The Newsletter!  No. 8           Nov 2001

 

Articles:

	What's Happening?! Click Here
	Powerful Thoughts! Click Here
	Reader Mail Click Here
	Boston 'Cheat Sheets' Seminar!  Click Here
	How Good is the Multi-Vitamin/Mineral You're Taking?   Click Here
	Ask the Master  Click Here
	'Ian King's Guide to' Three Video Pack  Click Here
	Seminar Update  Click Here
	A holistic approach to lowering your body fat  Click here
	Book Clearance Sale  Click Here
	Passing Thought  Click Here

 

 

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With the 'war' against terrorism in Afghanistan, and the anthrax events in the US and now Pakistan, there is an air of uncertainty as we all arise each morning to learn of any new developments around the world.  Realistically, this uncertainty may go for some time, and in the meantime life goes on for those of us at home.  For those in public safety positions, who see the face of these things closer than most, they no doubt rely to some extent on their physical preparation to get through.  We have evidence of that in a letter in this issue from a US pilot in Afghanistan area.

Despite these events, our tour of North America is happening!  Well, for the most part...We had recently promoted a Charlie Francis/Ian King seminar in NYC. We regret to share with you now that we have been informed by the seminar host only a few days ago that our services are no longer required - so we will not be at this seminar.  We trust that this has not inconvenienced anyone but felt it was important to clarify, as we had put so much effort into marketing an event in which our participation has been terminated.

However we have been invited to do another seminar in Boston - find out more about this here! 

Also in this newsletter we offer you the opportunity to have the brand you are using analyzed against other brands.

Last year I wrote a training program for Men's Health. It was a six part series that started last year and ran into this year. This program has been been reproduced in every country around the world that offer their own version of Men's Health, leading one well positioned person to comment 

"I think it's safe to say that there are more guys doing Ian King workouts in gyms worldwide than the programs of any other trainer."

The response to the MH programs has been very positive! 

I often get asked about what I believe the impact of one specific activity or factor may have on lowering body fat.  In this section I give an example of this, and explain why I believe a holistic approach to body composition is best!

Our Canada and USA tour begins in only a few weeks and we expect to see many of you at any of the seminars we will be giving or involved in (other than NYC!).  For dates and other info, click here!

"Muscle and power building are not and need never become brain surgery or astrophysics. Information beyond the ABCs and simple math only leads to confusion, doubt, controversy and frustration.  These conditions distract from the wonderful work at hand and confound the basic instincts and investigative courage to discover.  Thus limited, one imitates instead of seeks, copies rather than improvises, becomes dull in place of shining.  One stops growing in leaf and grows only in knurly root.

There comes a time, sooner or later, when you must listen to yourself and not those around you.  You must become the student and teacher at once. Look directly to yourself and your training as the masters.  If you enjoy the magazines and science and research, sip on them as one does afternoon tea.  Enjoy the aroma, swirl the flavorful liquid about the palate, note the heady summaries but don't expect sustenance.  This comes from you, the gym and hard work over and over again. Insight and revelation fall like sweet rain from above on the sunniest days."

Dave Draper, Brother Iron Sister Steel, p. 15-16.  This book is available online at www.davedraper.com .  KSI books are also available at this site, including Get Buffed!™

Your Get Buffed!™ site is graphically pleasing

Ian - Your Get Buffed!™ site is graphically pleasing! awesome job!  Are you going to have an affiliate program setup soon? 
 
Tone

Tone - yes, we hope to have the affiliate program running in early 2002!

Team KSI

Great new look to the web site! 

Ian & Teresa,

I trust all is well with you and Summer. Great new look to the web site. Very functional. Keep up the great work and continued success in all of your endeavors. In divine health. 

I'll keep in touch,

Vince

Books to be delivered to the UK? 

Can I order books from your online shop to be delivered to the UK?

Regards,

Duncan Swain.

Duncan - Thanks for your email. Yes, can order online to be delivered in UK. Just put all address details under "street address" and "city" e.g.. zip code and state and country. 

If you have any problems, just email us and we can call you at a suitable time.  

Take care,

Coming to NZ

Ian, when are you coming to New Zealand next?

Jason

Jason - we have immediate plans for NZ but are currently discussing possibilities with a person in NZ who like to bring Ian over.

Teresa King

Boston 'Cheat Sheets' Seminar!

This seminar was inspired by the excellent article put together by Chris Shugart in T-mag - part 1 and part 2 - which he titled the 'Ian King Cheat Sheets'. It was his interpretation of a variety of training concepts and methods relevant to that readership. He described it in a way that, well, was probably better than what I could! (my goal is doing it, sometimes others can describe what I do better!)

So in Boston we are going to do a short (2 hour) presentation along this theme - an overview of some of my more unique methods, explained in an end-user, basic way.  There is a $20 admission fee payable at the door. Feel free to contact the event host Mike Pimentel at 617-627-5622 if you would like additional information!

"Tufts University is pleased to present re-known strength and conditioning lecturer Ian King on Monday November 26, 2001, on his successful and unique training methods.  This presentation will take place in the Cabot Intercultural Center Auditorium on Packard Avenue, on the Medford campus. Admission is $20.00 at the door.  For directions and location, log onto: www.ase.tufts.edu/asmap and click on Directions and Parking Questions?  1-617-627-5622"

How good is the multi vitamin/mineral you're taking?

Back in the '70's strength coach and writer Bill Starr (author of 'The Strongest Shall Survive') was recommending high dosages of vitamins and minerals.  However many of the vitamin/mineral  combinations taken by those involved in strength training today are still adhering to the antiquated RDAs.  The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA's) were introduced in the 1940s, and although they have been updated a number of times since, are still hopelessly inadequate.  The goal of the RDAs was to represent the minimum criteria necessary to prevent acute nutritional deficiencies.  They were never intended as guidelines for optimal performance or long term health.  For some reason, however, many vitamin/mineral manufacturers have produced products aligned with these RDAs.  Needless to say, you aren't going to get much benefit from taking these lower dose vitamins!

However most people browsing the store shelves focus more on the total price of the unit, not what they are paying per unit, or what kind of quality they are getting.  In response to this, most brands sold on the shelf's in stores aim to provide a low cost bottle, and in doing so offer very little in content in or quality.

If you are interested in a comparison of four brands, including what they would really cost to buy the same amounts of nutrients in each of them, check this link out.  

If you are interested in learning more about how the vitamin/mineral that you are taking stacks up against the brand we recommend, we can provide you with a graphical printout of a dosage comparison!  You will be stunned at the difference!  All you need to do is send us an email with the following information :

1. Your name and address (so we can mail the hard copy printouts of the graphs to you)

2. The brand of label name of the vitamin/mineral you are taking

3. How many of these tablets are recommended to be taken per day

4. A list of the claimed dosage for each of the vitamin and minerals.

Now if that is too much effort for you, but you would still like to see a print out of a graph comparing over 150 competing nutritional products (from the US, Canada, ANZ, UK, and HK), then just do the first 3 steps above.

Lifting and flying combat missions over Afghanistan

Mr King,

I am thoroughly enjoying the programs and exercises from the "get buffed" book.  I think you have made a convert of many bodybuilders like myself who would rather have big useful muscles vice inflated balloon muscles.  on to business.  I am currently on the USS Theodore Roosevelt flying missions over Afghanistan about every third day.  the flights are around 6-7 hours, which seems like an eternity when you are strapped to the ejection seat of the F-14.  they really take it out of you, kinda like deadlift day.  when I do find time to work out, the gym equipment on the boat is substandard.  most likely selected by someone who doesn't work out, hammer strength machines, limited free weights and one smith machine.  I guess they are afraid of someone hurting themselves, (like the flight deck of an aircraft carrier isn't dangerous).  my deadlift workouts are suffering due to a lack of free weights (Olympic bar, squat rack etc.)  I have been using dumbbells, which are available up to 80's (lbs), but the workout seems to lack the loading that I would get with a straight bar.  would the smith machine work as a substitute?  I of course would have to wrestle it away from the "all I do is bench press, with a bicep curl cool down" crowd, but I want to make sure it would be worth my time before I do so.  I am really more interested in strength, than size.  I am already a couple of pounds over the ejection seat limit of 213lbs. (currently 220-225lbs @ 6'-4").  still hoping the captain will take us to Perth (5 1/2 days away) for a little liberty from this gray prison for overachievers, but I really doubt we will see any ports at all this cruise.  thanks for the consideration.  keep up the good work.  and yes I still owe you a number to the naval aviation medical institute where they research the effects of pulling "g's" on the body and how pilots can counteract them.  their small field of view on lifting needs to be addressed.  lifting definitely helps me when I am pulling 7.5 g's.  if I didn't lift, I would be taking lots of naps in the jet, which isn't recommended.  hope all is well with you and yours.  

LCDR Scott R. Snow, CVW1 cag paddles

Scott - great to hear you are enjoying 'get buffed!' The deadlift- you can improvise with the smith machine, may be a bit tough coming up around the knees as the bar path in normal dl would not be as straight as the smith machine. 

Try pre-fatigue a bit e.g.. 

lying single leg hip/thigh extensions

single leg stiff legged deadlift

single leg bent knee deadlift

then deadlift - wont' need as much weight this way!

Just ideas!   Trust this was helpful - take care!

Ian king

A question about progression

Dear Ian,

I have a question about your control drills and exercise variety. In the programs I've read, you cycle phases every 3 or 4 weeks. When it comes to abdominal exercises, should we change them with the same frequency, even if the control drills--like "thin tummy" or "seated cheek-abdom squeeze"--haven't been mastered? For example, for Side Bends Off the Ground -  you recommend 10-30 reps per side. After four weeks, should the trainee switch to side bends off a swiss ball or a bench, even if he can't do 10 or hasn't got near 30? I suppose this question applies to all control drills that you prescribe across phases in a program, including rotator cuff exercises. Do we change them every three to four weeks, increasing the load each workout? Or do we keep the load the same, and try to do more reps each time, waiting until the reps hit 15-20 before we change? Thank you. Your programs have helped out me and my family immensely. 

Adam

Adam - the cycle phases should be individualized in length. What you have seen are common generalizations of 3-4 wks.

The rate of change of exercises within the program also should be individualized. In the ideal scenario, the client/athlete is seated beside me when I design the next phase and we discuss each exercise and adaptations to date, and this determines what happens next. In the scenario you describe, I would not change the exercise if it was yet to be mastered or fully exploited.

As a matter of interest, where have you seen these programs (market research!)? We do not have your email address on our mailing lists - do you receive any of our free online newsletters?

Ian King

'Ian King's Guide To' Three Video Pack

Many of our videos are produced with the physical preparation consultant in mind - someone who want to know more in-depth information and is prepared to invest in it.  With the end user in mind, ie. someone who just wants the basics on how to do it, we have created a series of single videos.  Amongst other things, this make available information at lower cost to the end-user.  The three individual videos currently available include the following, and the

Ian King's Guide to Individual Stretching (video)  $ 39.95 USD

Ian King's Guide to Abdominal Training (video)  $ 29.95 USD

Ian King's Guide to Control Drills (video)  $ 29.95 USD

Now for additional dollar savings, you can purchase all three as a package, in the following :

Get Buffed!™ Single Videos Package (3 x Ian King's Guide single videos)   $ 87.00 USD

For more information click here.  To order click here.

A holistic approach to lowering body fat

I was recently asked this question about fat loss : 

"Ian, you’re the master when it comes to gaining muscle or preparing for sport, but what’s your take on using weight training to lose body fat?"

Here's what I had to say :

"One of the ways strength people used to sell weight training to the general public in the 80’s was to promote the research confirmed benefits of circuit training – get fit and get strong all at once. So losing body fat through strength training is not a new concept.  I was part of the driving force to get aerobic training in context, but now I feel the trend has gone overboard, by denying the role of aerobic training all together.

I do believe that strength training has a role to play in fat loss, but is it more or less than the other 2 components – energy system training and nutrition?  Generally speaking I don’t see it as being any more or less powerful than the other two, so why not do them all, provided that you don’t do them in a way that is counterproductive.  For example, excessively low calorie diets may get you lean (and in some cases may not!) but what about muscle and strength loss?  If some energy system training does lower your body fat, this doesn’t mean for the strength athlete  more is better.

Never compromise the primary goal.  As a strength athlete, I don’t like to see strength adaptations compromised, so I look for rationalization in diet and a small amount of addition energy system training."

I believe that one of the great limitations in altering body composition is a unilateral or single approach - I feel that a holistic approach is much more effective i.e.. the use of various modalities to get the result. This may include :

* how you train

* what you eat

* what supplements you use

*  your thoughts/emotions

I have seen so many people avoid or neglect what I believed to be the cause of their unwanted body fat, and focus on other less relevant issues.  And at the end of the day, what is excess fat? How fat is too fat? Of course you can raise health issues, but most chasing lower body fat are not in the health risk range anyway.  So before you even express your goals, make sure you have your reasons for them!

Book Clearance Sale

We have decided to clear the shelves! Check out this link to see how you can order a range of training books at below cost price!

"There is no better opportunity to receive more than to be
thankful for what you already have. Thanksgiving opens the
windows of opportunity for ideas to flow your way.” 

-  Jim Rohn