Where've I been you ask?

As you can see it has been a little over two months since I last made a blog post. To be quite honest I was just sick of all the online information overload and just needed to take a break from this side of things. And not going to lie, since I am not really marketing my training business yet (as it will be opening in fall 2009) I just didn't have the motivation to keep coming up with new blog posts. It seemed like everything I could think of was already covered in the past. So here's what I've been up to:

May 2009:
-started training cycle for the July 25th PL meet
-Went and saw a few of my favorite bands play live in Detroit, Michigan. This included a full headlining show by Mastodon who played their entire new masterpiece of an album "Crack The Skye" followed by 10-12 of their blistering hits (support was by the very impressive Kylesa). The next night I drove down to Harpos in Detroit to see the almighty Devil Driver slay the crowd once again.
-The next morning (Sunday), I assisted two good friends of mine from Pow(R) Performance (Ben Knapp and Shane Rickman) in a youth training seminar at a very small high school in the northwest Ohio
-The following wednesday I drove to the Fillmore in Detroit to see my favorite modern day band Lamb of God. I hyperextended my thumb so bad in the pit that my palm was bruised for about 10 solid days!
-The very next morning I boarded a plane by myself to head to New York City for the Poliquin International Certification Program Level 1 strength coach certification. The course was held at http://www.peakperformancenyc.com/ which is owned by a great guy named Joe Dowdell. (EliteFTS sponsored lifter Matt McGorry also works their and I got to meet him as well) This course lasted three days and was a great learning experience. The course focused on structural balance of the upper extremeties and we also dabbled in some exercise demos and program design. Very good time and worth the money spent. I also made it down to the official Reebok NHL shop in Times Square which was awesome.

Other than that I've been putting in 20-30 volunteer hours with my schools strength and conditioning program just trying to immerse myself as much as possible.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention: I've been spending less time reading about training and just getting after it! (it actually works). I've been smashing in the gym records and feel as though I'm really going to take a step ahead of my previous bests once I get on the platform.
Some of my max effort records from this past cycle are as follows:
Reverse band bench: 405, 1 board bench: 375, swiss bar pin press: 365x3 reps
Reverse band squat: 635, Contest stance squat: 555, cambered bar squat: 525
Snatch Grip Rack Pull: 585, DL against dbled minis: 505
(check the youtube vids on the right side of the homepage)




In the last month and a half I've put on about 12lbs and am just as lean as usual. I've been playing around with adding different carbs at different times. Here are some sample days:

Sample Max Effort Squat day:
Wake: 1-2 liters of cold water
Breakfast: 6 whole organic eggs w/chopped peppers, onions, spinach, mozzarella cheese, 4-5 slices uncured turkey bacon, 1 apple or orange, 5g fish oils
Snack: bowl of horizon organic cottage cheese, spoonful almond butter, pineapple (all mixed) -5g fish oils

60m Pre-Workout: Stimulant of some sort (not necessarily recommended) Spike Shooter or Black Coffee
30m Pre-Workout: Biotest's Surge Workout Fuel 2 scoops
While warming up: 2 scoops of Biotest's Surge Recovery w/5 g micronized creatine
Half-way through training: 1 scoop surge workout fuel
Post workout: 50-60 grams of champion chocolate flavored whey w/5g creatine

Next Meal: 1/2 lb grass fed or extra lean ground beef, whole avocado, bowl full of greens, balsamic vinegarette (all mixed together)

Snack: bowl full of Fage greek yogurt w/ frozen blueberries and handful of cahsews (all mixed together\

Next Meal: Same as post workout meal

Next Meal: usually on the go or at work: 6 oz. of turkey breast deli meat wrapped with provolone or mozzarella, handful of cashews, orange, some fish oils

Next meal: usually the greek yogurt or cottage cheese concoction

I usually knock down 3/4-1 gallon of water during training and another gallon throughout the day. Some other supplements I use are: Chelated multi at breakfast/dinner, theanine serine before bed which also contains magnesium glycinate, some other herbal adaptogens throughout the day such as Rhodolia Rosea Extract and Holy Basil. Nothing groundbreaking, just consistent...

Just some brief updates, I'm busy in the trenches and I'll get back to ya'll once i come up with something new and groundbreaking...

Real People, Real Methods, Real Results...Part 2: Pick Your Battles

John: December 2008



To reach your ultimate goal you must have smaller goals or steps you must reach along the way. Great military leaders don't try to win the entire war in one day but try to win all of the smaller battles that comprise a war along the way. Well how many of you out there deep down inside really want to wage a war on body fat? With only about 10% of the United States population under 10% body fat, I'm going to assume it's pretty much all of you.

John (who you're familiar with from part 1) came to me in 2008 wanting to wage a personal war on body fat. We set up MANY small battles along the way. These battles included: Dietary changes day by day, week by week, meal by meal, training changes day by day, week by week, set by set. We started out with very small changes and PROGRESSED the entire time in one way or another. We progressed with the following:
-food selection (commercial meats to organic to grass fed), vegetables/fruit instead of processed carbs and starches
-one cucumber per day progressing slowly to 4-5 full salads/vegetable platters per day
-almond milk instead of skim milk
-nuts/jerky for snacks in place of cereal, etc.
-one multivitamin per day progressing all the way to 2 chelated multivitamins, chelated zinc and magnesium, high quality fish oil, and various herbal adaptogens (holy basil extract, theanine serine, cordyceps)
-drinking plenty of water during training progressing all the way to consuming 50grams of bcaa's around training

What can you learn from John's war? Pick many small battles:
-ONE meal at a time add a solid protein, fat, and vegetable source
-Replace ONE beverage per day with a big glass of water
-Replace your workout carb drink with bcaa's or plain water
-Worry about food changes before purchasing the "magic pill" (there isn't one)
Putting this together: If you make a new subtle change every day then after a few weeks you've completely changed all of your habits and will be closer to winning your personal war!


John: April 2009


To Be Continued: Stay tuned for a full synopsis of John's training leading up the the contest which will include his full program and a video compilation of his fat loss workouts.

Real People, Real Methods, Real Results...Part 1

All of you are probably pretty familiar with all of my beliefs in regards to training, eating and living. But i'm not sure how confident you may be in their ability to produce results. This is understandable because I've mainly used myself as an example. And for those of you who know me you know that I take things to the extremes. Well, i've now got an example other than myself to model some of my principles for optimal body comp. A client and friend of mine John came to my in July 2008 seeking out some advice to obtain optimal body composition by April 11th, 2009 (the day of the annual Kalamazoo Bodybuilding Championships here in SW Michigan).

John had played 5 years of college football so he was already in pretty good shape don't let me kid you. I'm not going to try to take credit for the most impressive transformation of all time but I'd like to show what it takes to go from an athletic look to completely shredded! If you're looking to get anywhere near 10% body fat (for guys) and 15% body fat (for women) then you might learn a thing or two from John.

We started in July of 2008 just making changes in his food selections (not portions, timing, or anything else). We made small changes at a time such as: meat and/or eggs for breakfast instead of cereal, water/almond milk instead of skim milk, fruits and veggies in place of refined sugars and starches, based every meal around an animal protein source, started to include fish oil and/or nuts with most every meal, etc. This led into the full on contest prep in the middle of December 2008. We got a little more specific on meals (selections, amounts, times, etc.).
We kept training real heavy in the gym on our main lifts. 6 reps and under with squats, front squats, dead lifts, push presses, bench presses, chin ups, etc... With the rest of our work being in either the 6-8 rep range or 8-10 for some accessory movements.
I didn't allow John to get on any piece of cardio equipment. He adhered to a regime of 2 moderate to high intensity cardio sessions outdoors per week for the first couple of months. This included all of the stuff you've seen in my videos (prowler, sled, sandbag, body weight drills). This progressed up to three prowler sessions per week and even a few 10-15 minute sled drag workouts on his own at his house several hours after lifting sessions.

I'll get into much greater details on each aspect of the transformation later, but this should get you thinking about the basics of attaining a better body composition.

Short summary of my recommendations:
-Eat real food (animal proteins, oils, nuts, vegetables, fruits, limit dairy, grains and sugar)
-Drink water and lots of it
-Lift weights, and use big compound lifts such as squats, dead lifts, over head presses, bench presses, dips, pull ups, dips
-Use short rest periods and still use
-Get off the treadmills and elipticals and get outside. Use prowlers, sled, kettlebells, kegs, tires, ropes, bands... These make for killer fat loss circuits and are lot funner and effective than walking on a treadmill!

John did very well for this being his first contest. He took 3rd place out of 11 competitors in the light heavy weight class. He was a drug free 198.6 pounds!

Take a look at the final product, I'll have some before pics in another post:









TO BE CONTINUED!...

"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