Think BIG Bodybuilding Media: COVID-19 Round Table

THINK BIG BODYBUILDING MEDIA COVID-19 ROUND TABLE

Check out the impromptu round table presented by Think BIG Bodybuilding Media with John Meadows, Scott McNally, Dr Scott Stevenson, Skip Hill, and yours truly.

We came together to offer our thoughts on the current global pandemic, discussing a range of topics such as:

• keeping mindful and shifting perspective

• navigating training outside of the gym

• core values and the importance of family

• and more!

It was a really raw and vulnerable conversation, with some of us - myself included, sharing personal experiences where hard decisions and uncertainty were faced.

Stay safe, my friends.

🔴 Subscribe to Think BIG Bodybuilding Media here : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrZIZSnyfieo3cX2swc36iw?sub_confirmation=1 (Be sure to click the bell for...

ps. the audio version will be released at www.advicesradio.com later this week.

TO learn more about:

John Meadows
Web: www.mountaindogdiet.com
IG: @mountaindog1

Skip Hill
Web: www.teamskip.com & www.intensemuscle.com
IG: @intensemuscle

Dr. Scott Stevenson
Web: www.drscottstevenson.com
IG: @fortitude_training

Scott McNally:
Web: www.advicesradio.com
YT: Think Big Bodybuilding Media
IG: @scottmcnally1

EliteFTS: Female Athletes & Exogenous Substances

From your digestion to your sleep to your cognition, exogenous hormone use has dramatic effects on your entire body. However, there is a subconscious idea that when a drug is taken it, it's actions and influence will stay within a tidy little box of ‘intended’ outcomes. The reality is, pharmaceuticals influence nearly every system in your body.

If that wasn’t enough, the chaos effect of a drug must be compounded with other variables such as the fluidity of a women's hormonal life course (puberty, perimenopause), an extraordinarily stressful physiological event (ie. competing or acute illness), or the ongoing multiple small daily stressors, like training at a high capacity without adequate nutrition and sleep. Needless to say, there are so many factors that on their own or together with others, can manifest in immediate, ongoing, and future health consequences.

But, these risks don't just come from drugs used for enhancement purposes either. Although the 'finger' is pointed at anabolic-androgenic steroids for causing massive system-wide dysfunctions within the body, steroids like oral contraceptives - espescially when taken at the beginning of a female's reproductive period - have the capacity to result in lingering effects for health.

Breaking down myths, speaking to the knowledge gap, and critically thinking about the information you read and receive will go a long way in helping to improve the current state of women's health. Blissful, willful and reckless ignorance won’t help the situation, or the women affected by it. Get informed, get critical, and build knowledge by breaking down myths.

Read the full write-up from EliteFTS here.

Write here…

EliteFTS: www.elitefts.com
FB: @elitefts
IG: @elitefts
YT: Dave Tate

EliteFTS: How to Be a Healthy Competitor

Competing places a huge toll on the human body - and sometimes it can get out of hand. As a result, one 'thing' can go astray - like digestion or sleep - and in turn, this causes a chain reaction. Suddenly, your entire system is in meltdown mode.

Instead of getting to this point, it is important to focus on being proactive instead of reactive in the way you treat your body. The best way to do this is to maintain your body’s foundation.

You can’t manipulate or enhance something that isn’t there. Build your foundation first, and continue to manage it in order to help mitigate the risks associated with performance.

Read the full write up here.

EliteFTS: www.elitefts.com
FB: @elitefts
IG: @elitefts
YT: Dave Tate

EliteFTS: Menstrual Cycle Myths

Menstrual myth busting with the help of @elitefts. I’m so grateful to @underthebar and EliteFTS for providing me with a platform to talk about one of the biggest barriers to women’s health.

It’s easy to blame “stupid” coaches for manipulating women’s hormones, or point the finger at #fitchicks for perpetuating nothing more than rubbish rumours about periods and PCOS. Getting to the root of the problem is the hard part.

Overtime numerous myths and misconceptions have shaped our knowledge and understanding about women – their health, hormones and lives. Today, these myths continue to linger within most aspects of society, including medicine, science, and fitness. Although I'd like to believe that the cute infographics posted by the #fitfam are done with good intentions, the truth is, often these do more harm by continuing to produce, reproduce, and magnify not just bad - but wrong information, about women's health.

For the last two decades, there has been an epidemic of hormonal disturbances within women’s life cycles. Oral contraceptives use, enivornmental toxins, eating or training too much or too little, layering stress on more stress, and A LOT of other variables and triggers are contributing to this. My goal is never to simplify the situation or reduce it to any one factor. The body is really, really complicated and there are no easy or unified solutions. It always must come down to the individual in question. It should always be about her. Her body, her health, her life in context today, years past and those still to come.

With that being said, we must start recognizing that when it comes to women's hormones and menstrual cycles, there is a lot that we think we know, don't know and may never know.

Breaking down myths, speaking to the knowledge gap, and critically thinking about the information you read and receive will go a long way in helping to improve the current state of women's health. Blissful, willful and reckless ignorance won’t help the situation, or the women affected by it. Get informed, get critical, and let's start building knowledge by breaking myths.

Check out the write up: https://www.elitefts.com/educa…/watch-menstrual-cycle-myths/

EliteFTS: www.elitefts.com
FB: @elitefts
IG: @elitefts
YT: Dave Tate

Part 1: 2018 elitefts Sports Performance Summit Presentation

"Victoria Felkar's relationship with elitefts began in 2011 when she attended a Learn to Train seminar and experienced what she has described a "defining point" in her journey. Leading up to that point—and in the years since—her accomplishments have earned her the following and respect of individuals in both the academic world of strength and the industry of strength. As an interdisciplinary researcher at the University of British Columbia, Felkar has focused on sports medicine, as well as on sociology, psychology, anthropology, pharmacology, and the relationships between them. She has also worked for over ten years as a practitioner, consultant, author, and educator.

In this video, Felkar begins her 2018 elitefts Sports Performance Summit presentation by talking about the divide between academia and the strength industry, the athlete performance model, and an approach to better manage an athlete's training and well-being."

Read the rest of the write-up here

Shop - elitefts.com/ Team elitefts - elitefts.com/team-elitefts/ Q&A - elitefts.com/q2a/ Training Logs - elitefts.com/training-logs Coaches Logs - elitefts.com/team-elitefts/ Ex Index - elitefts.com/category/education/exercise­­­-index/ Articles - elitefts.com/category/education/ PodCast - elitefts.com/category/education/podcasts­­­/ Client List - elitefts.com/client-list/ SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter - twitter.com/Elitefts You Tube - youtube.com/user/eliteftsMobile Flickr - flickr.com/photos/elitefts Pintrest - pinterest.com/elitefts/ Google+ bit.ly/14HaiqK FriendFeed -friendfeed.com/underthebar Instagram - instagram.com/underthebar/# Wallpapers - elitefts.com/desktop-wallpapers/

By the minute:

• (1:20) Why athletes need to be taken care of
• (2:55) Academia and industry
• (5:50) Athlete expectations and performance inhibition
• (9:34) Victoria's performance model concept
• (13:05) Adopting new methods and adapting old ones

www.elitefts.com
FB: Elitefts
IG: @elitefts
Youtube: Dave Tate

Ask Me Anything E5: Why blood work is more complicated than you think

Finally another episode of Ask Me Anything.

For the fourth episode, I tackle a question about ‘normal’ values for blood work. Ultimately, this was a really personal question about an individual’s own lab work, so I took it as an opportunity to talk about some really important aspects of blood work that often don't get discussed.

In a nutshell, I cover three main sub-topics:

1. A broad discussion of the various internal and external factors that influence blood work
2. Getting labs and why it’s important to be critical of the analysis process
3. What do the results actually mean, and the power of creating personalized data

Want the quick notes version?

It’s complicated.

I fully support individuals taking an active role in understanding and managing their own health state, and the importance of working with health practitioner(s) to do so. I don’t support DIY lab analysis, conventional medicines use of testing as a singular, static and completely depersonalized diagnostic tool, and the overall ignorance towards the multitude of other crucial internal and external variables that must be accounted for, explored and discussed.

Blood work should not be the judge, jury and executioner.

It should be one of many tools used to examine an individual’s health state. Additional methods should be used in conjunction with bloodwork, such as tracking and applying other markers of biofeedback, and then looking at everything in individual context. Building personal data is how you can begin to build a healthier and sustainable body from the inside and out.

If you like what you see - feel free to share and comment below. Want me to cover a topic or quesiton a video? Please shoot me a message. 

Video by: Alora Griffiths
aloragriffiths.foliodrop.com
FB: Alora Griffiths
IG: @aloragriffiths

Ask Me Anything E4: Keto, Fasting & Why I Hate Diets

Then there were 4! 

In the fourth episode of Ask Me Anything, I provide a response to two separate questions on nutrition protocols: (1) Keto for Fat Loss in Women; (2) Intermittent Fasting for Longevity. 

But in typical VF fashion, what I talk about is far from the overly generalized and 'absolute' answers that often get thrown around to these types of questions. I cover all of this and more → 
· A reminder why diets are only temporary
· The often forgotten therapeutic role of food
· A 'diet' is only as good as your digestion. 
· The Keto, PCOS & gallbladder connection ... (aka. why your poop is yellow liquid & burps smell like sulphur) 
· #gutlife - The importance of a healthy gut microbiome & functioning GI system
· Personal story about my own digestion troubles, elimination diets & trigger foods,  
· Why a tummy ache isn't the only thing you have when your digestion sucks
· Things to consider about about specific protocols like keto & IF
· Dispel some industry nutrition myths
· Provide some practical tips for eating for your BODY, health, performance and goals

Then there were 4! In the fourth episode of Ask Me Anything, I provide a response to two separate questions on nutrition protocols: (1) Keto for Fat Loss in Women; (2) Intermittent Fasting for Longevity. But in typical VF fashion, what I talk about is far from the overly generalized and 'absolute' answers that often get thrown around to these types of questions.

Don't forget, eat for your body, eat for your goals! 

If you like what you see - feel free to share and comment below. Want me to cover a topic or quesiton a video? Please shoot me a DM or leave a comment. 

Video by: Alora Griffiths
aloragriffiths.foliodrop.com
FB: Alora Griffiths
IG: @aloragriffiths

Ask Me Anything E3: Women & Hair Loss

Ask Me Anything

Internal and External Variables for Female Hair Loss (including androgen use)

From hats to hormones, seasonal changes to genetics, there are a lot of internal and external variables that make this topic a complicated one!

To get to the root of female hair loss, within the video I talk about →

• Why hair loss is more than just about androgens 
• The multi-factorial basis of hair loss
• Internal & external variables that contribute to hair loss including
• Some factors that aren't often get considered
• My own experience with PCOS, hair loss, and frustrations with physicians
• Androgenic alopecia (AA), PCOS & anabolic-androgenic hormones
• The combination effect: managing individual precursors & variables for AA
• Various treatment routes for AA
• Why knowing the ingredients of your hair products matters
• PEDs and their influence on hair loss

If you like what you see, feel free to share. If you have any questions you'd like me to cover please feel free to shoot me a message.

Video Location: Android Bodies
www.androidbodies.ca
FB: Android Bodies Inc.
IG: @androidbodies

Video by: Alora Griffiths
aloragriffiths.foliodrop.com
FB: Alora Griffiths
IG: @aloragriffiths

Ask Me Anything E2: Periods, Training & Hormonal Adaptations

Ask Me Anything

Can you breakdown the stages of a women’s menstrual cycle, and how training volume/intensity should be adapted to their cycle?

I tackle this question by discussing why in my opinion you can't actually adequately adapt training to an individual's menstrual cycle. To do so, I cover all of this and more:

• Menstrual life cycle & the huge degree of individual variance
• The influence of various hormonal adaptions such as birth control, exogenous hormones & training
• Why lab work is hard to do
• Training for your own individual menstrual cycle including controlling inflammation
• Some key biofeedback markers to track and follow

In this episode I tackle the question: Can you breakdown the stages of a women's menstrual cycle, and how training volume/intensity should be adapted to their cycle? I tackle this question by discussing why in my opinion you can't actually adequately adapt training to an individual's menstrual cycle.

If you like what you see, feel free to share. If you have any questions you'd like me to cover please feel free to shoot me a message.

Video Location: Android Bodies
www.androidbodies.ca
FB: Android Bodies Inc.
IG: @androidbodies

Video by: Alora Griffiths
aloragriffiths.foliodrop.com
FB: Alora Griffiths
IG: @aloragriffiths

Prepare with Flow

Here's part of my lower body warm-up sequence.

I could get technical and go into the specifics on movement patterns, activation, stabilization and mobility - but instead I’ll just say this: a warm-up should flow. 

Instead of warming up with single isolated exercises, by doing sequences of strategic exercises it helps prepare the body better to perform. After all, human movement is flow. Bonus, sequences are also time efficient.

Prepare with flow, move with flow!
 

Vlog with Alora Griffiths

So excited to share my first vlog experience with the incredible Alora Griffiths.

We get straight to business and get uber personal by chatting numbers from my strong days, reflecting on the first time John Meadows broke me at EliteFTS what’s in my closet, and a whole lot more! Check out the link in my bio to watch all the craziness.

In all serious, I cannot give this girl enough props and gratitude. Alora is not only quickly climbing the ranks as an absolute force on the powerlifting champ platform, but she’s also kicked my ass and pushed me to step up my social game.

Thank you Alora for everything, I am SO thankful for you, and so proud to see you continue to raise the bar (literally). Good luck with weekend at CPF Finals!
 

Check out Victoria Felkar's Social Media www.victoriafelkar.com @victoriafelkar Where to find me: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AloraGriffithspersonaltraining/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aloragriffiths/?hl=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/aloragriffiths?lang=en https://linktr.ee/aloragriffiths Shop at Bacon and Barbells: https://www.baconandbarbells.co/ Use Code "GRIFFITHS" Virus Canada: https://virusintl.ca/ Use Code "ALORA10" Email me for Training and Programming aloragriffiths@gmail.com

Video Location: Android Bodies
www.androidbodies.ca
FB: Android Bodies Inc.
IG: @androidbodies

Video by: Alora Griffiths
aloragriffiths.foliodrop.com
FB: Alora Griffiths
IG: @aloragriffiths

Ask Me Anything E1: PEDs

Do you believe there's a time and a place for PEDs?

In this clip I go over the complexities of performance enhancing drug use by discussing:
· A brief history of their use in sport
· What exactly is performance enhancement
· Societal ideals of PED use
· The importance of knowing your own stance on PEDs
· Therapeutic value of compounds vs. enhancement

If you like it, please feel free to share!
 

· · · ·

Video Location: Android Bodies
www.androidbodies.ca
FB: Android Bodies Inc.
IG: @androidbodies

Video by: Alora Griffiths
aloragriffiths.foliodrop.com
FB: Alora Griffiths
IG: @aloragriffiths

 

Post-Prep Health Influencers

Pro cards don't grow on trees.

We all don't have what it takes to make it to the Olympia.

Some people will never have abs no matter how "clean" they eat.

The higher you climb - or the more you "grind" during a prep - often results in a harder post-comp crash.

These may not seem like complicated ideas, but time and time again I find these are some of the biggest culprits in why health takes a nose-dive post show.

While sipping my coffee this morning, I decided to hop back on the VF video train and recap some introductory points that I spoke to at the Van Pro Show.

From the mentality people have about competing, to the numerous internal and external variables that are manipulated to get to the stage - the ways that we look, think and talk about competing have an absolutely enormous but often understated effect on the health of an athlete.

Communication & the 4Ps

QA

Communication & the 4Ps
The Taboo, and discuss the important of communication and the 4Ps. 

Uploaded by Victoria Felkar on 2017-03-04.

Resources on Women & Steroids

QA in 8:

Resources that Discuss Women & Steroids

In the first Q&A in 8, I try to start a much bigger conversation on women and anabolic steroids, specifically highlighting a question about potential resources.

In the first Q&A in 8, Victoria starts a much bigger conversation on women and anabolic steroids, specifically highlighting a question about potential resources.