Super Bowl Sunday

Unless you're from Arizona or Pittsburgh, I'm sure you could care less about the Super Bowl. In fact, I was talking to a few clients this week who didn't even know who was playing in the Super Bowl. But one thing you might want to care about is trying not to do too much damage to your waistline this Sunday. I think the only two days that involve more overeating are Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here are some of the worst foods and drinks you can down during the big game according to the people at Men's Health:

Worst Super Bowl Foods

Looks like no Papa John's Cinnamon Sweetsticks for me.

Did I say I didn't have a rooting interest? No, I said you probably don't. GO CARDINALS!!

Only a Couple of Spots Left

I have just a few openings available for the free Golf Fitness Screens I will be offering this Saturday, January 31 @Summit Health & Fitness in Bedford, MA. So if you're interested call (617)-835-0564 or send an email to rich@richruffing.com right now. Golf season is only a few months around the corner...if it ever stops snowing here in New England.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Barbell Front Squat

I used to make every excuse in the world not to do front squats. I hated them. I avoided them because they are hard. Now, they are one of my favorite leg exercises for two reasons:

1. You can't cheat with a forward lean like you can with the back squat. If you do, the bar is going to roll right off your shoulders and the cute girl on the hip adduction machine is going to wonder who the jerk is bouncing weights off the floor.
2. I feel my abs working just as hard on a front squat as much as any other ab exercise you want to throw at me.

Free Golf Fitness Screens

On Saturday January 31 from 12-2pm, I will be hosting free Golf Fitness Screens at Summit Health & Fitness located in Bedford, MA. These are not just any Golf Fitness Screens. These are screens created by the Titleist Performance Institute. Some of the tests included in the screen will be: pelvic rotation test, torso rotation test, overhead deep squat test and the half-kneeling rotation test.

For more information or to sign up for your free screen please call (617)835-0564 or send an email to rich@richruffing.com.

Believe it or not, golf season is not that far away.

Squat, Deadlift, Sprint for a Six Pack

I'm not talking about sprinting to the refrigerator for six cold, refreshing bottles. I'm talking about the development of your midsection. The biggest determining factor in whether or not you have a six pack, or even a two or four pack, is not what or how many ab exercises you're doing. It's your body fat percentage. Sorry, but if you're carrying around 20-30% body fat, no amount of ab exercises is going define that stomach area. In most cases you're going to have to be closer to 10-15% body fat. And what type of training do you think is going to get you closer to these numbers? Performing side bends and sit ups? Or squatting, deadlifting and sprinting? This second group of exercises is going to provide a larger calorie expenditure and a greater disturbance to your metabolism. Creating a larger calorie expenditure and a boost in your metabolic rate are two key components to lowering your body fat percentage. I'm not saying to skip out on your ab work, because strength in your core area is important. I'm just saying if it's the six pack you're after, get that body fat percentage down.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Side Plank w/Lateral Leg Raise

If you're able to successfully execute the side plank by holding a static position in the 45-60 second range, instead of adding time, start adding some perturbations such as a lateral leg raise.

For All You Desk Jockeys

Stop worrying about adding friends on your facebook account and start worrying about looking like a caveman or cavewoman. Here's a quick remedy to help with your postural issues. A bit of self myofacial release to release some trigger points in the thoracic area and a thoracic extension exercise to get you opened up . Take a look:



Just doing these two things, rolling and extending, every now and then is not going to do the trick. You have to make it routine in order for it to be effective. Two minutes of your time, tops. No excuses.

Random Thoughts....

1. So, how are you doing with those New Years resolutions?
2. Whats the deal with everyone asking me about this P90x? It seems to be the latest workout craze. "Get absolutely ripped in 90 days". It seems that the key components are working out for 90 straight days and this idea of muscle confusion. Two problems I have here. Have you ever met any one that has worked out for 90 straight days? A lot pf people have a hard enough time working out for two straight days. This 90 straight days of working out doesn't seem to be setting you up for much success. The second problem I have is this bogus idea of muscle confusion. Muscle confusion is a fancy term for doing different exercises just to do a different exercise. There is no way to to track your progress or figure out what is working and what is not if you're constantly doing different exercises. And your body is not going to adapt to a certain exercise as fast as it will adapt to a certain number of sets and reps.
   
3. Clients ask me from time to time what I would need to outfit a training studio. My list would include: a power rack, a couple of adjustable benches, a functional trainer, dumbbells and free weights, maybe a 20-25 yard runway to do some joint mobility/dynamic flexibility training and then supplement in other pieces of training equipment such as super bands, medicine balls, ab wheel, etc.. It'd also be nice to have a concrete wall to do some dynamic work with the medicine ball. Oh yeah, I shouldn't forget the cardio equipment. May be one piece, a treadmill or bike. Why not an elliptical? Because....
   
4. I tried. I tried real hard. No matter how hard I pushed myself on the elliptical the other day while trying to get an interval workout done, I could not not jack up my heart rate. I guess that's why every other person is using the elliptical and why I blame the the elliptical for part of peoples fat loss problems.
   
5. One way I've altered my interval training personally is by using my recovery heart rate as an indication to start my next interval rather than using elapsed time as a barometer. Most interval training programs will suggest a certain time frame for your work intervals and then a certain time for your rest or recovery intervals. A lot of programs will suggest a 1:2 or 1:3 work:rest ratio. This is fine for the average individual. But what about the highly conditioned person. They may have been fully recovered way before the suggested rest interval is up. And vice versa for the deconditioned person. So using heart rate is a better measure. I'll have a short post on this sometime soon.
   
6. I had some Crossfit instructor tell me I should be doing Kipping Pull Ups. This was after I completed a set of neutral grip chins with 100lbs attached. Having no idea what a Kipping Pull up was, I decided to look it up:
   
   

What the heck kind of pull up is that? It's a pull up gone bad. I don't think I can even call it a pull up. Another reason why I'm not a fan of Crossfit.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Sled Dawg Squat/Row

It's Not All About Soreness

I'm sure with the surge of new people signing up at your gym over the last week or so, you've also seen a bunch of people limping around like they were shot in the back of the leg. Chances are these people are experiencing some DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). They've taken some time off over the last couple of weeks and decided to include 10 sets of walking lunges and four sets of single leg squats in their first leg workout. They should expect to be sore. They might even be sore after each of their first couple of workouts. But they shouldn't aim to create soreness with each and every workout. Creating soreness is not going to help them shed that 5lbs of flab they put on during the holiday season. Creating soreness is not going to get them any stronger. Creating soreness may not get them any results.

Soreness is not an indicator of getting results. Soreness is usually an indicator of a couple of things that happened over the course of a workout:

• a new exercise was introduced
• a heavier load was used
• the speed of movement was changed

But it should not be an indicator of whether you got a good workout in or whether you're getting results. Any one can create soreness. I could tell you to do jump squats for half an hour or tell you to run into a brick wall 25 times and I'm sure you'd be sore the next day. But did I work on getting you results? The only result I got was you not being able to get out of bed the next day. Who cares how sore you are if you're not dropping body fat or getting stronger?

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't be sore from time to time. As I said before, you may incur some soreness because of a couple of different factors. All I'm saying is do not judge the quality of your workouts by how sore you are the next day. Judge the quality of your workouts by the results that you're getting. And if you're not getting results, I know a great trainer who can help you out.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Barbell Split Squat w/Front Squat Grip

10 Steps to Success

If this is the year that you're really going to carry out your New Year's weight loss resolutions you must have some type of plan in place, nutritionally and exercise wise, in order to be successful. A plan or program that I've used successfully in the past for myself or with my clients is the Precision Nutrition program put together by Dr. John Berardi. As part of his plan he lists 10 Habits that you should follow. They are:

1. Eat every 2-3 hours.
2. Have a complete, lean protein source with every feeding.
3. Eat vegetables with each feeding opportunity
4. Eat veggies and fruits with any meal; other carbs only after the 1-2 hours after you exercise.
5. Eat healthy fats daily. Aim for a ratio of 1/3 saturated, 1/3 monounsaturated, 1/3 polyunsaturated fats.
6. Do not drink any calorie containing beverages. Water and and green tea should be your only choices, with the exception of your post workout or meal replacement shakes.
7. Eat whole foods whenever possible.
8. Plan ahead and prepare in advance.
   
9. Eat as wide a variety of good foods as possible.
10. Be 90% compliant. Realistically you're not going to follow these strategies 100% of the time. But the more compliant you are, the more progress you will make.

10 strategies that I do not think are totally unreasonable. For more information about Precision Nutrition visit www.precisionnutrition.com.