New Living Magazine

The Natural Way by Beth Horn

Frank Watts

1.)       Why did you decide to write a book on coaching children?

When my children began to have kids and coach kids it dawned upon me that I had some unique experience in the field. After doing some research I couldn’t find any books aimed at the general subject of coaching kid’s team sports. It soon became a passion to my ego to help other coaches.

2.)       What are the three best things to do to involve parents in the coaching process?

Make sure that the league office understands that you will use the concept that a parent from each family will be required to help with your team in some capacity.  Telephone each family personally and explain that you will only coach if one of the parents helps in some capacity and you will call a team meeting to assign jobs.  In that team/parent meeting, outline the jobs to be done and to insist that one parent from each family participate. Don’t move on with the meeting until each parent is committed.

3.)       As a coach, how do you stress winning but not at the cost of having fun?

The first step to balance the win/fun question is to recognize that winning will be very difficult without having fun. Sometimes, some coaches will win without having fun with the kids, but that is an exception at these young ages. Never drive away the poor performers. Let the kids and parents know in your first team meeting that you want to win but it will not be a season of winning at all costs. Perhaps quote from Grantland Rice:

For when the one great scorer comes,
To write against your name,
He marks, not that you won or lost,
But how you played the game.

4.)       What are the basic qualities of a successful youth coach?

Wanting to get the parents involved so they will perceive the season to be a success regardless of the outcome. Wanting to teach – teach – teach to the best of your (and your assistants) ability. Wanting to personally enjoy every moment possible. Wanting to hear the kids say, when they see you in the grocery store, “Hi Coach!”

5.)       How do you keep the kid’s focused and having fun – even when the team is struggling to keep up with the competition?

Make sure that you continue to have practices well into the season. Be organized. Make the practice time intense but always have fun at the same time. Maybe you and the assistant coaches demonstrate the wrong way to do a drill. Have the coaches make fun of each other. Make fun of yourself. Always find every kid doing something right every time possible. Being told they did something right is a great leap toward their having fun. Tell their parents about the things they did right. After a loss, praise the talent and coaching on the other team and let them know that they can win next time. Eliminate the negative, accentuate the positive.

6.)       How do you deal with “bad” parents?

Talk to them one on one, probably on the phone. If you want the other parents to know what is happening, ask that parent to “stick around after for a few minutes.” The league should have a “one, two, three strikes and you’re out” rule – see the book. Lacking that, and after a couple of talks, ask the parent to find another team for them and their child.

This book is essentially about bodybuilding, which is a particular form of weight training. Bodybuilders concentrate on building big muscles to look good and often for competition purposes. Serious bodybuilders don’t leave much to chance. They concentrate on reaching very low body fat levels — under 6% for men and under 10% for women, some even lower. All major muscle groups and many smaller individual muscles get the bodybuilding treatment.

Nick Nilsson, an experienced bodybuilder, has developed a training program that includes nutritional and training approaches. The book aims to help you build muscle quickly.

The Muscle Explosion Program

I developed Muscle Explosion because, first and foremost, I wanted to see what my own body was capable of when I did EVERYTHING I knew how to do to maximize rapid muscle gain all at he same time.  I believe that muscle gain doesn’t have to be a slow and gradual process.  Your body, when pushed to the limit, can accomplish extremely large changes in order to survive and adapt, especially when given the nutritional means to do so.

This program is a result of the more than 20 years of training and research that I’ve done on myself and others with regards to muscle building.  The training and nutritional techniques are based on sound science, put together in such a way that each phase of the program sets up the next phase to maximize the total results of the program.  It basically forces your body to add muscle in order to “survive” the challenge of the program!

2.) Does this program really work? It seems to be a collection of ‘crazy’ methods that we are usually taught NOT to do!

It works and it works incredibly well!  For me, every time I do the program I know I will gain at least 5 to 7 lbs of lean mass.  And I’ve had people gain upwards of 10 or more lbs over the course of the 4 weeks as well!  Some of the most telling results come from people who have used the program who consider themselves “hard gainers”… I’ve had guys who told me they struggle to gain a pound or two over the course of several months and then they come back with gains of 5 or 6 lbs in just a matter of weeks.

Crazy methods…I can’t argue with that!  I actually found that the more I diverged from standard advice and training, the better the results I got.   The standard ”rules” of training are just arbitrary…by breaking the rules in a very specific way and for very specific physiological reasons, you can really set the stage for massive muscle gains!

3.) Muscle Explosion’s program has really short cycles (4 weeks) – isn’t that too short a time frame to see results?

In a “normal” type of program, you wouldn’t expect to see much in the way of results in 4 weeks.  THAT is where this program goes against the grain…it’s a very demanding program and it’s designed to FORCE fast adaptation in the body. It’s not a comfortable process to force change that fast – most programs shy away from trying to do that.

The Muscle Explosion program is unique in that it starts with a short, low-calorie diet phase, the idea of which is to set up a NEED in your body for food and nutrients.  And we take advantage of this by taking advantage of the very process that causes rebound weight gain in dieters, only we’re harnessing that power for muscle gain, not fat gain.  By combining nutritional manipulation with extremely targeted and effective training, you can literally SEE changes in your body on almost a daily basis.

4.) How can you possibly advocate:

a.) Reducing caloric intake to well below maintenance levels?

Ordinarily, for muscle gain you DO want a good caloric surplus…and the majority of the program DOES give you that.  The first week is where the Muscle Explosion really
takes things to a new place…by dieting hard for a week, you set up a need in your body for food and nutrients.  Then the following week you OVERLOAD the body with food and nutrients (and supplements like protein and creatine, if you like).  It’s what I refer to as the Slingshot effect where you pull back on your body and then release it – the results are FAR better than a steady-state type of nutritional program.

b.) Eliminating protein completely from your diet?

Removing protein from your diet totally goes against standard muscle-building advice!  We’re only going to do it for one day out of the program so don’t worry about losing
muscle.  What this day does is set up a need in your body to store protein. When you take something out of your diet, your body notices.  For example, if you’re familiar with the concept of carb loading, this is right along the same lines.

With carb loading, you deprive your body of carbs then put them back in mass quantities.  Your body responds by grabbing and storing far more carbs than it normally does because you’ve set up that need with deprivation.

It’s the same idea with protein…by strategically removing protein from the diet, the goal is to set up that desperate need to store more protein…and, of course, the main method the body uses to store protein is muscle tissue.

c.)  Training the same body part and performing the same exercise five days in a row?

This is a technique that really raises eyebrows. The idea behind training the same body part five days in a row with the same exercise is to force maximum adaptation on the body and give it just ONE thing to adapt to.  We’re not doing ANYTHING else during those 5 days… no other exercises, so you’re going to get very good at doing that exercise.

Your nervous system is going to get tuned to that exercise and you’ll actually find you get STRONGER over the course of the 5 days. And when your body recovers from the physical demands of the training, your strength will shoot WAY up on that specific exercise.  Giving an example, I’ve had users report gains of 60 to 80+ lbs on their deadlifts in a matter of a few weeks.  I’ve had people gain 40+ lbs on their bench press in the same timeframe.

The training itself stays away from muscular failure in order to keep the nervous system and recovery systems of the body from getting overloaded. Plus, we gradually build up the workload over the course of the week.  It’s a step by step approach that gives your body the chance to respond to the training and eating.

To maximize muscle gain, we’re going to be focusing on doing just one BIG exercise on these 5 day blocks of training, e.g. deadlifts, squats, bench press, rows.  When coming off the diet week, your body is primed to build muscle and store nutrients.  The eating for the 5 day training week is BIG and the training takes FULL advantage of it.

5.) Who gave you the nickname “The Mad Scientist”?  Why?

That nickname has come actually by group consensus!  When the clients, customers and other trainers that I work with see the kind of exercises and programs I come up with, “Mad Scientist” is generally the first thing that pops into their heads!  And the nickname rings totally true…I love to experiment and create new exercises and training techniques.  I’m not afraid to push things to the limit and to try things that are normally considered completely backwards.

I have a scientific basis for all the exercises and training techniques I do come up with (coming from my university background in biomechanics, kinesiology, anatomy and physiology) so the “scientist” part is right on the money.  And I have to say, I am a bit insane when it comes to training but that’s what makes it fun, not only for me but for everybody who reads and uses my exercises and programs!

Muscle Explosion (978-0-9724102-9-8) is available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNobles.com and in bookstores nationwide for $14.95.

Not too long ago Nilsson had just 140 pounds on his 5-foot-11 frame. He now carries 215 pounds, transforming his body with hard work and a program he designed himself. Now he’s telling everyone else how to do it.

“Muscle Explosion: 28 Days to Maximum Mass” lays out a four-week eating and exercise plan that will help fitness enthusiasts put on five to 10 or more pounds of muscle in a month.

Taking all he learned from his degree in physical fitness and psychology, Nilsson developed the Muscle Explosion program by conducting dieting and exercise “experiments” on himself and his fitness clients. It’s an approach that led those clients, and other trainers, to nickname him “The Mad Scientist.”

The plan is a combination of nutritional manipulation and extremely targeted training that creates a “slingshot” effect to accelerate muscle building.

Muscle Explosion began when Nilsson challenged himself by doing everything he knew how to do to maximize rapid muscle gain all at the same time. “There’s a scientific basis for all the exercises and training techniques I use.”

In the book, Nilsson backs up his program with extensive explanation, detailed how-to charts that are ready for copying and taking to the gym, tips on eating and supplements, and plenty of encouraging words.

Of course, consult your physician before beginning any exercise or diet program.

Thursday, December 9th, 2010 by Carrie Leave a Comment »

Have you ever tried to potty train a child or are you working on it now?

If the answer is yes or you  know someone who is going through this.. ( My nephew)

Then

THE MAGIC BOWL DVD

The Magic Bowl: Potty Training Made Easy

is what you need.

This is such a cute movie that kids can relate to.

You know it can get  frustrating  for both you, and your child.

Even if everything goes according to plan your likely to experience some resistance and have a few accidents along the way.

If you’re potty training using traditional methods, you’re going to make the same mistakes everyone else has already made. You might find yourself:

-Cleaning up disgusting potty training toilets
-Cleaning up accidents both on the floor, and in your child’s pants
-Wiping away your child’s frustrated tears
-Giving in and letting them wear their diaper
-Using old outdated potty training movies, or books
-Needlessly stressing yourself out
-Ultimately setting you and your child back during this crucial process

To continue reading this article click here.