Robb Wolf Interview

I recently interviewed Robb Wolf, from NorCal Strength & Conditioning.  Robb has a lot of research and practical experience with Paleo eating and exercise.  Below is the text of the interview.

MM:  Hi Robb, thanks for taking the time for this interview.  Can you start by telling us a little bit about your background?

RW:  Hey Matt! Athletically I’ve competed in power lifting and Thai boxing. I’ve dabbled in Brasilian Jiu-jitsu and am working to finally get my blue belt. Professionally I worked for 6 years as a research biochemist on a variety of projects including lipid metabolism at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and interesting private gig developing a process to extract a colloid complex from seaweed! Since late 2001 I’ve been involved with CrossFit in some capacity or another but the past 4 years I’ve been Co-owner of NorCal Strength & Conditioning in the hot box of Chico, CA.

MM:  Generally, for a new client, what sort of exercise routine do you put them on?

RW:  Well, I have folks ranging from stay-at-home moms to MMA fighters training with me so it might look like I would do something very different from person to person but the training is not that dissimilar among these folks. In the first few sessions I assess each persons general fitness level, movement and orthopedic soundness. Folks who are broken in one way or another I start working on rehabbing say a lack of shoulder or hamstring mobility. After this the general programming is pure CrossFit. Mixed modal functional movements SCALED to meet the individuals fitness level. All of my clients need to squat, press, pull and dead lift, so they do! My 78 year old retired physician DL’s with 95 lbs while my MMA fighter is up near 400lbs. They all need the same stuff, more fitness, my job is to scale it appropriately and figure out ways of making progress as safely and efficiently as possible.

Everyone is encouraged to follow a paleo type diet and if the goal involves significant fat loss I will NOT work with the individual without a 1-month commitment by the individual to follow the nutrition plan I set up for them exactly.

MM:  What role does traditional low-intensity cardio play in your training routines?

RW:  Really no role at all. Many of our clients are recreational or competitive endurance athletes and I help them to structure those efforts to their best success but it is not an area of significant interest for me.

MM:  And what about the proper diet?

RW:  Paleo Diet! The best book on the market is Protein Power: Lifeplan by Dr.’s Eades. This will solve metabolic derangement, food allergies, gut irritation, improve recovery…everything you need from you food.

MM:  You've recently blogged about the role of diet versus exercise in altering body composition.  Care to expand on that?

RW:  I tackled that pretty thoroughly in the blog post. I guess it’s important to mention that if an individual desires to lose body fat it is vital to reduce the glycemic load of the diet. For some people this may mean virtually no dense carb sources such as fruit or yams while others may just need to reduce the amount of carbs and or alter the density a bit. SO many people attempt to lose fat by starting a program of long slow cardio and a low fat diet. It works for precious few people.

MM:  What are your thoughts on meal frequency, and the role of intermittent fasting?

RW:  I think intermittent fasting may be a potent tool for improving health, longevity and performance. Even if it does little in these areas it appears to dramatically streamline the feeding process. It is totally unrealistic to expect people to squirrel away 6 meals per day as the muscle mags recommend. A few dedicated (compulsive) individuals can pull this off and it is offered as the only way to do things. Tinkering with intermittent fasting can be as simple as waiting till lunch to have ones first meal or making dinner at 4 or 5 pm. It does not need to be extreme to be helpful.

MM:  Let's say a client wanted to run a 5k race.  What sort of training would you prescribe?

RW:  I really like the approach at Power Running: Get strong, run faster by focusing significant efforts on sprints, run you race distance, at your race pace. This is quick, efficient and effective. This is assuming an individual is in decent shape and is generally sound for this level of training however an approach like this can be tailored (scalability again) for virtually anyone.

MM:  What if a client wanted to build substantial muscle mass?

RW:  EAT. I wish it were more scientific than that. The growth stimulus of training is almost inconsequential. Calisthenics, weights…workout hard, try to move more load and then eat until you do not want to eat more…then eat more. It is tougher than dieting down in many ways.

MM:  Any final thoughts?

RW:  Thanks for the opportunity to jabber to your readers Matt!

MM:  Again, thanks for your time Robb.  For more excellent information, go to robbwolf.com.