Exercise of the Week: All About the Hamstrings!

June 26, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment

This one is all about the hammies. It is called the Single Leg Straight Leg Elevated Hip Extension (man, that’s a mouthful). It’s another great bodyweight exercise. It’s amazing what we can get done with just our bodyweight as the “equipment!”

To perform, lie face up on the ground with your foot on a bench. From there, rise your hips as high as possible, and squeeze the glutes at top. Even know this is primarily a hamstring exercise, try your best to bring your glute into play at the top of the movement. As soon as you feel like you have lost even a little bit of range of motion (you can’t get as high), stop the set.

Progressions and Regressions

-If you can’t fully extend your hip, start with two legs, and as you get stronger, progress to the one leg version

-If you can get one leg with good form, but can’t get many reps (6 or less), use this exercise early in your workout while you are fresh

-If these are fairly easy for you, perform high rep sets (15 + reps). Even for the strongest people, these can also become very difficult if they are performed in a fatigue state. In this case, perform these as the 3rd or 4th leg exercise in that workout.

For example; Leg exercise one = sumo deadlifts; Leg exercise two = bulgarian split squats; And finally, leg exercise three = Single Leg Straight Leg Elevated Hip Extension. In this case, 10-12 reps will be hard for most.

-You can also perform the version that I learned from Bret Contreras.

Here, you hold onto a barbell and elevate your entire body. This increases the range of motion making the exercise more difficult.

So, if you want to jump higher, run faster, or just have nicer looking hammies, give these a try!

Filed under Training · Tagged with Bret Contreras, fitness, Hamstrings

The Most Important Factor In Achieving Your Physique Goals?

June 22, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment

When it comes down to being as sexified looking as possible, there are many factors that come into play. But what is the most important factor?

Is it weight training? Soft tissue work (i.e. foam rolling)? Cardio? Protein? Veggies? Active Recovery? Explosive work? Adequate sleep? Something else?

All of the above are important, obviously. But numero uno on my list may just be…

How we respond to a bad day of eating. We are all going to have a set-back here and there, but will your set-back turn into two days of pure crap eating? How about a terrible Saturday and Sunday, followed by a below average Monday and a not-so-good Tuesday? Sound familiar? If it does, then you are probably frustrated with your results. If you have a bad day, don’t worry, get RIGHT BACK ON the plan asap! If you do this, you’ll be fine. Don’t stress, just brush it off and again, get back onto clean livin’.

Here’s an example – I ate really clean for the two-weeks leading up to the pool party that I attended on Father’s Day. But at this party, I drank a few beers, had a couple of snacks, and basically just enjoyed myself. Now, here’s the key, when I woke up Monday morning, it was oats + blueberries + protein powder (with a little bit of cinnamon added) + 1 fish oil capsule. Then, when I had a break between clients, I headed straight to the store to stock up for the week.

In this trip to the store, I picked up;

-Old Fashioned Oatmeal (I forget to include this in the picture above)

-2 cartons of cage-free eggs (36 total eggs)

-8 free range frozen chicken breasts

-Bag of frozen organic blueberries

-Bag of frozen organic berry mix (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)

-BIG Bag of organic “bean trio” (1st time trying this, it is a blend of lentils, adzuki, and mung beans. Hmm? We shall see how it tastes)

And then, already stocked up in my fridge/freezer at home are some veggies (cauliflower, green beans, etc), apples, and some more meats.

Anyway, as you can see, I jumped RIGHT BACK ON the healthy-train right away. I didn’t stress about having a less than stellar day on Father’s Day, and I feel no guilt – BECAUSE I didn’t let this snowball into something big ‘n ugly.

See, if you play your cards right, you CAN have your cake and eat it too!

stock photo : woman with cake

Filed under Blog, Nutrition · Tagged with fitness, Nutrition

My Cardio Medley Session…

June 19, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment

For some, a 30-minute jog or “ride” on the stationary bike is a way to clear the mind. It’s a way to escape for a brief period, and “get away.” Not for me! Twelve seconds into it, here’s what my mind is saying; “I can’t believe I still have 29 minutes and 48 seconds to go. This is the worst, someone kill me!” My ADD is way too strong. I need change, and I need it quickly.

If you are anything like me, I suggest performing cardio “medleys.” A cardio medley is a great way to prevent EXTREME boredom. Medleys are also beneficial because they help prevent overuse injuries. For example…

-Running 30 minutes straight is extremely repetitive. This can be very hard on the joints… especially if you are carrying a few extra pounds.

-30 minutes hunched over a bike reinforces the posture that many of us are in all day while we are sitting on our butts at the computer; sitting for hours on end at work; driving in a our car; watching TV; etc. etc.

Anyway, to reduce the chance of these issues, and for all of us ADD people, medleys are great. I know I won’t be performing “traditional” cardio anytime soon. Here is what my cardio medley looked like yesterday…

That was:

-8 Sumo Deadlifts

-3 Chin-ups

-8 Hang Cleans

-8 Push-ups

-8 Jump Squats

Breaking it down: Deadifts with 135 pound is very easy, IF that is all I did. But it is a enough to get my heart rate up going into the next exercise… chin-ups. 3 chin-ups are very easy, but become a little more difficult after doing deadlifts. I then went onto hang cleans with 95 pounds. This would usually be an easy weight, but is quite a bit harder after doing deadlifts and chins. Next I went onto push-ups and finished with jump squats. Once again, 8 push-ups and 8 jump squats are easy as a stand-alone, but as the 4th and 5th exercises in this medley, not so much. My heart was pounding through my chest after that last jump squat. Health and fat loss made a little more fun (still kind of miserable, but not as bad as usual ).

I then rested 60 seconds, and repeated as many sets as possible.

I purposely chose a weight that would jack my heart rate up (and make this very difficult), but not a weight that would make this session serve as “interference” for my weight training sessions. If I had performed any slow, grinding reps due to a heavy load (on the deadlifts for example), this session would just have made recovery tougher for my weight training session tomorrow. It’s all about seeing the big picture – even know I incorporated weights into this CARDIO session, it was NOT a lifting session.

So there you go. Incorporate medleys into your cardio plan. And if possible, try to mix both upper and lower body movements into the session. This will ensure that a particular body part does not become the limiting factor (and will help prevent soreness for that body part), rather your heart & lungs will be reason that you have to stop, when the time comes.

Finally, Happy Father’s Day to the dads out there. I am very happy to be apart of this group!

Filed under Blog, Training · Tagged with Cardio, Fat Loss, fitness

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…