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Q & A with The Bodybuilding Golf Pro - Michael Manavian

OP
Manavs

Manavs

Bodybuilding Golf Pro
Dec 19, 2008
448
1
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #211
I guess those 1 set exercises have really have not benefited me much from a muscular endurance point of view!! Actually I thought I was in pretty decent shape!!!! I mean I can run the mile in under 8 minutes (better than 90% of my students and jump rope 3 minutes non stop (better than 95% of my students) so this is a reall eye opener!! ...I mean I look like I am in shape. I'm not this big gutted beer belly PE teacher in their 40's. I am pretty muscular (not as lean as you)....but I mean I look like I lift. I am 5'8" 185 with about 18% bodyfat and I realize I am now where near as strong and lean as I used to be when I was in my 20's but I didn't realize how out of shape my muscles were in. So for you to say that I am out of shape that's a little slap in the face!!!!! And exactly what I needed!!! I''m still a lttle shocked even as I am typing! What amazed me, being the first week, I used what I thought was very light weight for the first set. I wanted to make sure I could get through all 3 sets because I have'nt done giant sets for a long time. I wasn't fatigued at all with the 1st sets on any of the exercises because they are much lighter( half the weight that I normally workout with was my guide.. ie dumbell press 80's for 10-12 reps is what I usually do but 1 set only). Then "wham" I hit the wall quickly going into the 2nd set and the 3rd sets forget it on most! What an eye opener. But to be honest, I actually thought this was normal because I was looking to get stronger and bigger not using whimpy light weights trying to get 50 reps in with giant sets. I mean my first impression with your workouts was a workout for string bean long distance runners. So this is what is interesting to me, my whole life I have read and been told that if you want big strong muscles diet and pounding heavier weight would achieve the results and to heck with light wimpy sets of 25 reps. I have always beeen told that was a waste of time because the body responds by stimulating it to lift heavy not light. As I said before even if this is not the best method of getting bigger and stronger ( I still question if this is the best way????) I don't care....I want to get in better shape for golf especially getting more flexible. So this is going to be interesting. I'm going to stick with it and as hard as it is for me to hear that I have to go the beginner route :( I guess I really need to!!!

Thanks for the quick reply!

Imagine if you were a yankee fan what i'd say!

all kidding aside, patronizing another person always leads to a worse situation, i like to deal with the truth. can you do 25 reps 3 times round with the same weight? that would show me a person with endurance. when i said out of shape and (i have a very precise definition to inshape) , i didnt imply weak or strong, rather out of the ability to deliver oxygen to the area. and i base "in shape" on the ability of a persons heart n lung capacity first not strength. believe me after you get thru this endurance aspect your strength will go thru the roof. your in need to recruit and therefore develop new fibers to get thru the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

a few caveats that have to be considered.

you dont improve your weaknesses by working on your strengths.

in weight training failure is winning. cause only thru failure does your body have the stimulus to grow bigger and better to accommodate the stress. this principle is true with HIT also but its also true with your cardiovascular system. this is where i believe people have missed the correlation of building muscles with the cardiovascular system. The limiting factor to muscle is oxygen. you need o2!!! so if you were to build the endurance first, the muscles wouldnt fail as soon.

" I have always beeen told that was a waste of time because the body responds by stimulating it to lift heavy not light"

your right in this but only as it pertains to muscle strength!!! but your issue is that this didnt improve your ability to deliver o2 to the area. make sense?

if we change the discussion to what is the best way to get bigger and stronger - it requires keeping a person in a constant anabolic rather than catabolic state utilizing food, supplements, sleep. training only provides a stimulus to create a catabolic state necessary to signal the repair process. you get bigger and stronger outside the gym not inside. the best type of training to get that end product is one that continually changes.

the body adapts quite quickly, you must stay ahead of that adaptation by constantly switching up all of the variables - different machines, different angles, different exercises, different rep schemes, different paces, different gym, etc etc etc all matter.

i utilize everything i know as a tool to create a certain effect with the body. ill go in and do heavy days, heavy/light days, high rep days, high rep heavy weight days. high volume, low volume. its like a mad mathematician with a slide ruler - you have so many variables, and the multiplication of within these variables create an exponential explosion of routines.

whatever it take to put the body under duress. if your not pushing your body - be it endurance, muscular, or mentally based, your not improving.

best
Michael
 

3Bogey

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2006
96
0
Thanks Mike...Good news! Just got the book out of the Mailbox!! I will start reading it after my father in laws retirement party this afternoon. I appreciate the advice. I am really excited this is going to improve my golf game especially my distance. If I can get it out there 260 yards on a consistent basis....you will be the "Man"!!
 

spartyon8

Cubbie Fever
Feb 23, 2008
381
0
Hello Michael-

I was wondering if you could give me a little insight. Basically I am 250lbs. I still like to think of my self as athletic but my physical appearance has really gone downhill. I am still able to play my favorite sports with some ease but am not happy with my weight. I would like to get back down to 200lbs. My biggest problem is consistency. I would run and do cardio every day for a month and then go into a 2-3 month hiatus. I am not a big fan of dieting because I tend to find myself starving my body instead of small, frequent meals.

Basically, this is what I want to do:
1. simple exercises to be more limber/athletic
2. increase my core strength
3. loose some blubber
4. make my body "feel" healthier again


#4 is my biggest problem as most of what I used to do in the gym during high school/college never really made my body feel "good". I am a firm believer of hydration and find that this definitely helps in that area. Out of curiosity, what would you suggest I do? By the way, I am a school teacher and have access to a basketball gym. I occasionally use this for ladders.

Thanks,
Peter
 
OP
Manavs

Manavs

Bodybuilding Golf Pro
Dec 19, 2008
448
1
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #214
Hello Michael-

I was wondering if you could give me a little insight. Basically I am 250lbs. I still like to think of my self as athletic but my physical appearance has really gone downhill. I am still able to play my favorite sports with some ease but am not happy with my weight. I would like to get back down to 200lbs. My biggest problem is consistency. I would run and do cardio every day for a month and then go into a 2-3 month hiatus. I am not a big fan of dieting because I tend to find myself starving my body instead of small, frequent meals.

Basically, this is what I want to do:
1. simple exercises to be more limber/athletic
2. increase my core strength
3. loose some blubber
4. make my body "feel" healthier again


#4 is my biggest problem as most of what I used to do in the gym during high school/college never really made my body feel "good". I am a firm believer of hydration and find that this definitely helps in that area. Out of curiosity, what would you suggest I do? By the way, I am a school teacher and have access to a basketball gym. I occasionally use this for ladders.

Thanks,
Peter

Biggest problem is consistency
not a fan of dieting
be more limber/athletic
increase core
lose blubber

Well Peter, I'd like a couple million bucks and a supermodel to toy with during my off hours =)

alas we all have to make some sacrifices on changing our body composition, afterall good bad or indifferent you are in the condition you are based on what youve done up until this point. so you have developed alot of momentum in the opposite direction you now desire to change.

so firstly you need to slow down this momentum, stop it, turn it around, start in the other direction and then you get some momentum in the other direction.

with that said the best bit of advice i can give to get you started in the right direction is to change your lack of nutrition first. your past solution to starve your body doesnt work, and i dont think you are alone in this so im going to explain this in detail -

starvation diets, or any diet that counts on a calorie reduction as its main program - has NEVER worked long term to reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass. reason being is that the body is NOT diplomatic. it doesnt care whether you feed it the required amino acids via protein or not, if the body is looking for amino acids and they are not in the bloodstream the body will pull it from the muscles and organs in your body - lowering your lean mass and increasing your energy stores (ie blubber)

it takes 4 calories to maintain a pound of fat on the body
it takes 69 calories to maintain a pound of muscle on the body

if you dont feed the body the minimal amount of protein each and every day you will rob from peter to pay paul of sorts.

so the best advice is to get your body in a state of hyper-amino-acidosis - ie high levels of amino acids in the bloodstream. via real food - eggs/fish/chicken/beef/turkey, amino acid supplements (Chaind Out / Xtend).

quality energy sources

carbs - oatmeal/pasta/rice/sweet potatos
fats- nuts/avocados/olive oils

this is what i do with my normal everyday people (not bodybuilders or athletes) but normal people - do nothing but increase their protein intake (eat more food) people will lose weight and take their bodies from a catabolic state (breaking down/ feeling bad) to an anabolic state (growing/feeling good).

keep us posted
Michael
 

3Bogey

Well-Known Member
Jan 20, 2006
96
0
Mike how long should I rest between sets 1,2,&3? 5,10, 15 seconds??? This week I am using 1 weight (ie 40lbs bench press for all 3 sets) Yesterday I tried 1 after another. Did 25 sat up layed back down barely got 12.... got up layed back down barely got 7. The 25 come easy but I hit the wall quick after that 1st set....Should I drop the weight even more or should I rest a little longer between sets. On a side note I wasn't anywhere near as sore as I was last week but failure came quickly again. Also is the split I am doing..... Chest/Back Monday, Legs/shoulders wednesday, and arms/abs Friday a good split. Is hitting that muscle group 1 x per week adaquate? When I did HIT that is all I did 1 muscle group per week but it was also just 1 no more than 2 sets per exercise. Now I am doing 3 exercises with 3 sets for a total of 9 sets per muscle group which is a big change....

Thanks
Dave
 
OP
Manavs

Manavs

Bodybuilding Golf Pro
Dec 19, 2008
448
1
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #216
Mike how long should I rest between sets 1,2,&3? 5,10, 15 seconds??? This week I am using 1 weight (ie 40lbs bench press for all 3 sets) Yesterday I tried 1 after another. Did 25 sat up layed back down barely got 12.... got up layed back down barely got 7. The 25 come easy but I hit the wall quick after that 1st set....Should I drop the weight even more or should I rest a little longer between sets. On a side note I wasn't anywhere near as sore as I was last week but failure came quickly again. Also is the split I am doing..... Chest/Back Monday, Legs/shoulders wednesday, and arms/abs Friday a good split. Is hitting that muscle group 1 x per week adaquate? When I did HIT that is all I did 1 muscle group per week but it was also just 1 no more than 2 sets per exercise. Now I am doing 3 exercises with 3 sets for a total of 9 sets per muscle group which is a big change....

Thanks
Dave

it is a big change i understand, thats what a coach is for, i can only give you broad general guidelines via a forum atmosphere, vs being able to guide you set by set.



as far as resting i rest as long as it takes to catch my breath, and grab the next weight. your most likely starting with too much weight. find the lowest common denominator if its 25lbs or 15lbs so be it. the beginning is not about the weight rather the heart and lung capacity. that 20lb weight will feel heavy soon enough.

splits are totally ok

mikey
 
OP
Manavs

Manavs

Bodybuilding Golf Pro
Dec 19, 2008
448
1
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #217
Hey guys, just wanted to update anyone who is at the PGA Show this weekend, I'll be at the ALR Golf booth #1182 with samples for everyone. Swing on by!

also we're going to have a live webcast up, ill post the link tomorrow and have pics on my facebook
 

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