The Top 5 Fitness No-No's

As you begin the year with new fitness and health goals, it is important to make sure you are practicing safe and effective exercise techniques to maximize your results and prevent injury. This article will help you identify the most common mistakes and misconceptions in exercise and fitness.

5) Holding on to the treadmill
*This technique places extra stress on the lower back and hips due to the production of an unnatural gait. The natural swing of the arms while walking or running causes proper weight distribution as well as strengthening of the core muscles by recruiting them to maintain balance. Finally, holding on the treadmill significantly reduces the total calories burn as well as increasing exercising blood pressure.
4) Abdominal exercises to lose fat in the midsection
*Every adult human being as a 6 pack! The difference between a “fitness model” midsection and a beer belly is the amount of fat sits on top of that 6 pack. Performing hundreds of crunches, side bends, and leg lifts will on help reduce that bulging midsection. The best abdominal exercises are called “put downs”. PUT DOWN that second serving of dessert!!
3) Walking/Running while carrying weights
*Carrying weights in hands while walking or running places extra stress on the shoulders, neck, and back. Using weights heavier than 2 lbs would cause you to swing arms across the body which increases the chances of pulling or straining a muscle. Carry hand weights slows you down and therefore reducing the intensity and the caloric burn of your workout. This technique is also very dangerous because it disables the ability to use hands in case of a fall.
2) Wearing a weight belt
*The usage of a weight belt should be limited to sets in which one is using the heaviest amount of resistance and maximum effort. Using a belt throughout your workout only weakens the core muscles and increases the chance of injury. Also, the necessity to use a weight belt during upper body exercises is a sign of bad exercising posture, weak core muscles, or a significant muscular imbalance.
1) Plastic sauna suits
*This is one of the most dangerous practices in fitness. Increasing body temperature by preventing the evaporation of sweat has been linked to numerous exercise related deaths. The belief that sweating is a sign of an effective workout is a myth that is been around for decades. One can sweat while seating in a car with the windows up in the middle of the summer and that does not mean they are exercising. Whatever weight one loses in sweat from a workout is usually all from dehydration and in turn would be put right back on once you drink any liquid. These suits actually do not make you even sweat more; they just prevent the normal amount of sweat you produce from evaporating.

Hopefully this article provided you with valuable information that would help you accomplish those goals more effectively as well as safer.

The Solution to the Resolution....

So it is about that time again, every one is talking about making resolutions. Now I am not a big fan of the "Resolution" because usually most people don't make it past Feburary and they are back to the same ol' behavior as last year. The reason is that we all want to improve on something in our lives that we weren't satisfied with but we don't actually address the steps needed to take to be successful.
One of the most popular resolution has to do with fitness, health, and more specifically weight loss. I first step to being successful with this type of resolution is to identify the specific things that stopped you from being healthier. Lifestyles, jobs, habits, mindsets, schedules, and even people(friends and family) are the main things that determine "what you look, feel, and act like". In order to be accomplish any goal in life you need to make the little changes that are necessary to accomplish a big goal.

Just Rubber...

This holiday season has been very busy, as usual. But luckily I only missed one workout...which was on Christmas Day. And of course you know I made up for it this morning. Today we had a "Chest and Back" day, which is normally our Tuesday workout. We incorporated the use of the strength bands on the barbell bench press. These aren't your average elastic tubing that barely give 15lbs of resistance. These are the heavy duty, reinforced bands that produces about 90lbs of resistance. Adding these to each side of the barbell as one performs a bench press can make even a 100 lbs feel very heavy. It's not the same type of "heaviness" that you get from regular plates which are providing the exact amount of resistance throughout range of motion. These bands cause a variable amount of loading that results in each rep to feeling different. The "middle" part of the motion is when the resistance starts to kick in. This forces one to explode through the rep or else the "load" would make it impossible to finish/lock out. Needless to say, this provides an instant pump to the muscle because of the added amount of force needed, and in maximizing strength gains.

The "Hype"...

So today, I was surfing the web doing some research for a project I am working on at work. This required me to find images of individuals working out with a personal trainer. First of all, I now know why it is so hard for those of us in the fitness industry to gain/earn the respect of the general population. I stumbbled across numbers websites of several individuals who are personal trainers. The motivation to write this post came from one particular website in which a guy claims to have a client who lost 26lbs and15% body fat in 8 weeks. Now to the average personal who is into to fitness, those numbers are believable but I am here to tell you it is what we (those of us who study and live health and exercise) call... THE HYPE. I am telling you from my experience as a Personal Trainer and Bodybuilder that those results are so incredible its next to impossible. If it this guy could get some to lose 15% of body fat that quickly he would be all over the news and research articles. That means this client was losing basically 2% of body fat EVERY week. The moral of this post, don't believe what you read, see, and hear about even from people who claim to be experts. THE HYPE causes us to set unrealistic goals and get discouraged when we don't achieve them. Hard work, determination, and knowledge would save you a lot time, effort, and money. To get the results you want, you have to earn it the right way...there are NO shortcuts.

Through sickness...

Last week was a really difficult week training for me. I was suffering from a combination of sore throat, congestion, and a cough. The last thing I wanted to was any form of exercise which would have caused me breathe deeper because even breathing hurt to do.
I somehow still found a way to make it through each workout. Now, I am not saying the intensity was at the normal level, but I still was able to push around the same amount of weight and perform the adequate reps for each exercise. Even squating 405lbs for 5 reps!
I am still not 100% this week, but I am feeling alot better. Looking forward to getting back after it. We are just under 50 weeks til my first Professional Bodybuilding show.