The blog has moved!

I should have put this much earlier, I know realize. Due to a change in host, the blog is now to be found under www.adlertraining.com, simply click on blog and enjoy the new posts!
Maik

4-1!!!

Not to stray too far from the subject of training and nutrition, but did anybody see this picture-perfect soccer game?
Germany beating England 4-1 and advancing to the quarters....the 40 years of misery continue.
What does it have to do with bodybuilding? Patience...if you understand the game, you will have noticed the English were out coached, especially in midfield. Time after time, Lampard and Gerrad were lured into becoming strikers, just to leave huge gaps which were exploited by Oezil and Mueller. There you have it, you can plan for success.
If you lay out your meals and your training properly, you can have a 4-1 body!
Till next time
Maik

Tour de Reduction-it is on!

No this is not " Adlertraining copying the Biggest Loser" but it is a weight loss race between two clients. The difference to TBL is that
a. I won't transform into a drill sergeant
b. We won't be doing 4 hours of cardio a day
c. We will keep the weight off
d. The prizes are way better (free sessions with me!)
So in short, 2 clients, Team Italia and Team 'Burgh of Adlertraining, are competing against each other in order to see who can lose more body fat until Labour Day.
Tomorrow is the first weigh-in, let it begin!
Maik

Random sound bites

Today I just have a few pieces of news.

1. Client B is down to 150 lbs, which is an incredible achievement. She is off to a great summer.

@. My friend and former Fordham teammate Dan Daly is starting his own training business in NYC. You can find him here http://www.traindaly.com. Dan is one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry , I have known him since 2000 and he has a deep seated passion for fitness.

3. For those that can read Spanish , check out this interview with me on Univision http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=10&schid=10124&secid=10968&cid=2407101&pagenum=1 regarding how to get a bride looking good for the wedding.

That's all for now
Maik

Goodfellas or never go against the family

"All my life, I wanted to be gangster" This iconic sentence, spoken by Henry Hill in the movie " Goodfellas" crossed my mind the other day in the gym.
being in the mafia and being a bodybuilder isn't all that different, after all. No, I am not talking about drug, but about the sense of belonging to something, a brotherhood of iron. You have access to worldwide circle of likeminded people> On all my trips I have met fellow lifters from all walks of life.

Being a bodybuilder can be helpful to maneuver through life when things get messy on the outside world. In the gym, a 100 lbs will always be a 100 lbs. The iron becomes a trusted and reliable friend. The clinging and clanging of the plates can actually be soothing, the pump gratifying and uplifting.
The monotony of the meals and sleeping actually helps to structure life, things seem more attainable.
The goal is always forward, always to improve, never to look back in regret.
So, all my life all I wanted to be was a bodybuilder!
Train hard
Maik

Breakthroughs on the ladies side!

Today's post will be short since I am basically bragging with the accomplishments of my female clientele, but since the NY market for personal training is so competitive, these things need to be said as well.
This week has been a real breakthrough for three of my clients, so here it goes
Client A did her first unassisted pull up ever, after only training seriously for 6 months. On her way to that she broke numerous other personal bests on the bench, deadlift etc , all that while overcoming shoulder and foot injuries from outside activities.
Client B broke through a weight plateau and reached a body weight that she never dreamed was possible. This client has lost about 50 (that's fifty in letters) pounds of fat and build another 10 of muscle during the last year, despite extensive business travel, client diners etc. She is well on track for "summer abs".
And finally, another one of my power girls benched 50 lbs dumbbells on the incline for 6 reps after being sidelined most of last year with a shoulder injury.
All these accomplishments are absolutely incredible, especially if you consider that all of these women have high-powered jobs and a very full social life.
Bodybuilding is all about commitment and following through, there are no short cuts. So stick with it, eat your chicken, keep on lifting and great things will happen. There is no other way!
Maik

Training while travelling

I had the pleasure to spent the last 8 days in Costa Rica and I have to say the country is breathtaking. It offers every conceivable form of vegetation, landscapes from mountains to sandy beaches as well as a plethora of animals. So we spent 2 days hiking and five days on the beach.
But as a true muscle head, I had to work out. Every morning I would use my resistance band for rows, deads, curls and military presses which was sufficient for a decent pump and to annoy my wife.
Then, during a beach walk, I found this wooden contraption: a makeshift gym with a dip bar, pull ups and some barbells with wooden plates. I couldn't resist and simply had to use it (as everybody knows pull ups and dips are the original muscle beach workout).
In short, it was great! Pumping outdoors with the Pacific as a background!
It also goes to show that bodybuilding is truly a global sport and you can pursue it anywhere.
So train hard
Maik

The bowl and "peeps"

How is everybody? The weather in NYC just turned spectacular, I can not remember such a beautiful Easter in the city since I ve lived here.
Easter is also notorious for Easter candy and a client of mine alerted me to two phenomenons I had no idea that they existed.
Easter phenomenon Nummer 1: peeps. What the ...?? why would anybody think that making something that looks like it could survive a triple Chernobyl blast is a good idea? The coloring alone is reason enough not to eat it, the sugar content will do the rest. I wonder what the shelf life of these things is? 20 years?
If anyone from the food industry is reading this , how about making some whey protein peeps?
EP number 2: the candy bowl which should be called bowls, in this case we have M+M's, skittles, chocolate covered almonds etc all in their separate nests. This set-up is created by the hoarder or forager, an overbearing office worker who feels the need to feed the world (with junk).
Crime scene: almost any office in North America.
This one is interesting on different levels. So on the one side you have the forager who keeps refilling the bowl and keeps even more candy under the desk in case that by rare chance the candy levels drop by a quarter inch.
On the other hand, there are the victims or colleagues who are constantly being lured to the bowl. One of the goals of the forager is increased traffic and more human contact, the bowl serves as a tool for this.
SO this is certainly a noble intention, it would be even better if it was done with pieces of fruit and almonds.
So how to fight the bowl? First, you can try an educational but not condescending approach. You will be amazed by how little people know about food, from there on you can nudge them toward healthier eating.
If that doesn't work, you have to resign yourself to the fact that some people simply don't care about bodybuilding or even worse are trying to sabotage healthy eating habits. Sad but true....For now avoid them, they will see the light at some point.
Happy Easter
Maik

Just clusters- no flakes!

Finally, the food industry showed mercy and created honey bunches "just bunches", no more flakes! Is there anybody who bought it because it contained flakes? I thought so.
Just enjoy the clusters of nuts and honey...
Bodybuilding is pretty much the same, exercises that you don't feel or that hurt you are flakes. Don't do them because someone says so ( unless its Arnold). Move on with the exercises that give you the best mind-muscle connection and leave the rest out. This doesn't mean skip squats for curls, but if the barbell curl hurts your forearms then, by all means, move to the dumbbell curl.
Same with back exercises, I personally never felt single-arm dumbbell rows, but got a great pump doing the same exercise at the cable.
So there you have it, clusters no flakes!
Maik

Moving on up- with a little help from friends!

This past Saturday, it was time to move to a bigger , brighter apartment with a spectacular view! The move itself wasn't as bad as expected due to our friends Davis and Alex, who were so determined to help that they braved the atrocious weather and came all the way to us.
Most of the work was done on Saturday (thankfully, Alex is very handy!) and we all went out to a nice steak dinner. hmmm.... steak
So, in a way, bodybuilding is like moving. You have to grind it out, pack things up, perform very repetitive tasks but in the end, the rewards are yours to keep.
A better physique, higher self esteem and confidence level. Along the ride, it is good to have friends when you need to get the bed frame up another floor or push you through another set of deadlifts.
Keep moving!
Maik

Charity and Recent Reads

One of clients passed me the book "Muscle" by Sam Fussell, an Oxford grad turned bodybuilder who moves to Southern California in his quest for the perfect physique. During his 3-year odyssey not only he learns to train hard but also peers into the abyss of steroids and diuretics. In the end, it is not the danger of the drugs but the perceived futility of his enterprise that makes him stop.
The book is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it. However, as usually, bodybuilding is being portrayed as a drugged-up sport (which is true but so is every other one - bodybuilding is just more open about it) and bodybuilders are described as a bunch of vain idiots who prostitute themselves for steroid money, unless they are dealing themselves.
There is no denying it, competitive bodybuilding has a dark side. But has anyone ever looked into the baseball minor leagues, soccer's regional teams, the actors that didn't make Broadway, failed writers?
Not everyone can achieve his/her goals, which is unfortunate but not unique to bodybuilding. On the plus side, the sport has helped millions of people create better physiques for themselves, heighten their self-esteem, and be happier.
If some already damaged individual (such as the author, who deals with a lot of paternal frustration) chooses bigger muscles to work out these issues, it is most likely not going to happen.
How about a more uplifting story? Let's say there is a guy from rural, post-war Austria, who picks up weights, becomes Mr. Olympia, a movie star, a brand and Governor Of California?
Sounds too outrageous, I know.
Till next time,
Maik
P.S. On a different note, my friend Brian asked me to contribute to his charity auction last Friday, which I gladly did. Together, we raised some good money, because people do want better physiques :-)

Cant see the forest for the trees!

I started working with a new client these past weeks and after an assessment in the weight room, I took a look at him in the locker room without a shirt to what his body looked like.
To my great astonishment, he told me that his previous coaches had never bothered doing so. Instead, they had him perform a mind-numbing amount of tests, none of them really relevant to bodybuilding.
Now, I am not saying the measuring your VO2 max is bad, it depends on your goal. If you are training for an endurance event, it matters. If you want to look good for a 4th of July party , it doesn't.
You simply need a visual impression to see if the client has long limbs, narrow collar bones, small waist or broad etc. In addition, his fat storage will tell you if he his carb sensitive or not ( if not he is one lucky bastard!), whether his cortisol is high or not etc.
Sometimes, trainers make things too complicated which can be a great sales tactic but doesnt accomplish a whole lot. The client gets ll kinds of graphs and charts and feels he is participating in a very scientific program. That's great but: results matter!
In NYC, 99% of all trainees simply want to look good on the beach. Keep that in mind
For that, you need to understand what the client needs. Is he a hardgainer, does he work seated, how is his stress level?
All too often, people are being presented with a generic "beginners program" which often yields little results and , in some cases , even causes injuries.
Pay attention to details as to how the client moves, see if any muscles are too weak or too tight and work from there on.
In this field, nobody holds the whole truth so stay open minded and find out what works for you.
Train Hard
Maik

80 days till summer.....

Yes, it is hard to believe, even though one of the biggest snowstorms has just passed NYC we are only a mere 80 days away from Memorial Day. One of my favorite scenes from "Pumping Iron" is when Arnold walks into Gold's Gym and behind the reception desk is a sign : Days till Mr. Olympia :102.
My point being that it is very easy to get sucked into monotony where you just add workout after workout without remembering what you are actually training for.usually , enthusiasm fades quickly and intensity drops. The athlete starts going through the motions without pushing too hard.
So, as I have written before, it is good idea to have an honest friend with a camera phone take a couple pictures of you every 4-6 week to document progress or lack of it. One of my clients was actually surprised how good he looked after I convinced him to take some snap shots.
So even when the weather is dreadful or other cirumstances make it harder to get to the gym, keep your mind focused on what you want to achive. Every rep, every set, every meal matters!
Train hard
Maik

On my birthday-a toast to my clients!

Birthdays are usually a good opportunity to look back and evaluate. So today I was thinking what an amazing turn my life took when I decided to become a trainer. Bodybuilding gave me a chance to meet so many great people and help others to achieve their goals. I am truly fortunate to have such a great clientele so I just want say thanks for sticking with me!
Maik
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Man-Day And Stupid Ads!

So my lovely wife had to leave for London on a family matter, which put me in the admirable situation to have a "dude's day" on Sunday.
Well, what can I say, I love my wife but it was great! In no particular order, I watched Rambo 3 , Terminator 2, the Simpsons, Family Guy, ate red meat 3 (!!) times and went to Gold's Gym to work out with my protege Davis. We did some shoulders, arms and calves - great workout.
After that, I began flipping through muscle magazines, which is only the natural thing to do on man-day and I couldn't help but notice the stupidity of some supplement ads.
So without further ado, my 10 favorites:
10. "Now with real fruit!" Ok, ...what was it before? Unreal fruit??
9. "Our new pre-workout supp will cause skin bursting pumps! "Wow, that would really hurt and definitely put you in the ER.
8. "Burn 400% more body fat. "Than who? Where is the comparison?
7. "Build 20 lbs of muscle!" That is a great one. Aside from the fact, that it would be a difficult feat to achieve even while on steroids, one has to wonder: what if I only weigh 120 lbs? Do I really gain 15 % of my body weight?
6. "Breakthrough technology." Does it get any more vague than this?
5. "Lean muscle mass. "There isn't really any fatty muscle mass, since that would be called adipose tissue or body fat
4. "Steroid-like results." No further comment
3. "Muscles exploding with new growth." That would probably kill you.
2. "Build x lbs of pure muscle." How in the world do you build impure muscle? If you have this much control over your body, you could definitely play in the NFL.
1. "Product x declares death to fat cells." Without getting into the whole leptin discussion, fat cell death (apoptosis) is extremely rare. If all your fat cells were to die, so would you. Fat is also needed to make testosterone so some of it would be helpful.
I understand they are trying to sell us things, but I can't help but wonder if the supplement industry takes all bodybuilders for illiterates who are unable to tie their own shoes.
Rant mode off...
Train hard !
Maik

What does being hardcore mean?

These days, whether you open a bodybuilding magazine or website, the second-most occurring word (after muscle) is hardcore. Hardcore workouts, fat burners, diets, cardio, the list goes on.
But does being a hardcore bodybuilder really mean? To me, it is definitely NOT being a 250lbs roidhead, running around in spandex and tight tops, talking about whether you should use more tren on your next cycle. In short, just generally being obnoxious in and outside the gym.
In order to be a hardcore bodybuilder, in my opinion, one must live this sport in a non-obtrusive and friendly manner. You should lead by example, eat your meals without being condescending toward others who might not have the will power. Train hard and heavy, while keeping good form.
Give polite and educated advice in the gym to those that ask. Be a teacher, but not a preacher.
Carry yourself well, inside and outside the gym. It doesn't hurt to have read a book or two either.
This, to me, is hardcore
Maik

2010- make it your year!

Whenever a new year starts, everyone makes up their New Year's resolution. Fat loss and/or muscle gain are often on top of the list. With that comes a slew of new diets, workouts to get your your body 2000, 2001....2010. I find that topic extremely boring and out of place.
Here is a new approach: don't get out of shape! Why would anyone only want to look good from May to September? (granted, in the freezing NY winter that can seem like a valid question at times). Instead of relying on random numbers on your calendar, check yourself every 6 weeks.
Take a good look into the mirror, and go over your basic lifts: squats, dead lifts, incline bench, pull ups and so.
An honest friend with a digital camera and a workout out log can work wonders here.
If you are not leaner/bigger/stronger, you must shift through what you are doing and make the necessary changes.
Staying on track all year long makes working out much more rewarding, plus it is easier to fend off two pounds of fat than 20.
So the resolution for 2010 is: no more resolutions, just look great year round!
till next time
Maik