If this is a family portrait of you,

Then you may be a close descendant of a giraffe or some trainer/therapist who thinks that directly targeting the neck muscles will result in injury to the cervical vertebrae.

Well nothing can be farther from the truth, especially if you compete in a contact sports like – rugby league/union, gridiron or Fighting Sports such as kick boxing, boxing, MMA, Wresting, judo, BJJ or any other form of full contact Martial Arts, Then doing some direct neck work is going to be your insurance policy.

if you fall into one of these categories some work to your neck extensors, flexors & Rotators may be in order. Most people train upper traps but they are only elevators and upward rotators of the scapulae (they lift the shoulders), that insert onto the occipital protuberance (base of the skull). That’s not to say that trapezius muscles should not be trained as they are a large muscle and definitely do add to the stability and overall look of the neck but don’t neglect the rest of the neck musculature.

Training the neck is very underrated; it can increase upper body strength, decrease the risk of serious injuries from neck cranks, head high tackles, scrumming, prevent neck stiffness after being punched in the head.

“This is why you don’t see many wrestlers get KO’d in the UFC because they do loads of neck strengthening drills incorporated into their training”.

Here are some tips for incorporating neck training into your regimen now if you’re a wrestler, you are most likely doing neck work but give some of the exercises a go to change up your routine.

For beginners (and that’s a beginner to neck work! Not training) Start off with a little neck work 2-3sets, every 5 days. If you have never done any direct work to the neck before then start off slow. Otherwise you will be driving around like batman for a week, after about 3 weeks move to 2 times per week.

Neck Training is best done first up as it excites the nervous system and will increase your strength on your upper body lifts for that workout. most fighters are only going to be lifting weights 2 x per week as fight training is going to be most important, due to these time constraints you dont want to waste your time with a lot of fu fu body building isolation exercises for the traps. you will get plenty of simulation from military presses, parallel bar dips and deadlifts, but if you have been doing deadlifts for a while you could add in some snatch pulls or cleans as a variation.

After about another 5-6 weeks (and this is going to be an individual thing depending on how well your neck is recovering) start to add it in to most of your warm ups & cool downs so you are doing it almost every training day, once you get more advanced with it there will be minimal soreness, as the neck musculature are small but with good blood flow they will recover quick.

Get REGULAR neck massages, especially in the beginning stages. This will keep the muscles in good condition and pliable, as tightness in the fascia restricts contraction of the muscle and will slow down progress. Try some of these exercises below so you too can have that Matt Hughes look (remember chicks secretly love traps)..

Well not exactly, you are what you do with your food… and if what you doing with your food is not absorbing it, you’re not doing much with it!

1 “Just because something goes down your esophagus does not mean that it will make it to the cells of your body.”

3 Before you start analyzing your percentage of fat, carbohydrates and protein intake, start buying expensive supplements, before you start analyzing your Training make sure your acid level is good. If you can’t break down your muscle-building nutrients, you’re putting in a lot of money and hard work and not getting the most from them.

Low Stomach Acid “Hypochlorhydria” is the lack of adequate HCL (hydrochloric acid) production. Stomach acid is responsible for two key functions.
- The sterilization of food against potentially harmful micro-organisms.
- Digestion of protein molecules and the absorption of vitamins and minerals.
Stomach acid also signals the release of digestive enzymes and bicarbonate from the pancreas required for digestion.

2 “ingestion of the best nutritional substances may be of little benefit when breakdown and assimilation are inadequate.”

Because the normal production of stomach acid is vital to the digestive process, and therefore the release of nutrients into the body, “Hypochlorhydria” can lead to many health issues.

Food that is not broken down moves from the stomach, into the small intestine and colon, and then exits the body unutilized. This can cause the body to display symptoms of nutrient deprivation. High acid levels are required for the break down of many trace minerals such as zinc, iron, copper, magnesium, calcium, boron, selenium, and vitamins B12 and B3, which are vital for organ support.

In addition, a toxic condition known as dysbiosis can result, leaving the sufferer with fatigue, gas, headaches, hypertension, insomnia, irritation, muscle aches and pain, personality changes, and many other problems.

Other Side effects and symptoms associated with Hypochlorhydria are;

Bad breath, Metallic taste in mouth, Sore tongue, Heartburn, Stomach bloating and belching immediately after eating, IBS, Foul smelling gas, Indigestion, Diarrhea or constipation, Celiac Disease, Gallbladder Disease, Stomach Cancer, Childhood asthma, Acne, Rosacea, Hives, Eczema, Vitiligo (loss of skin pigment), Chronic dry skin, Rectal or anal itching, Hair loss in women (due to zinc deficiency), Fingernails that are weak, peeling or cracked, CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), Adrenal fatigue.

Autoimmune diseases (including arthritis), Food allergies and sensitivities, Systemic Candida (stomach acid kills much of the harmful yeasts that may be ingested), Graves Disease, Anemia, Lupus, Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar}.

What causes Hypochlorhydria?

Poor diet (a diet high in white flour, high fat and low fiber – This is because the byproducts of fermentation can impair proper levels of acid production in the stomach. Aging is one of the primary causes of low stomach acid at age 45 stomach acid naturally starts to decrease.

However, alcohol consumption, bacterial infection, gastric bypass surgery, improper use of heartburn medications and chronic stress, are also associated with this condition.

“Ultimately everything in the body — muscle, bone, central nervous system and cardiovascular function is affected…”

Regardless of how well you eat, poor digestion and malabsorption of nutrients is the end result of low stomach acid. Without adequate nourishment, you will be a target for infectious and degenerative diseases.
How do I fix it??
I use a method that was taught to me by world-renowned strength coach Charles Poliquin, which is also one that is recommended by Drs. Michael Murray and Joe Pizzorno, ND’s. Its one of the first tests we do here at the center, in conjunction with the Bio-Signature Modulation.
Continue to increase the dose by one capsule at each subsequent meal, until you can feel warmth in your stomach.
DO NOT EXCEED SEVEN CAPSULES (1400mg), the feeling is not dissimilar to an acid reflux feeling.

Look for a capsule (not tablet*) that contains both betaine hydrochloride and pepsin,

1 When taken with meals, betaine can help produce stomach acid, alleviating the immediate issue. Long-term use of betaine can help your stomach produce more stomach acid on its own.

4 People who’ve suffered for years with low stomach acid have been known to have immediate, life changing results with betaine HCL.

*We have found that people with such poor HCL will not even break down the tablet; a way around this if you cannot find a capsule. is break up the tablets before taking

Other Things That May Assist Are:
- Chewing thoroughly
- A Good Quality Multivitamin – Because Hypochlorhydria may lead to deficiencies of certain vitamins and minerals.
- And Probiotics – When Using antibiotics or while experiencing digestive disruptions such as low stomach acid, that can create Bacterial Overgrowth with in the Gut.

There are many digestive enzyme formulas available on the market most of them are in tablet form.

High Quality Encapsulated Digestive enzymes;
- PPC Digestzymes
- PPC Ultra HCL 4.0
- Duo-Zyme

To order Digestzymes, and Ultra HCL 4.0, please contact beverly@charlespoliquin.com

References
1. Ron Kennedy, MD, “Hypochlorhydria,” http://www.medical-library.net/content/view/177/9/
2. HEIDELBERG pH CAPSULE GASTRIC ANALYSIS by Stephen A. Barrie, N.D.
3. Charles Poliquin, “The Acid Test” http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Supplements/acid-test.php
4. University of Maryland Medical Center, “Betaine / Trimethylglycine,” http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/betaine-000287.htm
5. David G. Young, ND, “Food Allergies – Medical Considerations,”

About the author,

Shannon Green, is a strength coach & personal trainer that specializes in fight conditioning. he has working with some of Australia’s top combative athletes in MMA, kick boxing, mauy Thai, K1, BJJ & Boxing. He is the owner of the Warrior Performance Center Sydney’s Premier Strength & Conditioning Facility, located in Sutherland shire (near cronulla). And has competed in strongman, BJJ & kickboxing. He is a level 3 PICP strength & conditioning coach, Level Bio-Signature practitioner, and cert 4 in sports massage. To learn more about Shannon or to contact him visit www.warriorperformance.com.au.

Which got me to thinking people regularly complain, that they cant loose weight, ill never be that size again or I can’t seem to gain any muscle.

So I thought we would have a look at what Hugh did and see how we can adapt it to achieve such success in our own lives, in our search for a better Body…

Hugh trained at 1.5hrs per day, at least 5 days per week; his trainer changed his program every 3 weeks. He told himself that he would go in the gym every day and work as hard as he possibly could, And if he couldn’t he would go back in the next day and work even harder. This mentality let him do some thing he had never done before “315 pounds” (143Kg) Bench Press.

His eating was strict! No cheating for 1 year now that’s determination and dedication. His Diet Consisted of 6 meals per day (religiously), lots of steamed vegetables, lean meat (mainly boiled chicken) and one small serving of brown rice per day.

“I wasn’t a great dinner party guest. (I would say), ‘Great to be here. Now, can I have some steamed chicken and steamed vegetables?”

Now this may be a bit much for some, and im certainly not saying that we all should adopt Hugh’s training and eating regimen. But there are some important things in there that we can all use to achieve success.
Now Fat loss and Muscle Gain are very similar although the exercise prescription may differ a little. And you may eat fewer calories on one, and more on the other. the outline for success is still the same…

To get the answers we first must ask ourselves 3 questions;
1. Do I really want to change my body???
2. Am I doing everything I possibly can to achieve my goal.
3. Do I have a goal, do I have time line.
3. Do I really what to achieve this Goal!

This has got to be the most important question of all, do I really want to lose weight. You have to give your self the option to say NO to this question, most people think they should loose weight. But if your happier in a heavier frame that’s ok, you can still be fit and heavy.

• The more you train the more calories you burn. This is not to say you should be in the gym for 3 hours at a time. This may lead to Catabolism (break down of muscle tissue). If you’re training hard for 45mins – 1hour that will be enough.

• Train every day and at least 3 of those days with weights. “Muscle is the Engine that uses fat for fuel”. Ladies this can help you get those long lean lines your looking for, But don’t worry you wont get beefy. Females have so little testosterone; it’s almost impossible to gain beefy muscle by only doing 3 weights workouts per week on a low calorie diet.

• Not all of your training has to be in the gym. There are plenty of activities that can help you in your journey for a better body. Go learn to dance, play a sport (footy, tennis, ect.), try a martial art (kung fu, kick boxing, ect.), do some cross training like Boot Camp, Strongman Training, Sprints stairs, hills, track, Yoga, even go for a bush walk.

• Change up Your Routines at least every 4-6 weeks, the human body is an adaptive organism. Basically you apply a stress to it and it adapts. We need to give the body time to adapt; changing stuff every week for a novice can leave the body confused.

• Challenge your body constantly; get out of your comfort zone. You can do all the training in the world but if there is no challenge, it will not improve.

“If you can talk while your training it’s a good indicator that your socializing not training save the chitter chatter for the locker rooms after”.

• Do you know what’s going into your mouth? Keep a food diary, if there is 1 thing all nutritionist will agree on (and they don’t agree on much) it’s keeping a food diary. The national weight control registry is a study that tracks the habits of people who have successfully lost over 30lbs (15kgs) and kept it off for more than a year. And there the 3 main things all the people in the registry have in common is 1. They exercise 1 hour per day, 2. They keep a food diary, 3. They eat a low calorie diet typically 1400-1800cals.

• The average person burns 300cals in a workout; this can be undone with one bad meal.

“You can train as much as you want, but if your not holding yourself accountable for what’s going in to your mouth you wont loose any weight”.

So set a goal, set a time line, exercise every day, Train hard (just turn up at the gym and socializing doesn’t count as exercise), keep a food diary, eat 1400 – 1800cals and stay Consistent.

“Consistency & Dedication breed success”.

About the author,

Shannon Green, is a strength coach & personal trainer that specializes in fight conditioning. he has working with some of Australia’s top combative athletes in MMA, kick boxing, mauy Thai, K1, BJJ & Boxing. He is the owner of the Warrior Performance Center Sydney’s Premier Strength & Conditioning Facility, located in Sutherland shire (near cronulla). And has competed in strongman, BJJ & kickboxing. He is a level 3 PICP strength & conditioning coach, Level Bio-Signature practitioner, and cert 4 in sports massage. To learn more about Shannon or to contact him visit www.warriorperformance.com.au.

By Joseph Coyne

One of the main problems people approach me about is the amount of information out there about health and fitness and that they simply do not know what to do with it all. This all to often leads to ‘paralysis by analysis’.

With all this information we do not know where to turn and we do and achieve nothing. So to make it a lot simpler I have decided to give everyone an easy 10 point ‘To Do ‘ & ‘To Not Do’ list for training and nutrition. By knowing what to and what not to embrace, you will definitely enhance your chances of athletic and fat loss success. Most of these points are very simple and I definitely will not be winning any Nobel prizes for talking to you about them, but hey simple things work best.

To Do

1) Invest in a coach

Look everyone needs a coach or a mentor. If uber-athletes like Michael Phelps need one, then I would hazard a guess that us mere mortals do too. Interestingly enough, a lot of team sport athletes in the United States have also hired their own personal strength coaches to work with them alongside existing team staff. As far as trends go, Australia seems to follow the U.S. so it will not be long before our team sport athletes do the same thing. Personally, I have three mentors – one for business and two for technical aspects of my profession; all are considered experts in their fields. Having a coach makes us accountable; it gives us guidance, motivation and also makes sure we look after ourselves. To be honest, the biggest problem I see is that people attempt to do TOO MUCH, they do THE WRONG STUFF with health and exercise then they end up LOSING MOTIVATION and GIVING UP. They are not held accountable, they lose inspiration, they have no clear direction and they do not look after themselves – all the things that coaches provide.

2) Good Old Fashioned Vegetables.

Nobody ever got fat off broccoli and cauliflower. Eat more of them. End of story.

No but really do yourself all a favor and google ‘cruciferous vegetables’. These little suckers help to beat cancer, regulate estrogen and are fiber packed. The famous Nurses Health study showed us we need to eat eight servings a day of fruit and (predominately) vegetables to avoid obesity related conditions like Diabetes. Oh and eight servings equals eight cups – scary eh? If you are not getting these sort of amounts, you need to start using Primal Greens which is the best organic greens mix around. Primal Greens will also help to reduce the body’s acidity levels and to reduce the harmful effects of stress & cortisol. This product will actually also help you pack on lean body mass. This is because an alkaline body finds it very hard to produce cortisol. As cortisol basically eats muscle up, a greens drink can be considered an anabolic by default.

3) Sleep More

Sleep is one of the fundamental keys to weight loss and a healthy life. We are designed to sleep when the sun goes down until the sun comes up. Last time I looked this period was around 10-11 hours on average throughout the year. Now with the advent of artificial light, modern day stress and ‘constant contactability’, our sleep patterns are (quite frankly) rooted. Sleep will help with lean body mass, decreased junk food & carbohydrate cravings and you’ll exercise more intensely & perform better. So let’s get more of it – make sense?

4) Train Hard

Look if you want to really change your body shape and keep it there, at some stage you are going to have to endure some tough stuff training wise. I was speaking to well-respected female trainer, Lisa Stokes recently and one of things that came out was that, in her experience, most females train at only around 50% of the required intensity needed to change body shape. I would have to say this holds true for most males I see in exercise settings also. The amount of males I see talking on their cell phones between sets or spending 5 minutes chatting between sets of triceps pushdowns is phenomenal. Ditch the distractions, stop wasting time and go test yourself. You’ll be surprised.

5) Go for Game

Game meats are some of the best protein sources you can put in your mouth. Loren Cordain, author of thePaleo Diet and one of the world’s foremost experts on nutrition, considers game meat to be a vital (but missing) part of nearly all people’s diets. Most game meats are organic (i.e. they have to be shot or caught first) and are nutritional powerhouses – high in amino acids and healthy fats. The other reason to eat a lot of game meats is for variety and to avoid food intolerances, which will develop if you do not rotate your food sources. Go out there and try a few. Word from the wise though, do not overcook the camel rumps!

6) Cheat wisely

Everyone needs a break now and then from their eating regime. Depending on their physical condition, I actually advise clients to have a ‘cheat’ or ‘reward’ meal every five days. Some of the reasons behind this are that it is mentally rewarding, you have greater control over the appetite hormone leptin and you do not compromise Branch Chain Amino Acid production. However I do have a caveat here. If you are going to cheat, make smart cheat choices. For instance, dark chocolate covered almonds instead of lollies. A multi-grain bread instead of white bread. Sweet potato instead of fries. Uncomplicated but it does make a difference.

Not To Do

7) Stay Away from Shake Diets

One thing that really kicks into gear over the new year period is the amount of ‘slimming’ shake diets that hits the shelves. Having seen more than my fair share of young females try these, I can say they will result in weight loss in the short term but so will starving yourself or only drinking cabbage soup for two weeks. However, in the long term, the results are quite pathetic when compared to structured eating (this actually also can be said for all weight loss drugs like Xenical). A certain type of whey/casein shake diet will work for the very carbohydrate intolerant individual but on the whole, my advice would be to stay away from these!

Same Goes for Celebrity Programs

Pick up any bodybuilding or gossip magazine on the rack in any grocery store. Open it up and you’ll find the latest Hollywood glamour girl’s ‘authentic’ weight loss diet or Mr. Great Galaxy’s ‘official’ training program and supplement regime. Let me say this – “Yeah right.” Point is to go get a coach, learn how to do things correctly and reap the benefits rather than try to follow Mr. Great Galaxy’s supposed 5 sessions a week of bench press.

9) As For All Those Exercise Products That Only Cost Three Easy Payments Of…

Just like the shake diets and programs, celebrity endorsed products will be rolled out very shortly for all those New Year resolutions. If you have ever had to endure early morning infomercials, you’ll know exactly what I am talking about here. Although the latest version of the AB Master can target the abdominals in a unique 33 different angles and the Perfect Pushup will sculpt ‘perfect pectorals’, they do not work if you do not use them. Lets face it – most of these products get bought to become glorified dust collectors. The better answer is to save your money, swallow your pride (there is always someone who knows more than you) and invest in getting taught how to do things properly. ‘Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime’ – you know the story.

There you have it. Hopefully I have given you a little direction with so you can hit the ground running, all guns a blazing.

About the author..

JOSEPH COYNE MAESS AEP, is an accredited exercise physiologist, and one of Queensland’s most sought after athletic strength & power development specialists. He has helped to produce four world champions and currently runs the Coyne Conditioning Performance Center (CCPC) located on the Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.

What causes acidity?
The primary cause of “systemic metabolic acidity” in your body is from what you eat and drink. Specifically an imbalance between high-acid-producing foods and alkaline-based foods.
Most high-protein foods, along with cereal and wheat products, are high acid. Protein contains amino acids, amino acids contain sulphur. Sulphur encourages the production of acid.
The body neutralizes the excess acid with various buffers in muscle bicarbonate, phosphate and carnosine. The buffer system is aided by the intake of high alkaline foods such as fruit and vegetables rich in minerals, such as potassium, magnesium and calcium.
“Other things that cause acidity in the blood are; exercise (lactic acid), fat loss (fatty acids) & stress (cortisol)”.

What happens in an acidic body
In order to carry out all the many millions of complex functions that occur in your body throughout the day, your body has to be able to communicate with itself, all the way down to the cellular level. And it does this through pulses of electricity.
What creates this electrical power in your body is a fine balance in your bio chemistry. One of the most important is your blood stream. This is where ph comes into play. Ph is a scale that measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is.

“The scale ranges from 1 to 14 with 1 being very acid 7 neutral and 14 very alkaline”.

The ideal ph level for your blood is 7.365, and your body goes to enormous lengths to maintain this level.
Red blood cells are how oxygen is transported to all the cells in your body.

As red blood cells move into the tiny capillaries, the space they have to move through gets pretty small. Actually, the diameter gets so small that they have to pass through one at a time.
Healthy red blood cells have a negative charge on the outside, and a positive charge on the inside. This causes them to stay apart from each other (repel), like when you try to push the negative ends of two magnets together.
Too much acid in the blood strips away at the negative charge of the cells, this results in them clumping together and not flowing as easily. This makes it much more difficult for them to get through those small capillaries and the rest of the bloodstream.
This means less oxygen gets to your cells. Acid also weakens the red blood cells and they begin to die, and they release into your system creating more acid.

What to do?
This is not to say we should not train, eat protein or loose fat. And it’s not too say that you should take all acid producing foods and activities out of our lives. “Except for stress we could all do with a little less of that”.
its more about obtaining balance in your life, and realizing if your drinking 10 cups of coffee, eating maccas, pasta, cakes, bread, drinking plenty of alcohol on the weekend, training like a demon during the week, and stressed that rent, power and phone is due on the same day? You’re going to be pretty acidic.
Fortunately, it is pretty easy to immediately change your body’s ph. one of the best ways is to drink “green drinks”. You can make these by simply adding a powder that is made up of a whole host of high alkaline vegetables to a glass of water and drink.

By adding some “green drinks” throughout the day and post work out we can immediately start changing our body composition, improving energy, performance, recovery and skin for the better.
One of my favourite “green drinks” and one I consume every day is – primal greens by Poliquin.

References
- Hughes-Dawson, b., et al. (2008). Alkaline diets favour lean tissue mass in older adults. am j clin nutr. 87:662-665.
- Murakami, k., et al. (2008). Association between dietary acid-base load and cardiometabolic risk factors in young Japanese women. brit j nutr. 18:1-10.

About the author,

Shannon Green, is a strength coach & personal trainer that specializes in fight conditioning. he has working with some of Australia’s top combative athletes in MMA, kick boxing, mauy Thai, K1, BJJ & Boxing. He is the owner of the Warrior Performance Center Sydney’s Premier Strength & Conditioning Facility, located in Sutherland shire (near cronulla). And has competed in strongman, BJJ & kickboxing. He is a level 3 PICP strength & conditioning coach, Level Bio-Signature practitioner, and cert 4 in sports massage. To learn more about Shannon or to contact him visit www.warriorperformance.com.au.

By Shannon Green,

Too Busy To Train? JUNE 30, 2009.

I’m sure you have said it, or have heard some one say it. It has to be the number one most abused excuse!!

But doing something is better than doing nothing. And doing a little exercise that’s very effective, is a lot better than doing a lot of exercise that’s not effective.

Well what if I told you, you could burn more calories in under 30minuites, than you ever could with 4hours a treadmill.

Would you make the time? Would you take the challenge??

Don’t be fooled by this Programs simplicity and short duration, it will whip you in to shape in no time.

This is only for people that want QUICK Results! And it’s not for the faint hearted.

If you’re game read on…………

The reason this program is so effective is that, we use weight-based exercises not cardio. As cardio is only effective at burning calories while you are doing it, the second you hop off the treadmill your metabolism drops as fast as your heart rate does.

With weight training your metabolism is elevated up to 48hrs after a workout, which means your burning calories while you are resting.

The exercises used give you the biggest bang for your buck;these compound movements require a greater muscle involvement, which means greater energy expenditure. Resulting in more calories burnt.

Also keeping constant tension on the muscle & Short rest intervals leads to an increased production of lactate (lactic acid), an increase in lactate leads to massive increases in Growth Hormone, resulting in significant body fat losses.

The Program.

4 exercises in a Circuit Format, which means you do exercise A1 rest the prescribed amount of time, then move to exercise A2 and so on till you reach Exercise A4. Then that grouping is repeated for the prescribed amount of sets.

Tempo – is a timed set TUT time under tension is 60seconds. Place your self near a clock in the gym, and adjust your lifting speed accordingly. “This means you DON’T stop moving the bar or put the weight down for 45seconds”.Don’t try and use a wristwatch or a stopwatch it doesn’t Work.

Reps – no less than 10 no more than 15reps this means that the barbell or dumbbell will be moving @ a relatively slow pace 4-6 sec’s per repetition.

If you can’t move the weight for a full repetition, you do partial repetitions till the time is up. Then drop the weight for the next set so you can do full reps.

We use this format our boot camp & conditioning classes alot,The reps are really insignificant here The Time under tension (TUT) is the most important, if you get 9 or even 16 reps don’t stress. As long as you meet the 60 second requirement, just don’t do 50 reps your definitely got the weight too light and moving the bar way too fast, this will not achieve much.

Weight – you know you have the right weight when your spleen is pushing against the back of your eye in the last 15’s of the exercise. In other words you should want to drop the weight at 45’s, but you push through the last 15’s very reluctantly.

Sets – If you get the weight right you should have to drop it for each successive set. The program calls for 3-4 sets, but if you can complete more than two the first time you attempt it, the weights were not heavy enough.

“I haven’t seen many people make it to the end of the 4th set the first time when done properly”.

Exercises – Always full range of motion in all exercises, Barbell Squats are full Olympic squats (deep) that means ass on the grass.

Have Fun!!

Order	Exercise	Tempo/TUT	Reps	Sets	Rest
A1	Bent Over Single Arm Dumbbell Rows	60’s	12-15		45’s
A2	Dumbbell Deadlifts	60’s	12-15		45’s
A3	Lying Flat Dumbbell Press Semi Supinated Grip (palms facing each other)	60’s	12-15		45’s
A4	Barbell Back Squats	2mins	20-25	3-4	45’s

About the author,

Shannon Green, is a strength coach & personal trainer that specializes in fight conditioning. he has working with some of Australia’s top combative athletes in MMA, kick boxing, mauy Thai, K1, BJJ & Boxing. He is the owner of the Warrior Performance Center Sydney’s Premier Strength & Conditioning Facility, located in Sutherland shire (near cronulla). And has competed in strongman, BJJ & kickboxing. He is a level 3 PICP strength & conditioning coach, Level Bio-Signature practitioner, and cert 4 in sports massage. To learn more about Shannon or to contact him visit www.warriorperformance.com.au.

By Shannon Green,

If body fat loss is your main objective, then limiting Insulin production is in your best interest. This can be done by minimising carbohydrate consumption, changing the types of carbs you ingest and or adding Good fats to your meals.

As we train a lot of athletes that compete in weight classes. They need to be at the low end of the body fat scale below 10%. But they don’t get there unless they make smart choices when it comes to eating. And by making good food choices we are able to get our athletes very lean. Without sacrificing energy or performance as most train 2 times per day, this is of upmost importance.

Processed Carbs like bread, pasta and packaged cereals are going to be your worst enemy. but also things like Fruit juices are full of vitamins but have most of the fiber removed, and since fiber slows down digestion and therefore glycemic response.

As far as diet is concerned, the best way to maintain optimal control over your blood sugar is to choose fruit with a lower GI value. So if you wanted to get leaner you may need to pay attention to things like this. You could replace them with some berries, a stick of celery, carrot or apple with tahini on it.

Im not saying that we need to cut carbs out completely but make informed decisions look at the II, GI, GL & PI. And make the best choices available to you.

Most people ingest way too many processed carbs But they don’t get enough of the other macronutrients i.e.; fat & protein.

“I need carbs for energy”
News flash if you’re body fat is above 12% for a male or 16% for female. As Bruno Says you’ve been committing carbicide!! And you have plenty of energy stored around your body that you could use to fuel your day.

You will never tap into that body fat if you don’t restrict the amount of fuel that is coming in.

Example:- it’s like having a car that has a reserve tank that will kick in once the main tank is empty. Your body fat is that reserve tank and the main tank is where all those carbs are going!

Consider getting more fuel from fibrous vegetables, legumes, raw nuts & seeds and quality Protein from wild fish, game & organic grass fed meats.

Check out the links below… Dr. Johnny Bowden talks about insulin..

http://www.eatdrinkordie.com/videos/36d75604df/insulin-daily-nutrition-from-jonny-bowden-nutritionist?rel=auto_related&rel_pos=3

http://www.eatdrinkordie.com/videos/c58f21a601/good-carbs-bad-carbs-daily-nutrition-from-jonny-bowden-nutritionist

Here is The Low Down on cereals…
http://www.eatdrinkordie.com/videos/51abddcd38/cereal-daily-nutrition-from-jonny-bowden-nutritionist-and-jonny-bowden-nutritionist

Now I’m not big on cereals for breakfast but if you must eat them go for like a homemade granola, some organic steel cut oats or some bran. Choosing better options like this can steer you towards a leaner body.

Although dairy has a low GI & GL the insulin load on dairy products is fairly high,

“ If I don’t drink enough milk I wont get enough calcium”

Incorrect! Here is why; milk gives you per 1 Cup 250-300mg of calcium, you get from ½ a cup of tinned salmon 280mg, 1 cup broccoli 180mg, 1 cup spinach 250mg, or 30g (1/8 of a cup) sesame seeds 280mg.

*The recommendation based on the Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand, 2006 is 1000mg of calcium per day!

So if you eat one cup of spinach, one cup of salmon you have already meet your calcium requirements for the day lowered you insulin load, got a boat load of amino acids, vitamins, minerals & fat blasting Omega 3 fatty acids.
Tablets
Also taking calcium or trying to get extra in your diet is a waste of time, if you are not holding on to it.

If your body is too acidic you will draw on these alkaline minerals to buffer its affect, in other words your just pissing them out.

“Spinach is one of the most alkaline vegetables available”.

You could substitute the milk on your cereal with a good Natural organic yogurt or home made almond milk this has a low insulin, glycemic Index and load and is packed with vitamins & minerals.

If you must drink Milk, Commercially Farmed Pasteurized homogenized Milk is rubbish and should be kicked to the kerb. But if you use RAW unprocessed, dairy products from cows, goats or sheep this is a real health food, and has many health benefits as it contains all the correct enzymes for the body to assimilate properly.

If you are not sold or raw Barambah Organics make some good dairy products, that are unhomogenised, they are still pasteurized but at a very low heat, this process minimizes the destruction of the natural enzymes that occur in the milk.

Dr. Jonny Bowden Talks on Dairy…

From Sally Fallon & Weston A Price Foundation
http://www.realmilk.com/what.html

http://www.westonaprice.org/transition/dairy.html

From Dr. Jonny Bowden’s Book the 150 healthiest foods on earth – The truth about Milk!

Ditch the processed milk and get in to some real RAW milk if you email me coach@shannongreen.com.au, I can tell you the best places to buy good quality raw dairy.

Pay close attention to nutrient content of your foods because at the end of the day this is of up most importance in achieving the best results.

About the author,

Shannon Green, is a strength coach & personal trainer that specializes in fight conditioning. he has working with some of Australia’s top combative athletes in MMA, kick boxing, mauy Thai, K1, BJJ & Boxing. He is the owner of the Warrior Performance Center Sydney’s Premier Strength & Conditioning Facility, located in Sutherland shire (near cronulla). And has competed in strongman, BJJ & kickboxing. He is a level 3 PICP strength & conditioning coach, Level Bio-Signature practitioner, and cert 4 in sports massage. To learn more about Shannon or to contact him visit www.warriorperformance.com.au.