In This Issue
– Robertson Training Systems Updates
– Nutrition Tip
– Live from the ADA Conference
– New Articles and Blog Posts
Robertson Training Systems Updates
Time is running out to sign-up for the 2009 Australian Seminar Series!
Just a heads up to anyone who wants to attend – the early bird discount will run through November 7th, so be sure to sign up ASAP! Early registration will save you $100.
Follow the link below to register. I look forward to meeting many of you in February!
New article up!
I had a new article go up at FigureAthlete.com last week; you can find it by following the link below:
I-FAST Seminar Announcement
We’re gearing up for our first official seminar at I-FAST, and I think it’s going to be awesome!
I’ve confirmed that on Saturday, January 24th, 2009, RKC instructor Brett Jones will be doing a one-day, hands-on kettlebell seminar at the facility. I’m working on the registration form as we speak, so if you’re interested please stay tuned as attendance will be extremely limited for this exclusive event.
Diet and Nutrition Tip
Stop it with the whole milk!
While I was hanging out at the ADA conference this weekend, I spent a lot of time at a local Starbucks attempting to get work done. While sitting there, I was shocked at how many people actually order “standard” coffee drinks! Do they not understand they’re getting either whole or 2% milk? Or do they just not care about their physiques?
It’s simple, really – if you enjoy a tasty beverage from a coffee shop, that’s fine. But make sure to specify that you want skim or low-fat milk if that’s what you want! Many coffee chains are switching to 2% as their standard, while others still dole out whole milk like it’s their job.
This is one of those simple tips that can save you literally hundreds of calories a week. Enjoy!
Live from the ADA Conference
As many of you already know, I’ve spent the last several days with my wife Jessica at the American Dietetics Association Conference in Chicago. Rather than provide some glamorous write-up, here are a ton of random thoughts from my time here.
– On our first day here, Jess had me briefly review the latest Sports Nutrition book that comes from the ADA. Being the meathead I am, the first thing I reviewed was their protein recommendations – and they weren’t good.
I try to be unbiased towards RD’s and the ADA in general, but the recommendations in this book were almost comical. They stated that the .8 g/kg of protein was probably on the low side for both strength and endurance athletes. The .8 g/kg accounted for ~8% of total caloric intake. However, their recommendations for strength athletes was only 12-14% of caloric intake, while for endurance athletes it was only 14-15%! Now I have no clue where they’re drawing these numbers from, but I think anyone who has hit the iron for a significant period of time knows these numbers wouldn’t fly in the real world. Jess did tell me that several presenters were much more realistic in their recommendations, so hopefully science is starting to catch up to the practice.
– The keynote speaker was Chris Gardner, the main character featured in “The Pursuit of Happyness.” First off, the movie is a little depressing (ok a lot to depressing) until the end, but it’s a great movie nonetheless. Chris discussed how he was working on Wall Street, and homeless, for over a year. It was a fascinating story about how his father had left him at an early age, and his primary goal in life was to break that cycle and be an amazing father to his own son. If nothing else, you can’t help but be inspired by what this man went through, and the success he’s had due to his hard work and perseverance. Plus, his suit was uber fly.
– Chris Mohr and his co-presenter Mitzi Dulan gave an amazing presentation geared towards entrepreneurs. While they’ve both been through some trials and tribulations, they’ve been extremely successful within the field and gave some great tips on how to take your business to the next level. I took down an entire page of tips and ideas strictly with regards to maximizing web design! I would highly recommend seeing either of these two in person if you have aspirations of working for yourself some day.
– Random Fact: Did you know that only 3% of the 68,000+ members of the ADA are men? I mean come on fellas; even the goofiest guy on the planet should look like a stud with those numbers, right? For the mathematically challenged folks, let’s take that into some real-world numbers.
There were over 10,000 attendees at the conference this year. Let’s be generous and say 5% of those attendees were semi-intelligent men that realized this ratio is second-to-none – that means you had ~500 men and ~9500 women in one place!
So this is a note to all you young guys reading this – go into dietetics. Seriously. You can always get a training certification afterwards. The alternative? Go to strength and conditioning conferences where that ratio is inverted and guys are clamoring over the one or two pretty ladies that attend. Not to mention our idea of “professional” is wearing our cleanest Under Armor shirt instead of the cut-off.
– The only thing scarier than a sale at Saks Fifth avenue? Dietitians in the Expo Hall getting free stuff!
While it’s a little bit different crowd when compared to the Arnold, this Expo is no less crazy. Some random/intriguing facts I picked up while touring the Expo:
– I never realized how many calcium supplements there are. Granted, I’m not working with a high percentage of osteoporotic females, but there were no less than a dozen booths geared towards calcium supplements alone.
– Did you know that every individual nut needs it’s own booth? Pistachios, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, and everyone’s favorite almonds all come to mind here.
– MUSCLE MILK!
– I always find it comical when fast-food chains try and push their wares at conferences like this. You may be healthier than you were in the past, but you’re still not healthy overall. Sorry guys.
– Did you know that new research shows that chewing gum increases alertness, curbs cravings, and increases your awesomeness times 10? Now you do – courtesy of Extra Sugar free gum.
Below are some of my awards for best and worst booths.
Coolest Booth – Elations Glucosamine and Chondroitin
It had little to do with their product, but Elations had a tennis net and an area to drive golf balls. It’s not nearly as exciting as pressing the Beast or deadlifting your bodyweight for reps, but at a nutrition conference this is about as good as it gets. Plus, they were giving away free 6 packs! Granted it was of their glucosamine and chondroitin drinks, but it sounded cool nonetheless.
Best Ballpark item found at the ADA Conference – Super Pretzels
I don’t know anyone that can resist the delicious smell of a hot pretzel at the ballgame. Little did you know you would find it here!
There’s not a lot more I can say about this one. At least they weren’t offering the nacho cheese too!
Most Intriguing Booth – Blue Bunny
Nutrition conference? No worries – Blue Bunny is here!
Not surprisingly, they were quite possibly THE busiest booth that I saw on both days I attended the Expo. I was later told hey were promoting “healthier” options. See my comments on fast-food chains above.
Runner up for Most Intriguing Booth – Coca Cola
Coke? Are you serious? Coke?
This is on Tuesday when the Expo Hall resembled a ghost town. Seem like the Coke stand is doing just fine, though!
Biggest Tease – The National Beer Wholesalers Association
Does it get any worse than this?
So you have BEER in huge letters, but you can’t provide samples?
WEAK.
The Final Booth Display goes to…
Yes, the HFCS people even had a booth here. I wanted to call this the “I have to lobby to keep people (and the government) buying my product” booth, but I refrained. If you want to learn more about HFCS, again, check out The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
On a side note, Kevin Larrabee eats HFCS for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Summary
While I don’t see myself making this conference a yearly stop, it’s always great to learn about a different profession and examine life through their lens. And while some of the material in the newsletter may come off as inflammatory, please understand it’s all in jest. I’m sure that dietitians everywhere don’t support the people lobbying for HFCS, pretzels, and Blue Bunny ice cream. I just thought it was funny!
Stay Strong
MR
www.RobertsonTrainingSystems.com