You guys know me pretty well by now.

You know I’m all about having a reason training, training intensely and doing it for a reason.

Do what you need to do, no more, no less.

I’m not a fan of just lifting weights for the sake of it as with typical bodybuilding.

We all know the guy who looks great, has ’shredded’ abs but when it comes down to it, he’s blowing out of his arse after running for 2 minutes, pays no attention to his overall health and has such a tight chest he can’t scratch his own arse.

This isn’t living as far as I’m concerned.

Yes we all want to look great but goals based purely on vanity rarely ever inspire someone to greater things in life.

So when I went to Thailand on a fitness mentoring ‘holiday’ with Dax Moy and met Bryan Kavanagh, I was somewhat sceptical about the product he was talking about called Athlete Physique.

I’d already seen the amazing transformation that his guinea pig had gone through and assumed it was another 3×10, split body part bullshit program. I was wrong (not often I admit to that!)

As I got to know Bryan in Thailand, we talked about his philsophies on both nutrition and training.

Now as Ireland’s leading Strength and Conditioning coach and having worked with a number of boxers, Bryan knows how to get the most our of people by dev eloping aesthetics as well as performance.

Bryan told me more about Athlete Physique and how he revelled in the fact that people thought his guinea pig were on drugs simply because they don’t understand how he could add muscle and drop fat at the same time through careful nutrition planning.

I’ve just finished reading fully over the system and if I wasn’t now preparing for a sprint distance triathlon I’d be on this IMMEDIATELY. I hope Kav won’t mind me revealing some of the program but it goes something like this….

You’ll be cycling the following in carefully planned rotations….

– Full body training like I use all the time for a couple of weeks

– Upper / lower body splits which I am currently using during a strength phase up to Christmas

– Intense metabolic circuits at the end of each session

– High intensity intervals carefully planned to SHRED fat with a lot of variety to avoid boredom

– Nutritional principles which I’ve been living by for a while.

– Planned overtraining to maximise a training rebound effect during lighter weeks (like the deload weeks I talk about and use myself every few weeks)

Quite honestly when I get round to writing a program for you guys which focusses more on physique development than being a fitness animal like Intense Conditioning it won’t be far off this 12 week program.

Kav’s become a good friend of mine because he’s straight talking, hates bullshit and just gets the job done as fast as possible. You’ll do what you need to do, and see what you want to see in 12 weeks (unless you don’t want ripped abs and improved conditioning with it).

That said, if you’re one of these chumps who thinks he can lift weights and get the results you’re in for a shock.

You also won’t just pile on pounds and pounds of muscle – you’ll add muscle but drop fat at the same time – perfect in my eyes!!

Kav will kick your ass along the way to stick to the nutrition as that’s going to be the sledgehammer to those stubborn fat deposits around your gut.

If you are all about just pure size, size, size don’t bother with Athlete Physique.

If you want the kind of body that girls LOVE (lean, strong and abs popping out) I strongly suggest you get on this.

I trust Bryan’s commitment to quality and attention to detail so much that I’ve actually put him in charge of my nutrition to get ready for the triathlon next year.

The only problem is there are only 100 copies of the system available and it’s already been on sale for 8 hours – I got up early and had to rush through this to make sure you get first dibs!

Go get it now – you won’t be disappointed —-> Athlete physique

PS Bryan is a crazy Irish man and he made me dip my Thai banana in protein powder everyday whilst Dax Moy ate snakes. Crazy week, crazy bloke, AWESOME program —–> Athlete Physique

I’m a massive fan of Vibram Five Fingers.

Like many people i thought they were ridiculous at first – another scam to rob me of my hard-earned!

On the contrary it has helped spread my toes out which have always been more cramped than a EuroTunnel train taking illegal immigrants back to France.

This has helped with my equally poor lower limb biomechanics, left overs from my days of soccer, tennis and pavement pounding (although we still have a long way to go on this front!).

I came across this great article on http://www.pponline.co.uk – check out the article and the site. They’re both great!

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When a new (or some may say very old) concept comes along, it is often met with scepticism and resistance.
The barefoot revolution, however, would seem to be an exception to the rule.  Training barefoot has been advocated by many of the leading thinkers in the strength and conditioning industry (Chek 2001, Yessis 1999, McGill 2002), in the running industry (McDougall 2009) and in the rehabilitation sector (Liebenson 2007, Beach 2008, Oschman 2008, Chek 2001, Janda 2007, 1999, Wallden 2008).

Nevertheless, there may be those who still maintain an air of concern – after all, we’ve been conditioned to believe that running on hard surfaces requires a cushioned sole; and that an arch needs support under it or it will collapse.  Yet any barefoot runner or gait lab assistant will be able to tell you something very different about the cushioning; just as an architect will be able to tell you something very different about the arch support.

For many years it has been well known that running barefoot is more efficient than running in a pair of running shoes or “shod” (Warburton 1999).  More recently, running in a minimalist shoe known as Fivefingers has been identified, similarly, as better than running shod (Squadrone & Gallozzi 2009).

However, something intriguing happened in that research study.  To this point, it has always been assumed that the decreased efficiency of walking or running shod (versus barefoot) is down the added weight of a shoe at the end of a very long and swinging lever; the leg.  Yet, in the study comparing Fivefingers footwear with barefoot and with running shoes, it was predictably the running shoes that were least efficient (higher oxygen consumption), the barefoot that was second and wearing Fivefingers was, confusingly, the most efficient (Squadrone & Gallozzi 2009).

Why did this result came about?

It may have been due to the increased grip the Fivefingers offered over barefoot.  Certainly it would seem the weight (a modest 6 grams per shoe) didn’t affect efficiency detrimentally. 

Why is barefoot, and now Fivefingers, more efficient than shod running (Squadrone & Gallozzi 2009)? 

There are several clues the biomechanics offer us.  First, going barefoot or barefoot equivalent, results in an increased angle at the ankle joint (ie more plantar flexion) during running, which results in more of forefoot/midfoot strike.  Runners in shoes typically heel strike.  The former is associated with lower joint torques and greater leg stiffness (DeWit et al 2000) – a factor which means less energy from the ground reaction force is lost and hence can be utilised in forward propulsion.  Additionally, the ability to use the toes through their full range of motion (allowing at least 65 degrees of extension) means that the windlass mechanism – a means by which energy is stored and then released by the plantar fascia – can be actively engaged, something that running shoes may inhibit.

For more information on Vibram Fivefingers, please go to www.primallifestyle.com

References

Beach P (2008)  Contractile fields: a new model of human movement. Journal of bodywork and movement therapies. 2002 12:80
Chek P (2001) Scientific Core Conditioning. 2 day seminar. Maidenhead, UK.
DeWit B, Clercg D, Aerts P. (2000) Biomechanical analysis of the stance phase during barefoot and shod running.  J Biomech 2000 Mar;33(3):269-78
Janda V (2007) Sensory Motor Stimulation, in Liebenson: Rehabilitation of the Spine.  Lippincott Williams & Wilkins pp513:530
Liebenson, C (2007) Rehabilitation of the Spine.  Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
McDougall C (2009) Born to run. Profile books  pp168-183
McGill S (2002) Low back disorders. Human Kinetics.
Oschman J (2008) Charge transfer in the living matrix. Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies 13 215-228
Squadrone R, Gallozzi C. (2009) Biomechanical and physiological comparison of barefoot and two shod conditions in experienced barefoot runners.  J Sports Med Phys Fitness 2009 Mar;49(1):6-13
Wallden M (2008) Rehabilitation and movement re-education, in Chaitow: Naturopathic Physical Medicine. Elsevier.
Warburton M. (2001) Barefoot running. Sportscience 5(3), sportsci.org , 2001
Yessis M (2000). Explosive running. Illinois, USA. Contemporary Books