4 Keys To Starting Fitness

1. Make a commitment. 

Decide what sort of workout you will do and plan the days and times you are going to workout. Having it on the calendar makes it much easier to to be consistent.

2. Just start. 

On your planned day, make a commitment that no matter what (other than injury or fever) you will atart your workout. Even if you don't think you will finish it, commit to starting each day no matter what. In the beginning building the habit of starting is the most important thing.  

3. Bite the bullet and hire a trainer. 

Even if it is just temporary, hiring a trainer (like me for expample) will help you get off to a good start in a reasonable manner. Not only can a good trainer show you what exercises to do and how to do them safely, they can help you progress your workout as your fitness improves. 

4. Don't let the ego plan your workout. 

If you are new to fitness take it easy at first. Overdoing it can get you injured or worse. At first learning how to exercise properly is more important than "feeling the burn."

If you want help, let me know. My email is franklinkungfu@gmail.com, and I'm on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/StevenONanPersonalTrainer?ref=bf  and can be reached at franklinkungfu@gmail.com. 

How Many Minutes of Cardio?

This week I will do approximately 400 minutes of cardio.

The recommendations for cardiovascular exercises are to get 150 minutes of moderate exercise, 75 minutes of intense exercise, or somewhere between those two numbers if it is mixed between moderate and intense.

There are two possible reasons someone might be doing massive amounts of exercise. One is the idea that if a little is good, a lot is better. If someone is doing 400 minutes of cardio in a week in order to get health benefits, there is some bad news in the form of the law of dimininshing returns. The truth is that you will gain some more benefits from doing more, but the higher the amount is, the less bang you get for your buck.

If you go from no exercise to 75 minutes of moderate exercise you will start seeing some huge health benefits. The benefits keep increasing a lot as you up the amount or intensity from there. Once you get over those numbers though, to get a little more benefit, you have to do a lot more work.

The other reason to massively increase exercise is if you are training for a specific event. That is why I will be doing 400 minutes of cardio this week. That is why by the time my training is done, I will have a had a couple of weeks with nearly 10 hours of cardio. I have a 31 mile trail race coming up. I have carefully crafted a training plan to create in my body the physiological adapatations that will enable me to complete this massive race.

After the race, I am going to tone things back down to a more reasonable level. Rest and recovery is part of the plan.

Your exercise plan, or your training for an event should be planned intelligently. Randomly doing some exercises will benefit you. Having a long term plan in front of you based on your specific goals will benefit you a lot more.

If you want help with setting and meeting your goals, whether they include weight loss, toning muscles, or running a marathon, let me know. I'll be glad to help.

One Reason Runners Should Be Lifting Weights

As I've written about before, I truly admire those people who enter a race knowing they will be at the back of the pack, knowing they will be struggling at the finish line. I love watching their faces when that "I did it!" feeling takes over. As a result, I have often stayed and watched the last people coming in at various races. Something I notice repeatedly at endurance events is how a person's posture can completely collapse by the time they get to the finish line.

One particular aspect of this is the upper back and shoulders. Often by the end of a race, a runner has started hunching their shoulders forwards. This can be due to tension in the chest, or due to fatigue of the upper back. Either way, those hunched shoulders are going to be causing a lot of suffering during, and after the race.
During the race, hunched shoulders will limit the ability to breathe deeply. When you are not breathing deeply, then your muscles are not receiving the oxygen they need to continue going, especially on the last few miles of a long race. If the hunching is a result of tight pectoral muscles and shoulders, full movement of the body while running is limited interrupting stride, and the extra tension is burning energy that could be much more useful in other parts of the body.

After the race, that hunching posture can lead to upper back pain. The longer you run in that position, the more your upper spine has been jarred while in an unnatural position. This position does not allow the spine to absorb the shock the way it should, so you can expect back pain and even shoulder pain afterwards.

Lifting weights, specifically using motions that involve the upper back musculature, strengthens, and builds endurance in the muscles that maintain a neutral spine during endurance events. Running alone doesn't do much for these muscles, so at some point your legs will be able to last much longer than your postural muscles.

The solution for this problem is to stretch the pectoral muscles, and strengthen the rhomboids and trapezius. Some good exercises for this include the reverse lateral dumbell raise and the single arm dumbell row.

If you want help with your running, come check out my class "Run For Your Life." You will do strength training, learn about different types of training runs, and improve your running. This class can make running easier on your body, and improve your race times. So come on down to GT Fitness or get in touch with me. Find more information by clicking the tabs at the top of the page.

Performance Vs. Appearance

Lately, I feel more and more that performance measures are more important than measurements of weight and waistline. I am not saying that weight and waist measurements should never be used, they are very useful measures. The problem with weight is that when you add muscle it is possible to stay the same weight or even gain weight while losing body fat. I have a client who has lost over 80 pounds this year, but I'd be willing to bet she has lost 85 or more pounds of fat and gained some muscle mass. 

Waist measurements are a good indicator of fat loss, but if you have a client that is sensitive about body image they can be discouraging and/or embarrassing and they also put the emphasis in appearance. 

Personally I would prefer my clients to have a performance measure as their metric of improvement. I'd prefer my clients to be proud of what they can do over what clothes they can fit into. 

Runners, Are You Lifting?

Some people would think this was a post against running. http://dnfitness.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/for-people-who-like-to-run-and-do-cardio-workouts/

I know, however that David and I are on the same page here. Personally I like running workouts. Getting outside and moving, running down a country road, or better still, a trail in the woods for two, three or more hours for me stops feeling like a workout and more like a communion with my body and the world around me. I love ro run, if I didn't I wouldn't be training for a 50K trail race. 

Soon after I started running I figured out (by getting injured) that a good way to not get injured running is to balance things out and do some workouts other than just running. 

Running provides a lot of work for certain muscles, but not others. So with lots of running the prime movers for hip flexion and extension can outlast the muscles that stabilize your hips and lower back. The result is that as you tire, running form starts to break down, and injury becomes more and more likely. So strength training stabilizers, not just in the hips and core but throughout the body, can reduce your chance of injury. 

Also, your running posture affects your running economy. If you start slouching forward it is harder to get enough oxygen to your muscles and you become less and less "fuel efficient" leading to sooner and greater fatigue. 

Running, while considered an aerobic exercise, actually uses three energy systems, the higher the intensity (the harder you are running), the greater percentage of energy coming from anaerobic systems. So training the anaerobic systems as well as the aerobic improves running economy and decreases fatigue. 

Heavy lifting teaches the body to recruit more muscle fibers and to recruit them more efficiently which puts more power in each stride improving economy and performance. 

Strength training of the "I pick things up and put them down," variety are extremely important to running economy, injury prevention, and running speed. The studies on this keep rolling in. A friend of mine was told by Alberto Salazar, one of the top running coaches ever, to lift heavy. 

One more thing on strength training and running. I had a runner do my strength training for runners course. After 8 weeks of progressive training she ran a personal best in three different distances over 4 weekends. She took 12 minutes off her half marathon PR, and nocked 2 minutes off her 5K best which was only about 2 months earlier. 

So runners, whatever your running goals, not getting injured, running longer, running easier, or running faster, remember to lift things up and put them down. 

http://youtu.be/eOSeOieLh7s

Love Your Curves or Tone Your Tummy?

Once again the media is sensationalizing the debate between loving your body as it is or exercising to beautify your body. 

My stance on this as a fitness professional is that both sides of the debate need to wake up, open their eyes, and close their mouths. 

The love your body side says that being focused on changing your body comes from a place of self loathing, and the make your body beautiful side says that accepting yourself as you are is an excuse to not get fit. 

Why do they focus on external beauty and ego? There is an easy answer, those make it easier for them to sell you something. 

I say let's all forget about how beautiful we think we are and how beautiful we think others are. That is not what fitness is about. Fitness is about loving yourself enough to take care of your health. Fitness is about giving ourself the strength and energy to get through your daily activities. 

Lack of fitness leads to aches and pains. It leads to disease and injury. It leads to early death. 

Looking good is so irrelevant when you look at the big picture. 

Love your body because of the work it can do. Love your body because it allows you to do good in the world. Strengthen you heart, lungs, arms and legs not to get that bikini body, but so you can live life more fully, so you can give more to others and so you can be around longer for your loved ones. 

If you need help getting started contact me, it's what I do. 

Starting From Zero.

The importance of being active, of regular exercise, is nearly immeasurable. The list of benefits is staggering. Unfortunately, the idea of getting started can seem pretty overwhelming. 

You might see the ads for the "Insanity" workout, or witness the people lining up at a local 5K race starting line peeling off their shirts before they run or you may see the commercials for a local gym full of insanely fit people who make you wonder why they even still need to go to the gym. 

Part of the problem is that a lot of fitness advertising is trying to grab the eyes of people who already have a high motivation for fitness. They are the easiest ones to sign up, and the easiest ones to keep signed up. 

So what do thearketing machines try to sell to people who are feeling overwhelmed by all this?

An easy way out. 

Buy this pill, wrap your body in this concoction, order these shakes or buy this device and you can burn body fat while ordering more stuff from us. 

Those gimmicks won't cut it. It takes work, but it doesn't take insanity. When I have a personal training client, I start them from where they are, even if they've been on the sofa for the last 15 years. If one-on-one isn't for you, I also have a group class called "New Fit You" for those who need to start at the bottom. If you are ready to get started, let me know how i can help. 

How to Get Six Pack Abs

I guarantee, right now, there is someone out there willing to sell you a bottle of pills "guaranteed" to melt away fat and give you that six pack. 

That someone is not me. As a matter of fact I will tell you right now I CANNOT give you six pack abs. 

What I can do is help guide you on a path of fat burning, calorie killing workouts. I can show you what work to do. I can show you how to start from where  you are and build your way to a healthy lifestyle, which depending on your specific goals might include six pack abs. 

In short, if you want a six pack, come earn a six pack. 

How to Get Six Pack Abs

I guarantee, right now, there is someone out there willing to sell you a bottle of pills "guaranteed" to melt away fat and give you that six pack. 

That someone is not me. As a matter of fact I will tell you right now I CANNOT give you six pack abs. 

What I can do is help guide you on a path of fat burning, calorie killing workouts. I can show you what work to do. I can show you how to start from where  you are and build your way to a healthy lifestyle, which depending on your specific goals might include six pack abs. 

In short, if you want a six pack, come get a six pack. 

What Fancy Equipment?

A great workout does not always require expensive equipment. Pictured to the right is a very basic piece of exercise equipment called a hill.

The hill can be used at all levels of fitness. Workout number one is for people new to fitness, or returning to fitness after an extended bout of sedentary lifestyle. Workout number two is a workout for those interested in leg strengthening. Workout number three is a workout specifically for increasing performance in running.

Workout 1:

1. Warm up by walking to a hill.
2. Walk up the hill.
3. Walk down the hill.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have worked out 10 to 20 minutes.
5. Cool down by walking back home or to your car.

Workout 2:

1. Warm up by walking to a hill.
2. Perform walking lunges up the hill.
3. Perform backward walking lunges down the hill.
4. Repeat 2 and 3 as desired.
5. Walk back home or to your car.

Workout 3:
1. Warm up by running to the hill.
2. Going up hill, with each step, leap upwards driving your knee high into the air.
3. At the top of the hill, jog a bit to recover your heart rate.
4. Going downhill, run quickly and lightly with a fast foot turnover to the bottom of the hill.
5. At the bottom of th ehill, jog to recover.
6. Repeat 2-5 as desired.
7. Run back home or to your car.

Did the directions for those workouts (especially the first one) sound ridiculously simple?

Yeah, that was the idea.

No Excuse

New Fit You is a class specifically for those who have been sedentary. A fitness class that takes you from zero then safely progresses into a fit lifestyle. 

KB500 is a calorie burning, sweat inducing, punching, and kicking workout. 

Run For Your Life is training specifically for runners. Beginner or experienced there is a workout for you. 

With one-on-one sessions and other classes still to come, there is no excuse to not get started. Contact me today. 

Steven O'Nan

Franklinkungfu@gmail.com

270-776-6873

Individualized Training Plan

This training plan is for R.H.

First of all, for anyone, before starting, increasing, or changing a workout routine check with your doctor and make sure that it is OK for you and your current health levels.

Now for the plan.

To put it together, I had to gather information to find out where he was starting.
He has been training for a year and has completed three half marathons with times of 2:55, 2:47, and 2:48. He runs 2-3 days per week, running 3-5 miles per run. He also gets in a bicycle workout once per week. As far as intensity level on his runs he said he does not push himself, and so continues to get the same results.

I am a big fan of Jack Daniel's running formula, and utilize a modified version of it when making plans for runners. Especially for those that have come to running after the advantage of youth has past us by. I am in that category, by the way.

R.H. has been doing Yoga 2-3 times per week, and I think continuing that will be sufficient for strength training for the time being. I'd like him to continue his bike cross training as well.

I decided to keep the three runs per week formula as it is working for him so far. If he would like to, he can add a fourth run of 2-3 miles each week.

Throughout the plan, R.H. can pick which days of the week work best for his training. If there is soreness after a quality run or long run, the next day should be a rest/recovery day. Light running or light exercise is OK on recovery days.


Easy runs will be approximately 14 minute 35 seconds per mile.
Phase 1.

Week 1: week of Nov. 11: 
3 Mile easy run, 3 mile easy run, 5 mile easy run.

Week 2:
3 Easy, 3 Easy, 5 Easy

Week 3: (Thanksgiving week)
3E, 3E, 5E

Week 4:
3E, 3E, 5E,

Phase 2. Week of December 9th
Week 1.
3 mile easy run,
Quality run 4 miles including 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down, 4 repeats of 400 meters (or quarter mile) with a goal of running 400 m in 2:45, with a 400 m jog between each interval.
Long run 5 miles

Week 2.
3 mile easy run,
Quality run 4 miles including 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down, 4 repeats of 400 meters (or quarter mile) with a goal of running 400 m in 2:45, with a 400 m jog between each interval.
Long run 6 miles

Week 3. Easy week (Week of Christmas)
3 easy
3 easy
5 easy

Phase 3:
Week of Dec 30.
Week 1:
3 easy
Quality run 4 miles including 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down, 2 repeats of 800 meters in 5:30 with 800 meter rest between.
Long run 6 miles

Week 2.
3 easy
Quality run 4 miles including 1 warmup, 1 cooldown with 2 miles at a pace of 12:00 per mile.
Long run 7 miles

Week 3.
3 easy
quality run 4 miles including 1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down, 2 repeats of 800 meters in 5:30 with 800 meter rest between.
Long run 7 miles

Week of Jan 20 Easy/recovery week
3 easy, 3 easy, 5 easy

Week 5.
3 easy
Quality run 4 miles including 1 warmup, 1 cooldown with 2 miles at a pace of 12:00 per mile.
Long run 8 miles

Phase 4.
Week of February 3.
Week one
3 easy,
Quality run 4 miles including 1 warmup, 1 cooldown with 2 miles at a pace of 12:00 per mile.
Long run 9 miles

Week two:
3 easy,
Quality run 4 miles including 1 warmup, 1 cooldown with 2 miles at a pace of 12:00 per mile.
Long run 10 miles

Week three:
3 easy,
Quality run 4 miles including 1 warmup, 1 cooldown with 2 miles at a pace of 12:00 per mile.
Long run 10 miles

Week of February 24th
Taper Week.
3 easy
3 easy with faster strides if it feels good
7 mile long run

Race week
3 easy
3 easy with strides if it feels good
Half Marathon race.

Good luck R.H.!!

How do I make a training plan?

An overview of a training plan for a runner. In this case it is my own. I started with my goal race, a 50k in mid-March and a starting point for the training plan, which was the Monday after the 10K Classic, October 21. 

Keeping in mind what I feel I need as a runner I planned a three week taper period before the race, then I divided the remaining weeks into four phases based on a modified version of the Daniel's running formula. The biggest differences being that I take an easy week every third week and I increase mileage steadily throughout the program

Phase one: Four weeks with running emphasis on easy runs and strength training emphasis on bodyweight exercises specifically picked to address my needs. 

Phase two: four weeks, running emphasis 1- running reps or intervals, 2- tempo runs. Strength emphasis: lifting high weight for low repetitions, again focusing on my specific needs. 

Phase three: Six weeks, running emphasis 1- intervals or 2- tempo. Strength emphasis continues high weight low rep. 

Phase four: 4 weeks running emphasis 1- tempo, or marathon pace runs, 2- tempo or long runs. Strength emphasis: plyometrics. 

Peak mileage is 58 miles in a week. This is less than a lot of runners do in a week for shorter distances than 50 K, but enough to get my body prepared to finish the race. 

After peak mileage I have a three week taper. It could be more than I need, but I would prefer to toe the line with too few miles under my belt than too many miles under my belt. 

Peak miles 58

Taper week 1 - 36 miles

Week 2 - 20 miles 

Week 3 - 9 miles PLUS 50K race. 

Strength and Nightmares

I woke to the sound of terrified screams and running footsteps. A white shock bolted up my spine stopping at the base of my brain. Protective instincts kicked in before I was even fully awake. Still unsure of what was happening, or even where I was, I sat up and called my daughters name three times so that she could find me in the darkness. She ran straight to me and I leaned forward, still sitting and now bent forward, nearly bent double, I scooped her into arms and pulled her up onto the bed. I lifted quickly to get her feet past the reach of the monsters under the bed. I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her until the nightmare faded and the reality of being safe in bed with Mom and Dad settled her down and calmed her fears. 

This surprise midnight lift was not an ideal lift. I did not set my feet and lift with my legs. I definitely did not warm up first. I didn't even have time to think of proper technique. All there was was the instinctive need to protect my daughter. 

The single reason that I did not destroy my back when snatching an uneven uncontrollable 50 pound kid from the ghost that appeared in the lunch line in her dream is that I have been in the habit of strength training. 

I admit, the amount of strength work I do meets the bare minimum guidelines of what strength training should be, but as I tried to get back to sleep I was thankful that I value fitness. Without this minimum of strength training I would probably be laid up with a severely hurt back that may have even required a trip to the doctor. 

So by investing time and effort on my health and fitness I avoided missing work (missing pay), a trip to the doctor, and pain and suffering as well. 

Run For Your Life!

To be successful at anything, it is important to know what your goal is and where you are starting. So logically, when I am working with runners I start by determining where they are, and where they want to get. 

For an absolute beginner, someone who has been sedentary and wants to start running for health benefits, we start from the absolute beginning. 

We start with brisk walks, with the goal of building up to 30 minutes of continuous brisk walking. Then we gradually introduce running intervals into the walking building up the run to walk ratio gradually and in a safe manner. The goal being 30 minutes of continuous running at an easy pace. 

Along with the running, it is important that the runner is doing some strength training. Strength training is also built up gradually and safely. The goal of the strength work is to strengthen the muscles that are the prime movers of running, as well as muscles involved in stabilizing the hips and core, muscles important to good running form and posture, etc.

This is important to make running easier and to reduce the risk of injury to new runners. 

If you are getting started running and want help, contact me. I have programs at GT Fitness for runners of different experience levels including strength classes, running plans, and training runs so that you can learn the right effort level at which you should be learning. 

Steven O'Nan

Franklinkungfu@gmail.com

Inspired by the Runners.

First of all, you guys and girls that finished the 10K Classic in Bowling Green in under 30 minutes, that is awesome, I am inspired by all your hard work and accomplishments in the field of running. I, however, am more inspired by some other people at the race that day.

The woman who ran the 10K after recovering from a brain tumor, she inspires me. The folks who ran the 5K that day who have never run a 5K before. The woman who finished the 5K near the back of the pack, who gritted her teeth and ran just a little faster when her daughter yelled, "Go Momma, I'm so proud of you." The girl who raced in a wheelchair, not one of those nice racing wheelchairs, an ordinary wheelchair that may have never been intended to go that fast.

I am sure there are people who ran this 5K and 10K race that one year ago were living a sedentary lifestyle and decided to get off their couches and take charge of their health.

Those are the ones who inspire me.

New Running Programs at GT Fitness Coming Soon

The first round of running workouts has been awesome so far and I am very excited to see how people perform at the end of it all. I do have some news for runners about future programs.

I will be expanding my offerings for runners very soon.  I am putting together a program that caters to brand new, first time, just got off the couch runners, as well as programs for more advanced runners.

There will be options to just do group strengthening classes, as well as options to go on training runs. The training runs will be more than just a group run around town, they will each have a different focus so you can learn how to do different types of training as appropriate for your fitness level and running experience.

There will also be the option for some one-on-one sessions to help set and meet specific goals, or to put together a personalized training program.

So get ready runners I've got a lot in store for you!

Starting at Zero

"How do I do it?" she asked, "How do I get fit again?"

She had been away from fitness for a long time. Years in fact, and she wanted to get started again, but she was afraid. Afraid of failure, afraid of injury, afraid of not knowing what to do. So she did something smart. She asked for help.

Sometimes, you have to start from zero. The problem with that is you may not know how to start. I've known people who would not start going to a gym because they were intimidated to be there. Intimidated by not knowing how to use the machines, or not knowing how to plan their workout, or just by the idea that they had been sedentary for so long that they might hurt themselves by trying too hard.

I've seen people who were afraid to go to a trainer. They had watched too much of "The Biggest Loser" and thought that personal training was all about the trainers screaming and cursing and pushing the client to the point of tears or vomit whichever came first.

There is a way to start from zero, without all the reality show drama.

1. Make a choice to work towards a healthy lifestyle.

Rather than goals like, "lose 20 pounds" or "go down three sizes", make your goal to start living a healthy lifestyle. Losing the weight can be a part of that goal, but the main goal should be a healthy lifestyle. Try this phrase out, "I am setting a goal of losing 20 pounds as a part of my larger goal to live a healthy lifestyle." If your goal is just to lose the 20 pounds, it is too easy to quit working after that goal is met. Guess what happens then, that's right, the 20 pounds come back, and usually brings some additional friends along as well.

2. Get a doctor's clearance.

If you have been injured, or if you are very unfit, or have been sedentary for a long time, always get advice from a doctor before you start a new exercise program.

3. Find a trainer.

Let them know what your goals are, let them know you are starting from zero. Let them know about your aches and pains and physical complaints. A good trainer will start you from zero. Even if that means your first session is lying on your back relearning how to engage your core musculature, a good trainer will start you with what you need instead of the workout he or she wants to see people doing.

4. Hold your trainer accountable.

If, during any workout, you ask your trainer, "How does this workout fit in with my specific goals." and your trainer can't answer, it is time to find a new trainer. I have a friend who has years of experience lifting weights. He does olympic lifts and can put more than 300 pounds over his head. On a trial session with a trainer, the trainer had him squatting 95 pounds. My friend was not happy. The trainer never bothered to find out where he was starting from. In this situation the result was a frustrated client who never came back for another session. If it were to go the other way and someone who was unfit was put under a bar with 95 pounds on it, the result would have been much worse. Your trainer is not the boss. You are.

Don't shy away, the benefits to exercise are huge, and the drawbacks to remaining sedentary are injurious to your health, costly when the medical bills start coming in, and can take years off your life.

Get up and get moving today.

Diana Nyad, Superhuman? Super Obsessed?

I am in absolute awe of Diana Nyad's recent success at swimming from Cuba to Florida. I look up to her as an example of what a person can do by setting goals and working towards them with passion and dedication. I would have been this impressed whether or not she ever succeeded because even the attempts are more than most people are willing to do.

I've heard a variety of reactions to this feat. Ranging from some who said she is superhuman and others who said, "Why would anyone even want to do that? Talk about obsessed."

To those who see this as superhuman. You have missed the whole point. If Nyad had believed this to be a superhuman feat she would either have had to delude herself into believing she was superhuman, or never tried. This was not a superhuman feat, it was a demonstration of what a human can do.

It was a rude awakening for me when I heard someone call her obsessed. It reminded me that there are people in the world who really and truly don't understand the desire some of us have to push the boundaries.

There is a choice to be made in life. A person could cruise through life doing what is necessary, getting by with what they have to do, approaching lifes struggles as a nuisance that must be avoided or tolerated until things get easy again.

Or,

Life can be viewed as an opportunity. Challenges can be seen as chances to prove oneself. Obstacles can be things that make us stronger instead of things that get in the way of a passive existence.

We can avoid struggles, or we can embrace them as strengthening exercises.

We can seek out comfort, or allow discomfort to cause us to grow better and stronger.

We can take the easy path or we can take the hard path.

The hard path doesn't have to be as extreme as it was for Nyad, it can be pushing oneself past one's own perceived limitations.

So don't settle, live, challenge yourself, get up, get fit, run a 5K, a 10K, a marathon, a triathlon, learn a new skill, master an art form, do something new, challenging, and outside your box.

You won't really know what your limits are unless you push yourself against your perceived limits. You won't know how strong you truly are or how strong you could become if you don't test yourself.

You won't know what you can achieve if you don't try and fail, and try again and fail again, and get up and try again and again.

So what are you waiting for.

Are You Chasing Numbers?

For many people, fitness goals are based on numbers. It might be pounds lost, or BMI. It could be running a certain distance or a certain pace. For some it is lifting a certain amount of weight.

Having measurable goals is important, but more vital than that is leading a certain lifestyle.

My overreaching goal is one that is very hard to measure. Mine is to lead a healthy lifestyle while making smart choices about my fitness, nutrition, educational pursuits, and emotional health. To help me define what that looks like, there are measurable goals tied up in that. Some of mine include running a 50K race, running a sub 20 minute 5K, and avoiding fast food. It is not a bad thing to have such goals, however it is important to remember the real goal behind all these things.

When it comes down to the end someday, and people are remembering my life, I doubt anyone will be discussing my 5K PR. They may however, remember that I was always striving toward some sort of accomplishment. My daughter will be less likely to tell stories about my first Half Iron distance triathlon than stories about how I had the energy to run next to her while she learned to ride her bike.

So, go ahead and push those numbers. They help measure your progress. Just remember what the real meaning behind it is.

How To Start Running

In one word: Slowly.

In many more words:

First of all, always consult your doctor before starting a new exercise program.

Once Again, Start Slowly.

If you are new to fitness, overweight, or have led a sedentary life lately, proceed very slowly, be patient, and disciplined about progressing your training. Start with walking. Make plans to do a walking/running workout 3 times per week. Gradually progress from all walking to a combination of walking and running to all running. One example of a good progression is as follows.

Week One: Walk for 20 minutes.
Week Two: Walk for 22 minutes.
Week Three: Alternate 5 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for a total of 22 minutes.
Week Four: Alternate 5 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for a total of 24 minutes.
Week Five: Alternate 4 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 24 minutes.
Week Six: Alternate 4 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 26 minutes.
Week Seven: Alternate 3 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 26 minutes.
Week Eight: Alternate 3 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 28 minutes.
Week Nine: Alternate 2 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 28 minutes.
Week Ten: Alternate 2 minutes of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 30 minutes.
Week Eleven: Alternate 1 minute of walking with 30-60 seconds of jogging for 30 minutes.
Week Twelve and Beyond: Jog until you need to walk, then take a one minute walk break for a total of 30 minutes.

Run With Good Form.

If you don't have a running coach, learn everything you can about proper running technique. Keep your head up, look at the horizon, not your feet. Keep your back straight, don't hunch your shoulders, but don't shrug them upwards either. Swing your arms in a straight line front to back, not across your body, keep your hands loose. Run with soft quiet footsteps, practice running smoothly. 

But Wait, There's More!

Strength Training

That's right, I said strength training.
Don't worry, you don't need to get pumped up like Ahhhnold. In fact that would work against running efficiently. There is, however, some strengthening to be done. Obviously you want your running muscles to be strong, but there are lots of stabilizers in the body that need strengthening as well. Some areas to work on are the legs (obviously), but also the core, upper back, arms, and shoulders. 

I just happen to have a great strength training for runners program that I teach at GT Fitness. It goes over all the strength training that a runner should be doing, but usually isn't. You can find out more by emailing me at franklinkungfu@gmail.com or call 270-776-6873. 

Bricks

I got up this morning with plans to do a brick workout (bike, then immediately run in preparation for triathlons)  before my wife and stepdaughter left for Nashville.

Once I was awake I had absolutely zero desire to get up and work out. So I took stock of myself. Was I injured? No. Have I been overdoing it? Did I need a rest day? No. Was I low on nutrition or water? Nope, and nope.

I was just low on motivation, so. . .

I got up, got my bike, put on my helmet, and rode 15 miles.

On returning to the house I mixed up a glass of gatorade, then realized. . .
I had zero desire to go on the run.

So I changed into my running shoes, grabbed my running buddy (Buddy the German Shepherd/Boxer) and went out the door and ran seven miles.

If you have a goal, whether it's a 5K, 10K 50K, or losing 5, 10, 50 pounds, or just having enough energy to get through the day, you've got to get up, get out there, and do whatever fitness program you've decided to do. If you honestly need a rest/recovery day, take it, then get back out there again. Just don't let your morning mood dictate your fitness plans.

I'm Fit, So Why Is Running So Hard?!?!

During my wife's first half-marathon she wound up running alongside a woman who was obviously fit. It turns out she was in fact a fitness trainer at one of the local gyms. She was also obviously struggling with this race. She looked at my wife and wondered out loud how this could be so hard when she was already fit. She reasoned that as good shape as she was in she should have been able to complete this race without this much suffering.

I've heard the question. I've even watched the question formulating in a runner's mind. I knew what they were going to ask before they knew what they were going to ask. "If I'm this fit, why is running so hard?"

The trainer's regimen in preparing for the half marathon included precious little running. She mainly participated in and led fitness classes. She thought that this would prepare her for the half marathon. There were two problems with her approach.

1. Specificity. If you want to train for a long run, you should do some long runs. It is obvious that weight lifting alone will not prepare one for a race, but it is less obvious with other exercises. Similar exercises are better, but exact exercises are the best.

2. Energy systems. Other than training your legs to run, you also must train the correct energy systems.

The first energy system is the phosphagen system. This system is lousy for distance running. This is the energy system used for short intense bursts. It lasts for about 10 seconds. This is the system used when lifting a heavy weight or a short sprint.

Second is glycolysis. It produces energy less quickly than the phosphagen system, but lasts longer. It is still not the best for distance running as it only lasts from 30 seconds to about 2 minutes. My suspicion is that the aforementioned trainer did a lot of interval workouts with intervals lasting in that range. She probably had this system well developed from her workouts.

The final energy system is the missing piece of the puzzle for someone who does a lot of fitness, but struggles at a longer run like a 5K (or sometimes even a mile). The aerobic system. The power of the aerobic system is that it can provide lots and lots of energy. It just takes does it more slowly, and unlike the other two systems, requires oxygen. It actually provides 18 times the energy per molecule of glucose as glycolysis does. Not to mention the main fuel source of the aerobic system is fat, rather than carbohydrates as in glycolysis. There is a rather limited supply of blood sugar and stored sugar in the body as compared to fat stored in the body.

Of course, the body is complicated, and it uses energy from multiple systems at once so the faster one is going, the more glycolysis starts to kick in. Even given the fuel necessary to keep the engine running, the chassis has to hold together through the duration, but the point of it all is this.

I'm still learning to swim in the aerobic zone.
This is what the upper limit of glycolysis
 looks like in a triathlon swim.

To run long distance the aerobic system must be developed. Working out with glycolysis as your fuel source is great it burns more calories in the same amount of time, but if that is someone's only way of working out what usually happens in a long run is that they try to run the way they workout.

It happens this way. Fit person is accustomed to a certain level of perceived exertion, runner is used to running long distances. Starting gun goes off. Runner takes off at an aerobic pace, fit person takes off at the RPE (rating of perceived exertion) they usually workout at. Two minutes later, runner is still going at the same pace, but the fit person has reached the limit of glycolysis and starts slowing down. At this point they either gut it out and keep running (albeit more slowly) and never really recover their breath, or they slow down enough to recover and do it again. Meanwhile, runner keeps going at steady pace.

So, it pays to develop all three systems. This means you too all you Long, Slow, Distance runners. Running uses all three systems to different extents so don't forget to train the other two systems as well.

Get Fit, Have Fun, Kick Stuff

KB500 Fitness as self defense. A 45-50 minute workout based on martial arts movements led by a certified personal trainer who also happens to have 29 years experience in martial arts. In this workout you could burn 500+ calories, and you get to kick things! This class does not require martial arts knowledge, but at the same time someone with a martial arts background can also get a great intense workout. As a martial arts instructor I know how to teach the fundamentals of the techniques to keep the class fun while minimizing the risk of injury. As a certified personal trainer I know how to program the class for maximum fitness gains.

I have been asked how fitness became such an important thing to me as a martial artist, and the answer is simple.

It is all self defense.

The idea of self defense generally conjures images of men in heavily padded suits being kneed in the groin by newly empowered women. It also makes people think about pepper spray and concealed carry licenses. When I started martial arts classes as a child it made me think of the bullies that were pushing me around and how I could finally find a way to stand up to them.

As I grew up, it became pretty obvious that if I used what I call "proactive self defense" I might never have to rely on a tiger claw to the face to protect myself. It was the difference between learning what to do if someone were to jump me in a dark alley and learning to stay out of the dark alley in the first place.

So what does this have to do with fitness.

The top ten causes of death in the United States:

• Heart disease: 597,689
• Cancer: 574,743
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 138,080
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 129,476
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 120,859
• Alzheimer's disease: 83,494
• Diabetes: 69,071
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,476
• Influenza and Pneumonia: 50,097
• Intentional self-harm (suicide): 38,364

Source: Deaths: Final Data for 2010, table 10 

Do you see anything on that list that can be prevented or lessened with a side kick to the ribs? 

Neither do I.

So this is how I became interested in the idea of fitness being a form of self defense. Things on this list that have been shown to be lessened, delayed, prevented, or cured by physical activity include heart disease, many forms of cancer, respiratory disease, stroke, alzheimer's, and diabetes. 6 out of 10 so far, but wait there's more! Developing a fit, strong, healthy body, along with improved body awareness and balance can lessen the likelihood and severity of injuries from accidents. Exercise is also an effective treatment for depression, which can also affect the intentional self harm statistic. 

8 out of 10 of the top causes of death can be alleviated by exercise.

Put Your Shoulder Blades In Your Pockets.

The best cue I've ever heard for how to prepare for many lifting, pulling, or pushing movements is to put your shoulder blades in your back pockets.

This is important because it gets your back and shoulders set and ready to do their job. On these movements, the arms and legs are what should be doing the moving. If you are doing a pushup and your shoulders are moving around a lot they are doing a job that isn't theirs. It is like a workplace in which somebody never does their job, and so the people around them have to pick up some of his/her responsibilities. Just as this leads to a dysfunctional workplace, allowing other muscles to take over the jobs of the prime movers leads to dysfunctional fitness.

When adopting a new exercise, or program it is important to know which body parts should be doing the work as well as to make sure that those body parts are actually doing the job rather than other parts.

A big part of my job as a personal trainer is to make sure my clients are doing their exercises properly. Doing the exercise correctly strengthens the right muscles and avoids injury from contraindicated movements.

How You Need To Train

How You Need To Train

Also known as, my philosophy on personal training.

The question comes in many forms:

If I want to lose weight, how should I train?
If I want to tone up my (body part), how should I train?
If I want to run faster, lift more, run further. . . how should I train?

A lot of people will give you "the" answer. Usually it is either, "Train the way I train," or "Train according to the method I am selling."

While I will be the first to say that there are definitely certain training modes that are best for achieving certain objectives, I'm going to say it's not so simple as just saying, "do intervals," "do crossfit," "tabata" etc.

Here is my personal opinion as a personal trainer.

There are lots of ways to improve your fitness. The best way to train, the way YOU should train, is unique, and if you haven't trained with me yet, I don't know what it is yet.

If a trainer tries to answer the question, "How should I train?" without asking lots of questions first, don't hire them. My goal is to find out your goals, to find out what sort of exercise you enjoy, to find out what has worked for you before and what has failed for you before. I'll need to know whether you like working out in the morning or in the evening. I'll ask about your family support system and if you have friends who are into fitness. I'll want to know which side you carry your child on. (It's important, feel free to ask me why.)

I need as much information on what working out is for you to find out what will work out for you.

I don't even own a cookie cutter, so you won't get a cookie cutter workout.