Monthly Archives: January 2006

Slow Burn misconceptions

I’ve been meaning to clear up and clarify a few misconceptions about Slow Burn. Feel free to email me if any of the following is unclear.

What’s in a name?
To clarify the name of our method Slow Burn:
SLOW refers to the speed with which we instruct the lifting and lowering of weights at Serious Strength. Our instructors are hawk-eyed and the rules are strict. As a result, you receive speedy results and your joints are as happy as a cat in a catnip mall.

BURN refers to the efficient and rapid burning of body fat as a result of eating low to no refined sugar, adequate protein and healthy fats, non starchy veggies and low to no high sugar/acid fruits. Vegetarians welcome.

OK that’s the name taken care of.

Aerobics and Physical Activity
Our position on aerobic exercise has often gotten us into a little trouble. When we say "You don’t need aerobic activity if you’re strength training on a consistent basis with us" we mean just THAT. We don’t mean physical activity is BAD. No ma’am. People get a little nutso when it comes to their exercise programs. Here is a little story…

The other day my wife, 45 yrs young, 2 kids via C-section, was in her pottery class discussing her awesome back musculature to a woman who asked "What do you do to look so good?" She explained "I strength train at my gym once or twice a week for 20 minutes." 20 minutes?! The woman blasted. "Yep. And not only that I can run after my two little speedsters, garden, play sports, etc. all with the vim and vigor of a 20 year old. 20 minutes of Slow Burn is all you need." An eavesdropping pottermate turned and vehemently added "Don’t you tell me my swimming isn’t doing me any good!"

These types of responses are COMMON much to my dismay. In fact, it can get real ugly.

OK now imagine I am standing on a soap box in front of the Jefferson Memorial: We ENCOURAGE physical activity at Serious Strength – for those who like it. (Did I get anyone mad?)

We are trying to HELP people understand that it is the health of your muscles – their strength and endurance that ALL forms of exercise address (some better than others of course) that matters most.

More on this later. My low carb breakfast is ready I’m told.

The new Sugar Pyramid for kids

I’m MAD.

It’s one thing to dupe and misinform adults, but it’s quite another when you do it to children.

It has got to STOP.

Take a look at the new MYPyramid for Kids. Apparently, meat and certainly oils/fats should scarcely be eaten by tykes – the most important building blocks of their muscles and cells including their brain. Grains, which almost every single person in the country has an allergic reaction to in one form or another and which are a major contributor to the Leaky Gut Syndrome should apparently be the main staple along with fruit (fructose – BAD) and veggies (sugar in cellulose format). Milk is right up there as well and as we all know (or should know if we are parents), milk is primarily sugar.

This is not to say that fruits and vegetables should not be eaten. Certain fruits and veggies are alkaline foods which are important to eat with acid producing foods in order to neutralize the acidity. Both have important vitamins and minerals as well. Grains, on the other hand, are not required in the human diet. Grains, due to the acid producing, leaky gut causing nature of their proteins (not all proteins are alike you know) should be avoided. I know I’ve just PO’d the vegetarians reading this post, but the science is the science. "Think different" as it were.

Both of these food groups (veggies and fruit) are important but not as important as meat, eggs, fish and healthy fats.

Sugar, sugar, sugar…it’s no wonder kids are getting so fat, crashing and listless in the middle of the day and become so irritable at night – unless they get that TREAT!

It is a shame, a gosh darn shame that our wonderful governing bodies cannot recognize the cause of a very serious problem in this country when it is so very apparent – SUGAR. I guess the folks who create these inane food source shapes want to have their cake and eat it too!

Hey Fred – how come you’re not big?

First let me say Happy New Year, peace love and joy to everyone! I hope you all bring to this new year all of your love to each of your lives which in turn makes this world a place of prosperity. I have learned that the new year (or anything else for that matter) cannot bring YOU anything. YOU must bring to it, whatever it is. So bring it on!

A few months ago I attended a wonderful Learning Annex lecture with my CIO brother Jayson given by Keith Ferrazzi author of Never Eat Alone. I learned a lot about opening up, that business and pleasure really do and should mix and that in life you don’t get what you don’t ask for.

In the spirit of his book, I sent Keith an autographed copy of my book and invited him to train at Serious Strength next time he was in NYC. He did and remarked that he enjoyed the training and felt very good afterward (this is something that most people remark about Slow Burn training – that it builds you up without beating you up!) But before the training session, while we were discussing the productivity of Slow Burn strength training, he looked me up and down and in good spirit flat out said "How come you’re not big?"

I was taken aback.

Keith is already in great shape. He is a fairly tall man and has very good genetics. By contrast I am only 5’10" and have a small to medium frame. To paint a picture, if I was a boxer I’d be a welterweight. Keith would be a light heavy weight. Different frameworks entirely.

So, how come I’m not big? If Slow Burn is as good as I say it is why am I not massive? The answer lies in our genetic makeup.

Have you ever encountered a kid who can do math a lot better than you can? Have you ever met a person who can draw amazing things naturally in a split second that would take you years to learn how to do if ever – and they never took an art course? I have blue eyes. However, if I stood next to Paul Newman my eyes wouldn’t look so blue.

All of the above has to do with genetics. Not everyone can have big bulging muscles. Most people can’t, especially women. In fact, you need to possess a VERY rare set of genetics in order to have a bodybuilders body – just like Paul Newman’s blue eyes or Stephen Hawking’s brain. How rare? Perhaps only one half of one percent of all the people on Earth possess the genetics for a Greek god like body. However, because there are ~8 billion people on Earth, one half of one percent of 8 billion is millions of people. So you’ll see quite a few people in the gym or at the beach looking exceptional. But more often than not they look exceptional despite their exercise regimens, not because of them. God rolls the genetic dice and as my daughter Georgia says "You get what you get and you don’t get upset."

There are things in life that you just can’t have. Due to my slight frame and "normal" genetics, Slow Burn strength training (along with a low carb diet) has made me look fit, strong, and lean at 44 years young. In fact, most of the people I meet remark how fit I look and that I must workout a lot to be in such great shape. But big and powerful? Nope. Sorry Fred, it ain’t in the genes.

So the take away message from this blog is this – with a sound, consistent eating regimen, preferably one that is low in refined carbs (and carbs in general), high in fat and protein and calorically correct, along with 2 weekly strength training sessions (preferably Slow Burn strength training for safety and effectiveness) you will radically transform your physique and experience all your genetic makeup will allow. Most everyone following this simple yet challenging plan can transform themselves perhaps not into Greek gods and goddesses, but into looking "maaa-velous."