Psst… Can you keep a secret?
I’ve got two I want to reveal. As they used to say on one of my favorite shows, Seinfield, “It’s going in the vault”. George would tell his best friend Jerry that to get him to share a secret, only to tell it to his fiancee within minutes of leaving.
I’m actually okay with you sharing these two secrets to anyone who will listen. In fact, I want the whole world to know the truth.
Ready?
Secret #1 – Having a glass of wine at night WILL make you fat. I don’t care what the studies show about heart health and red wine being good for you. If you consume a glass or two of red wine most every night you are going to have excess body-fat. Think about what wine is made of, FRUIT, what does fruit have in it, SUGAR, and what does sugar do to your body? I’ll answer for you, it makes you store fat at a much higher rate (and about a million other things).
If you want to drop 6-10lbs really quick, just stop having the wine for a couple of weeks and watch what happens.
Secret #2 – Crunches don’t give you a “six-pack”, COMPOUND MOVEMENTS do that. Unless you are just genetically gifted or under the age of 21, it’s not as simple as going in for a few crunches 2-3x per week and suddenly you have those washboard abs you dream about. Compound movements done correctly, with the right intensity and frequently enough will challenge your core more than doing 10,000 crunches ever will.
If you don’t believe me, try getting under 300 or 400lbs and perform a squat and tell me your core wasn’t working just as much as your legs.
If you are new to the weight training scene or are unsure of what the heck a “compound move” is, here is a basic rundown:
- Squats
- Push-ups
- Pull-ups
- Swings
- Snatches
- Clean and Press
- Lunge and Curl
It basically means a move that demands more than one muscle group to be engaged. Or as I sometimes say, “a real humbling experience”. Anytime you can maximize your time and perform compound movements you will not only burn more calories, you will build more muscle (which in turn helps you burn more calories), look a heck of a lot better than doing isolation moves like bicep curls and yes… start you on your journey to “six-pack abs”. (That and balanced nutrition of course)
Here is my challenge to each of you. Next time you lift, do ten reps of the above moves, rest then do 10 reps of things like Bicep Curls, Crunches, Tricep Kickbacks, Calf Raises, etc and you tell me which ones are more challenging.
Not sure how to perform these compound moves? Email me back for a FREE Discovery Week of our Classes (Kettlebell, Boot Camp or Semi-Private) and we can show you how effective this style of training can be. jeremy@grittonstraining.com
Your Coach
Jeremy
P.S. If you haven’t heard yet, the summer athlete program begins Monday June 8th (there was an error in the original flyer). We have just a few spots remaining, where our goal is to help your child make varsity, gain more confidence, earn more playing time and or begin on their journey towards a college scholarship. AND GOOD NEWS, I just found out I can accept athletes starting at age 12 now… Email me if you want one of the remaining spots: jeremy@grittonstraining.com