Just Shy of 50 Years Old and I’ve Never Felt or Looked Better

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It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

My name is Nick and I’m a 49-year-old recovered alcoholic, former “fattie” and a former track athlete who competed in the 10,000 meters at the 1984 Olympic Trials, which now seems like a million years ago! In my 20s, I was sidetracked as an athlete by a series of injuries and burnout, a story not far removed from that of Mark Sisson. I then plunged into a 20-year exercise in self-pity and substance abuse, all the while maintaining the seemingly successful facade of a highly-paid software engineer who gradually got fat and out-of-shape as he entered middle age, eating junk like pizza and fast food. My health problems were further complicated by the fact that I was also waging an ongoing battle against chronic Hepatitis C, which I contracted when I was 21, so drinking alcohol was probably not a such a great idea, right? Also, I had developed high blood pressure (175/110) and my cholesterol was through the roof at 285!

A year and a half ago, I was laid off from my “big shot” programmer job, just another casualty of this lousy economy and I’ve been living on unemployment checks and my wife’s income up until just recently. After I lost my job in March of 2010, the first thing that I decided to do was give up drinking – completely and forever, just about the smartest thing I’ve ever done. This was truly a fresh start for me. I looked in the mirror for the first time in a long time, and by that I mean I really looked at my 195-pound body and the 36% body fat I was carrying around, which was in sharp contrast to the 7% body fat that I had in my early 20s as a competitive distance runner. I asked myself “How could you let this happen to you?”, “Don’t you have any self-respect?”

So the next step after giving up alcohol was to replace that addiction with a much healthier one, running! My old friend, a trusted lover from the past, it could be argued. Surely I could lose the weight by just reuniting with my “old friend”, but I quickly discovered that my “old friend” wasn’t enough anymore. I was 48 and my metabolism had slowed, I was on the verge of Type II diabetes and my body no longer wanted to cooperate in the weight loss department. My efforts to lose weight became an ongoing gulag of carb-deprivation and starvation dieting, “chronic cardio” on an empty stomach, diet pills and “fat burners” containing everything from ephedrine-based stimulants to yohimbine and massive quantities of caffeine.

It was only after I started eating healthier in general and moving intuitively toward a primal eating strategy that I finally started to get real results in efforts to lose weight. Long before I discovered Mark and his fantastic book, I was already moving toward a “paleo diet” after meeting and speaking with Dean Karnazes, Mr. Ultramarathon Man, who happens to be the same age as me and we share some similar problems from our past. He was the one who first introduced me to the concept of eating along primal lines using his own variation on the theme. I eventually went from 36% body fat down to the 6% that I now maintain all year round, and at a body weight of 125 pounds, I lost a grand total of 55 pounds of fat while gaining 8 pounds of muscle! My blood pressure is now 115/70, resting heart rate of 45, and I can now run a 10K in under 38 minutes. But I still felt as though there was something missing. I was experiencing devastating episodes of “carb flu” followed by occasional binge eating, that is until I discovered The Primal Blueprint at a bookstore one afternoon, which changed my life utterly! I finally found a way that I could actually keep the weight off while having a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy! I started to send periodic emails to Mark as I slowly transitioned to a Primal lifestyle and he was gracious enough to take the time to personally answer all my questions, for which I still owe him a debt of gratitude, one of the reasons why I’m now taking the time to share my story with you.

Eventually, I got back into my old sport of distance running as a competitive Masters runner in the 45-49 age division and have done very well in local and state races, once I got my “running legs” back. I confess that I have adapted the PB lifestyle and nutrition with a few minor modifications tailored to my admittedly high-mileage training regimen as a distance runner. But I should also point out that since 90% of the running that I do is at a heart rate no higher than 70%, I’m not so sure that my 70-80 miles/week truly qualifies as “chronic cardio” as defined by Mark. Rarely do I get into the very stressful 80-85% zone, except for when I do intervals on the track once a week and of course when I race. The rest of the time, it’s “easy does it”! Also, I do 90% of my cardio fasted, first thing in the morning, so as to increase the fat burn and train my body to utilize stored fat as its primary fuel source, and then I eat a healthy Primal breakfast within 30 minutes of my workouts to keep my metabolism revved up. I also do occasional sprinting and brief-duration high-intensity weight training as recommended by Mark.

On the nutrition side, I stick to almost all the rules except for the following, in small infrequent doses: wild rice, Irish steel cut oats and an occasional sugar-free energy drink (my father always said that a man is not a real man if he doesn’t have at least one vice!). Also, unfortunately, I cannot have any coconut oil because I have bile flow problems related to my Hepatitis C, but I’ve been able to work around this limitation by using other healthy oils that are lower in saturated fat, such as hazelnut oil (expensive but well worth it!). I have finally managed to give up all grains and bread, legumes, etc., and the only fruit I eat is berries and cherries. I take 200 mcg of chromium and a small handful of raw almonds before every meal to avoid spiking my blood sugar. In the “nuts department”, I consume mainly raw macadamias, almonds and hazelnuts, because of their extremely favorable MUFA to PUFA ratio. I have found that higher consumption of MUFA’s keeps my android (waist) fat lower, as determined by DEXA regional analysis of my body composition.

So here I am now, a few months shy of my BIG 50, and I’ve never felt or looked better! I’m actually looking forward to turning 50, which is in sharp contrast to when I turned 40! I now make my living as a Personal Trainer specializing in weight loss at a local health club. I don’t make anywhere near as much money as I did in the software field, but I’m much more fulfilled now. Though it may sound corny (and I don’t care if it does!), I discovered that what you do to earn a living matters much more than how much money you make, at least when it comes to your health and overall satisfaction with your life. The first thing that I tell my new clients in their first personal training session with me is to go out and buy Mark’s book. It’s their very first “homework assignment” before I see them for a second session! I tell them that PB changed my life and it can change theirs!

Stay Primal and go “against the grain” when it comes to the modern lifestyle that in my opinion is slowly destroying Western civilization from the inside-out! Let’s make it our mission to save the world in a way that it least expects to be saved!

Cheers to all my Primal brothers and sisters!

Nick Laszlo

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A Better Way to do Chin Ups

A Better Way to do Chin Ups HomeStart HereAboutInner CircleStoreContact September 30, 2011A Better Way to do Chin Ups20Welcome newcomers! If you want to build muscle, lose fat, boost your performance and improve your health you're in the right place. To make sure you don't miss out on any new updates you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed and sign up for my newsletter list. Thanks for visiting!

Some things will never change.

Squats, deads, presses, cleans, snatches, pushups, chins and dips will always be the foundation of a good strength training program.

To be explosive you’re never going to be able to beat throwing and jumping.

To be in shape nothing will ever top hill sprints or the Prowler.

One thing that I have changed, however, is the way I coach certain exercises. Chin ups being one of the most noteworthy.

I’ve been down on straight bar chins for quite some time now and haven’t done one myself in years. Over the last few months I have completely eliminated them from my clients programs. What’s funny is I discussed this with another well known strength coach at dinner recently and not too long after he told me he made the same changes to his programs and would never go back.

In my opinion the straight bar chin up places too much stress on the wrists, elbows and shoulders. I’ve seen it and experienced it way too many times and could no longer recommend it in all good conscience. Even if you haven’t experienced it yet chances are good that a steady diet of supinated straight bar chin ups may come back to bite you in the ass… or elbow, eventually.

I’d even say that pull ups (palms facing away from you) on a straight bar should be eliminated as well if you want to be ultra conservative or you have any shoulder problems.

The simple solution is to stick with neutral grip chins/pull ups. If you have one of the best racks in the world from EliteFTS, the monkey bar chin attachment at the top gives you five different grip options to choose from. That should keep you busy for a while.

Another great option is the EZ bar or zig zag style chin up bar. That should be a staple in every gym and should replace the straight bar on the top of all power racks and on all wall mounted chin up bars. Chin ups or pull ups on the EZ bar are far less stressful than the straight bar.

The best option is chin ups on rings. With rings you can use any grip you want. You can start pronated and finish supinated or you can keep a neutral grip the entire time. It’s up to you and can be dictated by what feels safest and most natural for your body.

When you’re on a fixed bar you can’t move naturally and that’s what leads to problems. That’s why for a lot of individuals with shoulder issues, including myself, pushups on rings feel better than pushups on the ground; because you can move more freely and naturally.

If you choose to start doing your chins on rings you should be forewarned that a ten rep max may quickly become 3-4 rep max. This is normal so don’t be frustrated. One quick solution would to attach a band to each ring and put your feet in them while doing your set. When your strength comes up get rid of the bands. The other solution is to just do a bunch of low rep sets until you are strong enough to rep out on the rings like you can on the bar. When you do that you will end up far stronger and have more well developed stabilizer muscles than if you had just stuck with the straight bar the whole time.

Now, if all you have access to is a straight bar it’s not the end of the world. First of all I would do more pull ups than chin ups and I would choose the least stressful grip width. You can also do parallel grip chins by getting sideways under the bar and gripping it with one hand over the other or by placing a V-grip cable attachment over it.

But in my mind it’s worth the investment to find a gym or rack with neutral grip chin up bars or grab yourself a pair of rings.

You’ll pay far less for them than you will for the doctor’s bills later on down the line.

One final note I should make is that the amount of chins you do should be evened out with an equal amount of rowing motion exercises for the upper back. If you don’t do that you will end up with internally rotated shoulders and a host of other problems you’d probably want to avoid.

For the rings I use personally and highly recommend click HERE.

Related posts:How to Improve Your Chin UpsHow to Improve on Chin UpsJen’s New Chin Up PR (And How We Did It)Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Pull UpsShould You Always Use a Full Range of Motion: Part 2

Facebook Comments:

Comments on A Better Way to do Chin Ups September 30, 2011ReplyBrandon Cook @ 8:37 am

Couldn’t agree more! I have a power tower that allows neutral grip or wide grip… however, I find myself gravitating towards the O-rings. I love the rings because my wrists can move any way I want. You can put the rings out wider and hit the lats with wide grip pull ups or move them in shoulder width to do chins and hit the biceps harder. Sometimes I’ll start in the pull up position with palm facing away and rotate my wrists as I pull up so that when I reach the top my palms are facing towards me. Feels very natural. They are definitely more difficult on the rings, but so is every exercise. Rings rock! Good post.

ReplyCesar @ 8:45 am

Loved this article. I will have to pick myself up a pair of rings.

FYI, the link you posted at the end of the article for rings takes me to a page for bands.

ReplyJorge Sanchez @ 8:55 am

Coach would you recommend for beginners (aka people who are not pull up proficient yet) or those who are not strong enough to do more than 5 pull ups the use of rings? What about some form of straps? maybe trx style, or jungle gym style, do you think it would do as good as rings? Thanks for the great content.

ReplyChris @ 9:41 am

Jason, how do you feel about permanently replacing chins/pull-ups with inverted rows done on Jungle Gym straps?

Replyandy @ 9:46 am

got some O-rings about a year ago. love them for bw exercises. inverted rows and neutral chins in particular. i still like regular and pronated pull ups but this gives my shoulders a break from the same patern usually change grips every 6-8 weeks.

ReplyBlake @ 10:04 am

Jason Ferruggia,

Do you think that the Perfect Pullup handles provide similar benefits compared to rings? I will appreciate your thoughts.

ReplyMarc @ 11:14 am

I love the articles that provide us with advice on sparing our joints from unneccesary trauma.

Question: If I hang rings from my power rack pull-up bar, I will have to bend my knees quite a bit to clear the floor. Do you see any problems with having to bend my knees. Will it adversely effect the exercise?

Thanks,

Marc

ReplyMatt Helphingstine @ 11:25 am

Great post Jason, always looks forward to what you have to say.
I just ordered a pair of these the other day, I heard about them through the Beast Skills website which is worth checking out.
Was Chad Waterbury the coach in question that you met with? He had a similar post about this not too long ago.
Keep up the good work.

Thanks,
Matt

ReplyChris @ 11:25 am

I’ve still got the old school blast straps from elitefts. Would those work???

ReplyMatt Helphingstine @ 11:33 am

As a postscript to what I previously wrote, Chad’s high frequency approach to pullups (PLP) worked wonders at improving my pullup abilities. It really opened my eyes to how the best way to get better at something is to just keep at it consistently. For me it has become a very excellent motivating factor to keep putting in time at the gym!
The only downside is what you’ve mentioned, the elbow pain. Really looking forward to getting some rings!

ReplyDave @ 11:53 am

I’ve been using EXF Rings for the last few months and this really hits home with me. The number of pullups I could do dropped rapidly by I’ve since worked my way back up. I like to go from pronated to supinated grip. The rings are extremely valuable for other bodyweight exercises like rows, pushups, and dips as well.

ReplyRaymond- ZenMyFitness @ 12:02 pm

Unfortunately straight is all I have at the gym but I’m so use to that maybe it doesn’t matter anymore. I been doing chin consistently for over 3-4 years and don’t seem to have any problems (yet).
I wonder if adding in handstand pushups or even shoulder presses would also help counter rotations? as shoulder rotation is an issue for me.
When I stand straight my palms are pronated a bit ( my thumbs point in 45 deg and sometimes further)
Raymond

Replyjulio @ 12:47 pm

“One final note I should make is that the amount of chins you do should be evened out with an equal amount of rowing motion exercises for the upper back. If you don’t do that you will end up with internally rotated shoulders and a host of other problems you’d probably want to avoid.”
Does doing more rows than chinups also give the same problems? I prefer rowing for higher reps (from 7 to 12) than chinups (mainly because the biggest DB at my gym are of 95lb. and i’m currently with the 70lb DB), found chinups allow me to pull more explosively while really heavy rows hurt my shoulders.

ReplyKathleen @ 2:38 pm

Jason, does your objection re wrist/elbow stress hold true for barbell curls, too. Do you prefer only EZ bar curls and DB curls for this reason? Just wondering. Thanks.

ReplyDavid @ 2:39 pm

One thing I’ve started doing recently is using the rope cable attachment (the one that most people use for triceps pressdowns etc) and slinging it over a pull-up bar or crossbar of a cable stack. It allows for a fairly close grip chin-up with a fair degree of freedom to inwardly rotate.

ReplyDonny @ 8:20 pm

@Blake:

I know I am not Jason, but Chad Waterbury recently wrote about this and said anything that allows your wrists to rotate is perfectly acceptable. They both do the same thing in terms of chin ups.

October 1, 2011ReplyJohn Phung @ 2:15 am

Pull ups & chinups really aggravate my golfer’s elbow.

I’ve done O-ring chin-ups, but have switched to using a pair of D Grip cable attachments hooked up to a straight bar. Reason why is that I can attach FatGripz to the handles, whereas on the O-rings I cannot.

ReplyJason Ferruggia @ 5:56 am

@Jorge Sanchez: Stick with parallel grip chins on the bars.

@Chris- I don’t like it. Chins are a great exercise. You need both vertical and horizontal pulling.

@Blake- That’s a good option.

@Marc- No problem

@Matt- Yes, Chad is my buddy and lives a few floors below me actually.

@julio- No it doesn’t. You can do rows and never do chins. But I wouldn’t do the opposite.

@Kathleen- Correct, you are.

@John- Yeah, that’s a great option.

ReplyJorge @ 3:39 pm

Jason, i need your help, I’ve been doing your MGS program for 2 months now (im in beginner phase 2) and have put on 5-6 pounds but i have now hit a plateau. When deadlifting 295+ lbs, the bar starts to slip. I’m the opposite to man-hands from Seinfeld, i have girl-hands, what can i do?
p.s. (I’m 5' 11” , ectomorph and i weigh 150 lbs ) every other exercise is not giving me this kind of trouble.

ReplyCraig L. @ 9:05 pm

I totally agree about pull-ups on a straight bar being unnatural! Having such a low tolerance for lateral movements puts a lot of strain on the deltoids and rotator cuffs which can cause noticeable wear and tear over time. As someone who plays softball semi-competitively, my rotator cuffs are obviously something I don’t want to mess with.

When I started feeling the effects of doing pull-ups several months ago I pretty much eliminated them from my training sessions. I will still do unweighted pull-ups for 15-20 reps as a warmup before doing lat pulldowns, but not the weighted pull-ups with 65lbs hanging from my waist like I was doing. I am not sure how to incorporate ring pull-ups into my home gym in my basement, but I like the idea.

So far, doing lat pulldowns hasn’t been too bad, but I would much rather perform a compound body weight lift such as pull-ups. Thanks for this unique perspective on the popular pull-up exercise.

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