Part 1

We’ve all heard of the synergistic approach to exercise, but what in the heck is synergistic nutrition? As avid kettlebellers I’m counting on the fact that you subscribe to the idea that one cannot separate body parts and expect to get optimal results in your training. Then why do so many athletes leave their diets to chance? I call it eating incidentally. If you train incidentally what type of results do you get? Little if none. If you are a person who goes to the gym without a plan, you are about as likely to achieve your goals as the gal who signs up for curves. (No offense ladies, I will explain later.)

Synergistic Nutrition is simply treating the body holistically by understanding how food affects everything from our body fat storage to our hormone production and then using it to our advantage. My initial visit with my clients consists of a “Metabolism 101” lesson that explains how you can eat the same amount of calories but burn up to 50% more body fat if the diet is structured correctly. It takes careful planning including strategic meal timing, ratios and adjustments. Eating right for your body can give you the edge on the competition as well as make you look pretty darn good too. And who doesn’t want to get a second look when you are snatching an impressive bell and showing off those new striations in your shoulder?

Like Curves, dieting also falls under the SAID principle. Specific Adaption to Imposed Demands. Therefore any new stimulus will produce initial results, but for a limited time as adaption sets in fairly quickly as the body strives for Homeostasis. It is just as important to know how to manipulate your macronutrients (protein, fat & carbs) to keep the fat furnace stoked and anabolism high. Did you know that an ultra low-carb or calorie restricted diet, adhered to for any extended length of time, can actually damage your metabolism and bring your fat burning to a screeching halt? Not to mention put you over on the catabolic side of the equation, which is death to an athlete whose main goal is to build muscle or have the energy needed for extreme kettlebell endurance. So if you don’t know how to change it up, you are just playing a guessing game. This is where you need to ask for help.

In the quest for buffness, I can’t tell you how many people have asked me to just tell them what to do to get there and they’ll do it. This is the very point where most systems fail. Everyone is metabolically unique. You are individually YOU and that is why in order to reach your goals you need a program designed to fit your lifestyle and your metabolic needs. This does not mean that you receive a cookie cutter diet and you are off and on your way. It involves a team effort, dedication, consistency and a qualified person to work side by side with you to get you there. Using your food to control your hormones, your hormones will control your results! Controling Insulin and Glycogen (blood sugar) are not only a diabetic issue—they can be used either to our advantage or disadvantage in training and your physical appearance, as well as your overall health.

As Hippocrates proclaimed, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Why do you suppose the great philosophers were smarter than we now are and how did we get so far off track? Just like bicep training at the gym, isolated exercises are not going to give you the most return for your time and effort. Multi joint exercises like Squats, Deadlifts or Kettlebell Training, on the other hand, will make your entire body become more anabolic through a greater release of Growth Hormone and will simultaneously raise your metabolism. Most gireviks have noticed the immediate benefit of kettlebell training on their strength, flexibility and aerobic capacity. So if synergistic training for the body is best, why do we continually try to separate out the diet? Rats, no more potato chips! And how come that latest NO2 or creatine product doesn’t make you look muscular and shredded like the ads promise? There is no secret! Train synergistically through exercise and nutrition and you will reap the rewards.

I feel like a living experiment. I have been through all the stages of dieting over the course of my career—beginning with the incidental eating to more recently earning my pro card in Natural Bodybuilding, dialing in at under 7% bodyfat. Today I am a somewhat morphed version between the two, maintaining a healthy but lean 12-14%. I have learned to honor my body and that I truly am what I eat on a consistent basis. I firmly believe that one should lead by example before teaching others, so you will rarely find me eating on the dark side. The IKFF has put together a staff that truly represents the best of the best. They have proven results, tons of testimonials and have earned the greatest respect in their areas of expertise. I urge you to choose your leaders carefully based not solely upon what they talk, but also what they walk.

After all, don’t you want someone to say, “Hey, those kettlebells look good on you!”?

If you want to join the IKFF Team and become leaner, stronger and better than you ever have before, contact Liberty at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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by Scott Helsley
IKFF Medical Advisor

“The problem is not that we have such a short space of time but that we waste so much of it.” —Lucius Annaeus Seneca

In conventional Newtonian Physics, space and time are two distinct entities. This was the case until a man named Albert Einstein came along and changed the way we look at everything. Einstein showed that two observers, each using the same techniques of observation but being in motion relative to each other, will not agree concerning the timing of distant events. This failure of agreement means they are also unable to compare unequivocally the rates of clocks moving in different ways, or the lengths of measuring scales. Rather than move into a discussion of Lorentz transformations or something equally nerd-esque, I would like to talk about how this applies to training when you have a full schedule. Just as time and space are joined by the Einsteins theory, they are also interdependent components in design and implementation of a successful training program. It is my intention that this article will provide the reader with some effective strategies for incorporating regular exercise into their schedule.

I have a little bit of experience with this sort of thing based on the fact that my occupation as an Anesthesiologist involves unpredictable work hours and a fair amount of time spent on call. This combined with being a husband and father keeps me pretty busy. That being said, it would not surprise me if the lives of those reading this are equally, if not more hectic.

The whole process sneaks up on you. Remember those halcyon days of youth where pressing issues were how many sets of bench presses will I do today? Will my fake ID work at the bar? Will I have to stay up late finishing this term paper? At some point you go from that to things like getting up at 5:30 am, working till 5 pm or later and then having to go to a meeting or a kid’s sports practice, or a game, or maybe your significant other wants to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up a new bedspread which goes off-sale tomorrow. After that it’s off to home depot because your garbage disposal is broken thanks to your son who put a matchbox car in it. Of course if there is nothing else going on it is very easy to take a seat on the sofa and slide into the void of night time television.

The first crucial ingredient for success in training for grown-ups is the motivation to make time. For many this is the rate-limiting step. Most people endeavor to make fitness part of their life to enhance their appearance or improve their health. These are valid reasons to train. If this goal is going to carry you forward it must be powerful. To make it powerful it must be fed. Feeding goals is not done with ho-hos and twinkies unless it is your goal to be a sumo wrestler or to fatten up like Stallone did for the movie Copland. Remember that one? I didn’t think so. It was the Daylight of cop films. What? You don’t rememberthat one either? Nevermind. Goals are fed by revisiting them and reinforcing them. When I am considering a new goal I will start by writing it down. After considering it for a few days if it still looks good I will discuss it with someone, if it still looks like a winner I will lock it in. How do I lock it in? I publicize it. I will incorporate it into daily conversation with friends and colleagues. At this point I am committed, I have in essence given my word. I have created a situation where I will be ashamed if I fail, that is a powerful motivator for me. Your motivations may be different, identify them then use them.

Once the goal is locked in it must be maintained. This is why I keep a journal. This is not the type of journal where I discuss my day or my feelings, it is basically a checklist where I mark off the things I wanted to accomplish for the day and record my training. Over time this becomes almost a habit. Not all habits are bad. You can turn anything positive into a habit in about three weeks. Try it and see.

Getting back to goals, they should be as specific as possible. “I want to get in shape” is not very specific. Goals like: “I want to fit into waist size 34 pants” or “I want to do 100 consecutive pushups” are more specific and easy to measure. Obviously the goals have to keep changing to keep you engaged, as long as you have them you’ll continue to train and continue to progress in your training.

Thus far I have discussed goals insofar as getting started and staying engaged. Now let’s talk about designing a program that fits your sometimes chaotic schedule. When I consider the key features of a good regimen, I use the 3B’s. Not Bed Bath and Beyond, rather Brief, Basic, and Balanced. Let’s take each B, one at a time.

Since the central problem is an issue of time, the program must to be brief. Recently the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association updated their physical activity recommendations. They endorse vigorous intensity aerobic activity for a minimum of 20 minutes at least 3 days per week. They also endorse “muscle strengthening activity” or resistance exercise. You can read the whole article here: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.185649

For maximal efficiency it may be ideal to combine the aerobic aspects with the resistance work. Keep the time between sets short to get an aerobic effect while building strength at the same time. If you are a powerlifter this won’t be ideal; but for everyone else it works well. With a properly designed program you can get a great workout in 20 – 30 minutes.

The second “B” stands for Basic. By basic I mean using simple exercises which you could do in a variety of settings. This is where the “space” aspect of the time-space continuum comes into play. Where you train can be a problem. If you belong to a gym with fixed hours it can mean missed sessions. The same goes for traveling. A simple program can help to minimize this. Bodyweight drills can be very challenging and they can be done anywhere. Other implements like a jump rope and exercise bands are also portable, which means less missed training if you must travel. A fairly portable alternative as far as weights are concerned would be kettlebells. You can take them anywhere in your car, or keep one or a few at work. These can be used in an infinite number of drills. I wouldn’t take one on a plane but short of that they can go anywhere. The same cannot be said of a bench and power rack. An additional consideration regarding commercial gyms is travel to and from the facility. That takes some time as well. I know a lot of people like to train at such places and that is fine but have a back-up plan if you can’t make it there. An example might be an all bodyweight circuit done at home. An added advantage to training at home is that you can listen to the music of your choice like your old Whitesnake albums. Alternatively, go find your boom box, I bet it’s still in your parents’ attic, your Whodini tape is probably still in there.

Last we have balanced. An ideal program will work the entire body. A simple design would incorporate drills for an upper body, lower body, and the core. An example might be military press, row, squat, deadlift, get-ups and some stretching. You can do the drills with almost any implement, a sandbag, a kettlebell, a dumbbell or a weight plate.  A nice body weight alternative would be pushups, pull-ups, a squat drill, v-sits and scorpions. Finish with some stretches and jump rope. If you are really pressed for time how about 10 minutes of burpees or maybe a 20 minute kettlebell circuit incorporating a variety of drills where you don’t set the bell down even once?

I do recommend taking a few minutes to warm up with some joint mobility or light stretching. Some of this work can also be split up and done at other times. For instance joint mobility is great to do in the morning and it only takes a few minutes.  There is nothing wrong with splitting things up if that is what works best for you.

In closing I hope to have illustrated how time constraints can be dealt with and I hope I have given you some motivation to overcome many of the practical obstacles that prevent many folks from reaping the rewards of regular fitness training.

Scott Helsley
blog.rationalfitnesspractice.com

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