dvsness, dedication and desire

The 2008 Arnold Amateur IFBB International Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships will come to the annual Arnold Sports Festival in 2008 with an international focus and an expanded schedule.

In a precedent setting move, the event will be open to IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilders) Amateur Competitors throughout Europe, Asia, Canada and USA’s NPC (National Physique Committee) – the governing body for amateurs in the America. Amateur athletes will compete in men’s and women’s bodybuilding, women’s fitness, and women’s figure.

“The Arnold Sports Festival is proud to announce this historic collaboration between Rafael Santonja, President of the International IFBB, Jim Manion, President of the NPC, and Classic Productions,” said Jim Lorimer, producer of the Arnold Sports Festival.

Rafael Santonja added, “The IFBB is most pleased to further our relationship with the Arnold Sports Festival. The inception of this competition will create a premiere opportunity for amateur athletes around the world.”

Bob Lorimer, a co-director of the event with the Fitness Factory’s Mike Davies commented, “We are thrilled to once again allow top amateur athletes an opportunity to compete on the legendary Veterans Memorial stage in Columbus, Ohio where every icon of the sport has competed. This opens our competition to international exposure and broadens the scope of the entire Sports Festival,” added Lorimer. “The level of competition will increase and it will advance the sport.”

2007 was the inaugural year for the Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Competition. The event was a huge success welcoming the best amateurs in the sports of bodybuilding, fitness, and figure from across North America. The 2008 addition of a world-wide range of top level IFBB athletes will introduce a great new competitive and prestigious dimension to the Arnold Sports Festival.

Ok, we’re cleaning it up!  Back on track…

Meal 1  

  
• 1% cottage cheese
• Prolab Protein Component - Cinnamon
• psyllium husk powder
• multi
• Glucosamine Chondroitin MSM

Meal 2  

  
• ALA
• Lean Mass Complex - Cinnamon

Meal 3    

  
• tuna steak
• romaine
• Glucosamine Chondroitin MSM 

Meal 4 

  
• london broil
• mushrooms
• DS Vigor

PRE-WORKOUT      

  
• Nitro Fire

Meal 5 - POST-WORKOUT 

  
• digestive enzymes
• Glutamine
• Prolab Isolate - Chocolate
• Carb Component
• Creatine

Meal 6

  
• london broil
• romaine
• salsa
• walnuts

cal - 1726 pro - 209 car - 106 fat - 52 fib - 16

Damn, it was crowded at the gym tonight!  I am ready for thre 4th of July to arrive when all of the casual lifters give up hope and return to their Coronas and subpar physiques.  It may sound rude, but I’m in a rude mood.  Those of you who’ve been following this blog for some time may remember my musings on the NYR’s (New Year’s Resolutionists), but the SAC’s (Summer Abs Chasers) and SBD’s (Spring Break Dieters) are equally loathed in my eyes.  I was forced on to the StairMaster again since most of the cardio equipment was being hogged by these offenders.

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DB Rear Delt Raise
standing, head on bench
20sx10, 20sx10, 25sx6

Parellel Cable Rear Delt Pull
cables crossed in front, same mov’t as rear delt raise
10 on each side x12, 15sx6, 15sx7

Cable Laterals
thumbs down
15 each side x8, 10sx10, 15sx8, 15sx8, 15sx8

Machine Military Press
palms in grip
50×10, 60×9, 70×6

Kneeling Cable Crunch
110×15, 120×15, 130×10, 130×10

15 Minutes StairMaster

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Random thought - I love Summer!

As of tomorrow, I’m going to resume posting my nutrition and supps again.  I am becoming a fat bastard and I’m cleaning up my act again.  The next three weeks will be moderate to high calories of clean foods and then we begin cutting once more for the fall shows.  I ended my gluttony on a high note today at a family barbeque.  My cousin and I were up half the night baking, so it only seemed fair to enjoy our creations (and everything else in sight, oops!).  I already prepped tomorrow’s meals to get me back on track with my fat ass.  *sigh*   

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Hack Squat
feet together
sled weight +90×10, +90×10, +90×10, +90×14 *superset*

SLDL
feet together
115×10, 115×10, 115×10, 115×11

Single Leg Press
high foot placement
sled weight +90×12+12, +90×12+12, +90×12+12, +100×12+12

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Since I had to make it to the family thing, I had no time for abs or cardio.  This will be rectified tomorrow. 

I have discovered Tangerine Strawberry Crystal Light.  I think it will be my savior this Summer; the stuff is seriously refreshing.

I’m catching up a bit since I’ve been quite busy with my insane family all weekend.  Worth noting is the exceptional recovery time I’ve been noticing.  My workouts have been to fatigue on my last sets for sure, but by the time I’m drinking my shake and out the door of the gym, I feel ok again.  I think my twenty million calorie diet may be a contributing factor. 

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Wide Grip Lat PullDown
90×10, 100×8, 100×8

Plate Loaded Biangular Row
alternating single arm
75×10+10, 80×8+8, 80×10+10

DeadLift
staggered grip
115×10, 115×10, 125×8

DB Curls
25sx7, 25sx6, 25sx8

“Front Double Bi” Cable Curls
45 each side x7, 45sx7, 45sx8

Obliques on Hyper
15+15, 15+15, 15+15

20 Minutes StepMill
backwards

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Backward on the stepmill the whole time = ass on fire!!!

Actually, my damn middle finger is all I can think about right now.  It’s black and throbbing to the point that I can feel my pulse perfectly.  I misjudged a bit when I was returning the DBs to the rack (yes, I am a unique member of my gym, I actually replace the weights when I’m done) and smashed my right middle finger.  It bends fine and it’s not broken, but it’s ugly and swolen.

Anyway, enough whining.  Fairly strong workout.  I had to use 25s on the flys because the 30s were taken, but no big deal.  Machine press weight is up a LOT! 

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Inc DB Press
40sx10, 45sx4

Inc DB Press
alternating
35sx10, 35sx10

Machine Press
vertical grip
115×12, 130×12, 140×10, 150×8

Inc DB Fly
25sx10, 25sx10, 25sx10

Straight Bar PushDown
80×12, 90×8, 90×8

Cable Overhead
straight bar
50×12, 60×10, 70×9

Kneeling Cable Crunch
90×15, 100×15, 110×15

Decline Crunch w/Plate
35×12, 35×12, 35×12

15 Minutes Stairmaster

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There was heat coming off my triceps, and I think my abs may be a tad sore tomorrow; we’ll see. 

Should males and females train differently? The charge sheet on female athletes says that they don’t recover from hard training as well as males do. This ‘slur’ on females does make a certain amount of physiological sense. After all, the primary male sex hormone, testosterone, is a potent bone and muscle builder and connective-tissue reconstructor. Estrogen, the main female hormone, has more limited effects on lean-tissue construction. Theoretically, after a rugged workout in which heavy stress is placed on muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, males should be able to rebuild those parts of the body more quickly. Taking all this into account, many coaches design training programmes for their female athletes which are quite different from those for males. The usual difference is for the male schedule to contain more hard, high-intensity interval work, with the female programme more geared to lower-intensity, continuous, non-interval efforts. For example, Jack Daniels, PhD, one of the most successful collegiate coaches in the US, often has his female charges running 20-25 minute ‘tempo runs’ at a pace which is 10-15 seconds per mile slower than 10k race speed, instead of carrying out lots of fast, short intervals on the track at paces faster than 10k speed. Daniels is tremendously well-respected by his peers, but other coaches do often contend that his programme works ‘much better for females than for males’. Their implication is that males can recover more readily from tougher training routines and need such high-intensity programmes to reach their true potential. But do male athletes really recover from rugged exertions more quickly? Males pride themselves on their toughness, durability and resilience, but the scientific evidence supporting quicker male recoveries is actually pretty weak. In fact, new research suggests that females actually lose less strength than males during the course of a rigorous workout and recover their muscular prowess more rapidly after an exhausting bout of exercise. In studies carried out at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, for example, 10 male and nine female strength athletes (powerlifters and body-builders) performed 20 maximal squat lifts, with three minutes of recovery between each lift. After the 20 lifts, the fatigued leg muscles of both males and females had lost about 20-24% of their maximal strength. However, various indicators of muscular power favoured the females. For one thing, the ‘force-time curve’ – an indicator of muscles’ ability to contract powerfully and quickly – changed negatively by 28% in the males over the course of the workout but dropped by only 19% in the females. Females also recovered from the 20-lift session more quickly. One hour after the workout, female lifters’ leg muscles could generate about 92% as much force as before the session, whereas male muscles were just 79% as strong.

Why was the fatigue greater and recovery slower in males? Part of the problem seemed to be that the male lifters’ nervous systems became less responsive over the course of the workout. From the first to the 20 lift, activation of leg muscles by nerve cells fell by 20-25% in males but held fairly steady in females. While it’s not clear why male nerve activation should deteriorate more quickly, it is clear that females lose less of their muscular power during heavy-duty resistance training and seem to recover more rapidly once a tough session is over.

(‘Neuromuscular Fatigue and Recovery in Male and Female Athletes during Heavy Resistance Exercise’, International Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 14(2), pp. 53-59, 1993)

Thanks Tarzana. 

It’s summertime, the season for smaller clothes.  When the sleeves come off, the arms come out.  And then comes the brilliant question, “Do you lift weights?” interchangable with, “do you work out?”  This shit baffles me.  I tend to either say,”No,” or “What do you think?” or “Are you kidding me?”

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BB Squat
115×10, 115×10, 125×8

Power/Front Squat
feet together
sled +160×12, +160×12, +160×14

Single Leg Ext
60×10+10, 60×10+10, 60×10+10 DROP 50×6+6

20 Minutes Precor

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My legs feel quite heavy.  All reps were strict and fairly slow, and the stairs leaving the gym were quite an obstacle.

by Kim Christensen,DC,DACRB,CCSP

Looking good is what counts most! At least that is what one might conclude, faced with the popularity of high-heeled fashion footwear. A recent survey of 620 women established that the majority was dissatisfied with their dress shoes because they hurt their feet, even though most had paid between $50 and $200 per pair. Not surprisingly, women have about 90 percent of the nearly 800,000 annual surgeries for neuromas, bunions, and "hammer toes." 1 There is a clear link between the types of shoes worn and the development of abnormal foot conditions.

Convincing patients not to wear high heels is another story, however, this information should help you make a strong and logical appeal. Additionally, custom-made shoes - which combine fit, fashion, and the postural support of custom orthotics - are now available, so you can offer a sensible solution.

Forefoot Compression Injuries

A neuroma, also called interdigital neuritis, results from compression of a plantar nerve or a bursa between two metatarsals. The resulting inflammation and fibrosis can diminish both nerve and vascular flow, resulting in a burning sensation that extends into the toes. The most common area involved is between the third and fourth metatarsals but may occur at any site of compression. A three-inch heel was found to create seven times more stress on the forefoot than a one-inch heel." 1
Brantingham et al. reported the results of a clinical trial involving 29 patients suffering from Morton’s neuroma. The average pre-treatment history of foot pain was 19 months. All patients received a series of foot manipulations, with the number of treatments ranging from three to 26. The manipulations included mobilization of the metatarsal and MTP joints, forefoot mobilization relative to the rear foot, ankle mobilization, and specific adjustments of the cuboid and cuneiforms. Additionally, 23 of the patients (80 percent) were fitted with orthotics to control excessive movements and hyperpronation. A follow-up, three months after treatment established that 83 percent reported moderate-to-excellent relief of their pain. 2 Adjustments that restore the articulations, combined with flexible orthotics that maintain the corrections, provide a true long-term solution in many cases, but high heels (higher than two inches) are nearly impossible to properly fit with orthotics.

Shoe Styles and Biomechanics

Although the Brantingham et al. study did not comment on modifying footwear, a long history of research has attempted to link shoe style with altered biomechanics, necessary for the development of these common conditions among women.3-5 Some of the earliest studies that compared gait in low-heel and high-heel shoes were performed by Schwartz et al. They reported changes in the distribution of weight in the forefoot with a shift away from the fifth metatarsal head in high-heel shoes.6 Increased weight distribution over the third and fourth metatarsals, combined with the compressive toe box common to most high-heel shoes, is a logical mechanism for the development of a neuroma. Considering that 59 percent of women surveyed report wearing high-heel shoes at least one to eight hours a day, unless the underlying stress is removed by changing shoe styles, the symptoms associated with neuromas are likely to return. 7

Loss of Arch Integrity

The same biomechanical derangement responsible for neuroma can cause a hallux valgus and bunion formation. In this condition, one or more of the foot’s three arches has often collapsed or lost integrity, which changes normal toeing off and weight transfer in the forefoot. Lateral deviation of the proximal first phalanx changes the direction of muscle attachments on the great toe. Contraction of these muscles leads to abnormal abduction of the phalanx and the cycle of deviation continues.
An early clue that the patient is losing integrity of the transverse arch is excessive callus formation directly under any of the metatarsal heads, but especially two through four. This is the body’s attempt to lift and pad the fallen structures. Metatarsal corrections built into flexible, custom orthotics can lift the metatarsals from the bases and remove the pressure from the metatarsal heads.

Rear Foot Conditions

Wearing heels also concentrates abnormal forces on the ankle and rear foot, relative to the forefoot. The tibiotalar joint is a tightly interlocked joint, exposed to extreme mechanical conditions during single limb support, and is susceptible to repetitive, traumatic forces.8 Anyone who has seen an inexperienced high-heel walker knows exactly what repetitive microtrauma is. The integrity of this joint is ensured by tension produced as the wedge-shaped talus is secured between the malleoli. However, the forced plantarflexion associated with high-heel use decreases the degree of tension, because of the shape of the wedge (wider anteriorly).
Although slight, this loss of tension decreases the optimal biomechanical relationship. According to Kapandji: “There is only a single position of articular congruence for the subtalar joint, i.e. the median position. The foot is then straight without any inversion or eversion and it is the position adopted by a normal foot lying flat on a horizontal plane…” He continues: “This neutral position, where the articular surfaces are kept together by the force of gravity, and not by the ligaments, is stable and can be maintained for a long time owing to the congruence of the articular surfaces. All other positions are unstable and are associated with a variable degree of articular incongruence.”8

In extreme cases, the plantarflexion associated with heels may be responsible for injuries as serious as inversion sprains. Remember also, that because of the lack of muscular attachments, the talus is nourished only by a weak blood supply, accompanying ligaments. “Thus it has a barely adequate arterial supply under normal conditions.”8 This is an unfortunate situation for a bone faced with remodeling in response to repetitive microtraumas.

Conclusion

Whether or not your patient turns an ankle, high heels disrupt gait and posture for the entire body. In their study of varying heel heights, Gastwirth et al. observed: “Proximal symptomatology associated with wearing high heels, such as knee, hip and back problems, may in part be related to (a) restriction of subtalar joint pronation. The subtalar joint pronation that normally occurs at heel strike aids in shock absorption. If this pronation is limited, an increased shock wave must be absorbed by the joints proximal to the foot.” 9
If your female patients continue to wear their high-heeled shoes, despite your best recommendations, it isn’t your fault if you cannot “cure” their every ache and pain. However, because fashion is still “in fashion,” your patients will want an alternative to high heels. According to at least one study, it is not necessary to wear completely flat shoes. Only heel heights greater than 5 cm (2 inches) significantly influenced lower extremity mechanics and gait.10 That may be a compromise that many of your fashion-conscious patients could live with.

What a weird workout.  I was doing FacePulls for rear delts, and my previous PR was either 60 or 70 for 12 reps.  Today, I just couldn’t rep out - I kept adding weight, and eventually had to put a 45 lb plate on my feet to stay grounded, but even then I feel like I could’ve gotten more in if I were a bit more stable.

It also was apparently cardio and abs day and I dodn’t get the memo, so I got stuck on a StairMaster, which is not the greatest for ass comfort the day after high volume hack squats.  Brutal.

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Arnold Press
seated
25sx10, 30sx8, 30sx9

Single Arm DB Laterals
seated, palm down
15×8+8, 15×8+8, 15×8+8

Face Pulls
70×12, 80×12, 90×12, 100×8, 110×6

Incline Bench Shrugs
face down
45sx8, 45sx8, 45sx8

15 Minutes StairMaster

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After a beautiful sunny day, there is a crazy thunder/lightning storm now.  The cats are pissed and I really hope it passes so I don’t have to walk to the subway in this mess tomorrow.