Posts Tagged ‘Weight training tips’

Excuses & Meme’s…The Great American Way! Part II

Please read part I posted last week to shed light on what I am about to suggest in this post.  Last week I told you that all of us have meme’s and that they act to impede our fitness and nutrition goals.  Today I would like to give you some simple steps that you can apply to change your current mindset so that you can obtain the lifestyle that you truly deserve.

Step #1:  Acknowledge that you make excuses:

No, you’re not in AA but this first step CANNOT be overlooked. If you do, you will pay the price of failing.  You make excuses…yes you do.  There is absolutely nobody that is exempt from excuse making and you are no exception.  That is ok.  The good news is that you can change your mind once you identify your excuses and memes. 

Step #2: Write down all of your excuses and memes:

This is more of a process.  For the next 30 days I want you to write down all of the excuses and memes that you make to yourself.  See last weeks post for examples.

Step #3: State the opposite:

Once you have written down all of your most annoying excuses and memes you need to write down the exact opposite.  For example if you say, “I am too tired to exercise after work”, write down “Because I am proactive and take responsibility for my life, I will exercise before work to increase my energy level”. 

Step #4: Change your Sub-Conscience Mind: 

Your sub-conscience mind is the part of the brain that stores all of your habits.  It steers the proverbial ship.  This is where the vast majority of all your behaviors are stored and processed.  To change your sub-conscience mind you have to do the following things.

            a. Convince it that it is wrong:  You do this by stating the exact opposite of your memes.  The very moment that a negative or damming thought enters your head you must replace it with the opposite thought…even if you have to say it out loud.

            b. Construct a list of positive affirmations:  On this list could be something like “I am in control of my eating at all times”, or “Exercising daily is just part of who I am”. 

            c. Repeat your list of affirmations daily, morning and night: Do this when you first awake and before you go to sleep.  The goal is to be in a relaxed state where not much will bother you and where your mind can be at ease. 

            d. Be in a state of believing:  When you are repeating your affirmations, do so in a state of positivity and optimism

Step #5: Disarm your alarm system!

When you begin doing these simple steps your brain will tell you that you are crazy and that you are acting weird or like a moron.  This is normal because your brain is still convinced of the validity of your previous mindset of excuses and memes.  Persistence is the key here.  If you persist and repeat your affirmations day after day you will begin to believe the things that you are telling yourself and BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE YOURSELF YOU WILL ACT ON IT!  Yes your behavior will start to change in a way that you never imagined possible.

Step #6:  Realize that you never “Arrive”.

We live in a world of complacency, feeling entitled and laziness.  If you are not constantly reinforcing your sub-conscience mind, rest assured you will slip back into old ways.  Stay focused and realize that you have to be proactive to win the battle.  Things will not magically work out for the best if you are not constantly bathing your mind with the things that you want to accomplish.

Step #7 Action:

This is where it is time to get off your butt and get into action.  You can have the most wonderful meditation sessions of visualizations and imagery known to mankind, but if you don’t move you will never change your behavior.  It is much easier to shed your old excuses when you see yourself doing the opposite of them.  Soon you will be excuse free!

Step #8 Making it Long-Term:

Realize from the get-go that this is about lifestyle change for the long-term!  Never allow any short-sightedness to enter the picture here.  When you are planning your visualizations and affirmations make them long term.  You want to adopt a mindset of permanency.

 Well there you have it my friends!  Properly applied these principles can and will change your lifestyle for the better.  Start applying them today…there is absolutely no room for procrastination here.  Remember…life is good!

Remember that there is a difference between a snack and a meal.  A meal is fully BALANCED meaning that it contains all three macro-nutrient ratio’s (Carbs, protein, fat) in the correct ratio.  For example putting together a snack would mean nothing more than slamming a few crackers and calling it good, whereas if you want to make it a meal you would have to put some protein in there as well such as a protein shake, yogurt, cottage cheese…you get the point.  You may be asking yourself, “well what about the fat?”  Remember a simple little saying, “the fat will follow”.  What this means is that if you are actively trying to get a low glycemic carbohydrate and a quality low-fat protein, then you DON’T have to worry about adding the fat in…it will naturally occur in about a 20% ratio if you are choosing healthy choices.

 Below are some simple suggestions to spark your mind.  Following the food list, you will find suggestions for quick, balanced, on the run suggestions.

Quick-On-The-Go-Meals

The only thing that you may need with these meals is a mini cooler with ice or a micro-wave oven.  These meals are designed to be quick and easy and worker friendly.

          1- Sandwiches:  Just remember to limit the condiments, dressing and cheese.  These items add fat calories galore!  Egg salad sandwiches work great as well!  Just remember to limit the egg yolks in the mixture and you should be great! 

2-Whole Grain pasta’s:  You may be saying “what, pasta?  That is not quick!”  Hear me out…This can actually be one of the quickest ways to have a pre-made meal.  All you do if make a big serving of whole grain pasta that will last for 2-4 servings and pre-dress it with a healthy sauce (low sugar/fat) and then you have a quick meal ready to be eating at any time.  The only drawback to this is that you may need  microwave to warm it up.

3-Protein Bars balanced with fiber:  It is not enough to just have a protein bar and call it good.  You need to balance that bar with adequate fiber.  So be sure to take along a baggie of pre-cut veggies and fruit to go along with your bar and you will be set for the next three hours. 

4-RTD’s (Ready-To-Drink Meals):  These have become popular in the last decade due to their extreme convenience.  To give you an example of what I am talking about just think of EAS’s Myo-Plex Shakes.  They are pre-packaged shakes that need to be refrigerated and that is just about it.  Just as the protein bars you need to balance this meal with a serving of veggies and/or a serving of fruit.

5-Left-Overs:  This is something that can make your life a whole lot more enjoyable!  If you have more of a formal dinner with healthy recipes (such as in this book) you can intentionally make more servings and package up the rest for later…all you need is a microwave!

6-Pre-made protein shakes:  This is an economical choice because all you have to do is buy a big 5lb jug of Whey Protein and then make 5-6 pre-made shakes and keep them in your fridge.

7-Whole Grain Crackers and a Protein source:  Triscuits, wheat thins, or any other low-sugar/fat cracker combined with a protein source such as tuna fish, yogurt, cottage cheese, lean deli-meat, or any other protein source such as a pre-made shake.

8-Salads:  If you can grab an extra ten minutes the night before and prepare a salad, they make great convienance meals.  You may need a fridge or you can keep it in your cooler if you are on the road.  Just be sure to spice up your salad with adequate protein such as shredded chicken or turkey to keep the protein high.

9-Whole Grain Cereals:  Yes you can have breakfast for your meals if you need to!  Just be sure that it is whole grain and low-sugar/fat…sound familiar?

 Well there you have it my friends!  Some of the fastest meals available for all of you busy people out there!  Remember life is good and I will see you next week!

Principle #6:  Remember that “one size exercise does NOT fit all”.

 Remember the last time you ordered that Richard Simmons video or more recently that P90X workout and you got great results for around that time frame (60-90 days) and then things seemed to taper off?  The reason for this is the mode of exercise that you are participating in.  To illustrate what I am talking about let me tell you about the nature and characteristics of human skeletal muscle.  Human muscle comes in a variety of fiber types.  Type I Fibers or “red muscle fiber” is a muscle fiber that is characterized by its ability to endure.  It is the muscle fiber that is highly “aerobic” in nature, meaning that it can process oxygen at a faster and more efficient rate than the other Type II fibers that I will describe shortly.  The downside to this type of muscle fiber is that it is not very strong.  Those who possess a high degree of this type of fiber are typically more slender and tend to be weaker in strength.  Type II fibers are generally classified into what is called Type II A, B, or C muscle fibers.  These muscle fibers are much stronger than the type I fibers but lack the endurance capacity of the type I fiber.  Those that posses a high amount of these fibers tend to be very strong people but lack sub maximal muscle endurance.

 So when you finish your workout video, you have predominantly exercised the type I fibers and by and large neglected the type II muscle fibers.  The key is to “Periodize” your workouts so that you hit ALL of the muscle fibers and thereby train the muscle holistically rather than in “fiber isolation” that you will find in about 95% of all commercial/fad workouts.

 Principle #7: Remember to PERIODIZE!

 This is where you plan your workouts yearly…yes yearly.  When one of our clients comes into Lifelong Fitness the first thing that we will do is get them on a year plan that is periodized.  What in the world am I talking about?  This is where you plan workouts around intensity/volume levels.  For example if you are just starting you would want to start in a 10-15 rep range (resistance training) and stay in that range for 4-6 weeks to let the body settle into its newly imposed demands.  After that period (hence the term periodization) you would do well in a rep range of 8-12 to induce what is known as muscle hypertrophy.  You would then proceed to go through 3-5 more cycles to make sure that you are hitting all of the available muscle fibers.  This is where a knowledgeable and formally educated Personal Trainer can make a world of difference for you as they will educate you as to how you can properly design a periodized training program.

 Principle #8: Remember tempo!

 This is one of the most overlooked principles there is.  The tempo of your lifting has a very specific effect on the adaptation of the muscle fibers.  When first beginning you should favor a moderate tempo for your lifting.  When you have a year or so of training under your belt you should favor a variety of training tempo’s ranging from slow to ballistic and explosive.  This will help to challenge and develop the whole scope of your available muscle fibers (principle #6).  I could write an entire blog on this subject so stay tuned in the future…I just might!

 Principle #9: Intensity and Volume Increases

 Intensity as it pertains to weight training is based on percentage of 1 rep max (the maximum amount of weight that you can lift with any exercise).  So if you are lifting around 12 maximal reps you are lifting approximately 65-70% of your 1RM.  Typically you will want to range around 65%to 95% of your 1RM depending on your physical ability and your training experience.  When increasing the volume (sets x reps x weight lifted for your entire workout) you want to make sure that you never go over a ten % training volume in a two week period unless you are an experienced competive or elite athlete.  So take the time for this simple exercise and reap the rewards…your body will thank you and your results will skyrocket.

  Principle #10:  Rest!

 More is not always better!  I know that this one is hard to believe but please listen up!  Once engaged in resistance training human muscle accumulates what is known as cumulative muscle trauma.  This is part of the “tear it down and build it up” process.  This is healthy under normal conditions because this is how you get stronger, but if you continue to train harder and harder without any rest you are in for overtraining syndrome which calls for a whole host of physical break downs as it pertains to your performance and physical well being.

 So take a week off after about 12 weeks of consistent weight training.  If you haven’t tried this yet go ahead and give it a try and see what happens…you will love it.

Well there you have it my friends…smarter not harder!  Remember life is good!

“Three sets of ten are all you need to do son!”  More is better.  Go hard or go home!  No pain no gain!  We have all heard these age old clichés, but the problem is deciphering which ones are true and which ones are completely false.  Today I want to give you a primer on weight training basics that will help ensure that your workouts are safe and effective.

 Principle #1:  Realize that your workouts must be tailored to your needs.

 -This is where a competent and qualified Personal Trainer can make all of the difference in the world.  It is their job to ensure that your workout reflects your unique strengths, weakness, and goals.  Anything short of this and you should be looking for a new Personal Trainer.  If you are going it alone then I suggest that you start VERY conservatively if you are just beginning.  Ignore the magazines as they have no idea of your particular needs and/or your abilities.

-Make sure that you progress slowly and steadily.  More is not necessarily better at first.  Remember that your joints and tendons are not used to the increased pressure of resistance training at first, but they will get used to it as you slowly progress in weight, reps, rest time, ect.

 Principle #2:   You must remember the “Law of Superscompensation”.

 The law of Supercompensation states that when a muscle is broken down from exercise it must be built back up through proper nutrition and rest.  As we all know, when we go to the gym we essentially break down our muscle fibers.  The key to making them stronger is to ensure an adequate protein intake afterwards, coupled with a proper rest period before attempting to hit that muscle group again.  In general, you want to make sure that you are not sore or unduly fatigued before attempting to workout again.

 Principle #3:  Large muscle groups take longer to repair than smaller muscle groups.

 -A bicep will always repair faster than a Quadriceps.  Why?  Because the quadriceps covered a much larger cross sectional area of the body and thus it requires more, bodily processes, resources, energy, and nutrients to repair.  In general your larger body parts such as quadriceps, hamstrings, and chest musculature should be given at least two days of repair before you hit them again…but remember this is for basic exercise.  If you are an athlete or bodybuilder it can take up to 4-5 days.

 Principle #4:  Rest Periods dictate your response.

 -I always get a kick out of those people I observe in the gyms that do a set of an exercise and then talk for a straight 5 minutes before their next set.  The problem with this scenario is that your rest period can directly affect the physiological response your body derives from your weight training session.  For example if you are waiting only 3-45 seconds between exercise sets you are deriving more of a muscular endurance training effect, whereas if you are waiting around a minute you are potentiating your Growth Hormone and Testosterone levels (both men and women) that is more conducive to muscular toning and growth.  In general you want to switch things up periodically so that your body does not get used to any given rest period.  You should select between 2 minutes down to thirty seconds for optimal results.

 Principle #5:  Remain Consistent

 -Let me clearly define what consistency means…it means 3 times per week as a minimum.  This can be more if you are more advanced, but for beginners you can even get away with two times per week for the first six weeks before advancing to three.  This number is highly variable depending on your abilities but the overriding point to be made here is that you should be exercising consistently each and every week.  If you get a week of 3 in and then turn around the next week and only do one workout you will NEVER make the kind of progress you are looking for because your body will not be able to become stronger BECAUSE there is not an adequate exercise stimulus to allow it to occur.  You must be consistent…nuff said!