This post is a continuation of a guest submission from Eric Talmant. In case you missed it, be sure to check out Part 1.
No two people are alike. Enter Metabolic Typing®, or what I like to call common sense. In the 1930s, Weston Price discovered, by visiting many parts of the world, that there was a link between modern eating habits and the degree of chronic degenerative illness. He also concluded that there was no such thing as a uniform, "healthy" diet (1). Due to a myriad of variables including climate, environmental conditions, common food supplies, etc., different cultural and ethnic groups have developed different kinds of dietary requirements.
Over the years, Price's initial research began to demonstrate more and more clues as to the optimal way to eat for improved health and well-being. In the late 70s and early 80s, William Wolcott made a revolutionary discovery by proving that the body's Autonomic Nervous System and the oxidative system were connected. This discovery allowed Wolcott to very accurately predict what kinds of foods each person needs to establish a balance between these two aforementioned systems. Once given the proper nutrients, Wolcott was able to show the body's true capacity to regulate and heal itself.
It is all about balancing body chemistry, which is unique for each one of us. We all process foods and utilize nutrients differently. It is these differing genetic requirements that explain why broccoli may be fine for some of you, not affect some of you, and cause some of you to feel not so good (1).
In the "average" person, every cell in the body is designed to be healthy and effectively carry out its specific job. If our cells are not given the proper nutrients, they can lose the ability to do their specific job, which results in a low production of energy. They also lose the ability to repair and rebuild tissue. Powerlifters and athletes would read this as the ability to recover from training. Sickly ones replace healthy cells, which begins a cascading effect upon your entire body. The worst case scenario is that the cells of an organ become so weak that the organ itself becomes inefficient.
A good example is the pancreas and its ability to produce insulin. We learned that the more insulin resistant a person becomes, the more insulin the pancreas must produce in order to carry out its functions. Eventually the pancreas will not produce enough insulin and the result is that some type 2 diabetics end up having to inject insulin. Therefore, rather than focusing on debating macronutrient consumption (protein, carbs, and fats), we will first identify our unique body's proper nutrients.
In order to identify these nutrients that our bodies have a genetic need for, we need to first figure out what our needs are. This is the main reason behind figuring out your Metabolic Type.
Remember in the last article when I mentioned the shortcomings of treating insulin, high blood pressure, and cholesterol? We always want to treat the underlying causes, not the symptoms. Stress, illness, lack of endurance in the gym, inability to put on muscle mass or get stronger, high body fat, etc. are all symptoms. What we eat, however, is one of the causes.
Our dietary needs are very much determined by heredity. As previously mentioned, various cultures have developed distinct nutritional needs as a result of elements such as climate, geographic location, and what types of edible plants and animals their environments had to offer. For example, many of the indigenous people who live at or near the equator have a strong hereditary need for diets high in carbohydrates i.e. fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. In contrast, the ancestral diets of Eskimos consisted primarily of protein and fat in order to keep warm and allow them to survive.
Enter the United States, where we are a melting pot of many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Simply put, because of the endless combinations it is just not possible for most of us to accurately identify what our ancestral diet might be; not to mention that our nutritional requirements are also determined by our lifestyle, environment, activity level, body composition goals, etc. Although important, there are many other factors that identify our nutritional needs. Enter the science of Metabolic Typing®.
Remember the breakthrough that Wolcott discovered between the Autonomic Nervous System and the oxidative system that was mentioned in the opening paragraph? The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) controls all involuntary activities of the body. Immune activity, breathing, heart rate, digestion, body repair and rebuilding, etc. are just a few of the many functions.
It is our auto-pilot system because it keeps us alive without our conscious efforts or participation. As such, it is often referred to as the "master regulator of metabolism". There are two opposing but complimentary branches that make up the ANS, the sympathetic branch and the parasympathetic branch; yin and yang if you will. The sympathetic system controls those bodily functions that pertain to energy utilization such as the adrenals, thyroid, and pituitary. Thus, it is known as the "fight or flight" branch.
For example, when Togo the Caveman is suddenly startled by a T-Rex (or a mugger, as the contemporary case may be), his sympathetic system immediately stops digestion, gets blood out to the muscles, and speeds up his heart rate. The parasympathetic system controls those bodily activities that relate to energy conservation such as repairing and rebuilding, digestion, waste elimination, etc. It is known as the "rest and digest" branch.
In most people, one branch has stronger neurological influences over the other, which results in a metabolic imbalance. If the imbalance becomes too great, it has been discovered that diseases are more prone to develop. Conversely, if the ANS is in balance (or close to) then health is more prone to be vibrant. Researchers Francis Pottenger and Royal Lee discovered that people have many different physical, psychological, and behavioral characteristics that match up with either sympathetic or parasympathetic dominance. In addition, certain foods and nutrients have the ability to strengthen whichever side of the ANS is weaker (Wolcott's aforementioned colossal discovery), but I am getting ahead of myself. Therefore, with the help of all these factors, Metabolic Typing enables us to identify which system is more dominant and then recommend those foods that will be more likely to establish balance. Since the ANS is the master regulator of metabolism, proper food recommendation is very important. This is pretty cool, huh (1)?
While the ANS is concerned with the upkeep and regulation of energy, the oxidative system addresses the rate at which food and nutrients are converted to energy within the body. It involves three important processes: Glycolysis, Beta Oxidation, and Citric Acid Cycle/Krebs Cycle.
Roughly one-fifth of the energy created from our food comes from the oxidation of carbohydrates in a process known as glycolysis. Glycolysis is the metabolic breakdown of glucose and other sugars that release energy in the form of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate). The other four-fifths come from the Citric Acid Cycle or Krebs Cycle. Simply put, energy is produced in the Krebs Cycle from a combination of the right amount of oxaloacetate (from the oxidation of carbohydrates in glycolysis) and the right amount of acetyl coenzyme-A (from the metabolism of fats in a process known as Beta-Oxidation). The glycolysis simply concerns the metabolism of carbohydrates. Beta-oxidation is involved in fat metabolism. These two components produce energy in the Krebs Cycle, and they are needed in the right amounts. If there is too much oxaloacetate and not enough acetyl coenzyme-A, or vice versa, then energy production will be lacking. This determination of how our bodies execute energy production is known as cellular oxidation. (1)
In 1981, George Watson published Nutrition and Your Mind. After extensive study, he came to the conclusion that biochemical imbalances were at the root of many psychological problems. He accidentally discovered that certain foods and nutrients increased adverse emotional states in some people, while the same foods and nutrients could lessen emotional problems in others. Again, different people required different foods to promote health and wellness. Instead of using the ANS as the basis for classification, he used cellular oxidation. (Now that we know what it is and how it works, we can follow Watson's process.) He conclusively discovered that there is a direct and profound correlation between a person's emotional and psychological characteristics and the rate at which their cells convert food into energy. He observed that some people burned food too slowly, while others burned it too quickly. More importantly, this rate of cellular oxidation, which is determined by heredity and environmental influences, can be significantly altered by diet. Here was another piece of the puzzle in balancing body chemistry, which is conducive to optimum health and wellness. Now we need to figure out whether you are a slow oxidizer, a fast oxidizer, or a mixed oxidizer by determining which characteristics (individual to you) apply to each. (1).
Fast oxidizers depend too much on the oxidation of carbohydrates in glycolysis for energy production. They have a tendency to burn carbohydrates too quickly, which results in an excess production of oxaloacetate (explained above). Obviously, a high carbohydrate diet will only make the problem worse. However, since proteins and fats are dietary sources of Acetyl Co-A, which is lacking, they will help stimulate and sustain beta-oxidation, which is needed. This will help balance the body chemistry and stabilize energy production. (1)
Similar to fast oxidizers, slow oxidizers have the same problems with energy production but for the opposite reasons. They are poor at carbohydrate oxidation in glycolysis and thus are inclined to be lacking in the production of oxaloacetate. In their case, a higher carbohydrate diet will benefit the slow oxidizers by giving them dietary sources for oxaloacetate. Since they also require lower amounts of Acetyl Co-A to balance their body chemistry, as well as different nutrients to stimulate and sustain glycolysis, slow oxidizers benefit from a diet that involves less protein and fat than the fast oxidizer. (1)
Each oxidizer requires different types of foods and different mixes of those foods in order to optimally and efficiently convert nutrient into energy. With sufficient available energy, your body's cells can properly carry out their genetic roles of repairing and reproducing maximally. For example, let's say that you are a slow oxidizer but you are not eating sufficient amounts of carbohydrates. Some of your food will not be converted to energy and will become prone to being stored as fat. You will probably experience fatigue and hunger following meals, as well as indigestion and a lack of stamina. Finally, your body's immune system will become weakened and you will be susceptible to colds and infections. Being sick is certainly not my cup of tea.
Mixed oxidizers are not that complicated. Because of their "balanced" oxidative systems, proper energy production comes from relatively "equal" amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
Each oxidizer requires different types of foods and different mixes of those foods in order to optimally and efficiently convert nutrient into energy. With sufficient available energy, your body's cells can properly carry out their genetic roles of repairing and reproducing maximally. For example, let's say that you are a slow oxidizer but you are not eating sufficient amounts of carbohydrates. Some of your food will not be converted to energy and will become prone to being stored as fat. You will probably experience fatigue and hunger following meals, as well as indigestion and a lack of stamina. Finally, your body's immune system will become weakened and you will be susceptible to colds and infections. Being sick is certainly not my cup of tea.
Now we understand the Autonomic Nervous System and the oxidative system. These are the key homeostatic systems that determine our metabolism or our Metabolic Type®. However, the fun is just beginning! We have defined these two big powerhouses that influence our metabolism, but how are we to know which system is more prevalent? We will discuss system dominance and the actual Metabolic Types in the next article. We will be discussing macronutrient ratios for each type, as well as some fascinating stuff on exactly how a single food can alkalinize the chemistry of one person, while acidify the body chemistry of another. Finally, we will discuss which specific foods are optimum for each type and why. Sit tight, as the rubber is about to meet the road...
About the Author
Eric Talmant is a top lightweight powerlifter and has a "passion for all things nutrition." A 1996 graduate of the University of Evansville, Eric is a certified Metabolic Typing® advisor http://www.mt-advisors.info/EditIndex.php and Functional Diagnostic nutritionist. Talmant is certified to offer the Advanced Metabolic Typing® Test as well as order blood work (the Signet MRT Test, U.S. BioTek ELISA IgG allergy test, the High Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein heart health test, and the BioHealth Diagnostics Adrenal and Hormone Profiles to name a few) and dispense hormones.
Eric has competed in the ADFPA, NASA, AAPF, APF, APA, the WPO, and the Raw Unity Meet. He holds the APF Florida state men's open equipped squat record of 678 pounds. He has been ranked in the top in the 75K class among all raw lifters in the United States for the past two years and he was a top equipped lifter in the two years before that.
His best equipped lifts are a 683 pound squat, 391 pound bench press, and a 650 pound deadlift in the 75K weight class. His best raw lifts to date are 485 pound squat without knee wraps, 290 pound bench press, and 635 pound deadlift.
He is also the founder and contest director of the Raw Unity Meet, which experienced great success in 2008 and 2009. Talmant brings a unique skill set of 16 years of nutritional experience to his sponsors BMF Sports, Ultra Life, Inc., Critical Bench, and Titan Support Systems. He lives in Spring Hill, FL and can be reached through EricTalmant.com.
Q: How should I warm up properly before sprinting sessions? Back in the day when I did sports my quads were always prone to injuries. Funny thing is I haven't had any problems when doing squats of any kind. Recently I decided to involve some alactic work in my workout and immediately pulled a quad doing sprints. It's obviously something wrong with my warm-up!
A: Saying "pulled quad" might be a little bit too general. In reality, most of the time, you're looking at a rectus femoris strain. While it is one of the quadriceps, the rectus femoris is also active as a hip flexor. So, as the picture below shows, it crosses two joints.
The rectus femoris is responsible for both hip flexion and knee extension. So, as you can imagine, it is placed on a huge stretch when an athlete goes into a position of hip extension and knee flexion - kind of like this:
You're asking the rectus femoris to go on a huge stretch there - and under very high velocities. With a squat, you're not putting it on full stretch, as the hip and knee are both flexed. So, with that in mind, it's not surprising at all that sprinting would bother your "quad" when squatting doesn't - especially since we know the overwhelming majority of folks out there are tight in the rectus femoris. Why?
Well, first, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know that, as a society, we sit far too much. Second, though, is the fact that most people never really get above 90 degrees of hip flexion in anything that they do. Mike Boyle has done a great job of outlining how we can develop imbalanced hip flexion patterns; essentially, we never use our psoas, the only hip flexor active above 90 degrees of hip flexion. The picture below is kind of rudimentary (and somewhat awkward), but it shows what I'm getting at with respect to the advantageous attachment points for psoas with respect to hip flexion above 90 degrees:
How many of the folks at your gym are getting 90+ degrees of hip flexion with their treadmill, stairclimber, and elliptical work? None. So, we underuse psoas, and overuse rectus - and it shortens up over time. Take a short muscle through a maximal stretch at high-velocities, and it's going to hate you. So, what to do?
Well, first, I'd recommend running through some warm-ups from Assess and Correct, and that'll cover a lot of the fundamentals (especially if you go through the assessments to figure out what else is going on). One important thing that'll cover is activation work for psoas; Kevin Neeld demonstrates one option here:
Second, just add in some targeted static stretching for the rectus femoris a few times a day using this stretch (don't start using it until the "pulled quad" has settled down, though).
Third, and most importantly, ease your way into sprinting. Not everyone is prepared to just jump right in full-throttle. I discuss this in further detail in my contribution to the most recent Mythbusters article at T-Nation. Basically, just get out there twice a week and do some 60-yd build-ups at 80% of your best on a grass field.
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It's been a while since I last published one of these guys, and here are a few recommendations:
The Don't Squat Recommendation - We've all heard it, but only some of use have questioned it.
Inefficiency for Fat Loss - Sometimes, you've just got to get outside your comfort zone.
Outliers: The Story of Success - This book got about six recommendations when the panel of presenters at last week's Perform Better Summit were asked what they were reading. I was one of the six; I'm reading it now and it's fantastic. And, if you haven't read any of Malcolm Gladwell's other stuff, check out those, too.
I've got a guest blog for you today from Joel Marion of Cheat Your Way Thin. As I noted in a recent newsletter, Joel has done his homework, and in this article, he'll share with you some of the interesting research he's been doing over the last six years. Check it out:
LEPTI-WHA??
It's name is Leptin (derived from the Greek word leptos, meaning "thin"), and it's without a doubt the most important hormone you probably never heard of.
You see, leptin was only first discovered just over 10 years ago, and as far as weight loss is concerned, that's extremely recent.
Leptin's function? To communicate your nutritional status to your body and brain. Leptin levels are mediated by two things. One is your level of body fat. All else being equal, people with higher levels of body fat will have higher leptin levels than those with lower levels of body fat and vice versa.
Because leptin is secreted by fat cells, it makes sense that under normal conditions there is a direct correlation between leptin levels and the amount of fat you are carrying.
Unfortunately, when you're attempting to lose fat and begin to restrict calories, conditions are anything but "normal" and the body responds accordingly by lowering leptin levels.
This is because the second mediator of blood leptin levels is your calorie intake. Lower your calorie intake and leptin will fall, independent of body fat.
So, yes, you can be overweight and still suffer from low leptin levels - just go on a diet.
So what happens when leptin levels fall and why the heck does it matter?
Again, under normal conditions leptin levels are normal and the brain gets the signal loud and clear that nutrition intake is adequate. Metabolism is high and the internal environment of the body is one very conducive to fat burning.
Until you start dieting.
Go on a diet and leptin levels quickly plummet (by 50% or more after only one week), sending a signal to the body that you're semi-starved and not consuming enough calories.
This puts the breaks on metabolism and creates a hormonal environment extremely conducive to fat storage. Thyroid hormones (hormones extremely important to metabolism) respond by taking a dive and the abdominal fat-storing stress hormone cortisol skyrockets measurably.
HELLO belly fat.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the appetite stimulating hormones ghrelin, neuropeptide-Y, and anandamide all hop on board to make your life even more miserable.
You don't have to remember any of those names, just remember that when leptin drops, you get seriously hungry.
Despite having a pretty good reason for its reaction, it's pretty ironic that our bodies are primed for fat loss at every other time except when we are trying to burn fat.
Wouldn't it be great if we could maintain high leptin levels and a body primed for fat burning while dieting? It would seemingly solve all of our problems.
But in order to do this, we'd have to somehow keep leptin levels high as we attempt to lose those extra pounds.
"HOW ABOUT "SUPPLEMENTING" WITH LEPTIN?"
A couple of problems here: First, leptin is a protein based hormone, which means that it can not be taken orally (otherwise, it would simply be digested). So that rules out a leptin pill.
This leaves the method of "supplemental" leptin administration to injection. And leptin injections DO indeed work, reversing the metabolic adaptations to dieting and "starvation" even while continuing to restrict calories.
In 1996, Ahima et al. used leptin injections to reverse starvation-induced neuroendrocrine adaptations in mice.
"Well, that's nice and all, but I'm human." Point taken; research with rodents doesn't always correlate to similar findings in humans, however...
In 1999, Heymsfield et al. performed a double-blind placebo controlled study analyzing weight loss over a 24-week period in 73 obese humans. Subjects either injected daily with leptin or a placebo (i.e. bogus alternative). At the end of the 24-week period, the leptin group lost significantly more weight than the placebo and a higher percentage of fat vs. muscle.
In 2002, Rosenbaum et al. administered low-dose leptin to subjects (male and female) who had dieted to a 10% decrease in body weight. During the diet period, thyroid hormone levels, 24-hr energy expenditure, and other metabolic markers substantially decreased. The result of the leptin replacement therapy?
"All of these endocrine changes were reversed..." Thyroid output and daily calorie burn increased back to pre-diet levels.
In 2003, Fogteloo et al. showed that leptin injections "tended to reduce the decline of energy expenditure associated with energy restriction, whereas the tendency of energy intake to increase back to baseline levels in placebo-treated subjects was largely prevented in subjects treated with leptin."
Yeah, that's a mouthful. Let me put in simple terms: not only did the leptin group experience less of a decline in metabolism, but they were also less hungry, allowing them to more easily stick to the prescribed diet.
In 2004, Welt et al. reported that leptin given to a group of women with thyroid disorder immediately raised circulating concentrations of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4.
In 2005, Rosenbaum and company were at it again, again showing that energy expenditure and circulating concentrations of T3 and T4 all returned to pre-weight-loss levels with regular leptin injections.
So, as theorized, keeping leptin levels high during a diet does indeed solve our dilemma by avoiding the negative metabolic (and perhaps behavioral) adaptations that calorie restriction perpetuates.
The problem?
Daily leptin injections are far too expensive, costing thousands and thousands of dollars per week. So, we can pretty much forget about supplemental leptin as a solution (which is probably moot anyway considering that not too many people are going to voluntarily plunge a needle into their skin daily).
A REAL Solution
Now that we know that leptin injections aren't going to save us, let's talk about the possibility of manipulating your body's natural leptin production.
And I've got good news - this can indeed be done, and without involving needles or thousands of dollars. In fact, we'll swap the injections and mounds of cash out for two things I can guarantee you're absolutely going to love: more calories and more carbs.
We know that leptin levels decrease by about 50% after only one week of dieting, but fortunately, it doesn't take nearly that long for leptin to bump back up with a substantial increase in caloric intake.
In fact, research has shown that it only takes about 12-24 hours.
So, the answer to the fat loss catch-22? Strategic high-calorie, high-carb CHEATING.
By strategically cheating with high calorie foods (and yes, even stuff like pizza, ice cream, wings, cookies, burgers, fries, etc), you can give leptin and metabolism a major boost mid-diet which sets you up for plenty of subsequent fat loss when you resume your reduced calorie eating regimen.
This means greater net fat loss week after week, and ultimately, a much more realistic, maintainable way to bring you to the body you truly want and deserve.
So what's so special about carbs?
Well, leptin, carbohydrate and insulin have been shown to have very strong ties.
Calories alone don't get the job done, as research shows that overfeeding on protein and fat has little effect on leptin.
In order to get a strong leptin response from overfeeding, there needs to be plenty of carbs in the mix. In fact, the relationship is SO strong that research conducted by Boden et al. at the Temple University School of Medicine shows that leptin levels will not fall even in response to all-out fasting so long as insulin and blood sugar are maintained via IV drip. That's CRAZY.
Because of this carbohydrate/insulin-leptin relationship, it makes sense that foods combining both carbs and fat (like pizza, burgers, cookies, ice cream, etc) work best for reversing the negative adaptations caused by dieting because of the BIG-TIME insulin response they produce.
THIS is why strategic cheating with your favorite foods is so powerful. THIS is why you truly can use your favorite foods to lose fat faster than you ever could with restrictive dieting. THIS is freedom.
Essentially, it's everything "typical" dieting isn't.
With regular dieting, come week two, you're screwed.
With strategic cheating, you can literally use ANY food you want to *ensure* that you never go a single day without a body primed for fat loss.
The cheat or not to cheat? I think the choice is clear.
For more information on Joel's complete Cheat Your Way Thin system - available at half price through tomorrow (4/30) only, head on over to CheatYourWayThin.com.
Normally, my newsletters are "hidden" pages available only to our subscribers, but with the content today, I thought I'd open it up to the rest of the world. After all, it's not like you can just get a rock star like Dr. John Berardi to do an interview for your site. JB has been a friend and incredible resource to me for almost ten years now, and he's always got great information to share. So, without further ado, here is EricCressey.com's exclusive interview with Dr. John Berardi:
EC: First off, it's hard to believe that over the course of almost 150 newsletters, I never got around to interviewing you. Thanks for taking the time to jump in on this.
JB: Yea, tell me about it. I've been waiting by the phone for, like, three years now.
EC: Well, now that you've gone through all that therapy to get over me neglecting you, we might as well right to it. To start, fill us in on what you're up to these days. I know you moved back from Texas to the North Pole a while back, but I'm guessing that you aren't building toys and stuffing stockings all year. What's new with John Berardi and Precision Nutrition?
JB: Well, although working with high-level athletes is cool and all, when Santa calls for nutrition advice, you drop what you're doing and you head north.
In all seriousness, though, I'm actually splitting my time between Austin, Texas and a town called St. Catharines in Ontario. St Catharines is about 50 min outside Toronto and is basically the Napa Valley of Canada. The area is a tremendous agricultural gem and because of this, I have a never-ending supply of locally grown produce and wines as well as local, hormone-free, and often grass fed meat. So now, I've got two great towns to call my home.
EC: I hear you. When I was considering the move to Boston, the lack of grass-fed beef and local wines was a bit of a turnoff, but it was a sacrifice that I was willing to make because I just couldn't wait to sink my life savings into the Big Dig and the most inefficient state government in the United States - but I digress...How about the professional side of things?
JB: On the professional side, I just did a tally. As of last week, the Precision Nutrition community has grown to over 46,000 members in over 97 countries. I can't tell you how proud I am that we've been able to help out that many people.
And beyond this, we've also launched a couple of new programs for members of the community - our Lean Eating Coaching Program and our Clinical Services Program.
EC: 97 countries? Don't you want to just give out a few freebies in a few lesser known African nations to bring it to a cool 100? I would.Anyway, tell us about these two new things.
JB: First, our Lean Eating coaching program. Over the last few years, we've become coaching experts, working with everyone from recreational exercisers, to folks suffering from cardiovascular disease and diabetes, to multiple Olympic medalists.
And as a result of this experience, we've developed intensive group coaching programs for men and for women. Each coaching participant gets to work with us for 6 months. And the feedback we've gotten is tremendous - and so are the numbers. The average fat loss is 2-3lbs per month while following the program!
In addition, we're in the process of launching a clinical services suite where we're taking individualization to a whole new level. Using things like psychometric profiles, wellness-based blood analysis, and nutrigenomics profiling, we're now able to take a peek inside people's psychologies and physiologies to determine the absolute best way to coach them to success. This is like nothing our industry has seen before and I promise it's going to shake things up quite a bit.
EC: Very cutting-edge - but I think that's an adjective we've all come to associate with your name over time. To that end, I was chatting with a colleague recently and your name came up in the conversation. I told him that what amazed me was that you have not only taken a seemingly "boring" subject - nutrition - and made it "sexy" and "fun," but have actually done that for close to a decade now. What's the secret to your success?
JB: Well, thanks for saying that, although I don't know if it's actually true. However, if it is, it might be because of a few reasons.
First, I can't tell you how many "nutrition experts" I've met that wouldn't know a healthy diet if it came up and bit them on the ear. They may study nutrition. And they may teach nutrition. But they don't practice it. And that's why they all seem to possess the same ability to make nutrition super-boring. It's not real to them. They don't live it day in and day out.
On the other hand, I actually live the Precision Nutrition lifestyle. 365 days a year, I practice what I preach. And, I've been doing exactly that for about 20 years now. Plus, I've worked with a helluva lot of clients, at all levels. So I pretty much practice nutrition and think about nutrition all the time. Trust me, it makes a huge difference.
EC: I can definitely attest to that. Like you, I own my own business and have a lot of competing demands in my professional life, so it often seems that there aren't enough hours in the day. In other words, working efficiently and having energy all the time is of paramount importance. I've been following your work since the late 1990s and it's not only shaped my own personal nutrition practices, but also those of all of Cressey Performance's clients.
JB: And, you know, the funny thing is this. When you do what I do, and you've done it for this long, you realize that there are a lot of nuances to eating well. Sure, there's the what to eat, the when to eat, and the how much to eat. And these are all very interesting. But that's only scratching the surface.
There's also the psychology of eating, which is quite fascinating. There are genetic and individual differences associated with how each of us processes and tolerates foods. And we haven't even mentioned supplements yet. Nor have we talked about all the great new research that's coming out on food and nutrition every single day! By exploring each of these very interesting areas, it's pretty easy to keep things fresh, new, and, hopefully exciting.
EC: That's a good point.
JB: Also, I always try to keep in mind that nutrition in the present deals in generalities. There are recommended dietary intakes. There are food pyramids. There are general calculations for energy intake.
However, nutrition is evolving in exciting ways. It's becoming more individual. And with blood analysis, genomic profiling, and more in the very near future, we'll be able to prescribe highly individualized nutrition plans for folks based on just a few simple tests.
Indeed, the future is really exciting when it comes to nutrition. And I'm happy that I'm in the prime of my career so I can ride the wave of this new nutrition information and technology.
EC: Speaking of "evoluation," you've recently introduced Precision Nutrition: Version 3.0, which piggybacks on the first two installments. What's new in this version?
JB: As our 46,000 members can attest to, I'm relentless about keeping the Precision Nutrition System, the cornerstone of all of our nutrition recommendations, up to date.
So, every year or two, we release a new version. This time, it's our 3rd edition and this edition has improved upon V2 by an order of magnitude. Now, don't get me wrong, V2 was great. However, we've completely revised the content, we've added three new manuals/sections, and we've even given the whole project a facelift.
As of V3, here's what folks can find:
The PN Success Guide
The PN Diet Guide
The Quick Start Guide
The Super Shake Guide
5 Minute Meals
The Individualization Guide
The Measurement Guide
The Plant-Based Diet Guide (Brand New)
The Maintenance Guide (Brand New)
The Support Guide (Brand New)
In addition, we're now including Gourmet Nutrition V1, the Precision Nutrition Audio Collection, the Precision Nutrition Video Collection, and The Precision Nutrition Online Library. It's a ton of great stuff. Indeed, it's everything folks need to know to get the body they want.
EC: Absolutely. Thanks for helping out with the interview; sorry it took so long for us to make it happen!
JB: My pleasure. Thanks, Eric.
To find out more about Dr. John Berardi and his renowned Precision Nutrition System, head on over to PrecisionNutrition.com.Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a detailed deadlift technique tutorial!
In my newsletter earlier this week, I introduced you to Danny, a Cressey Performance client who had made some awesome progress on theWarpspeed Fat Loss diet over the course of 28 days. In reality, though, there’s quite a bit more to that story.
You see, Danny had actually made a lot more progress than that since December of 2007 when he really committed to kicking a** and taking names. As was the case on Monday, a picture is worth a thousand words; here are the ten-month progress pictures:
In my last newsletter, I told you that this wasn’t just about “Hooray for Danny” or “Horray for Warpspeed Fat Loss” – although both definitely deserve all the credit in the world! Rather, I’m a firm believer that anytime someone is successful, you have to look at what they’ve done right – and these are the three things so important for Danny’s success.
1. Danny got involved with a great training crew. I don’t care who you are: a training crew will always yield better results. Danny actually lifts quite a bit with our staff nowadays. Hell, with all he’s learned, he’d be a great addition to our staff!
Obviously, I firmly believe that our job is to hammer on technique in a coaching-intensive set-up early on when someone trains at CP. However, I think that our longer-term responsibility is to create the most motivating environment possible in which to carry out our programming.
Additionally, Danny had a great “crew” at home in the form of a very supportive wife who helped him on the diet side of things. It always helps to have someone along for the ride at home; I’ve seen a lot of people “sabotaged” by unsupportive family members.
2. Danny’s goal from the get-go was always performance. The physique stuff took care of itself when he just focused on getting stronger with each session and attended to his nutrition. Along the way, he got his first 300-pound bench and deadlifted well into the 400s.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again: train for performance, put the right stuff in your mouth, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the physique improvements you see. It’s a theme that resounded in my Maximum Strength book.
3. Danny realized that you can always get a training effect in spite of injuries. When he first came to us, Danny had been dealing with some pretty significant neck spasms. In fact, when we went to work on some bench press technique the first night, he was pretty nervous that 95 pounds on the bar would trigger a spasm. Toss in a testy lower back, shoulder, hamstrings, and adductor strain, and you’d think that Danny would have been on the shelf for months. In reality, he didn’t miss a training session, as he appreciated that there was always something he could do to get better around those issues – and get better he did!
These factors for success are just the tip of the iceberg, and they'll be different for everyone. However, it's important to recognize them early-on and use them to your advantage, as getting leaner, stronger, faster, and healthier isn't always peaches and cream.
The Truth About Unstable Surface Training: An Athletic Trainer's Perspective
“As someone who has both rehabbed injured athletes and trained healthy people for over 18 years, I can honestly say that Eric Cressey’s The Truth about Unstable Surface Training is a breath of fresh air."Being a certified athletic trainer and a strength and conditioning coach has afforded me a unique perspective in the training world. I have watched personal trainers, strength coaches, athletic trainers and physical therapists use and abuse unstable surface training.
"Eric has combined his in-the-trenches experience with research to uncover the truth behind unstable surface training. This book is a must-read for anyone that trains, rehabs, or coaches, people in anyway. Yes, that means Physical Therapists, Athletic Trainers, Personal Trainers, and Strength Coaches.
"I hope that this book will help to 'stop the madness' of a training fad that has gotten out of control and help to support the proper uses of unstable surface training.
"I know I will be referring this work to my network of athletic trainers, strength coaches, physical therapists and personal trainers.”
Keith Scott, MS, CSCS, ATC
Certified Athletic Trainer, and Strength and Conditioning Coach
www.BackToFormFitness.com
If you aren't familiar with Alwyn Cosgrove's stuff, you're really missing out; here is a guy who has produced results time and time again. If you're looking to get lean fast, but don't have a clue where to start, let Alwyn show you the way. One of the best aspects of this product is that there's something for everyone. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned veteran, you'll learn some tricks of the trade to get you to where you want to be faster. I've used a lot of Alwyn's ideas personally and with my athletes and clients; I would encourage you to check them out and experience the results for yourself.
Yes, I'm really putting an interview with me in my own newsletter. It's not what you think, though! Brian Grasso from www.DevelopingAthletics.com interviewed me for his newsletter last week; I hope you enjoy it!
Eric Cressey is one of the youngest and brightest stars in the conditioning world today. He and I have forged a great relationship as of late and I wanted to bring his expertise to you... you WILL be impressed!
BG - Your newest DVD, Magnificent Mobility cites the importance of delineating the difference between "mobility" and "flexibility" in a training program. What is the difference and when do each apply?
EC – Those are great questions, Brian; very few people understand the difference – and it is a big one. Flexibility merely refers to range of motion – and, more specifically, passive range of motion as achieved by static stretching. Don’t get me wrong; static stretching has its place. I see it as tremendously valuable in situations where you want to:
a) Relax a muscle to facilitate antagonist activation (e.g. stretch the hip flexors to improve glute recruitment)
b) Break down scar tissue following an injury and/or surgery (when the new connective tissue may require “realignment”)
c) Loosen someone up when you can’t be supervising them (very simply, there is less likelihood of technique breakdown with static stretching because it isn’t a dynamic challenge)
However, the principle problem with pure flexibility is that it does not imply stability nor preparedness for dynamic tasks. As one of my mentors, Dr. David Tiberio, taught me, we need to have mobile-stability; there’s really no use in being able to attain a given range of motion if you can’t stabilize yourself in that position. Excessive passive flexibility without mobility (or dynamic flexibility, as it’s been called) will actually increase the risk of injury!
Moreover, it’s not uncommon at all to see individuals with circus-like passive flexibility fail miserably on dynamic tasks. For instance, I recently began working with an accomplished ballet dancer who can tie herself into a human pretzel, but could barely hit parallel on a body weight squat until after a few sessions of corrective training. She was great on the dynamic tasks that were fundamentally specific to her sport, but when faced with a general challenge that required mobility in a non-familiar range of motion, she was grossly unprepared to handle it. She had flexibility, but not mobility; the instability and the lack of preparation for the dynamic motion were the limiting factors. She could achieve joint ranges of motion, but her neuromuscular system wasn’t prepared to do much of anything in those ranges of motion.
We went to great lengths in Magnificent Mobility to not only outline mobility drills, but also what we call “activation” movements. Essentially, they teach often-dormant muscles to fire at the right times to normalize the muscle balance, improve performance, and reduce the risk of injury. Collectively, mobility and activation drills are best performed as part of the warm-up and on off-days as active recovery. We’ve received hundreds of emails already from athletes and ordinary weekend warriors claiming improved performance, enhanced feeling of well-being, and resolution of chronic injuries; this kind of positive feedback really makes our jobs fun!
BG – You certainly are known for you ability to get athletes stronger. What type of training do you use for adolescent athletes… let me narrow that down (i) a 16 year old with no formal strength training experience (ii) a 16 year with a solid foundation and decent knowledge with exercise form
EC - First and foremost, we have fun. It doesn’t matter how educated or passionate I am; I’m not doing my job if they aren’t having a blast coming in to train with me. With respect to the individual athletes, I’ll first roll through a health history and just run them through some basic dynamic flexibility movements to see where they stand. As we all know, there is a lot of variation in terms of physical maturity and training experience at these ages, and I can get a pretty good idea of what they need just by watching them move a bit. In your individual cases, much of my training would revolve around the following:
In the unprepared athlete, I’d go right into several body weight drills – many of them isometric in nature – to teach efficiency. We often see an inability to differentiate between lumbar spine and pelvic motion, so I spend quite a bit of time emphasizing that the lumbar spine should be stable, and range of motion should come from the hips, thoracic spine, scapulae, and arms. Loading is the least of my concerns in the first few sessions; research has demonstrated that beginners can make progress on as little as 40% of 1RM, so why rush things with heavy loading that will compromise form? The lighter weights will allow them to groove technique and improve connective tissue health prior to the introduction of heavier loading.
At the start, I’ll emphasize unilateral work; mobility; any corrective training that’s needed; classic stabilization movements (i.e. bridges); and learning the compound movements, deceleration/landing mechanics, and how to accelerate external loads (e.g. medicine balls, free weights). I’ll also make a point of mentioning that how you unrack and rerack weights is just as important as how you train; it drives me crazy to see a kid return a bar to the floor with a rounded back.
In the athlete with a solid foundation, I’ll run through those same preliminary drills to verify that they are indeed “solid” and not just good compensators for dysfunction. Believe it or not, most “trained” athletes really aren’t that “trained” if you use efficiency as a marker of preparedness – even at the Division I, professional, and Olympic ranks; you can be a great athlete in spite of what you do and not necessarily because of what or how you do it.
Assuming things are looking good, I’ll look to give them more external loading on all movements, as the fastest inroads to enhanced performance will always be through maximal strength in novice athletes. As they get more advanced, I’ll start to look more closely at whether they’re more static or spring dominant and incorporate more advanced reactive training movements. Single-leg movements are still of paramount importance, and we add in some controlled strongman-type training to keep things interesting and apply the efficiency in a less controlled environment. Likewise, as an athlete’s deceleration mechanics improve, we progress from strictly closed-loop movement training drills to a blend of open- and closed-loop (unpredictable) tasks.
In both cases, variety is key; I feel that my job is to expose them to the richest proprioceptive environment possible in a safe context. With that said, however, I’m careful to avoid introducing too many different things; it’s important for young athletes to see quantifiable progress in some capacity. If you’re always changing what you do, you’ll never really show them where they stand relative to baseline.
BG – Olympic lifts and adolescents… do you use them? Why or why not?
EC – Personally, I generally don’t for several reasons. It’s not because I’m inherently opposed to Olympic lifts from an injury risk standpoint. Sure, I’ve seen cleans ruin some wrists, and there are going to be a ton of people with AC joint and impingement problems who can’t do anything above shoulder level without pain. That’s not to say that the exercises are fundamentally contraindicated for everyone, though; as with most things in life, the answer rests somewhere in the middle. Know your clients, and select your exercises accordingly.
My primary reasons for omitting them tend to be that I don’t always have as much time with athletes as I’d like, and simply because such technical lifts require constant practice – which we all know isn’t always possible with young athletes who don’t train for a living. Equipment limitations may be a factor (bumper plates are a nice luxury). And, to be very honest, I’ve seen athletes make phenomenal progress without using Olympic lifts, so I don’t concern myself too much with the arguing that goes on. If another coach wants to use them and is a good teacher, I’m find with him doing so; it just isn’t for me, with the exception of some high pulls here and there.
BG – Basing off of the last question, do you teach Olympic lift technique to pre-adolescents?
EC – I don’t. It’s not to say that I wouldn’t be comfortable doing so with a broomstick or some PVC pipe, but when I consider the pre-adolescents with whom I’ve worked, I just can’t see them getting excited about all that technique work for one category of exercises. Olympic lifting is a sport in itself, and I think it should be viewed that way.
BG – My subscribers know that I believe as much in deceleration training as I do in any sort of speed enhancing-based work… How do you improve speed and deceleration habits?
EC – We’re definitely on the same page on this one. In a nutshell, I just slow everything down for the short-term – starting with isometric holds. Every change of direction has a deceleration, isometric action, and acceleration; I’ve found that if you teach the athlete how his/her body should be aligned in that mid-point, they’ll be golden. My progressions are as follows (keep in mind that you can span several of these progressions in one session if the athlete is proficient):
Slow-speed, Full Stop, Hold > Slow Speed, Full Stop, Acceleration > Slow Speed, Quick Transition,
Acceleration > Normal Speed, Full Stop, Hold > Normal Speed, Full Stop, Acceleration > Normal Speed, Quick Transition, Acceleration
With respect to reactive training methods (incorrectly termed plyometrics), we start with bilateral and unilateral jumps to boxes, as they don’t impose as much eccentric force (the athlete goes up, but doesn’t come down). From there, we move to altitude landings, and ultimately to bounce drop jump (depth jumps), repeated broad jumps, bounding, and other higher-impact tasks.
Finally, one lost component of deceleration training is basic maximal strength. All other factors held constant, the stronger kid will learn to decelerate more easily than his weaker counterparts. So, enhancing a generally, foundational quality like maximal strength on a variety of tasks will indirectly lead to substantial improvements in deceleration ability – especially in untrained individuals.
Another week in the books! Thanks for checking in.
We’re five newsletters in, and while the feedback on our interviews has been fantastic, I’ve actually received several emails from people wanting to hear more from me. In my infinite wisdom, I guess I never realized that people would actually sign up for an EricCressey.com newsletter to hear from Eric Cressey. With that said, I figured that since I receive hundreds of emails on a weekly basis, I might as well pick a few from the pile and respond for everyone. There will be some information, some sarcasm, and the occasional rant; I guess that’s part of the beauty of having your own newsletter. As always, if there is something you’d like to see in the newsletter, just say the word; I’m all ears.
Q: From reading your stuff and that of John Berardi, I’ve really begun to reconsider the traditional bodybuilding-influenced “bulk-cut” approach to improving body composition. With respect to getting people to below 10% body fat, Dr. Berardi wrote that “people usually OVERESTIMATE the difficulty and UNDERESTIMATE the duration,” and that it is possible as long as:
“1) They're willing to work out in excess of 5hrs per week (sometimes up to 8 hours/week).
“2) They're willing to commit to eating better with each meal. Not follow a fat loss or bulking diet. Simply, every time they sit down to eat, they do better.
“3) They're willing to learn a new normal. We all have habits that are ‘normal’ and if you're 15, 20, 30% fat, your ‘normal’ = good for fat gain. A diet is abnormal. You'll always get back to 15%, 20%, 30% if you're always doing something abnormal. However if you re-learn a new normal, you can have a new body.”
Judging from your writings, you seem to favor a similar approach. I was just wondering if you would care to elaborate on any of these things. I’ve really been thinking about how traditional bulking and cutting might very well be outdated, and would appreciate your thoughts.
A:
Those are definitely some statements with which I agree wholeheartedly, and I think that the more people that check out JB’s Precision Nutrition products, the less often I’ll have to encounter questions like this! Once people start to adopt these ideals, I really think that we’ll see a paradigm shift in the world of training-nutrition interaction for body composition improvement.
I, too, get really sick and tired of the “bulk and cut” mentality to which so many people adhere. And, as a competitive athlete myself who has to maintain reasonably strict control over my body weight – yet has still seen consistent improvements in body composition over time – I feel that I have a solid frame of reference from which to speak. In fact, as I look to drop a few pounds prior to APF Senior Nationals (June 2), my overall training and nutrition strategies aren’t changing much at all.
With that said, I've got several problems with what has seemingly become the “traditionalist” approach:
1. People adopt programs, but never habits. Consistency is more important than you can possibly imagine, but when you're constantly shuffling back and forth between programs, you're never really "getting it." If you had the good habits in the first place, chances are that you wouldn’t have ever had to come to consider the extreme cutting or bulking, right?
2. Progress can be very tough to monitor in experienced individuals. Experienced natural lifters might be lucky to add five pounds of lean body mass a year. How realistic is it to really micromanage such subtle changes over a three-month period (assuming two bulks and two cuts per year)? Spread five new pounds out over an entire body and you'll see that it isn't readily apparent. Work with some guys who are 7-feet tall like I have and you’ll see that it’s even more hard to notice – especially when you see them on a daily basis.
3. Bulk/Cut is no way to live. Let's assume that a year consists of two bulks and two cuts. So, basically, you're spending one half of the year gorging yourself until you become a fat-ass, and the other half in misery until you get lean enough to feel crappier and look better. Toss in a few root canals, a colonoscopy, and a few Ben Affleck movies*, and you’ve got yourself a year to be forgotten. Yeehaw.
4. Think of the long-term consequences of the bulk/cut scheme. If you read the research on weight regain and body fat distributions in recovered anorexics, you’ll see that central adiposity is extremely common. Are severe cutting diets really that much different than clinical cases of anorexia? Taking someone’s thyroid out and stomping on it would actually be a quicker means to the same end.
5. Do we really want to adhere to guidelines that are predominantly geared toward professional bodybuilders who are so juiced to the gills that you can smell GH on their breath? They’ve got extensive anabolic arsenals in place to maintain muscles mass and optimize nutrient partitioning as they diet down, and thyroid medications to keep their metabolic rates up in spite of the reductions in calories. Indirectly, all these substances improve strength and stave off lethargy, making training sessions more productive in spite of caloric reductions. In the bulking scenarios, the nutrient partitioning effects are still in place, as these individuals are less likely to add body fat when eating a caloric surplus.
Now, put a natural lifter in the same scenario, and you’ll see right away that he’s immediately at a disadvantage. Drop calories too fast, and your endogenous testosterone and thyroid levels fall. You get tired and weak, and your body has to find energy wherever it can – even if it means breaking down muscle tissue.
I’m not trying to get on a soapbox here; I’m just trying to make people realize that they’re comparing apples and oranges. You need to do what’s right for you.
And what does that entail? Adopt admirable dietary, training, and lifestyle habits, and you’ll build a strong body that moves efficiently and just so happens to look good. Leave the quick-fix approaches for those with “assistance” and anyone silly enough to watch a fitness infomercial from beginning to end.
*Note to readers: This reference was spurred on by my good friend, Tony Gentilcore, who was responsible for the quote of the week:
“There are two kinds of people that irritate me: people who use the leg press, and Ben Affleck.”
(For your information, Tony has a bit of a crush on Jennifer Garner, and it tends to make him a little biased when the time comes to review Affleck movies)
Q:
I was wondering what your thoughts on “finishers” to workouts are. You know, tough stuff to test yourself at the end of a lift.
A:
Truthfully, I rarely add "finishers" to the end of sessions. In my opinion, this brings to light an amazing "phenomenon" that exists in the performance enhancement field. Those who make frequent use of finishers are the very same individuals who don't know a thing about volume manipulation for optimal supercompensation. If the finisher was such a valuable inclusion, then why wasn't it written into the program initially?
Some people claim that these are an ideal means of enhancing mental toughness. I can’t disagree, but I do think that your mental training stimuli should already exist in your programming. If you need to search around for things to haphazardly incorporate at the end of a session, then you need to take a look at program design abilities. I’d rather see a “finisher” just be considered an appropriately-planned “last exercise.” Believe it or not, there should even be times when you leave the gym feeling fresh.
There may be instances where I'll push an athlete (or myself) with increased volume and/or intensity based on the pre-training mood. This is one basis for cybernetic periodization; effectively, you can roll with the punches as needed.
I will say, however, that finishers have their place with younger athletes where you’re just trying to keep the session fun. If you find something productive that they’re enthusiastic about doing, by all means, deviate from your plan a bit and build on that enthusiasm. When they start getting more experienced, though, you’re going to have to know when to hold back the reins on them a bit.
Q:
In December of 2001, I was rear-ended going about 30mph; five cars were involved, and I was the first car hit from behind. My knee hit the dashboard when I was hit from behind and my head was jerked backwards when I hit the car in front of me.
My knee started hurting soon after, although I never got it checked out. It’s now become a sharp pain and a constant, dull ache as well with weakness on stairs and squatting-type positions especially. In addition, there are tender areas, on the outside and top of the knee, that cause extreme pain when I am bending, squatting, lying down, or sitting down for too long. My hip has also been affected, also aching constantly. My right leg and knee also hurt and knot up easily. The surrounding muscles are very weak with several knots in them, and I also have a very tight iliotibial band. Any ideas what might be going on?
A:
I thought "PCL" (posterior cruciate ligament) the second I saw the word "dashboard;" it's the most common injury mechanism with this injury. I’m really surprised that they didn’t check you out for this right after the accident; you might actually be a candidate for a surgery to clean things up. Things to consider:
1. They aren't as good at PCL surgeries as they are with ACL surgeries, as they're only 1/10 as common. As such, they screw up a good 30%, as I recall – so make sure you find a good doctor who is experienced with this injury to assess you and, if necessary, do the procedure.
2. It's believed that isolated PCL injuries never occur; they always take the LCL and a large "chunk" of the posterolateral complex along for the ride. That would explain some of the lateral pain.
3. The PCL works synergistically with the quads to prevent posterior tibial translation. As such, quad strengthening is always a crucial part of PCL rehab (or in instances when they opt to not do surgery). A good buddy of mine was a great hockey player back in the day, but he has no PCL in his right knee; he has to make up for it now with really strong quads.
4. Chances are that a lot of the pain you’re experiencing now is related more to the compensation patterns you’ve developed over the years than it is to the actual knee injury. For instance, the tightness in your IT band could be related to you doing more work at the hip to avoid loading that knee too much. Pain in the front of the knee would be more indicative of a patellar tendonosis condition (“Jumper’s Knee”), which would result from over-reliance on your quads because of the lack of the PCL (something has to work overtime to prevent the portion of posterior tibial translation that the PCL normally resisted).
5. From an acute rehabilitation standpoint, I think you’d need to address both soft tissue length (with stretching and mobility work) and quality (with foam rolling). These interventions would mostly treat the symptoms, so meanwhile, you’re going to need to look at the deficient muscles that aren't doing their job (i.e. the real reasons that ITB/TFL complex is so overactive). I'll wager my car, entire 2006 salary, and first-born child that it’s one or more of the following:
a) your glute medius and maximus are weak
b) your adductor magnus is overactive
c) your ITB/TFL is overactive (we already know this one)
d) your biceps femoris (lateral hamstring) is overactive
e) your rectus femoris is tighter than a camel's butt in a sandstorm
f) you might have issues with weakness of the posterior fibers of the external oblique, but not the rectus abdominus (most exercisers I know do too many crunches anyway!)
Again, your best bet is to get that PCL checked out and go from there. If you’ve made it from December 2001 until now without being incapacitated, chances are that you’ll have a lot of wiggle room with testing that knee out so that you can go into the surgery (if there is one) strong.
Good luck!
That’s all for this week; I hope everyone enjoyed it!
