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If you remember me talking about this concept earlier, you remember me saying that studies have found EPOC training to produce the best fat loss results.  EPOC training (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) is a form of training that incorporates high-intensity methods, either through circuit training with weights or interval training with cardio.  I guess you could say any intense lifting is a form of EPOC, but I feel circuit training-type workouts are the best for fat loss.

The idea that long, boring cardio is ineffective for fat loss has been starting to pick up more steam among fitness circles.  Even though studies show this fact doesn’t mean I don’t like cardio.  I don’t think cardio is boring at all!  I love going outside and running on a beautiful day, but due to knee problems because of my last marathon, I’ve adapted my workouts to fit me.  I’ve taken an approach to try and get my cardio fix, while still performing EPOC training.  What have I done?  Like I said a second ago … well, maybe it took more than a second to read this last paragraph, but interval training with cardio is EPOC training as well.

When I work out, I take this concept and mold it into what works for me.  Like I said, I love steady cardio/running, but to get the best of both worlds, I incorporate sprinting and resistance training into my “runs”.  For example, in one workout I do, I sprint for about 15 seconds, stop and do a bodyweight resistance training exercise, and then do a steady jog for 15-30 seconds.  After that set, I do it all over again for about 10 sets.

What does this mean, well for one, for some odd reason, my knee hurts after 10 minutes of steady running, but I can do an entire workout like the above one, and it’s fine.  More importantly, though, I’m still outside doing what I love to do, running.  It may not be a steady-state run, but I’ve adapted it so that my run now incorporates high-intensity training.  And to be honest, just because high-intensity training is the most effective doesn’t mean I never try and do steady-state runs anymore.  Like I said, after 10 minutes, my knee hurts, but because I can get at least 10 minutes in, sometimes I go for a 10-minute run before I do a high-intensity workout.

Here’s my point.  Yeah, high-intensity training is the most effective for fat loss, and yeah, it takes less time to do, but the most important thing is to do what you love to do.  If running is your “thing”, don’t give it up.  If the idea of doing sprints makes you want to never workout, then don’t do sprints.  Do what works for you.  Studies have shown how effective high-intensity training is, but the “common sense study” shows being active is the most effective workout of all.  If EPOC training means you’ll never workout again, than stay with steady-state cardio.  Some think it’s boring, but if you’re like me, I think it’s such a stress reliever, and I’m so thankful to have the ability to do it.  I love running; I’m not going to give up something I love because of what someone tells me about it.  Whatever method is the one you love and gets you to be active, do that one, but if you’re fine with any type of exercise, just realize that from a results standpoint, incorporating high-intensity training is best.  The big idea to take out of this … find an exercise method that works for you, something you can stay consistently active with.  Maybe it’s high-intensity training, maybe it’s not, but find something.

Note: If you want to learn the bodyweight exercises I do and have my clients do, be looking for my Fat Dissolver Program to be coming out in the next week.

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We’ve just learned how exercise can help reduce and even put an end to low back pain; now we’re going to learn how exercise can get rid of those tension headaches you feel in the back of your neck.  Maybe you don’t get headaches, but do you ever feel there’s a crick in your neck or your upper back and shoulders are sore?  These are all signs of a postural problem.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t think tension headaches in the back of the head, a sore upper back, and sore shoulders sound like much fun.  So what can you do about it?

The number one group of people who develop these problems are those who sit at a computer desk all day long.  Your body starts to adapt to the way you sit at your desk, and if you’re constantly looking down at a computer screen and reaching forward to type, your muscles started to form to this posture.  This is why it’s so important to sit up straight in your chair, sit close enough to your desk so that you don’t have to reach forward to the keyboard (elbows should be at about a 90-degree angle), and keep your computer screen at eye level.  If you have a laptop, as I do, this can be very hard to do since the keyboard is right where the screen is; it’s impossible to keep your computer screen at eye level because if you did, you would be reaching up to type.

Not too cool.

What I try and do is sit up straight, keep my stomach tight, and keep my shoulders back.  By doing this, I can help prevent my head from falling forward, as well as rounding my shoulders forward.

Even if you don’t sit at a desk throughout the day, there’s still the possibility of developing these postural problems, especially if your exercise program is top heavy on chest exercises and doesn’t contain many back exercises.  Depending on how bad their posture is, I typically have my clients do 2-3 back exercises for every chest exercise. In today’s society, a lot of times our chest muscles are worked too much, and our back muscles aren’t worked enough.  What does this mean?  It means that typically the postural problems that cause tension headaches in the back of the head, as well has upper back and shoulder soreness, are a result of tight chest muscles and weak back muscles.

Can this problem be fixed?  Yes; it really is quite simple if you’re faithful to regularly doing the right balance of exercises.  Guys, especially, like to lose the gut and build the chest and arms.  The problem with this way of thinking is that when they’re focusing on their chest so much, they tend to neglect working on their back.  When a muscle is stressed through resistance training, it becomes tighter, so when a guy focuses on his chest, his chest becomes tighter.  Try this; go walk around in a public place and look for a guy who’s pretty built.  What do you notice?  Most of the time, he walks with his shoulders rounded and his hands in front of his body.  (Proper posture is hands to the side of the body.)  This, most likely, is because he focuses too much on chest exercises and not enough on back exercises.  His chest is so tight, and his back is comparatively so much weaker, that he has developed this postural problem.

Even though this may be an extreme example of an upper-back postural problem, the same concept still applies to the desk jockey.  By sitting in front of a desk all day, our chest muscles tighten and some of our back muscles weaken or get stretched out; our neck muscles also develop problems by some becoming too tight and some becoming excessively stretched out.  These problems can result in abnormal levels of tension that lead to strain in our neck and back.

So what can you do to fix this problem?  Besides those with problems more severe than what can be corrected through exercise alone, the first step is to focus on your shoulder blades.  I tell people to pretend someone has their fingers in between your shoulder blades.  When you do back exercises, such as a row, concentrate on pinching their fingers with your shoulder blades.  By pinching your shoulder blades together, you’ll start to strengthen the rhomboids, the muscles that are most responsible for keeping your shoulder blades back.  Another very simple exercise is to hold your arms straight out in front of you.  Without any weight, pinch you shoulder blades together while keeping your arms straight.  It’s simple, but yet effective, at getting the process going of “un-rounding” your shoulders.

The next exercise you can do is to practice pulling your head back.  It may look funny, but by staring straight ahead and pulling your head back so that your ears are directly over top of your shoulders, you can start to correct your neck from causing your head to lean out over your body too much.  (One technique that may help you with this exercise is to slightly tuck your chin in when you pull your head back.)

The average weight of an adult brain is 3 lbs.¹, and not to sound like a freak show, but I’ve heard it said that the average adult head weighs approximately 8-12 lbs.  Can you imagine how much stress is on your neck and the back of your head when your head hangs out over your body?  It’s like holding onto a weight.  If you hold it straight over your head, it’s not too bad, but as soon as you move it slightly out in front of your body, the weight feels heavier and heavier.  This is why it’s so important to correct this postural problem because now you understand that if you don’t, the tension headaches will keep coming.

The next thing to do to get your posture in line is to stretch your chest.  Making a 90-degree angle at your elbow and armpit, stand with your arm against a wall.  Your fingers should point straight up toward the ceiling, and your arm should be parallel alongside your body.  (Don’t let it fall in front of your body.)  The foot that is closest to the wall should be in front of you.  Slowly rotate out from the wall while maintaining the positioning of your arm.  As you do, you should feel a slight stretch in your chest.  When you feel this stretch, hold for 30 seconds and repeat it 2-3 times.  After you finish with the one side, switch to the other side.  By performing simple chest stretches, such as this one, you can start to lengthen out your chest muscles, which will help decrease those rounded shoulders.

That’s it!  Remember to perform 2-3 back exercises (while pinching your shoulder blades together) for every chest exercise you do.  By doing so, you’ll strengthen those back muscles so that they can bring your shoulders back where they should be, and being stronger, they’ll be more resistant to becoming rounded again.  Follow these exercise recommendations, perform the simple exercises and stretches talked about, and sit up straight.  Doing so could be all it takes to help you put a stop to those nasty tension headaches and unpleasant shoulder and neck pain.

References:

¹ Martini, F., Timmons, M., & Tallitsch, R. (2003). Human Anatomy. (4^th ed). London, UK: Pearson Education.

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A cardio question that has to be the number one question I get is which is the best machine to exercise on?  There really is no definitive answer to this question because in any good program, you should vary the exercises you do for your workout.  Can you remember why?  It’s because the body has a good memory, and it adapts to exercises that you do over and over again.  I already told that story of the lady I talked to at the gym who had been running on the treadmill for ages but wasn’t even tired after an hour and a half of running and still was overweight.  In a case like this, the treadmill was obviously not the most effective cardio machine for her at that stage in her program.  It may have been when she first started her program, but it sure wasn’t the right one a year or so later.

So before I get into this topic, realize that variety is the most effective approach to take when choosing which piece of cardio equipment to use.  Don’t get caught up in the results you’re getting while using a certain piece of cardio equipment.  I guarantee that if you continue to exercise on the same machine, the results will slowly start to dwindle down to nothing.

In the simplest explanation of which is best out of the elliptical, treadmill, and stationary bike, in my opinion it goes the bike, the elliptical, and then the treadmill as the most effective for weight loss and improved cardiovascular strength.  Now, before you go and jump on a treadmill, hear me out on this.  There’s no real solid answer to which machine is best for you because the way the effectiveness of each machine is measured is about as exact as trying to fit everybody into the same shoe and size.  Just as everybody has a different foot, everybody also has a different conditioning level.  For me, running on a treadmill is no big deal, but hopping into a pool and swimming laps, right now, would cause me to really have to push myself.  Lance Armstrong was a master at road racing on a bike, but after his first marathon, he said it was the hardest thing he had ever done.¹ For most marathoners, getting on a bike and competing in the Tour de France would be the hardest thing they’ve ever done.  Modes of exercise affect people differently, so it must be taken into consideration when deciding which exercise method is best for you.

Let’s say you know that running on a treadmill doesn’t seem too hard for you, but you’re not quite sure.  How can you figure out if what you’re doing is helping you burn the most calories off and improve your cardiovascular strength?  There are three simple and common ways to help you determine how intensely you’re exercising.  The first method is through what’s called the RPE scale; the RPE scale measures your Rating of Perceived Exertion.  The typical RPE scale goes from 6-20, and how it’s supposed to work is you determine which number corresponds to how much effort you feel you’re putting into a workout.  A 6 would mean that you feel you aren’t exerting yourself at all, and a 20 would mean you’re maximally exerting yourself.  Now if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering why in the world the scale is from 6-20.  I don’t think it makes sense to anyone.  Because of this, I like to modify the concept a bit and use a scale of 1-10.  With this scale, I tell clients that a 1 feels like no work (sitting in a chair), and a 10 feels like you’re going all out.  I typically tell my clients to try and exercise around an 8 … . Now, I said typically.  If you’re a beginner exerciser, have a heart condition, etc., there’s no way you should exercise at an 8, but for my clients who have been working out for some time and can handle exercising at this level, it’s best for them to keep the intensity up there.  The RPE scale is a great start for many people to use in order to measure their intensity level because it all has to do with how you feel; there are no readings or sensors to utilize.  It may seem too simple, but in actuality, it has been shown to be very accurate.²

The next two methods for determining intensity are the two I like the most.  The first method is called the MET.  A MET stands for a metabolic equivalent, and one MET is equal to your body using 3.5 ml of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute; it’s basically a rating for how hard a certain level of exercise is.  The harder you’re working, the more METs the exercise is rated.  The American College of Sports Medicine has published values for how many METs certain exercises are.  For example, running at a pace of 6-minute miles has a MET rating of 16.3.  Riding a bike at 10 mph (6-minute miles) has a MET rating of 7.0.³ From this alone, you can see that running on a treadmill uses more oxygen and burns off more calories than riding a bike.  As far as the elliptical goes, there aren’t any published MET values for exercising on one, but it’s typically placed in between riding a bike and running on a treadmill.  I like it better than a bike because you’re standing on an elliptical, whereas on a bike, you’re seated.  Performing exercises that require standing generally challenge your core more than seated exercises.  Plus, an elliptical has the ability to get your entire body working, not just your lower body as the bike does.

Now we have an idea of which method of exercise is harder than another, but remember what I said earlier, it depends on the person.  The MET values above are based on a certain type of individual, so for example, an exercise for someone who’s 30 years old would probably be more intense to someone who is 70, and an exercise for someone who weighs 180 lbs. would most likely be less intense than for someone who weighs 280 lbs.  Also, running a 6-minute mile for a poorly conditioned person would be extremely more intense than compared to a person who’s very fit, and someone who runs every day might adapt too much to running to the point where biking challenges them more because their body isn’t used to this form of exercising.   Also, intensity levels vary between male and female.  The point is, MET values are all relative to the individual, but at least they give you an idea of how much more effective a certain exercise is over another.

Another cool thing about finding out the estimated MET value for your workout is that you can then determine how long you need to exercise at that level to burn off a certain number of calories.  Use the following equation to determine this number:³

(METs x 3.5 x body weight in lbs. x 0.454)/200 = calories/minute

So for example, a 160-pound person, who exercises at 8 METs, would have an equation that looks like this: (8 METs x 3.5 x 160 lbs. x 0.454)/200 = 10 calories/minute

This means that if this person were to exercise for 30 minutes at this level, they would burn off 300 calories.  (Even though a steady-state exercise, such as this one, would burn off 300 calories in 30 minutes, if that person were to do the interval training I talked about earlier, they would be able to burn off even more calories in the long run.  Remember from How to stay fit with a busy lifestyle, interval training produces faster fat loss results and cardiovascular improvements.  With that said, you can still use METs to figure out how many calories you would burn off, even if you do intervals that may be 16 METs one minute and 8 METs the next.)

The final form of measurement I like to use to determine intensity is exercise heart rate.  Exercise heart rate shows how hard your body is working to supply oxygen to it.  For example, exercising at a level where your pulse is 150 bpm is a lot more intense than exercising at a level of 100 bpm.  An easy way to determine what your pulse is is to take your index and middle fingers of your right hand and place them on your left wrist.  You should place your fingers about an inch below where your thumb and wrist meet on the outside edge of your wrist.  Once your fingers are positioned, slowly slide them back toward the two tendons (hard bands) in the middle of your wrist.  Just before you get to the first tendon, you should feel your pulse beating.  Once you feel your pulse, count how many times you can feel it beat for 15 seconds.  Once you get that number, multiply it by 4, and you’ll have your heart rate.  By stopping in the middle of your exercise and determining your pulse, you can figure out what your exercise heart rate is and how intensely you’re exercising.  I typically tell the clients who have been working out for some time and don’t have any limiting factors like a heart condition that exercising around 70% of their maximum heart rate (MHR) and higher is best:

220 – Age = MHR – RHR x .70 + RHR = 70% of your maximum heart rate.  For this example, let’s take a 35 year-old person with a resting heart rate (RHR) of 65.  220 – (35 years old) = 185.  For this person, they shouldn’t exercise over their MHR of 185.  Take 185 – a RHR of 65 = 120.  Take 120 and multiply that by .70 (.70 represents 70% of MHR).  This will give you 84.  Add the RHR of 65 back into 84 to get 149.  149 is considered 70% of the MHR for this person.

Note: Resting heart rate can be found by taking your pulse when you first wake up.

From this example, if that person were to stop and check for their exercise heart rate during their workout, if it isn’t 149, then they wouldn’t be exercising at 70% of their maximum heart rate; it’s that simple.

By knowing how to use METs and EHR (exercise heart rate) to determine how hard you’re exercising, you can figure out which piece of cardio equipment produces the best results for you.  The good news about today’s technology is that most cardio machines have sensors and equations programmed into them that enable them to estimate the MET level you’re working out at and your heart rate while exercising.  My suggestion is before you start your workout, make sure you enter in your weight, age, height, whatever the machine asks for because this is what it uses to determine the METs.  Also, if the machine has heart rate sensors to hold onto, do so from time to time.  By using these two methods, along with the RPE scale, you can get a general idea of what piece of cardio equipment is getting you results fastest, and never again will you wonder which is best.  Don’t forget, though, just because one machine is best doesn’t mean that’s all you should use.  The best program is a program that varies its methods of exercising.

References:

¹ Lewis, B. (2006, November 6). Lance: I Thought It Would Be Easier. New York Post. Retrieved September 8, 2008, from http://www.nypost.com/seven/11062006/sports/lance__i_thought_it_would_be_easier_sports_brian_lewis.htm
² Wilmore, J., & Costill, D. (2004). Physiology of sport and exercise, (3^rd ed). Champaign, Il.: Human Kinetics.
³ American Council on Exercise (2003). ACE personal trainer manual: The ultimate resource for fitness professionals, (3^rd ed). San Diego, Ca.: American Council on Exercise.

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Just the other day, I ran into a woman who started asking me about Your Live Trainers.  I always love talking to people about Your Live Trainers because almost every person I talk to has never heard of a concept even similar to how we help people become more fit.  The funniest part to the whole conversation has to be when they ask me what equipment they need, and I tell them just their bodyweight and some exercise tubes we ship to them.  I would have to say that over 75% percent of the time, they have a very surprised look on their face.  So many people think that in order to get fit or lose some weight, it either takes expensive weight equipment, cardio equipment, or a gym membership.  What a lot of people don’t realize is that everybody already has all the equipment they need to lose the weight; they just don’t know how to use it.

For anybody that has gone through an up-paced bodyweight workout, you know that after you’re done, you feel just as worn out as if you worked out with some high-priced gym equipment.  The key to getting results isn’t about what fancy equipment you have; it’s about maintaining an intensity level that will challenge you.  Intensity is dependent on a number of different variables; the amount of resistance is just one of those variables.  Think of a runner; could you go out right now and run a mile in under 6 minutes?  A lot of people couldn’t, you may be one of them, but whether you could or not, most people would be sucking wind after finishing that mile.  Were any weight machines, barbells, or dumbbells used during that mile run?  Obviously not, but that’s not to say the body wasn’t being challenged.

Here’s another example; let’s look at the way the Navy SEALs used to work out when they were on missions.  They used to use parachute webbing to create a harness that would allow them to use their bodyweight as resistance.  Today, those same bodyweight methods are being marketed as the TRX Suspension Training system.¹

Bodyweight training has another enormous benefit over expensive machines; you aren’t limited to the design of the machine.  If you want to do a push-up, followed by a row, you can because you can be as creative as you want with bodyweight training.  Plus, with bodyweight training, you have the ability to challenge your core on a whole new level.  There are so many stability and balance exercises you can do with bodyweight workouts.

Now I’m not saying weight machines and free weights are a bad thing.  I think they’re a great resource to utilize, but just be aware that they aren’t a necessity for improved fitness and weight loss, and because of that, your places to work out are unlimited.  If you want to work out at home, work out at home.  If you want to work out in your office, then do it.  If you want to work out in a park, the sky is the limit.  Please realize that using the excuse of not being able to afford a gym membership or exercise equipment isn’t a valid excuse for not staying fit.

OK, so what if you feel your bodyweight isn’t sufficient enough for an exercise?  For example, what if you want to do a row?  Well, unless you’re doing something like a pull-up on a tree in a park, it might be kind of hard to figure out how to be challenged by a row-type movement.  Here’s where the second neatest exercise resource enters in.  It’s called an exercise tube.

Other than your bodyweight, exercise tubes are one of the most effective cost-efficient workout tools on the market.  Why is that?  It’s because not only are they dirt cheap, they also can provide resistance levels similar to dumbbells.  In sessions with our clients, we use a light tube, a medium tube, and a heavy tube; these tubes can have a resistance level that produces anywhere from around 5 lbs. all the way up to 20+ lbs., and when combined together, the resistance level can start to get up there.  Besides the low cost, with tubes starting as low as under $5, they’re also very versatile; there are so many exercises you can do with a stretchy band and two handles.  Plus, even though they produce resistance levels of 20+ lbs., they only weigh a pound or less, so that means you can take them anywhere with you.  I’ve taken tubes to work out at places like on a tennis court, in a hotel room, on vacation, and in a college weight room.

Exercise tubes can add so much to a workout because not only do you have all kinds of bodyweight exercises to choose from, you can also have even more exercises to choose from when using exercise tubes too.  And if you recall from when talking about maximizing your calorie burn, you remember that the more muscles you can work with one exercise, the better.  Instead of just doing a squat with clients, I might have them do a shoulder press with an exercise tube … while doing a bodyweight squat.

I may sound overly excited about bodyweight and exercise tubing workouts, but it’s just because I know that there are many people out there that think they need to empty their pockets on a gym membership or a home gym, you may be one of them, but that’s what I’m so excited about.  I’m so excited because that’s simply a complete myth!  If you truly want to be healthier, money doesn’t have to stand in the way.  Using your own bodyweight and some $5 exercise tubes will give you such a good workout that you’ll never think about needing money for a gym membership or a home gym again.

References:

¹“TRX Company Information”, provided by the company website, http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/company/about.php, accessed September 5, 2008.

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Approximately 85% of all adults in this country are plagued with low back pain.¹ What exactly does that mean?  It means that out of a family of five, at least four of them will suffer from low back pain.  For those of you who experience low back pain, you already know what a nuisance it can be throughout the day, let alone when working out.  The good news is, through working out, you can actually correct the issues that can contribute to low back pain.  So not only will you live a life with less pain, you’ll also be able to achieve higher-quality workouts that aren’t distracted by your back.

I don’t know about you, but that’s a cause for celebration!

Can you guess which techniques can be used to correct low back problems?  Take some time; I really want you to think about this because the sooner you have an understanding of how your body works, the sooner you’ll be ready to go off on your own and know how to get the fitness results you want.  Think about what you’ve read so far, and see if you can put into practice any of that new knowledge.  If you need to stop reading so you can think, then go ahead.

OK, test time is over.  The first, and most important, aspect to help correct low back problems is developing sufficient core strength.  Did you already guess that?  Strengthening the inner core is an absolute must because as you remember, if you keep your inner core strong, all other areas of your body will be able to properly develop around this base of support.  Remember the idea of your transverse abdominus being your body’s natural corset?  Well if it isn’t strong, it doesn’t help maintain a properly aligned posture.  Without that posture, one problem can turn into many problems.  Your body is like a chain.  When one area of your posture is off, a chain reaction starts and more areas of you posture start going bad, which eventually can lead to low back problems.

Along with maintaining a strong inner core, a strong outer core that’s conditioned to handle the rotation of your body is another major aspect to preventing or correcting low back pain.  Again, remember talking about how along with muscle imbalances (a weak inner core being a cause), abdominal muscles that aren’t strong enough to control the rotation between the pelvis and the spine is another major reason why people suffer from low back problems?²

So far we have strengthening the inner core and training your abdominal muscles to be efficient at controlling rotational movements as two ways to alleviate low back pain.  But how do you train your abs to control rotational movements?  Stop doing basic crunches and start doing abdominal exercises that incorporate a twisting pattern.

OK, let’s say you’ve started to work on these two areas in your workouts, but you still have problems with your low back.  Why could that be?  Well, these two solutions are more of a preventative measure to take with avoiding low back problems.  Don’t get me wrong, if you currently have low back problems, it’s essential that you still work on correcting these two issues; you just need to make sure that when correcting these issues, you aren’t experiencing pain.  If you are, then decrease the intensity of the exercise you’re doing.  You can do that by slowing down the pace of the exercise, decreasing the weight, decreasing the number of sets and repetitions, changing the positioning of your body while doing the movement, or if all else fails, stop doing the exercise all together.  Fix your inner core and outer core weaknesses, but don’t do it at the expense of hurting yourself even more.  The last thing you need is to inflame your low back more than it already is.

All is not lost, though.  Because of problems in areas such as core-strength, there are what’s called posture distortions patterns that can develop.  These different patterns result from tight and weak muscles (other than the inner and outer core muscles) in your body.  Three of the big players in low back postural problems are the hip flexors, the hamstrings, and the low back muscles themselves.  (That’s an obvious one.)

As you already know, the hip flexors connect to the front of the pelvis.  What can happen is the hip flexors can become very tight; a major contributor to this problem is sitting behind a desk for most of the day.  When we sit in a chair for a lengthened period of time, our hip flexors become accustomed to a shortened length, and as a result, they can pull the pelvis forward, resulting in the discs in our spine having too much pressure on the back of them.  These tight muscles can also lead to shortened low back muscles, and shortened muscles mean tight muscle, which means sore muscles.  These are just two of the reasons for low back problems: sore low back muscles and uneven pressure on the vertebral discs because of posture issues.  The good news is, there are certain steps you can take to correct them.

Now another reason for low back problems has to do with the hamstrings.  The hamstrings connect to the back of the pelvis, and if they’re weak, again, the pelvis can tilt forward and cause tight low back muscles and improperly aligned discs.  If the hamstrings are tight, the pelvis can tilt back, leading to too much pressure being put on the front of the vertebral discs.

So how do you correct tight muscles?  You guessed it!  You need to improve your flexibility.  Before we get into that, how do you know if you even have tight muscles?  One quick and easy method to determine whether or not these muscles are tight is to look at yourself in the mirror.  While standing sideways in front of a mirror, stand in a relaxed position (don’t suck anything in), and look at your beltline.  (You may even want to wear a belt for this.)  If you notice that your belt buckle is below where your belt is on the back of your waist, then you have tight hip flexors and low back muscles, as well as weak hamstrings.  If your belt line on the back of your waist is below your belt buckle, then you have tight hamstrings, weak hip flexors, and weak low back muscles.  The goal is to have the front of your belt even with the back of your belt.

It’s pretty common that if you have low back trouble, you have tight muscles, but sometimes, there can be other issues such as degenerative disc disease.  So what is one to do?  Remember talking about foam rolling?  You want to foam roll all these different areas of your body, remembering to hold for 30 seconds on each tender spot.  You can repeat the foam rolling process a second time if you want, but always remember to start your foam rolling going in the direction toward your heart.  Once you foam roll each of the three muscles, perform a static stretch of 2-4 times for 30-second holds each.  After static stretching, move on to foam rolling the next tight muscle, and keep repeating this process until you work on all three.

These may seem like little steps to take, but I’ve seen the results that they can have on reducing and even ending low back pain in those I have worked with.  Strengthening the inner core, strengthening the outer core with rotational movements, foam rolling tight muscles, followed by static stretching tight muscles – these techniques are just some of the simple steps you can take to help prevent and put a stop to your low back pain problems in as little as a few weeks.  Don’t become discouraged if it takes closer to a few months to notice any results, though; no matter how long it takes, it’s important that you consistently perform these steps in your program.  Once you do, you’ll be able to maximize your fitness results without having to worry about the pain creeping in.

Note: As always, talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program because while these quick fixes may alleviate your low back pain, there could be more serious issues causing the problem; and if possible, seek the guidance of a qualified fitness professional to assist you with your program.  For examples of inner and outer core exercises, sign up for these free videos.  Here’s how to foam roll your low back and hip flexors.  Here’s how to foam roll your hamstrings.

References:

¹The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), 2001.
²Boyle, M. (2005). Rotary training. Retrieved July 31, 2008 from http://www.ptonthenet.com.

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What?!  Does this make any sense at all?  Well, if I were talking about any topic besides this one, then it probably wouldn’t make much sense, but with an exercise program, it makes a lot of sense.

In order to set yourself up for a high rate of weight loss/fitness gains, it’s extremely important that you follow what’s called periodization.

What’s periodization?

Think of periodization as a roller coaster; parts of the ride are uphill, parts are downhill, parts are twisty, and so on.  That’s basically what periodization is.  It’s setting up your program so that you have different sections to it; some of those sections of your program may be intense, uphill battles to complete the workout; some may be easier, downhill coasting; and some sections may have an added twist to them.

Unlike a roller coaster, though, you should never start your program out with the most intense part, the uphill climb.  One thing that’s amazing, and yet can be very frustrating, about our body is that it’s very, very smart.  Our body has the ability to adapt to what it’s doing or to adapt to the challenges that are on it.  Your body adapts to sickness by increasing the amount of white blood cells, it can adapt to starvation by storing and utilizing fat better (better to keep you alive, but not better than if you had food to eat), and it can also adapt to exercise.

Let’s say this.  Let’s say that you just read a magazine article that has you fired up to the max about losing some weight.  You go out and buy some new kicks, a nice workout outfit, a water bottle … you’re all ready to kick some butt.  You’re so fired up that you can’t wait to start working out.  You figure that your plan is to go at it as hard as you can and get ready to see the weight melt off your body.  So on the first day, you want to start your fitness program off with a bang.  You go in and decide to work out for an hour.  You do one exercise after another until you feel like your arms are about to fall off.  Then, you jump on a treadmill and run for 45 minutes until you’re dripping sweat.  After you’re done with your workout, you’re convinced that keeping this pace and intensity up is the fundamental way to get that stubborn fat off your body, so you decide to do the same routine, at the same intensity, for the entire week.  “Whew, I’m really tearing it up now!” you say to yourself.

What do you think?

Sounds like you’ve surely accomplished your goal of starting right.

In reality, other than not staying consistent with your workouts, this is a terrible way to kick off your exercise program.

Why?

Like I said, your body learns to adapt to what you’re doing.  If you go all out like this from the get go, your body is going to go all out to keep up.  It’s going to start storing up more energy, release more hormones to keep your body feeling strong, process more protein to keep your muscles healthy, improve its efficiency in providing itself with energy to keep you going, all kinds of stuff.  This is all good and well, but once your body gets to the point where all of these improvements match the intensity of your workouts, in other words, keeps up with the intensity of your workouts, how much fat is really going to be needed to burn to supply energy for the body?  Not much.

Picture it this way; you want to start a campfire to roast some marshmallows, so you decide to throw all the wood in the ring at once.  Well yeah, that’s great that you have a huge fire that’s burning brightly at the start, but what happens when you want to roast marshmallows, the next week?  You can’t because you don’t have any wood left to throw into the fire ring.

The same can be said for working out.  You can start off super intensely, and you better believe your fat calories will be burning off at an incredible rate, but a few weeks into the program, when your body starts to adapt and you get into that dreaded rut, what are you going to do to get out of it?  Nothing.  You can’t because you’ve already thrown everything at your body.  Your body has wised up and figured out how to survive this brutal onslaught that you have thrown against it, and there’s nothing you can do about it.  You’ve lost the weight loss battle because you don’t have a comeback.

Back to reality now …

Of course, you’re not going to ever start a program off like this, and you’ve never done it in the past … right?  Don’t worry; I’ve been so amped up at times that I’ve sometimes started out with too big of an adrenaline rush too.

So here’s what you want to do … as you’ve probably already guessed it.  Start out slow.  Not so slow that you’re working out one day a week, but slow enough that you have room to increase your intensity.  For example, start by working out for three days per week and just let your body adapt to a lifestyle that includes working out.  Go through the different phases of your program (remember the stability phase, the endurance phase, etc.), and add changes to the program such as increasing your intensity or increasing the length of your workouts.  Throw in an easier week here and there so that your body has a chance to re-energize for high-intensity workouts again.  If you go into a program with this type of planning, you’ll have the necessary tools to pull out of your pocket to ward off any fitness plateaus/ruts.

If you start out slow, you’ll still burn off fat, and then as your body adjusts, you turn it up a notch.  You work out an extra day, or you work out a little longer, or you work out harder, whatever it is, it’s something new.  Something your body has to re-adjust to.  Then, just as you feel your body starting to tire … you feel like it takes you longer to recover between workouts, the energy level during your workouts just isn’t there, these types of changes, go ahead and throw in an easy week of working out.  Nothing too intense or too long, just a week to keep you consistent to scheduling time for your workouts.  Ideally, you want to have an easy week, like this, right before you start to feel your body tire, but if you do feel like this, you definitely need to ease up a bit.

Going along with an easier week is the amount of rest during your workouts.  Depending on your goal/the program phase you’re in, your body needs some level of rest to be able to re-charge its energy level back up for the next set.  For example, to build muscle, you typically have a work to rest ratio of 1:2 (30 seconds work:1 minute rest, 1 minute work:2 minutes rest, and so on).  An endurance goal would be more like 1:1 or even less for the rest.  Strength and power could be anything from a 1:5 to a 1:12 work to rest ratio.¹ It really depends on what you’re trying to accomplish with your workout, but no matter what that is, make sure you take that rest period so you can be back to an optimal state for your next set or exercise.  (For weight loss clients, I take them through stability, endurance, strength, and power phases.)

Following a level of change like this, not only will you be able to prevent yourself from burning out, but you’ll also be able to have something different to challenge your body with.  You’ll be able to cause your body to always be on its toes because it’ll never know what to expect next; it won’t adapt to a point where your workouts don’t challenge it anymore and you don’t lose fat as fast anymore.  By starting out slow, and slowly progressing up, your program will be able to set you up for more consistent weight loss results or any other fitness goal you have.

References:

¹ The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), 2001.

I don't know how many of you have seen the Hip-Hop Grannies, who were publicized during the Beijing Olympics, but this group of 45 to 74-year-olds shows how age shouldn't be used as an excuse for not staying healthy.  This group of Chinese women, though it may be corny, started a group where they perform hip-hop dancing to different up-beat songs; the result, better health and more energy.

Even in your later years, maintaining a healthy lifestyle should still be a priority.  I've worked with all ranges of ages, and the one thing I've found with many of the older clients I've trained is that, yes, they may not be able to exercise as intensely as my younger clients, but they still have the drive and ability to get results. 

What is even neater is that some of the older adults I have worked with have never done any type of resistance training in their entire life, some have never even exercised at all, but what's so wonderful to see is that once they start to get into it, they love it!  I've had a number of my older clients say that their exercise time is something they look forward to every day.  Why is that?  I think it's because they realize there's no need to be intimidated of exercise, and they recognize that they too can achieve fitness goals, such as having more energy, sleeping better, fitting better into their clothes, reducing their risk for certain diseases, and even coming off, or lowering the dosage of, their medications.

For those of you who are young and exercising right now, keep it up!  It will only help you in the future because it's a lot easier to maintain a good level of fitness than to have to start from scratch.

For those of you who are older, there's nothing to fear with exercise.  I would suggest that you at least hire a personal trainer for a minimum of a month.  By having a personal trainer there to guide you into a whole new type of lifestyle, to teach you how to exercise safely, to help you stay accountable, to educate you on how to improve your health with exercise and healthy eating tips, you'll give yourself the best start to incorporating fitness into your life.

The key is to start out slow and take in everything that you're doing.  If you're not sure about proper form or how to breathe while working out, don't be afraid to ask.  One thing I find that helps a new exerciser is to start out on machines.  I'm not always crazy about using weight machines, but when dealing with a new exerciser, I think they're perfect because they allow the body to be able to easily adjust to a new lifestyle without having to worry too much about form.  You still have to be aware of proper form, but most machines already have a pre-determined path that you move the weight in.  This means that while you still have some form issues to concentrate on, your main focus can be on breathing and moving the weight while letting the machine stabilize the weight as it moves.

Once you have been able to adjust to weight machines and have developed an understanding of how to exercise with resistance training, moving into cables, and then dumbbells, will be much easier for you to adjust to.

Another option, besides cables and dumbbells, is exercise tubes.  I love exercise tubes because they can be as hard or as easy as you like.  I've used very light exercise tubes for beginners, even before machines, and I've also used exercise tubes for the most advanced clients I have.  Exercise tubes can provide an unbelievable workout for anyone, and the best part about them is they're very inexpensive, and you can work out anywhere with them.  

No matter which method of exercise you decide on, realize that fitness isn't something that's age-limiting.  Anybody can do it, and as the Hip-Hop Grannies can attest to, anybody can get results.   

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As if the Animal Workout wasn’t enough, here’s another great idea to liven things up a bit … just in case you’re starting to get bored with your workouts.  You may be saying to yourself, “Here we go again.”  But really, I think this is another great workout that can spice things up.

To start out, to do the Playing Cards Workout, you’re going to need a deck of … playing cards, as if you hadn’t already figured that out.

Here’s what you do.  For every suit, pick an exercise that you want to associate with it.  For example, spades could be dirty dogs, clubs could be push-ups, and so on.

For the number on the playing card, associate this with the number of repetitions you will do; the ace is 1, followed by the face value of the rest of the cards determining the number of repetitions.  For the jacks, associate this with 11, the queens 12, and the kings 13.  If you want, you can use the jokers and make them any number you want, but I typically just leave them out.  (You could always really live on the edge and make them a huge number like 20 or 30, but hey, if you’re thinking that 13 repetitions seems pretty steep, then I wouldn’t suggest it.)

So here’s how it goes.  Before you start, go ahead and shuffle the cards so that you don’t know where each card is, or you could play 52 pickup with someone … I always hated when I used to fall for that trick.  Once the cards are shuffled, keep them stacked in a deck, face down.

Before you start this workout, make sure that just like any workout, you give yourself a little warm-up time.  Once warmed up, go ahead an draw any card out of the deck.  Let’s say you draw out the 5 of clubs.  That means you have 5 push-ups to do!  Keep going through the deck by drawing out another card and performing what it says, and continue doing this for however long you decide to.  FYI, you probably will want to crawl into a cave and sleep the rest of the day if you go through the entire deck, so you shouldn’t use all the cards … that would be 52 exercise, which is insane!  I’d either pull out about 20-25 cards, or you could go for time, which is better because you can control how hard the workout is.  If you had all the aces, 2′s, 3′s, etc., this workout wouldn’t be too bad, but if you had all the jacks, queens, and kings, it would be totally different.  Going for time makes it so that the cards don’t control how hard the workout is, you do; you can go as fast as you want or as slow as you want, just make sure you choose a pace that will really push you through this workout.

So that’s it!  Another fun and different kind of workout to help you put a little spin on achieving that level of fitness you want.  Have fun!

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For those of you who’ve experienced muscle cramping during your lifetime, I feel for you.  For those of you that haven’t, I wish I were you.  Muscle cramping can bring any workout to a grinding halt; not only is it terribly painful when it happens, but it can also leave you very sore for a couple days following this dreaded event.

One of the worst things for someone who’s trying to lose weight is to be in the middle of a flab-kicking workout and suddenly feel your breath being sucked right out of you as you collapse to the floor hitting notes like Stevie Wonder and making a bargain with your body to give you back control of it.

Although it hasn’t been proven, a big culprit to muscles spasms is thought to be caused by dehydration and mineral loss due to excessive sweating; just another reason why water is so important for weight loss, not to mention fitness in general.^1,2 But sometimes, water isn’t always the cure all for cramping muscles; sometimes, a sports drink is necessary to prevent cramping from happening.

Even though it’s not a proven fact, staying hydrated and maintaining that right mineral/electrolyte balance is still the smart thing to do in doing your part to prevent cramping from happening.  Get this, though.  Well, actually, let me present it this way.  When you think of how to prevent muscle cramps, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind?

“Oh, I know this one; it’s eat a banana!  Right?”

Wrong.

Many people think that eating a banana will help replace the potassium your body has lost, and while this is true, cramping is really thought to result because of sodium (salt) loss, not potassium loss.^1,2

The truth is cramping is a very mysterious occurrence.  While the majority of cramping is experienced during physical activity, what’s even harder to explain is waking up in the middle of the night with a cramp.  And even though no one really knows the true cause to muscle cramps during exercise or while sleeping, I recommend you experiment with what works for you.

Yes, dehydration and electrolyte imbalances are thought to be a possible cause, especially in very hot exercising conditions, but so is lack of flexibility, too much lactic acid in the muscles, abnormal nerve activity, hyperventilation, and contracting your calf muscles by curling your toes under the covers.¹

If you’re plagued by muscle spasms, the first thing I suggest is not only regularly drinking water, but also consuming some type of sports drink if you exercise for more than an hour or are in the process of cramping.  Getting that extra salt in your body helps with keeping your nerves under control.  Also, even though cramping seems to result more from sodium losses than potassium losses, eating high potassium foods isn’t a bad idea.  So go at it with those bananas because you never know, it may help a little.  Remember, these are all just suggestions; these aren’t proven scientific facts, but a trick that I’ve used with my brother, during basketball games, is to have him add a pinch of salt to his sports drink, and that seems to do the trick.  You may have also heard of using antacids or salt tablets, and even though some say it works, I wouldn’t try it.  Typically, it’s too much salt and not enough fluid.  By getting too much salt, you actually will dehydrate your body even more, so that obviously is counter-productive.  Going along with dehydration, I’d suggest avoiding taking medicines, such as allergy medications, right before exercise.  These medicines act as diuretics, which leads to even more dehydration.

On top of these suggestions, massaging the cramping muscle is highly recommended.  By applying pressure to the tight muscle, it actually results in a signal telling it to relax.  Pretty cool, huh?

One prevention tip I tell anyone suffering from muscle cramps is to stretch a lot more.  By keeping your muscles more flexible, it seems to have a correlation to reduced cramping.  I’d also suggest making sure you’re eating enough carbs, and if you’re out of shape, make sure you reduce your exercise intensity and duration.  By exercising too intensely, you can tire your muscles out too much, and as a result, you know what’s thought to happen; you’re curled up in a ball on the floor, making funny faces.²

And although this idea is kind of “out there”, adding extra calcium to your eating may help … at least some say it does.  Calcium is essential for muscle contractions to occur, but the reason I find this one hard to believe is because your bones are made of calcium, so if your body is really not getting enough calcium from your diet, your bones will make up the difference.  Still, there are those out there that say extra calcium cures cramping.  There are also those out there that say drinking pickle juice or eating a tablespoon of mustard, before working out, helps prevent cramping, so if you want to live on the edge, be my guest.

Finally, if you suffer from “night cramps”, learn to sleep better.  Just a little joke, but seriously, you never know.

OK, so here’s the big three things to do when you’re in the middle of a cramp:
1.    Drink a sports drink
2.    Massage the muscle
3.    Stretch the muscle

Afterward, you may need to give your body a break by resting for a day or so.

Now that you’re equipped with the knowledge and techniques to prevent and treat cramping, you’re one step closer to your fitness success.  Here’s to no more muscle cramps!

References:

¹ American Council on Exercise (2003). ACE personal trainer manual: The ultimate resource for fitness professionals, (3^rd ed). San Diego, CA: American Council on Exercise.
² Wilmore, J., & Costill, D. (2004). Physiology of sport and exercise, (3^rd ed). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Don’t miss my new fitness book, tentatively scheduled to hit stores soon!  Put your name on the VIP waiting list to be notified when and where it’s available for purchase.

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