In This Issue:

– Robertson Training Systems Updates
– Training Tip
– Nutrition Tip
– Exclusive Interview: Chad Waterbury
– New Articles
– Schedule

Robertson Training Systems Updates:

The BIG Holiday Sale!

You asked for it – so you got it!

You may remember our “12 Days of Christmas” sale last year was a huge success, so we’ve decided to run it again this year.

We’re offering 15% off ALL of our products.

Magnificent Mobility? Check.

Inside-Out? Yep.

Building the Efficient Athlete? For sure.

Bulletproof Knees? That too.

Any product, from now through the 12th of December, is 15% off. Purchase multiple products at the same time and save on shipping as well!

Here’s all you have to do to get the discount:

1 – Go to one of the pages above, or just stop by our regular Products page

2 – Add the products you want to your cart

3 – On the right hand side of the screen, BEFORE YOU PURCHASE, enter the promotional code HOLIDAY2007

4 – Complete your order and enjoy your products!

That’s it! But remember, this discount is only available through the 12th of December. Don’t wait until the 13th, and then write me begging for the discount because it ain’t happening!

As always, thanks for your support for Robertson Training Systems. Hopefully some of these products will be able to help you for many years to come!

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Last chance to receive the early-bird discount for the Aussie seminars!

Just a quick reminder that after December 7th, the price for Aussie seminars goes from $195 to $295. If you’re interested, sign-up now and save yourself some cash in the process!

Follow the link below for more information:

Australian Seminar Registration

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A Great Testimonial for Bulletproof Knees

A while back I asked anyone and everyone who had purchased one of our products to give us feedback, and we got some amazing responses! Be sure to check out all our products and see what they can do for you.

Training Tip:

Start planning for 2008 NOW!

New Years Resolutions are right around the corner. Are you ready to really succeed this year?

If so, start planning for your success NOW. Do you have specific, measurable, and attainable goals? If so, great!

Taking the next logical step, do you have an action plan to help you achieve those goals? Goals are great, but you need a well-thought out plan to give those goals some real staying power.

Commit now to making 2008 your best year ever. Good luck!

Nutrition Tip:

Steal and Modify
By Mike Roussell

If you are a regular listener to Max-Out Radio then you know I am a big fan of modifying “regular” recipes and making them nutrition powerhouses. Here are a couple questions that I always as myself when remixing a recipe:

1. Is there any unnecessary added sugar? Many recipes are loaded with extra (unnecessary) sugar. If extra sugar is added to the recipe you can either remove the sugar completely, reduce the amount of sugar begin used (by at least ½), or replace the sugar with the sweeteners splenda or stevia.

2. Is there enough protein? Recipes for “average people” are notoriously low in protein. Pile on the protein! Don’t feel bad if you are doubling or sometimes tripling the amount of protein called for in a particular recipe. Most of the time I shoot for 30-40 grams of protein per serving.

3. What kind of carbs are being used? Most recipes that you will come across will have a heavy emphasis on starchy carbohydrates. This is not necessarily a bad thing but most people’s physiques and health would benefit from reducing their starch intake and increasing their vegetable intake. Fortunately two of the most common starches used are pasta and rice. Removing and replacing these foods from recipes is easy because you just need to increase the vegetable content of your meal to make up for the lost volume. If you are trying to replace pasta then spaghetti squash is a great replacement option.

4. Where are the fats coming from? Depending where you get your recipe vegetable oil or butter will be two of the most commonly used fats. These fats are fine in moderation but I like to replace them with olive oil. Olive oil adds monounsaturated fats and a great health benefit but it can also add an unwanted taste. If you don’t like the olive oil taste in a particular dish just use light or mild olive oil (instead of extra virgin). These will have no or a greatly reduced olive oil flavor.

If you like this tip and want to learn more about Mike and his products, check out his Naked Nutrition website.

Exclusive Interview: Chad Waterbury

MR: Chad, for all those who have had their heads in the sand for the past 5 years, please tell all my readers a little bit about yourself.

CW: I’m a performance trainer with an emphasis on the nervous system’s control of movement and force. By seeking performance, I’ll found effective ways to change your body to gain muscle and lose fat. So I guess you can say that my methods bridge the gap between training strictly for performance and training strictly for body composition changes.

MR: What got you into the fitness world? How did you get your start?

CW: At the ripe old age of 14 I was tall, skinny and weak. I was involved in many sports and I needed more muscle, strength and overall size. When I started training I weighed 158 pounds. There wasn’t a gym in my hometown so I was relegated to doing nothing but barbell work, along with pull-ups off a rafter in the garage. Not surprisingly, I gained muscle and strength much faster than my peers.

I read everything I could get my hands on, but it was mostly glossy, newsstand muscle magazines. Most of the info was pure crap. The first issue of Muscle Media 2000, however, changed everything for me. That was the first time I saw a bridge between practical science and application. MM2K made me hungry for more information, and I wanted to get bigger, stronger and faster.

So I enrolled in an Exercise Science bachelor’s program in college. By my junior year, professors were starting to take notice and one of them offered to let me take over his weight training class that he taught at the local YMCA. My first forte into training other people was that year. I was 19 at the time.

Part of my degree in Exercise Science was an internship. I landed a spot at a facility in Chicago that hosted many great trainers such as Tim Grover who was Michael Jordan’s trainer. That internship made me realize that training was my passion and it could be very lucrative if you played your cards right. At the end of the internship the company offered me the head trainer position at their new extreme fitness facility that catered to fighters, athletes, and the general public.

After a year I wanted more and thought that medical school was for me. So I got a pre-med degree in Human Biology. Then I moved to Tucson and looked into medical school while also starting my own training business. My business exploded right away and I realized that my true passion was the nervous system, not medical school. This was in 2000, and I met Chris Shugart at the SWIS conference in Toronto. That meeting enabled me to start writing for Testosterone. Then I got a M.S. in neurophysiology from the University of Arizona, and finished up with Ph. D level courses in Neuroscience.

That’s how it all started for me.

MR: In our recent e-mail discussion, you mentioned how busy you were. Let’s start with first things first; can you tell us anything about the book deal you just scored?

CW: I’m writing a book for Rodale that I’m very excited about. It coalesces many unique variations that are based on what the neuroscience research has demonstrated over the decades. As far as I know, it’s the first book on training for size, strength and performance that really delves into nervous system control over your muscles. I didn’t create the science, I just put the pieces together.

Mike, there’s an entire chapter on mobility and flexibility training that really encompasses some great, practical information. Most people suffer, or will suffer from shoulder, knee and low back problems. I outline tests and solutions to help you identify and overcome those limitations.

The nutritional chapter is a monster. I get into all of the hormones that you want to maximize and minimize, and I outline simple, effective ways to manipulate your own nutritional plan to take advantage of those hormones. The book will be available in mid-2008.

That’s what’s taking up most of my time, right now.

But I’m also the director of strength and conditioning for Rickson Gracie’s International Jiu-Jitsu facility in Los Angeles. Rickson’s school is one of the best in the world and working with his competition team is a real joy and honor. I’m sure many people wonder how I train his team, but there are simply too many elements to discuss. I will, however, give a brief overview of how many of the sessions are sometimes arranged.

Typically, the sessions start out with mobility work. Then we merge into body weight exercises. Then we train with heavy throw bags before going to maximal strength posterior chain training with barbells. Then it’s on to complexes. Then we do single-limb exercises with dumbbells and kettlebells. Then it’s on to band training. Finally, we finish up with flexibility work.

The key, however, is to identify weaknesses. Therefore, I have a myriad of tests I use to determine what sequence of exercises is best for which fighters.

And I just finished shooting a DVD with another fitness professional. It’s an incredible, high-quality product that was shot in high-definition video from an outstanding television crew. I can’t get into the details of what it covers at this point, but it’s going to be good.

Beyond the book and training Rickson’s team I don’t have time for much else. But somehow I still manage to write articles, read up on the latest research, and train some athletes whenever I get a chance.

MR: Damn Chad, you really are busy! Beyond the new book deal, you’ve already released a print book and an e-book. What’s the basic premise behind those? For those who may be interested, who are those books geared towards?

CW: The first book I wrote, Muscle Revolution, is an excellent overview of my training and nutritional principles. It covers plenty of variables such as program design, nutrition, and it also includes an incredible strength-building program called the Total Strength Program. The book has been a huge hit and you can purchase it here.

Over the years, one of the most requested end-results I’ve received is for a program that will burn off 10 pounds of fat and build 10 pounds of muscle. So I decided to write an e-book that will do it. It alternates between total-body metabolic training and high frequency training along with a simple, effective nutritional plan. The book is an excellent investment for anyone that wants to lose fat and build muscle. You can purchase it here.

MR: Sweet! You also mentioned you’re training some MMA fighters. What’s that all about?

CW: I haven’t been doing a lot of one-on-one training since I’m so busy with other projects, but I do work with fighters. When I first moved to LA in January I trained a MMA fighter. He ended up winning the belt in his division. After that, I worked with a champion kickboxer who happens to be the trainer of one of the most famous girls in the world. And I’m working with another fighter right now who has an excellent future in K-1 and other mixed martial arts’ organizations.

And I still work with professional athletes whenever my time frees up, which is rare these days. I trained Robert Lang from the Chicago Blackhawks over the summer and it was a lot of fun. He made incredible progress in just a few months.

MR: Along those same lines, what are some obvious flaws you see others make in training MMA fighters?

CW: Number one is too much extreme endurance work. Running for an hour has very little carry-over to fighters and it limits their ability to train for maximum power. They really need to build their intermediate energy system. You can’t go wrong with a circuit of heavy throw bags, complexes, and single limb training.

Another big problem with many fighters is overtraining. Most have no idea how to periodize their training so they won’t be fatigued for the event. Randy Couture has said that one of his biggest problems in the past was overtraining, so he made modifications. I think it’s safe to say that it’s working!

And I’m bemused by the number of fighters that have a weak posterior chain. Many of them have an aversion to heavy weight training and that’s a big mistake. A double body weight deadlift will do a lot for a fighter’s ability to develop total-body power.

Finally, if you want to work with fighters, and be successful, you’ve got to have a good handle on treating injuries. After all, they compete in a sport where injuring your opponent is the goal! Over the last year, I’ve spent most of my time researching and testing techniques to identify and overcome joint limitations.

MR: Ok, last question Chad – I’m still a geek at heart and want to know about the research you’ve been working on. What have you been up to on that front?

CW: As I mentioned, most of my research time has been devoted to neuromuscular research and techniques with regard to injuries.

I’m always involved in neuroscience research, but there are still so many missing elements. I think the problem is that researchers spent too much time studying isolated processes such as neuron structure and action potentials. The big, important questions such as, “How does the brain regulate its activity?” and “What’s the general pattern that the nervous system uses to regulate intelligence?” are still ambiguous.

Imagine a cave man discovered an alarm clock that was sent back in time. He might carefully take it apart and figure out how it’s organized. And he might even be able to figure out the electrical activity. But neither one of those things will help him understand what it does: tell time and set off an alarm. That’s the problem that neuroscientists are facing right now: they don’t have a good understanding of the big picture. Once they elucidate the important questions such as “What is intelligence?” then we’ll merge into neuroscience research that will be much more applicable to building better bodies. Up to this point most of the research has been too isolated.

Nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed putting the pieces together from what we do know. I wish I could reference a recent study that really catapult neuroscience research about building bigger, stronger muscles, but most of it is simply confirming what we already expected. The size principle, for example, has held true in a variety of test conditions that were once ambiguous.

If the book worms and research geeks out there would answer the following question, they’d understand more than 99% of the trainers in this country: Why can’t you lift 95% of your one repetition maximum for 20 reps?

The answer to that question forms the basis of my methods for training for size and strength.

MR: Awesome Chad, thanks so much for the interview! Where can my newsletter readers learn more about you?

CW: Most of my articles are on T-nation (www.t-nation.com) and you can find me sporadically in Men’s Fitness magazine. I can be contacted through my website at www.chadwaterbury.com

It’s been my pleasure, Mike. Keep up the great work!

MR: Awesome – thanks again Chad!