New Shoes

Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I would like to give you an enjoyable way to help you feel better about yourself, particularly when either starting a new fitness routine, or when needing that extra kick to reach the next level.  It involves you spending a little bit of money, but it will be money well spent.  Most people understand that there is a mind-body connection. This is especially true with the idea that when we feel good, emotionally and / or physically, we perform better.  When we think we look good, we feel good, and this leads us to enjoying our exercise routines.  You can see how this can lead to a positive cycle; the more you work, the better you look, the better you look, the better you feel, the better you feel, the more you work.  Plus, there is a chicken and the egg component to this that will help you stay motivated to reach your fitness goals.  Feeling good at the start is what gets this cycle going.  But most people start a fitness routine because they aren’t happy with how they look, or get frustrated when they hit a plateau.  If this is you, what I recommend is you go out and buy a new set of shoes, or workout attire that helps you looks good.  When you feel good with how it looks, you will start that positive ball rolling.

There is a client of mine who sometimes I think has no shame with how he looks based on what he wears to the gym.  He is the type of guy who wears old t-shirts for his workouts because he knows he is going to sweat it up.  While in principle there is nothing wrong with this, I do it too, his shirts aren’t just old, but they are ancient…and ratty.  He typically wears shirts that he picked up on vacation, or received from a free give-away, and are sometimes literally decades old and have holes in them.  I might sound a bit harsh right now, and I am not saying that anyone has to spend a fortune on new gear.  But, I know this client does have some self-respect and does care about how he looks; for instance he often asks if I can tell he has lost a few pounds from a better diet.  And, he gets disappointed when I tell him I can’t notice.  But I can’t notice because of the poor fit of the old shirts.  I am sure he, and anyone else, who gets complimented on how they look, especially due to healthy changes would feel great!  And that great feeling is what would motivate you to keep at it.

I want to be clear that I am not saying you have to go out and spend a fortune on a new wardrobe.  And I don’t want to mask the need for exercise for its positive health benefits with an outfit.  However, a couple of new shirts, or one or two gym outfits that are flattering, or even a new pair of sneakers that make you look in the mirror and feel better about yourself will make you want to work out and feel even better.  Also, you shouldn’t spend too much money on new gear because hopefully you work hard enough that those new clothes will soon become not as flattering as well because of your great results.  This is where even people whom have been training hard for awhile and have hit a plateau can benefit from this.  Maybe all of your hard work made the clothes you have become less flattering; you deserve to wear some clothes that show off your hard work! 

A new pair of sneakers or a fresh outfit might get a compliment on its own.  But when given to you, that too will feel better.  And again, the better you feel about yourself, the more you will want to keep it up.

Whether it’s the primary goal, or a really good side effect, looking good from eating well, and working out hard makes you feel better.  I don’t know anyone who after being complimented on their appearance said to themselves “Now, I can stop.”  Just the opposite happens, the more you are complimented, the harder you want to work.  You might not be where you want to at the moment, but getting that first compliment can get you going.   Getting a new pair of shoes could be the first step to feeling good about a fit new you!

One step at a time

Welcome to afitnewyou!  This week I would like to make some suggestions on how to train your lower body’s strength in a way that is completely functional.  Many people dread the “leg day” in the gym, primarily because those big muscles that are key to your movement and power do get sore; this causes leg day to often be skipped.  Another reason people skip leg day is because many don’t feel leg muscles are going to get them the attention that working their “bi’s and chest” will, so they simply ignore them.  But any good athlete or experienced trainer will tell you that for most of our movements, our power comes from the lower body.  Hence, it’s important to train those muscles, in the correct way, because having either an imbalance or lack of strength in those large muscles can lead to injury.  There are several standard leg machines in practically every gym, but if you watch a good personal trainer work with their client, you will rarely see them use most of these machines.  This is because these machines will often lead to muscle imbalance, and are not functional.  And performing Olympic-type lifts with free weights might not be appropriate for everyone. So, I have a few recommendations for you to train those all important lower body muscles.  It just takes training one step, or leg, at a time.

The owner of a gym where I was once the manager of was asking me and the other trainers about which machines he should get rid of when he was redoing the gym to make it fresh and to allow for more functional space.  A few of the other trainers and I quickly said to get rid of the hip abductor and adductor machines.  These are the machines where you sit down and either bring your knees together, or push your knees apart.  We said that these machines aren’t functional, and are used only by a few gym members.  The owner argued that he sees many female clients using them, and these machines are facility staples everywhere.  We countered by asking if any of those clients are put on them by a trainer or use them on their own, and reminded him that his goal of making space in the gym was to allow for more room for functional training.

One of the first lessons I learned while becoming a Functional Fitness Specialist is that functional training has been defined many different ways by many different people.  But all of the definitions revolve around the same premise that training can be considered functional if it is done to improve specific movement (in the case of sports or rehabilitation) and improve quality of full body movement.  Also, the exercises are geared to mimic movement patterns that are used in everyday life.  Training the lower body in a functional way is therefore recommended because it will both improve your joint stability, and increase the strength of how your body moves.  It is designed to increase the quality of your movements; both in terms of ease and power.

Rather than using the many “leg” machines at your gym, start off by doing simple body weight exercises.  You don’t need to load up the weight on those hip machines because you most likely will never do that movement during any given day.  And repetitions of heavy leg extensions may lead to knee injury or tight hamstrings due to an overdevelopment of muscle.  On the other hand, performing body weight squats, or adding a little weight, will be challenging enough to your lower body muscles to have development of the strength needed for everyday movements such as getting up and down out of your office chair, or up and down from the toilet. 

Another key is to choose exercises that allow you to work one leg at a time.  Walking lunges, step-backs, step-ups are examples of functional exercises where you train your muscles how you actually move.  When we walk and climb stairs, we always do it one step at a time.  Most of our lower body movement comes one step at a time, meaning, we walk, jog, run, climb stairs, traverse steps, etc. one leg at a time.  So, to train functionally, you should be training one leg at a time.  Furthermore, the exercises I just suggested will have you training in more than one plane, allowing you to improve your balance and core strength as well.

Planning a training routine can be easy if you take into account how you actually move.  Evaluate an exercise by asking your self “Do I ever move like that?”  You should have a large percentage of your exercises in your training routine that mimic the actions you will need to perform.  This is especially true of our lower body, where our legs both are our primary movers, and the first set of muscles in the dynamic chain to your mid and upper body.  When you train your legs, take it one leg at a time. Training one step at a time is a functional way to be a fit new you!

What a difference a day makes

Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I would like to emphasize just how much of a positive impact one day of exercise can have on your fitness.  We often hear guidelines suggesting that we should exercise, or at least be physically active, seven days a week.  While I agree 100% with those guidelines in that you should be physically active everyday, I also understand that meeting those guidelines can be intimidating for people who are not regularly physically active.  Instead of being helpful, the guidelines become overbearing and keep people from starting a fitness routine.  And I am not saying that you should exercise only one day a week either; rather, I am saying adding a day of exercise to what you are currently doing will have a major impact on your fitness level.  People who come to the gym for the first time planning on training 5 days a week have the best intentions.  But, if that schedule is unrealistic, especially if they are coming from doing nothing regularly, it can actually become detrimental.  However, adding one additional day of physical activity to what you are already doing will reap huge fitness gains in the long run.

Elliot is a client of mine who at his highest fitness level was training with me three days a week.  Coming in a few days a week allowed us a great deal of flexibility and variation in his exercise plans.  We kept all of his progress in a notebook, and you could easily see that he progressed to his strongest during this training frequency.  A couple of years ago he got very busy at work and had to cut back his training down to only once a week.  Coming in less often required a change in his training regimen and overtime, led to a decrease in his strength.  However, six months ago his work schedule had changed again and Elliot started training at least twice a week with me.  This additional day had once again enabled his strength to progress again and he is nearing his personal bests again.

I continue to say that doing something is better than nothing, especially when that something is done well.  But doing something more than what you are already doing allows the body to be stressed more to the point where it has to adapt.  If the something you are doing is physical activity, your body will adapt in a healthy way.  If you haven’t been physically active on a regular basis, don’t be intimidated into thinking you need to start a seven day fitness routine; you will be amazed by the results you will see by simply adding one day of regular, physical activity!  And if you are already regularly active adding one more day to your routine will reap benefits as well! 

I often tell my clients, like Elliot, who have scheduling conflicts that from a physiological stand point, exercising one day a week is good for maintenance, but, exercising more than once a week will allow you to see “gains” in the gym.  As I mentioned earlier, the body needs stress in order to adapt, and the stress needs to be repeated.  JT is another client of mine who had recently upped the number of days he came into the gym after only coming in once a week due to various reasons.  He begrudgingly had to agree with me after he saw improvements in his balance training and the workouts overall got easier from simply coming into the gym one more day a week.

Whether you are someone who isn’t currently, regularly active or, you are already on a consistent training routine, simply adding one more day to your weekly routine will reap major benefits.  It would be fantastic if we could all find the time to train seven days a week.  But in reality that’s hard for most of us, but by adding just one more day of activity will be advantageous to everyone.  Starting small will give you the foundation to reach bigger goals.  Once comfortable, add just one more day to what you are doing now will help you reach a fit new you!

Candy bar

Welcome to afitnewyou!  This week I would like to talk to you about the importance of doing a proper warm up before you exercise.  Whether your exercise plan for the day involves “cardio” or weight training exercises, or you are engaging in an athletic activity, it is important to do a proper warm up when you start in order to minimize the chance that you will suffer a muscle injury.  This is because our muscles need to be warm and limber in order to be pliable throughout the activity.  One analogy I make for my clients is I tell them to imagine that their muscles are like a candy bar; when warm, they can be stretched much further than when they are cold.

John is one of my clients who has that love-hate relationship with me that many clients have with their trainers.  Depending on the point of the workout his opinion of me will change as is evident in his affectionate nick names for me.  When he walks into the gym he calls me Billy the Kid; but at the end of the session he calls me William the Conqueror.  John has a thing for nick names.  And towards the end of his sessions he will start looking for “the Angel” who is the female client who comes in after he does.  He calls her that because he feels that when he sees her, his session will end.  When the Angel comes in before his session ends, he jokes that he can end early.  But I am always quick to remind him that his angel has come in early because she has to warm up before her session starts.

So as I said earlier, I like to use the analogy of a candy bar with my clients to explain why it is important to do a proper warm up before being physically active.  I tell them to think about a chocolate caramel candy bar.  I ask them to envision what would happen to that candy bar if you tried to bend it or pull on it after leaving for a few hours in the freezer.  It’s a clear visual that when the candy bar is cold, that it would break.  Then I tell them to imagine what would happen if you did the same thing after putting the chocolate bar in the microwave for a few seconds.  Again, it would be quite apparent that the bar would get gooey, not break, and be able to be stretched for quite a bit.  Hopefully thinking about candy isn’t too much of a distraction, because this is a great analogy about why it is important to warm up your muscles before you exercise. 

Whether you are just waking up after lying down and sleeping for a few hours, sitting at your desk at work all day, or even in the minutes spent driving to the gym, your muscles are “cold” like the candy bar in the freezer.  Although they will not snap in quite the same way, the chance of an injury is much higher because like the cold candy bar, they are not nearly as pliable.  On the other hand, if you do a quick warm up before exercising, a couple of minutes of an easy jog before running on the treadmill, or a couple of lighter sets before doing heavier weights while weight training, you will allow your muscles to “warm up” and become more pliable like that gooey bar from the microwave.  Having muscles that have warmed up will both increase your performance and decrease the chance of injury.

Comparing how your muscles behave when warmed up to a candy bar is one time I can accept you thinking about dessert with exercising.   This is because cold muscles have a greater chance of injury because they are not as flexible as muscles that have had the opportunity to warm up.  Getting to the gym is great, but being able to stay in the gym because you aren’t nursing an injury is even better.  It is important to find the time to warm up properly before exercise.  A brief warm up at the start of your physical activity is a necessary part to keeping you on track to a fit new you!

Working out is not hanging out

Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I would like to explain an unfortunate truth…maintaining an exercise routine, working out, is not an easy thing to do.  It takes effort and dedication.  I believe most people wish they were in better shape, even those in great shape, but those same people for one reason or another don’t do everything that they need to do to get there.  Although there are a multitude of reasons why people don’t maintain the fitness regiments that they feel they should, the main reason is simply that it’s often hard to do.  Finding the time and energy can be daunting.  And this is why I tell many of my clients that it’s called “working out, and not hanging out for a reason.”  While this is an “it is what it is” mentality, I am not saying it to discourage you.  I am reminding you that working out takes effort for a number of reasons.  First, if you find it challenging to maintain a fitness program I want you to understand that you are not alone, and that it is for everyone.  Furthermore, its good to recognize that it doesn’t happen easy for anyone rather, its through an individual’s hard work that they get the results they have achieved.  Lastly, if you have started a program and you are not seeing the results you desire, I want you to first look at what you yourself have done, and ask your self have you been really working at it?

Joe was a very successful businessman who was in his late 60’s and significantly overweight who trained at personal training studio where I had first started training.  He was one of clientele, who at that time was primarily composed of housewives and retirees, who were proud to say they went to the gym.  While I found it admirable that Joe would come to “the gym” twice a week to “work out”, his time spent in the gym was in actuality only beneficial from a social stand point.

  As soon as Joe would come into the training area, he would literally sit at a machine and his trainer would bring him a cup of coffee.  Although I believe drinking caffeine could be performance enhancing for a work out, Joe was simply having a cup of coffee as part of his routine.  His work out time was spent primarily as part of a coffee club.  I do think there was a beneficial social aspect, but he was foolish to believe that going to the gym was benefiting him physically.  It probably gave him a false sense of pride to be able to tell his family, friends, and doctors that he goes to the gym.  He wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t getting any benefit.

While Joe is an extreme example of how time can actually be spent wasted in the gym, it should be recognized that if you are simply going to the gym for the sake of “going to the gym” you may never reach your fitness goals.  I will always agree that doing something is better than nothing, but if you really want to get the most out of the time you already sacrificed to get to the gym you have to put in the effort.  You have to work for your goals.  Remember it will not come easy, but it will be well worth it.  I have seen many people in the gym get discouraged because they make an effort to get to the gym and spend time there.  However, the effort was minimal and needed to be increased to realistically reach their goals.

“No pain, no gain” is an unhealthy exaggeration, but you should be working up to a sweat while in the gym.  Trainers even use something called the “talk test” to measure aerobic intensity.  With that test, if you are able to hold a conversation while doing cardio exercise you aren’t working hard enough…you are hanging out not working out.  Be realistic when it comes to your fitness goals.  Remember that if getting a “6 pack” was easy, more people would have them.  Getting to the gym should be commended, but putting in the appropriate work and effort is how you reach a fit new you!