Your Weekend Gains Not Losses

The last couple of weekends you have let yourself go and had to regain the level of fitness you lost at the beginning of the week afterwards.  If this is you, you are wasting your time and going in circles.  Weekends can make you or break you.  Working out and eating healthy is easy from Monday through Thursday.  A challenge, amongst all the challenges you deal with to get and stay fit, is to extend your fitness regimen over the weekend.  If from Friday to Monday you take a break from either cardio, a balanced diet, or weightlifting you could lose hard earned progress and the motivation to continue working out.  Why put so much time and energy towards fitness and get nothing in return. 

To get what you want out of your hard work and time spent in the gym you have to keep it up over the weekends.  You must sacrifice everything that you do that minimizes your gains over the weekends.  Your body will only adapt to what you do consistently.  If your goal is to build muscle and you are lifting weights three times a week but also drinking alcohol and eating unhealthy three times a week, it will be hard for your body respond and adapt to your weightlifting.  Take control of your gains.  To be more fit you have to dedicate all of your time to fitness.  Do what it takes Monday through Sunday to reach your goals.  You know what it takes and if you do not, find out.  To much energy is put towards fitness not to be getting results. 

If you want to grow strong and lean with a low percentage of body fat then you are going to have to sacrifice all the things you do, usually on the weekends, that take away from all that you gained.  This sacrifice will lead to you getting faster results.  The results you get from your hard work will keep you motivated and energized to stay consistent.

Seven Days of Cardio Training!

I hope you are not surprised by the heading.  If you want to start getting more results from your fitness regimen, you cannot exclude cardio! Cardiovascular endurance training is an integral part of your daily fitness routine that increases your daily calorie expenditure while also enhancing your weight lifting routine.  If you do cardio consistently your muscles will recover faster between sets which allows you to do more work during the time you have to workout.  Doing consistent cardio is the number one way to burn fat, if done correctly.  For however long you spend doing cardio, you must have your heart rate at 65-85% of your maximum heart rate for the duration.  It is good to be at your target heart rate zone at 5 minutes into your cardio training.  Being in this heart rate zone will allow your body to sustain force by using mostly stored body fat as energy.  Doing cardio on a consistent basis also allows you to sweat regularly.  Sweating is good for your skin and also a good way to release toxins, excess sodium and free radicals from your body.  Cardio is also the best exercise for maintaining a healthy heart and lungs.  There are many more benefits from cardio, but to get the most out of cardio training you must do it everyday.  A good tip to keep you entertained week by week is variation.  Switching your cardio routine up daily will motivate you to challenge yourself.  Consistent cardio training may be what you need to get the results you are looking for.  Guaranteed results come from doing everything the right way and cardio training is equally important as resistance training and your diet.

WANT MORE RESULTS?!  Below is a sample cardio training routine that you can follow for the next 7 days or 7 weeks to get faster results:

MODE (select 1 mode per day or the same mode every other day)
Stationary bike
Treadmill
Stairmaster
Track running
Elliptical

Day 1
Pace/Temp
30-45 minutes
Target HR = 70% of Max HR

Day2
Interval Training
warm up 5 minutes
2mins 85% of Max HR (high Intensity)
2mins 65% of Max HR (low intensity)
repeat 5 times
cool down 5 minutes

Day3 (choose different MODE than Day 2)
Pace/Temp
30-45 minutes
Target HR = 70% of Max HR

Day 4
Interval Training
warm up on MODE 5 minutes
2mins Jump Rope
2mins Burpees
Rest 1 min
(Repeat 5 times)
cool down on MODE 5 minutes

Day 5 (choose different MODE than Day 3)
Pace/Temp
30-45 minutes
Target HR = 70% of Max HR

Day 6
Interval Training
warm up 5 minutes
2mins 85% of Max HR (high Intensity)
2mins 65% of Max HR (low intensity)
repeat 5 times
cool down 5 minutes

Day 7(choose different MODE than Day 6)
Long Pace/Temp
45-60 minutes
Target HR = 70% of Max HR

The Foam Roller's Magic!

 

If you are having problems with your piriformis, IT band, or a tight lower back the foam roller can help you release tension in these muscles and increase range of motion.  The foam roller is a great tool for injury prevention and also can help you intensify your strength, power, and  agility workouts as well as endure longer bouts of aerobic endurance training.  The foam roller's magic comes from the relief of tension or the relaxation of a muscle caused by the application of tension to that muscle.  Once the tension is applied by rolling on the roller a relaxation effect takes place within the muscle.  The effect from this type of active deep tissue therapy is called autogenic inhibition.  Applying tension to a tight muscle can release that tension and also help maintain normal range of motion in muscles that are not tight.  It is best to use the foam roller on a daily basis to get the best results.  The foam roller can be used before, after or during your workout.  To guarantee improved range of motion, a 15 min stretch session using the foam roller twice a week will do the trick.   The main benefit of using the foam roller is to improve the economy or quality of your workouts.  With better technique and posture you will have more confidence to increase the weight or run at a higher intensity when no tension is keeping you from doing so.  More quality workouts will lead to a lower risk of injury, consistency and progressive overload which is the key to your body completely adapting to your fitness regimen.

Have a Fat Phobia?

 

Are you eating enough fat?  This sounds like a trick question but the reason that you could not be performing well in your workouts and progressing towards your fitness goals leads to this question being answered.  Fats amount to about 30% of our diet.  Both healthy and unhealthy fat sources have a positive impact on our body.  The idea that fats have a negative impact on many parts of your body can limit your progress and overall health.  It is better to focus on the quality of fat sources rather than quantity.  The goal is to maintain a consumption of around 30 percent of total calories of fat with only 10 percent of those calories from saturated fat.

 

Unhealthy or saturated fats are usually consumed in meats and dairy products.  Meat and dairy products that are rich in calcium, iron and zinc are also necessary in the diet to maintain enough protein based on your body weight and goals.  These food groups should be limited due to the amount of cholesterol in which they contain.  Cholesterol can be a nemesis in your diet since it is nonessential, meaning that your body produces it on it's own.  Enough cholesterol is produced by the liver and intestines of the body, on a daily basis, so you need to eat as little as possible.   A new phobia should be geared towards cholesterol rather than fat since the exclusion of this nonessential substance will not matter all.  Due to heredity, some people have predisposed elevated cholesterol levels.  With or without this predisposition we all should limit the amount of cholesterol we consume.

 

To overcome your phobia, of eating too much fat, it is best to focus on healthy fat sources as well as the benefit you get from eating these fats.  Healthy fat sources are more reactive and have multiple physiological benefits.  Healthy or unsaturated fats amount to 20% of the 30% of fat calories that are required in your daily calorie intake.  Eating the right amount of fats on a daily basis lead to these benefits:

• Maintain organ insulation and protection 
• Helps you store vitamins that are fat soluble (A,D,E,K)
• Maintain healthy cell membranes
• Helps the brain develop and function properly
• Helps the nervous system develop and function properly
• Maintains normal hormone levels and secretion rates (Estrogen, Testosterone, and Cortisol)

Quality is key when we think about eating fat.  A diet that lacks the right amount of quality fats(unsaturated) and is loading with unhealthy fats(saturated), high in cholesterol will lead to a high risk of health problems due to obesity.  Unless you are an aerobic endurance athlete and perform an hour and a half of cardio a day, obesity is your destiny if unhealthy fat consumption is abused.  To help you overcome your phobia you must focus on the facts and the role that healthy fats play in your body.  The "scary fat" myth is over and has been proven to be less beneficial to living a healthy lifestyle.  Fats are necessary in quality sources.  Here is list of healthy food choices that are packed full of healthy nutrients that aid in the superior functioning of the human body:

• Avocados
• Nuts (all, including peanut butter)
• Olive oil
• Canola Oil
• Fish oils (Salmon, Tuna, Sardines, etc.)
• Soy milk
• Sunflowers

The 24 Hour Fitness Challenge!

 

The challenge is on for everyone who has fitness goals to stay committed and consistent as long as it takes to reach them.  Being fit for 24 hours allows you to focus on short term goals instead of being overwhelmed by the realization that it will take months to get where you want to be.  Do not worry about 2 months from now, this will only discourage you.  Focus on being fit for today.  This is an attainable goal that, once achieved, will minimize fear, doubt, and uncertainty.  The more successful you are day after day will boost your confidence and motivate you to be consistent each day.  After 24 hours of being fit, the next day will be a lot easier.  This successful memory will allow you to follow the same steps it took you to achieve previous success.  Day after day goals become easier to reach, especially after previous success.  You will have built up memory of success. This type of mindset will keep you from flooding your mind with negative thoughts about the longevity of training and a goal that you never reached.  Achieving a goal that you know can be achieved will minimize anxiety and create the arousal that is needed to carry out the tasks for execution.  So make it simple by focusing on the next 24 hours.  Do not let anything come between you and your fitness goals for today and you will see this mindset will make the future of fitness a whole lot easier. 

Circuit Training is a Fat Burner!

 

 

The best way to reach your fitness goals, especially with weight loss, is to do the right things to get there.  Everybody wants to see fast results and results are a catalyst for your motivation to continue.  It is hard to commit yourself to day after day of torture in the gym and a diet that lacks substance.  When your goal is to burn fat you need to participate in the right training that is goal specific.  To burn fat you must get your body to use fat as energy when you are working out.  Circuit training allows you to perform 15 to 20 repetitions of 10 to 20 exercises in a sequence, with timed rest intervals (20-30 seconds), to force your body to burn fat for energy.  Circuit training is the most effective and efficient way to burn fat.  The more work you do in the same amount of time will also increase your aerobic and muscular endurance which is the key to fat burning.

 

Adapting to a circuit training program allows your body to respond to you doing a high volume of resistance training in a small amount of time with minimal rest between exercises.  To sustain this level of work the weight that is lifted should not be too heavy and the exercises must be arranged to target different muscle groups.  A lighter loud can be lifted a greater number of times which is more specific for burning fat.  Circuit training is a total body resistance training routine that forces your body to rely on mainly stored fats/ carbohydrates for energy and oxygen diffusion for energy production.  When you begin a circuit training routine your body utilizes energy stored within the muscle to do work anaerobically(without oxygen).  Once activity is continued for over 1 minute, for most people, your body needs another energy source to sustain activity and relies more on oxygen.  A load of resistance that can be lifted 5-12 times does not need to rely on energy sources outside the muscle and requires more rest in between sets.  When circuit training, the stored components used in the muscle to create energy for work become exhausted. The body begins to use oxygen to burn body fat and stored carbohydrates to sustain constant force production.  This change in energy production can also correlate with your increased heart rate and is called your fat burning zone (aerobic pathway).  When in your fat burning zone you are maintaining a sub maximal level of intensity to do work by burning mainly stored body fat for energy.  Hence the efficiency of circuit training. Most people begin to burn fat to support an activity when their heart rate is approximately 65-85% of their maximum heart rate.

Beginning a circuit training program with a gradual increase in intensity, after a few months, will have you burning fat and revealing muscle tone faster than any other program.  The key to progression and continual results is to overload your body by striving for greater challenges like adding more weight or increasing exercise complexity.  The goal of the program is to be able to do more work in the same amount of time.  Volume and intensity can go up but the duration must stay the same to increase your fat burning potential.  Amongst all that you do to achieve your fitness goals, circuit training is only an addition to your complete fitness program.  For the best results your diet must compliment the voluminous workload you will endeavor with circuit training.  It is also still important to do aerobic endurance training, at a Target Heart Rate of 65-85% of your Maximum Heart Rate, to ensure you maintain a high metabolism on your off days.  A consistent aerobic endurance program that enhances your cardiorespiratory system can compliment your circuit training program by decreasing your time to exhaustion.  You will be able to complete more exercises in your fat burning zone before you are fatigued.

It is not easy to lose weight.  It is important to consider the law of individualization when implementing yourself into a fitness program.  You should know whether it is easy for you to lose or gain weight by now.  Hard losers are encouraged to be extra strict with their fitness regimen.  You will have to work twice as hard if you are not fully committed.  Do not get discouraged.  Building a passion for fitness should be your goal.  When you are more passionate and motivated to workout, results will be the last thing on your mind.  Results are a reflection of your dedication and commitment to a cause.  The more that fitness benefits you without focusing on results more surprising results you will get. 

Body Shock with Plyometric Training!

 

The more intense exercise that you do the more valuable the results will be.  A new challenge for you is to maximize the rate at which you contract your muscles to cause a shock effect.  Your goal is to shock your muscles so that they will build back stronger to work more efficiently and burn more calories.  Plyometric training is a great way to improve power and add some intensity to your workout routine.  Plyometric training can be done with your lower body, upper body or core/ trunk.  Basically with plyometric training you are either using your bodyweight, with or without added resistance, or a weighted ball (Medicine ball) to rapidly load your muscle.  A rapid load of your muscles after falling from a jump or catching of a medicine ball forces you to generate a greater amount of force to propel your body or the ball.  The explosive force that it takes to contract your body weight causes muscle groups to work together in a higher level of synchronization.  Plyometric training not only promotes intramuscular coordination but also is a more potent form of resistance training.  Plyometric training allows you to contract the muscle in a shorter amount of time while also completing more repetitions in a shorter amount of time.  This form of training will definitely enhance power or the rate of force production as well as enhance the buffering capacity of your anaerobic metabolism.  Anaerobic metabolism is all the mechanisms in the body that support muscular development and muscular work without the presence of oxygen.

 

Athletes and other fitness competitors get the most acute benefits from plyometric training.  Jumping and running are both similar in body mechanics and can be categorized as plyometric because of the continual power demands.  If you have a running event in the near future or plan to play a sport that consists of a lot of explosive quick movements, plyometric training can be the best way to prepare as well as put you at a lower risk of injury.  The more you train your muscles to support your movements, explosively, the less risk you will have of an injury due to explosive movements.  You will be better prepared for any activity that involves athleticism and agility.   Plyometric training is a functional style of training your muscles.  The high rate contractions can impose the same demands on your muscles as if you were really performing in a competitive event.  The closer the relationship to the way you train and how you perform will lead to optimal performance and subconscious movements so that you can focus more on breathing and the performance goals. 

 

 

Plyometric training can be recommended to youth and seniors as long as they have the functional capacity to do so. One to two days a week is good enough to effectively enhance your strength, power, muscular hypotrophy and muscular endurance.  As you become consistent with plyometric training you will feel lighter on your feet and be more powerful in your strength training workouts.  Runners will be able to move to a higher gear late in a race while weight lifters will be able to finally increase their one repetition maximum.  Plyometric training can redefine your goals in training and help you realize that the human body is capable of doing more than you thought it could do.