No BS Fitness & Fat Loss: An Interview with Craig Ballantyne
Here's an interview I did with nutrition expert, Dr. Chris Mohr. Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Mohr's Meal Plans 101
CM: This month I am interviewing a very well respected strength coach, Craig
Ballantyne, who I have personally learned a lot from, and I know readers
will find it interesting. First of all, how did you get involved in
strength and conditioning? CB:
I played a lot of sports, did a lot of bodybuilding type workouts when I was
a kid. It just grew from there, and from reading all the magazines. Decided
pretty young that I wanted to do something related to these hobbies. CM: In addition to your real life experience in the field, you also have a
formal education in Kinesiology and a Master's Degree in Exercise
Physiology. I often get the question as to how much education is enough
when trying to work in the exercise and nutrition arenas; in your opinion,
how much has this contributed to your knowledge versus real life
experience "in the trenches" so to speak?
CB:
I am pretty big on formal education. It's been my experience that the
majority of the best strength coaches, personal trainers, and nutrition
experts have a formal education in sport sciences. When I was in school, I
researched the education of NHL strength coaches, and almost all of them had
M.S. degrees.
Getting a formal education gives you the foundations of anatomy and
physiology. When a trainer doesn't have the foundations, or neglects them,
they are more likely to follow trends and fads and get away from the basics
that give you the most results in the least time.
You shouldn't need someone to show you a system of training if you have a
foundation in the sports sciences, because then you should be able to
critically analyze the movement, the training system, the physiology
affected, etc.
I really believe that if you understand exercise physiology, you'll be able
to separate the crap from the gold pretty quick. CM: You have several great products available for consumers; tell us about
some of your current commitments and ongoing projects. CB:
Due to a huge demand, I've been working on a lot of bodyweight programs.
Many of the readers on my newsletter list want all the results (lose fat,
gain muscle, get lean, improve health), but are busy and often don't have
equipment. So the bodyweight programs were prepared to help these people.
In addition, a lot of lifters are flocking to them as well because they are
a great challenge, and more exciting than traditional cardio sessions for
weight loss. A lot of the athletes I work with are using them as well, to
increase their mobility and fitness for sport -- in conjunction with
traditional strength exercises of course. Each day I spend an hour or two writing my various online newsletters, the
most important of which is www.TurbulenceTraining.com for increases in
muscle and for losing body fat.
CM: With 65% of the population overweight or obese, I'm sure you've had your
share of clients who fall into this category. How do you start off working
with someone who is in extremely poor shape--under fit and overfat? CB:
Just be really conservative. Stuff you might take for granted is of course,
strenuous for them.
For these individuals, I believe that nutrition is going to make a much
greater impact early in the weight loss program. Therefore, there is no need
to go overboard on the exercise prescription at this time. They'll lose fat
faster by dumping the fast-food than they will by working out 6 days per
week. We start with an assessment of course, and I like to get a detailed
background on their past exercise programs, athletic ability, etc.
Oftentimes the assessment will turn up chronic injuries that have to get
sorted out, so you should spend time on that at the start of the program.
For fitness, if they can walk without any risk of biomechanical issues, than
that is a good place to start for fat loss. Calories out. Get fancy later.
Just make sure that walking doesn't hurt them (going from the couch to
walking three times per week could injure a completely sedentary individual).
For strength training, generally a lot of floor-based bodyweight exercises
are the place to start, and the move to bodyweight squats, assisted pushups,
etc. Always be conservative and do as little as possible in the first
session. CM: I've always heard very positive reviews of your unique ability to get
people into tip, top shape. Without giving away all your secrets, let's
start with fat loss--what are the top 5 fat loss tips for individuals? CB:
That depends on whether you want advanced fat loss or beginner. I guess I'll
do both. Beginners: 1) No liquid calories (with the exception of a milk beverage that is planned
into your daily nutritional plan)
2) No fast food
3) More vegetables
4) 1oz almonds per day (1/2 ounce AM, ½ ounce PM)
5) Be consistent with your workouts, and make sure they are efficient and
effective (i.e. the Turbulence Training system)
6) BONUS TIP: Go for a walk after dinner, weather permitting. Research shows
this will help you control cholesterol and triglycerides, plus its better
than sitting around watching TV and tempting yourself with snacks. You might
even have a conversation with your strolling partner. Advanced: 1) Don't cut calories too much
2) Don't exercise too much, but it is okay to add a bodyweight circuit (up
to 20 minutes) 12 hours before or after your workout (so if you train in the
AM, do bodyweight after dinner; and vice-versa)
3) Eat 8 times per day, (bumped up from the classic recommendation of 6)
4) Eat more fibrous vegetables at each meal
5) Eat only protein and healthy fats and fiber between meals (i.e. Green
Tea, protein shake/chicken breast, almonds, fish oils, broccoli) CM: How about for gaining lean body mass? CB:
Bodybuilders always get a bad rap, but if you watch what they do, they
probably do this the best. Get big, then lose the fat.
And you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get big. And all you need is
a little discipline to lose fat. Lift heavy, rest enough (no more than 4 days in the gym), and eat. If you
aren't gaining muscle, eat more. For some guys, i.e. those claiming to be hardgainers, eating might be more
difficult than your workouts. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do in
your workouts to get around that. You just need to eat more. CM: More and more, I've started to get the question of what advice do you
have for folks who may be trying to get into this field? What do you
recommend for people who are interested in the strength and conditioning
fields? CB:
Get mentors. No matter what field you are in.
Doctor, lawyer, trainer, businessperson, priest, salesperson, student,
farmer, etc. It doesn't matter what you do, you will guarantee a faster rate
of success if you find people that have achieved what you want to achieve
and seek their mentorship. And network. The more people you know, and the
more that they like you, the better off you will be. Who you know is always
important. Of course, only run with the right crowd. Get an education, formal or informal, and master the fundamentals of
anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics. Formal or informal, the amount of
study time will be the same. About 1000 hours. Less with a mentor. (Numbers
courtesy of Michael Masterson at www.earlytorise.com). What you know is of
course, is just as important as well. Expect to give more than you get at the start. Pay your dues, I suppose is
an adequate phrase. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Most of the people in the industry are
really nice people. If you ask nicely, they will probably help you. CM: Being a leader in the field yourself, who do you turn to or make sure
you read from to further your training and nutrition knowledge? CB:
I read a lot of science journals still for health and nutrition related
information. You get some training info in there, but less so.
For training info, I pretty much get everyone's newsletter on the Internet.
If you write one, I'm probably subscribed. The only training site I visit is at www.elitefts.com -- without a doubt the
best sport-specific q'n'a forum on the internet. For fat loss, Tom Venuto's newsletters are incredible. The guy is so
thorough with his q'n'a, and lives the lifestyle as well as anyone (probably
almost as well as Paul Chek -- you have to admire that guy's commitment).
And I also read the supertraining yahoo newsgroup. There are a lot of
interesting posts on those sites. In person, I go to two guys in Toronto that are Strength Coaches with the
Maple Leafs organization. And it all comes back to your foundations. If you have mastered exercise
physiology, it shouldn't take you long to understand new information, and
make a proper judgment on whether to incorporate or throw out the info you
are being given. CM: Let's say a soccer mom came to you looking to lose 30 lbs.
Suggestions? Should she hit the weights, do some cardio? What's your best
advice? CB:
First, I always go through the extensive feedback form.
By having everyone fill these out, you accomplish a couple of things.
First, is this person really committed to their goals? If someone says "Oh,
its too hard to use fitday.com". Well, here we go again, right?
Second, just by writing their exercise and diet down on paper, it should
open the client's eyes to the big problems. You can say, "hey, did you
notice you are pounding a 12 ounce thing of juice twice a day?". And if they
are at all educated about nutrition, they'll see why they need to cut that
out. I think going over things that way is a great place to start. Rather than
just barking out the rules. As I said before, nutrition is probably going to make the biggest impact
here. So generally I'll try and get them to make consistent small changes,
depending on how committed the client is rated. If she's been fit before
(i.e. college athlete), you can probably move at a faster pace than if she
quit gym class in Grade 9. Same with exercise. Evaluate what she can and can't do, combined with what
she's done in the past, and then follow what I described above. Work from
the floor up, work around injuries, and get her to master control of her
muscles in bodyweight exercises. CM: Nutrition wise--what do you tell her to shed fat? CB:
Stop eating the kid's treats.
I get that email all the time about it being hard to eat well when there is
all the kid's treats in the house. I mean really, there's nothing I can do
about it if you have a lot of junk in the house and you eat it all the time.
Sometimes you just have to realize you're an adult, and it's up to you to
make some hard decisions about your control of the situation.
Generally, with a little discussion, she'll come to realize that most stuff
shouldn't be in her nutrition plan, let alone her children's nutrition plan.
So she realizes, hey, if it's not in the house, I won't eat it. That is a
big step. Ideally though, I like to send most people to a nutrition expert. Yourself,
or Dr. Berardi. Unfortunately, there are very few nutrition experts I trust.
But anyway, I like to get the individual to get the nutrition info from an
expert in that field. Get them to understand the importance of planning
ahead. Also, we start with them using fitday.com to get a better understanding of
what they eat each day. Once they see the numbers, they don't necessarily
have to use it every day. Just frequent check ups help. CM: Do you take any supplements yourself? And, do you recommend them to
your clients? CB:
Fish oils are one that I use every day and generally think that everyone
should take. Other than that, I just try to eat organic as much as possible, drink lots
of Green Tea, and eat as many fruits and vegetables as possible. I think
that it is just as effective to get a wide-variety of antioxidants at low
levels found in foods as it is to take massive doses of supplemental
antioxidants. I might have one protein shake per day, and I will frequently try new
creatine products on the market. Post workout I admit to chocolate milk, most of the time. Sometimes protein
powder in milk. CM: Like me, I'm sure you've seen a countless number of folks doing hour
upon hour of steady state cardiovascular exercise in hopes of losing more
and more weight. What are your thoughts on steady state aerobics vs.
intervals? CB:
The bottom line of my argument about this is, simply, "You'll get the same
or better fat loss results by doing interval training, and you get that done
in far less time." Plus, interval training is more applicable to every day situations. And, you
can make increases in anaerobic and aerobic fitness with intervals, but you
can't increase anaerobic fitness with steady state aerobics. That's a point
not often made, but a real big benefit to me. The health benefits between the two methods are the same. CM: Any last parting words of wisdom? CB:
Keep it simple. I hate to see people that get in over their head and
obsessed with exercise and counting calories, etc.
We all know what's good for us:
• eat whole, natural foods
• avoiding stuff from a bag or a box
• exercise consistently
• avoid stress
• sleep well The hard part is doing it, I suppose. So just go for 90% compliancy, and
don't freak out if you get off track. And if you want to take your fitness and physique to the next level, just
remember that you can't be on "full blast" every day of the year. You can be
strict for 6,8, and even 12 weeks, but then you have to return to reality.
Again, another lesson learned from those dundering bodybuilders -- who would
have guessed they knew so much?
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