Pay attention there is some great information in this interview.
My Fat-Loss Interview For CB Athletics
By Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS Director, Staley Training Systems
I was recently interviewed by Craig Ballantyne for his Turbulence Training website (click here for more info on his program).
We covered the behavior-modification end of the equation quite thoroughly, and I think you’ll find some valuable nuggets below, especially if you’ve got a few pounds to lose…
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CB: Charles, what is your general fat loss training philosophy for the average man and woman?
CS: Find and implement a sustainable system for increasing metabolism and building muscle. This involves both training and nutrition, but under the surface, the habits and behaviors that support them. I’ll take a modest but sustainable approach over an aggressive but non-sustainable approach any day of the week.
Long-term fat loss is about your everyday habits and patterns - how much you move and what you eat, specifically.
It’s worthwhile to take an honest assessment of your habits, both in the gym and in the kitchen, and then sit down and do some hard thinking. Many people are not honest with themselves about how much they eat and move - they tend to underestimate the former and overestimate the latter.
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CB: Did you come across any research or training methods in the past year that you added to improve your programs?
CS: God I wish I had! I really don’t think there’s anything new out there in terms of methodologies, nothing significant anyway.
I think collectively, we basically know how to train and eat. But I’m always interested in finding ways to implement all the boring, tried and true methods that are well understood, but under-appreciated and implemented. Honestly, it’s hard to circumvent the law of thermodynamics (which is why it’s a “law” as opposed to a “theory” or “rule of thumb”). If you consistently expend more energy than you take in, you’re pretty much assured of losing bodyfat.
Incidentally, you’ll always find people who swear to their dying day that they burn more than they eat and still can’t lose weight. From my experience, what happens is that people will eat in a hypocaloric manner for maybe 4-5 days, and then binge for a day, and so on. The binge tends to be just enough to cancel out the previous deficit, but they don’t remember the binge - they only remember the “good” days so to speak.
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CB: In your experience, what’s the biggest obstacle that men and women need to overcome to succeed with their training – no matter what their goals? Does it differ between men and women?
CS: Women really have it tough today, let’s start with that.
There are a lot of obstacles, but first and foremost among them is the fact that western civilization is literally designed to make you fat. It’s never been easier to eat massive amounts of calories and avoid movement than it is today.
And it’s a catch-22 because the fatter people get, the more than society adapts to support and enable fat people. Which makes it easier and more socially acceptable to be fat. More than ever before, being lean means being on the fringe of society. And THAT’S probably the most significant obstacle to losing fat.
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CB: How do you “get inside someone’s head” to motivate clients who are either just starting out (and dreading it) or at a fat loss plateau (and thinking of abandoning it all)?
CS: I think you’ve gotta get REAL clear about not only where you’re trying to go, but more importantly WHY. A goal is only a benchmark, or an indicator, that tells you if you’re moving closer to your ideal life, your ideal self, right?
I mean, when you say “I wanna lose 20 pounds” or “I wanna bench 405” or whatever it is, there’s an underlying assumption that if you achieve that goal, your life will be better somehow.
But a lot of people never really stop to ask themselves if that assumption is accurate or not. Are you really going to be happier is you lose 20 pounds? It seems that way when you initially conceive the goal, because your motivation is high and you haven’t done any work yet. But 6 weeks of training, calorie deprivation, and no ice cream (OK, that’s just a personal problem, sorry!) and you’ve lost 20 pounds but maybe you’re not so happy.
At the “inspiration phase” as I call it, people find it easy to visualize the positive outcomes of their goals, but it’s not as instinctive to also ponder the downside - the work, deprivation, self-discipline, pain, whatever it is. This is why any diet works for the short term. But the problem is, once you pass through the inspiration phase and enter the “perspiration phase,” reality sets in and most people just fall off the wagon.
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CB: And Charles, what training methods have you found to be just plain fun and worthwhile incorporating into a program for variety, while still getting results?
CS: First off, don’t be a perfectionist and don’t be rigid. Variety is the key word for long-term fat loss, not only for psychological reasons, but also for physiological reasons- particularly injury prevention.
I tell people to just move - ride the bike, walk the dog, do some hill sprints, play recreational sports, lift, do it all. I also always urge people to get involved in competition on some level. When you put yourself on the line, you find out what you’re really capable of- it’s a mirror on yourself in many ways.
And by no means do you need to be great or even competitive - I compete in master’s Olympic weightlifting (in the comedy division!) and believe me, the current National champions have nothing to worry about!
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CB: And finally, tell us about the EDT system and how one might use it in the context of a fat loss program?
CS: Well, fat-loss is what EDT was designed for. It’s quick, fun (if you enjoy pain that is) and purpose-driven. Performed 3 days a week, EDT workouts form the core of a successful fat-loss program, because it’s essentially a cross between weights and aerobics - it features the best of both worlds. In fact, when people start EDT, they invariably stop whatever cardio they were previously doing. It’s that efficient.
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Hope enjoyed the interview and some good ideas for your fat loss training! And if maybe Escalating Density Training is not the program for you but you're still interested in some excellent fat loss information and programs, I highly recommend Craig's "Turbulence Training" program.
It's very good stuff - science-based and real-world proven.
Here are the links to my reviews of both Turbulence Training and Escalating Density Training
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