Wednesday WOOT! Factor!!

Hey Everyone!! Welcome to today's Wednesday WOOT! Factor! - sponsored by Sears(R) FitStudio! WOOT! Today I am happy to share an interview with Danny McLarty, another member of our FitStudio team. I have learned a LOT from Danny since connecting with him through our Sears(R) situation-- you will also find him contributing on the FitStudio Facebook Page. 

DEFINITELY check out his blog and also his great YouTube channel for a boatload of instructional videos!! Holy Wow!! ;-) YouTube.com/DMcLarty7. 

Join us tonight on Twitter at 7:30pm CST for our weekly FitStudio chat!! Follow #FitStudio at just hop on in to gab!! 

1. When did you first start working out and why?

       I've been active in sports all my life, so I guess I was "working out" without even knowing it back when I was 6 or 7.  I was obsessed with muscles at a pretty young age.  My mom still laughs and says to me; "do you remember when you used to play with your He-Man toys and say; 'mom, who do you think has bigger muscles, He-Man or Skeletor?'"  Ha!   As far as when I started lifting weights, that began in high school.  I didn't really know what I was doing, but I badly wanted to learn, and really loved it right off the bat!  I

2.       Are you at your “Happy Place” right now – meaning more of a maintenance mode, or are you still in a weight loss mode?

I guess you can say I'm happy... but definitely NOT satisfied.  If you aren't trying to progress, you usually go backwards! 

And did you say weight loss?  What does that mean?  I'm not aware of those words, what are you talking about?  Ha!  As you may have guessed I'm being sarcastic, as I'm rarely try to lose weight.  Hypertrophy (muscle gain) is my main goal most of the year.  I can get lean really easily but only have that focus during "beach season" (June - August ish).  I know what you are thinking, "poor Danny, losing weight and getting as 6-pack is a piece of cake for him.  Must be rough!"  I get that all the time from people, but it is not as easy as it seems.  Yes, leaning out is easy, but adding muscle is very hard for me.  It takes non-stop eating, even when I don't feel like I can get another bite down.  Eating all day everyday may sound like fun for many people but let me tell you, it can become draining to prepare so much food, day in, day out.  Just think about how it feels when you are so full that the thought of food makes you want to puke.  So, this may be different than the average person's "problem," but it IS a challenge that I deal with on a daily basis... I eat, eat, eat, only to get on the scale and NOT see the number go up.  I'll keep working on it though!

4.       What does your current workout “routine” look like now? Throughout the course of the training year, I'll use many different "splits."  I'll use an upper/lower split, a body part split, and full body training.  I hadn't used a full body routine in a few months, so I thought now would be a good time to spend the next 4-5 weeks training full body 3-4 times per week.  You can check out my current routine here... http://dannymclarty.com/2011/02/my-current-training-block/

5.       What do you do for cardio? How often?

       Since performing a lot of cardio is not conducive to adding muscle, I rarely do it.  When I do cardio, it is usually "non-traditional."  I'd rather be trapped in an elevator with Sammie and Ronnie in the middle of their biggest fight than perform 30 minutes on the stationary bike or run 5 miles.  If that's your thing, more power to you.  But my ADD kicks in at about the 27 second mark!   So my cardio consists of either playing basketball or some kind of interval training that involves quick circuits of a few different exercises... something like kettlebell swings followed by jump rope followed push presses.

6.       Do you workout at home or the gym?

      I workout at the gym.  I work in a "semi-private gym" and usually get after it during one of my breaks between training clients.  I used to workout at a commercial gym but can't stand what goes on around me while training in this setting... people talking on their cell phones during their workout, people using God-awful form, people bragging about how much they squat but only get about 1/4 of the depth that they should, etc. etc.  Nowadays, the thought of working out at commercial gym sounds about as good as being trapped in an elevator with Sammi and... wait, I already said that.  

7.       What do you say to those that haven’t gotten fit and complain that they don’t because they “can’t get motivated”?

       As a trainer and coach, I've realized that everyone has "different buttons" that need to be pushed.  The hardcore approach (i.e. what goes on, on "The Biggest Loser") doesn't work for everyone.  Some people need positive support.  Simply getting them to have a positive experience with movement/exercise is all they need to get fired up about training and make it a way of life.  And then you have the other end of the spectrum - you know, those people that are always procrastinating and making excuses.  Quite often, these people need a heart to heart and a serious kick in the pants.  So, it really varies from person to person.

8.       What about any/all of the excuses like “No time”, “No money”, “no gym”, “no support”?

      This is definitely frustrating as there is ALWAYS a way to make it happen!  Many people just need to put training higher on their priority list.  When it is priority # 5 or 6 in their lives, most people will find a way to NOT make it happen.  But my answer to the previous question is how I generally approach this situation.  I don't like to give up on people.  If I was to give up on helping a person out because they gave me just one excuse, then I'd be doing them a disservice. 

9.       What does your “diet” look like i.e. how you eat, what is your Philosophy?

       As you saw above, I'm a pig.  I do LOVE food, but like I mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to eat as much as I NEED to eat in order to gain muscle (actually, it is very difficult to eat as much as I do for me just to maintain size).  With that said, I try to eat clean the majority of the time (whole food, unprocessed etc).  I definitely cheat from time to time, but I try to make sure I "earn" my cheats.  I eat a lot of protein (probably a little over 1 gram per pound of body weight), try to include a fruit and/or a veggie in each meal, and eat a ton of carbs (sweet potatoes, rice, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, etc)  I also make sure to include healthy fat everyday... DHA/EPA (via fish oil capsules), natural peanut butter, coconut oil (that I cook with), almond butter, nuts, avocado, etc.

10.   What changes have you made over the past several years in your diet and/or workout approach and why?

       Recenty I've been trying to REDUCE my meal frequency as recent research has indicated that perhaps meal frequency does NOT contribute to a faster metabolism.  Don't get me wrong, I still eat often (because I get hungry so quickly after eating), but I used to make sure I'd eat as many as 7-9 times a day (some of those "meals" are snacks).  This reduced (again, I still eat often, 5-6 times per day) meal frequency has been nice as eating as much as I used to sometimes made eating feel like a full time job.

11.   What is your food weakness?

       I have no weaknesses.  Next question.  Just kidding!  I could eat sugar cookies and brownies all day.  Pizza is often a great cheat meal as well.  I try not to allow myself to be around those foods (keep them out of the house).  But like I mentioned earlier, if I know I am going to be cheating (like at a Superbowl party or whatever), I try to earn it by eating really clean all week long.  There are other foods I crave like reces pieces, but if I were to name every food that I would love to dive into, this list could get rather looooooong!

12.   What is your favorite healthy breakfast?

       I usually go with oatmeal + protein powder (usually chocolate), + frozen organic blueberries + almond butter + sliced almonds + raw honey.  When you are looking to eat as much food as I eat, you need to "sneak" calories in with many of your meals (hence the almond butter + honey).

13.   When did you start blogging and why?

      I've been reading articles, attending seminars, reading books (basically been studying, studying, studying), and training clients for years now.  So I figured I could help many more people (than JUST the people I train everyday) if I let the fitness/nutrition thoughts in my head spill out onto the WORLD wide web.

14.   How has blogging enhanced your fitness efforts?

It has allowed me to reach a BIGGER audience.  I get e-mails and facebook messages from people all the time saying that my writings (via my blog and/or the articles that I've written for various websites) have helped educate and motivate them to live the healthier, leaner, more energetic (or increased performance in the case of athletes) life that they now live.  I come from a family of teachers and coaches so helping others has always been something that I've loved!

15.   What is your Twitter/FB/Email?

       E-mail = dmclarty1110@hotmail.com; twitter = @dannymclarty; FB = Danny McLarty; website = www.DannyMcLarty.com

16.   What haven’t you done (fitness wise) that you’d like to try?

       I want to be involved in making a product.  I have been contacted by a couple people about contributing to their basketball "dribbling" DVD.  The drills that I used to develop my dribbling skills at a young age all the way through my college career have greatly helped the basketball players that I work with (I also give "basketball lessons" in order to help players improve their game).  I've given glimpses of my "dribbling template" in some of my blogging and published articles.  But I'd like to give people a look at the "entire picture" via this DVD.  Hopefully it will happen in the not too distant future.

17.   What motivates you to keep at it?

      I love it.  A number of years ago I read this in an article (me paraphrasing), "We all have something that we're good at and that we love to do.  We need to find it, use that passion, and make a living out of it."  I couldn't imagine what it would be like to go through what most people go through every day - and that is to wake up and loathe the thought of heading off to work.  Sports, working out, teaching, and helping others is what I'm good at.  But unfortunately, I'm not good at much else.  Just ask my wife... I still can't figure out how to hang a picture or change a tire!  

18.   Are you a morning workout person or evening or lunchtime?

        Usually lunchtime.

19.   What is YOUR biggest excuse that you find yourself battling in not wanting to workout a certain day?

      Honestly, finding an excuse not to workout doesn't happen to me very often.  And if I don't feel like working out, I do it anyway.  It is just a way of life.  Once people start missing workouts it snowballs into too many cheat meals, too many late nights, too much of this, and too much of that.  I don't see myself ever letting it get to that.  Don't get me wrong, if I'm feeling beat up or sick or EXTRA sore, I may take a planned workout day off.  But I always get right back to it the very next day.

20.   Do you weigh yourself or measure yourself?

       I weigh myself quite a bit.  Life is a big game to me and I'm always making things competitive.  I get on the scale and say, "what, it's noon and I've only gained .5 pounds!?  My goal is to gain another pound by 3 pm..."  Stuff like that.  On the way to work, I usually guess what time I'm going to be pulling into the parking lot.  When my wife goes to the store to pick up some groceries, I say to myself, "I bet Shondra will be home at 5:29 (or whatever)."  The list of my daily challenges/competitions/games goes on and on.  Basically I'm a weirdo!  But getting back to the scale, I weigh myself often, more as another way to play my stupid little games.  But for most people, I don't advise getting on the scale as it can become obsessive and discouraging.

21.   More from Danny: 

      There is so much good that comes from making working out a BIG part of your life.  And if you are on the fence, just know that it doesn't have to be looong, tortuous sessions (i.e. "The Biggest Loser").  You can accomplish a lot in just a few hours per week.   Please don't go through life with low energy where you often feel sick and rundown.  We only live one life, so go out and make it a great one.  If there's any way I can help, just let me know!