04-17-2011

So I have been in Sweden a few days now and last night I went out for dinner with a couple from the city of Stockholm and it was amazing. They took me and Charles through the cobblestone streets and eventually to a standing room only restaurant that sells traditional Swedish cuisine….so in this particular instance we had Swedish Meatballs, and they were phenomenal much like the ones my mum would make. The location of Biosig in association with Eleiko is top notch, I have never been in a facility that not only has a fully equipped Eleiko weight room but also lecture halls and free internet while still being a hotel….trust me the last two matter! I remember being in Melbourne and receiving a $458.00 dollar internet bill after just eight days…uhgh talk about a kick in the wedding tackle. Anyway, I digress what I want to talk about is how to train on the road when you are at a lack of time even a potential lack of equipment. When I am away from my routine the hardest part for myself is the maintenance of my anaerobic capacity work…Yeah imagine that one, f**k this is a real piece of news. Anyway, when I am in the USA I train three to four hours a week of Krav Maga on top of my weight room sessions. This has been the way for almost 18months and for the last 4.5 months it has been at altitude! So if I don’t stay with my conditioning I get kicked in the face after some dude kicks me in the balls. I have never been a puker but at 105kg lean mass I will tank oxygen wise and for me its lights out not puke….my world gets very dark…and pass out. True story!

The weight training is one…sometimes two body part a day…double sessions if no capacity work

The Conditioning is general unless I have access to heavy bag facility like Gym Box in London England or bum in need for a few dollars cash.



Day One

The beast workout (yeah I named it…you will figure out why)

Chest A.M

A1. Incline supinated DB-bench press 5sets x 6reps 10-15sec rest 40X0 tempo

A2.Flat DB-Neutral Grip bench press 5sets x 6reps 10-15sec rest 40X0 tempo

A3.Incline DB-Pronated Grip flys 5sets x 6reps 90sec rest 40X0 tempo

Chest P.M

A1. Dips 3sets x 10-15reps 60sec 30X0 tempo

B1. Flat db-neutral grip press 3sets x 10-15reps 60sec 30X0 tempo

C1.Decline pronated grip flys 3sets x 10-15reps 60sec 30X0 tempo



Day Two

Hamstrings A.M

A1. Lying Leg Curl 5sets x 6reps 15sec 40X0 tempo

A2. Standing Leg Curls 5sets x 6reps 15sec 40X0 tempo

A3. Seated leg Curls 5sets x 6reps 120sec 40X0 tempo

Day Two

Capacity Work (15-30min and this is non rest work…just changes in intensity and movements)

Day Three

Back A.M

A1. Semi Supinated Chins 5sets x 6reps 15sec 40X0 tempo

A2. Seated low Rows 5sets x 6reps 15sec 40X0 tempo

A3. Seated pull downs 5sets x 6reps 90sec 40X0 tempo

Upper back and Rotator

A1. Trap 3 3sets x 12reps 45sec 40X0 tempo

B1. Cable Scapular Retraction 3sets x 12reps 45sec 40X0 tempo

C1. 45° cable rotators 3sets x 12reps 45sec 30X0 tempo



Day Four

Quads A.M

A1. DB hack squats 5sets x 6reps 15sec 30X0 tempo

A2. Walking Lunges 5sets x 6reps 15sec 30X0 tempo

A3. Split squats (cable) 5sets x 6reps 120sec 30X0 tempo



Day Four

Calves P.M

A1. Standing Calve Raises 5sets x 10-12 45sec 21X1 tempo

A2. Seated Calve Raises 5sets x 10-12 45sec 21X1 tempo

Anaerobic Capacity Work (15-30min)



Day Five

Triceps A.M

A1. Lying Skull Crushers 5sets x 6reps 10-15sec 40X0 tempo

A2. French Press Rope 5sets x 6reps 10-15sec 40X0 tempo

A3. Cable Push downs 5sets x 6reps 90sec 31X0 tempo



Biceps P.M

A1. Reverse Scott Curls 5sets x 6reps 10-15sec 40X0 tempo

A2. Scott Curls 5sets x 6reps 10-15sec 40X0 tempo

A3. Incline Db-curls 5sets x 6reps 90sec 40X0 tempo



Give it a try!

04-13-11

During the last year I have the opportunity to train at facilities all over the world and it has allowed to me to see the best of the best and the worst of the worst.  Both in gym equipment and personal training habits, but the one thing that is fascinating to me is the type of training that you will see from country to country.  You see, as a small town Canadian kid I always thought that I would go to London and everyone would be training like Dorian Yates and if I traveled to Scandinavian countries they would be giant Nordic people lifting massive amounts of weight, old women caring handbags made of metal…You know that sort a thing. However, in the end it seems worldwide people are doing the majority of the same things the same way…I assumed at first that it must be just the Americans and Canadians that drinks form the well of fucked up training practices taught by assholes that  aren’t strong enough to pull up their own pants. …Yet I am sadly mistaken.  You see I am not just a meathead that walks into the weight room to smash things around and make noises. Do I like to do these things? Yes, is it what I like to be around in the weight room? On occasion, but I understand that isn’t for everyone and I am a lot more open to things than people realize. For example, there is a training center out in South Tacoma Washington that is primarily cross fit…and you know what? These guys know how to train, period. Yes, their primary clients are cross fit minded but Trident Athletics has taken a base system and expanded on it.  They work really hard and they work really smart. Their head instructor and owner is a BioSig and PICP coach that is currently and continuously seeking a better way to achieve success with his staff and clients. So even though there are a lot of people that will be shitting their pants because I am not jumping up and down on the cross fit name like an angry grizzly on a deer carcass, but here is the reality.  It comes down to the individual coach or trainer and how they are dealing with their athletes specifically because the shit bag training that I see around the globe is predominately perpetuated by shit box coaches. They are all reading the same books and taking the same lectures, and pumping out the same bosu ball nonsense. Here is the deal, if you want success in the weight room as a coach, trainer or individual you need stop and take a look around. If you see a guy or gal that walks into your facility and not only do they look like steel but more importantly they have the ability to move steel you should pay attention. I don’t care what they are doing, but if they have the ability to perform when the rubber meets the road they are worth watching for a minute. If that same person has a coach or a trainer then for sure you will want to see what they are up to, maybe even stop and pay for their time to hear what they have to say.  The reality, the vast majority of elite coaches and trainers in gyms from London to Perth are making sure that not only are their athletes breaking balls every session they are learning how to be better students of the game.  They are growing their own education to make sure that they are spending their client’s time in the most productive way possible. 

04/02/2011

I have spent the majority of my life on this planet as an athlete, coach or something in between. It has allowed me to see the world and meet a lot of people from a number of different professional backgrounds, but regardless of what we believe the vast majority of people are being misled by continuous onslaught of misinformation.  I often wondered if it was me who truly was the peddler of mistruths and distraction because at times it seemed that I was the only one speaking my language and it wasn’t until I started training with Jud Logan in Ashland, Oh that I finally started to feel like my ideas were not strength training blasphemy! Certainly I have stepped off the path for a number of different reasons and on the ventures from the path I have learned a lot about what I was doing that was not only right but also very, very wrong! These trips from the path were during times of personal exploration in to the realm of curiosity, trying to make a bigger stronger me in not only the physical sense but also the mental and spiritual sense.  However, it was the trips away that made the path that much easier to walk.  Each trip away either strengthened the abilities that I already had or provided clarity by teaching me to release or let go of belief systems or simple false truths that were walking with me making the path more difficult to navigate. 

It is  this process of letting go of old thoughts and taking on new information and ideas that may not have been previously, easy to conceive or accept that has allowed me to enjoy continuous success. It allows me to wear a number of different hats depending on the direction of my goals. I maintain this sense of direction by setting clear goals, but the road or path in which I use to get to my goals are as free or open to influence as anything in my life.  You have to understand, that all that matters is that you reach your destination! How the road takes you or for that fact. How you ‘allow’ the road or path to take you is completely open to interpretation.  Too many young coaches or trainers from all around the world have not even taken a step and begin to doubt or question whether or not they have the tools to reach the destination that they had in mind. Or worse yet they begin only to stop because they allow someone else to tell them what direction they want to go! Listen if I can give you one piece of advice, you must set your destination first and start moving. Second; seek out the people and sources that have the information that help you make your destination more attainable. If they are providing information that anticipates an alternate destination that's ok, they are moving one way and you are simply moving another. If there is one thing that I hate is motherf***ers that try to force their ideas on people with the intent to confuse or mislead because they want to be the only destination. Their destination is profit or self-gratification over all else! These people and or organizations are doing us all a great disservice, because they don’t take into consideration that there are a lot of directions and outcomes that one can experience as a traveler in this industry.  

Remember, that in the end it is your path to walk, it’s your destination to arrive at and over time the destinations will change and the information that you require will grow. Take the time to make sure that the tools you pick make your journey easier, but don't  slow you down.

Derek Woodske

Master course conductor

Poliquin Strength Institute

ANNA SLOTNICK!: Location, Denver Colorado

ANNA SLOTNICK!: Location, Denver Colorado

For the majority of my younger years, I was rail thin. Looking back now, it was kind of gross-- no curves, no tone, my figure was literally straight up and down, like a 12 year-old boy. But I could eat whatever I wanted-- literally, ice cream for breakfast and Doritos for dinner, and I wouldn't gain an ounce. I was what we call "skinny fat"-- thin, but no muscle mass whatsoever. I was not physically active-- besides when I was going to tip the bottle of booze (which I later found out I was allergic to), or going to light that bowl of chronic (am I allowed to say that on here?). Upon leaving home and going to college, you can only imagine how my bad habits grew worse.

My first year of college I gained a good 25 lbs; my lightening fast metabolism was slowing; my eating, drinking, and drug habits were even worse, and my inactivity was getting the best of me. One day I saw a picture of myself; I was disgusted, and decided enough was enough.

So I hit the gym hard. I was clueless though; all I ever did was run on the elliptical and train abs. I  decided to say goodbye to alcohol and marijuana, and felt even better. I started to clean up my eating, and began seeing results. I loved the way I felt after a work out-- strong, accomplished, empowered-- it was a natural high almost. I was instantly addicted. Fitness became my passion and I wanted to share it with everyone around me. I decided that I was going to study exercise science in hopes of becoming a personal trainer and maybe one day open my own gym.

That is when I found Ben Demko, my first personal trainer (who I trained with for almost 2 years), one of my best friends, and now my boss and PICP Level 1 Coach. He showed me how to train the whole body-- the nervous system as well as the muscular system. He taught me the fundamentals of training-- weight, rep, tempo schemes, hypertrophy, strength, weight loss, endurance, you name it.

NASM Certified Since 2010 Certified Trainer with Expert Rating 2010 CPR / AED Certified Student Metropolitan State College of Denver. Major; Adult Fitness and exercise Science. Minor Nutrition.

I am now a certified personal trainer still making that effort to get my degree and graduate from Metro State here soon. I am currently training for my first NPC bikini competition. I model on the side for fun and networking. I believe that my body is my billboard, and with discipline and will power, you really can achieve anything you set your mind to. Realize your potential, then kick the shit out of it. Pain is an illusion... well for the most part. Weights before dates. Champions train, losers complain. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. Fear earns you nothing, so find a way, or make one. Push yourself; struggle to get those last few reps that hurt oh so good, then move on to the next exercise. Determination is the bridge between goals and accomplishments, so let's cross that bridge.

To Contact Anna Slotnick for personal training or Modeling.