Peak Performance Seminar

Athletic Preparation, Nutrition and Muscle Building Tips

This past weekend I was part of the first ever Peak Performance Seminar in NYC.  This world-class event was put together by Joe Dowdell and Dr. Mike Roussell.  If you don’t know Joe Dowdell, he is a trainer who has worked with everyone from models to elite MMA athletes.  His facility, Peak Performance a 10,000 sq. ft.  gym in the center of NYC, has been voted a top 10 gym in the US by Men’s Health.  He is not only handsome, but well respected throughout the fitness industry.  That is a tough combo to pull off, but if anyone can relate, I can.  🙂

Dr. Mike is a nutritionist and author who has worked and consulted with some of the biggest names in the industry.  I’ve known Mike for many years and he is also well respected as an expert in his field.

What happened when both of these guys got together and put on a seminar?  Two days presenting some of the most comprehensive information around athletic development, nutrition, fat loss, muscle building, program design, mobility, warm-up, intensity, periodization and everything else dealing with physical preparation and training, I have ever seen.

They invited me, along with Tony ‘The Guns’ Gentilcore, John ‘Face’ Romaniello, Kevin ‘Jokerman’ Neeld and Perry ‘Doc’ Nickelston, DC, to be a part of the expert panel for a Q/A the last day of the seminar.  I was beyond humbled, and slightly nervous, about the honor.  I’ve been in the industry a long time and it felt amazing to have all of the young trainers

come up to me afterward, telling me how they follow Diesel and love my articles and videos.

After the seminar, I challenged these same trainers on Facebook to take action on everything the panel talked about.  Many of them didn’t have a blog, newsletter, YouTube page, trainer network or plans for their future.  YOU MUST TAKE ACTION.  One second turns into one minute, one minute into one hour, one hour into one day and one day into a lifetime.  Do not look back and have regrets.

Now the good stuff. Here are just a few great training and nutrition tips I picked up from the weekend.

Strength Training | Nutrition | Muscle Building Tips

TRAINING (Joe Dowdell)

1.  Assessing your clients starts during the first meeting.  Watching them walk and observing their posture will tell you a world of information about their current state of trainability

2.  Drill proper form and include more volume during the GPP accumulation (strength endurance, hypertrophy, functional hypertrophy) phase.  This will increase structural integrity of the joints, build hypertrophy and improve the athlete’s ability to handle heavier loads and more intensity moving forward.

3.  The residual training effect of a previous block can be maintained if you structure your successive blocks correctly in a block periodization model.  This can be done by training the previous block’s primary quality as a secondary training focus in the next block.

4.  There is a structured flow to EVERY good training session.  Joe and I are in complete agreement as his model matches ours exactly; SMR, mobility, activation, reactive | speed component, strength, energy system, recovery.

5.  Energy system training is not only about how much available energy you have at your disposal, but also how efficiently you consume this energy.  You become more proficient at energy consumption (i.e. use less energy for each effort) if you are more skilled at your sport.

6.  When programming volume, the intensity is directly related to the load, the total sets, the total number of reps and the tempo.  Always pay close attention to the total time under tension.

NUTRITION (Dr. Mike)

1.  The Six Pillars of Nutrition are:

Pillar 1:  Eat 5-6 times a day

Pillar 2: Eat Minimally Processed Foods Without Added Sugars

Pillar 3:  Eat Fruits and Vegetables Throughout the Day

Pillar 4:  Drink More Water and Calorie Free Beverages

Pillar 5:  Focus on Eating Lean Proteins or Protein Containing Foods Throughout the Day

Pillar 6:  Be Strategic About Your Starches

2.  Dr. Mike says most people are “nutritional freestyling” — eating whatever you want, anytime of the day.  You want to get to a point where you have 90% compliance to the Six Pillars.

3.  An easy way to curb a huge meal is the Eat and Eat Again rule.  It states that when you eat, you have the rule that whatever size meal you consume, you must be able to eat that same size meal in 2 hours.  This helps visualize and control portion sizes.

4.  Dr. Mike’s core supplements; protein powder, good quality fish oil, greens supplement, multi-vitamin, vitamin D and creatine.

Final Review

The seminar was amazing, the people were amazing and I was so overwhelmed to be a small part of the event.  I can honestly say there was so much content, that the weekend should be considered a trainer course — that is how thorough and broad the information was.  I wish I could have gone to this seminar 10 years ago!  Fortunately, they filmed the entire weekend, so you will be able to get your hands on the amazing content — they were projecting 12-15 DVD’s!  If you don’t follow Joe or Dr. Mike, you better because they are putting out some of the best content online.  Look for more collaborations between Joe, Dr. Mike and myself coming soon!