There are a few things that need to happen in order to produce muscle growth. You need to use significant load when lifting weights Enough time under tension to create structural damage to the muscle tissue Enough stimuli to up-regulate anabolic hormones and increase protein synthesis Proper recovery and workout nutrition Many people often think that if they lift as heavy as possible, or use as much volume (sets and reps) as possible they will […]
There are a few things that need to happen in order to produce muscle growth. You need to use significant load when lifting weights Enough time under tension to create structural damage to the muscle tissue Enough stimuli to up-regulate anabolic hormones and increase protein synthesis Proper recovery and workout nutrition Many people often think that if they lift as heavy as possible, or use as much volume (sets and reps) as possible they will […]
There are a few things that need to happen in order to produce muscle growth. You need to use significant load when lifting weights Enough time under tension to create structural damage to the muscle tissue Enough stimuli to up-regulate anabolic hormones and increase protein synthesis Proper recovery and workout nutrition Workout #1 When I think of athletes with huge quads, I think of Olympic lifters. They perform a ton of fronts, heavy. So […]
During the last several years, the loaded carry (most notable the farmers carry) has exploded on the scene. Everyone from bodybuilders to Cross fitters has started to include various loaded carries into their routines and for a good reason. A loaded carry is where an athlete picks up and carries a heavy object and walks with it for an extended period of time or distance. This can be done with various objects, such as dumbbells, […]
The longer that I am in the lifting game, the more I look to be more efficient with my workouts. In a perfect world, I would write programs for my clients and myself that would include the following: Soft tissue works with various foam rollers and massage balls Corrective exercises to improve any dysfunctions Mobility work Stretching Groundwork (rolling, crawling, Get-ups, etc.) Nervous system development/power work (med ball throws and plyos) Strength training Conditioning/cardiovascular work […]
The best way to build muscle is to perform full-body strength training sessions frequently throughout the week. The combo of lower and upper-body movement that involves multiple muscle groups done in a circuit fashion stimulates anabolic hormones and protein synthesis which are two of the major players at stimulating muscle growth. Performing multiple full-body strength routines must be done correctly in order to produce results. Hitting each muscle group 3 to 4 days per week […]
Power training is a vital piece of the functional training puzzle for both competitive athletes & general population clients. Progressive exposure to high-velocity movements trains the nervous system to recruit high-threshold motor units, reflexively stabilize joints and develop the local tissue resiliency necessary to withstand the demands of high-velocity sports, making it a valuable tool for both performance enhancement and injury reduction. Throwing low/moderate weight medicine balls with intent and at high velocity promotes the […]
In 2017, I wrote a Complete Programming Guide For Small Group and Large Group Personal Training Since then, there has been over 100 of our intern at State of Fitness that have read the manual. Each semester, our interns are required to turn in a detailed summary of what they learned from the manual. One of our amazing interns, Maryam Abbasi, has written a fantastic summary I wanted to share. You can click io the […]
Real Workouts. Real Eating. Real life.
Where do I begin? Our minds are overloaded with nonsensical information that builds a catastrophic barrier between the truth and the obscene. Fitness has such a bad reputation for being off the wall and silly at times. 
Think about it. When you wake up at 2pm and turn on the TV, what do you see? Some goofy fitness infomercial that is promising to help you lose inches off your waist, with minimal effort.
I am sure you know by now, that these infomercials are a scam to take your money, and will provide nothing helpful.
So how the heck do they make so much money? It’s simple; we all want the easiest path to get what we want. I do it, you do it, we all do it. It doesn’t matter if it’s fitness, our jobs, or things at home; we all want the most efficient solution to produce results.
I am sorry to tell you this, but this will not hold up when you are trying to reach your health and fitness goals. The concepts of health and fitness are simple to me, but not to everyone. I have experienced the tremendous benefits of living a healthy and active lifestyle. But until you have, you might not know what you should know.
Being fit, having a respectable body fat, carrying a fair amount of muscle tissue, and being able to burn through your local CrossFit WOD can be an amazing thing. But what you know, or don’t know, can hurt you.
This may sound vain or out of line to you, but better looking people, that are not fat, tend to get further in life and are happier. They live longer, advance faster in their career, and receive more respect more often than people who are overweight and unhealthy. Studies have proven this many times.
Yes, the truth sucks, but thats the way it is. My mission for this blog is to tell you the REAL facts about health, fitness and nutrtion. So, the sugar coating will be minimal. If it wasn’t, why would you even respect or listen to what I have to say?
So, if you want to experience a healthy and fit lifestyle, you need to be willing to change your mindset. Are you ready?
If you want to experience a tremendous benefits of leading a healthy and fit lifestyle, you will understand the principles I am about to explain. If you have not, I would like you to read carefully and change your mind about the misconceptions you are about to hear.
You have to be willing to become uncomfortable at times and change your thinking. Forget what you heard before, since what you are doing is not working, regardless of what the experts have said in the past!
We have been told that whole grains that have been genetically modified over the years are good for us, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, eat more food early in the day and less at night, eat every 2-3 hours and use cardiovascular training to lose weight and get fit. Well, my friends, you have been lead astray.
All of these recommendations have helped our country become more obese and overweight. The increases in long-duration cardiovascular bouts to lose fat have left us with messed up hormones, more injuries and less muscle tissue.
The recommendation to cram a whole grain-based breakfast down our throats has caused more type II diabetes due to elevated insulin levels, and have not increased fat loss and better health, as they advertise.
Telling everyone they need to eat every 2-3 hours has only made people more hungry and frustrated to get their fifth meal of the day in. And, when they didn’t get their meals in, they would yell at their trainer and say it was just too hard to eat every 2-3 hours. I never could get clients to do this, and now I am happy I have a good reason not to.
Let’s stop this nonsense and get down to the REAL truth about these recommendations.
Everyone has been programmed to believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I am someone that advocated eating breakfast in order to optimize fat loss in the past. 
I was under the impression that eating a solid breakfast would start my clients off on the right foot, in their quest to lose fat. Sometimes my clients would follow through and other times they would not. For the ones that did, they always complained that they were very hungry about 3 hours after they ate breakfast.
This would cause a a multitude of problems. They were stressing about eating their breakfast before their morning workout, or before work. Then, they were quickly hungry. And then, they were so hungry they were trying to find time and food to eat. Of course this lead to overconsumption of calories, even if they were “clean” calories. My clients would bring in their food logs and I would be baffled. They seemed to be eating clean, but not losing weight. WTF?!
I told my past clients to eat breakfast and every 2-3 hours (more on this later), I am sorry. I failed you. I take responsibility but like you, I was too mislead. Let me explain. I grew up in the fitness industry on a bodybuilding diet. I was told that if I wanted to get more muscle and less fat, I would have to eat 6 meals a day and a huge breakfast with no carbs at night. And, it did work. ONLY if I ate totally clean.
Basically, if I wasn’t dieting for a show, I walked around slightly bloated and smooth. I ate pretty clean, most of the time, but I ate A LOT in the off-season. I never felt good in the off-season, or during contest prep, for that matter. Something was wrong here, but I didn’t know what it was? I would soon find out, when I heard about something called Intermittent Fasting.
You see, there was this study done in the 1950’s, that told everyone that eating breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Soon, every doctor and nutrition guru agreed. And honestly, who doesn’t love them some breakfast food? Fast forward 60 years later, we have more obesity and more people on medications than ever.
Am I saying that people who eat breakfast will be fat and have to take meds? No, that is not what I am saying. What I am saying is that focusing on people eating a high carbohydrate breakfast that consists of cereal or oatmeal, a glass of orange juice and toast (as the government and many dietitians and nutritionists recommended for years) was a bad idea. It messes up your hormones like you wouldn’t believe. Your insulin goes through the roof and you become less insulin resistance. Your testosterone and growth hormone decreases, and the hunger hormone, ghrelin, increases dramatically. If you know about hormones, you know that this is a recipe for disaster. If you don’t, basically think about your energy dropping, you get so hungry that you go on the “see food” diet, you lose motivation to workout and you get fat. 
Yes, I know what you are thinking “Why would they recommend that type of meal for breakfast?” I believe we adapted to this lifestyle for a couple of reasons.
I am willing to admit myself that I was wrong about my recommendations (on eating breakfast, not on the high carb breakfast). I am also willing to admit that I simply didn’t know any better. I did not have the easy access to the information that I needed to know. Since the internet has emerged, I now can read various studies and articles on the latest advances in my profession.
I started to read a lot about Intermittent Fasting in may of 2011. At first, I balked at the idea of not eating breakfast and only eating 1-2 large meals a day. “How could this be? I always thought that eating breakfast and multiple times throughout the day was best?”
But, then, it all started to make sense!
I will be posting more blogs on intermittent fasting later this month. So make sure to check back in!
JG
I have seen the light eat clean work out life is good
Great article Justin! A lot of trainers in the industry wouldn’t have the gumption to admit their mistakes! Really enjoying your articles and website, keep up the great work!
Thanks, Regie! I am glad you are enjoying the blogs. Mistakes are what make us think harder and do better as trainers. I hope all is well!
Loving this series of articles, an alpha always admits that they might have been wrong but corrects their mistakes. It should be fun trying to change the way the industry thinks. Great work!
Thanks Marko! I love the Alpha statement!