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Hosts:

Kevin Larrabee (Twitter), Jonathan Fass,

and Leigh Peele

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FitCast News

• Questions for Destination Abs Special
• Dave Tate Interview Postponed
• Been blogging up a storm
• Online PT
• PB2
• FLzine.com updates

QOTW

• I stretch religiously! Unless I’m seriously time poor, I stretch for around 30 minutes at the end of my workouts. For me, stretching is as much about winding down and relaxing, as it is about maintaining – even improving – my flexibility. -KB
• I am the type that only stretches when I am sore or tight. I do utilize the foam roller when I do stretch. I have been having some knee pain so I have been stretching alot. I love having a client that is a physical therapist. Have you ever had the chance to stretch on a power plate? it is great only had the chance one time at athletes performance but have yet to get them where I work -Daniel
• I hardly ever stretch, which is why I have zero flexibility. However when I have the time, I’ll do a dynamic warm-up before lifting which makes me feel 100% better. I plan to start foam rolling and doing some extra stretching on my “off” days from lifting. -Lindsay
• My girlfriend and I foam-rolled every time we trained. However, since moving to Boston for grad school this last Fall, I have not been very consistent with it. As for stretching, I do not static stretch. I do dynamic stretching and warm up specific to the lifting I intend to do each particular session. -Robert

This Week’s QOTW: Who influences you the most in your training?

Mailbag

• Hey Kevin, Where can i buy a fitcast shirt and thong? -Jovana
• My questions is around monitoring body fat percentage. I keep measurements and I weigh myself but I was wondering of a good way to measure. I know there are scales out there that show this but are they really accurate? I have to think no. Are calipers really the only way to go? They seem really subjective. I did Maximum Strength and had great gains in strength and then did WSFL and lost about 12 lbs. Is there a rule of thumb also (i.e. – I see 4 abs but have a little gut – 14-16% range..etc). I have been consistently lifting for around 2 years now and am 32 years old.
  On off topic – Kevin – A few podcasts ago you mentioned Transporter in the same breathe of Die Hard. Your man love for Jason Statham has gone too far. Die Hard maybe the greatest action movie of all time, definitely in the top three. Any thoughts on greatest action movie ever?

  Thanks for the hard work everyone. It is appreciated! -Andy, Chicago

• Hey this is Rick the person that asked the question about the Blood pressure awhile back. I just thought I would give a progress report on how I am doing plus ask a question on warm-ups I lost 25 pounds doing a fat loss training regime since November ’08. I still take the blood pressure medicine but the blood pressure is stabilized now. It averages 115/78 when I wake up. People have noticed i look healthier now after I lost weight the right way. I definitely want to thank you guys and my trainer for giving me great advice so I can enjoy life more. That is why we do this!!Now onto warm-ups. Tony, AKA Mr Manhattan- THE LORD OF THE RINGS RULZ!! GENTILCORE mentioned the importance of doing warm ups. I always think warm-ups is just riding the bike or some other cardio equipment for 5-10 minutes to get your heart rate up and break out in a lite sweat before you start training. What type of warm-ups are you talking about specifically? Can they vary due to the trainees goals? Pink Dumbbell?

  One other question why did all of you decide to pursue the fitness industry?-Rick

• One of my female friends asked me to help her lose some weight. But there are a couple of problems. She’s about 2000 miles away, so I won’t necessarily be able to make sure she lifts with good form. Also, I’m not sure how to get her motivated to lift and eat right because, any tips for that or tips in general?
  Thanks a lot, -Blane P.S. I love the show, except that I’m trying to listen to all the old episodes and it gets in the way of doing homework.
• Hi
  I would just like to say first how much I love listening to the Fitcast!
  I have a question about bulking. I am currently lifting 3 times per week using compound moves (squats, lunges, deadlifts etc) and have been eating 20% above my maintenance calorie levels on these days. On non-weights days I do some light cardio and eat at maintenance. I am struggling to gain weight with this eating pattern so it is obvious I need to eat more food!
  However, I was wondering whether it would be better to eat more on days when I lift and continue to eat at maintenance on non-weights days or whether it would be better to eat above maintenance on days when I do not lift? I really want to gain muscle but want to keep body fat gains to a minimum.
  Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me! -Emma
• Hi Kevin -
  I enjoyed reading your article, “Muscle on a Budget.” I had a question in regards to the following statement:
  “One word of caution: avoid like the Bosu Ball any frozen vegetables that steam right in the bag in the microwave. Sure, it’s quick and convenient, but it’s also a great way to get a full days supply of xenoestrogens in every serving.”
  Now I understand that eating the veggies that have cooked inside of the bag would be a bad thing, but can you comment on the effectiveness of taking the product out of the microwaveable package and then preparing it in order to avoid xenoestrogen exposure? Is the risk from xenoestrogen exposure mainly tied to microwaving the veggies in their plastic container.?
  The only organic frozen spinach I can find that is NOT from China, is Cascadian Farms brand cut spinach. (I prefer frozen spinach b/c I would rather avoid the time spent cleaning spinach). The spinach is held inside a steamable plastic bag which is housed in a cardboard box. I have been preparing the spinach by removing it from the plastic bag and then boiling it in a veggie broth.
  Do you know if the veggies that have been put inside the plastic to begin with are already contaminated with xenoestrogens? I read somewhere that frozen veggies are first blanched, so I wonder if these blanched veggies are then quickly put into the plastic while hot from blanching (causing leaching) and then flash frozen. I know it sounds paranoid, but I wonder if I am just spinning my wheels by only removing it from the packaging.
  Thanks,
  Tom
• Hi Gang!
  Pumped to see The FitCast at #10 on iTunes Top Audio Podcasts!
  I did a review for you Kevin. I hear you all but begging for them, so I thought I’d appease you, if only briefly!
  Keep up the great work guys. I’m loving listening and learning. I still have many episodes to catch up on, but am getting there. I aim to get through 3 each day, until I’m all caught up.
  Cheers,
  Kimmi, in Adelaide (Australia)
• Hello, emailing from the frozen North, Cold lake, Alberta, Canada. I have a question that sort of ties in to your question of the week. With most of my workouts they call for rest of 60 or 90 seconds between sets. Some exercises are intense and I understand that I will need that time to catch my breath, but sometimes it seems that I’m just standing there waiting. Which is the best option for that rest time? Do some stretching for the particular body part you are using, foam rolling, sing out loud what ever is playing on my mp3 player, Or is it best to just sit there and do SFA. (sweet fuck all). As far as stretching now, I sometimes do it depending on how much time I have (yes horrible habit on my part). I currently do nothing for Foam Rolling, mainly because I am just hearing about this thanks to the Fitcast podcast.
  Also one more quick question. Which do you feel would give me a better workout? weights using the Metric system or the u.s imperial system?…. * ha ha*
  Thanks
  Chris.