Butiken Hälsa & Fitness i Eskilstuna flyttar till nya och större lokaler och firar detta med en rad evenemang och erbjudanden under kommande helg. Festligheterna tjuvstartar redan på fredagen den 27 augusti och jag kommer att finnas på plats under fredag och lördag för att svara på dina frågor om kost och träning, eller för allmänt småprat.
Hälsa & Fitness finner du i Varuhuset 21:an på Kungsgatan 21 i Eskilstuna. För mer information och tidsschema för lördagen, surfa in på www.halsafitness.nu.

 
I’ve received some questions and requests regarding the use of short periods of fasting once or twice a week. Before I elaborate I want to make one thing clear. I did not come up with this concept, I learned about it from Brad Pilon and then I did my own research and tried it out myself.

I’ve tried several diets in the past that are built around the concept of short daily fasting. I tried the Animal Diet back in 1997 where you only had one meal a day after your workout and an apple before your workouts (much like the Warrior Diet and other copy-cats thereafter). The problem with only eating one large meal a day is that these meals need to be very nutritious to cover all the bases. And if you’re like most people in today’s modern society and have a lack of stomach acid (betaine HCL) or digestive enzymes (due to poor eating habits and stress), malnutrition could be a factor within weeks. This is why I normally prefer two to three meals a day when working with clients and up to four or five if they carry a lot of muscle mass. You know that they will get and absorb the nutrients that they need.
Another important thing with a lower meal frequency compared to the traditional and ridiculous 6 to 8 meals a day is that you avoid high and constant blood amino acid levels which actually lead to a decrease in protein synthesis. You want your AA levels to drop to roughly about baseline before raising them again and stimulating protein synthesis. That however, is another story (and was covered in my books and some articles a couple of years ago).

With that said, this fasting concept is only used once or twice a week and only for about 24 to 28 hours at a time (I think Brad Pilon prefers 24h because of the simplicity). As an example, you could start your fast at 6 PM, sleep through the “worst of it”, and resume eating at 6 or 8 PM the following day. Between these short fasts (during the remaining days of the week) you simply follow your regular diet or eat as you would normally do.
I prefer to start my fast at Saturday evening at 6.00 PM and resume eating at Sunday evening about 9 or 10 PM with 6 grams of leucine (to turn on protein synthesis) followed by a single meal based on slow digested protein, fruits, berries and some healthy fats. Out of convenience it’s usually a blended smoothie. Then I hit the bed and resume may normal eating on Monday morning with three meals a day and one or two mini shakes of leucine and a protein hydrolysate or amino acids.

The best thing about this approach is that you receive the health- and hormonal benefits of fasting while you simultaneously shed at least 2000 to 2500 kcal or more of your weekly energy intake. This, in turn, lets you either lose fat without lowering your energy intake or give you room for a higher nutrient intake (especially around workouts) if you’re trying to build muscle.
Fasting short-term will for example decrease insulin levels (and increase insulin sensitivity), increase fat oxidation, increase growth hormone levels, increase uncoupling protein 3 mRNA and increase glucagon levels. And no, you’re not likely to lose muscle mass during such a short period of fasting, not even if you’re a really big guy.

In the past I used to have a low protein day each week to prevent my body from adapting to a high protein diet, which it does by increasing protein oxidation (wasting protein). Nowadays I take one or two short 24 to 28 hours fasts each week instead. If I’m on a diet, I usually cycle my nutrient intake by keeping it high on the days I lift in the gym (extra carbs and protein pre-workout and extra protein during the workout). On off-days I usually keep it low. Now however, I’ll do my fasting on two of my off-days. If I’m on the other hand is trying to gain muscle mass, I’ll fast once a week on one of my off-days. This allows me to eat even more around my workouts than I usually do while I still benefit from the health improvements from fasting. It’s kind of a win-win.

I’ll write more about my personal experiences and my experiences with my clients later on. In the meantime, if you’re interested in this concept, check out Brad Pilon’s website and his book Eat-Stop-Eat.

 
Yesterday I tried out my Vibram FiveFingers during my weight training session. The program focused on hip-dominant exercises and the workout looked like this:

A. Hang Cleans (Activation and warm-up), 30 to 50% of 1RM, 3 reps, 4 sets
B. Deadlifts, increasing the weight for each set to potentiate the CNS (ramping), start at 50% of 1RM and going up to my max weight for the day, 2-3 reps, 6-10 sets
C1. Romanian Deadlifts, ramping, start at 60% of 1RM, 5 reps, 5-6 sets
C2. Lying Leg-curls, ramping, start at 60% of 1RM, 5 reps, 5-6 sets
D1. Weighted Pull-ups, ramping, start at 60% of 1RM, 3-5 reps, 5-6 sets
D2. Barbell Curls, ramping, start at 60% of 1RM, 3-5 reps, 5-6 sets
E1. Weighted Pull-ups, 70-75% of 1RM, max reps, 1 set
E2. Barbell Curls, 70-75% of 1RM, max reps, 1 set

First off, you do feel very light on your feet and you can sense an increase in mobility and grip, especially around your toes. Doing some light and explosive Hang Cleans felt unusual but good at the same time. After getting my nervous system into gear, I started my main workout with deadlifts. This was my third deadlift workout since 2005, so I’m still a bit rusty – and I’m currently a lightweight at 165lbs and 4.9% body fat.
During my deadlifts I could feel my feet working to maintain my balance. When I reached my eight set, where the weights were close to what I did for two reps during my last workout, I felt some fatigue around my toes. Last time I did two easy reps with 363lbs. This time I did one rep at 363lbs and went for another single at 374. I barely made it. My conclusion is that you should not use your FiveFingers for heavy lifting at the gym before you have got used to them and strengthen your feet by wearing them for a couple of weeks (doing some sprint work or other demanding activities).
The rest of the workout was a breeze and the standing barbell curls actually went really well with three reps at 154lbs.
For now, I’ll stick with my flat weightlifting shoes for my heavy lifting and use my FiveFingers for sprinting and miscellaneous outdoor activities.

 
I’m always on the lookout for smart and innovative training, rehab and therapy gear. Since I’m slowly getting back into things after some serious health problems last year, I decided to try out the highly recommended Vibram FiveFingers shoes. I’ve been thinking about getting them for over a year now, so I finally put in an order.
The FiveFingers are designed to emulate the feeling of being barefoot while increasing balance and agility. With its five individual toes, the shoe allows your toes to separate and flex naturally, providing better stability and grip. It will also strengthen your foot and lower leg.

In short, it’s like an open sock with a breathable stretch mesh that wraps your forefoot, separate toe slots and a flexible performance rubber sole (see pictures below).
The Vibram Five Fingers are excellent for most outdoor activities as well as sprinting, fitness training, MMA and weight lifting.

I ordered my pair of FiveFingers KSO last Tuesday and received them by carrier 7.30 this Monday morning. That’s pretty quick considering that I live in Sweden. To try them out and work them in, I did some easy jogging to warm up, followed by some interval sprinting. At first, I thought they would feel kind of awkward, but they actually felt great and had a natural fit from the moment I put them on. Walking, jogging and sprinting felt great. The next test will be in the weight room on my hip-dominant workout day where I focus on deadlifts. Will they feel and perform better than my flat weightlifting shoes? Well see…

The most important part though, is the natural fit and how it helps and supports your body. At home I’m always barefoot, but sporting barefoot outdoors you’ll probably cut yourself silly on some junk people throw away just about anywhere. Also, most gyms will not allow you to lift weights while being barefoot.

Combining the FiveFingers with some trigger point therapy and your knees, hip and lower back will without a doubt be a lot happier. If you’re interested, check them out at the Vibram website.


The Vibram FiveFingers from above, just before doing some sprinting.


From the side.

 
Yes, I know. It’s been a while since the last post. With the launch of my own support forum, the 2010 Talent Hunt project, taking on new clients again and dealing with some health issues, my blog has been put on the sidelines. However, I’m slowly getting back into things and the blog will be updated more regularly. In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter (it’s so much quicker and easier to write a message of 140 characters maximum than writing a blog post).
And if you speak Swedish, don’t forget to stop by my forum for the best information on training, nutrition and supplementation!

Nu är det dags igen för en ny omgång av Talangjakten där du har möjlighet att förverkliga dina tävlingsdrömmar inom bodybuilding, classic bodybuilding, bodyfitness eller fitness. I år kommer vi att plocka ut åtta deltagare som samtliga blir sponsrade med kosttillskott, licenser, träningskläder och samtliga tävlingsförberedelser. Nya sponsorer för i år är bland annat huvudsponsorn Top Formula och sponsorn SmartShake. Vi tar emot ansökningar fram till den 30:e april. Läs mer på Talangjakten2010.se

 
Idag öppnar jag dörrarna för JBC Forum. Huvudsyftet med detta forum är att ge support för mina böcker, artiklar och tjänster samt ge registrerade medlemmar möjligheten att ställa frågor utan kostnad relaterade till träning, kost och kosttillskott. Tanken är att kunna dela information med så många läsare som möjligt, hålla er uppdaterade och på så sätt minska korspostning på andra forum samt för att minska min dagliga e-postvolym. Om ni ser frågor eller diskussioner någon annanstans på webben rörande mina produkter, artiklar eller tjänster får ni gärna hänvisa till detta forum.

Självklart är forumet öppet för alla träningsintresserade och det finns en öppen del för diskussioner bland medlemmar samt möjlighet till att skapa träningsjournaler och bloggar. Det sistnämnda är perfekt för de av er som följer mina program och/eller böcker.

forum.bartoll.se

Välkommen!