This is something that I hear all too often from people who I work with.  "I don't have time to eat, I work all day" or "Well I don't have food around to get meals in frequently enough."  Well guess what, I don't buy excuses like that for one minute.  Why don't I buy them?  Because many days of the week, I work 9 to 10 hours straight without any real break and I still find ways to get my meals in.  So how do you accomplish this seemingly difficult task?

For starters, you need to plan ahead.  This means taking 5 to 10 minutes the night before to pack enough food to last you throughout the following day.  A big problem that people make is not bringing anything with them and then relying on eating out and vending machines to get their meals in.  Sorry to tell you, but this is not going to help your fat loss or performance goals.  Some people even plan out meals for their whole week on a Sunday. 

You need to bring easily accessible meals.  Obviously, if you are on a tight schedule, you are probably not going to be eating a gourmet prime rib dinner during the day.  Thus, here are some great things you can take in easily and quickly throughout the day to keep that metabolism running on all cylinders.

Peanut Butter Sandwiches
Peanut butter is great as it has protein and good fats. (Get natural if you can)  These are easy to make and easy to eat quickly.  Depending on the individual, most types of bread are not your friend so be sure to use all natural, high protein, whole grain bread to make the sandwich with.  You can also just down some peanut butter by itself if need be.  Adding in some real jam (made with actual fruit) can give you some added nutrients as well. 

Containers of meat
Ground up some lean ground beef, turkey or chicken and put it in some mini containers.  Heat it up for 30 seconds and you have a quick meal to down.  You will get ample calories and protein to keep things rolling. 

Protein Shakes
If you have a hard time getting meals in, protein supplements are a must.  Simply put some powder in a shaker cup, mix it with water and there you go.  You have a high protein meal in less than a minute. 

Nuts
Nuts are your friend.  Especially nuts like almonds, pistachios and cashews.  They have lots of good fats, protein and will help suppress that empty stomach feeling.  Best of all, for the purposes of this article, they are very easy and quick to eat.  Take a few handfuls and eat em down. 

Fruits and Veggies
Packing a banana, some berries, an apple, a side salad with some greens, etc.  is very easy to do and they are all easy and quick to eat.  You will get some much needed energy for your day and plenty of vitamins and minerals to keep your body functioning well. 

Natural Granola Bars
Granola bars are a great way to get some energy and are easy to eat fast.  I prefer Nature Valley myself. 

So there you have it.  The list could go on and on but these are some things that I like to use to get my meals in on busy days.  There simply is no reason or excuse to not get meals in as there is almost always a way.  Whether you are talking fat loss or performance, frequency of eating is a huge key to reaching your goals so it has to be accomplished.  If anybody has any personal favorites that help them, feel free to leave them in the comments section. 

So apparently some genius trainer in Boston told some media that females shouldn't squat for a few ridiculous reasons.  Well, Tony Gentilcore and Bret Contreras completely tear this apart and break it down wonderfully here.  Be sure to check it out, Bret made a great writeup that this "trainer" has absolutely no defense against.  It really should be outlawed for certain unqualified morons to work with other people's bodies. 

If you are in the Milwaukee area and enjoy training hard, be sure to head on over to Southridge Athletic Club, where I am currently training many of my clients.  I just got an Elitefts yoke bar and a reverse hyper and want to continue making things better around there.  I want to keep getting more serious people around so come on over.  You can train as hard as you want. 

I should have a new writeup this week so check back!

You do not want to look like this all of the time

After a long season, recovery and restoration is very important.  I was asked the question today, what do you do with your athletes (in this case, my baseball players who just finished their season) when their season ends? 

Well, for athletes that I will generally have most of the year for their offseason with, I use annual planning principals and we train with different phases/cycles throughout the year. 
Looking specifically at immediate post season, the most important factor is recovery.  If you go right into hard and heavy training, bad things are going to happen.  Competitive seasons take a toll on athletes, especially high school athletes.  Take into consideration the fact that many high school athletes participate in extra sport competition during their "offseason," and it becomes even more important. (Ideally, there should be an entire offseason dedicated to work outside of the specific sport to avoid burnout). 

So what do we do during this period of time?  Well, we train at an easy to moderate difficulty level and put a focus on general and corrective exercise in order to iron out any imbalances that were created during the season, give the body a stimulus in order to prepare for the harder training to come and to facilitate recovery throughout the body.  Here is an example of a workout that one of my baseball players went through today.

Soft tissue work/Mobility Drills to warm up
Wall dribbles for cuff activation
1) Db split squat 3x10
2) Split Stance Cable Push 3x10
3) One leg RDL 3x10
4) Split Stance Cable Row 3x10
5)High to low Face Pull 2x12
6)Half Rotating Side Bridge 2x8 each side
7)Scap Raises 2x10
Cuff Perturbations
Specific hip and shoulder stretches to finish

All of these exercises were done plenty reps short of failure wit h light to moderate weights and around 45-60 sec rest between sets.  I like to use plenty of unilateral movements during this period to fix any strength imbalances that were developed during the long season.  In this case, specific shoulder and scap exercises/drills are included for this athlete's individual needs.  This particular athlete will be training twice a week in the weight room for the time being with some minor baseball stuff going on a couple of other days during the week.  His other workout will involve mostly general total body conditioning work such as sled dragging for upper and lower body, jump rope, bodyweight drills, ab and hip work, etc. 

This phase is usually known as anatomical adaptation/active recovery and is very important in ensuring that athletes don't burn out yet maintain fitness levels and prepare to increase fitness levels in the near future. 

Recovery is often an underrated aspect of training for the general population as well.  Recovery is when you get better and stronger.  Without recovery, your progress will go nowhere.  Nobody can go all out all of the time.  That is only asking for disaster.  Active recovery is the most effective form of recovery in my opinion.  This can involve things such as soft tissue work in the form of foam rolling or massage; it can include contrast showers or hot tub soaks; it can include light mobility and bodyweight drills to faciliate blood flow and nutrient delivery; or it can include playing a physical game or sport outside of the usual practice of the individual at hand.  This goes for general population and athletes alike. 

With an average fat loss or general population client, I usually design programs in 4 to 6 week progressions.  With a 5 week progression, I will usually use something like this.

Week One- Intro Week- Focus on technique and movement quality
Week Two- Raise intensity and train hard
Week Three- Raise volume and train hard
Week Four- Build on the last two weeks and train moderate to hard
Week Five- Deload week- Train moderately
Week Six would then be the beginning of a new program.

This is not the end all be all of progressions that I use but it provides a decent general outline.  It is during those deload weeks that the body has a chance to supercompensate and get better and stronger from all of the hard work that has been put in. 

Recovery might be what you are lacking if your progress has stalled.  Don't be afraid to go easy from time to time as it will pay off tremendously.