Use this thread for any questions you might have for Terrence or Jason regarding fitness or nutrition.

They might not answer immediately, but hopefully we get some interesting and helpful discussion going in our quest to lead healthier lives!

Hey Terrence/Jason,

I'm 47, 210 and have some shoulder issues but nothing else that would affect an exercise routine. My goals are as follows:

1. Get a leaner, toned physique.
2. Be able to run a 5k without stopping
3. Get more flexible
4. Eat much healthier

When I go to the gym, I'm lost. I don't know what exercises to do or how many to achieve my goals.

I try to eat healthy as best I can, but am an emotional eater. I do love most foods and hopefully having a goal will bring focus and willpower to my intake.

Could you point me to a good workout routine to help me slim down. I don't want to get big, looking for more of a runner's physique.

Also, a sample 1 week diet would be great.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Regarding weight training, I think a big misconception is that lifting heavy makes you big. It doesn't. Lifting lots makes you big. "Lots" means either high frequency or high volume.

Regarding weight loss, the biggest troubleshoots, in order are: 1) sleep, 2) nutrition, 3) weight loss. But 1) is far ahead of the other two. It's absolutely insane how well-established the link between weight control and sleep is in the science. linky

Get a full 8 hours of sleep, in a pitch black, slightly cool room. (I know this last part isn't a problem for you, Adam.) Tape up the windows if you have to, to make it darker. No tablets, computers, or bright lights in the house the hour before bed if you have any trouble falling asleep.

Nutrition: wheat, soy, and vegetable/seed oils are the biggest killers imo. Getting rid of just those is like 90% of the battle. They are the limping preflop of nutrition. They are very highly inflammatory and cause all kind of problems in the gut, which lead to systemic problems everywhere. From there we get into the basics like upping protein content to something like 0.5g per pound of bodyweight. Try to limit your carbs to only after you've exercised, or with dinner if you have trouble sleeping.

Emotional eating: for most people, the answer is pretty simple here; don't keep the bad stuff in the house. This is a little harder when you have kids who demand junk food, I suppose. I am not a parenting expert and I don't want to go above my pay grade here but it seems to me that you can transition them to healthy snacks like nuts and fruits over time, but maybe I'm wrong. If it's really not possible to keep unhealthy stuff out of the house, just create barriers; put the bad stuff where it's really inconvenient to get to it. Meditation almost certainly helps with any self-control stuff too.

Training: Do not fall into the "chronic cardio" trap. I would say if your goal is to run a solid 5k, once per week of long/slow training is enough. 30-45 minutes of running, cycling, rowing or whatever random gym machine is fine. I actually cycle through all the machines in 10-minute rounds because I get bored. I don't like watching TV while you run on the treadmill, btw, it's bad for the posture. Podcasts ftw

Most of what your training should be centred around for weight loss is intervals. For an out of shape guy, something like 15 repetitions a 10-second sprint (85-90% max effort) followed by a 50-second rest period is good. Don't be swayed by the fancy literature that says 1:2 or even 1:1 work/rest ratios are better. Those are not for people just getting into training. Be liberal with your rest periods.

As hinted at above, I would do some heavy weight lifting. You can basically stick to the "big 3" of squats, deadlifts, and bench press. Make sure to practice good technique (maybe hire a trainer) before you start getting too heavy, and obviously make sure to warm up with lighter weights. Once you get technique down, we'll want to advance to 1-2x/week of low-volume, high-weight training. This will take the fat off like crazy.

When training the main goal is always injury prevention and living to fight another day. Everyone -- especially guys -- getting into a new routine always tries to do too much in the gym too quickly. Less is more. You can't train if you injure yourself. "No pain, no gain" is bull**** if you're not a professional athlete. In fact if you did this:

1 sessions/week of 30-50 minutes slow cardio
1-2 sessions/week of high-intensity sprint training
1-2 sessions/week of low-volume, high-weight weight lifting
Lots of walking
Lots of sleep
Lose the grains/omega 6 fats

You would be in awesome shape in about 8-12 weeks and basically should never get to more than a 4/10 on the soreness scale. (Provided you sleep and eat right.)

Mobility/flexibility: I've become a really big fan of the Functional Movement System stuff. Many of the exercises are here. Get a screening if you like (I did, to find my weakest points), and do as many exercises off that list as you can. And remember the rule that you do dynamic stretches (stretches where you move) before your training and static stretches (stretches that you hold) after the muscles are warm. See here. But in truth, whatever movement practice you like (yoga, tai chi etc) is great. Just get up and move around a lot.

Thanks T!

What about targeting specific parts of the body? IE: Abs etc.

I prefer big compound exercises. Squats and deadlifts will work your abs just by the fact that they need to brace the heavy weight. But you can use an ab wheel if you like. I would consider it a low priority item.

My questions for Jason revolves around programming and playing poker tournaments.

Scenario 1: It's Day 1 of a $1000 WSOP donkament. Obviously you'd like to play well, but this is mostly not high-stakes, mentally draining stuff. What time do you wake up, and what does your morning workout look like? What does your post-workout nutrition look like (how carby)? Do you eat a significant meal on dinner break, knowing that you'll have to play another 4-5 hours? Do you ever work out on dinner breaks? (I know this is getting very popular among some.)

Scenario 2: It's Day 1 of the $10k WSOP 6-max. Tough field and you'll need to be mentally sharp. Same questions.

Either scenario: let's say you bust out around 9pm after a tough day of poker. Are you hitting the gym, or just resting up for another one?

Scenario 3: You're playing a 5pm event, say a PLO. How do you plan your eating?

In general, I find it difficult to strike a compromise between fueling for poker and fueling for post-workout. If I eat small or eat low-carb, I feel mentally sharp but I'm worried about catabolism. If I do a big PWO meal, I just want to fall asleep.

Wow, officially my new favorite thread, and its only just beginning.

T, (and or Jason), is it possibly to go on the plan you are suggesting while maintaining a (mostly) vegetarian diet? I mean, there is only so much whey protein and almonds a guy can take. The "why" of the vegetarian diet is a long story and not worth explaining, but how can your suggested diet be modified to not include much meat?

Is it possible to drink full sugar red bull, coca cola and beer regularly and still be healthy?

Is it possible to be healthy when your only exercise is about 1-2 hours of walking per day?

I eat pretty healthy but liquids and exercise are definite leaks...

Several episodes ago, T said he had a lifting routine of doing a low number of reps lifting close to max weight with "a lot" of rest in between sets, but he didn't specify what "a lot" was. 2 minutes? 5 minutes?

How many reps per set?

How many sets?

T, thanks for the training advice!

What do you think of kettlebells? Any specific routines or lifts you'd recommend?

What about sugar, especially refined sugar? And what about organic soy products? Still bad?

How do I make a kale smoothie that tastes OK?

Hey T,

A lot of great advice in your post. I would agree with you that sleep is first but I would argue that nutrition is a close second (or first) and exercise is a distant third. In fact, I would say that exercise for anyone just starting out is a negative to losing weight. (Especially long-cardio)

You say that wheat and soy are the real killers. I would add processed foods. It’s impossible to give them up completely but if you eliminate a great deal of it, especially ‘low fat and no fat’ you’ll be better off. (They add sugar to replace the fat) The more ‘one ingredient’ foods you can have the better.

Emotional eating is real. Great advice on hiding the bad stuff. Studies show that we grab the first thing we see. Put the good stuff at eye level. I would add that you shouldn’t eliminate ‘treats’ completely just make a rule you can only eat them on the weekends. That way you’re not making your diet so spartan that you’ll give in to temptation. Faturday. Some people make this day their cheat day. When they can eat whatever they want and as much as they want while keeping the rest of the week clean.

Training: I think your advice on lifting is spot on. Lifting is better than cardio. I wish I knew this earlier in life.

There’s a great book called ‘Body by Science’ by Dr Dough McGuff that recommends the ‘Big 5’ and says that you should only lift once a week. Obviously, if you’re younger or training for something specific that’s a different story but for general health he recommends heavy lifting once ever 7 days. Lots of videos on the web about this as well. http://www.bodybyscience.net/home.html/?page_id=18

I just started doing HIIT training Hight Intensity Interval training. There’s a great video done by the BBC on how you can stay healthy with only 12 minutes of exercise a week. I know it sounds like a joke but there is real science behind it.

2-minute short video on subject
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7-h_w7bJrU

The Truth about Exercise (entire doc)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz2...cise_lifestyle

If you are in your 20s you can lose weight with nutrition and exercise. MTV had a great series. This one is the most inspiring stories IMO.

http://www.mtv.com/shows/i_used_to_b...st/#id=1671874

Finally, I've been looking at either the 5:2 diet or Every other day fasting here are two great videos about each subject. Fasting seems to be the next big thing in weight loss.

Every Other Day Fasting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzkVmXe9NMU

5:2 Diet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWtaLLjJzn4

Two Books on Amazon to check out:
Every Other Day Diet
5:2 Diet

The one bit of advice in your post I disagree is the time table you give. You give a 12-week time frame to be in kick ass shape. If you’re in your 20s or not overweight, I would agree. 12-weeks is very doable but if you’re older the process will take longer and it should be about changing your lifestyle not getting in shape.

I wish everyone the best of luck in their journey. Find what works best for you.

Hey T and Jason,

I was wondering what things I could do to help my cognitive ability and memory. I typically eat relatively healthy, but could always improve. However, I was wondering what other sort of things I could do (such as meditation or anything else). How should I go about beginning and advancing in these different techniques?

Thanks!

No, and yes, respectively.

10 reps per exercise, usually in a 3x3 or 5x2 kind of format, with 5 minutes rest between each set. Always compound exercises. For more details, see Easy Strength by Pavel Tsatsouline and Dan John.

5 minutes is a *ton* of rest and you will get bored in between sets. However you will come out of this feeling super energized. I hated lifting weights before this scheme because it exhausted me too much to do the things that I really wanted to do like train MMA. Now I can lift and go straight to practice if I want to.

Also, since I compete in weight class sports, 3 sets of 3 is really nice because it's too low-volume to build hypertrophy (i.e. "get big"). So I get stronger and leaner without putting on weight.

Kettlebells are great. I am not an expert on kettlebell exercise though. It's something I would like to take some courses in and get better at.

My general rotation for strength is deadlifts, bench presses, chinups, and squats. I should definitely do more power stuff like cleans and swings though, but they are technically more demanding and I want to get technique down before I go heavy on that stuff.

Soy is pretty close to bad all the time, although fermentation makes it less bad. Google "soy goitrogens". Basically it just f's up your metabolism and hormones like all get-out.

Refined sugar is surely bad. Sugar from fruits etc is a tricky one and I specifically didn't mention it because some percentage of people do fine on sugar. If your fasted glucose level is low, if you can work out on an empty stomach, if you're not super cranky on an empty stomach, if you sleep really well, then you probably metabolize sugar decently well. Basically if you're an athlete, you likely should consume sugar, but if you're trying to lose weight, then you likely should ditch it.

No f'n idea. I don't care for kale. That's one for JKoon or Adam.

I love this question since it's so relevant to poker.

- High-fat (especially omega-3) diet. So much association between omega-3 and brain health. Tumeric may also help as well.

- Meditation will definitely help. I should do more of it. Exercise is important too, especially high-intensity low-volume. (Though there's evidence aerobic exercise can help with ADHD.)

- Video games. Seriously! Check out this article comparing Portal 2 and Lumosity (note, small sample size, potential control issues. The type of video game probably matters though. I would also consider looking into things like Dual N-Back games (google it) for short-term memory.

- And the best quote from JC Alvarado, about 4 Pokercasts ago: "Sleep is the best nootropic". Get lots of sleep and everything falls in the right places when it comes to cognitive performance.

Great questions, thanks guys! Hopefully Jason pops by soon.

Thanks.

Yo Terrence,

I have troubles sleeping since 3+ years, no doctors has been able to solve it, so Im scared by your comments. I'd said right now I wake up 4 times per night, to give you an idea. Im 30.

In 2014 I did pick up working out from scratch with a strict diet and had poor results compared to the effort I've put into it, I guess all of this is super related right ?

This year, Im doing muay thai 4 times/week + bit of running + still eating healthy. I actually lose weight pretty easily but my strenght is almost non existant. Does it make sense ?

Also, I thought soy milk was the way to go, how should we replace it ?

Hey guys, I'm in need of some advice. I am 36 years old, 6 feet tall and weigh 302 pounds. I recently hoined a gym but, like Adam, am just lost when I'm there. My diet is atrocious, and I'm having trouble researching nutrition tips because I'm finding alot of conflicting information. My main goal is to lose 75 pounds to fend off the myriad of health issues that are right around the corner. Where do i start?

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Does this include soya milk? What can/should I drink instead? I was turned off cow's milk by the fact that we're the only animals on the planet to continue drinking milk after breastfeeding. Is this all a myth?

I have to jump in to underscore this. I'm no expert in diet or exercise (used to be more in tune with it in my early 20s) but I have to say soy is god awful.

After about 15 years of eating vegetarian (first few years a bit of chicken) and eating tons of soy over the past 6-7 I switched back to a pretty balanced omnivore diet and feel better than I have in ages.

My metabolism is no longer that of a bear is the biggest change I've noticed. (It's been about 6-7 months since I reintroduced meat). My dietician has said the effect is far more pronounced with women (and not always significant), but in my case I feel *much* better.

I'm alive, will be on tomorrow and knock these out.

what does a healthy carbless breakfast look like? Are we talking smoothie or eggs and sausage? Thanks for the great info ITT!!

If one was to look at the healthiest and longest lived populations on earth, you would find that the primary caloric fuel consists of complex carbohydrates like rice, sweet potatoes, corn, beans etc.

Approximately 80% of caloric intake come from these foods. The remaining 20% comes from mostly whole foods that are plant based (with small amounts of animal products). These foods are vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds. It has been shown that excessive animal protein ( say over 20% of total caloric intake along with it's associated saturated fat), is not healthy.

There is lots of science behind this type of eating protocol in keeping one healthy and reversing many of the common chronic conditions found such as heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers.

So I tend to disagree with the general nutritional advice provided to us by T Chan and Jason......

^^^T. Colin Campbell, is that you? I've seen Forks over Knives as well, and it was a very interesting presentation and one of the reasons I have reduced the amount of meat in my diet. Of course I think we all know we can use more plants in our diet.

That said, I am always skeptical of scientists who can't get their info widely accepted by the mainstream. Not to say they aren't on to something, but I just find that type of thing to be a bit curious. Know what I mean? And before you say big meat producers keep us eating that stuff, no doubt that's true to a certain extent, but to take it further implies a giant conspiracy and int his day of open information and the internet I just can't believe it.

Curious to know T and Jason's take.

Surely though the whole sugar/fat debate is evidence that, whilst it's probably not a conspiracy, diet & lifestyle & health is so complex a subject, and there are such strong vested interests and cognitive biases in play, that misunderstanding and wrong ideas can persist far longer than you would hope.

For sure. We are all inundated with so much information on the topic its hard to know what to believe, and when something comes along that is different from what you believed before, it is hard to accept it as being better. And I'm sure there is a lot more money invested in cattle than in broccoli. I'm in to the more plants less animals thing for sure (for several reasons), but I think ALL plant is extreme, and I am trying to find out where the middle ground is. That and how to get more protein without meat and soy.

That said, this is a thread for Terrence and Jason to answer questions, so I'll leave it there, and wait to read their comments.