Stronger by Design Q & A

Q:Teiko, I have been working out  for a few years and have gotten in pretty good shape, I have tried everything and cannot lose the weight around my stomach. My stomach sometimes has a bloated look and other times is flatter, what can I do?

A: Dear bloated belly

The stomach area tends to be a problem area when inflammation is the issue. The acute Inflammation which you are talking about is the bodies response to a harmful stimuli, most likely a food sensitivity. It has been my observation that the majority of people who tend to carry the fat around the midsection are suffering from a food intolerance. The most common culprits:

  • Eggs
  • Wheat
  • Gluten
  • Dairy
  • Casien

One strategy you could use to reduce the bloating around the midsection is the elimination diet. Simply opt out the above foods in your current diet, replacing them with foods that are only green, walk fly or swim. By doing this the body will clear itself of these potentially harmful foods. Slowly introduce these foods one at a time and guage which causes the body to react unfavourably.

 

Q: Hey Teiko I was wondering if you have any reccomendations for a dad, who needs to drop a few. I work and travel alot and don't have more than 30 mins a day to exercise. I also workout at home so my equipment is limited to a exercise ball and dumbbells.

                                                                                                                                                                              - Mike

 

A: Hey Mike, There is still alot you can get done in limited time with limited equipment. My suggestion to you is to train first thing in the morning after downing a protein shake mixed with fiber. The shake will break the morning fast and the fiber will slow down its absorption so it does not spike blood sugar. Secondly Try to partake in some sort of timed circuit for at least half an hour, including the warm up, performing three cricuits a week should yield some descent results if the diet is in order. Lastly include some compound movements like lunges and dumbbell squats in the circuit the are the most bang for your buck exercises and will help with the hormonal profile.

Below is a sample program based of the Charles Staleys EDT program, the trick here is to perform as many reps in the given period of time. Your decide how many sets, reps and rest period you can perform within the allotted period of  Try to beat your number each subsequent workout.

 

                 Movement                         Sets                   Reps                    Rest              Time                

A1           Dumbbells squat                na                        na                         na                5 mins

A2            Dumbells military press    na                        na                         na                5 mins

B1           Dumbbells split squat         na                       na                          na                5 mins

B2           Dumbbells bent row           na                        na                         na                   5 mins

C1          Romanian deadlift              na                        na                        na                     5 mins

C2          Swiss ball abs curl            na                           na                       na                     5 mins

 

With this program you can manipulate the loads to yield whichever training effect you are seeking. If weight loss is your goal use a moderate load and aim for sets of 12-15 reps, and if hypertrophy is the goal increase the weight slightly and aim for sets of 9-12 sets at a slower lifting speed.

 

Q: I need your help man! I have a bet with a few of my buddies for who can get a six pack first, I do abs every day in the gym and can see my first two abdominals how do I get the rest.

                                                                                                                                                                        Darren S

A: Hey Darren, The answer to your question may not be to your liking. In the case of getting a lean six pack the sure fire technique is through diet first then execise. To make the abdominals pop, one must have low levels of body fat, the quickest way to decrease body fat is to reduce caloric intake and decrease the carbohydrate consumption. The most effective diets I have found when looking to get ripped are cyclical ketogenic diets like The Metabolic diet, its what bodybuilders use when they need to step on stage.

The second most effective strategy to getting lean is to perform alternating supersets in your training that are focused on maintaining muscle mass. An example would be an A1-A2 designation of upper and lower body movements with a 60 second rest interval inbetween. The beauty of this protocol is that it allows you to get more work done the same amount of time as a straight set model, but gives you adequate rest time for each body part used. My favourite routine based around this concept is Don Alessi's Meltdown 1 program. Be forewarned it will have you reaching for a bucket.

Finally the use of bodyweight circuits or HIIT conditioning, in conjuction with the aforementioned techniques  will have you looking like a Mens Health poster boy in no time. My favourite circuits can be found here.