What I Learned

This past weekend, I headed over to Total Performance Sports in Everett for the Metabolic Acceleration Training seminar. benches, fat bars and "Metabolic acceleration training" is just a fancy term for fat loss training. This is something I decided to attend because the presenters, Alwyn Cosgrove and C.J. Murphy, can be regarded as two of the best in the country at they they do. They get results. The other reason I wanted to attend this seminar was to see what Total Performance Sports is all about. When I pulled up the gym I was a bit confused. It didn't really look like a gym. When I stepped into the gym I realized this is not your average gym. This where people come to work. This isn't where people come to socialize. Lining the wall were tractor tires ranging from 250-850lbs, sledgehammers, dragging sleds and sandbags. The weight area consisted of just that, weights. No selectorized machines. Just some power racks, glute-ham raises, adjustable benches, dumbbells and kettlebells. And if you happen to be a people watcher, there is a cast of characters that are members here. If you know what Everett's like, you know what i mean.

So on to the seminar and some points that I took away in regards to fat loss programming:

• It's not just about your training program. Your nutrition is just as or may be even more important. A crappy diet will always defeat a well designed training program.
• It's not just about calories. Even though your overweight dietician will tell you a calorie is a calorie, they are not.
  
• Three real keys to a successful nutritional program: 1)meal frequency 2) consistency of meal frequency 3)keeping your insulin levels under control by managing your carb intake.
• The only real supplement proven to aid in fat loss is fish oil. Alwyn suggest getting 2-4 grams of high quality fish oil per day.
• Dr. Atkins may not have been practical with his diet advice, but he did understand the effects of insulin on body composition. If you can take control of your insulin, you can take control of your body composition.
• On workout days, especially hard workout days, you can be a bit more lenient with your carb intake, especially in the 2-4 hours after your workout. Just don't go crazy.
• On non-workout days, you may want stay in a lower to moderate range of carb intake.
• You got to eat protein and lots of it.
• Get your carbs from quality food sources. Stay away from anything that comes in a box or a bag.
• If you want to go to extreme measures for fat loss, carb cycling may work pretty good. A carb cycle is made of seven days of the following recommended carb intake: high, low, low, medium, low,low, low. Low means less than 100grams of carbs per day.

So that what pretty much it for the nutrition part of the seminar. In my next blog post, I'll reveal to you the training concepts I took away. Until then, get your hand out of the cookie jar, go throw a steak on the grill and gather up some green vegetables.