Get this Week’s Episode:

MP3 Download/iTunes/RSS/Odeo

Hosts:

Kevin Larrabee (Twitter), Jonathan Fass,

Tony Gentilcore, and Leigh Peele

Sponsors:

• TurbulenceTraining.com– Boost Muscle Growth and Blowtorch Bodyfat!!!
• BlackStarLabs.com The Best Tasting Casein/Whey Protein You Have Ever Tasted
  
• StrengthCoach.com (#1 Source for Performance Enhancing Information on the Internet)

FitCast News

• Mike Boyle Interview later in the show
• Mike Robertson Podcast Interview (In the Trenches Fitness)
• Destination Abs Week 3
• Dave Tate coming back on the show
• FitCast Insider back until April 1st for $59.97
• Perform Better in Boston March 21-22 at Reggie Lewis Center
• Flzine.com

Question of the week responses:

• Hey guys,Great episode this week, as usual.

  In response to the Question of the Week, no, I do not weigh my food, although as part of my Dietetic Internship I have weighed other people’s food (before AND after eating, AND to the nearest tenth of a gram!) during a rotation at the Irving Institute of Clinical Research.  If you thought Leigh Peele was anal, try doing a research study that involves calorie counting!

  The show also made me wonder how many people actually understood what Jon meant when he said “p.o.” before Cass explained it.  I’m doing clinical rotations now and abbreviations like this one have been so ingrained in my head that I didn’t think anything of Jon’s use of the term until Kevin gave the “Nerd Alert.”  I realize that Fitcast listeners come from many different backgrounds and some have an extensive clinical background while others probably had no clue what the heck Jon was talking about and it would be interesting to see how other listeners felt about this.

  Keep up the great work as always,
  Manny

• Yes, I weigh my food with a digital scale. Leigh’s video on how easy it is to mismeasure food was all the incentive I needed. -Amanda
• In regards to weighing food: Yes, I weigh everything when I’m home. For nuts, I have saved various sized scoops from powdered products and found which ones correspond to a serving for each kind so I don’t have to weigh my daily rations of almonds/pecans/Brazil nuts. -Weldon

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY[/youtube]

Mailbag

• hello fitcast crew,thank you for the fascinating answer to my previous question a few months
  ago about stance training. i was truly honoured to receive the joint
  pink-dumbell award for that episode. I’ve got two more questions that i
  hope you could answer.

  1. When i do bodyweight squats, my legs reach about parallel with the
  floor at the bottom of the movement. When i do front squats with a
  moderate weight (8-10 reps), i can go down into a full squat. But when i
  try single-leg squats, i find it quite hard to even get down past 45
  degrees. This seems to be a big limiting factor in my ability to go into a
  low kung-fu drop stance, which places the vast majority of your weight on
  one leg. Do you have any tips for improving my this? I already do other
  single-leg exercises like lunges and Bulgarian split squats and don’t have
  any major problems with those.

  2. Do you have any ideas for improving finger strength (think gripping,
  clawing or jabbing with the tips of your fingers)? Most grip exercises i
  have heard of seem to work the gripping muscles in the forearms as opposed
  to the fingers themselves.

  thank you very much,

  from kazim in china

• I hope this is where I send the mailbag questions. Please file this under “Mailbag”.
  The show is great. Keep it up. Kevin, you need more nerd tweets. My question is about Red Bull. I love Sugar Free Red Bull. I actually own PoweredByRedBull.com. I like it, like Kevin likes Spike Shooters. What are you thoughts on SF Red Bull? Is it terrible for me? I love Red Bull.

  Thanks. -Matt

• I have tried fish oil in the past and always get the after burb effect. Now there is a lot of hype over the quality of fish oil and I was wondering what a good brand and a good price to pay for quality fish oil would be. All any of the podcasts I listen to every say is “don’t cheap out” on the fish oil. I agree, but they never give a brand recommendation.So what brands of fish oil do you guys take and where can I get it online? What are some things I should look for when selecting a brand of fish oil?

  Thanks,

  Shannon

• I’m about to have shoulder surgery (labrum repair & sub acrominal decompression) at the end of April. Rehab on the shoulder is looking at 3-5 months. Any suggestions on exercises I can do while my shoulder is out of commission. I recently made big strides in strength but I need to get body fat down. I’m thinking this is a good time to stop worrying about adding strength and mass and just worry about leaning up. Also any thoughts of pre surgery exercise to either help the rehab out? Thanks guys, love the podcast. -Charlie

• Hey guys.. I have 2 questions about something that I think everyone experiences but doesn’t think much of. It would be great to get your opinions. 1) What causes DOMS? I believe that the common misconception is that it is due to lactic acid, but that is a myth right? lactic acid is flushed out pretty quickly. I understand that it is due to microtears and breakdown in the muscle fibers. If this is true, wouldnt it make more sense for me to be more sore an hour or two after I lift rather than 2-3 days later. I swear, if I do something that I havent done in a while, even like snowboarding for example, sometimes I am most sore like 3 days after. WHY? My second question kindof depends on your answer to the first question, but from my understanding, DOMS is basically a side effect of the muscle repairing itself, which is essentially how you build muscle. However, if this is true, then why do we try to minimize muscle breakdown by things like ice baths and anti-inflammatories. Arent we just preventing what we are ultimately trying to achieve. Thanks guys, I look forward to hearing your answers -Nilo

• Hi KevinI really enjoy your podcasts, but I must admit I am a few episodes behind.  I’ll have to listen to Episode 126 soon.  The stuff on low back injuries is always a good to review.

  My question is fairly simple.  I am trying to figure out the difference between split squat exercises and lunges.  To me they look basically the same.  Is there a difference with regard to form and muscles trained??
  Thanks for the info!!

  Catherine

• Mike,
  I’ve enjoyed your talks at Perform Better Seminars several times. You were the first to introduce me to foam rolling.

  My 3 day a week strength workout is fairly intense. Very little rest between exercises and lasts 30-35 minutes (not counting rolling prior to and stretching afterwards). I finish off with a 4 minute Tabata routine with a band attached to the wall and my waist using various lateral and forward sprint patterns. This really helps my movement on the tennis court. My pulse maxes out around 170 (I’m 52 years old).

  My question is: I cool down on an Air Dyne immediately after the Tabata. It would be very easy for me to maintain a relatively high pulse (150) with very little effort because I’m tired from the workout. Is there value to steady Energy System Development at the end of a workout when you’re exhausted and it’s easy to maintain a high pulse just using a steady pace? And if so, how long would be beneficial?

  Thanks,
  Craig from Stone Mountain, GA

• Hey Kevin, I’m loving the show.I’m a 47 year old male, 5’10, 180 points, pretty solid build.

  I’ve been focusing on pull-ups for the last few months, and have built up to 4 sets of 15 -17 each set every morning. I’m loving them. I change my grip every set — palms in, palms out, wide grip, narrow grip, etc.
  Lately, however, I’ve developed a pain in one elbow. The injury seemed to start in the joint — like tennis elbow — but now seems as much in the forearm muscle near the joint as in the joint itself. It seems like a tendon strain to me, but my joint “cracks” (like cracking a knuckle) every so often when under strain.

  I’m not a fan of taking a bunch of medicine, and don’t want to start in on a bunch of anti-inflammatories. I’m not too excited about a cortisone shot either. I’d hate to stop doing pull-ups since they are doing good things for me, plus they are so convenient. Is there anything else I can do to keep up with the pull-ups without the joint/tendon/muscle pain? I’d appreciate any advise.

  Thanks, and keep up the good work.

  — Brian

• How do you assess your new clients be it a high school athlete or an office worker -Sam
• Mike you emphasize single leg training, how do you transition an untrained individual to doing more single leg work?
• What’s new at StrengthCoach.com and what should we look out for in the near future?