Here's some of the best muscle-building nutrition advice from top strength trainer Charles Poliquin's new book.
![]() ![]()
In the autumn of 1996, Gary Roberts’s NHL career appeared over. His crash-and-bang style had left him with nerve and disc damage in his neck that doctors told him was irreparable. After years in and out of the lineup and a pair of surgeries, he had been forced into retirement at age 30.Then Roberts met Charles Poliquin, a strength and conditioning guru under whose exacting tutelage Roberts would spend the ensuing 10 months transforming his body with a commitment to two-a-day-workouts and virtuous nutrition.
And by the autumn of 1997, Roberts was resuming an NHL career that would continue for another 11 seasons, including a memorable four-year run with the Maple Leafs in which Roberts played 50 playoff games.It ranks as one of the great comebacks in NHL history. And this week Roberts was remembering it with a heavy heart after news that Poliquin, a largely unsung but influential contributor to Canada’s sporting scene for the past few decades, had died at age 57.“I’m obviously devastated with the news,” Roberts said.
“Charles Poliquin changed my life.”Poliquin trained members of various Canadian Olympic teams in sports ranging from bobsled to alpine skiing to speed skating. But it’s arguable he made his most enduring impact in hockey, where he helped popularize the kind of science-based off-season training that is now seen as essential. Ben Prentiss, a Connecticut-based trainer who interned with Poliquin in the late 1990s and whose NHL client list now includes Max Pacioretty and Jonathan Quick, said Poliquin was a pioneer in the sport.“No matter what anybody says, he is the first guy to really introduce strength and conditioning to hockey. I mean, before Charles, it was basically the old school, hacking darts on a bike,” Prentiss said.For Roberts, adherence to Poliquin’s methods required a sea change in his way of life. If Roberts’s post-game meals once consisted of cold beer and deep-fried chicken wings, Poliquin demanded abstinence from alcohol and a shift toward healthier forms of protein. If the workouts were hard and Poliquin was merciless — Roberts remembered the coach mocking him on a day he could complete just five pull-ups in a set — the results were undeniable. Roberts played until age 42 before he retired from the NHL to build a still-thriving business as an off-season trainer to stars from Steven Stamkos to Connor McDavid.“Everything Charles taught me 22 years ago, I’m still implementing today.
Nutrition, lifestyle, practising what I preach,” said Roberts, now 52. “Gary Roberts High Performance Training — I don’t think would be formed, if it wasn’t for Charles Poliquin.”. A prolific author and columnist who was widely read by denizens of the fitness industry, Poliquin was born in Ottawa but in latter years largely based himself in the United States. A tribute to Poliquin on a weightlifting website to which he was a contributor indicated Poliquin died Thursday of a heart attack.“He lost his father early to a genetic heart disease.
He knew he had this in his family. He had had a heart attack previously,” Roberts said.
“So he was on top of his nutrition as a result. I knew that was a concern for him.”. Matt Nichol, the former Maple Leafs strength coach and one of the founders of the Biosteel brand who now trains NHLers such as Tyler Seguin and Wayne Simmonds, credited Poliquin as a trail blazer.“When I first started in this business, anyone who was anyone doing anything was doing it down in the States. He came along, and whether people liked him or didn’t, he put Canada on the map in this industry,” Nichol said.
“Regardless of whether you subscribe to his philosophies or his ideas, if you’re a strength and conditioning coach in Canada making money, you owe him your gratitude. Because he was the first guy to really go out there and do that and charge money for it. The rising tide raises all boats.”.
“If you’re fat, you don’t deserve carbs,” Poliquin insisted in 2017.Poliquin prescribed meal choices some saw as unconventional. For breakfast, he was a proponent of a mixture of meat and nuts. Roasted yak with goat butter and cashews was a favourite. Nichol said that while many strength coaches could see the merits of Poliquin’s arguments, most were more likely to “soften” the message to their clients in the hope they might be more likely to comply.“But Charles would say, ‘This is exactly what you need to do. You need to never eat another carb.
You need to stop drinking for a year,’” Nichol said. “There was a non-negotiable, ‘This is exactly what you need to do.’ A lot of times it was extreme. But he got extreme results.”. Get the Star's Sports Headlines email newsletter for a daily round-up of the latest big news.Prentiss said that Poliquin was known for being unapologetic for charging premium prices for his services. Prentiss remembered how, way back in 2004, Poliquin charged $350 an hour for consultations and as much as $25,000 for a summer of training for NHL players.
Even many contemporaries didn’t charge as much, Poliquin’s prices helped raise the industry standard. Roberts, for his part, laughed at the memory of negotiating with Poliquin for an appropriate fee for his transformative 10 months on the comeback trail to the NHL.“I told him I’d pay him two-thirds, and that if I made it back to the NHL, I’d pay him the other third,” Roberts said. “Let’s just say it wasn’t cheap. But it was the best 10 months of schooling I could have gotten. Yes, I paid for it.
But when you look at what I made in the final 12 years of my career, I’d say it was a pretty worthy investment. As I try to preach to the players today, you’ve got to make an investment into your body. You’ve got to make an investment into your career.
Charles proved that to me, that’s for sure. And for that, I’m grateful.”.
Last week I discussed the I learned from my seminar with Charles Poliquin on hypertrophy (muscle growth). Today I’m tackling the 11 best tips for fat loss.As mentioned in my previous article, there are no magic pills or simple tricks that will solve all your weight loss challenges. It took you months, or even years, to put on the weight, and it’ll take time to lose that weight. There are no overnight miracles.
If you want great fat loss results you will need two things: 1) Good programming, and 2) motivation and hard work. You can have the best fat loss program, and it’ll still fall apart if you don’t push yourself. Fat loss isn’t easy, but it’s doable and worth it. Here are some helpful tips to consider while on your journey!1. Nutrition is individualized. There hundreds of diet books published every year in the US telling you how you should eat.
Your diet must be on a solid foundation with some individualization for optimal results. For example, a person of European descendent will most likely do well on a lower carb and higher fat diet. While a person of Asian descendent may do better on a higher carbs and lower fat diet. A good starting point for everyone is to lower the amount of processed foods and carbs, and increase their intake of vegetables.2.
Keep your blood sugar low. No matter what diet you’re on, the best way to lose weight and stay healthy is to make sure your blood sugar doesn’t spike. That means eating foods with a lower glycemic index, and avoiding foods that are highly processes. Foods that are 0-55 are optimal. The closer to 0 the better. Just make sure you don’t forget that serving size matters and over eat, especially things like fruits.3. The thicker the skin on a fruit the more sugar it has.
![]()
You won’t always be able to look up the nutrient profile of foods. As a quick guide, fruits with thicker skin often have more sugar, such as watermelons, melons, and bananas. If you do eat fruits, stick to 1-2 servings per day of any type of berries.4. Poor sleep contributes to obesity. Poor sleep is associated with higher inflammation in the body.
Inflammation reduces your sensitivity to insulin and drives up cortisol production. With insulin and cortisol levels out of balance you crave more sugary foods.
Lack of sleep will also diminish the production of leptin and increase production of ghrelin. These 2 hormones regulate appetite and sleep ensures you are producing the right amount of each. Your Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is also greatest while you sleep, which leads to fat loss. Moral of the story: Sleep 7-9 hours a night for fat loss!5. Avoid your computer, tv, and cell phones 3 hours before bed. The best way to immediately improve your sleep is to unplug from the world. That means no electronics before bed.
If you must use one of these devices before bed, use a program like f.lux to block the blue light that comes from your electronic device.6. You need to produce lactic acid to lose weight.
Lactic acid produces a dramatic increase in HGH. During your training protocols, you must produce lactic acid.
Lactic acid is that feeling associated with the “burning” in your muscles. You’ll get it if you’re sprinting a 400m or doing 10 reps of heavy squats. Your muscles will begin to burn. You’ll have trouble breathing.
That’s what you want to target during your training. For weight lifting it’s better to target 6-12 reps. For cardio, target intervals where the sprint are between 40-70s.7. If it’s green you can eat as much as you like. If it’s naturally green, such as any type of vegetable, feel free to eat as much of it as you’d like without the fear of gaining weight. No one ever got fat by eating too much broccoli.8. Eating fish and vegetables is the best diet to lose weight.
Ever heard of the fisherman’s diet? It consists of only eating fish as your protein source and eating vegetables. You want to get lean fast, stick to this diet to see great results.9., and are Charles’ top 3 supplements for fat loss. Most people have a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, which cause a lot of inflammation in the body. Preventing you from losing weight. Supplementing with high dosage fish oil will help decrease inflammation and help you lose fat.
One of the many benefits of carnitine is it helps convert fat in your body into fuel. While magnesium is a mineral that helps control insulin and cortisol.10. Avoid aerobics. Doing aerobics leads to a decrease in muscle mass, lowering the amount of calories you burn per day.
And it doesn’t burn that many calories in the first place. If you want to do cardio stick to interval training. As mentioned before 40-70s is best as a full out sprint.11. Start your morning with the meat and nuts breakfast. Charles is a huge fan of the meat and nuts breakfast. Here are his 4 reasons for this breakfast choice: 1) It makes you more anabolic 2) Great for increasing your mental drive and optimizing neurotransmitters 3) It helps you make better food choices throughout the day and 4) You perform better on mental tasks.There you have it. Those are some of Charles’ best tips to help with fat loss.If you’re struggling to lose weight or need some coaching, I do 1-on-1 personal training as well and online training.
Just use the Contact page to get in touch with me!Have a healthier week!Josh Kumosz.
![]() Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
February 2023
Categories |