Functional Training

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Hello all

By this time it should be quiet obvious that your body is a system, this you understand. In addition, you realize that you should be training your body as a system, this means using your body to its fullest potential.

I would like to point out to you a system of training that limits your full potential. This is single plane exercise. Yes, you guessed it “bodybuilding” type training limits your potential.

When you analyze joint, connective tissue and muscle structure, it becomes very clear that your body has various strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses are generally to do with stabilization or muscle imbalances over joints that have to balance movements in many directions, i.e. the knee. Most injuries occur because there is insufficient stability to counter-balance the forces on these joints.

In spite of this information, why do you still see people training in one plain(forward and backwards)? Why are they not moving as their body was designed? People, both male and female, are only training for their looks, not for their genetic potential. Now I have heard several people argue that being massively muscular IS actually their full potential, but I always remind them of being in the wild… where ‘too heavy, can’t run man’ is first on the lions menu for easy pickings. Training this way makes your body clumsy, stiff, and unable to work properly!

Look at the video for GINASTICA NATURAL…. Tell me this man is not at his full potential.

So how can you include multi-directional movement into your regime?

Firstly, try to incorporate free- or bodyweight exercises into your training program. Machine training is a perfect example of how to make your joints weak and lazy. Also, try using side-to-side movements. In the example of the knee joint, you have the options of doing forward, backward, sideways or diagonal lunges to add direction stress to the joint, muscles and connective tissue. This will help achieve better stability and overall strength.

Another way to help is to use integrated movements after you have trained. Integrated movements are combinations of upper and lower body movement’s e.g. Squat, curl, press, lateral lunge. This activates the whole body system to work together and therefore helps to counter the ‘isolation type’ flaw in your training.

You need to train in a way that allows you to access your bodies natural ability to flex, be supple and powerful. You need to train in a way that stimulates your brain to balance and co-ordinate movement as groups… a leg extension exercise is not stimulating anything except the fibers! Multidirectional movement forces new stimulus onto the muscle, and connective tissue, and forces your brain to control movement effectively.

Kind regards

Jason Hough

My last article was written about weight loss and some guidelines on how to achieve it with creating the right caloric deficit.
This article will feature some basic nutritional information about how to gain muscle. This is not only aimed at men, but also those women who are underweight and have a scrawny physique and are wanting to add some lean, toned muscle.

Your diet is paramount in your quest of wanting to add lean muscle mass. There is a fine line between eating enough calories, and too many.
Protein, Carbohydrates and the correct fats are all vitally important and should be consumed in the correct amounts.

To build muscle, one must be in a positive Nitrogen balance. Nitrogen leaves the body primarily in the urine. Nitrogen lost by excretion must be replaced by nitrogen taken in from food. Protein contains a large concentration of nitrogen. Most healthy adults are in a nitrogen equilibrium, or zero balance, because their protein intake meets their protein requirement.
A positive nitrogen balance is what you want, when trying to add muscle, and means that the body is retaining dietary protein and is using it to synthesize new tissue.
Achieving a positive nitrogen balance does not always mean that you have to eat more protein. Muscle cells take up the exact amount of nutrients, including amino acids, they need for growth. So you may ask me, how do I cause the muscles to want to take up more nutrients into the cell for growth, and the answer is through the correct Strength training regimen. It helps them make better use of the protein that is available by adding more myofilaments called actin & mysosin.

The larger your frame and the greater your muscle mass, the more calories it will take for you to build muscle. Therefore you should not just follow some generic pre-assumed quantity that worked for a friend, but rather do some basic calculation work with the below mentioned guidelines.

Men should consume about 52cals/kg bodyweight
Women should consume about 44-52cals/kg bodyweight
Protein intake should be 1.6g/kg bodyweight for both men and women.
Carbohydrates should be around 8g/kg bodyweight for men.
Carbohydrates for women should be around 6-7g/kg bodyweight, unless you have a more Ectomorphic body type, then you should increase it to the same amount as what is recommended for men.
The rest of your calories should be 20-25% fats of your total calories. Fat sources should be predominantly monounsaturated and poly unsaturated, with much less saturated fat.

When you begin to embark on a muscle gain programme the increase in food intake often requires considerable effort for most. That is where modern science has developed weight gain supplements that can help you reach the required daily caloric intake, and more importantly the required daily protein intake. These supplement often come in the form of liquid shakes and bars.
I personally prefer getting most of my nutrients from solid foods, but some are hard pressed for time or cannot stomach another mouthful when trying to increase their appetite and so must resort to other nutritional tactics.

Please note that the above information are only recommendations, and the debate on exactly how many grams of each macronutrient to consume, still rages on between scientists. First see how your body responds after 4-6weeks on my recommendations and then adjust it higher if you are gaining muscle at a satisfactory rate or lower the calories slightly if you are picking up too much excess body fat.
Please note that when lowering or increasing calories to attain your goal, do so in increments of 250-500kcal’s.

Yours in Health & Wellness,

Jonathan Mannheim.

Hi all,

Continuing with the last topic of sleep and health I decided to do a post on Melatonin. This is a natural hormone produced in you Pineal gland (Behind your eyes). The Pineal gland is the ‘time-keeper’ of your brain. It controls Sleep/wake cycles, menstrual cycles, helps with immune function and in animals is responsible for hibernation, migration and mating patterns. Melatonin, therefore, plays a major role in setting the ‘biological-clock’.

Melatonin is produces from an amino acid called Tryptophan. The Tryptophan is converted to Serotonin, which is then made into Melatonin.

So why all the fuss:
o Melatonin has been shown to increase the life span of test mice by u to 25 percent. Not only this but the mice appeared younger, healthier, sexually rejuvenated and more vigorous.
o It is a natural sleeping pill that does not suppress REM sleep and has fewer side effects than medication.
o Melatonin is very good at helping with Jet lag and is used widely by pilots for this reason. It is safe to use and is readily available.
o Melatonin helps is combating heart disease by lowering cholesterol and scavenging free radicals.

As you know, our physiology begins to decline steadily after your body reaches its sexual peak. It seems as if the natural cycle deteriorates when we can no longer reproduce effectively. This is the biggest basis for Melatonin use after the age of 45. If you can keep your Melatonin levels high, through supplementation, you would be tricking the body’s ‘clock’ and slow down the aging process significantly. Your body will think it is still young and keep producing all the functions it did previously.

This has an astounding amount of knock on effects in that you immune system will keep fighting disease as it used to. Your capability to resist cancer and heart disease is increased, and obviously, your natural sexual functioning is prolonged.

This has been a short introduction to a hormone that is fast becoming a wonder drug.

As I have mentioned before in my articles I am not an anti-aging doctor and am not prescribing anything to cure any existing conditions. I am merely providing information about anti-aging strategies and how they work.

Kind regards

Jason Hough

For the past two years, I have been having short periods where I can’t sleep. I have gone to bed earlier, have made sure I eliminated coffee after 1 pm and have even, on the rare occasion used medication, only to spend the next day struggling to concentrate and feeling exhausted.

This got me very interested in exactly why we need to sleep, how does in-sufficient sleep affect your body and how can you help if you are suffering from bouts of insomnia?

It is obvious that sufficient sleep promotes mental and physical functioning. Think of sleep as the period where your body gets to sort through the massive amounts of information that it takes in daily, either sensory or as knowledge. This needs to be sorted and processed. This is what happens when you sleep. Physically sleep is the state where most of your repair and recovery happens. It is interesting to note that most muscle growth actually happens while you are asleep. The hormones responsible for your cellular repair peek during these periods of rest. There is also a massive boost to your immune system activity while you sleep.

Logically then a lack of sleep has great influence on your body and psychology and is related to increase in heart attacks, type 2 diabetes, strokes and immune system functioning, as well as depretion, anxiety and loss of cognitive function.

How much do you need?
Research indicates the 8 hours a night is optimal for mental functioning, although people who slept 6-7 hours actually seemed to live longer than those who slept for 8 hours plus.

It is interesting that the need for sufficient sleep does not decrease with age, although the patterns for interrupted sleep are higher in older individuals.

What causes sleep interruption?
o Lifestyle changes
o Decreased melatonin production
o Decreased exposure to natural light
o Dietary changes
o Increase mental stimulation just prior to bedtime
o Disease and medication
o Stress
o Frequent waking to go to the bathroom
o Menopause

Help yourself sleep better:
o Make sure that the room where you sleep is comfortable in temperature, without load noise or excessive light interference.
o Stake away from computers or television just prior to sleep time.
o Avoid certain medication that will stimulate your brain ire caffeine, nicotine, diet pills etc
o Practice short naps of 20 mins during your day will help you to fall asleep easier
o Use supplementation like Magnesium, Melatonin, Valerian or Chamomile to induce restful sleep. Stay away from chemical pharmaceuticals that force you to sleep. They interfere with the natural sleep cycle and are often habit forming.

Personally, these few recommendations have helped me to improve my sleep patterns and have a better quality of rest. I understand that for most people there will be certain periods of sleeplessness; however, it is in your power to try to improve the conditions under which you get rest.

Kind regards

Jason

Woman are often faced with the question of how much energy they should be burning off with exercise to induce weight loss.
There are obviously body type and genetic differences between individuals, but having said this there are some fundamental principles that one can apply to start the process and shed some weight.

When it comes to weight loss, one of the most basic principles of weight loss is energy in versus energy out. To lose weight one needs to create a negative energy balance through a caloric deficit. This is created in two ways; by reducing food intake, and by expending more energy through physical activity.

Another thing to consider when reducing nutritional amounts is the quality of the food you are eating. You should not just aim to slash calories per se, but should also aim to consume those foods that are nutrient dense and more beneficial to your body’s physiological processes. After all, we are pursuing optimal immune function, health and longevity and not just a slim physique.
It is interesting to note that I have met many a model who survives on very low calories, but makes poor choices in food selection, and although they appear to have slim physiques, they are weak and susceptible to illness. That however does not account for all of them.

Sounds easy enough, but how much and how often are the two most common considerations for the energy deficit equation to work?
Typically a weight loss of no more than 2lb (about 900g) per week is often a healthy goal for the following reasons:
1. Smaller amounts of weight loss help to preserve lean body weight
2. The lower amounts of weight loss may result in better long term adherence and a better ability of the person to maintain the weight lost as the person has made lifestyle changes, rather than long-term unrealistic changes that cannot be maintained
3. Slower weight loss typically means less water loss and, thus, that a “false weight loss” has not occurred, as does typically happen on crash diets.

Did you know? Your body stores three molecules of water with one molecule of a stored form of energy known as Glycogen, which a complex chain of glucose. When you lower or eliminate carbohydrates, you first start to deplete these stores and therefore lose water along with it. This gives one the false impression that you have lost a lot of weight in a short space of time.
It is important to know that long term(12-16weeks) of carbohydrate depletion will cause Glycogen levels to drop low enough for the body to start looking elsewhere for energy, and one of the sources would typically be fatty acids from the fat cells, if your caloric intake is at the right amount.

To lose 1lb(454g) of body fat per week, a person should be in a 500kcal deficit per day, because 1lb of body fat stores 3500kcal. Not everyone can lose this amount per week, but it is an average guideline, as individual variation does occur. A person can achieve this deficit by exercising enough to burn 250kcal and decrease intake by 250kcal daily. This energy expenditure is over and above your resting metabolic rate or normal daily energy expenditure rate, needed just to maintain your current daily physiological processes and general movement.

It will take the average female about 35-45min of moderate aerobic intensity on a daily basis to burn off 250kcal-300kcal in a session, and about 20-35min of intense vigorous intensity to burn the same amount of energy. Couple this with some resistance training to stimulate lean muscle tissue, and you have a winning formula. Some people cannot train every day and so need to account for this by upping the intensity or duration of exercise on the days they do train, so that the overall weekly energy expenditure is on target. Don’t, however think that you can cram what is meant to be done on 3-5 weekly session into 2 sessions and expect great results. Your body does not work like that.

The differences between gender and weight loss:
Men often typically respond quicker and make progress faster on weight loss programs primarily due to gender specific endocrine differences. Men have more lean muscle tissue, which is the most metabolically active tissue in the body, due to higher levels of Testosterone produced by the Testes. As a result of this it often has a knock on effect on the thyroid producing more heat in the body due to a faster increase in lean muscle tissue when stimulated through resistance training.
Woman do produce smaller amounts of testosterone through the adrenal glands, but in much smaller amounts than men. This is not to say that woman cannot achieve great results, but in my experience woman do tend to lose fat mass at a slower rate. This is also why woman generally have a smoother appearance to their muscles and higher subcutaneous body fat %. This is most visible on a lean woman’s triceps and abdominal area, in comparison to lean men, who appear much leaner and harder in this area.

Summary:
Proper Weight loss takes time. People do not gain excess weight in a short period of time: therefore , they need to remember that weight loss will not take a short period of time. A small deficit in food intake of about 250kcal-350kcal, coupled with an increase in energy expenditure of about 250-300kcal per day, can lead to a weight loss of about 1lb per week.

Yours in Health & Wellness,
Jonathan Mannheim.

Welcome to the new look Functionaltrainer.co.za. For those of you who have been with me the last two years you will have been through quite an educational road trip. This site is dedicated to helping you to understand the philosophy and benefits of Functional Training.

I decided to adjust the look of the site because I know a new feel will keep things fresh. This meant new photos, thanks Anthony Friend, and many tireless hours work by my I.T. legend Steve Pieterse. The results are something much softer with many new features.

Along the left column I have added a video feature. All you do is press play and you will be able to watch clips of extraordinary strength training and routines. In the near future, I will use this to teach you my ab routines.

At the top, you have a sliding carousel where you can scroll through some of the Kettlebell movements I like to use. It will be systematic and each month you will have a new movement to practice. We are still loading these sequences, so I put some pics from the 2009 shoot.

Many of my clients have asked me to keep the ‘gallery’ option for the site so I have one for 2008 and the one from 2009. Each year I will do a new shoot, this year I hope to get Jonathan to join in, he is sometimes in better physical condition than I am!

Another new feature is ‘Downloadable Programs’. Here you can download programs that actually work. This is a system I have collected over the years. In addition, there will be advanced programs for those who already have the basics covered. Those of you who get information from me by remote contact will find these programs familiar. What I intend to do is teach you how to use the system to improve your performance overall. There will be separate ones for men and women.

What I do intend to keep is the articles I write about training, diet and health related topics. I will however try to keep these short. (I know you do not always have the time to read all the information.)

I really hope you enjoy the new changes, I know I enjoyed working with my team to deliver it to you.

Kind regards

Jason

As I discussed in the last article, you want to use the information you have about fat storage and fat metabolism to stimulate your system to burn up excess energy. You are probably carrying a few kilos after the break.

A quick recap?

You know that fat is stored in 2 pathways:
o The Alpha pathway stores body fat as triglycerides
o The Beta pathway stimulates the breakdown or storage of fat in the bloodstream

Males tend to have more beta-receptors, whilst females tend to have more alpha-receptors. This means you store fat in different ways.

The situation is not as easy and simple as I am trying to write about, but basically you need to limit the storage system, by controlling the sugar intake and limiting your insulin response; and secondly you need to stimulate the use of body fat, both cellular and blood borne.

Last time we dealt with some training variations that will help you to increase the fat burning capability of your muscular system, today we will deal with dietary adjustments.

Through extensive research, not done by me, studies indicate that the fat metabolic system is stimulate more by a ketogenic type diet, this means high protein, high fat and low carb intake. Now a lot has been said about high protein diet, and not all of it is untrue.

Personally, this is the way I eat for life. Remember, high protein does not mean NO CARBS. What you need to do is limit the intake of simple sugars into your system; this decreases your insulin response and thereby prevents you from storing body fat.

Excess carbohydrate intake is public enemy number one when it comes to fat. (To read more about insulin go to my post “Fruit sugar and Body Fat loss” )

The top culprits in our modern diet are:
1. Alcohol
2. Sugar i.e. coffee,sweets,chocolates,
3. Fruit
4. White Flour i.e. Bread Dough
5. Pasta
6. Potatoes
7. Additives like maltodextrin, milk solids

By cutting these foods, you reduce your calorie consumption dramatically. It must be noted however that you still need to get energy from somewhere… this leads us to vegetables and fat intake. Complex carbohydrates release their energy slowly and allow your body a sustainable source of energy, the same is true for unsaturated fats, which are found in certain nuts, oils, avocado and oily fish. It is much more desirable to consume these foods that simple, processed sugars.

The simple formula for fat loss is to use more energy than you consume.

The dietary adjustments will help reduce calorie intake and exercise will increase energy output. The use of supplementation to boost the body’s metabolic rate is another way you can burn calories. Since the discovery of the harmful side effects of ephedrine and clenbuterol as fat burners, many people turn to “natural” products to boost fat burning potential. The best product that I have used is Yohimbine HCL. It has few side effects and is relatively safe if taken in controlled doses. Once again, I need to warn you that NO SUPPLEMENT is a quick fix. If you are not prepared to eat properly and exercise regularly, you are wasting your time taking pills and powders.

Just another warning about following the High Protein type eating style: If you do not re-introduce carbohydrates slowly into your system after completing any diet you will rebound, which is an experience most people know about. You cannot just go back to eating what you want. Your body cannot process simple carb’s after being denied them, it will just store all of it and you will be back to square one.

I know that it is difficult to glean information from the loads and loads of things out there. The best advice is to follow an eating plan consistently over a period. Do not try to achieve things dramatically; you set yourself up for failure. Try to form a habit of eating properly and the effects will be forever. A Healthy, Lean body takes time.

Kind regards

Jason

 

Firstly, I would like to welcome you all back to the site. I hope you have all made a real effort to enjoy your break. If you are like me, and had the best of intentions to control my eating and minimize my festive alcohol consumption, but who did not exactly achieve that goal, you will be wondering ‘Where to next’.

 

Referring to my previous post on periodization and modalities of training it is plain to see that, with the extra kilo’s you are sitting with, weight training is not the proper solution to this problem. Initially you want to concentrate on activating your muscle groups and increase your base level fitness.

 

It is a mistake to think you can just begin training where you left off last year. Remember that we worked up to a peak and you have been resting. Starting at a high intensity is going to lead to injury. So be careful how you begin.

 

The systems you want to focus on most in these next few months are

• Cardiovascular fitness
• Flexibility
• Joint strength
• Stability

 

To stimulate your ‘fitness’ system I recommend using pyramid systems for your endurance workouts.

 

Using a stationary bike try doing this pyramid:

Increase the intensity each minute until you reach a high point at 5 minutes, then decreasing the intensity to begin again. This is a forward pyramid.

For example 2,3,4,5,6,3,4,5,6,7,4,5,6,7,8,5,6,7,8,9. This is a 20-minute workout.

 

For the treadmill, I use a complete pyramid:

Start with one-minute walk at 6 km/h, and then run at 10 km/h for 1 minute. One-minute walk, two mins run etc.

For example w1,r1,w1,r2,w1,r3,w1,r4,w1,r5,w1,r5,w1,r4,w1,r3,w1r2,w1,r1. Where ‘w’ is walk and ‘r’ is run. This is a 40-minute run.

 

For Joint Strength and stability, I use a circuit system for training. Either you may use the super circuit in your gym or you can do a simple circuit I use when I train at work (I do not have the super circuit at my gym).

 

Do 10- 15 reps per movement with no rest between exercises. I suggest using two 4kg dumbbells for women and 10 kg’s for men. Remember the point is to get fitter and stimulate joint stability not to lift heavy.

 

First, warm up with a 7-minute run.

 

Front Squat

Stiff leg Deadlift

Stationary lunges

Push-ups on D/b

Bent over rows

Squat/curl/press combo

Step ups onto a box

 

Repeat this circuit 2 -3 times.

 

Finish with a 7-minute run. Try to maintain the pace of your first run.

 

To complete my training I Stretch for10 minutes. This is important because the muscle need to cool down and need to be stretched when they are warm. Give yourself some time to relax the begin stretching. DO NOT skip this part. Neglecting your flexibility is the biggest cause for pain and injury.

 

I try to keep the training relatively simple for the first few weeks before I even consider increasing any intensity. I use a 4-day training week. 2 days circuit two days pyramid cardio, with a rest day between the two.

 

I hope this can get you going. Do not put off starting your year. The sooner you begin the better your results will be. I am going to be updating the sites tomorrow so do not be alarmed by the changes or if the site is down for a while.

 

As always

 

Kind regards

 

Jason Hough

I would firstly like to thank all of you who have been using this site for information in the last year. When I started this free service I intended to use it as a platform to educate my clients about the scientific side to training… It has become so much more. The base has increased over the past year and we now have subscribers in over 25 countries around the world.

 

This year has brought all of us some complex and challenging opportunities to improve the way we think and use physical exercise to improve our quality of life. It has been a major goal of mine to teach people that there exists a way of training out there that is inclusive of the general population. That exercise and movement should be accessible to all, regardless of experience or age. This I have accomplished and will continue to push in further articles.

 

I have been privileged to have been writing for several magazines throughout the year and am happy to see that my philosophy and attitude is reaching people in the health and medical field out there. Exiting times lie ahead.

 

As for training, I have been helping clients to achieve massive growth this year in terms of speed, power, agility, lean mass, weight loss, endurance and flexibility, not to mention dieting, where most of us seem to slide the most. You name it we have done it! Congratulations to all those of you who have achieved your goals this year. It has been a long drive, and we have exceeded most of our expectations.

 

I have just completed the photos for next years upgrade to the website and we will have some new features, along with the quality of articles that you have grown used to. Also I look forward to completing the book I have been working on…finally I can say I am happy with the product, after writing and rewriting and changing it constantly.

 

I hope I can be of service to all of you in the future and hope you enjoy your holidays… I know I will be eager to resume the training year in early January as we start with compound circuit training to destroy the ‘holiday happiness’.

 

As always

 

Kind regards

 

Jason Hough