I posted what was in my fridge last week, now let’s take a look at some other fridges.

Here is Tony Gentilcore’s Fridge. Like he wrote in his blog, yes he eats all of those damn eggs!

This is the last day to pick up The Physique Forumla with all of the EXTRA BONUSES from Jimmy and the SIX FitCast Insider Interviews!
Scroll down to get some more information or click here to check out Bonus Episode 2 that I did with Jimmy.

By: Kevin Larrabee

For those that listen to the podcast, you already know that I trained with Eric Cressey for the summer of 2007. During that time I saw a 150lb increase in my deadlift 1RM (1 repetition max), a 60lb increase in my bench press 1RM, and a 70lb increase in my squat 1RM. Pretty good progress for 12 weeks, isn’t it? Ever since then I have been “addicted” to getting stronger. After reading this book and doing the 16-week program, I trust that you will feel the same.

At the beginning of the Maximum Strength, Eric discusses how our bodies get stronger. All the way down to CNS response and muscle fiber cross-sectional area. He breaks it down into terms that anyone can understand. And for those of us who took anatomy and physiology I and II, we will understand that Eric is talking about actin and myosin filaments, z-discs, and so on. Eric also discusses why getting stronger is a faster way to build muscle mass, “potentially.” This was the case for me. I now have as much muscle mass as I ever have. I have gone from looking like a boy with bad posture to looking like a man with a strong upper body. Hypertrophy workouts simply do not work for everyone, especially if you are limiting calorie, and especially carbohydrate intake. For current or former “fat-boys” increasing strength can be achieved while reducing bodyfat and limiting calories.

Thirty-four pages of Maximum Strength are dedicated towards your warm-up. With such a demanding program, a good warm-up is necessary for peak performance (you really should be doing a warm-up no matter what program you do). The warm-ups include foam rolling, lacrosse ball rolling (calves, glutes, infraspinatus) and dynamic movements. Pictures help to illustrate how to perform the warm-ups, but if you really want to make sure you are doing things right, pick up Magnificent Mobility and the Inside-Out DVDs.

The Maximum Strength program is 16-weeks long with four ass-kicking workouts per week. You will be deadlifting, squatting, benching, and performing other exercises that you may have done in the past. Don’t be fooled, Eric has outlined the sets and reps to maximize your strength while keeping overall volume in check. This may be the first time you do speed work, which is crucial for improving the speed of motor unit firing. Your strength depends on how much weight you can move at a relatively fast pace. The brain needs to get use to firing your muscles as fast as possible. Think of it this way, what is easier, deadlifting 225 with a concentric contraction lasting 10 seconds, or deadlifting 315 once in one second? Yes, this is an exaggeration, but hopefully you get my point. Needless to say, you will be as strong as ever after 16-weeks of Maximum Strength.

A great section on nutrition is provided in Maximum Strength. Many of the strategies laid out here are similar to Dr. John Berardi’s Lean Eating rules. Eric also discusses what supplements to take, and what supplements are more likely to just make your wallet leaner.

Overall, this book is for those that know the ropes when it comes to lifting. You MUST know how to properly deadlift, squat, and bench to get the most out of this program. Eric does provide pictures and step-by-step instructions on how to perform the movements, but if you are new to these exercises at lease have someone watch your form for the first few workouts. For the men and women that are at a standstill in their progress, Maximum Strength is going to be like adding NOS to your car. You will be faster, stronger, and more mobile and pain-free than you have ever been in your entire life.

You can buy Maximum Strength from Eric Cressey’s Website or on Amazon.com

Here are our guests for episode 100. Please submit questions asap to: questions@thefitcast.com

They are not coming on together, rather there will be two different 45-60 minute interviews. It is going to be epic!

Dr. John Berardi of PrecisionNutrition.com

Dr. John Berardi is most well known for Precision Nutrition, easily the best resource on diet information and great tasting healthy recipes. John have been the most popular guest that we have ever had on the show, and rightfully so. You can get more information about John from JohnBerardi.com and PrecisionNutrition.com

Tom Venuto of BurntheFat.com

You have asked for him for over two years, now I am delivering. Burn The Fat is the best selling Fat-Loss program on the internet. Tom has proven that he can help you lost that unwanted body-fat and get the body your desire. If you have used one of Tom’s programs you know that he has figured out how to get even the most stubborn metabolisms firing on all cylandars.

By the way, Tony Gentilcore had a OUTSTANDING blog post today which articulated what I had trouble saying on episode 99. Check it out!

By: Kevin Larrabee

Cottage cheese should be a staple in everyone’s diet. It is high in protein (slow-digesting), low in sugar, and low in fat (buy low-fat). Cottage cheese fits all of the criteria to be one of my go-to foods. There is only one problem. I hate the taste and texture of the stuff. When I open that plastic container and look at the curds all I can think of is a huge patch of fat cells ready to burst.

If you complain about the taste and texture of cottage cheese to those in the fitness and nutrition world, you will most likely get a variation of this answer, “Just eat it Nancy!!!” I must make it clear that I am not trying to call out all of the “Nancys” in the world; it was simply an example (much harsher words could have been used).

I am not going to call you names, instead, I am going to make you crave cottage cheese.

Here is the first recipe, quick, easy and very tasty.

- 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese

- 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (try 1 1/2 tbsp first)

- 2 teaspoons Splenda

That is it, mix it up and you are all done in 30 seconds. You get a great tasting snack that is high in slow digesting protein and has the blood sugar controlling benefits of ground cinnamon. To be honest the mixture tastes like cinnamon/sugar oatmeal.

Listen to Episode 99 here: TheFitCast099.mp3 (Or Right-Click and Save-As to download)

or Subscribe through iTunes!!!

Hosts:

Kevin Larrabee, Tony Gentilcore (Blog), Jen Heath, and Jimmy Smith (blog)

Sponsors

• TurbulenceTraining.com- Boost Muscle Growth and Blowtorch Bodyfat!!!
  
• BlackStarLabs.com (Save 10% with “FIT10″ code in comments section at checkout)
  
• RobertsonTrainingSystems.com - High Octane Corrective Exercise and Performance Enhancement

FitCast News

• StrengthCoach.com
• Vote for the Episode 100 Guest(s)
• SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!!!
• More Blog Posts, check back daily
• Back to weekly episodes

Mailbag

• I Enjoy the show from Albury, New South Wales. Australia. Two Questions
  1. Jimmy talked a little about being a tall lifter in a recent episode and made a comment about increasing his leg mass by adding another leg session into his program. Being 6,4 tall myself i would be interested in hearing about how Jimmy structured a second leg session into his week and  how the sessions are different?
  2. New Rockband coming out soon. Have you heard the new unreleased guns n roses song shacklers revenge? I am massive gnr fan and looking for a leak to the song….
  Thanks mate, Ryan
• I love your fitcasts.  It gets me through my workday.  At any rate, I’ve got a really interesting book that I read in grad school.  It’s a memoir of a guy who became consumed by bodybuilding, and I think you and Jimmy would definitely enjoy it.  It’s called “Muscle” by Samuel Fussell.  Definitely check it out.  It gives everybody an intimate, objective glimpse into the world of competitive bodybuilding.  Well, keep up the great work!
  Thanks -Will
• I am a long time listener of the podcast, having discovered it during my fat loss journey from BMI 35 to BMI 23. While I generally find the show informative, I shot into orbit as I was listening to Episode 97 (Maximum Strength), when autism and artificial sweeteners were mentioned in the same sentence. There is simply no evidence that artificial sweeteners have anything to do with autism. In fact, a review of PubMed shows not a single peer-reviewed article mentioning such a thing. If a doctor claimed any such connection, that doctor was irresponsibly uninformed. Please review the FDA’s general primer on artificial sweeteners at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdsugar.html.
  
  To the extent that the FitCast is probably a primary source of health and fitness information for many listeners, I think it has a responsibility to be well-informed.
  
  Keep up the good work. -Kevin

Books

• Yes

Here I am…at a crossroads.

I have made a decision.

I am moving back east to become a strength and conditioning coach. Now, what does that mean for you and The FitCast? Well, let’s just say everyone wins.

We are going back to weekly episode of The FitCast immediately. Our Newsletter is back and better than ever. Now we will have interviews with the best of the best in the fitness industry, as well as exclusive discounts from out sponsors like Black Star Labs.

Video is also going to be a big part of the website going forward. I will talk more about that in the near future.

There will be three or four blog posts per week, such as the Fridge Blog Post I made this week.

Everything will be explained in more detail on this weeks show, episode 99.

There will be days (everyday?) when you don’t feel like doing your workout.

Sometimes you don’t want to get out of bed.

Sometimes you don’t want to leave your office because you feel like there are too many deadlines (but this is when you need a workout the most!).

Sometimes you don’t want to end story time with the kids only to head down to the basement gym.

It even happens to me.

But I knew how I’d feel like a million bucks after the workout.

And in the end, I know I can’t let myself become “soft” and start skipping workouts. I have to lead by example.

But if you are set on achieving a goal, then when it’s workouttime, come heck or high water you’ve got to bear down and do the job.

So here are 7 ways to get motivated for your workout and to get you inspired to get through your workout.

1) Reward yourself. Finish your workout and treat yourself to a magazine, a TV show, some extra time with your family, some new songs for your IPOD, or even a little extra time for yourself.

2) Or set up a punishment for missing workouts. Skip the workout, put $20 into a jar to spend on home repairs. Make sure your spouse controls the jar.

3) Review your goals everyday and every night. Keeping your goals fresh in your mind will help you stay on track.

4) Realize that the hardest part of the workout is often getting your butt to the gym. Once you get 5 minutes into the workout, you will be over the hump. So tell yourself, “I’ll just go in and do 1 set of the first 2 exercises, then I can go”. Next thing you know, you’ll have done the entire workout.

5) Visualize yourself doing a great workout and finishing strong. Get yourself mentally prepared and you will literally have better workouts each time.

6) Crank the tunes. Seriously, nothing motivates like music.

7) Get social support. If you have a workout partner, you’ll feel like crap if you let them down. Or become accountable to everyone in the Turbulence Training workout forums…if you don’t post your workouts, they’ll track you down and demand to know why you’ve fallen off track! So online or offline, get everyone on your side!

Now get out there and kick the fat to the curb,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig’s Other Sites

• www.TTMembers.com
• www.TurbulenceTraining.com
• www.OnlineSuperProfits.com
• http://transformationcontest.com
• Craig’s Youtube Page

By: Kevin Larrabee

A “Life Styles of the Rich and Famous” like show called “Cribs” on MTV showcases the homes of celebrities. One of the recurring segments revolves around the contents of said celebrities fridge. I thought it would be fun to see what the listeners of The FitCast have inside of their fridges.

As you can see, my fridge is very small and only allows me to store the essentials.

In my fridge you will find the following:

• Brita Water Filter
• TJ’s Organic Eggs
• TJ’s Reduced sodium Turkey Breast (in black containers behind ketchup)
• 4-Cans of Spike
• TJ’s Low-Fat String Cheese
• TJ’s Organic Romain Lettuce
• TJs Low-Fat Plain Organic Yogurt (Behind eggs)
• Low-Fat Choc Milk (until my Cytofuse comes tomorrow!!!)
• 1-Can of Diet Cherry Coke (Cut down to 1-can a day)
• TJ’s Organic Butter (For my eggs)
• Low-Carb Ketchup

Nothing in the freezer. I usually have some 90% lean burgers as well, but I buy those on Friday for the weekend.

Now, I want to know what your fridge looks like. Send a picture of your refrigerator’s contents along with a list of notable products. Send them to (questions@thefitcast.com). I will post all of the pictures on the site after the 100th Episode.

By the way, don’t forget to vote in the 100th Episode Guest Poll:

Listen to Episode 98 here: TheFitCast098.mp3

or Subscribe through iTunes

Hosts:

Kevin Larrabee, Tony Gentilcore (Blog) and Jen Heath

Sponsors

• TurbulenceTraining.com- Boost Muscle Growth and Blowtorch Bodyfat!!!
  
• BlackStarLabs.com (Save 10% with “FIT10″ code in comments section at checkout)
  
• Inside-Out-Warm-Up (Save 40% with “IFAST” until Wednesday!

FitCast News

• BSL Yogurt
• Vote for the 100th Episode Guest

Mailbag

• Due to my hectic schedule, I have to work out at 5 AM. I have heard so much about pre and post workout nutrition, but so much of it seems contradictory. Right now, I am drinking a protein shake (about 35 grams of protein, 10 grams ofcarbs) right before I leave for the gym. After my workout, another shake and about 100 grams of carbs along with some creatine. I’ve heard about consuming carbs and protein right before I go to bed, but the idea of that many calories right before sleep seems like they would easily be converted to fat. My diet is good throughout the day, just not sure how to time my meals and what they should consist of given that I work out right after I awaken. -Mike Phoenix, AZ
• I can’t find these training shoes anymore.  Can you?  If so, would you be so kind as to share where?  If not, what are people using instead?  (If you covered this recently, sorry for asking, but I am still 20 shows or so behind you.  I have listened religiously to the first 60 or so!)  Love the show and thanks! -Dan
• I’m not only cutting back on supplements, but eliminating them completely after my current supply runs out (with the exception of fish oil and a daily multi vitamin). While there is tons of research to back of the use of supplementation, I want to try a no supplement approach and see how my body responds. As Scott Abel said, protein powders don’t make champions. Plus I’m broke =)

  - Roger

Roudtable

• Tony talks about the seminar at CP

Episode 100 Guest Poll