Poliquin International Certification Program Level 1

So for the last 4 days i have been in Copenhagen, Denmark. I have not seen the city as i have been studying hard!

The Level 1 has been all upper body structural balance, that in basic terms means if your upper bodies ratio's of strength in different lifts is wrong there isnt a hope in hell of you reaching your potential 1 Rep Max in your upper body lifts.

Charles Poliquin has many examples of this on his website, including Adam Nelson increasing his Bench Press from around 300lbs up to 520lbs..... quite impressive huh!

We each has our structural balance tested and interestingly my limiting factor is not my pec power but actually my lower traps and scapula retractors that are limiting my bench press. This basically means for the next 4-8 weeks there is not a barbell in sight and im on a strict remedial program for my upper body to bring my 'trap 3' test score up! Once i have done this my bench press will make all sorts of gains. I was actually quite happy with my 1 Rep Max close grip bench press of 112.5kgs and Incline Bench Close Grip press of 97.5 kgs.

I passed my technical and practical exams on Lv 1 no problem and we started Level 2 today with a lower body structural balance assessment. Its complicated but makes perfect sense and luckily 'most' people have similar problems across the board, i think alot of these problems could potentially be solved with a good stretching and remedial program for the lower body. We went through a host of these remedial exercises for the lower body today and let me tell you it certainly doesnt feel like a remedial workout, Im gonna be sore tomorrow! And were training legs for 5 days in a row! Think i will need a wheel chair to the airport!

More info as it happens!

Tip 2: Eat Protein at Every Meal!

Protein increases muscle mass, without you cant grow or get lean!

Heres a few reasons why you should be consuming it:

It keeps the insulin levels of the bloody regular. Erratic blood sugar level lead to energy dips...

It fills you up quicker and therefore prevents over eating...

It helps your gut regulate the speed at which food passes through it...

Most importantly it raises your metabolic rate, this then can lead to keeping your bodyfat LOW!!!!

So chow down that meat and fish, there a huge variety of different sources avaliable, make friends with your butcher and they can suggest unusual cuts to you...

OC

Tip 1: Get your body fat measured often!

Weight loss in terms of pounds or kgs on the scales doesnt always reflect on progress!

On a very restricted calorie diet the initial losses are glycogen and water. Losing too much can have a negative effect. Bodyfat should be your preferred method of understanding your goals and challenges.

To accurately measure body fat % you should go and see a skilled practitioner with access to QUALITY calipers, not those white plastic things!

Make sure they take measurements from all over the body.... only take them from the 4 upper body sites and you dont get a true representation... you just have to look on the high street to see people with huge thighs and bums and a small upper body.... how would they score on a body fat % test that was only taken from the arm, back and hip?

The 10 sites OC Fitness test from are: tricep, bicep (the arm), subscapular (back), supra-illiac (hip), pec (chest), mid-auxillary (halfway between hip and armpit), umbilical (stomach), patella (knee), calf, quadriceps, hamstring (legs) and finally the cheek and chin. I think you'll agree thats alot more comprehensive and potentially more accurate...

Come and get your body fat measured and then remeasured regularly to see that the gains or losses you are making are the ones your after!

OC

My Next Qualification- oh yes another one!!!

Soooo its that time again, im craving something...

KNOWLEDGE!

So i decided its time to start forking out big money and getting myself on the best courses money can buy!

Ive researched high and low and came up with only one option:

Charles Poliquin. His CV speaks for itself, hes trained over 15 Olympic medal winners and has one of the most successful world wide training companies.

What am i doing? Im taking the Poliquin International Certification Program Levels 1 & 2 in Sweden in October. I simply cannot wait. Level one will concentrate on Upper Body and Level 2 Lower Body. The theory manuals have arrived and ive started the note taking already. Just by the way its written and the facts within the material i can tell that i will enjoy this course and will gain multiple skills from it. Already ive introduced pieces of it to my clients training and low and behold there results are showing it!

Look forward to telling you more about it the further into the theory i get!

Pics of my client 5 stone weight loss... so far!

Follow this link to see the amazing transformation!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3677512&id=253283396374

Pics coming soon!

One of my clients is on track to hit the unbelievable 5 stone mark! Pics will be put up soon! Amazing difference!

OC

Testimonial from a client....

I have the proud honour of being one of Ollie's biggest losers! Three stone in six months is incredible and I never would have been able to do it without his advice, guidance and bullying (in a good way). And all this despite the fact that I am not only a vegetarian but a Welsh one at that. I had been trying for years to build up the courage to go to the gym and had many false starts but I decided that enough was enough and I needed some help. I am so glad that I got in touch with Ollie, he started me off slowly with light exercises and not too much of anything (even though I still needed a lie down in a dark room afterwards) but by the end of six months I was doing a full hour of quite hard exercise, and enjoying it! I have gone from getting out of breathe doing 20 step ups to being able to do 100 squats (while moaning) ,15 minutes plus at high level on the rowing machine, cross trainer, cycle - take your pick - lifting weights and all sorts. And 45 minutes of spin class. Incredible. So I would fully recommend getting Ollie to help with the initial phase of any new health and fitness programme, if I hadn't left Oxford I would certainly still be seeing him 2/3 times per week. I am now putting what he taught me in to practice in another gym, it's amazing how much I have learnt in such a short period of time.

Wow!