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Doug McGuff, MD, is an author, personal trainer, and practicing medical professional. In an effort to prevent, and not just treat disease, Dr. McGuff has developed a unique system of weight training that promises results in as little as 12 minutes a week. Along with John Little, a renowned strength and conditioning coach, Dr McGuff wrote Body By Science, one of the best books on strength, health, and fitness you’re likely to find. McGuff comes on the show to talk about how you can enhance your performance, health, and longevity with an exercise program that takes only 12 minutes a week.
What We Cover. How did you get interested in health and fitness?. Can you share your definition of health, fitness, and exercise so we are all on the same page?. Would you talk about how to balance the relationship between anabolism and catabolism to improve health and performance?.
What are the criteria for something to count as exercise?. Can you talk about how exercise is a drug?. Do you think running marathons or doing Ironmans counts as exercise? Or should it be considered it’s own entity?. What do you think of what most people refer to as “cardio.” Do you need to do “aerobic” exercise to keep your heart and lungs healthy?. What role does nutrition play in improving body composition?.
What do you think are some of the flaws of barbell training?. Do you think Crossfit is a good way to build strength?. What do you think of explosive plyometric/olympic type lifting?
Will it really help the average lifter?. Is stretching and mobility type work necessary?. Is balance training like bosu balls and standing on one foot necessary to improve balance or proprioception?. If someone is training for a specific sport, do these principles still apply?. What is the best way to fatigue a muscle and produce growth?.
Can you talk about the specifics of your “Big 5” workout?. If progress stalls, should you do more exercise or less?. Does this mean you can’t train more than once a week? What about other activities, do those have to be limited as well?. Is this kind of training safe or useful for the elderly or people who lack experience?
Links From The Show Featured by Dr. Doug McGuff & John Little for Dr. Doug McGuff (call 864-886-0200) Food & Supplements Books by Timothy Ferriss by Dr.
Doug McGuff & John Little by Uffe Ravnskov by Dave Asprey Mentions to BBC article on sleep. Listener Q & A Summary. What supplements can you take to boost immune function?. Should you sleep twice a day instead of once?. Are flax seeds safe? Biohacker Report Questions for the podcast?
Leave your questions and responses in comments section below. You can also ask your questions via Listener Questions Michael In addition to eating a healthy diet, what supplements do you suggest to boost the immune system? Michael What are your thoughts on this interesting piece of research about sleep. Walter I know flax seeds suck as an omega 3 source as they are exclusively ALA. For omega 3s I take cod liver oil every now and then but mainly just eat grass fed meats/fish and reduce my omega 6 intake. However, is there anything wrong with ground flax seeds to add some crunch to meals? I heard they have many of the same problems as soy in terms of phytoestrogens.
What do you think of ground flax seeds (not flaxseed oil)? Don’t forget to leave a ranking in.
It helps more people find our show. Regarding vit. C, do you have specific kind you prefer?
For example, I know that there is camu camu, vit C complex etc. I had a Jamieson ‘high dose’ of 1000mg. I then also got some camu camu (500mg).
Is the regular vit C OK, and what about ‘synthesized ascorbic acid’ which could be a problem with the Jamieson brand? Also for vit D, if I have exposure to daily sun with no sunscreen, should that be OK? I have gotten tanned since March, so I feel like I am OK.
One more question, if one gets serrapeptase (in addition to the supps you listed, with Bulletproof diet), is it necessary to take probiotic? Thanks for answering all my questions. Hi Armi / Dave Attached is the latest results from my i3mindware progress – I’ve taken 2 days off during the process to date and have been very interested by ground gained. The dip came on a day following a particularly disrupted night with my 4 month old son!
Does this curve reflect typical figures for those undertaking this training? I am very much looking forward to retesting my IQ at the end of the month! Thanks for all the material and guidance – now on day 18 of the bulletproof diet and IF protocol with butter / mct oil coffee in the mornings – due for another weigh in this afternoon but I know I’ve lost at least 15lb to date! Keep up the great work guys! Question for the Podcast: Hey guys!
I am so happy to have discovered your website and podcast! I love your approach to health, longevity, and self-improvement through self-experimentation. I have a question regarding optimizing my training. Background (feel free not to read): I’ve been eating low to moderate carb Paleo for nearly two years, and have lost 60 pounds, going from 200lbs to 135lb., and dropping from a size 16 to a size 4. Recently, I tried Jack Kruse’s protocols (Leptin Reset and Cold Thermogenesis), with great success.
In two months, I dropped 10 pounds and dropped a size, following a 6-month stall. The Leptin Reset requires no exercise, so I haven’t been exercising at all until very recently. Last weekend, I did my first 5K Mud Run (Dirty Girl), and now and totally addicted.
I’ve signed up for a 5K trail run next month, another mud run the following month and yet another one in the Fall. I have no interested in doing “chronic cardio” to train for these events, but I would like to improve my performance.
Can you give me some suggestions of what sort of training you would do to optimize performance on these types of endurance events? Dave, This was a great interview, and Dr. McGuff makes a lot of great points. While I do see the appeal of his approach on multiple fronts, honestly I was really surprised that neither you nor Armi took him to task for recommending machines like the Nautilus in training (though in fairness he definitely endorsed standard barbell training). I assume he’s way too smart and well-researched to subscribe to the common fallacy that strength and muscle are one in the same, but I just don’t see how anybody who aspires to high levels of functional strength (as opposed to just muscle growth or bodybuilding) is ever going to take that kind of approach seriously, since using something like a Nautilus machine completely ignores so much of the neuromuscular coordination that becoming strong relies upon. What I thought was really fascinating though was his discussion of tandem recruitment, and how he essentially explained why programs like SL 5×5 or 3×5 in Starting Strength are so successful. Thanks again for the great podcast.
Also, I’m curious (to Dave), you talk a lot about your exercise fast, have you taken any totals (i.e. Squat+ Deadlift+Press) before and after, or just overall what kind of numbers have you been able to maintain or improve upon with your approach? Cheers, Adam. Here’s a question for you: in a few weeks I’ll be starting a VERY intense 3 week summer masters course (9 credit hours in 3 weeks) So i’ll be up late reading, studying, writing, researching and practicing.
(i’m a musician getting a music degree) What the heck should I be eating if i intend to kick a whole ton of ass for 3 weeks straight, but have little time or interest in food preparation (minimal kitchen stuff in the dorm room i’ll be in, basically, fridge sink, and a stove top) Last summer, I did the same thing and lived mostly on frozen pizza, fast food and random processed stuff for sandwiches not interested in doing THAT again, but grilling grass-fed steaks every night isn’t really what I’m interested in doing either. Fwiw I already intend to drink plenty of bulletproof coffee ?. This is an outstanding interview.
McGuff is one sharp dude. No bs at all. I have but one thing to add. It involves Bulletproof Coffee.
If you have a coffee habit at all DO NOT try BC. I am now obsessed by it. It is so good and has such a positive effect on me that it is now the last thing I think of before I go to sleep and the first thing I think of upon waking. When I first read about it I didn’t find the thought of butter in coffee an appetizing idea, but upon trying it I’ve found it’s the best single thing I’ve ever had. The absolute best way to start a day. Thanks Dave.I guess. I spend a lot of time on the road in Asia and I’m already worrying about the gyrations I might have to go through to get a morning infusion of BC.
Is butter allowed in carry-on? Dave and Armi, I’ve had an issue with stomach distension for as long as I can remember. I am 29 years old, 5’7″, 160lbs, I eat a bulletproof and paleo diet most of the time (85%), I don’t exercise very often (but I have in the past and the distension was unchanged), I have a six pack when I flex, but my stomach sticks out pretty far when I relax.
No doctor has been able to explain it and I have found nothing on the subject in my own searching. Do you guys know what could be causing it and how it can be fixed? Thanks for all you guys do. You have changed my life in a lot of great ways! Bulletproof Coffee is the best).
Hey fellas, loved this podcast!! Is there anywhere I could get information that yall talked about in reference to benefits of keeping ferritin low? I have a strange situation, as I have hemochromatosis and high iron saturation (normal H&H) BUT I have really low ferritin.
I have had a partial gastrectomy, so I have been watching a large panel of my labs for the past 3 years (and only recently found out about the hemochromatosis after referring myself to a hematologist) but the low ferritin, despite double dosing the Proferrin ES (and no matter how much red meat I eat) is confounding!! Anyway, with the low ferritin possibly being beneficial mentioned, you can imagine that intrigues me and I would like to find out more if I could!. Pingback:.
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Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective authors, who may retain copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice.
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It was when I started up a super slow HIT program. For those unfamiliar with High Intensity Training (HIT), it differs from traditional weight lifting in the following ways:. 1 set to failure. slower movements – the goal is to remove momentum from the lift. as little as 1-2 exercises per body part. shorter workouts. fewer workouts The common element is taking the targeted muscle to complete failure and then allowing sufficient time for recovery to take place.
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Additional sets or longer workouts, necessitate a reduction in intensity, which is not ideal to stimulate maximum muscle growth. Also not allowing your body time to recover from the previous workout short circuits the repair process when muscle is built. High Intensity Training is about hitting it very hard, very brief and then resting. Or as James Brown would say, “ hit it and quit it“. My HIT Protocol There are several different HIT training protocols and they differ slightly from one another. I mostly used The Big 5 Workout plan outlined in Body by Science and used. Often I would add two additional arm exercises.
During a second workout at Ideal Exercise, I learned how to incorporate a technique called pre-exhaustion into my workouts. That method is covered in detail in by Darden. In addition, I did some experimenting with John Little’s static hold techniques, which I plan do more of after I finish reading his book. Most of my workouts last just 10 minutes and I only workout every 5th day. By Oliver DelaCruz.
I used to believe the leg press was a worthless exercise. Once I learned to really slow the movement down and not lock out, I became a fan.
99% of the people in the gym use this piece of equipment wrong. Was HIT successful for me? Before I can answer that question, I wanted to define what success means. Given my age, training age and the fact I’m an ectomorph, I do not think it would be fair to expect noticeable muscle gains. If I were a 25 year old newbie mesomorph, my expectations would be much higher. So for me, I will measure success with these metrics. Do I Feel Good?
Unlike traditional weight lifting, I never get shoulder or back pain. My muscles are more sore, but my joints feel great.
Using machines and slowing down the movement has taken the fear out of lifting. For the past five years, I’ve always held back in the gym on the last few reps out of a fear that I was going to injury myself. Am I Getting Stronger? Especially in the arms and legs. I am 6 foot 2.5 inches tall and I can tell you that Dr.
Doug McGuff was dead on correct in the book when he made the case for machines with taller athletes. Is this style of lifting holding my interest? -At first it didn’t. It was tough getting the right mindset in the beginning.
I had to undo the hesitate style I had been using for so many years. Visiting Greg Anderson at really helped me understand what is meant by intensity. Clarence Bass felt HIT was for him.
I enjoy it more each week. Show Me the Numbers I violated a core HIT rule. I didn’t record any workout. Times and weights are very important to HIT. Since you are typically only doing a few exercises for a single set, you don’t have the luxury of dialing in the weight across multiple sets.
My training philosophy is the. As long as I feel I’m moving in the right direction, I wont try and complicate things. For me the first 6 months of HIT were about unlearning old habits, practicing slower movements, better breathing techniques and listening to my body. At some point if I feel my progress is stalling, I’ll start recording things. Going Forward In the post, I theorized that I might cycle between periods of High Intensity Training and a more traditional Pavel style workout program. Well, I am going to stick with HIT for now. Every week that passes I become more convinced that HIT is right for me.
This is an early photo of me striking a bicep pose. @Thomas – Not sure I understand your comment.
Your genetics play a huge factor in your potential. I could never train to look like Mike Tyson and he could never train to look like me. HIT is just one method for gaining muscle.
Doug Mcguff
The muscle you gain is no different than you would get from other training protocols. What I like about HIT is the efficiency and the safety. I’ve never gone 6 months without missing a workout before. Following other training plans, I always drifted into over training and then had to back off – usually due to some injury. Being lean will make you look more athletic.
How you get lean is up to you. I find low-carb is more efficient, but I do cycle up my carbs on the days I lift weights.
@Mark – I think to get maximum gains via a BBS protocol, a trainer would certainly help. I wouldn’t be as successful had I not had 2 training sessions at Ideal Exercise. I took what I learned there and brought it back to my gym for self training. It should be noted that I’m a serious student of fitness and others may not have the time or passion to research as much as me.
The minimum one could do for BBS training is watch every video on YouTube on the topic. Understanding how to breathe properly and keep your jaw relaxed is essential. I’ve never heard of Convict Conditioning, but judging by the write up on Dragon Door, this is something I wouldn’t pursue. It appears to a system design to demonstrate strength in a manner that could lead to injury. It looks cool, but my primary goal is to develop maximum strength with the least risk of injury.
IOW, I’d rather do a few slow reps of weighted chins than attempt to do a 1-arm hand stand push-up. Highly technical moves combined with high fatigue often lead to injury.
Roger Pozeznik says. @Clarence – I’ve been reading your site for years. I’m honored you commented on my blog.
I enjoyed reading your article. Although I am in the Body By Science camp now, I’ve occasionally wondered if the aerobic component of HIT is optimal. I do a brutally hard HIT workout every 5th day.
2x a week I found was too much. My resting heart rate is as low as it was 20 years ago when I ran 2 sub-4 hour marathons. Maybe my health would improve more with some form of interval work? In the past, the pounding has just made me feel achy. Bobby says.
The explanation is a little foggy in the article. Staggered progression is best used with 2 or 3 different weight ranges. It’s a little complicated to keep track of, but a log book will help.
You try to improve on each range by increased weight or increased reps. You can progress weekly. By using less weight, more reps and cycling back to more weight, less reps in an alternating pattern you will maintain intensity and make progress.
This is useful to avoid plateaus and the frustration of no progress. His explanation in the book is better. I’m not an expert but I hope this explains the 4 times a week workout.
Sorry for the long winded answer. Good comments.
I’m 42, I’ve got a good bit of ectomorph in me also ( few people are purely any one body type)I’m 6-1l, 200 lbs, probably 15% body fat, and have longer limbs proportionately, and small joints, but I gain fat easily like an endomorph. How blessed can one guy be right? Diet is everything for me. A week of binging will put 10 pounds on me easily. I have used low carb diets extensively with much weight loss, but after a long time, I’ve determined that a strict low carb diet is just totally incompatible with weight training for me.
It leaves my lacking energy for workouts, and my muscles tend to stay flat and weaker. A nice euphoric pump is impossible. It makes perfect sense of course.that first 10 pounds that low carb dieters brag about at the beginning (that comes off so fast) is not fat unfortunately. Its glycogen.the sugars and water stored in your muscles to fuel them.
Its also the substance that gives your muscles that firm, pumped look, and makes you feel so much stronger in the gym. Yeah, after years of Atkins etc., I had to let that go. I still avoid high glycemic carbs, and avoid carbs at dinner, but that’s as far as I go with that. I worked out furiously as a young man with decent results, but horribly inefficient. Left me with a bad lower back, and bad knees.
I used to pick up books by Mike Mentzer, shrug in utter disbelief, and quit reading almost immediately. Now that I’m older, and wiser, H.I.T. Makes so much sense, and it fits my lifestyle so incredibly well.
I can have a life, and a decent body. You mentioned gains. It doesn’t matter what your body type is, gains are measured in strength, NOT size.
Another person asked about strength vs. As long as you are getting stronger, and intensity increases each and every workout, the size gains will come. We can’t control the genetic potential for size, so the frequency and amount of those size/mass gains will vary greatly between individuals, but as long as you are getting stronger each workout, you are on a path to realize the potential you do have. RECORD YOUR WORKOUTS! Disciple without his training log is like a fish out of water! I use the “GymRat” app on my smartphone.
The biggest pyschological breakthrough for me was letting go of hitting a particular (and arbitrary) number of sets/reps, and instead focusing that mental energy on the muscle itself. I’m seeing faster and more consistent gains now than when I was 20 years old working out like Arnold Schwarzenegger (minus the steroids). Like you, I’m in and out of the gym in 10-15 minutes. I don’t hold to a set number of rest days, I listen to my body. Its always at least 3 days rest, sometimes longer, but if I’m pumped, energized, and I can feel my muscles peaking, I’m hitting the gym right then.lol.
Body by Science is not a book of “opinions,” but rather a review of peer-reviewed scientific literature and a discussion of the basic science that accounts for the literature’s findings regarding the role of exercise in human development, performance and longevity. And, for the first time ever, every point and recommendation is supported by the appropriate reference from the medical/scientific literature, all of which are referenced in the book. Body By Science is a book that will serve as the “standard” in the field for accurate, honest, verifiable exercise. A legitimate “must have” for anyone who takes both their time and their fitness goals seriously. FROM THE PUBLISHER: Body by Science challenges everything you thought you knew about exercise and takes you deep inside your body’s inner workings – all the way down to the single cell–to explain what science now knows about the role of exercise in human health. With the help of medical diagrams and step-by-step photos, exercise scientist Doug McGuff, M.D., and weight-training pioneer John Little present a revolutionary new workout protocol that fully leverages the positive effects of high-intensity, low-frequency weight training, while avoiding the negative effects of traditional aerobic-centric exercise.
By using a proper science-based approach to exercise you can be on your way to achieving the following in as little as 12 minutes a week:. Build muscle size and strength. Optimize cardiovascular health. Ramp up your metabolism.
Lower cholesterol. Increase insulin sensitivity. Improve flexibility.
Manage arthritis and chronic back pain. Build bone density. Reduce your risk for diabetes, cancer, heart attack, and more. BOOK REVIEW FROM DREW BAYE (Personal Trainer @ ) If you buy only one book on exercise this year, get this one. If you buy only two books, get a second copy of it because you’re going to want to share it with friends, and if you’re a trainer you’re going to want to keep one at work to show clients.
Body By Science explains the how and why of high intensity training, balancing enough scientific background to convey key principles and concepts without overwhelming the lay reader, and practical in-the-gym how-to. It is well organized, well researched, and well written, and an enjoyable and informative read. Every one of its eleven chapters contains a wealth of information, clearly explained with the assistance of numerous graphs and diagrams. The Body By Science Question and Answer Book contains a wealth of information on proper strength training that will serve the trainee well throughout his or her life.
Within the pages of this 260-page companion volume to Body By Science the reader will learn the answers to their most pressing questions. The book is broken into seven separate though interrelated sections, allowing the reader to go to whatever topic or section that is of most concern to him or her. The breakdown is as follows: Part One: Health & Fitness In this section we examine and elaborate on how proper strength training contributes to the total health and fitness (not that these two concepts are co-joined) of the human organism. Topics such as layoffs from training, VO 2 Max testing, cardiovascular health, and other (for the moment more popular) approaches to it are examined and contrasted with resistance exercise. Part Two: Bodybuilding In this section we examine what is really required (as against what is popularly assumed) for human beings to make their bodies bigger and stronger. We also revisit the genetics issue and offer some insights that we have found through training our own clients on a one-on-one basis that have proven helpful in building muscle when other approaches have failed.
Part Three: Special Needs In this section we take an in-depth look at how the trainee can deal with issues ranging from pregnancy to the common cold, in addition to presenting our approach to rehabilitating a host of ailments ranging from lower back pain to tendonitis. Part Four: Training In this section we answer questions about all aspects of training. Once the workout starts – and even after its finished – the trainee encounters many new experiences, from shakey limbs to post workout soreness (and many more besides). These issues are all addressed in this section of the book. Part Five: Nutrition In this section we examine what a healthy diet for humans truly consists of and also go into some depth on the role of insulin in the big picture of human health.
Part Six: Athletics In this section we examine the concept of whether or not athletics – as a “conditioning” activity – is a safe option, and how to proceed with one’s athletic endeavors in a manner that will augment (rather than hinder) one’s performance. In addition, we scrutinize some of the coaching folklore that has endured (needlessly) in the athletic world. Part Seven: Safety In this section of the book we look at your exercise program with an eye toward keeping it safe over the long term. Issues such as breathing, gripping, exercise-induced headache, and recovery are covered (among many others). The reader should know by now that it is our belief that proper strength training is something that every human being should do in order to maximize their functional ability and to live as healthy a life as possible. Hopefully this book will provide the reader with additional reasons and intellectual ammunition as to why this is so.
– Doug McGuff, MD & John Little. BMX Training: A Scientific Approach As a former professional BMX racer, Dr. McGuff shows how to apply high intensity strength training principles to the sport of BMX (bicycle motocross). Now an olympic sport, BMX epitomizes the complexity of sports conditioning as it requires strength, power and endurance in the physical realm, and involves multiple skill sets with a need for both narrow and broad mental focus. This book will prove invaluable not only for the BMX racer, but for any athlete who wants to learn how to efficiently train for their sport.