Have you ever went out, got in your car, started driving without even knowing where you are going? More than likely, you wouldn't get into your car and start driving without a destination. Of course, if you are like me, you may have one place in mind and end up driving towards another because one reason or the other, especially if they are in a similar direction. Both of these examples, actually, apply to fitness as well.
Most people that I talk with have a general idea of what they want to accomplish from their efforts in the gym. "I want to lose weight." That is great, and by all means, I hope you do. But saying that is like saying, "I am going to drive to California." Great! Get in your car, head west, and you have a 50% chance of hitting somewhere in California. Now if you define your destination as Los Angeles, then you know that at certain crossroads, you will have to turn to get you there. The same applies to weight control. Just losing weight is like driving to California, but losing 15 pounds is like driving to LA. Now, getting even more specific, let’s say you want to go to a certain road, or even a specific address in LA. That would be the same as saying, “I want to lose 15 pounds, 10% body fat, and 5 inches around my waist.” Taking this one step farther, you can get even more specific. “I want to go to room 415, on the fourth floor of the building at 1122 Fitness Way, Fit Town, USA and get there on Friday afternoon.” That would be the same as saying, “I want to lose 15 pounds, 10% body fat, 5 inches around my waist, have nice toned firm legs, a little definition in my arms, and a flat firm midsection by my daughter’s wedding.”
All the above options are great and will get you going in the right direction. What do most people do when they want to make a cross country journey? They map it out. They do this by themselves with a huge atlas, call AAA for directions, or go on to the many navigation websites available. And again, the more specific you get the better end result you will have. If you ask for a map to California, the result will probably take you to the capitol city. Then if you narrow it a bit, it will take you to the City Hall of LA. But if you get real specific, then it will take you right to where you want to go. Following the map will get you where you want to go. Granted, there are those few that will just get in and drive and enjoy the adventure, no matter how long it takes them.
The same works for fitness goals. Depending on how specific you want to get, you will need to determine how you will attain them. Most people will go to a gym or buy fitness DVDs and start doing something, cardio or weight training. This is not a bad thing, but it equates to getting in your car without a map and heading in the direction that you think is correct. The next step up from this are those that look at general fitness tips offered in popular magazines. Again, this isn't bad and I use a lot of exercises I see in magazines myself and for my clients. The problem is that they come off as the end all to your fitness goal and not just as a part of the whole picture. And if not used correctly, they may take you way off course. This would be like someone telling you to take Interstate 80 to get to LA. It is in the right direction, but won't exactly get you where you want to go.
I personally have experienced this first hand. For a few years now, I have had a general concept of what I wanted to accomplish by working out. I wanted to be in shape, be able to play soccer, and be able to show my clients what I needed to in order to help them the best I could. But I didn’t have a specific goal in mind. Just recently, I have decided to enter into a competition. I am not sure if it will be a body building, fitness model, or muscle model competition as I have to look at all of my options about events and dates. Right now, I am at the travel agent saying I want to go on vacation sometime between this date and that date. Since I have decided to do this, I have had a more specific idea of what I want to accomplish and I have changed my routines considerably. I do feel more energetic about my workouts as I have a goal in mind and have already seen results.
The people that get the best results and actually end up at their fitness goals are the ones that map out their route. If you don't know how this is done, you can hire a trainer to do it for you. You still have to drive the car, but the trainer can be your GPS Navigational System on board with you the whole way. When you encounter a flat tire or road construction, the trainer will give you the best way to fix the tire or best route to get around the delay. The other thing a trainer can do is give you different tools to use along the way. In a trip from the Mid-west to California, you will encounter really really flat land, rolling hills, and steep mountains. In your journey along your fitness goals, you will encounter rapid weight loss, no weight loss, and every other fluctuation along the way. The trainer will be there to change up your routine so that you aren't trying to use a high gear to get up a steep incline. A trainer will keep you headed towards your goal and not let you get side tracked.
Meet with a trainer today and they will help you define your goals, lay out a map to follow to your goals, and give you tools along the way to overcome any obstacles you may face. The more specific you can be about your goals, the easier it will be know; what route to use, if you are staying on that track, and how to determine your results along the way.
You can contact me at robcrenshaw@hotmail.com, please put Fitness Question or Fitness Buff in the subject line.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
What's so functional about that?
Everyone has seen someone standing on a BOSU ball doing dumb bell curls in the name of functional training. But is this true functional training? The answer, that is so often the answer for many things in personal training is, it depends. (Don't you feel satisfied now?)
Although this does increase your awareness of how your body moves and where it is in space, or what we like to call proprioception, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is functional. In order for an exercise to be functional, it must train the body to move in the most efficient manner to accomplish a normal task. For instance; a new mom bending over the railing of a crib to pick up a new born baby or a construction worker lifting a large sack of concrete mix from the ground to the mixer.
The body is made to do one or a combination of 4 different types of movement: Locomotion, elevation, pushing or pulling, and twisting. Every movement that you do during your day is made up of one or more of these movements. If you break each movement down to its basics and then training that specific movement in a similar manner, you will improve the efficiency of your body helping you do more with less effort and avoiding more injuries.
Remember, just because an exercise looks harder does not make it more functional. So in the case of someone doing dumb bell curls on a BOSU ball, unless they are standing on an unstable surface pulling things up in a curling manner, this exercise is not the best "functional" exercise.
Although this does increase your awareness of how your body moves and where it is in space, or what we like to call proprioception, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is functional. In order for an exercise to be functional, it must train the body to move in the most efficient manner to accomplish a normal task. For instance; a new mom bending over the railing of a crib to pick up a new born baby or a construction worker lifting a large sack of concrete mix from the ground to the mixer.
The body is made to do one or a combination of 4 different types of movement: Locomotion, elevation, pushing or pulling, and twisting. Every movement that you do during your day is made up of one or more of these movements. If you break each movement down to its basics and then training that specific movement in a similar manner, you will improve the efficiency of your body helping you do more with less effort and avoiding more injuries.
Remember, just because an exercise looks harder does not make it more functional. So in the case of someone doing dumb bell curls on a BOSU ball, unless they are standing on an unstable surface pulling things up in a curling manner, this exercise is not the best "functional" exercise.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Be Careful Who You Believe
"Bottom line - if you don’t want to eat breakfast - don't do it. Have some water, coffee and off you go."
That was from an trainer on an online trainer forum, a trainer who is supposed to help his clients live a healthy life. Now, everyone has their ideas on what exercises are the best for any given goal and usually everyone is right based on different reasons and usually with an “it depends” clarification. But when it comes to nutrition and diet, the science and chemistry behind it is fairly simple and straight forward. I know this because I read and research about it most of my free time and I have clients who have improved their lives based on what I know. Now, if this trainer had said "If you don't care about your health or losing body fat..." somewhere around the above statement, I would totally be in 100% agreement. But he didn't. Instead, he based it on the assumption that "cavemen" had to go out and fish or hunt for their breakfast, therefore, forgoing breakfast. I am not a historian, but I would guess the cavemen were hungry when they woke up so they started keeping food near by to eat when they woke up. Then this trainer even went as far as saying that this whole motivating factor behind pushing us to eat breakfast "is a concoction of all cereal and food companies forcing us to eat more and more." Two reasons that aren't based on any science at all.
Believe what you want to believe, but when it comes to finding information out; be sure that the information is credible. I have had many clients who were not eating breakfast when they started with me only to find that their energy increased throughout the day and started losing fat faster only after they started eating breakfast on a daily basis. If you want a bottom line, then here you go; eat early, eat often, and lose the fat!
You want to make sure you eat as soon as you can when you wake up. Then eat every 3 to 4 hours throughout the day with small portions. All of your meals ideally should include equal amounts of protein and carbs with a little bit of fat. Just make sure that you are getting the good carbs and the good fats. As always, there are exceptions and you should consult a registered dietitian if you have any questions.
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me.
Rob Crenshaw, The Fitness Buff
That was from an trainer on an online trainer forum, a trainer who is supposed to help his clients live a healthy life. Now, everyone has their ideas on what exercises are the best for any given goal and usually everyone is right based on different reasons and usually with an “it depends” clarification. But when it comes to nutrition and diet, the science and chemistry behind it is fairly simple and straight forward. I know this because I read and research about it most of my free time and I have clients who have improved their lives based on what I know. Now, if this trainer had said "If you don't care about your health or losing body fat..." somewhere around the above statement, I would totally be in 100% agreement. But he didn't. Instead, he based it on the assumption that "cavemen" had to go out and fish or hunt for their breakfast, therefore, forgoing breakfast. I am not a historian, but I would guess the cavemen were hungry when they woke up so they started keeping food near by to eat when they woke up. Then this trainer even went as far as saying that this whole motivating factor behind pushing us to eat breakfast "is a concoction of all cereal and food companies forcing us to eat more and more." Two reasons that aren't based on any science at all.
Believe what you want to believe, but when it comes to finding information out; be sure that the information is credible. I have had many clients who were not eating breakfast when they started with me only to find that their energy increased throughout the day and started losing fat faster only after they started eating breakfast on a daily basis. If you want a bottom line, then here you go; eat early, eat often, and lose the fat!
You want to make sure you eat as soon as you can when you wake up. Then eat every 3 to 4 hours throughout the day with small portions. All of your meals ideally should include equal amounts of protein and carbs with a little bit of fat. Just make sure that you are getting the good carbs and the good fats. As always, there are exceptions and you should consult a registered dietitian if you have any questions.
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me.
Rob Crenshaw, The Fitness Buff
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Check me out on Zegee
Check out this great website to help people find trainers. If you would like to work with me go to:
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| Free Personal Trainer Community for trainers and clients. |
Monday, July 7, 2008
Answer to scottspott's question
scottspott said...
"I have an interesting question...what is the difference between weight (resistance) training and strong flexing? For example, if I flex my biceps and triceps 20 times each to the point at which they are sore, and do this instead of using weights, will my arms increase in size and become stronger?"
This is a great question, scottspott. The simple answer is yes but your arms will not noticeably increase in size or become noticeably stronger. The only way to increase size and strength significantly in any muscle is to subject it to larger loads than it is used to pushing or pulling. So if you haven’t worked out at all, then using the antagonist muscle solely for resistance will initially get you a bit stronger and maybe a bit firmer, but probably not bigger.
Let me explain. If you wanted bigger biceps, then you would do curls or an action that causes you to bend your elbow from a straight arm position to a bent one shortening the biceps. You could try to use the antagonist, or your triceps, as resistance during this movement. The triceps are responsible for straightening your arm from a bent position to a straight one. Due to the basic laws of biomechanics where when one muscle contracts or shortens, the antagonist muscle must relax or elongate. They both can’t contract at the same time. You can squeeze or tense both at the same time but the benefit from this action will not be enough to improve strength or size as you need greater resistance. Just like if you are used to curling with a 20 lb weight and then you switched to a 2 lb weight, you wouldn’t get the increase in size or strength. Just squeezing both biceps and triceps is a type of isometric exercise where the joint angle and muscle length do not change. The strength gain will be only at that joint angle that you work it at.
You can strengthen your muscles and gain size just with your body alone. The famous Charles Atlas, who was the 97 lb weakling who became the “The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man” did develop his physique by using his own body for resistance. He would use his left arm to strengthen his right instead of just flexing his muscles. He also did body weight exercises like push ups and squats.
So if you want stronger and bigger muscles, you need to use external resistance in a dynamic exercise. That resistance can come in the form as another body part, a resistance band, or traditional weights.
"I have an interesting question...what is the difference between weight (resistance) training and strong flexing? For example, if I flex my biceps and triceps 20 times each to the point at which they are sore, and do this instead of using weights, will my arms increase in size and become stronger?"
This is a great question, scottspott. The simple answer is yes but your arms will not noticeably increase in size or become noticeably stronger. The only way to increase size and strength significantly in any muscle is to subject it to larger loads than it is used to pushing or pulling. So if you haven’t worked out at all, then using the antagonist muscle solely for resistance will initially get you a bit stronger and maybe a bit firmer, but probably not bigger.
Let me explain. If you wanted bigger biceps, then you would do curls or an action that causes you to bend your elbow from a straight arm position to a bent one shortening the biceps. You could try to use the antagonist, or your triceps, as resistance during this movement. The triceps are responsible for straightening your arm from a bent position to a straight one. Due to the basic laws of biomechanics where when one muscle contracts or shortens, the antagonist muscle must relax or elongate. They both can’t contract at the same time. You can squeeze or tense both at the same time but the benefit from this action will not be enough to improve strength or size as you need greater resistance. Just like if you are used to curling with a 20 lb weight and then you switched to a 2 lb weight, you wouldn’t get the increase in size or strength. Just squeezing both biceps and triceps is a type of isometric exercise where the joint angle and muscle length do not change. The strength gain will be only at that joint angle that you work it at.
You can strengthen your muscles and gain size just with your body alone. The famous Charles Atlas, who was the 97 lb weakling who became the “The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man” did develop his physique by using his own body for resistance. He would use his left arm to strengthen his right instead of just flexing his muscles. He also did body weight exercises like push ups and squats.
So if you want stronger and bigger muscles, you need to use external resistance in a dynamic exercise. That resistance can come in the form as another body part, a resistance band, or traditional weights.
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