Nutrition Myths?
December 28, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
Today I want to talk about a couple nutrition related topics that are myths? Or are they? When it comes to nutrition we don’t really KNOW anything for sure. What we “knew” in 1980 has turned out to be wrong (in many cases). What we “knew” in 1990, same thing. What we “know” today, people may look back in the year 2030 and laugh at us. But today, all we can do is go off the information we have at hand. With that said - many people have “known” forever that eating food with saturated fats and cholesterol is bad for us. And we’ve also “known” for quite some time that eating many (6-ish) meals per day will speed up our metabolism…
Myth #1: Eating 6 small meals per day will speed up our metabolism more than eating 3 meals per day
Meal Frequency – We all “know” that eating frequently speeds up our metabolism. I’ve been told this ever since I got involved in working out. If you look at the TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) you’ll recall that it burns calories to breakdown and use the foods that we eat. Conventional wisdom tells us that if we eat often (5-7 meals per day), we can get this fat burning TEF more often throughout the day. BUT, research is now showing us that although we get this effect more often, the effect is less pronounced with each smaller meal that we eat. So basically it looks like this:
Thermic effect of 6 smaller meals – smaller thermic effect per meal
Thermic effect of 3 larger meals – larger thermic effect per meal
Essentially, at the end of the day, the thermic effect is going to be the same whether we eat 3 meals or 6 meals (assuming total calories are the same). WOW! All these years we’ve ALL been wrong about meal frequency and its role on metabolism (if you were saying this years ago, you were wise beyond your years. Or simply lying about it now). I do still think there are advantages to eating a little more frequently (like the fact that frequent eating helps many avoid getting to that panic starving state that has you pulling into the 1stCrispy Crème that you come across), but apparently helping speed up metabolism isn’t one of them.
I first heard this “myth” talked about by Alan Aragon. But who knows, in the future we may do more studies telling us that our original thoughts on meal frequency were right on (as in, it DOES speed up metabolism). But for now, it does appear to be a myth. I want to reiterate, I DO think that many people get better results with eating more often for a few different reasons. Just know that speeding up your metabolism is NOT one of those reasons.
Myth #2: We should avoid foods containing cholesterol and saturated fats
Many people think this for a couple reasons. 1) poorly conducted and misinterpreted studies have been done on saturated fat and cholesterol. The misinformation from these studies get passed on from generation to generation and become “fact.” Check out Stephan Guyenet’s website for all the saturated fat/cholesterol information your heart desires. 2) The media (although I have recently seen some of the media come around on this – there is some hope from the media! 
) is still saying that saturated fat and cholesterol are the devil. And the media reaches the largest number of people, making the average non-researching Joe more and more misinformed.
There have been many smart people that have already wrote articles on the saturated fat/cholesterol is bad for us myth. So I am not going to reinvent the wheel here. I really like this article talking about the benefits of eating the whole egg as opposed to just the egg whites. You’ll see that the topic of cholesterol is addressed. Here is a good quote from the article…
“First of all, when you eat a food that contains a high amount of dietary cholesterol such as eggs, your body down-regulates it’s internal production of cholesterol to balance things out. On the other hand, if you don’t eat enough cholesterol, your body simply produces more since cholesterol has dozens of important vital functions in the body.”
The bottom line, don’t fear food if it has a little cholesterol in it. And when it comes to saturated fat, what is the quote? “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water,” I believe. In other words, foods like eggs that come from free range chickens, grass fed beef, organic extra virgin cocunut oil, and pasture butter to name of few, have a good amount of saturated fat in them and are healthy choices.
Some foods have saturated fat in them AND a ton of sugar, AND a ton of processed carbs, AND trans-fats. But for some reason, all too often saturated fat gets much of the blame. If they started to put crack in all of the water we drank, that would be like me blaming the health problem on the water, rather than the crack. Again, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. Incorporating the foods I mentioned above SHOULD be a part of your nutrition plan.
Myths or not? I’m not sure. But for now, I believe the way the average person looks at cholesterol and saturated fat should be revisited. And don’t freak out if you only get 4 meals in today, your metabolism will be just fine.
My Favorites of 2010
December 23, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
The year is almost over and it has been a tough one for many. But I’m hoping we can all stay positive, work really hard, and do all we can to help one another out. I’m feeling pretty good going into 2011. Below, I’m going to randomly put down some of my favorites from this past year. Now, I’m sure I ate some of these foods in 2009, but for whatever reason, they became my favorites in ‘10. I have not put much thought into this list, so these are the first things that pop into my head…
Favorite Carbohydate Of The Year (OTY) – Sweet Potatoes. I never really disliked sweet potatoes, but until this year, I never realized how much I like them. I especially like them with a good meat source…
Favorite Protein OTY – I’ve been all over grass-fed beef this year! I love it and it goes great with sweet potatoes and some veggies. I usually pick up mine from Trader Joe’s.
Favorite Cooking Oil OTY – Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. This stuff handles high heat well and adds a nice flavor to many foods. 
My Favorite “Type” of Cardio OTY – “Inverted Ladder” – I learned this from Tony Gentilcore and me and my clients have been “loving” it! An example of this can be found here. You can find a description of how to set up the sets and reps of an inverted ladder in this article.
My Favorite NBA Player To Watch In 2010 (and beyond I’m sure) – Derrick Rose. We all knew he’d be good, but I don’t think many thought that he would progress this fast! If he doesn’t win the MVP this year, he will definitely be in the top 5.
Favorite Sports Roundtable OTY – Though I loved the MLB Roundtable, the NFL Roundtable just beat it out as #1 for 2010.
Favorite Danny McLarty Basketball Youtube Video OTY – Even know the Youtubers seemed to like this video the most, as it has nearly 26,000 hits, I like this video more because it takes the move and then has me finishing with a basket – which is the end goal anyway!
Favorite Fitness Article That I Published This Year - ”The War on Fat Loss“ An assist goes to Marci Nevin on this one!
Favorite Basketball Article That I Published This Year – I’m taking the easy way out… tie. Tie between “Take Your Ball Handling Skills To The Next Level” and “Get OUT of Your High-Top Shoes“
Favorite Country Performer OTY – Eric Church. I really didn’t know who he was until my good friends Ryan and Sarah Hoffman told my wife and I that we have to go see him when he comes to town. So we did. We went down to San Jose and I was floored! You can tell that he loves what he does… and he is very good at it. If you don’t know him yet, check him out!
Favorite Blog OTY – Bret Contreras’ Blog.
Favorite New Place To Post Training Info – Sears Fit Club
Favorite Movie OTY – I guess this will go to, “The Town” – at least I can’t think of anything better off the top of my head. Am I forgetting an obvious one?
Favorite TV Show OTY – No doubt, “The Office” – Sometimes when I’m watching it I think to myself, “this can’t get any more funny!!!”
Favorite Game OTY – Da Bears beating the Packers a couple months back. Face, burn, ‘n all that schtuff Packer’s fans! You know I love you GB fans – just not when we step between the internet lines!
And My Absolute Favorite Thing OTY- After 3 in vitro attempts my wife and I are finally pregnant … with twins! It has been a difficult couple of years on this front (especially on her, with all the needles, and weight gain, and sickness, etc.), but it seems to have paid off. Even know we have a long way to go, we are cautiously excited. Today we are exactly 16 weeks in. Let’s hope everything continues to go well!!! Here’s a picture of her baby(s) bump starting to make its appearance…
Everyone finish the year strong and lets make 2011 a great one!
Theme Week: Basketball
December 2, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
In this final installment of theme week, I’m going to share with you an article I had published awhile back titled, “Basketball Strength Training For Newbies.”
While this article was written for a basketball website, the exercises and progressions/regressions will work great for anyone that is new to strength training and looking to get into it. So if you have been a “cardio queen” (cardio only and no weight training) for the past 17 years and are finally buying in to ALL of the benefits that resistance training brings, or you have a daughter, son, nephew, niece, or coach a team of young athletes, this will serve as a GREAT starting point for you!
Basketball Strength Training For Newbies
Theme Week: Basketball
December 1, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
The basketball theme continues… if you missed yesterday’s post, you can find it HERE. For some more hoop reading, here is basketball post #2 for the week.
Enjoy and I’ll see you tomorrow…
Theme Week: Basketball
November 30, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
I know that it is still really football season. I mean, we’re deep into the season and the playoff picture is starting to work itself out. Plus, da Bears are 8-3 and in first place… and I’m lovin’ it! But, high school and college basketball are now underway, as is the NBA. So I figured this week would be a good week for all things basketball. With that said, I’ll be including an older article or post for you to check out everyday for the rest of the week, in case you missed them the first time around.
Up first…
“Get Out of Your High-Top Shoes!”
P.S. Derrick Rose is playing as well as anybody in the league right now. Just sayin’.
P.S.S. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more hoop talk. Stay tuned…
Cardio Quickies Part II
November 22, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
I’m back to finish you off for a quickie cardio workout or two. As a reminder, in part I I mentioned that many people say that they are too busy to get their training sessions in over the holidays. So I provided you with a couple quick, but effective lifting sessions that will allow you to get in and out of the gym in as little time as possible.
Now that the weight lifting portion is covered, lets get into the cardio portion.
Inverted Ladder
I got the concept of the “inverted ladder” from Strength Coach, Tony Gentilcore. You can use almost any exercise while using the inverted ladder as your cardio “finisher” (right after your lifting session) of the day. You can also do this on your non-lifting day. Here is what an inverted ladder is;
-You choose 3 exercises (BIG compound movements, not like exercises like curls for the girls)
-The first exercise you perform just 1 rep. Then you move onto the next exercise and perform 10 reps. And finally, for the 3rd exercise you pick a constant number of reps and stick with it until you finish the ladder (as you’ll see below, my constant in the first video was 5 push-ups, and my constant in the second video was 3 chin-ups). When you come back to the first exercise, you add one rep (so you are now doing 2 reps), when you go back to the second exercise, you are to do one less rep than you did in round one (so 9 instead of 10). And finally you finish off round two with the 3rd exercise and stay with the constant number throughout (5, in the case of the push-up video). So, it will look like this in video #1:
Medicine Ball Slams X 1 rep
Box (or bench) Jumps X 10
Push-ups X 5
Medicine Ball Slams X 2
Box Jumps X 9
Push-ups X 5
Medicine Ball Slam X 3
Box Jumps X 8
Push-ups X 5
Continue with this until you are up to 10 reps on the medicine ball slams, and down to 1 rep on the box jumps. Time yourself and then try to beat it the next time you do the same exercise sequence.
And the next video with the 3 exercises … 1) Kettlebell Swings (use a dumbbell(s) if you don’t have a kettlebell 2) Broad Jumps, 3) Chin-ups (3 reps as the “constant” in this circuit)
Do you think I taped only a portion of the entire session because;
A) I didn’t want to show off?
B) I was too tired to do the whole thing?
C) I didn’t want to make you bored by watching the entire session?
If you answered “A” then you are wrong – I didwant to show off, I was just too tired. So, the answer is B + C. If that was your answer congratulations, your major award will be shipped to your house on December 23rd (and Ralphie will be delivering it).
I’ve been using the inverted ladder with my clients over the last few weeks and they’ve been loving it! Well, maybe “love” is a little stong. Their enjoyment of the ladder has been somewhere between the enjoyment of a relaxing 90-minute massage and a punch to the stomach… that means they kind of like it, but don’t love it. And it also means they like it WAAAY more than running on the treadmill for 30-minutes although they also seem to like a punch to the stomach more than a 30-minute jog on the treadmill. But I digress.
Exercise Selection
As mentioned above, pick BIG compound movements. After all, this is the cardio portion of the workout. So “isolation” movements like calf raises or I don’t know, blinking, just won’t cut it. Also, thinkof this as using weights to get your heart rate up to make your cardio session harder. Do NOT think of the inverted ladder as your lifting session. I had one of my on-line clients tell me that he used 40 pound dumbbells for one of his exercises (push presses) and said that he could barely finish. Well duh, his 10 RM (rep max) is about 40 pounds. I suggested next time he tries , to go with about 25 pounds. Again, that will be more than enough to get his heart to feel like it is going to fly out of his chest, but not too much weight that the shoulders become the limiting factor (rather than his heart ‘n lungs).
One more thing, if you are going to use a body weight exercise as one of your 3 exercises, make sure that it is one that doesn’t get you too close to muscular failure after 3-5 reps. I chose chin-ups in one of the circuits because if I only had to do one set of chins, I could get over 20. Therefore chins are a good choice for me. If you can only get 4-5 chins, I’d go with another exercise if I were you. Something like inverted rows would be a great substitute.
So there you go. Your lifting session (again, from the routines I gave you HERE), plus the finisher will get you in and out and on with your day… just leaner than you were before!
Quickies
November 19, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
The other day I made a post in hopes that it would help you get your mind right going into the holidays. You can find it HERE. In that I post I also brought up the fact that many lazy people often say that they are too busy to workout during this crazy time. Hogwash! Even if you have to deviate from your usual routine (or if you don’t have a routine at all), below I’m going to give you two sample routines that you can get done in minimal time.
If Santa can find time, you can find time! (just make sure your eating is juuuuust a touch more strict than his)
Routine #1
A1) Bulgarian Split Squats 4 X 6-8
A2) Push-ups 4 X 10 Pick the version that is most appropriate for you that barely has you getting 10 reps with PERFECT form. Here are a bunch of options (from easiest to hardest).
B1) Chin-ups OR Reverse Grip Latpulldowns – 4 X 6-8
B2) Swiss Ball Leg Curl/Hip Extension Combo 3 X 8/8-12 (8 leg curls immediately followed by 8-12 hip extensions)
C) McLarty Rollouts or Body Saw 2-3 X 10
Routine #2
A1) Barbell Push Press 4 X 4-6
A2) RDL or Kettlebell Swing 3 X 8-10
B1) Inverted Row 4 X 8 - Use a TRX Strap or a Smith Machine (I prefer TRX if you have access).
B2) Walking Lunges 3 X 12/Leg
C) 1-Leg Side Plank 2 X ALAP (As Long As Possible) – if you can’t get @ least 15 seconds per side, go with 2-leg side planks X ALAP
Progam Notes:
-Rest ALAN (As Little As Needed) between exercises without letting performance drop too much.
-Make sure to perform a dynamic warm-up before starting the workout (leg swings, running butt kicks, body weight squats, etc.)
That’s it for the notes. Don’t over think it, just make sure you get in, get out, and give yourself enough time to prepare that turkey for your husband and kids. We’ll (guys) make sure we give ourselves enough time to get comfortable in our favorite chair in front of the tv while you serve us food. After all, I’ve been told in order to keep a relationship going strong, it is important to make your wife feel important. And if that means I HAVE TO let my wife serve me some tasty grub while I watch football, I’m going to do it for the good of the relationship… sacrifices, someone has to do it!
And now back to reality…
If you are able to get your usual full workout routines in then more power to you. But if you find yourself “crazy busy” over the next month or so, then simply get in the above workouts for a total of 2-3 times per week. Each workout will take you about 20 minutes. We ALL have time for that. I wanted to add a couple quickie cardio routines but I can’t find my USB cord. But once I get that situated, I’ll be back with some video going over the quickie holiday cardio routines that I’m sure you all will love! :) Stay tuned…
No Holiday Blues For You!
November 17, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
I hope everyone is doing well as we get closer and closer to Thanksgiving week. Stay disciplined for another week and feel free to let loose a bit on Turkey Day. You have my permission (as if you need it ). The key is to get back on track asap! (as in, Friday morning after Thanksgiving) I’m confident that you won’t ruin all of your health and physique goals if you jump back on the training/healthy eating wagon sooner rather than later. Do NOT, I repeat do NOT, have this mindset… “well, I really blew it yesterday with all that gravy and extra serving of pumpkin pie and those 6 cans of Old Milwaukee (yeah that’s right, I said Old Milwaukee) and then I felt extra sick after watching yet another Thanksgiving Day Lion’s game.
I might as well kiss my goals good bye and head back to the fridge for leftovers today. Plus, Christmas and New Year’s are right around the corner. On January 2nd (because January 1st you’re still nursing your hangover and the last thing in the world you are going to do is prepare healthy meals on this day… especially with all the great Bowl games on) I promise I’ll start to be good again.” Meanwhile you, like most Americans just gained an extra 15 pounds (or whatever the national average is) over the holiday season and you’re starting your resolution from a big deficit.
Don’t be that person. Enjoy the holidays, enjoy your family, cheat a little, and make sure to get back on track RIGHT AWAY. I’m posting this a week before Thanksgiving in hopes that this will sink in and give you plenty of time to get your mind right before “going into the battle,” that is the holidays.
And by the way, I’ll be posting some sample workouts for those that “are just too lazy busy” to get your workouts in during this crazy time of the year. These workouts will take you ~ 20 minutes (honestly) and you won’t skip a beat. But your heart sure will beat! Good one? No. What’s that, you think I’m a dork? Ouch!
All dorkiness aside, check back shortly (tomorrow maybe?) with these quick, time-friendly workouts. Time is not an issue – no excuses!
Love,
Me
The War on Fat Loss
November 1, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
I had a new article published last Friday. My friend Marci Nevin and I did this one together. I handled the training portion and she tackled the nutrition side. I know many of are going to have a weight loss/fat loss goal coming up as New Year’s resolutions are right around the corner. Hopefully this piece will motivate you and help you get to your goals…
“The War on Fat Loss“
How to Get Athletes Faster
October 13, 2010 by danny · Leave a Comment
As a strength coach and basketball coach I’ve had many parents ask me over the years; “how do I get my son/daughter faster?” More often then not, these well-intended parents/coaches figure the best way to improve speed is to have the young athletes do agility drill after agility drill. But they leave out a VERY important component to improving speed – strength training. Both Eric Cressey and Mike Boyle do a great job of addressing the importance of getting stronger in the quest to becoming faster. You can check them out here…
As Coach Boyle points out; ”The best solution to slow feet is to get stronger legs.”
If you are a parent, or a coach of a sport, and the “sciency” type of stuff that Mr. Cressey & Boyle are talking about has you a little confused, just know that the more force you are capable (by getting stronger through weight training) of putting into the ground, the faster you are going to be able to run, the quicker you are going to be able to stop, and the higher you are going to be able to jump. And I couldn’t agree more with Eric – many sport seasons go year around these days (i.e. a basketball player or volleyball player that has their regular season, then it’s off to spring league, followed by summer league, followed by fall league. And then mix in a few camps in the summer, and a number of open gyms… as you can see, it is NON-STOP!). I think it’s fair to say that these athletes are spending more than enough time working on agility. Their non-playing time would be better spent getting stronger, as opposed to going to “speed” camps in which the coaches/trainers focus on movement training – where the majority of what they do is more agility drills, with no weight training.
If you read Eric and Mike’s posts, and my thoughts from above, I’m pretty confident that you are “sold” on how important strength training is to becoming a faster athlete. But just in case you are still not buying it, think about some of the fastest athletes in the world… sprinters in track and “skill” players in football (defensive backs, running backs, receivers). These are athletes that are moving some serious weight in the weight room!
So, if you are a parent or coach to an athlete(s) and do not have access to a qualified strength coach in your area, where do you begin? The biggest advice I can give you is to keep it simple for now, work on form, and focus on big, compound movements with free weights (i.e. lunges rather than leg extensions) Here is a good place to help you get started – http://bit.ly/cj4T3v. And don’t be thrown off by the title of the article. This would be a good place to start for most young athletes. Now go get some people stronger!
