Charles Poliquin

This is taken from an article written by Sean Stoqua.

1)     Earn your carbs

Charles liked to use this phrase to describe that the amount of carbs you eat should be determined by the amount of body fat you have. Basically, if you’re above 10% body fat (if you can’t see a 6 pack of abs, you’re likely above 10%), you don’t deserve carbs. Until you get below 10%, you could probably benefit from limiting your carbohydrate intake to a certain degree. 

2)     Be grateful. No pissing no moaning

Rule #1 for Charles: no pissing, no moaning. My understanding of this quote is that there are certain circumstances that are out of our control. Genetics, other people’s actions, the weather, the list is endless. We can spend time thinking and talking about these things and how they are having a negative impact on us OR we can focus on the things that are within our control, such as our thoughts, actions, diet, etc. Similarly, Charles seemed to be a big proponent of gratitude, recommending to keep a gratitude journal daily. In one article he used the phrase “what you appreciate, appreciates”. 

3)     Neuro typing for programming 

This is one of Charles more original ideas. Simply put, it’s the idea that each individual has a different neurotransmitter profile and their training should be based off of that profile. Looking at four of the main neurotransmitters (dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, GABA) and determining which is the most dominant would determine what kind of training approach that individual would benefit from the most. 

4)     Discipline and love 

This is a powerful concept. Charles suggested that discipline is fake news. Instead, he suggested that we often make decisions out of love or out of fear. If you find yourself reaching for a box of cookies, it isn’t because you lack discipline. It is probably because you love the taste of cookies more than you love being 8% body fat. While fear is a powerful motivating factor for a lot us, Charles recommended to act out of love instead. It’s usually the flipside of the same coin, and because love is a much stronger emotion, it produces much stronger results. 

5)     Cell phones and androgen levels

Cell phones are slowly stealing our testosterone. At the very least, keep them out of your pocket and put them on airplane mode when you’re sleeping. 

6)     Breakfast and neurotransmitter cascades 

Charles wrote that the first thing we put in our mouth every morning dictates the neurotransmitters were likely to produce for the rest of the day. He was a big proponent of the meat and nuts breakfast because these foods provide the amino acid precursors to make the neurotransmitter dopamine. He also recommended leaving the majority of your carbohydrate intake until the evening as this would encourage serotonin production and aid with sleep quality. 

7)     Eccentric Tempo 

Simply stated, Charles recommended to lower the weights slower than you lift them. There are fewer motor units involved during an eccentric contraction, consequently there is more load per motor unit when comparing an eccentric contraction to a concentric contraction.  As a result, we can generate more tension in the muscle with an eccentric contraction, leading to increased stimulus and greater muscle gains.  Some of the workouts Charles shared on his site included eccentric tempos of 10+ seconds. Walk into any commercial gym, odds are you won’t see many people training with an eccentric tempo slower than 3 seconds. 

8)     Blood test values 

Getting your blood tested is a great way to know what is going on under the hood. It can help us identify nutritional and hormonal deficiencies related to diet and lifestyle. Charles liked to point out that we must be cautious comparing certain values to “the norms”. Charles would jokingly say that today “Homer Simpson is the norm” so if our goal is to look or perform like Tarzan or Conan the Barbarian, having certain values that are “normal” aren’t necessarily ideal. A good example of this is the normal values for blood sugar. Functional medicine practitioners are now calling Alzheimer’s type III diabetes due to its link with high blood glucose values. Recent studies have shown that those who have high blood sugar, but still inside what is considered “the normal range”, still have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

Don’t settle for the norms, unless you want to be Homer Simpson. 

9)     Knowledge not applied is a waste of time

Lets say you just read a book about speed development and it took you 5 hours. If you never apply any of that information you learned in that book to your actual life or training, you just wasted 5 hours of your life. For information junkies who are crushing podcasts and books on a weekly basis, this idea certainly hits home. With so much information out there, we run the risk of most of it going in one ear and out the other. Charles said he used to highlight information he felt was relevant as he read it, then he would go back and write it down and review it within a week. No wonder he remembers everything. 

10)  Be aware of long distance cardio 

Charles pointed out that the more slow, long distance cardiovascular work an athlete has done in their career (ie- cross country skiing, long distance running, etc.) the quicker their brain has aged. He spoke on correlations he saw between his aerobic sport athletes and early diagnoses of degenerative brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s. He suggested that the increased and prolonged cortisol production from this aerobic work oxidizes or “rusts” the brain over time. Who actually enjoys long distance cardio anyway?

Thanks Sean.