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Archives for November 2010

Adonis Transformation Contest Winners Announced

November 29, 2010 by

Well this was by far and away the toughest competition to judge and I know we had to leave out some very worthy candidates.

This just confirms the necessity for the ‘open’ contest starting in January. We’re going to have our regular transformation contest but we’re also adding an ‘open’ contest that is judged on final look alone (not a transformation). The criteria for the open contest hasn’t been set yet but it will include AI ratio, conditioning (leanness) and muscle mass.

There will be 3 categories divided by age.

Junior (under 25 years of age)

Regular (25-49 years old)

Senior (50 +)

There will be a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prize awarded for each division.

Also starting in Jan will be our 4th transformation contest. This time around previous transformation contest winners will be included on the judging panel for each new transformation contest.

As I said before this was incredible hard to judge and when you look through the pics keep in mind this was judged first and foremost on overall transformation.

You all did a great job and I’ll be contacting each of you via email to thank you for entering the contest. I suggest that most of you should enter the open contest as well!

On to the winners.

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1st Place Overall: Dan Richardson


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2nd Place: Jason Gottlieb


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3rd Place: Andrew Scott


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4th Place: Thomas Power


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6th Place: Richard Lane


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There were also many other great entries that didn’t place in the top 6 but could easily place in the open class early next year. We will put up another post with some of the other entries and profile their success as well.

Everyone did a great job, congratulations to all who entered and finished the contest, it’s truly a rare thing to go through any sort of contest and transformation like this.

We’ll be updating you between now and January with the specifics of the new contest including the open class and the transformation class.

There is no transcript of today’s podcast as we are simply discussing the results of this contest and how hard it was to pick winners.

John

p.s. Feel free to share this page with others that may need the inspiration. No one is alone in this.

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Filed Under: Contest

Transformation Contest, Thanskgiving, Health Clubs

November 22, 2010 by

The 3rd Adonis Transformation contest ends this week and it’s time to get your entries in.

To officially enter you need to email me (john at adoniseffect.com)  all of the following materials before midnight wed Nov 24th.

Before pictures; front, back, side (with newspaper visible in one pic, can be a separate pic from this same round)

Before measurements; Shoulder, waist, and weight, starting Adonis Index Ratio (waist : shoulder)

After pictures; front, back, side (same deal with the newspaper), and some other poses would be nice to see, now that you got it might as well show it off.

After measurements; waist, shoulders, weight, final Adonis Index Ratio (waist : shoulder)

250 word essay; explain your experience going through the transformation, how you’ve changed, how people are reacting to you, and how your life has changed in general.

read last weeks post and listen to last weeks audio for detailed instructions on taking your after pictures (if you haven’t already done so)

During this weeks audio we talk about eating over the holidays, how to get through it without gaining weight, and then we get into the specifics of the health club industry and what the industry does to sell memberships and how to choose a health club.

READ: You can download the transcript here:

Transformation Contest 3 Thanksgiving Eating and  Health Clubs

John

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Filed Under: Contest, Podcasts Tagged With: , ,

How to Take Adonis Transformation After Pictures

November 15, 2010 by

Picture TimeIt’s the home stretch for the 3rd Adonis Transformation contest, and it’s time to learn how to take the final picture.

The pictures you see of fitness models in magazines and on many websites are usually professionally done with experienced photographers who know how to get the look they want from the models body.

This is just a short list of things that are typically done to get a model ready for a photoshoot. You can use some or all of these techniques to get ready for the Adonis Transformation ‘after’ picture.

Tanning – muscle definition always shows up better with a tan

Shaving – Getting get rid of the body hair allows the muscle definition to show through

Oil – some models put a very light coat of oil on to bring out the definition, some even use a quick shot of pam cooking spray!

Lighting – the right lighting can make or break a photo shoot, get it right and you’re on the cover of the magazine, get it wrong and you’re not getting paid

Water depletion – most models will cut out water for the 24 hours leading up to the photo shoot (and many will toss in a mild diuretic with this)…this gives your muscles the hard dry look.

Hyperhydrate before Dehydrating – Another technique for cutting water is to drinks lots of water between 72-24 hours before the shoot, then cut water completely for the last 24 hours, some models say this helps with depleting water even better than simply cutting it out at the end.

Muscle Pump – This is a 50/50 proposition. Some people look bigger and fuller after pumping up, but it might cause you  to look smooth and wash out some of your definition. this is something that needs to be tested at the time of the photoshoot.

Carb Loading – Some models try carb loading a couple days before the shoot by doing an exhausting whole body workout and then eating a big carbohydrate meal post workout. The theory is that your muscles will absorb more glycogen than normal and give them a bigger fuller look. The drawback is that if you do this wrong you can end up ruining the look of your definition on the day of the shoot.

These are all techniques that have been used in the past with some success. Techniques that I consider mandatory are:

Shave

Tan

Lighting

Water Deplete

The other items you can experiment with and see how they make you look.

I suggest taking 3 rounds of pictures on the last 3 days of the contest. Each day you try a different technique to see how they change your look. Take morning picture after you wake up cold, then take pictures after you’ve worked out. Take a picture after 24 hours of depleting water and take more pictures after eating a big meal. It might not be obvious when you look your best, so taking these three rounds of pictures will give you some choice so you can see what your best look is.

Remember we need a front, side and back shot relaxed with your arms at your side, after that it doesn’t hurt to throw in some poses too (front double bicep, back double bicep, side tricep etc…just be creative). Make sure the current days newspaper is in plain view in one pic of that round of pictures (make this a separate picture from the real posed shots).

This is what you’ve been working for and everyone you’re competing against will be doing the same thing. I want you all to take the best possible pictures you can so you can really show off what you got!

Next week we’ll cover the specifics of sending the pictures and other final measurements and essay.

John

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Download Transcription: AI Contest 3 – Taking Pictures

Filed Under: Contest, Podcasts Tagged With: , ,

Are You Focused On Local Optimums?

November 9, 2010 by

The Weight Loss Research Explained podcast was one of our best yet from a content/eye opening perspective I’d say. So, in the spirit of extending the conversion beyond what we covered in that podcast, I want to expand on something that we touched on briefly.

Focusing on local optimums.

Or in other words, trying to maximize one specific part of your weight loss or muscle building system regardless of it’s effects on your “throughput” or productivity as a whole.

Sounds like high tech mumbo jumbo doesn’t it?

It’s really not.

Let me ask you this.

How many times have you attempted to improve one specific area of your life… and you improve it… only to have it NOT have a profound effect on your life AS A WHOLE?

I know I’ve done it a bunch of times myself.

I’ve tried the eating 6 meals a day to “optimize” my energy and insulin levels.

I’ve done the bouts of interval training to “optimize” my fat burning potential.

I’ve pounded out squats and deads to “optimize” my muscle building hormone profile.

Heck, I’ve even pounded a 6 pack of beer to “optimize” my perceived communication abilities with the ladies… HAHA! (tell me you haven’t).

But guess what?

Not one of these optimizations have gotten me the results I wanted and in fact, once I STOPPED focusing on these local optimums and started to understand what the real goal and the real measurement of that goal was, did I understand exactly WHY I wasn’t getting the results I wanted.

There is a difference in a “controlled” environment and a “free range” environment… and almost all of us operate in a “free range” environment – yet almost all of the advice given in health and fitness today is based on a result from a “controlled” environment

And, it’s tough to translate a result that someone gets in a study… or even with supervised training… which in essence holds one or more important variables in check… when you couple that with the fact that the makeup of YOUR life is completely different than everyone else’s.

All of the variables are different. (notice I said LIFE and not body)

But even personal trainers have a tough time getting people results a lot of the time.

Why?

It’s simple. The trainer or coach only has access or control of 2-4 hours of a person’s time per WEEK. So no matter how optimized the training protocol, which is the area that the trainer has full control over… unless there’s some sort of strategy that addresses all of the other compensating effects, all of the OTHER important variables… then the person being trained may only achieve certain performance improvements, but not the “looks” improvements that they desire.

Here’s an example:

5 or 6 years ago when I was in the health club game, I set up a program with our trainers that was COMPLETELY HARDCORE. It was group training and used a lot of the principles you hear about on most of the fitness blogs out there today.

– intervals
– supersets
– bodyweight exercises
– etc

… but, after 8 weeks, there was one woman that just wasn’t getting ANY results.

Zero.

(And this was the start of me REALLY starting to understand local optimums.)

Why was it that given the SAME workout protocol, could some people get great results, and others get none?

Naturally, I found out my answer as one of my trainers escorted this woman out to her car to get her check for the next months installment of training… and when our client opened the door to her car… imagine my surprise when a floorboard full of McDonald’s wrappers fell out of the car.

No joke.

Now, of course, you’re probably thinking to yourself “Well duh, no wonder she wasn’t getting results” – and you’d be right.

But that’s not the point.

The point is that this woman was convinced that all she needed to do was participate and make sure her “workouts” were “optimized” and the fat would just drip off of her. This is the primary danger of focusing on local optimums. You lose sight of what the “primary driver” of your results really is.

It’s like John pointed out in the podcast. There’s more to the puzzle than just saying something is “best”.

“Best” for who?

“Best” in what situation?

And, what makes it even more difficult is when you allow people to make their own assumptions based on the advice you give, where the biggest assumption is ALWAYS more is better.

If I say one interval session is good… you’ll do 3.

Again, in an effort to maximize this local optimum.

So what’s the real answer?

Simple.

You have to maximize the productivity of the ENTIRE SYSTEM AS A WHOLE!

Here’s a secret:

Maximizing the entire system MAY NOT require you to run ANYTHING at a local optimum!

It’s about CONSISTENCY and COMPETENCE.

Look, we’ve been through 6 iterations of the Adonis Index Systems, and each time, we adjust something due to “free range” conditions.

And because of it, a higher percentage of people are seeing awesome results.

It’s all based on giving you the TOOLS to maximize the productivity of the ENTIRE SYSTEM… not local optimums.

But only YOU can truly do the maximizing… and it’s NOT by us… OR YOU… focusing on running one little teeny part of your life at 100% efficiency.

After all, it’s about building a better life for yourself… and if that’s not the overall end goal, then none of this truly matters.

B

Filed Under: Featured Articles, Sage Advice

Fat Burning vs Carb Burning

November 8, 2010 by

These zones don't matter for fat loss.

At any given moment your body is always burning some fat and some glycogen. The intensity of your state is what determines where this ratio is.

Sleeping is on the low end of the intensity scale and this is when you are burning a very high percentage of fat.

On the other end is an all out max sprint where you are burning stored ATP.

Every other state of intensity is somewhere between these two extremes the ratio of fat vs glycogen/glucose that you are burning changes depending on the state you are in.

This doesn’t mean that sleeping is necessarily the best way to burn fat. What it does mean is that it doesn’t really matter what type of exercise you do or what intensity it is…all of it will still cause you to burn more calories, and that is what matters for fat loss.

Even if you are doing high intensity exercise that burns mostly glycogen, your body will use your bodyfat stores to make up this deficit.

In todays podcast we’ll discuss the difference between burning body fat and glycogen and why this really doesn’t matter if your goal is fat loss.

At the end of the day a caloric deficit is the only goal for fat loss no matter how you arrive at it.

John

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Filed Under: Fat Loss, Podcasts Tagged With: , ,

Multivitamin vs Food Does it Matter?

November 1, 2010 by

Multivitamins have everything you need, but so does food

When you start to categorize food based on it’s nutrient composition instead of the experience of it simply being food you end up in a very strange place.

If you thinking about it enough you’ll end up with this common question:

“why can’t I just take a multivitamin to get all of my essential nutrients and then just eat whatever foods I want”

This is an obvious question and there is no obvious answer.

The essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals have been categorized this way because removing any one of them from your diet for an extended period of time will show a measurable physical deficiency (think Vit C deficiency and scurvy)

There may be other nutrients we don’t know about that could provide some sort of  benefit, but in general we already know which ones you MUST ingest on a regular basis to avoid serious negative effects.

Theoretically there is no reason why you couldn’t just get all of your vitamins and minerals from a multivitamin and eat whatever mix of food you like to go along with it.

It’s likely that you’ll end up eating a mix of food anyway and get even more vitamins and minerals from whichever foods you choose to eat…there are very few food items that have absolutely no vitamins or minerals present in them.

Unless you tried to survive on pure white sugar there is really no way of eating without getting many vitamins and minerals.

Beyond these essentials there are a few other things to consider like fiber and perhaps some essential fats (although there is no scientific consensus on the need for essential fats or a daily dose)

Deconstructing food to it’s constituent parts is a good way to take all the fun out of eating. It makes much more sense to try and just enjoy whatever foods you have available and explore different tastes, flavors and styles.

There is very little chance that you will ever become vitamin or mineral deficient if you live in any sort of industrialized country (and if you’re reading this post that likely means you).

In today’s podcast we’ll talk about the concept of nutrients from multivitamins vs food and why this a false dichotomy simply because all foods have vitamins and minerals.

John

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Filed Under: Podcasts, Supplements Tagged With: , ,
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