Running Smoothly
We have all heard that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. The chain, on somewhat of a micro level, is your body. There are many ways of recognizing the components of an individual. One popular way of discussing the individual is the recognition that each person can be seen from a physical, mental, and spiritual perspective. Others may look at their energy anatomy and focus on the flow of energy within the body. Regardless of how you choose to look at your ability to live life productively, you know that your physical body plays an important role in the big picture. Denial of this fact can be one of life’s most serious sabotages. Problems such as obesity are rising to epidemic proportions. Regardless of new medications, heart disease, certain types of cancer, hypertension and many other health problems continue to increase. We realize the role that good health plays in our life when we, or a loved one, have serious health problems. Unfortunately, this is a short-lived feeling for many of us as we quickly regress back to our old unhealthy lifestyle. Wellness is being addressed in many ways in this web site. Much of the information offered will assist you in your mental/emotional well being. However, we all have experienced days when we wanted to be productive, but our bodies would not cooperate. Our bodies can limit our ability to produce the results for which we strive. Whether you are physically challenged or are an Olympic athlete, you know that you can achieve the most when you are operating at your highest personal physical baseline.
Make a personal goal to improve the vehicle of your life’s journey – your body. You will find a strong relationship between the wellness material and the information on the topics of maintaining change and on continuous progress. Very few can successfully develop a healthy lifestyle without each of these components.
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Weight Loss - The BIG Issue
Most of the fitness questions that I receive are regarding weight control. At any given time, a forth of the people that I know are on some sort of diet. Although most people know the basic facts about what they need to do to lose weight, many of them are still looking for the magic bullet. Some short-term success with losing weight is common, but regaining the weight seems more common than keeping the weight off. These are issues that relate to making continuous progress and to maintaining change – both major topics of this site.
I shall review some of the basic facts that one needs to know to lose weight and then to maintain his or her weight. Fat cells and muscle cells are two different types of cells. You can’t convert one to the other any more than you can spot reduce one part of your body. The two primary principles are to eat less and to exercise more. Some people split hairs over the foods that make them fat. Too much saturated fat quickly finds a home in your body as fat and too many carbohydrates and calories convert to fat. Some foods can assist in the burning of calories.
Before beginning a cardio program, see your doctor and state you plan. If you have diagnosed undiagnosed heart, blood pressure, joint problems or other issues, you need to begin any type of fitness program with your doctors guidance. When beginning a cardio program to assist in weight loss, performing some exercise is better that not doing any, however, the intensity and duration of an exercise are important factors in efficiently losing pounds. For the first month, I recommend using a bit of structure. People should keep their heart rate at 60 to 65 percent of their maximum heart rate for at least 30 minutes once they have slowly worked-up to this duration. The formula to use is as follows:
220 – (minus) your age = ____ (maximum heart hate for you age).
Multiply your maximum heart rate by 60. This will give you a number that represents 60% of your maximum heart rate for one minute. This is your target rate for burning body fat and you should keep the heart at this rate for at least 30 minutes. The use of a heart rate monitor is can make this task more achievable. If you are reading your own pulse, divide the total by 6. This will give you your target rate for 10 seconds or divide by 4 for 15 seconds. Some cardiovascular equipment has built-in heart rate monitors. Although recent research indicates that the continuous cardiovascular workout is not necessary and that one can stop and start the routine, few people will do this because it takes longer and time is a big issue for many people.
After using the formula that I've offered you for about a month, move forward to the next level. Keep your intensity to a rate where you cannot talk in whole (complete) sentences. If you can, bump it up a notch. This rule increase your baseline as you become more fit.
On any Saturday weekend morning, you can find numerous infomercials about weight reduction. Most of these are about exercise videos or exercise machines. The un-spoken part of most infomercials is that the products come with other information. For example, many abdominal machines come with a book of menu suggestions and an aerobic exercise video. Exercise videos come with menu suggestions. If you use the machines and/or the videos and adhere to their accompanying plans, you will make so progress toward your goal. If you continue this process over the entirety of your life, you will keep the weight off. The primary point is that weight loss and maintaining this loss is a lifestyle change. Diets seldom work over the long haul.
Pills and potions that block fat molecules and/or speed-up your metabolism can work. However, you must ask yourself if you plan to ingest these pills or potions for the remainder of your life. Read some of the labels of the most widely advertised weight reduction formulas (e.g. Hydroxycut or Xenadrine). Ask yourself if you plan to take these each day. Being neither a MD or a nutritionist, I cannot speak to the safety of these substances, however, I can wonder about what happens when a person stops using them. If I used any of these products, I would simultaneously work on changing to lifestyle and my eating habits so that I could eventually maintain my weight loss by sensible and inespensive means.
How many people do you know who will live the remainder of his or her life on a low carbohydrate diet? One must look at the long term. Nutritional changes make the most important contribution to weight loss and maintaining weight loss. Exercise, although important, will have positive long-term effects on improving one’s fitness, but it will not impact weight loss to a great degree unless one is really controlling the nutrition. Continued cardio and strength training will, over ones lifetime, contribute to keeping weight off.
Behavioral changes are often necessary to reduce body fat. It is important to look at many more factors than how much and what you eat. Look at when, where, and why you eat. Most people seem to know the most healthy foods and the most appropriate portion size. Many of today’s restaurant portions are above average and family style restaurants and buffets are not the best places to eat if you are trying to keep the weight off. Eating low energy density foods, such as fresh vegetables and fruits at the beginning of a meal, can be filling and can thus reduce the amount of other foods consumed during a meal.
Stress eating is a common problem. However, when are you most likely to pig out? Where do you eat the most food. For example, many people buy a lot of junk food and eat it when watching TV between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM. If you don't purchase junk food, you cannot eat it while sitting at home watching TV. Also, changing your schedule can short circuit your cycle.
All of the above can be learned in an excellent program called Weight Watchers. This program gives you a plan that you can live with for your entire life, on-going support, excellent tools for planning a lifestyle change and very motivational speakers. In my opinion, it is the best at helping you keep the weight off.
Strength training will help to keep the lost pounds off. Increased muscle mass increases one’s basal metabolic rate - the rate at which our body burns calories while at rest. More calories are required to maintain muscle than to maintain fat. Thus, if your percent of body fat is low and your percent of muscle is high, your body will burn more calories while at rest. Another important point is that a person’s metabolism typically slows with age. Thus putting on a few pounds of muscle is not likely to harm you.
Women are especially fearful of becoming too muscular. This shouldn’t be a concern for most women or men. First of all, our genetics determine our number and ratio of fast twitch versus slow twitch muscle cells. Put these terms in your search engine and do a bit of research. Some people can perform intense weight training for a decade and he or she is going to look like a competitive body builder. Unless you have the genetic predisposition to be muscular, weight training isn’t going to make you too muscular.
Many attempts at weight reduction eventually lead to a form of learned helplessness and to self-fulfilling prophecies. Also, continuous yo-yo dieting harms the body. At some point, after many losses and gains, people begin to expect to re-gain the lost weight. When this is the case, one needs professional help. Life-style coaches, therapist, personal trainers, nutritionists and other professionals can assist in developing a plan and helping to maintain the change.
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The Best Home Gym Under $1,500.00
I have often been asked about my preference for home gym equipment. Two of the top contenders are the Total Gym and the Bowflex. I have used both at fitness conferences under to guidance of professionals representing each company. Although both pieces of equipment are well made and offer a wide array of exercise options, I prefer the Total Gym. Before reading further, go to the website of each and look at the video clips. The sites are www.totalgym.com and www.bowflex.com . Also, do a Google search for each and examine other information.
During an exercise motion, the resistance varies. For example, pick-up a dumbbell and perform a few standing bicep curls. You will see that there is less resistance at some points within the range of motion. I will not tell you the answer; try this and reach your own conclusion. One key of successful strength training is maintaining resistance on the muscle. This is why the original Nautilus machines were so unique. The cam device kept a consistent stress on the muscle throughout the motion.
The Bowflex uses rods for resistance. Stress is placed on the muscle, through various mechanisms, by bending the rods. The more the rods bend, the more stress placed on a muscle group. Thus, the beginning third or any range of motion is easier than the last third of the range of motion.
The Total Gym, instead of using rods that bend, uses a percentage of one’s body weight as resistance. The change is resistance is determined by the angle of the primary board that supports one’s body weight. The resistance remains more consistent throughout the range of motion. During some exercise movements, the resistance varies due to body mechanics. However, the variance is less with the Total Gym than with the Bowflex.
Another advantage of the Total Gym is the Pilate functions. If you have participated in a Pilate class or watched a Pilate video, you can easily see how functional the Total Gym can be in assuring a Pilate type workout. If you are a baby boomer, you should be aware that balance and flexibility decrease with age and the Pilate motions address both of these issues. The Total Gym addresses strength, balance, flexibility, and some cardiovascular aspects of fitness.
In recent years, the TRX system has become very popular. This system offers many of the advantages of the total gym while offering more opportunities to utilize balance. As we age, balance becomes increasingly important. I recommend taking a look at this system. There is a retail length to both the Total Gym and the TRX on this page.
Before making a decision, order the free video from each company. If there is a floor model in a store near you, give each of them a try. Some gyms have the commercial models of both the Total Gym and the TRX available for class instruction.
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Click the "Fitness" page for more information and to watch a brief video about two of the most common mistakes made in the weight room.
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