"No Treadmill? This can't be cardio..."

Obviously I'm being sarcastic in the title (i'm a major smartass, give me a break I work at a bar on the weekends). As most of you already know, I get a group of 8-10 people together 1-2 times per week for some "Cardio".

Most of these sessions revolve around drills with the prowler, sled, kettlebells, jump stretch bands, sandbags, med ball, sprinting and body weight calisthenics (look out for my new tug of war rope this coming week though).

These tools are great for competitive athletes, but for athletics I need to break down the energy system requirements in greater detail in terms of the work to rest ratio's, weights used, songs played, etc...

I'm gearing this call to action to the recreational lifters (& power lifters who are out of shape), fitness enthusiasts, bodybuilders and figure competitors. There is no better way while having minimal time to encinerate body fat and build your work capacity than with these types of drills/circuits that you're about to see. Might I add, these can make you want to cry to your mother after 10 minutes if I so feel the need to make them THAT challenging. But generally they'll last 15-30 minutes (usually with a 5 minute intermission to change out equipment).

Have a look at the video and if you're in Michigan and want to participate with yours truly them shoot me a message. If you like them but don't live anywhere near me then shoot me a message and I"ll tell you how to set these up on your own.

2-3 sessions per week of this "Cardio" on top of 3-4 Strength training sessions and you'll be a "Bronzed God"

Interview for Colosseum Training

Hey guys, here's a small interview I did for a strength coach out of Oklahoma named Lucius Tirey. Check out his website as he's got lots of cool training articles/videos/pictures etc. and seems to have something really unique going on. (http://www.thecolosseumtraining.com/)


Interview with Dan Allison; A Strength Coach, Powerlifter and founder of
"Garage Training" in Michigan.

I found Dan through mutual friends in the strength world. He isn't just someone off the street
with beach muscle who got certified and trains at your local gym. He is a true student of the
field and someone who doesn't just "talk the talk" but "Walks The Walk!!" Those of us who
aspire to learn more and get better know how important it is to share thoughts with one
another and pick each others brains. This is what makes "us", our athletes and our lives
better. Enjoy!





LT- First off I want say thank you for talking the time and sharing your style and beliefs
towards training. First question is around what age did you start really training and studying
the world of strength and conditioning?

DA- I started really training the summer before going into 9th grade to prepare myself for
the upcoming football season. I was a scrawny 150lb’er who could barely bench and squat
115 lbs. To be honest, I had never heard of a strength and conditioning coach until
probably my sophomore year of college. I stumbled across guys like Charles Poliquin and
Chad Waterbury and T-nation and immediately knew that was what I wanted to do. This led
me to choosing the major of exercise science/physiology and into being the strength coach
for a high school football team, private strength coach (working on getting my business
“Garage Training” going this summer), and being a volunteer strength coach at Western
Michigan University.

LT- Who would you say as far as “GURU” do you look up to and study the most?

DA- Charles Poliquin is my favorite coach that I look up to. I was introduced to his work by
Chicago based strength coach Chris Grayson. Chris is the next guy that I immediately go to
for advice. Other than that, I really enjoy hearing what all of the guys at Elitefts have to say
(especially Dave, Jim, and Harry Selkow), Elliott Hulse, Joe Hashey, etc. I like to hear what
everyone has to say.

LT- Tell us a little bit about yourself and your style of training? What kind of split do you use
(conjugate system, 5-3-1, sheiko ect) and why?

DA- When I’m preparing for power lifting competition (3/4 of the year usually) I generally use
a conjugate template. The reason I choose the conjugate method is because it is just so
user friendly in the different ways you can manipulate your program design. I like the
changing of exercises and rep schemes every couple of weeks and the excitement of trying
to break records week to week. It brings out a competitive spirit in everyone.

The other time of the year is spent taking a break from the stresses of max effort weights
and dynamic effort movements and getting reps in and messing around with different
training methods. Right now I’m in that ¼ of the year where I am messing around. I’ve been
experimenting with some of Coach Poliquins German body composition principles in the gym
and out of the gym. I have been getting great results in terms of gaining lean mass and
being extremely well conditioned.

LT-I’ve seen from following your logs and videos you like to do a lot of conditioning style
circuits. Why is that and how do you fit them into your training schedule?

DA- The why on this sort of goes along with the last question in that I’m in that ¼ of the year
where I simply experiment with various training methods on myself before putting others
through the same type of program. I’m using full body German body composition style
training in the gym right now. I’m doing this to get as lean as possible, build work capacity,
and to take a break from max effort work before I start preparing for power lifting again. It’s
somewhat of a little break on my joints and mind to help to re-kindle the fire I’ll need to prep
for this year’s meets. The cool thing about this recent fully body scheme is that with all of
the 6-8 rep max dead lifting that I’ve done, my max dead lift has increased about 10lbs
without even training to directly.

As for the outdoor conditioning sessions that I have lots of videos of; it probably seems like I
do a lot of these because recently it’s all I have taken video of. I train at the universities
public weight room and I usually just get in and get out and don’t feel like bringing my
camera in there. So what ends up happening is over a period of two weeks I’ll have three
videos of outdoor conditioning but no videos of the six or seven in the gym sessions. We
typically do the conditioning circuits on Sundays and maybe one day in the middle of the
week. On Sunday, the people I get to come out are usually just your average Joes looking
to shed some body fat. None of them are competitive athletes (a couple bouncers, two
strength coaches, and one pre-contest body builder who use the prowler for fat loss) and
then I just jump in to get my hands dirty and try to “practice what I preach.” These sessions
generally last 20-30 minutes maximum. Everyone has a great time and with the lack of
eccentric movement, all attendees generally feel pretty refreshed the next couple of days.

I’ve used these type of circuits you see in the videos with athletes who compete in anaerobic
based sports. The movements are generally the same but the loads used and work to rest
ratios are structured quite differently. With the fat loss guys we just get out there and try to
kill ourselves once or twice a week. I’d be glad to elaborate later on some conditioning
circuits geared for a particular sport.


LT- It seems like anytime I have a new athlete come in and I bust out the foam roller they
look at me like “What the hell are we doing?” kind of sad cause I’ve found that most of the
high school programs have no sort of recovery sessions, just the all or nothing principle so
to say. What kind of things do you like to do for a recovery and how important do you feel it
is towards your training?

DA- I think recovery should be taken as seriously as the training sessions or games
themselves. The faster you can recover, the faster you can get back out there and make
some sort of progression. Look at some lifters who are 300 lbs and can only get two
training sessions in per week versus a 220lb lifter who has the recovery ability and work
capacity to train 4 times per week. The 220 lb lifter is going to make progress at a much
quicker rate.

My personal favorite things for recovery are:
-foam rolling, my range of motion is much better after rolling and my muscle soreness
almost splits in half after a good foam rolling session. I feel that you need to be aggressive
with the rolling to get the most out of it though.
-dynamic stretches, five or six stretches in a row usually does it for me. Something like:
warrior lunges, lunge w/twist, toe touches, high kicks, and some fire hydrants for the hips.
-band work: I like to take the mini jump stretch bands and do pull apart, press downs, good
mornings, and various stretches for the lats/pectorals/shoulders.
-Quality food, I’ll let this lead into the next questions.

LT- To the million dollar question “Strength Coach Dan, What do you take?” I’m sure you
get that from time to time. How do you feel about supplements? Do you believe in all the
hype that places like GNC try to sell you?

Oddly enough I get this million dollar question all of the time. Since I’ve managed to stay
around 200-205 lbs at 10% body fat or under for almost 2 years now since being a 250lb’er
a lot of people wonder how I stay so lean. So of course they just assume it’s all the hot
selling GNC stuff. Well it’s pretty far from the average GNC regimen. I actually made a blog
post on this yesterday so I’ll let the detail unfold there: http://strengthcoachdan.blogspot.
com/2009/03/answering-age-old-question.html

But to sum things up:
-Poliquin Twice Daily Multi-Vitamin
-Zinc Supreme (by Designs for Health) 90mg per day
-Magnesium Glycinate Chelate (by DFH) 1 gram per day
-Fish Oil (usually PFO, DFH, or Barlean’s) on average 12-15 grams per day
One’s I didn’t mention in the blog:
-Champion Nutrition Whey Protein: 2 scoops post workout or for a meal replacement mixed
with a greens powder and some flax meal
-Scivation’s Exxtend BCAA powder: 20 grams during training, 10-20 grams post training.
Usually only for sessions lasting longer than 25 minutes
-Glutamine Powder (when I feel like buying it or when I’m trying to get really lean) 20-50
grams in a post workout shake to bring down cortisol and replenish glycogen

LT- During my boxing career I watched others go to extreme measures to cut weight and
how they ate fueling their bodies. I always found it easy to make changes up or down with
adjusting my nutrition and eating well. What is your diet like and how do you feel it affects
your lifts, energy and recovery ect…?

DA- Nutrition is life and death. This comes from a guy who used to be 250lbs and was
weaker than I am now at 200-205lbs. My training was generally the same, but my eating
has gone from one spectrum to the other. I was first sold to the bodybuilding/ animal pak
mumbo jumbo of “Just f’ing eat”. So I followed this motto from my senior year of high school
to my sophomore year of college and went from 210lbs to a peak of 270lbs at one point. I
ate fast food and dorm food every day ALL day. I was tired ALL of the time, always sick, the
only motivation I had was to lift 4 times per week. The rest of my life was so lazy and
unproductive. Then I was introduced to Charles Poliquin and Dr. Jonny Bowden’s methods
of nutrition by Chris Grayson and his colleague Ben Knapp who were working in Detroit at
the time. I started following these principles (eating real whole foods, mainly protein, fats
and vegetables, in large quantities I might add) and in six months I went from just under 30
% body fat to 6%. I entered two bodybuilding contests for the heck of it at this time as well
to motivate the fat loss. I wasn’t really hooked on the whole bodybuilding thing but I have
fallen in love with the “cave man” eating methods I learned at this time. I’ve eaten following
these principles for a couple of years now (but have made the diet even better) and my
strength training, body composition and general well being have never been better. I eat
mainly organic foods and when I can’t I eat foods that are as raw and as unprocessed as
possible. (Minus the artificial sweeteners in the bcaa and protein drinks, but hey the
lemonade bcaa’s are like candy)

Here’s a sample food log from this week:

(not listed: I use a lot of Mustard, Balsamic Vinegar, and Organic Ketchup as well. If I’m
trying to lean out, I usually emit the ketchup)


Cheese, Mozzarella, part skim



171 11.4 2.2 14.7

Whole Egg



280 16.0 0.0 25.2

turkey breast 2oz.



330 2.4 0.0 69.0

Fage Yogurt



260 20.0 6.0 14.0

Spinach, raw



14 0.2 2.2 1.7

Broccoli, raw



90 1.0 17.5 7.4

Cucumber, raw



24 0.3 4.3 1.2

Turkey Bacon



120 2.0 0.0 24.0

chicken breast



220 2.0 0.0 50.0

raw almonds



510 42.0 15.0 18.0

Raw Cashews



156 12.0 9.0 5.0

Whey (champion)



500 6.0 6.0 104.0

Fish Oil



150 15.0 0.0 0.0

flax meal



188 12.0 8.0 8.0

Twice Daily Multi



0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Zinc Supreme



0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Total 3,013 142.3 70.2 342.3


LT- As many of us know from watching some of your videos you compete in Power lifting.
What are your best lifts in competition?

DA- Best lifts are:

198lb class unequipped (aka Raw)
Squat: 555
Bench: 355
Dead Lift: 515

LT- What are your plans as far as future competitions?

DA- I plan to compete in two meets so far this summer in Michigan. One USAPL meet and
one ADFPF meet and am planning on another two next fall. I’ll probably compete at 198lbs
one last season before I move to 220. I’d really like to break the 600 mark on the squat
before I move to 220. That would have to be my biggest goal at the moment for this string
of contests.


LT- I know I am always learning and looking back at some of the things I do or did and think
“why the hell was I doing that” What are some of the mistakes you’ve made in your training
and what kind of advice would you give to others who are starting to work out or looking to
get into Powerlifting, Bodybuilding or Strongman for example?

DA- I mentioned earlier that I competed in bodybuilding; I would have NOT trained like a
bodybuilder for those contests. I lost a good deal of strength during that time and it took me
awhile to get it back. Anyone that has eaten correctly for body composition knows that the
diet takes care of the fat loss. I would have trained to get stronger and just ate to lose body
fat. I probably look like more of a bodybuilder right now from power lifting style training,
strongman type conditioning, and some awesomely delicious primitive style eating habits.

My advice to others who are looking to get into Powerlifting or Strongman? First off, choose
a few main compound lifts to really improve your strength in (1-5 rep max type
improvements) and then use the rest of the workout to get your reps in for whatever other
strength qualities YOU need. If you’re underweight, then some hypertrophy work would be
for you to make a desired weight class. If you’re extremely de-conditioned then you should
choose a couple compound lifts rotate back and forth with them with incomplete rest periods
to get in shape. And most of all, don’t be afraid to compete. If you think “I’m not ready yet”,
then there will never be a point when you’re “ready”. You just have to sign up and immerse
yourself. You don’t really learn anything about yourself or how your training is really helping
you until you actually compete.

LT- I want to thank you for your time and sharing your philosophy towards strength training
in general. What does the Future hold for Dan? Is there anywhere where others can keep
up with you? (Youtube, Blog ect)

DA- I am honored to be a part of this and really appreciate you taking the time to choose me
for an interview. The future is bright, I’m heading out to NYC in May for a Charles Poliquin
seminar, heading to the Perform Better Summit in Chicago this June, and am applying for
graduate assistant positions as a university level strength coach. Keep up with my daily
grind at http://www.strengthcoachdan.blogspot.com , http://www.youtube.
com/strengthcoachdan , or feel free to email me anytime at dannya5199@yahoo.com as I
love to answer anyone’s questions.

Basics of Leg Training

What should we keep in mind when training the lower body?

-Hamstrings are predominantly fast twitch in nature (force production ability is very high and they take better to several sets of lower reps)
-The quads rate of force production is a bit slower and they take better to fewer sets of higher reps
-The glutes and calves can swing either way. Some muscles in each region play a major role in stabilization and are in an isometric contraction most of the time (slower twitch) while some muscles play a major role in force production (faster twitch)

-Faster twitch muscles should be trained with heavier weights and lower reps due to their force production abilities
-These heavier weight/ lower rep movements should take priority in the beginning of a training session

-Slow twitch muscles should be trained with higher reps (8 or more for example) with slightly lighter weights.
-These lifts should be completed after the fast twitch muscles or second in super set fashion.

Proper Exercise/ Muscle Group Pairings:

Hamstrings/Glutes (trained with heavy loads 1-6 reps for example)
Dead lifts and all variations
Wide stance squats
good mornings
glute ham raises
leg curls

Spinal Erector/Glute/Hamstring exercises (6 reps or higher)
good mornings
back extensions
reverse hypers
kb swings
pull throughs
romanian dead lifts

Quad exercises (usually 6 reps or higher)
front squat
close stance back squat
step up
lunges
tke's
sled dragging

That's it for now... How to set up a whole session to come later

Exercises You Should Try

Do me a favor and WARM UP first!
-start with some foam rolling over the major muscle groups and then get a movement warm up like shown in the video in.



Snatch grip dead lift:
the grip comes from the olympic lift "the snatch" it is a very wide grip in which you would use in the snatch or over head squat. You must use a double over hand (pronated) grip. Keep this a heavy lift in which you attempt to move the weight with as much force as possible. This outta be performed at the beginning of a workout since it is highly demanding of the central nervous system. Keep it under 6 reps, some examples would be: 4 sets of 6 reps, 5 x 5, 6 x 4, 8 x 2, etc... Rest for at least 2 minutes between sets. Keep the shoulder blades pulled down and together, chest high, weight on your heels and power it up with your butt and hamstrings.



Face Pulls:
attach a rope to a cable stack. take a few steps back, lean back, with your arms fully extended with a neutral spine and big chest pull the weight towards your face while pulling your shoulder blades down and together. This will strengthen the generally weak and underused lower traps and generally undertrained rotator cuff. This will help with stabilization of the scapula which will pay big dividends to your bench and squat set up (and jack up your upper back in the mean time).



Neutral Grip Chins:
Grab a pull up bar with your palms parrallel to each other. Hang in a fully extended position, pull yourself up as high as you can go, return the the fully extended position, you just did a chin up. If chins or pull ups aren't a part of your program, why NOT?



That's it for now, I wanna hear about some people APPLYING information... get it done!

Answering an "Age Old Question"

No it's not "how much do ya bench bro?"

It's the other fan favorite: "dude what do you take?"

I'll list my basics and give you the rundown on why the hell I consider these important.

1.) Chelated Multi-Vitamin
2.) Fish Oil, from a quality source
3.) Magnesium Glycinate Chelate
4.) Chelated Zinc

Anything else is just wasted money on quality food... Or not, but most people are buying bull shit like N O xplode or Ass Mass.

Why Chelated Vitamins & Minerals?: In the chelated version, they are at their purest form and it can be absorbed you're "getting what you paid for" so to speak.

Why Zinc?:

-Zinc is present in every part of the human body
-about 60% is found in muscle, 30% in bone, and the remaining found in our skin
-The body does not have zinc storage sites and it only contains about 2-3 grams on average at one time, hence a continual intake of foods containing zinc or a zinc supplement are of importance
-Zinc is especially important for males because: there is 100 times more zinc in the semen than in the blood in males. It is very important for male reproductive health and/or the weekend warrior looking to boost their test levels.
-Not much zinc is absorbed by the body with the modern human diet containing grain and processed products (see my old post on grains/ phytic acid) so again, supplementation is of importance
-Zinc plays a major role in protein and dna synthesis
-Improves liver function and insulin activity

How do you know if you're zinc deficient?

-duh duh diarrhoea, fatigue, delayed wound healing, under performing immune system, skin problems, sleep disturbances, etcetera

Magnesium, Why dude?:

-Helps make up our bones and is found in all body cells.
-On average humans contain about 25 grams of magnesium. Most of it is found in our bones and is essential for the normal metabolism of calcium AND potassium
-It is ANTAGONISTIC to calcium, even though these calcium commercials are probably government B.S. we can still improve our calcium levels by keeping magnesium levels sufficient.
-Magnesium activates a TON of enzymes in the body, helps with sugar metabolism
-Reduces catecholamines (calms us down by brining down stress hormones, this has helped my sleep quality tremendously)

CHELATED Multi Vitamin, why?

-For many of the same reasons as the last supplements.
-Chelated because you can ensure that you're using most of the vitamins that claim to be in the product
-with the modern day poor quality of food and high levels of toxins everywhere, this is a fair insurance plan.

Fish Oil, Why? Hasn't this been put to rest yet?

Here's what Strength Coach Charles Poliquin has to say about it:

1. Cell membrane health: EPA and DHA insure that cell membranes remain healthy. This means that the membranes are flexible and contain larger numbers of insulin receptors that are more receptive and responsive to circulating insulin. This results in decreased fat storage in the adipocytes (fat cells).

2. Fish oils turn on the lipolytic genes (fat burning genes).

3. Fish oils turn off the lipogenic genes (fat storage genes).

4. Fish oils diminish C-reactive proteins, a newly identified risk factor associated with various inflammatory diseases, including atherosclerosis, angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, congestive heart failure, and diabetes. The DHA fraction of the fish oil seems to be one most responsible for that protective effect. DHA also has the best ability to reduce blood pressure.

5. Increase utilization of fat stores from the adipocytes.

6. Preferential utilization for energy production once stored in the adipocytes.

7. Reduced inflammation from physical training.

8. Pain management from the reduced inflammation.

9. EPA regulates blood supply to the brain which is essential in maintaining focus in weight training sessions. DHA is important in brain membranes, memory, and cognitive function.

10. Fish oils increase serotonin levels (the happy neurotransmitter). Therefore, fish oils will decrease incidence of depression, anxiety, panic attack, and reduce carbohydrate cravings.

11. Fish oils will improve your cardiovascular risk profile by lowering VLDL, triglycerides, homocysteine, fibrinogen, and increasing HDL levels. Combining fish oils with plant sterols will improve lipid levels even more than either alone.

12. Fish oils can also decrease blood pressure by several mechanisms. These include increases in the vasodilatory compound, nitric oxide, reducing vascular inflammation, blocking the constrictive elements in the vascular wall such as the calcium channels reducing blood viscosity, and inhibiting a blood vessel constrictor (thromboxane). Lipoprotein (a) is another CVD predictor that can be lowered by fish oils (a 19% reduction was seen with natural, stable fish oils and just 4% with a highly purified fish oil).

13. Fish oils are a great stress fighter. Supplementation with n-3 fatty acids inhibits the adrenal activation of steroids, aldosterone, epinephrine, and norepinephrine (catecholamines) elicited by a mental stress, apparently through effects exerted at the level of the central nervous system. Therefore, for the same amount of stress, one will produce fewer stress hormones if consuming fish oils on a regular basis.

12 grams or so a day should be a good start

Where can you find these products:

Jonny Bowden comes through once again:
http://www.jonnybowden.com/vitamins-supplements.html