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By Phil Stevens
We're in the largest push ever
to eat “healthy,” get “fit,” in “shape”
Quick fix here, quick fix there, take
this pill, or put in just 3 minutes a day 3 times a week on this
contraption. Yet obesity is an epidemic, along with the health problems
that go with it, are at the highest rate ever.
So what’s missing? Is it to much
food? The wrong kinds of food? Maybe you got the short end of the
genetic stick. Hell no, it’s the work, or lack of. Sure your
grandpa could eat like a horse and not gain an ounce of fat. Yhea,
He was out busting is butt tending cattle, working in a factory,
or some form of manual labor. Your in upper management, or an IT
job, or even todays so called manual labor jobs that are ever increasingly
aided by technology. Is that bad NO. But you must realize your in
the most sedentary society ever.
Case in point…You wanna eat like
grandapa, ya gotta work like grandpa. Flat out, plain and simple.
That’s where training comes in.
I know many lifter that the sole reason
they keep their lifting and training habits is for the simple fact
it allows them to eat, enjoy food and beverages. Many times in,
or near, gluttonous amounts with little or no negative. Impact.
In many cases actually its actually a positive impact. The food
is needed and actually aids their progress.
So what am I getting at? Essentially
it’s earning your right to dietary freedom through your
actions.
“Deadlift For Doughnuts”
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A complex yet simple method
Charles and I thought of during one of our Saturday training
sessions at the Bed & Barbell that initially started as
a joke, then moved to a successful way for me to pack on the
pounds coming up to my next competition. I have since implemented
into my program for several months for both gaining and now
to maintain / drop a bit of weight during a short off season.
The beauty is that like any
great concept, exercise, or program its adjustable to fit
any goal with a little imagination. The method shows you not
just how much dietary freedom you can have, but at times,
must have to reach your goals.
It can be both the throttle
on your eating / training, or the governor on your training
/ eating dependent on your goals, make up, needs, and how
you implement it. It allows you to focus and put your efforts
into, NOT the things you dread or see as a negative, but on
the positive aspects of your regimen It sets a standard for
what ever aspect, intake or training, you struggle with.
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The nuts and bolts of “Deadlifting for Doughnuts”
Simply put, For every lb at or over
the 600lbs I have to eat 1 calorie in doughnuts.
I have a standard set of having to
pull 600lbs in some form every Saturday, if I want to maintain or
advance my lift. The percentage runs between roughly 80% and 90%
on any given deadlift variation (from the floor, varied heights
of rack pulls, etc.)
Lets take last Saturday for example.
My work sets ended at 6 singles at 600lbs even. So 600 lbs x 6 =
3600 calories in doughnuts I then had to consume. Flat out, the
amount of deadlifting I do on Saturday, instructs me just how many
doughnuts I then get, have, or need to consume following the training
that day. I earn, or am instructed on my needed or desired level
of indulgence through my training efforts for that day.
If I am craving a TON of doughnuts
and am not in a period of training that’s very high intensity,
I got to work my butt off that day to earn them. If I’m in
a very hard training cycle getting ready for a meet in which I’ve
been packing my face day in, day out, to the point even the thought
of food is getting DAMN old.
Well, I know when I get done with
training for that day, due to the work output, I have to cram said
amount of doughnuts in my pie hole in order to keep advancing to
my goals. If I don’t want to have to pack more food in my face.
If I want to take a break from eating. Then I have to back off the
training for that day. In turn I wont need as much intake to recover
ort maintain my weight.
It's really beautiful in its simplicity.
Simple, effective, keeps me on my toes, and actually adds a bit
of spice and enjoyment to training that otherwise wouldn’t
be there without it. Just tell someone your dead lifting for doughnuts
and see what kind of looks and questions you get.
It doesn’t have to be doughnuts.
It doesn’t have to be one day. It doesn’t have to be one
calories per pound, or 90% intensity. Make it personally fit you
and your goals. It’s the basic concept that’s important.
A way to add a new equalizer into your regimen for a bit of spice,
or to keep you honest and progressing to your goals. You got no
excuse, one action breeds a definite outcome. Or one action reaps
a deserved reward. If you’re really needing to pack on lbs
you might implement this plan every training day, one lift for each
day In turn, required intake for said activity.
If you're looking to cut a good bit
of weight and you have a hard time restricting your intake. Maybe
you do this one day a week, for one exercise. Possibly you have
an exercise or food you don’t particularly enjoy, but know
MUST be in your program for your goals. This just may add that extra
bit of reward needed to give it your all, allowing you to focus
on something positive.
The point
is more training (activity/ work)= more caloric expenditure &
more recovery issues = More earned/required intake.
About The Author
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Phil, while attaining both his
Bachelors and Masters degrees in studio art found another
passion, that of training and nutrition. A constant student,
his real-world under-the-barbell and behind-the-fork approach
has led to many an opportunity, experience, and change in
his life as well as those he has worked.
Phil currently, aside from his
varied work with Team Staley, is a working and showing artist
(http://www.philstevens.com).
His current personal fitness goals are to become a competitive
force as middleweight strongman competitor, while building
upon his power lifting experience in which he has seen as
high as a top ten national ranking; with a two year goal of
obtaining an elite ranking as a 242 or 275lb weight class
RAW power lifter.
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