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.