Personal Training and Sports Performance Excellence Blog
Question: I'm 52 now and feel like I have become a fat magnet. Every time I get on the scale I am heavier and just have a sluggish demeanor. I have begun to walk in the neighborhood which helps but what else can I do to feel energized again?
Answer: As we age we lose muscle mass which is our primary metabolic driver. If we lose muscle mass our resting metabolic rate (RMR) will decrease which will make you feel like a sluggish fat magnet to use your terminology. You have to build, tone or at least retain your muscle mass which is done through weight training. Your walks will have a modest effect and energize you for a short period but they are not intense enough to make a long term difference. You don't have to become a gym rat to build muscle just be consistent and work with intensity.
Training intensity is most important in affecting your RMR and is simply getting more work done in a short period of time. Weight training just two days a week will make a difference and is a good starting point. Do a full body workout covering each major body part with 2 to 3 exercises and get it done in an hour or less. More work in less time equals intensity which is the key to energizing your (RMR).
There have been several studies done recently which continually show that RMR is elevated after a workout whether it is weight training or cross training. The differences in the studies are how much RMR increases and for how long. We were curious so we used a BodyBugg metabolic system to do a small study on our own. The BodyBugg is the arm band which you can see being worn by contestants on The Biggest Loser that monitors and calculates how many calories are burned by an individual. The required "burn" for Biggest Loser competitors is 6000 calories a day. That's what they are told to shoot for as a minimum calorie expenditure or burn each day.
Our "subject" was 62 year old Mike Musselwhite who has won the Over 60 Heavyweight National Bodybuilding Championships so he knows how to train and how to train intensely. When he began his workout his estimated burn was 1.9 calories per minute. As he trained and he was only working his biceps and triceps, his burn rose to 6.9 cpm within 10 to 15 minutes. He completed his workout in about 50 minutes and during that time his burn remained at 6.9 cpm. His monitor revealed that 10 to 15 minutes after his session was over his burn dropped to just under 5 cpm and remained between 4 and 5 cpm for the next 4 hours. The next 2 to 3 hours was after that it slipped down between 3 and 4 cpm and remained above his original 1.9 cpm for over 8 hours.
What this again proved is how much RMR is affected by intensity in your workouts and how important maintaining muscle mass is for your metabolic rate. Get started with those 2 weekly weight training workouts and see for yourself how to change your RMR, energize your system and affect your attitude so you don't feel like a slug.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Daryl Laws on January 26, 2010 | Printer-Friendly
Question: I recently went to the doctor and found out why I can no longer use my bathroom scales, I thought they were broken but I am now heavier than 300 pounds. My blood pressure is slightly elevated but my sugar levels are still good. What do I need to do to get this weight off?
Answer: That's a general question which is on a lot of people's minds. Generally speaking you have to clean up your diet. I suggest an informative book which I read a year ago called The Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. I saw it in the check out line at Walmart for $9.99. It's an eye-opener for people who eat fast food and drink soft drinks too often and it will provide more information than I can convey to you in this article. Getting your food in line is the first thing that needs to occur physically. If you continue to put high-calorie, low-nutritional value garbage into your body you will continue to gain weight. The other thing is how to start to workout and get your body moving.
If you can't get to a gym or get a trainer you can do these three exercises at home which will activate all the major muscle groups. Choose a sturdy door in your house. Straddle it with your feet on either side of the door about a foot or so in and away from the doorknobs holding your body against the door by grabbing the doorknobs on each side of the door. Extend your arms stretching them out fully but keep your body in a straight line as you stretch out and then pull your body back against the door. Your feet will keep the door from swinging so do 10 pulls to the door. Immediately go to 10 full squats with your feet shoulder width apart and your back straight. After the squats do 10 pushups in any way whether it is against the wall, on your knees or military style.
Perform at least 5 sets of each of these exercises without stopping with your goal to be able to do 10 sets in 20 minutes without stopping. Add in walking or another form of cardio on alternating days for 20 to 30 minutes. Mall walking does not count because it is flat and has no real resistance. Find a hilly route or track so you can get in some resistance and effort. This is a good starting point for about the first month which will yield definite results to get you on track this year to lose the 100 pounds you don't need to carry anymore.
Finally, you have to get your mind used to the fact that the things that you have done to your body are no longer acceptable and you have to change. It is your will that dominates and controls your choices and actions or your lack of will that can lead to your physical downfall. The choice isn't the easy way and you will have to make hard choices everyday to make this work. But you can make and live with the difficult choices and then you will realize that the choices are not so difficult after all as you see the results.
God Bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Daryl Laws on January 23, 2010 | Printer-Friendly
Question: Last year I made the same resolutions as this year and I failed miserably. I actually put on more weight. How can I make this year different and be successful?
Answer: Albert Einstein is quoted as saying the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same things over and over and expecting different results. It's time to make changes you can live with. Most likely in the past you purchased a gym membership and walked in without a clear plan of how to go about this process of losing weight. That was mistake number one. Have a "business of losing weight plan" before you start. Owning a gym membership keychain scanner will not get you in shape. Burning calories requires you work with a purpose and a bit of physical discomfort. When you workout is important. Decide if training before work suits your schedule best and is it something that you can do long term because these workouts won't be done in a week. If you start out trying to train at 6 AM and you usually don't get out of bed until 9 AM, you probably won't last. If you are a late night person train after work. Fit your workouts into what patterns are normal for you to help you stay with it longer.
Next have your long term goals and short term goals to get you to your final destination clearly written out. These include a timeline to keep you on track. If you have no idea how to get these plans worked out and need help hire a trainer to provide you an outline and give you an idea of what exercises are best for you, how to eat clean and the intensity required to see results quickly.
The final step on this "short list" is to realize that the most difficult part of this process is getting started especially with the food preparation and changing the patterns you follow through your day. Get a balanced breakfast, have a midmorning snack. Eat lunch, grab a quick snack in the mid-afternoon and have a lite dinner. You need to have food prepared to prevent you from getting really hungry and making a fast food run. If your food is coming to you from a hole in a wall while you are in your car, you're wrong. This food prep becomes second nature after a week or two
Whatever occurred or dod not occur that prevented your success is in the past so move forward. Change your mindset to a positive mode and make the things you want to become reality. See yourself being successful in the gym, preparing your food and looking like you want to look.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
P.S. Coming Soon: Our new monthly grocery shopping and label translation class!
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Posted by Fred Black on January 5, 2010 | Printer-Friendly
The new year is here and as usual the number one resolution is to lose weight and get in shape. If you are making the same resolutions year after year and still not getting the weight off that you desire then consider your goals. Do you have clearly defined goals? Make goals that can be tracked and are concrete like to lose ten pounds, decrease your BMI by 10 points, reduce your bodyfat by 8% or reduce your waistline by 6 inches. You can get a clear picture of where you are and where you want to be by establishing goals like these instead of just a desire to lose weight. When you make long term goals outline stepping stone goals to reach your final destination. These short term goals are time sensitive and must be approached with a sense of urgency. They ultimately lead up to the completion of your final goal.
Consider the habits you have that contributed to your current condition. Are you willing to change those destructive habits to reach your goals? How determined are you to completing your resolutions? You cannot change the results you get without changing your methods towards realizing those goals. Track your food and see where you are making mistakes or what you eat that you should not have. Are there triggers for these behaviors? Are you planning meals and cooking ahead to avoid the fast food crunch? Knowledge is power and the more you know about your habits the more you can regain control over them instead of them over you.
Make a plan to reach your goals. Without planning you can't determine a path to success. If you don't have the knowledge then hire a trainer for a short time to gain some understanding about how to be successful in the gym. If a trainer is not an option right now, then look in fitness magazines or on websites to get help with a plan. This time of year they are filled with info about how to start your training routines. They might work well for a while and it is a place to start. Just don't walk into a gym and expect it to all happen with a few sets on a machine or walk for a while on a treadmill. Make a plan and stick with it for at least 2 to 3 weeks until you can make exercise one of your healthy habits and see some success that will fuel your motivation to continue.
These are just a few ideas and helpful hints to make your resolutions successful and enjoy a healthier lifestyle in 2010.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Fred Black on January 2, 2010 | Printer-Friendly
Question: I am in my early 50's and would like to put on more muscle but my joints just can't take the heavy weight necessary to build muscle. I try to do sets of 5 to 8 reps with heavy weight on some of my training but my joints pay for it for a few days after. Is there anything to help joints recover more quickly or not hurt at all?
Answer: There are joint supplements on the market and some of them are quite effective. Glucosamine acts like a wonder drug for about 75% of the population but it is a naturally occurring compound that when taken in daily doses of 1200 to 1500 mg reduces inflammation in joints and seems to lubricate them as well. There are several different mixtures of this on the market under several different brand names. What you should realize, as well, is that the way you train can increase the load on a joint and connective tissues or reduce the load on those tissues and increase the action on the muscles.
If your training is too ballistic, your rep speed is too fast and the explosiveness of the movement subjects the joints to a greater load than necessary. While explosive action is good for building muscle and strength, on occasion slow down the tempo and rep speed which will increase the load on the muscles being worked while decreasing the load on your joints. An alternate method is supersets which will overload muscles working them to exhaustion without being abusive to your joints. Supersets are a terrific way to overload muscles, especially when working isolation sets for a muscle and following it immediately with a compound set for the same muscle. Isolation exercises involve one joint for a movement and compound exercises utilize two or more joints and a greater variety of accessory muscles. For instance, use low incline dumbbell flyes followed by a bench press. Now neither exercise is to be done to complete failure. On the flyes use a weight you would reach failure at ten reps and stop at eight reps. Within 15 seconds begin your bench presses and utilize the accessory muscles, triceps and deltoids, to assist your already fatigued chest muscles to do more work for another 8 reps with a weight you would usually do 10 reps with. I promise you 8 reps will be challenge. There are several combinations of isolation/compound exercises to overload muscles and protect your joints.
When you do go heavy with your training try using volume training principles with heavier weights and give machines an opportunity to determine if they will work better for you than bench presses which can be abusive to shoulders and rotator cuffs. Some machines like the Hammer Incline Bench Press use a swing movement and it tends to feel better for some individuals than the regular bench. Whichever you use, choose a weight that your reach failure with at 6 reps but only do 2 to 3 reps. Rest 30 to 45 seconds and repeat the set. Continue doing this for 5 to 7 sets. If you need to reduce the weight during these sets drop about 10% when necessary. This way you can use a heavy weight and reduce some of the load on your joints.
Intense training tends to elevate both growth hormone levels and testosterone levels so train with intensity and get the rest and nutrition you need to promote growth from your workouts.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Fred Black on December 22, 2009 | Printer-Friendly
Question: I had been gradually losing weight all year and have finally reached the weight I felt I needed to be. I'm still not satisfied with how my arms look but I don't want to lose more weight which would make me look drawn in the face. How can I get more shape in my arms while maintaining the weight I am?
Answer: Arms with a little shape and muscle seem to be the look that is in style now. Since you have been training with weights throughout your transformation you probably need to change your approach to your biceps, triceps and shoulder training. Usually weight loss routines include training for these areas but now it's time to place more emphasis on them since you have reached a low enough body fat level to see more muscle and recognize that you want more shape to them.
Once every two weeks add this to your arm training. Use a tri-set for biceps consisting of incline dumbbell curls for ten reps with a weight that is not quite your maximum for those reps but close. You should feel a burn on the eighth rep and do two more. Move directly to a standing barbell curl with a curl bar using the outside grip on the bar. Do ten reps using a weight that is not quite your max for those ten reps. By this time you should be feeling a serious burn in your biceps. Now finish with a set of ten reps using a curl bar attached to a cable weight stack and use the inside grip on these. Finish with another ten reps. The first time you do this routine do two rounds of the three exercises. After that do three rounds of them.
For your triceps again you'll do three exercises in a sequence consisting of double dumbbell kickbacks, curl grip triceps pulldowns and regular triceps pressdowns. Take two dumbbells of a moderate weight and bend over until your upper torso is about parallel to the floor. Pull your elbows up to your sides until your upper arms are also parallel to the floor. Keeping your arms in that position extend your arm until it is straight back and fully extended contracting your triceps in both arms. Do ten reps. Move to the triceps pulldowns and grip a curl bar on the outside grip of the bar like you would if you were curling it. Pull the bar down to your sides and extend your arm until it is straight. These are like triceps pressdowns except you are pulling the bar with your triceps instead of pushing it. Do ten reps. Without changing anything but your hand position place your hands on the inside grip on top of the bar and do a set of ten triceps pressdowns. The first day you do these, do two sets each and after that do three sets of each.
For shoulders do a set of ten side laterals followed by ten seated dumbbell shoulders presses and ten dumbbell upright rows. Do two rounds of these on the first day you do them and three each time after. What these routines do is to focus on a specific muscle group and fatigue them, push them to change. If they are done well it creates an uncomfortable burn from the lactic acid during the sets but the rewards are in changes that can occur.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
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Posted by Fred Black on December 15, 2009 | Printer-Friendly
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