FitStudio Gear

November 10, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment 

My peeps from FitStudio just put together a new equipment page… also known as the “Gear Page.”

There are a bunch of goodies to choose from!  But I’ll briefly go over 3 on top of my list.   These items are especially beneficial to me due to the fact that I am currently training people out of my home gym.  This means I need equipment that allows them to perform many different exercises, without taking up a lot of space.  So, if you are setting up your own home gym, hopefully this blogpost will help give you some ideas.

#1) Weighted Vest – Use the vest for a variety of exercises such as 1-leg squats, chin/pull-ups, jump squats, bulgarian split squats, push-ups, and more.

#2) Power Switch Weight Set – In a smaller area, this is a great way to save space while still being to use an entire dumbbell set!

#3) Medicine Balls – We use them for different throws to improve power, as well as part of a “cardio circuit.”

Here’s a video with medicine balls throws included… Get It Twisted.

And here’s Carson and I using the medicine ball as part of a cardio circuit (“medicine ball slams”) …

Again, check out the FitStudio “Gear” page to find great products at reasonable prices, that best fit your needs.

What equipment is high your wish list?

Follow Me On Twitter >>> @DannyMcLarty

Guest Post: Upper Body Training Considerations

November 7, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment 

Samantha Ziegler was looking for an assist blog post on her website, and I was happy to help out. I wrote up some of the things that I take into account when writing up programs for my clients (in this post, I’m talking specifically about upper body training).

Rows - great for improving posture!

To get some insider tips for improving your upper body while keeping yourself healthy over the long haul, check out… Guest Post: Upper Body Training Considerations (by Danny McLarty).

Follow Me On Twitter >>> @DannyMcLarty

What Did I Eat Today?

November 4, 2011 by danny · 6 Comments 

Over the last few days I’ve been, well, less than perfect with my eating.  I walked by the Halloween candy we had in our house about 376 times, and I dug my hand into that pile more than once.  And then last night after I lifted in my home gym, my post-workout meal was a mix of count chocula + cheerios + almond milk with a little protein powder sprinkled in there.

Don’t get me wrong, I still incorporated a lot of protein, veggies, and healthy fats throughout the day.  BUT, I did cheat more than I should have.

This is the key to success in this health and physique “game” >>> If you get back on track right away, a little cheating here and there is perfectly fine. Problems arise when a bad night of drinking beer and scarfing down pizza turns into a pancake and syrup infested morning, followed by a quick run to Micky D’s for lunch, and finished off with a family dinner at Olive Garden where you start with 14 breadsticks as your appetizer.  Moderation, moderation, moderation!  Let’s just not forget what moderation really is… i.e. don’t kid yourself into thinking that cheating 50% of the time = moderation.


Tell Others About Your Goals.  Don’t Keep It To Yourself.

Since I splurged a bit over the last couple days, I told myself that I would not put one thing in my body that even resembled a cheat food.  I walked by that Halloween candy pile another 34 times, but didn’t give in to temptation once.  Another motivating factor was the fact that I knew I was going to blog about what I ate today and didn’t want to look bad when I logged this for you all to read.  Sometimes “putting it out there” is great motivation and can be a very powerful tool in helping you drop a few pounds (or whatever your goal is).  I know not all of you have a website to share this kind of info, but try something like this; when you start your fitness and nutrition plan, tell a few (or many) people close to you and let them know that YOU ARE GOING to reach your goal.  That way, if you give up or don’t hit your goal, you also feel like you are letting them down.  It’s a great way to help hold yourself accountable.

Believe it or not, you (my readers) helped hold me accountable today.  Again, I knew I was going to be blogging about this later in the day and that REALLY helped me walk away from the Halloween candy.  So thanks for the help my peeps! :)

What I Ate On This “Bounce Back Day”

First Feeding #1

- ~ 1 cup of oatmeal

-apple slices mixed in

- ~ 1/4 scoop of chocolate protein powder (cinnamon added)

-4 whole eggs

Supplements: 1 fish oil capsule (just under a gram of combined EPA/DHA) + 1 Vitamin D Capsule (1000 IUs)

Green Tea with 1 tsp of creatine (sometime between feeding #1 and #2)

Feeding #2

- ~ 3 ounces of steak (grass-fed)

- ~ 3 ounces of turkey

- 1 small/medium red potato

- green beens + broccoli (organic)

Snacked on a YouBar as I was driving around doing some errands.

Feeding #3

- ~ 8 ounces of beef (grass-fed)

-2 Ezekiel English Muffins with almond butter spread on them

-green beens + broccoli

- ~ 10 almonds

Supplements – 1 tsp Carlson Liquid Fish Oil (lemon flavored) (1.3 grams combined EPA/DHA)

Feeding #4

-2 scoops whey protein powder (chocolate)

-2 strawberries + a handful of raspberries (both organic)

- ~ big spoonful of almond butter

-1 scoop of Superfood (veggie powder)

All mixed into a blender – tasty!

On top of this I had a bunch of water all day.

So there you have it, a typical day of what I eat.

Look similar to what you put down your pie hole on a daily basis?  You eat cleaner than me?  Does a day in my eating life look WAAAAY more clean than yours?  Let me know!

And don’t forget the above message… put your goals out there for others to hear.  It will really help you stick with it!

Follow me on twitter >>> @DannyMcLarty

Bench Press – The Greatest Exercise of ALL TIME!

November 1, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment 

If you I really believe that I think the bench press is the greatest exercise of all time, I have three words for you; YOU SO CRAZY!

I actually think that the bench press is THE most overrated exercise of ALL TIME!  Now, I didn’t say the worst exercise.  I said the most overrated exercise.  How could I say this?  This is how… the average male lifter does 1235 reps on the bench press for every 1 rep he does performing a row variation (that fact came out of a study done in Ontario, Canada.  Look it up – just go to goooogle.com to find the study – yes four o’s***); the average human being sits in front of the computer all day, and/or drives in their car quite a bit, and/or sits on their butt in front of the tv all day, therefore excessive pressing doesn’t help this imbalance that “life” has created; the average guy thinks the bench press PR is all that really counts in the weight room, but doesn’t even know how to perform an ass-to-grass squat.

As you can see, the bench press IS overrated, when it comes to the average gym-goer (don’t be average, people!).  As I mentioned above, I do NOT think it is the worst exercise however.  I don’t even think it is a bad exercise… when performed properly.  That’s the other problem, most people don’t perform the bench with proper form to, 1) get the most out of the lift, and 2) keep the shoulders healthy.  With all that said, I know just about every guy out there will perform the bench press no matter what I say.  So, you might as well do it with proper form.  Lets get to form…

First, here’s the wrong way to bench…

Bench Press Dont’s (as mentioned in the video):

-Don’t let your shoulder blades protract (keep them RETRACTED throughout the set)

-Don’t put your feet out in front of your knees, as this flattens the back.  You should arch your low back and PUFF up your chest to reduce the distance that the bar has to travel.  If the elbows travel too far down below your torso (like when your low back is flat), it puts undue stress on the shoulders.  And I’m not saying that the average lifter needs an excessive arch like you see in the set up of a powerlifter …

-Don’t flare your elbows.  ”Tuck” them so that they are about 45 degrees relative to your torso.

And here, you’ll see what a proper bench press looks like…

The cues that I gave in the video (the words flashing across your screen) are the basics for a proper bench press.  There are more little subtleties that we could go over, but if you follow these basics you’ll be well on your way to a bigger bench and healthier shoulders.

If your interpretation of this blog post is; “Danny McLarty doesn’t like the bench press.  He thinks it is a bad exercise,” you’re wrong.  I like the bench press. I just do not like the volume that most people use with it.  I also don’t like the overemphasis most people place on the bench press.  I don’t like the shotty technique that most people have when benching.  And I don’t like the fact that most people (dudes) are more likely to perform a 13th set of bench pressing RATHER THAN include deadlifts, squats, and rows (to name a few great choices).

In the end, if you are going to bench press, make sure to; be careful with the volume, use proper technique, and make sure that you are getting in plenty of rowing and other great BIG-boy movements.

***Ok, I lied about that Ontario, Canada study.  But you get the point!  And you didn’t really go look up goooogle.com did you!?!  Did you?

Are any of you “bench press freaks” that just can’t get enough?  Or former (recovering ;) ) bench press freaks?  If so, how did you modify your training?

Make sure to hit me up on twitter. I’ll see you next time…

An Interview with Jen Comas Keck: Girl Gone Strong

October 27, 2011 by danny · 9 Comments 

I have a GREAT interview for you today.  I tracked down Jen Comas Keck, and not surprisingly, she delivered in a big way. Jen is a great inspiration to all the females out there (and to many males as well)!  Jen puts a big emphasis on weight training, which has been a key factor in achieving her outstanding physique.  She proves that females can lift hard and heavy, and still look feminine and beautiful.  With that said, lets get to it…

1)   Jen, what got you involved with fitness?

I was insanely lazy when I was a teenager. I was a book worm and all I wanted to do was read and eat junk food. I despised the idea of doing anything physically active. While I had nearly straight A’s in every class, I failed gym class not once, but twice! I started packing on the pounds and when I was 17 years old somebody that I was very close to looked me in the eyes one day and said, “Ya know, you’re getting kinda fat.” I was completely devastated and cried my eyes out. The next day I begged my mom to help me get a membership to the gym, to which she obliged. I didn’t have a clue as to where I should begin, so I started taking aerobics classes. I was intimidated by the people in the weight room, so I’d go back to the gym around 8 or 9pm when nobody was there and I’d mess around with the machines and the weights. I initially fell in love with group fitness classes, so much so that I started instructing. I taught every class you could ever think of while living in Las Vegas, up to 13 classes per week, and had the time of my life! I decided I also wanted to work with people individually and got my personal trainer certification from NASM and started training clients, which I also loved. I’ve always been eager to challenge myself which led me to my first Figure competition and that is when I fell in love with strength training.

2)   What are some of the early training mistakes that you made?

The biggest mistake I made was doing way too much cardio, thinking it would melt fat off of my body. I was cranking out around 5 hours of cardio a day for an entire year while I was teaching classes, and I think I lost a whopping total of 2 pounds!

3)   And how did you modify your training to “turn things around” with your physique?

Late 2008 is when I did my first Figure show and I became obsessed with strength training. In early 2009, I abandoned all cardio and starting following DeFranco’s Westside for Skinny Bastards program. This is an awesome and simple to follow program that is geared towards gaining strength. It is centered around the “three big lifts”, which are squat, bench and deadlift. I gained a ton of strength, lost significant body fat and realized that this style of training is the golden ticket to a nice physique.

4)   What do you consider to be a couple of the biggest mistakes that females make in regards to their training and nutrition?

Most females make the same big mistakes that I made. They think that cardio will get them their dream body, and they think that they can out-train a poor diet. Neither has an ounce of truth. I feel like the paradigm is slowly starting to shift and women are starting to see that that an ideal physique is created in the weight room… not on the cardio machines or in the classes! In regards to nutrition, women make the mistake of under eating, and it’s all of the wrong foods – too many carbs, not enough protein or veggies, and too many processed foods like granola bars and yogurt. If I could offer just two pieces of nutrition advice for women, they would be:

1. Eat whole, unprocessed foods.

2. Eat vegetables with every single meal, no exceptions.

5)   Alright, lets have a little fun…

-What’s the one cheat food that you have a hard time saying no to?  And how do you avoid “going there” too often?

I have the world’s biggest sweet tooth! My favorite thing in the world is probably carrot cake, with cinnamon rolls coming in a close second. However, I have recently eliminated gluten from my diet, which has caused my new obsession to be chocolate covered nuts. Whole Foods has chocolate covered pecans and they are so good that I dream about them! I never keep foods that are “off limits” in our house so I don’t have the option to consume them without planning for it.

-Speaking of food, I know you have a ton of great, healthy recipes.  Care to share one of your favorites with us?

Yes! I’m very passionate about making clean treats to keep people sane while dieting. I also like to create delicious stuff in hopes that people will offer these to their children instead of sugary candy and cookies. I have so many recipes that I love, but I think my favorite is the pumpkin muffins. They are perfect right now for fall and delicious topped with natural peanut butter. They are gluten, dairy and sugar free, and I swear that you’d never know it!

-What is the one exercise that pumps you up the most to perform?

Deadlifts! They are, what I feel to be, the most bang for your buck. They work every muscle in your body and make you stronger overall. If somebody was only going to do one of the three big lifts, I’d highly recommend the deadlift. Something about locking out a heavy deadlift just feels so good and empowering!

-What is the one exercise that you dread to perform – but of course, you do it anyway, right?

Uh oh! Getting called out on this one! ;) Truthfully, I hate to squat. I always have. Of course I force myself to do it albeit not as often as I probably should, which is why I’m pretty awful at them.

-As you walk onto the stage in a competition you have people in the crowd and all the judges, well, judging you; what area of your body do you feel best about?

My mom has the most beautiful legs I’ve ever seen and lucky for me she passed her genetics on down. That, paired with the fact that I absolutely hammer my legs twice per week, has blessed me with a set of legs that I’m pretty proud of.

And we all have that one area that just won’t cooperate the way want it to.  Yours is?

Without doubt, it’s my midsection. My legs and back stay pretty lean, even if my weight swings upwards about 10 pounds, but in order for my abs to be visible, I’ve got to be around or below 15%  .

6) Switching gears to the performance side of things, what are your current PRs (Personal Records) in the:

-Deadlift – 295 (it just kills me that I didn’t go for 300 that day!)

-Bench Press – 145. I’ve attempted 150 twice over the last 6 months and barely missed it both times. 150 will be mine before this year is over!

(Danny’s Note: A few hours after we finished up this interview, Jen sent me an e-mail saying that she hit 15o pounds in the bench press!  Wow, talk about the power of putting a goal in writing – nice job Jen!)

-Squat – 215. I haven’t tested my squat max in about a year, so this is from last November.

7) What does your future in the field of fitness look like for you?  Where can the readers find out more about you, Jen?

I have a fitness bucket list that seems to keep growing! There is so much I want to do. I am definitely planning on participating in Tri-Fitness next fall, and I can see myself doing some type of Strongwoman event and/or Powerlifting meet in the interim.

On another similar topic, I’ve recently teamed up with 6 amazing and strong females to create a women’s mastermind strength group called, “Girls Gone Strong”. We plan on putting on seminars & workshops, educating women on strength training and building a strong female network and support system. Our website should be up by the beginning of next year.

To find out more about me, you can visit my website www.JenComasKeck.com , where I have all of my recipes, articles and interviews posted. You can also find my daily training log on EliteFTS.com, hear me ramble in 140 characters on Twitter, or find me either at Facebook.com/jencomaskeck or under our female strength fan page which is Facebook.com/GirlsGoneStrong.

Danny’s Note – It is GREAT to see females like Jen passing on the message that embracing weight training will not make a girl “too big.”  And that when done properly with progressive overload (and a solid nutrition plan), weight training plays a HUGE role in building a healthy and attractive female body!  Girls like Jen have been a big inspiration to some of my young female clients over the years.  Here’s a video of my client Coco, lifting 300 pounds in the rack pull…

One less female that we have to worry about becoming a “cardio queen!” :)

Thanks for the interview, Jen!

For more training, nutrition, and basketball information, you can find Danny on Twitter.

Cardio: Did I Beat My Previous Time?

October 25, 2011 by danny · 2 Comments 

A couple weeks back I did a blogpost going over my cardio session.  I explained the “inverted ladder” and got part of it on video.  Well, the other day I repeated the SAME EXACT ladder, in attempt to improve my time.  And I know y’all have been on the edge of your seats in anticipation – waiting to find out if I improved.  In case you missed the video from my first attempt at this inverted ladder cardio session, here it is …

In week 1, I completed the entire ladder in 7:09.  And in my 2nd attempt, I did it in 7:01.  As you can see, I shaved 8 seconds off of my time.  When I repeat it a 3rd time, I’ll go for 7:00 or faster.

Goals

Each time you head to the gym for your training session, that is exactly what your goal should be… making improvement each and every time!  Even if that improve seems minuscule, it is still improving, meaning that you are heading in the right direction.  A little + a little + a little, ends up to be A LOT down the road.

When I train clients, quite often they are disappointed when they only beat their previous week’s numbers by 1 rep.  I tell them; “No, that is great!  Even if you end up improving by 1 or 2 reps on each day of the training program, in the end that is going to be VERY significant improvement!”  Example:

Your program calls for 4 X AMRAP chin-ups (that 4 sets of As Many Reps As Possible)

Week 1 you get 10 reps, 9 reps, 9 reps, 7 reps (total of 35 reps)

Week 2 you get 10, 9, 9, 8 (total of 36 reps. “Only” 1 rep better)

Week 3 you get 10, 10, 9, 9 (total of 38 reps)

Week 4 you get 10, 10, 10, 9 (total of 39 reps)

So, over the course of the 4-week program, you just improved by 4 reps.  Again, significant!  So, small improvements from week to week REALLY add up.  And by the way, IF you are making HYOOGE improvements from week to week, then I question your effort.  Lets say you went from 22 total reps on week 1, to 35 total reps on week 4.  When I see a client do this, it makes me think that they were sandbagging it on week 1.

The only time that I think really BIG jumps in numbers are ok in that short of a time-frame, is if you are just learning a new movement in week 1, and don’t want to push it too much due to the fact that you don’t really have it “figured out” yet.

Moral Of The Story

Make each training session a competition and try to improve each and every time… no matter how small the improvements seem to be.  Just make sure that are you being honest, and continue to use good form and a full range of motion (i.e. if you ended up adding 3 additional push-ups on week 2, but didn’t go down all the way to the floor, that is NOT improvement.  You cheater! ;) )                   

Is this a new concept to you?  I mean, do you just randomly go from session to session without any real purpose?  Or do you set it up where you try to beat your numbers from week to week?  I’m curious to hear what you have to say, so let me know in the comments section below…

My Cardio Session From 10-10-11…

October 11, 2011 by danny · 1 Comment 

In the below video you’ll see 2 rounds of the cardio session that I performed yesterday.  I went with the “Inverted Ladder.”  I’ve written about the inverted ladder in previous blog posts (again, props to Tony Gentilcore as he’s the person that
I learned the inverted ladder from).

Basically, you choose an exercise and perform 10 reps.  You then move on to the second exercise and perform 1 rep.  And you finish off round 1 with a third exercise that you perform the same amounts of reps of on each round (the “constant”).

In round two you take off one rep of exercise number one (so you go from 10 reps down to 9 reps), and you add one rep in exercise number two (so you go from 1 rep to 2 reps).  And once again, keep the reps for the third exercise the same (you’ll see that I did 3 reps on the hang clean in every round, as my constant).

Keep taking away a rep on each round for exercise number one until you go down to 1 rep.  And then add a rep every round to exercise number two until you hit 10 reps.  So, you’ll end up performing 10 rounds.  Complete these 10 rounds as fast as possible.  Mark down your time, and the next time you repeat it, try to perform the entire inverted ladder (with the same weight) in less time.  To see what a couple rounds look like on video…

As you can see, I went with…

-TRX Jump Squats (10 reps working my way down to 1 rep)

-Plank-Ups (1 rep working my way up to 10 reps)

-Hang Cleans (3 reps on every round)

I finished in 7 minutes and 9 seconds.  Next time my goal will be to get 7:08 or better.

If you watched my recent YouTube video, “Why I’m NOT a fan of distance running,” you’ll realize why I prefer to set up my cardio sessions like I did in this inverted ladder… because there is less repetitive stress and for whatever joint stress there is, it is spread more evening throughout the body (compared to running miles and miles).

Now, if you’re a student of the game, you may be thinking; “wow, every time you finish the rep on those hang cleans, the weight comes crashing down.  That doesn’t look too joint friendly”  This is true, and if you were thinking this then you get  a gold star!  This is actually the reason that I don’t have my clients perform cleans unless they have bumper plates and they can just drop the weight to the floor on each rep.  I mean, it basically takes the entire body to get the weight up to your shoulders, and then as the entire load comes crashing down we are asking our shoulders to take on the brunt of the load as the weight “yanks” on the shoulders as we catch it down by our quads.  BUT, when you using cleans in cardio sessions the weight is typically light enough that this is NOT an issue.  However, if you perform cleans as their “usual” purpose (using heavier weight to develop power), I recommend using bumper plates and dropping the weight on every rep – like THIS.

When setting up my cardio sessions for myself and my clients, I also try to make sure they are as joint friendly as possible.  So, give the inverted ladder a try.  If you are anything like me, you’ll think that this is way more fun than a 3-mile run.  By the way, for your 3 exercises, just choose any 3 that are big compound movements that really challenge you.  For example; Jump Squats (10-1 reps); Kettlebell Swings (1-10 reps); Jumping Jacks (always 5 reps).

If you missed my reasoning for not being a fan of distance running (for MOST people), you can check out the video below…

The Mental Side of Fat Loss

October 7, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment 

This is going to be short and sweet.

Improving your physique starts with your mental approach.  How you view yourself is a big key in getting to your fat loss goals.

The other day I read a really good article written by Mike Roussell .  In it, he wrote…

Some say abs are built in the kitchen. Some say a lean body is forged in the gym. I think that both are created in your mind first. Dieting down and getting lean is made in those moments when no one is around. When it’s 10:30 at night, you’re a little tired, a little bored, and you want to eat something. What are you going to do?

If you see yourself as a fat ass, then you’re going to get off the couch, go to the kitchen, and forget all the sacrifices for the day as you eat your kid’s left over peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If you see yourself as a lean driven motivated person, you’re going to get off the couch and go to bed so that you can improve your glucose tolerance. Mental confidence and how you view yourself is key.

The power of the mind.  That’s the way life is – if you believe in yourself you CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN.  Great message by Mike!

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week!

Why I’m NOT A Fan Of Distance Running

October 3, 2011 by danny · 4 Comments 

I have already shared the reasons that I am not a fan of distance running for the majority of people.  I have previous blogposts on my site where I talk about some of those reasons.  But just the other day, I received another question from one of my readers on the topic.  This reader wanted to know if I could elaborate some of my feelings.  So I thought it would be best to just record a YouTube video.

Hopefully you listened to the entire video.  After listening, let the information sink it, and then make a sound decision as to your “cardio plan.”  A) Continue as is? B) Make a few modifications? C) Completely revamp what you are doing?

Let me know what you think!

Don’t forget, you can find me on twitter – @DannyMcLarty

My Home Gym

September 28, 2011 by danny · Leave a Comment 

Since moving back to Illinois, I have been working a few different jobs… running a few bootcamps; basketball lessons; contributing to running basketball clinics; on-line writing (“freelance writer”); on-line program design; and … training clients out of my home gym.  And that is what today’s post is about – the set up of my home gym, which is down in my basement.

Many of my California friends and clients have been asking me how training is going back in Illinois.  So I thought I’d include a quick video of my training set-up here in the house.

I started training people with JUST a few dumbbells, a few plates, a barbell, and some bands.  And it actually went great!  We had everything we needed to get the job done for great results.  BUT, after awhile, it is just waaaay more fun to add in some more pieces of equipment to help stay motivated, and to add variety to the programs that I write up.

With that said, here is a video of the current set-up, with more equipment coming in the near future…

So, there it is.  It’s pretty cool to be able to roll out of bed and head downstairs to train my clients.

For those of you reading this that are living in the Rockton/Roscoe area, if you didn’t already know that I’m training people here in Rockton, now you know.  I now have enough equipment to do small group training, which helps cut down on price while providing a great training atmosphere (everyone there to push one another).  If interested, hit me up and lets get you looking sexy! :)

The Power of Group Training!

Don’t forget, I’m on twitter.  If you are as well, lets connect!