Josh is Fat!!

That was my smiling reaction to a post made on my recent Youtube video of my own training sessions. Yeah, my torso does look thick, he does have a point. However, this is pretty typical of strength athletes. For the past three years I was heavily involved in competitive strongman training. A lot of heavy pulling, squatting, and carrying. This does cause hypertrophy of the torso, in fact, strength coach Dan John refers to it as a "squatter's belly".



This isn't to say that being lifting heavy is the only reason that one gets a thicker torso. Many heavy lifters give themselves permission to eat poorly because being heavier does tend to allow many to handle bigger loads. However, I have always been a stickler on nutrition. I have found a profound difference in performance and health with good nutrition. Here are my basic rules:

1. Drink water with the occasional cup of organic tea.
2. Eat very light during the day with small amount of organic proteins.
3. Have broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, and other dark greens with your main meals.
4. Eat raw seeds and nuts avoiding typically peanuts.
5. Use a variety of healthy oils such as fish, hemp, flaxseed, and coconut.
6. Utilize celtic sea salts
7. Your other carbs should be from whole real foods such as brown rice, quinoa, and other healthy forms.

Now, outside of my little nutrition bit I will go back to the exercise component. I remember reading an article by Pavel that spoke about the traditional Greek statue. In our current philosophy of health and fitness we think of a "healthy and fit people" we tend to believe the v-shape is the ideal, however, if we really look at our Greek statue we will see something quite different.

You will find an individual not overly developed, but well proportioned. A statue that is more square than v-shaped. Why? In ancient times and in fact up till maybe 75 years ago many people lifted and carried heavy objects. It is only in our recent time of gyms and health clubs, treadmills and ellipticals that we find such a need for "core" training. We need to analyze what are our goals. Remember, the most common definition of being fit is being able to perform a task. I know plenty of people that look cut and ripped but can't perform many of the most basic tasks! Something to think about.