of the bad stuff and your next question will be, "How do I lose this gut?" To which I'll refer you to this article. You must eat clean in order to ensure that your weight gain is in the form of lean muscle tissue and NOT fat.

Start by setting a benchmark of consuming 2,500 calories per day divided amongst 4-8 meals. You should be eating something about every 2 to 4 hours. Personally, I try to take in approximately 4,000 calories per day. Calories are simply how we measure the body's energy input and output. So in order to gain weight you must take in more calories per day than you put out. (Vice versa for weight loss.) You can't expect to get big when you're burning thousands of calories a day lifting weights, doing cardio, and playing ball. Just eat, lift heavy 3 or 4 times per week, and minimize the cardio (if any at all).

Protein consumption is a key component to gaining lean muscle tissue. For weight gain, you are to eat 1.5 - 2 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. You read right, fellas. That's a LOT of protein. If you're sure to eat a good quality source of protein at each meal, then this shouldn't be too big of an issue. This is where protein shakes and bars come in handy. Use them as snacks between your regular meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You should also drink a high calorie/high carbohydrate protein shake within 30 minutes following your workouts to help with muscular recovery and repair.

Eating correctly, no matter what your goal, can be a little tricky at times. But the trick is to find a good rhythm or routine in order to force it all into becoming a habit. Enough reading. GO EAT SOMETHING!

Now, what are you going to do?

CAS

Finally! Cardio for the Strength Athlete.

So I recently retired from playing minor league football a few weeks short of my 29th birthday. Having played nearly my entire life, I decided that I was finally tired of the bumps, bruises, and injuries that serve as the opportunity cost of playing such a vicious and violent game. Nonetheless, I'll always love the game and it will always be a huge part of me and who I am as a competitor.

Toting the rock in the final game in my hometown

How you doin'?

So now that football is over for me, where in the hell am I going to get my cardio from? If you're a strength athlete like me, then you almost feel allergic to cardiovascular training. However, as we get older the need for cardio becomes more prevalent. Knowing that, I went on a hunt for a few cardiovascular conditioning programs and came across two offseason routines put together by the strength and conditioning coaches for the Houston Texans NFL franchise. Both routines are timed speed intervals with one covering 60 seconds and the other covering 30 seconds. The idea is for the first program to be simulated 400 meter runs and the second program to be 200 meters. (It should be noted that as a athletic performance professional and former football player, I do not advocate running more than 100 yards as a form of football conditioning. Distance running is not functional for the game of football in any way. However, these running programs are great forms of conditioning for other sports that requiring middle distance running and for Joe Blows like you and I.) The programs go as follows:

400's Treadmill Interval Workout

Exercise time: 60 seconds

Rest interval: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

Repetitions: 6

Instructions: Run for 60 seconds, then either dismount the treadmill or slow walk for 2 minutes, 30 seconds. (Always use 2 and half times the running time for recovery) Continue this process until you've finished 6 repetitions. Cool down at 3 mph for 3 minutes. When you can complete all 6 reps at the same speed, increase the speed by 1/2 mph on your next workout. For safety reasons, do NOT exceed 15 mph. Once 15 mph has been acheived, begin to increase the treadmill incline. Workout should take approximately 17 minutes.

200's Treadmill Interval Workout

Exercise Time: 30 seconds

Rest Interval: 1 minute, 15 seconds

Repetitions: 10

Instructions: Same as above, but adjust for 30 second intervals with 1 minute, 15 seconds of recovery time and 10 repetitions.

These programs are designed for the trainee to reach the target heart rate zone of 70-85% of your max heart rate. Working in this target zone is optimal for the conditioning of the cardiorespiratory system. And best of all, each program only takes 17 friggin' minutes! As a strength athlete, you probably don't want to be on the treadmill for 45 minutes to an hour with long distance cardio, as this will have adverse effects towards my strength and muscular gains. (Just think, have you ever seen a big strong marathoner or cyclist? Last time I checked, Lance Armstrong was about 165 lbs...with or without performance enhancers.) In performing these running programs a 2-3 times per week, you can improve your cardiovascular health without sacrifice your strength training too much. Give them a try, and tell me what you think.

Now, what are you going to do?

CAS