“The rule is: the basics are the basics and you can’t beat the basics.” – Charles Poliquin Charles Poliquin is one of the best known strength coaches in the world. He has trained elite athletes from nearly 20 different sports, including Olympic gold medalists, NFL All-Pro’s, NHL All-Stars and Stanley Cup champions, and IFBB bodybuilding champions. His clients include long-jump gold medalist Dwight Phillips, NHL MVP Chris Pronger, and MLB batting champion Edgar Martinez, among many others. Poliquin is currently teaching advanced hypertrophy, nutrition, and strength seminars alongside one of my favorite athletes, Olympic weightlifting icon and medalist Dimitry Klokov. Poliquin has authored more than 600 articles on strength training, and his work has been translated into 12 different languages.
He has written 8 books, including his latest, a short gem entitled. Find much more about Poliquin and his latest. Ep 60: Tim Ferriss Interviews Arnold Schwarzenegger on Psychological Warfare (And Much More) This episode is sponsored. I get asked all the time, “If you could only use one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is, inevitably,. It is my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body and did not get paid to do so.
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Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to for the inspiration) 317 comments on “ Charles Poliquin on Strength Training, Shredding Body Fat, and Increasing Testosterone and Sex Drive”. Absolutely love the quote, I actually put a reminder for it to pop-up every week for a while: The rule is: the basics are the basics and you can’t beat the basics.” sometimes we like to get fancy and need to remember ourselves. The other thing, which I agree and actually did for a year was not taking any supplement because as he said, I did not feel like I deserved it. If you are not watching your diet correctly, have crap sleep and are skipping the gym more than you should taking supplements is a pure delusion unless for a specific reason (like working night shifts and taking something to sleep etc) Like. Great episode, there was a lot of great content in this one.
The “something that Charles believes that others think is crazy” bit was intriguing, given other anecdotal evidence that some woo-sounding “chi” stuff may be a neurological or hormonal biofeedback phenomenon (Wim Hof’s stuff, or the Chen tai chi guy being able to heat or cool his hands by 2-6 degrees at will during a Stanford study). Regarding the question at the end of the blog post, my vote would be either notes from trying out the aforementioned Wim Hof’s breathing method (which seems to pop up a lot lately), or something involving diet and gut microbiology impact. Yes, I’d also like to hear your updated recommendation on this Tim. This was probably the most important part of the interview for me as soon as I heard his opinion on kettlebell swings. This was one of the major takeways I got from the 4 Hour Body so if it is in fact something that should now be avoided for potential back injuries, I’d appreciate an updated opinion. Also, I think since Charles is also a big fan of Tims, I’m sure he’s aware that the kettlebell swing is something that Tim highly recommends so it’s interesting that he was very diplomatic (in my opinion) when he did NOT use the word “moronic” when referring to the kettlebell swing yet pretty much blasted all the other exercises.
Please guide us Tim. Thanks in advance! I’ve been doing Pavel’s Simple and Sinister for 18 months now. I’m 135lb male. I started with 35lb kettlebell and slowly worked my way up to: 100x One Arm 32kg (70lb) swings in 7 minutes (15 second work, 30 second rest) 10x 32kg TGU.
I’ve injured myself ONCE. At crossfit and other training, I would usually nurse some minor shoulder/back injury once/month.
I swing a 32kg kettlebell 5 days/week (one arm) and haven’t had an injury this year. The ‘force multiplier’ for me was grip strength – I bought the Captains of Crush this year, and that helped me grip the kettlebell in a safer, stronger way (I was previously ‘barbell gripping’ it, and now can grip a 32kg one handed with my fingers hooked over) Kettlebells are pretty damn safe Liked.
Tim: I feel more so the problem arises with an average western population that has a abnormally (or more so somewhat UN-natual) weak glute and lower back. We only need to look at any tribal culture to see much stronger, firmer and tougher lower back and glute muscles that hold great posture and form of the human body/spine. Kettle bell swings can be quite brutal on this region for those of us that sit a lot and are beginning, or restarting training.
Personally, having trained a fair amount in the past, then having stopped training for years, and working sitting for a long time, going back to training and having swings as a common part of a diverse training regime, i always find that kettle swings cause havoc on my back. It is EASY to overdo it as we as a western society easily neglect our lower back and they become very weak. Remember, correct FORM also relates to CORRECT WEIGHT (something the body can handle without massive damaging strain while retaining form). We need to remember that often our lower backs are actually atrophied from our western lifestyle choices, so need SPECIAL CARE when working to rebuild our backs as to support even proper posture and form in daily life. I would stipulate that its likely that if your having excess issues or pain with this that either you have an injury, or your form/weight is incorrect.
Having said that, due to its potentially brutal nature on the lower back it can be something that can be easily substituted for those in potential risk. Tim, For the ease of your audience, I’m copying Pavel’s response from the StrongFirst Forum “No exercise is perfect for everybody but the swing comes pretty close. At least when it is performed the way we teach it. Over 14 years of my kettlebell certifications we have received countless reports of improved back health and performance. “Kettlebell Simple & Sinister” has been endorsed by #1 spine biomechanist in the world Prof. Stuart McGill and leading PT expert Gray Cook. Among SFG instructors you will find chiropractors, MDs, and PTs who not only coach the swing for performance but use it in rehabilitation.
Get cleared by a doc and enjoy all the benefits the swing can deliver.” It’s hard (as usual) to say it any better than Pavel does. In Strength, Eric Frohardt Liked. I second Paul Chek as a guest! Also, this was a great interview. As a fellow strength coach, I regard Charles as an icon in this industry. His reasoning against swings, injuries aside, seems to miss the point movement-wise, but it’s common among barbell guys like Poliquin and Rippetoe to erroneously (in my opinion) view the kettlebell though a barbell lens, yet I would never consider either of them anything but brilliant coaches. Anyway, aside from that and calling elk gamey (no way!), I really enjoyed the episode.
At one point in the interview Charles talks a bit about an intestinal parasite and veterans with eye problems related to the parasite. He was just making a point about scientific research vs. Experience but my best bud is an Iraq War Vet and is suffering dry eye problems concerning his tear ducts. I couldn’t understand the name of the parasite Charles named. Do you have any insight on this or at least could you point me in a good direction. I tried searching for it, and came across info on veterans that suffer from PTSD see an increase in eye related issues, but no word on what causes it.
Podcast rocks! I have a herniated L5-S1 disc and have always been told by my trainer’s and coaches to stay away from KB’s.
I am sure that if they are done properly (appropriate range of motion and appropriate weight) they can be highly effective. However I cringe when I see people at my gym go in and try them without a trainer or proper guidance.
While I did not agree with everything he said in the podcast (everyone’s physical makeup is different, so it is hard to come to a blanket conclusion about what is best for everyone) I agree with Charles and think that they are a recipe injuries (especially to the back). I’m a StrongFirst kettlebell instructor (Level 1), and l herniated my L5-S1 disc back in 2000 when I was in the military jumping out of airplanes. Lots of pain and weakness for years. But after several years I started lifting weights, including KBs. I did mostly CrossFit stuff, but the deadlifts and back squats worked great. No back pain, but I was focused on getting technique right.
Same w/ kettlebells, and that’s why I’m now an SFG. Looks to me like Charles is right about power lifts, and Pavel is right about KBs. The only wrongness comes from the blanket condemnation of a proven exercise like Russian/hardstyle kettlebell swings.
They’re not for everybody, but they’re not for everybody to AVOID! When done properly they benefit multitudes of people. Swinging a kettlebell will not hurt you. You need to use proper weight maintain a neutral back and hip hinge. Swing with your hips thrusting up and forward. If you shoulders pass the test you can go as high as you want if you have funky shoulders don’t go as high.
It’s not the end all exercise it’s really just a good rest from doing heavy deadlifts. It gets your heart rate up. I think Poliquin is not crazy about them because their not as good as other exercises, like deadlifts and sumo deadlifts. You’ll never get gains safely from a kettle bell like you would a barbell deadlift. Once you start going really heavy with a kettle bell your form will probably go to shit, because kettle bells are more of a metcon movement or accessory movement for core work. Poliquin recommends stuff that will transform your strength. Kettlebells are actually better for doing one arm work and off balance stuff.
Even McGill does’t really talk much about swings it more for doing static holds with the KB inverted over head so your core has to counteract torque. Tweet me if you w have any other questions. I’ve read McGills book, KStarrs supple leopard and all of Tim’s stuff. I’m a big fan of the Juggernaut website jtsstrength dot com. Do you have any literature on the subject? I’ve heard that balance is fully developed at a young age, around 12, coordination is usually optimally developed by sport practice, and agility can be increased through agility drills and resistance training.
The studies I’ve read into have indicated that unstable surface training is good for relearning proprioception after injury, but leads to diminishing returns after a short period and can inhibit force production. In my experience, larger cross-sectional area of a muscle increases the potential for strength, and functional movement patterns need to be overloaded for them to develop the kinetic chain. You are right about the current research but all the current research has a flaw. We have discovered that flaw. Athletic balance has also lacked from a valid testing method. Balance may be set at a young age but is degraded by the our modern lifestyle and neural system utilization.
Agree on the larger cross sectional training and is in effect that is what we do. Our methods utilize just about every stabilizer muscle you have at one time. The fittest of the fit sweat within 30 seconds. You are also right that results come very quickly. Almost too quickly making it a real business model problem.
By the way look around and see that the very best athletes are starting to integrate balance training, the right kind, in their routine. Check out what TJ Dillashaw does then watch his last fight. You will see the difference. I don’t mean to be too obtuse. I have a book coming out this fall, Balance Is Power, where I will release all this information. The results are supported, mind blowing and logical. As to the KB, everyone is right.
As an inexpensive, democratized (sorry Comrad Pavel) tool, the kb is pretty hard to beat. We suggest every athlete we work with keep one in their car for traveling and in their kitchen for when life gets a bit too hectic to make it to the gym proper. Like Dumbbells, kb’s give athletes the opportunity to have to create stability at shoulder/proximally (not of a closed system like a barbell (where compensation is easy). This kind of stimulus is effective and solves a host of mechanical based problems in a great deal of the athletes we work with. And for a metabolic wallup, see you in 10 minutes after some good old fashioned clean and presses, carries, loaded step ups.
However, I can say unequivically that the barbell serves as the base language of our training. We find that anyone competent on a barbell can quickly transfer over to kb’s and that the opposite isn’t necessarily true. Basic linear progessions and heavy ass loading just isn’t possible or practical without the bar. Charles is an expert in neuro-endocrine response. I can see why he feels the way he does.
Getting people reasonably metabolically fit and functionally and practically durable is one of the things that Pavel does best. Donnie Thompson does heavy double Kb snatches between his speed sets on dynamic days. He seems to also squat pretty heavy. (1245?) I think that Pavel and Dan John have done a pretty amazing job of creating a pretty cogent and complete movement practice based on having a single kettlebell in your possession. My personal training heritage based on the movement competencies described by Glassman means that there are both kb’s and barbells cycling regularly through the hands of our athletes. I love heavy jerking and pressing, but a trashed wrist from years of sport and injury mean that if I go heavy overhead it’s with a log or my twin 100lb kb’s. I guess my question is: why aren’t we all competent with both?
KStarr, Thank you so much for posting. Two follow up questions: 1) 2:03:55 – Charles states a KB swing is harmful for your back disc structure (“no safe way to do a KB swing”), have you seen evidence of this in your doctoring? 2) 1:12:00 – Charles states for warm ups “Foam roller is a waste of time leads to more scar tissue”.
It sounds like he is discounting foam rolling all together. I believe you advocate only rolling after warmed up. Am I taking this out of context or is foam rolling detrimental without first being warm? Thanks again Kelly, Sincerely, Fanboy 🙂 Like. Kelly, quick question for you.
Tim asks Poliquin “What drives you nuts about warm ups for weight training?” The first thing Poliquin mentions is the foam roller (01:11:58). He said, “That is such a waste of time, plus it leads to more scar tissue. I only like foam rollers to distract vertebras.” Thanks to you, I’ve been a big fan of the foam roller (and the lacrosse ball) for mobility. This is the first time I’ve ever heard someone (who in my judgment knows what he’s talking about) say that it leads to more scar tissue. Is this something I should be concerned about? Kelly, quick question for you.
Tim asks Poliquin “What drives you nuts about warm ups for weight training?” The first thing Poliquin mentions is the foam roller (01:11:58). He said, “That is such a waste of time, plus it leads to more scar tissue. I only like foam rollers to distract vertebras.” Thanks to you, I’ve been a big fan of the foam roller (and the lacrosse ball) for mobility. This is the first time I’ve ever heard someone (who in my judgment knows what he’s talking about) say that it leads to more scar tissue.
Is this something I should be concerned about? Awesome episode, great info and funny guy! Love his scientific approach to everything, leaving no stone unturned. One thing that I would like to point out is, he didn’t seem to think it was possible to develop great strength on only a plant-based diet.
Now I love meat and totally agree on all the benefits it provides but I am kind of baffled at how someone like Frank Medrano can develop this freak like strength on solely the vegan diet he claims to adhere to. It would’ve been good to get his take on it.
For reference: Like. On a sort of related topic, how about “stretching” (as in for martial arts that involve a lot of high kicking). Not everyone can do the splits between two semis, but it seems that for a majority of martial artists, you are either born “limber” or you aren’t, regardless of years of stretching.
I would be very interested to know if you have ever come across stretching techniques (specifically “front splits” and “lotus” hip stretching) to increase flexability for those who are not naturally flexible.??? So I just got around to listening to this- this might be the best podcast you’ve done so far Tim. Charles definitely delivered here. Funny thing is, I was really looking forward to the sex drive and supplement stuff when I saw them in the show notes- but I had completely forgotten that they were my questions. So that was a pleasant surprise. My two cents on the KB swings debate- I did them for a long time after The Four-Hour Body came out, and never got injured.
But I always worried about smacking myself in the legs. Now I do dumbell swings, which are safer and probably a better arm workout, but don’t do as much for your lower body or give as much metabolic effect. But the added bonus, for me at least, is that incorporating iso-lateral movements helps me sleep, and that alone is reason enough to swap some movements for iso-lateral analogues. Timmy name is Tony Iannone.
I’m a teacher. I felt compelled to write you this afternoon after listening to yet another amazing podcast!! You probably hear this 100 times a day if you hear it onceThank you! I’ve been a follower since the 4 Hour Work Week. Your world-view revolutionized the way I prioritize (the manner in which I spend my time) each day and helped me not only complete but defend my dissertation a year ago this month! I did not make many friends during that journey and at the end of the daywho cares?! That’s not what I was trying to do.
I was trying to accomplish something that very few people can say they’ve accomplishedonce they start. These podcasts have given me permission to consider my life an experimenttrying different things out that I learn as I listen, taking notes, integrating them into my daily routine, and reflecting on what did/not work and why! I think the controversy of KB swings being good/bad should go back towards Peter Attia’s N=1 “Let me figure out through my own practice if this is actually good or bad” approach. When he mentioned that KB swing were bad for you, I immediately thought of the question of whether or not the Nutritional Ketogenic Diet was good or bad during a previous podcast, and the ultimate answer given was ” it depends on the individual”. The one good outcome of doing KB swings though, is that they are quite difficult to do from your couch.
GET ON YOUR FEET! I just reached out to him via his FB page. Here is his assistant’s response as I was wondering the same thing Standard recommendation in his BioPrint class that most adult men who are deficient in this, as per a lab analysis, should replenish it with 4 gr of chelated forms of magnesium. The best way is to take many forms of absorbable magnesium. Those usually end in -ate, such as fumarate, citrate, glycinate, bisglycinate, etc. To avoid bowel issues, these have to be titrated up slowly and combined with topical forms as well. This is what yields the best results.
We are currently writing a pdf where the most frequent questions will find their answers, so please do not repost this yet. Such a wide-ranging interview. And the emos with it. What I loved about CP was his life-long personal approach to personal development: and the charisma in there. A lot to learn here on simplicity; some keystone knowledge in supplementation; agility in living, having fun, learning languages.
Thank you Tim and Charles. In terms of the KB debate – and the mockery of use of balance boards and non-linear practises – CP’s perspective is clearly one-dimensional in the gym. Being a surfer, I’ve learnt much from Laird’s cross-approaches that mimic the chaos being unloaded on your body in the ocean compared with the verticals of an olympic lift. For amusement, I vote for a CP and Laird double-header! Why not throw Pavel in too, the Christmas special. Tim – as always – thank you for what you are pulling out for us. My head is being re-programmed with all kinds of good stuff and happy that the TFS is my 100.00 FM.
Kevin – PS loving also saying yes to Mizz & Maine, Meundies, Athletic Greens offers and the Standing Desk campaign.I always have this thought someone will come by and visit and spot it all, going “oh, you’re clearly in the school of Ferriss”. To add to vegan/no meat athletes: – Alexey Voevoda (Olympic Gold Medalist – Bob Sledding, Arm Wrestling World Champion) – Herschel Walker (Heisman Trophy 1982, 10yr NFL career, Olympic Bob Sledding 7th place 1992) Not trying to be funny here, but Walker also has been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, so it may worth taking his “1 meal/day consisting of soup, salad, and breads” with a grain of salt.
(I’d love to be proven wrong about that.) Alexey is an especially interesting case as he adamantly defends his decision to stop eating meat citing A.M. “The Theory of Adequate Specific Nutrition.” I’m American, so I’ll leave it to you foreigners and polyglots (looking at you, Tim) to peer review. Preemptive disclaimer: regardless of the findings, you have to respect a human flag at 270lbs.
Voevoda was also a main character in the “Pulling John (2009)” documentary on lengendary armwrestler John Brzenk. Definitely worth watching. Regarding the interview: I’ve been listening faithfully to your podcast for the last six months, and this was the one that finally prompted me to fill out the lengthy requirements to comment. While all of your guests are far more accomplished than I am (in almost every facet of their lives) I’ve noticed several will reach a point during the interview where they’re outside of their specific field of expertise and resort to filling the void with gobbledygook.
This, however, was an episode where I noticed the exact opposite. A consummate expert, reluctantly refraining from certain topics or elaboration because of time constraints or the assumed comprehension limitations of the audience. I say that, to say this: schedules permitting, Poliquin and Sammy Kamkar deserve more episodes. Big up to Starrett for commenting. Tim, great work once again. The most compelling points you and Charles make are in regards to empiricism and evidenced based medicine.
It amazes me how quickly we in medicine will jump on the bandwagon of a treatment or line of thinking because “a study just came out showing” only to abandon them once another study shows otherwise. Yet we undermine non-medical clinicians like Poliquin because of lack of data. Ignaz Semmelweis comes to mind, for example! By the way, I gave you and Dr. Gawande kudos on my most recent blog post on Orthopedics Today. Hopefully, you can reach a new sector with this introduction to the Orthopedic Surgery community. All the best!
Article can be found on Healio Orthopedics under the Blog section. (wanted to follow the comment rules) Like. I want to preface this by saying I am not vegetarian and don’t hold any strong opinions about the diet but found it interesting that Charles mentions that he has never seen it in a world class athlete. The most decorated olympic weightlifter currently competing, Ilya Ilyin, is a vegan and has 2 olympic championships, 4 world championships and several records in both the 94kg and 105kg weight class.
I believe only his most recent 105 class records were under a vegan diet but I am curious what he thinks about Ilya. Is he simply a physical anomaly training under suboptimal conditions? Another less accomplished but note worthy vegan weightlifter is Kendrick Farris of the United States. “At 18 years old Ilya decided that he wants to switch to vegetarianism eventually.
Until only just recently he hasn’t been able to fully commit to it. He ate meat during preparation for London 2012” Source: Jeff, you claim that Ilya Ilyin is a Vegan winning world and Olympic competitions, yet he won all those records while on a diet eating meat. What are your sources of info? The only source I found was the above mentioned webpage with an interview where Ilya admits he “want to be a vegetarian.” Note that he never said “Vegan.” If he’s serious enough to be a “Vegan” then why would he say “Vegetarian?” Like. Hi Tim, Loved this episode, thank you so much for interviewing Charles.
I wasn’t familiar with him before, but now I’m excited to learn more and use his teaching to improve my strength training routine. I was especially grateful that you asked questions about common mistakes trainers make with women–I find that so many strength training programs are geared towards men and it can often be intimidating. I’m interested in finding a quality strength coach here in Washington DC–any recommendations on how to find one? Not really sure where to start other than gym trainers, and based on what Charles shared, I’m super skeptical of the quality I might find there. Loved this podcast and everything Charles has to say.
Except for his knock against steady state cardio for fat loss. This is largely dependent on context.
As a woman who has been barbell training for four years with plenty of muscle and 10lbs of body fat to lose, I find that adding three easy 45 minute runs a week to my strength program helps me get leaner. This is instead of eating 250 calories less than I would on those days. Genetics plays a large part in how people react to exercise and it’s up to each person to determine what kind of programming will help them achieve their goals, especially aesthetic ones.
I agree Lloyd, as the most I’ve done daily is 10 g (shot glass full) of fish oils, and liquid is the only way to go to get that level. My first days on that had pretty loose bowels for about a week, but I have seen it suggested that if you are really sick, and can still stand the loose stools, to keep going at that pace or higher!! Design’s for Health is a good brand, and I have also used Standard Process & NutriWest’s products (I’m a Chiropractor with access to all three companies). NutriWest’s product is similar to Barry Sears products from what I can tell, with EPA:DHA::2:1, recommended for adults (opposite for children, as they need DHA for their brains, which is what SP actually has as a liquid). I ended up not responding well to the product from NutriWest, and tried VitaminShoppe’s high potency, lemon flavored, and seem to have gotten the same result. Words of warning on supplementing this high a fish oil. You may not need it for that long.
Get a good fatty acid test analysis (blood draw or spot test), comparing your arachadonic acid (AA, Ω-6) to your EPA (Ω-3). The ratio for those should be 4:1 to 1:1, as you need the Ω-6’s for regular inflammatory responses, especially important for physical training.
“Toxic Fat” by Barry Sears gets into the details in the first 120 pages or so. But once you get into the above range, don’t overdue it!! I think if your diet is complete crap, you may need more fish oils initially, but as you balance things out, keep that number checked periodically to determine if you need to increase/decrease supplements accordingly. Great interview and I have tremendous respect for Charles, his knowledge, and the work he’s done in the industry. He’s one of the best minds, without question. With that said, I do strongly disagree on his points about the Kettlebell swing. My interpretation is that he was referring to the American Style swing which is a different animal from the Russian Style swing.
From several years of practical experience, I can say the the Russian style swing offers many benefits when performed with optimal technique. My personal experience is that of a physical therapist and also a person who’s experienced a major low back injury many years ago – and the swing has been KEY in “optimizing” the health of my back.
There are countless anecdotal reports of benefits of using the (Russian) swing to improve back health, not impair it. And, the work by Dr. Stuart McGill helps to shed light on the unique forces in the spine and who may or may not benefit from the Russian style swing. I think the key point (or misunderstanding) here is the difference in the American Swing and Russian Swing – the American swing is very much biomechanically different (and I’ve written extensively about this myself). His point about the vertical bar path in OL is spot on, of course, and this is critical for weightlifting.
But, in the Russian swing the point is to project the bell only horizontal to approximately.shoulder height (the intent is not to go overhead as in the American style which places much more demand on the spine and shoulders and promotes more faulty mechanics). Ah, lots to debate and discuss, just my 2 cents and again, I have nothing but high regards for Charles. I’ve listened to about 40 minutes so far-it is very interesting, but I have some concerns. 1) he made a comment early on about Chinese medicine being validated. I do not see this in the notes you posted.
I’m not sure what he is talking about. His theory about fire, water, earth and dopamine and other neurotransmitters is interestingbutnot sure what he is referring to in western medicine that validates Chinese medicine. 2) The herbal remedy to help remove loose skin or stretch marks. Any studies on this? I can understand if it maybe can improve some stretch marks but is there a medically plausible explanation for how taking this supplement orally for 6 months can remove a lot of excess skin? If someone was really 400 lbs and went down to 200, they usually need surgery to remove that much loose skin.
If the supplement works, I have no idea how. And what would it be doing to the rest of your connective tissues?
I do not know where to begin, but I will say this–looking at SICK people with heart problems, taking an omega-3 fish oil supplement does not seem to do anything to help with known heart disease. I don’t think there are any studies on taking 40 to 60 g a day of fish oilbut. How can you physically take that much? Even in supplement form that would be a ton of pills. Can you physically eat that much fish on a regular basis that had 60 g of omega 3 fish oil in it? And if so, what else would be in the fish (mercury etc) that would be a problem? Then Paul notes he takes 2 g a day.
So which is it? He also notes in working with Mario DiPasquale that omega 3 seems to treat everything. This kind of broad generalization is a sign that maybemaybe this needs a bit more scrutiny.
4) He went off how on 2008 a journal finally validated cluster training. That he knew about in the 1970s. An alternative viewpoint–there are COUNTLESS training recommendations that pass from coach to the athlete. Not all of them are successful.
Humans also have their own bias when looking at the athlete and the situation. While it is nice that cluster training was validated per the study in 2008, think of hundred or thousands or routines that started in the 1970s that did not pan out. A study like what was published can provide some needed validation.
If Charles had tried something other than cluster trainingbut had some inherent bias and continued to use it, maybe the study would have ended that. The whole point of evidence-based medicine is that in many situations the most dangerous thing a doctor can say regarding a treatment is “in my experience” we tend to focus on the positive and downplay the negative. Our memory is not perfect. A well-done study can cut through bias to provide better-validated information and ideally prove that the improvement noted (or harm ) was more likely than not due to simple chance alone. In terms of Bias, is Charles working with such high level athletes that nearly any regiment would help them, but if he worked with more slobs like myself he would need to be more selective in his advice? In a study environment is someone was taking anabolic steroids or another ergogenic aid, that could be controlled for. If you are working with a ton of high level athletes looking for an edge and they are taking anabolic steroids on the slythat tends to improve results quite a bit.
5) I have no doubt Charles is a wealth of information and experience, but does he have any conflicts of interest or disclosures? Does he get a fee for recommending a brand of omega3 fish oil he likes? I don’t believe he meant to say ‘treat’ rather than ‘preventative measure’ when it came to omega 3 supplementation.
I found numerous studies on pubmed, and in my university’s database covering omega 3 supplementation and positive preventive effects. I think he’d be able to infer whether the study was used with anabolic assistance or not. High level athletes aren’t easy to train, their adaptive system is less responsive than the average population simply because of training age; techniques need to be more selective and personalized. I also don’t believe they’d be taking them on the “sly”, elite trainers, the nutritionists, the coaches, and the teammates know and are usually well versed on the subject. Plus, its no secret that the competition is taking them too. I believe he is an amazing elite trainer because he is selective and individualized in his advice on every level.
Charles Poliquin Magnesium
Nobody gets to the top without training slobs first anyways haha. Just because there is a study in pubmed does not mean it is a good study. To be honest, you really have to be careful since there is overwhelming bias to publish studies with positive findings. Then are the items under study really important?: Is looking at LDL levels more important than number of heart attacks or people that died from a heart attack? Hard ends points are more important than soft ones. But Cochrane did look at a bunch of good studies and they say this “It is not clear that dietary or supplemental omega 3 fats alter total mortality, combined cardiovascular events or cancers in people with, or at high risk of, cardiovascular disease or in the general population.
There is no evidence we should advise people to stop taking rich sources of omega 3 fats, but further high quality trials are needed to confirm suggestions of a protective effect of omega 3 fats on cardiovascular health. There is no clear evidence that omega 3 fats differ in effectiveness according to fish or plant sources, dietary or supplemental sources, dose or presence of placebo.” Like.
Hi, Well recently I've hired a personal trainer and he's a great guy honestly, but he's extremely expensive and I can only afford 1 hour/per fortnight. He told me to take the following supplements, are they all good and useful? Any side effects?: - Magnesium - Zinc - Omega fish oils - Protein whey powder He also instructed me to follow the German body composition workout routine, he gave me an introduction on it but I'd like to know more from experienced members who have tried it and could you please give me a summary on its effectiveness?
Thank you for everything! This site has been a huge help. Take protein powder, a multi, and that's it unless you have some other deficiencies or issues (IE joint problems, lack of energy) 3.
I have never heard of the 'German Body Composition' workout, it might be similiar to German Volume Training (GVT) which is pretty much garbage in my honest opinion. My advice, get on a good beginner routine like those in the workout programs stickies, spend some time researching how to diet, and do it yourself or get a training partner. Personal trainers aren't always the best investment. Hi, Madroach (nice username btw).
I just joined to answer your question because SuicideGripMe was kind of far off. Charles Poliquin, the author of the german body comp program, suggests that everyone, especially people trying to radically change the quality of their form, take fish oil, lots of protein powder, and amino acids. Zinc, magnesium, vitamin C, calcium, and all those things are fantastic, too, but zinc and magnesium are probably the most important among them.
Here's what I suggest you do since money may be a bit scarce right now. Take a lot of fish oil (which is great for everything regarding body comp), whey concentrate, and zinc.
Charles Poliquin Fat Loss Program
I buy ALL my supplements from a place called true protein, which offers absolutely fantastic supplements for fantastic prices. You can find whey there for about $5 a pound, fish oil for about 1000 capsules for $25, and zinc+magnesium mix for about $15. That's about $45 (if you buy only one pound of whey), all in all, but the fish oil will last you for a LONG time, even if you take four a day; 250 days to be exact. The shipping is about $10, but if you google 'true protein discount code' you'll get five-ten percent off. Good luck, my friend! I suggest you try to make a bulk order of at least a few pounds of whey and the fish oil if you can't afford to buy the zinc.
Don't forget to read all you can at Charles Poliquin's website (charlespoliquin.com). GOOD LUCK Edit: Also, if you google, 'Zinc Magnesium Aspartate GABA Complex Capsules true protein' you'll find the mix I mentioned earlier. Hi, Well recently I've hired a personal trainer and he's a great guy honestly, but he's extremely expensive and I can only afford 1 hour/per fortnight. He told me to take the following supplements, are they all good and useful?
Charles Poliquin Zinc
Any side effects?: - Magnesium - Zinc - Omega fish oils - Protein whey powder He also instructed me to follow the German body composition workout routine, he gave me an introduction on it but I'd like to know more from experienced members who have tried it and could you please give me a summary on its effectiveness? Thank you for everything! This site has been a huge help.