Resistance, Part 1

Resistance training is an integral part of a fitness regimen; a great way to begin is by engaging in "body weight" exercises.  These exercises are helpful because  the weight of the body is used to tone your muscles; this sort of training also establishes balance and coordination, which translate into everyday activities (i.e. lifting objects properly, etc.).  Individuals who are extremely overweight or obese should avoid body weight exercises when beginning a resistance training program, as it could cause injury to joints.  Today I'd like to give you some ideas for how to train the upper body using body weight as resistance.

Push ups: when performing push ups, it is important to tighten the muscles of the buttocks and abdominal muscles; this keeps the lower back from "sagging" towards the floor, which causes pain and possible injury.  As a general rule, the elbows need to bend to at least 90 degrees of flexion while performing the downward phase of the push up.

Examples of basic push ups: regular push ups, decline push ups

 






 Regular                                                                                                      Decline


Example of advanced push ups: push up to a side plank position

 Push up to side plank




Tricep dips: when performing tricep dips, it is important to put approximately 80% of the body weight in the arms and only use the feet to stabilize the body for balance.  As the arms bend, the abdominal muscles must remain tight in order to protect the lower back muscles.

Examples of basic tricep dip: hands and feet on the floor with knees bent

Basic tricep dip


Examples of advanced tricep dips: hands on a chair or bench and feet on the floor with legs bent, hands and feet on a chair or bench and legs straight

  

hands on chair/feet on floor                                                                  hands/feet on bench


Abdominal Curl-ups with an Exercise Ball: when performing abdominal curl-ups, I highly recommend using an exercise ball because this requires extra balance to perform the exercise and engages the obliques as well as the rectus abdominus.
Finding the right size exercise ball: 
Height                                                                     Ball Size
less than 5'0"                                                           45cm (18in.)
5'0" to 5'5"                                                              55cm (22in.)
5'6" to 6'1"                                                              65cm (26in.)
6'2" to 6'8"                                                              75cm (30in.)
6'9" and up                                                              85cm (34in.)

Abdominal curl with Exercise Ball

Back Extension with an Exercise Ball: This is a great exercise to tone the lower back, a trouble spot for many people.  It is important to keep the neck and spine in line during the exercise; one way to do this is to look at a spot on the floor directly in front of you.  Looking straight in front or up towards the ceiling can put excess strain on the neck and cause injury.

Back Extension on Exercise Ball

Eating for Exercise

When thinking of food and exercise, sometimes we are not sure what we should eat, how much we should eat, or how the things we eat will affect a regular exercise routine.  I hope that the forthcoming information will help you answer some of these questions.  The following is adapted from Lesli Bonci's book for coaches, Sport Nutrition for Coaches, but is also helpful and applicable for those of us who are not. I'll begin by defining some terms then help you make informed decisions about which foods to choose.

Carbohydrates: there are 3 classes of carbohydrates - simple, complex, and high fiber foods.  As a general rule, you want to stick with a diet higher in complex carbs and high fiber foods rather than simple carbs.
Examples of simple carbs: fruit, honey, table sugar, dairy, corn syrup.  Although these are not necessarily bad for health per se, it also does not take much energy to break down in your system - translation - simple carbs will not keep you full.  Satiety is the goal; you don't want to eat constantly in order to feel satisfied and energetic.  Complex carbs and high fiber foods will help you have that feeling of being satisfied, and will also "stick" with you throughout your day.
Examples of complex carbs: non-starchy (emphasis on the "non!") vegetables (green beans, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes...), rice (white or brown), root vegetables (carrots, beets...), potatoes, yams, legumes, wheat
Examples of high fiber foods: corn, beans, nuts, fruits, veggies, oats

Fats: there are 3 categories of fat - saturated, unsaturated, and trans fat. Unsaturated fat is the best type of fat for you, and where you want most of the fat in your diet coming from.  It is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease and systemic inflammation (i.e. what leads to high blood pressure).  Excess saturated and trans fats in the diet are linked to an increased risk of heart disease.  Excess trans fat also has been observed to lower good cholesterol and increase bad cholesterol, and really should never be eaten.
Examples of saturated fat: skin on poultry, fat on meat, butter, cheese, cream
Examples of trans fat: stick margarine, baked goods, some ice creams, icing
Examples of unsaturated fat: there are 2 types of unsaturated fat - monounsaturated: nuts and nut butters, olives, avocados; polyunsaturated: oils (corn, safflower...), fatty fish (salmon...), walnuts; this fat is also high in Omega-3 and -6

Proteins: there are 2 types of proteins - complete and incomplete.  Complete proteins have all the essential amino acids that your body cannot produce on its own that you need in order to function; incomplete proteins do not.  It is important to have enough protein for tissue growth/repair, bone health, healthy immune system, etc., although it can be stored as fat in the body if eaten in excess.
Examples of complete proteins: meat (beef, veal, pork, lamb...), poultry (chicken, turkey...), fish/shellfish, eggs, dairy products, soy products
Examples of incomplete proteins: beans, grains (rice, pasta, bread, cereal...), seeds, veggies

It is important to know how much of each of these categories you should consume to have the energy you need to work out; when eating the right types of food, weight loss generally takes care of itself.  If you get the nutrition your body needs while you are exercising, and you discontinue a meal once you are full, voila! you now have the combination for health and exercise that includes weight loss.  So here is your crash course in "how much" you need!

Carbohydrates: The USDA recommends 45-65% of daily calories come from carbs; and absolutely no less than 130g of carbs per day.  For the general exerciser you will need 2.3 to 3g per pound (or 5 to 7g per kg) of body weight; for the endurance trainer - 3 to 4.5g  per pound (or 7 to 10g per kg) of body weight.  Again, you want to stick to complex carbs and high fiber foods for the feeling of fullness to get through your day; however, if you need a quick pre-workout burst of energy, a piece of fruit or sports drink/gel (from the simple carb category) will do the trick!

Fat: USDA recommends a daily fat intake of 20-35% of daily calories; the issue is there are many of us who take in far more than that.  So here is how you figure out what you need: weight in lbs x .45 = number of grams of fat per day; OR weight in kg x 1.  A good place to start is to record how many grams of fat you ingest on a daily basis for one week, then calculate what percentage you should be eating using the previously mentioned formulas.  Within the 20-35% of your daily diet that comes from fat, there are specific percentages for the different types of fat: saturated fat (7-10%), monounsaturated fat (at least 10%), polyunsaturated fat (10%), trans fat (you really didn't think you were going to have permission to eat this
did you :-) !!??)

Protein: USDA recommends 10-35% of daily caloric intake be from protein; unfortunately, as with fat, many Americans eat way too much of this also.  For the recreational exerciser you will need .5 to .75g per pound (or 1.1 to 1.6g per kg) of body weight; for the competitive athlete - .6 to .9g per pound (or 1.3 to 3g per kg) of body weight; for the athlete who wants to increase muscle mass - .7 to .9g per pound (or 1.5 to 2g per kg) of body weight; for the teenage athlete - .9 to 1.0g per pound (or 2 to 2.2g per kg) of body weight; for an athlete in weight class sports (i.e. wrestling, etc.) - .9g per pound (or 2.0g per kg) of body weight.

If you take 10-15 minutes to calculate your food intake using the information provided via Dr. Bonci, this will save you from frustration for years to come.  Figuring out your caloric intake will be a mystery no longer, you won't be left wondering if you ate everything you should have eaten during the day. You will feel more energetic for your workouts, and will begin to lose weight.  This is easy to figure out, but will require discipline to carry out.  Take the plunge and take control of your health, nobody else is going to do it for you!

Food Management, Food as Fuel

When we think about food in relation to health and exercise, one word comes to mind that often has a negative connotation to it...dieting!  When we think of food as an uncomfortable, frustrating subject, the scope of our understanding has become too narrow.  We should think of food in terms of fuel for our body.  In order for our bodies to do what we want them to do, they need the right kind of food to get a positive response. 

If you had a car that takes gasoline only, you wouldn't fill it with diesel right?  Of course not, you'd have all sorts of problems with your engine that would cost extra money to fix.  You could have avoided this if you'd just put gasoline in your car in the first place.  While most of us [I hope] look at this example, chuckle, and say, "Well of course I wouldn't put diesel in my gas fueled car!" we unfortunately do something similar to our bodies on a daily basis.  We put bad fuel in our bodies and get frustrated when they do not perform the way we want them to in daily activities; we end up feeling tired all the time, and don't even dream of working out because we're so tired.

Unfortunately, while many people don't realize that some of what they use as body "fuel" is not healthy, a large portion of us do know we are doing the wrong thing and continue to put "diesel" into a "gas" fueled vehicle.  This happens for different reasons; we may have an emotional connection to eating, we say we lack time to prepare quality meals and it's too expensive to eat healthy, or maybe age and genetics are still working on our side and we haven't seen the consequences to eating unhealthy, so we think we may have escaped them.  If you are in this situation, whatever your reason is, I hope you are willing to change...not just a small change, like a temporary diet, but a wholesale-I'm-never-going-back-to-the-way-I-used-to-eat change.

Any dietitian or nutritionist who is worth their salt will tell you to eat "right", meaning, eat your fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and whole grains on a daily basis in the correct portion size to achieve optimum health.  There is no magical diet that will help you put the optimum fuel in your body for daily activities like eating right will.  Why?  A diet is a temporary fix to a permanent problem; when you stop eating according to the diet, the weight comes back on, especially if it is a fad diet.  More on that later!  The following web page of the myplate.gov website is a great resource - http://www.choosemyplate.gov/index.html.  They have officially changed the food pyramid to the food plate, which I personally like better - it gives a good idea of what your plate should look like at every  meal.  I encourage you to do three things with myplate.gov:

1. Look through the website: Note number of portions recommended, understand what you should be eating, and what you should avoid
2. Understand where you are deficient: Note where you are not eating what you should be; if you are like most of America, you will be highly deficient in the fruits and veggies category
3. Create an action plan: Don't stay discouraged about how you have not done well, create a menu for the week, create a new and improved grocery list, and go for it; no time like the present to start fresh!

We can come up with all sorts of reasons why we do not eat the way we ought, but when we are truly honest with ourselves, we do make time for what is important no matter what we have scheduled in our day, or what it may cost!  Don't be content to make excuses and continue living a sub-par, unhealthy life using bad fuel to feel better about it.  The truth is, you can change, we all can.  The question is do you want to change badly enough?  Nothing will motivate you to eat any differently unless you desire it to the point that you are willing to drastically revamp your eating behavior, and never go back to the way you used to eat. 

Remember in the example about cars, how fueling a gas run car with diesel can cause problems and extra expenses with the engine?  Putting poor fuel in your body will do the same thing; when you don't eat  the things you should be eating, it causes more medical expenses down the road as you get older.  Don't buy in to the lie that just because you are young, you can eat whatever you want without consequence.  Children are taking blood pressure and cholesterol medication at an alarming rate, just like adults.  Health problems as an adult don't just magically appear at a certain age, they are a result of bad eating habits over time, since childhood.  Think about your future!

Here are some thoughts in parting about fad diets by author and nutritionist Leslie Bonci that definitely bear repeating!

1. High protein, low carbohydrate - will cause weight loss, most often dehydrates the body, does not provide enough calories or carbohydrates to meet demands of exercise, often leaves people feeling tired and sluggish
2. High carbohydrate, low fat - may lead to weight gain, often causes digestive stress, just because something is low fat doesn't mean it is actually a healthier food item, fat-free DOES NOT equal calorie-free, may not supply enough fat to fuel exercise, low protein intake can have a negative effect on the immune system
3. Zone diet - weight loss due to the low calorie level, often too high in protein and too low in carbohydrates to provide energy for exercise
4. Weight Watchers - promotes weight loss, not terribly restrictive, often doesn't provide enough calories for exercise, but if foods to fuel exercise are added on exercise days this plan could be effective
5. Bizarre and untrue diets - Subway, Eat Right 4 Your Type, Slim Fast, LA Weight Loss - too low in calories to fuel most daily activities, let alone exercise, and who really wants to be on a liquid diet??
6. Diet pills - merely act as a stimulant so the consumer feels more energized, acts as a laxative or diuretic which promotes water loss, overall useless products for real, meaningful weight loss

More to come next week on combining healthy eating and exercise for weight loss!  Remember, you can do this!

Resources for this post: Sport Nutrition for Coaches by Lesli Bonci

Putting Together Your Workout

Congratulations!  You've made it to 2012, and may even have plenty of new resolutions waiting to be accomplished.  If you're like many, beginning a new exercise routine, exercising consistently, or losing weight may be part of the New Years' resolutions you've committed to.  Whether you've exercised for years, or are just starting after a long break, there are some elements that you should include in your training.

1. Flexibility - Stretch, stretch, stretch!  This is an integral part of every exercise routine.  Static  stretches should be included at the beginning and end of every workout for warm-up and cool-down of muscles.  Dynamic stretches should be included as the beginning of every workout for a warm-up.  I am also an advocate of incorporating Yoga exercise at least 1 day per week as part of a well rounded exercise routine.
Benefits of flexibility: injury prevention, pain management for activities of daily living, reduced 
soreness post-exercise, performance enhancement during workout.
Dynamic stretch examples: a dynamic stretch incorporates movement as part of the stretch to
warm up but is NOT bouncing in a static stretch; for example, walking lunges, half squats, arm circles, etc. 
Static stretch examples: a stretch that you hold for 10-30 seconds without moving; for example, quadriceps stretch, double leg hamstring stretch, tricep stretch, etc.
Yoga advice: find a DVD or instructor who is QUALIFIED to be teaching yoga; there is also a
difference between meditation yoga and exercise yoga.  Be careful what you choose; I highly recommend exercise yoga for training. 
 
 2. Strength - Weights will be your best friend as you work out, especially if you are trying to lose weight.  I highly recommend free weights and body weight as the primary weight bearing activities in an exercise regimen.  I rarely encourage machine weights except for the purpose of muscle rehabilitation.  Free weights and body weight activities have been shown through research to provide benefits of strength in everyday activities; machine weights do not, but are more useful for rehabilitation purposes.
Benefits of strength: injury prevention, increased calorie expenditure during rest, reduced symptoms of arthritis and osteoporosis, prevention of joint damage, increased lean muscle mass
Free weights: using dumbbells, medicine balls, barbells, exercise bands; examples - bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, hip adduction, etc. 
Body weight: using body weight as the primary training tool; examples - push ups, tricep dips, 
lunges, pull-ups, etc. Yoga exercise is also a great way to strength train.

3. Balance - Typically this includes a lot of core (between your knees and your neck) training as these muscles provide most of your balance.  Balance activities also retrain your brain to provide coordination in daily activities.  As we age, our brain must relearn the balance that came intuitively when we were younger.  The benefits of balance are mostly seen in older age and are the primary prevention of falls, hip replacements, etc. in the elderly.
Benefits of balance: injury prevention, increased coordination, prevention of irregular stride or gait, prevention of excess flexibility in joints, prevention of falls in older adulthood, increased independence in older adulthood 
Examples of balance training: Yoga exercises or Pilates are a great way start; other ideas include a workout DVD for core training using an exercise ball, or core training classes at a local gym.   

4. Aerobic Training - this can be any number of things, walking, running, aerobics DVDs, spin classes, etc.  Joining a gym is a great way to get started with this, or invest in a quality set of workout DVDs.  The goal is to get your heart rate up and keep it up. 
Benefits of aerobic training: lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, promotes weight loss, 
arteries and veins become more compliant, increases cardiovascular fitness 
Considerations of aerobic training: Intensity of your workout is more important than the 
duration of your workout; translation - how hard you work out is a greater determinant of weight loss than how long you work out.  I know for many this may seem counterintuitive, but it is what research has shown to be true.  You want to have a harder workout, even if it is shorter, in order to effectively lose weight.  If weight loss is your goal, you will see better results when combining strength training with aerobic training because muscle ultimately burns more calories than fat.  Also realize that the cardiovascular benefits can begin after one week of consistent aerobic exercise; you'll notice this before you begin to see weight loss.  Lastly, don't do the same thing everyday; your body is smart, and as it becomes more efficient in performing exercise, it burns fewer calories.  Changing up your workout routine every 4 weeks or so helps prevent this "plateau."


You will ALWAYS get the most out of your workout in terms of weight loss and getting healthier when you combine each of these training concepts in a week of exercise.  It's the New Year with new exercise resolutions...BRING IT ON!!