Well I have completed my first tri season. With four weeks to prepare for my first one and the three weeks off before the second and last one due to allergies and injury, I am happy with my start. I'm looking forward to building my base back up this offseason and improve in the disciplines before the season starts back up.
I have a long way to go to be prepared for the Augusta 70.3 that I've already signed up for. I look forward to being a stronger competitor and athlete by this time next year! Tris take me back to times where I was able to compete more. It has been years since I've felt those kind of nervous feelings before the start of an athletic event, and I kinda enjoy it. The challenges that are presented to me physically and mentally help me feel alive physically.
I'll probably start posting some training schedule stuff on here. I'm really focusing on getting to the six pack abs and increasing strength, endurance and technique by next season. P90X, P90X+, 10 Minute Trainer, and the One on One workouts will all play a part in getting me there.
Bring it!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Carl on Beachbody Coaches
Would You Save Someone from a Burning Building?
Carl Daikeler, Beachbody® CEO
I get so tired of people slamming all of network marketing because they had a bad experience with a soap or water filter network marketing company. What we are doing here is literally saving lives. The consequences of obesity are killing people, yet Reuters news recently predicted that "All U.S. adults could be overweight in 40 years."
That means some are throwing in the towel on YOUR kids, fully expecting their lifestyles to further deteriorate. Are you willing to accept that? I certainly am not. And it makes me angry to think that anyone could. Obesity is not some casual lifestyle problem that simply means a person is enjoying a few extra Twinkies. Obesity is KILLING PEOPLE. Diabetes is KILLING PEOPLE. Beachbody Coaches, however, are SAVING PEOPLE.
I believe the trend of obesity can be turned into a trend of health and fitness through Beachbody Coaches, a community of people who are empowered by the simplicity of this system and our programs. With a world-class compensation program and products that have proven results, we are building an army of people who care so much about their fellow man that when it comes to helping people get healthy and fit, they refuse to be shy about reaching out to help people.
You may have heard that my goal is to recruit one million coaches and help 100 million customers make health and fitness a priority in the next five years. There's only one way that can happen: if you help me spread the word. We call it sharing. It is sharing WITH A CRITICAL PURPOSE.
I was telling Beachbody co-founder Jon Congdon a story today about how I was suggesting to a noteworthy celebrity that she become a Coach. Jon's reaction surprised me: "You are fricking fearless, dude."
I have plenty of fear. I'm afraid we really are going down a rat hole and the quality of life of this country might not recover. I am afraid friends of mine are dooming themselves to a quality of life they never bargained for—all because they are not aware of their responsibility to their health. Fear of caring for someone by mentioning the system of "Play, Shake, and Share" never entered my mind in that conversation, because I felt like I was watching someone go about their day like nothing was wrong while standing deep inside a burning building. But instead of risking my life to get him or her out, I just had to risk hearing "no." He or she can get out of that burning building, and the Beachbody system of Play, Shake, and Share is the way to do it.
I got an email from someone today spewing venom about network marketing. "How can you get into that business?" Man, people can be angry about this distribution system. What they are failing to consider is the possibility that, in this case, it is a good thing. People helping people get healthy and fit just might be the perfect application of the peer-to-peer distribution model.
Where other network marketing companies are more about commerce than they are about helping people, the balance between financial opportunity and the importance—the urgency—to wake people up and help them change bad habits is what being a Beachbody Coach is about. Let me repeat that: There is a national emergency here—an epidemic of obesity—and you are the emergency response team.
Our coaching opportunity is truly revolutionary because it puts the responsibility to change in the hands of the people who need and want the change . . . you and me.
We can either accept this path of sickness that surrounds us, or we can do what it takes to get healthy and fight to help people do the same. You are that solution. In exchange for being that help to as many people as you can, I hope you also get incredibly rich. That's how it should work.
So, the next time you hesitate about whether being a Coach is worth it or not, or whether or not you should approach that friend, co-worker, or relative about their fitness needs and goals, ask yourself whether you would rescue a friend from a burning building.
Know that the physical and mental consequences of obesity can be just as devastating as any other tragic loss that would require your intervention. Every day that you wake up and share this opportunity and these solutions with people, you are a true hero. And you should be rewarded, acknowledged, and applauded as such.
Carl Daikeler, Beachbody® CEO
I get so tired of people slamming all of network marketing because they had a bad experience with a soap or water filter network marketing company. What we are doing here is literally saving lives. The consequences of obesity are killing people, yet Reuters news recently predicted that "All U.S. adults could be overweight in 40 years."
That means some are throwing in the towel on YOUR kids, fully expecting their lifestyles to further deteriorate. Are you willing to accept that? I certainly am not. And it makes me angry to think that anyone could. Obesity is not some casual lifestyle problem that simply means a person is enjoying a few extra Twinkies. Obesity is KILLING PEOPLE. Diabetes is KILLING PEOPLE. Beachbody Coaches, however, are SAVING PEOPLE.
I believe the trend of obesity can be turned into a trend of health and fitness through Beachbody Coaches, a community of people who are empowered by the simplicity of this system and our programs. With a world-class compensation program and products that have proven results, we are building an army of people who care so much about their fellow man that when it comes to helping people get healthy and fit, they refuse to be shy about reaching out to help people.
You may have heard that my goal is to recruit one million coaches and help 100 million customers make health and fitness a priority in the next five years. There's only one way that can happen: if you help me spread the word. We call it sharing. It is sharing WITH A CRITICAL PURPOSE.
I was telling Beachbody co-founder Jon Congdon a story today about how I was suggesting to a noteworthy celebrity that she become a Coach. Jon's reaction surprised me: "You are fricking fearless, dude."
I have plenty of fear. I'm afraid we really are going down a rat hole and the quality of life of this country might not recover. I am afraid friends of mine are dooming themselves to a quality of life they never bargained for—all because they are not aware of their responsibility to their health. Fear of caring for someone by mentioning the system of "Play, Shake, and Share" never entered my mind in that conversation, because I felt like I was watching someone go about their day like nothing was wrong while standing deep inside a burning building. But instead of risking my life to get him or her out, I just had to risk hearing "no." He or she can get out of that burning building, and the Beachbody system of Play, Shake, and Share is the way to do it.
I got an email from someone today spewing venom about network marketing. "How can you get into that business?" Man, people can be angry about this distribution system. What they are failing to consider is the possibility that, in this case, it is a good thing. People helping people get healthy and fit just might be the perfect application of the peer-to-peer distribution model.
Where other network marketing companies are more about commerce than they are about helping people, the balance between financial opportunity and the importance—the urgency—to wake people up and help them change bad habits is what being a Beachbody Coach is about. Let me repeat that: There is a national emergency here—an epidemic of obesity—and you are the emergency response team.
Our coaching opportunity is truly revolutionary because it puts the responsibility to change in the hands of the people who need and want the change . . . you and me.
We can either accept this path of sickness that surrounds us, or we can do what it takes to get healthy and fight to help people do the same. You are that solution. In exchange for being that help to as many people as you can, I hope you also get incredibly rich. That's how it should work.
So, the next time you hesitate about whether being a Coach is worth it or not, or whether or not you should approach that friend, co-worker, or relative about their fitness needs and goals, ask yourself whether you would rescue a friend from a burning building.
Know that the physical and mental consequences of obesity can be just as devastating as any other tragic loss that would require your intervention. Every day that you wake up and share this opportunity and these solutions with people, you are a true hero. And you should be rewarded, acknowledged, and applauded as such.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Tips from Tony Horton's Fitness Camp
Hello, I just wanted to share some tips that had been passed on to me from Tony's Fitness Camp. I know that for me chosing to lead a more healthy lifestyle has been a process full of small changes. I am continually learning about nutrition, and am realizing it really is a process! I think back to changes I made when I first started with Beachbody 2 1/2 years ago, and how little by little I make changes to help me be even more healthy. I say all that to help you not be overwhelmed by this post!
It is a process, so maybe chose one thing you can eliminate from your diet, and one thing to add to your diet. Then as you get comfortable with that, you can do another thing. I want all of us to be as healthy as we can be! Most of us are relatively young, so if we make these lifestyle changes now, the odds will be that when we reach our 40's, 50's, 60's, etc we won't have the health issues that so many of those in that age group start to have. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
Notes by Julie
"Key Points that I documented from Missy Costello’s Nutrition Notes from lectures at the Vegas Tony Horton Fitness Camp.Missy is Tony Horton’s cook and personal assistant- she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met (and we are only 3 days apart in age, we both turn 40 in September- fellow Virgos)
Four Principles to Live by:
1. Drink plenty of water throughout the day; carry a water bottle with you everywhere. Putting lemon in your water will also help break the acidity (seems counterintuitive but it does) You can also put a couple drops of Stevia in your water to sweeten it.a. When you wake up in the morning drink 16 oz of water- this will help to break the acidity in your body from the overnight fast. I have also been told that this will increase your metabolism as well.
2. Shoot for 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Too much sleep actually prevents the body from burning fat.
3. Exercise 5-6 days per week
4. Eat Unprocessed Whole Foods
a. Leafy Greens
b. Fruits
c. Lean Proteins
d. Whole Grainse. Healthy Fats
f. Legumes
DIETS DO NOT WORK- HEALTHY EATING LIFESTYLE WORKS
12 Foods to Buy Organic if You Buy Organic
(#9 in front of the number on the sticker = organic)
1. Peaches (over 100 pesticides sprayed on peaches)
2. Apples
3. Bell Peppers (especially Red, Yellow and Orange)
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Berries
7. Greens -Leaves
8. Grape (especially imported grapes)
9. Pears
10. Spinach
11. Potatoes
12. Lettuce
Utilize your Farmers Market- Go to localharvest.org
Items you can Buy Non-Organic
1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Pineapples
4. Mango
5. Frozen Sweet Peas
6. Asparagus
7. Kiwi
8. Bananas
9. Cabbage
10. Broccoli
11. Eggplant
Coconut Oil One of the best things you can add to your diet. Coconut Oil/butter is a medium chained fatty acid that will actually increase your metabolism and produce energy in your body. Missy just swears by the use of Coconut Oil- she recommends a book entitled The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife (I ordered it yesterday, I can’t wait to get it)Coconut oil melts at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Only buy the Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. Missy recommends the brand by the name of Nutiva. You can cook with Coconut oil just like olive oil, use it in stir-fry dishes, use the coconut butter on bread or put it in a smoothie.
80/20 Rule
80% of the times eat perfectly clean 20% of the time have cheat meals otherwise you will feel deprived and may binge. Over time your idea of a cheat will change as you eat more and more healthy, the sweet stuff will start to taste horrible. Missy talked about her cheat as being fresh fruit with Kefir (yogurt like substance) poured over the top with some agave nectar.
Get the Sugar out of your Diet!!!Sugar turns into fat- plain and simple.
Do not eat anything that has High Fructose Corn Syrup in the label. Sometimes on the label as Evaporated Cane Sugar.
Keep fruit in your diet as something sweet and a great source of fiber
Take all artificial sweeteners out of your diet (nutra sweet, splenda, equal etc)Increase your blood sugar level and create more cravings
Many medical studies have shown deleterious effect such as a carcinogen
Use AGAVE NECTAR as a sweetener- very low on the glycemic index scale and can be put on anything. (I have been using agave nectar for a while now and I absolutely love it. I use it on my waffles, eggs, and coffee, unsweetened yogurt…. So many things)
Xylitol is another great sweetener to use in baking or to sweeten tea, put it over kefir or in your smoothies etc. It is used as an equal measurement to sugar.
Brown Rice Syrup is also very low on the glycemic index and good for baking. Tony swears by this stuff for his pancakes.
Rapadum is the least processed can sugar. It is a little higher on the glycemic index
Stevia- this is an herb it is 300X sweeter than sugar. Missy carries a bottle with her and puts it in her water. If you want to know how many teaspoons of sugar are in what you are eating, divide grams of carbohydrates by 4.
Foods that decrease your blood sugar- causing an insulin surge
1. Caffeine
2. Alcohol
3. Chocolate
4. Energy Drinks
5. Ice cream
6. Refined White Flour
Some recommended Foods by Missy:
1. Greens Plus Protein Bar
2. Quinoa (Use in place of brown rice)
3. Ezekiel Bread and Tortillas (all sprouted grains, no sugar, no flour- found in freezer section of store)
4. Green Tea (replace coffee) Guayaki- Yerba Mate
Green tea (so good)
a. Suppressed appetite
b. Gives you even energy throughout the day
c. Loaded with anti-oxidants
5. Millet
6. Amaranth
7. Nuts and Seeds (make your own trail mix)
a. Almonds
b. Pistachios
c. Gogi berries
d. Raw cashews
e. Raw sunflower seeds
f. Unsweetened dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, mulberries)
g. Walnuts
h. Raw cacao pieces
8. Almond Milk (Diamond Unsweetened natural and vanilla flavor- great in smoothies
9. Coconut Water- Use in a smoothie or mix in your recovery drink or drink as your recovery drink- this is natures Gatorade- a good brand is ONE
10. Rice Milk- used in smoothies or for anything you would use milk or soymilk for. Make sure it is unsweetened or low in sugar.
11. Aloe Vera Juices- use in smoothies 2 oz. Helps with digestion and aids sleep
12. Kefir- this is a great probiotic, use it just like you would use yogurt, mix with fruit or add to a smoothie.
13. Legumes
14. Sea Salt- flushes out whatever your body does not need, it will not cause bloating like table salt
15. Healthy fats
a. Olive Oil
b. Avocados
c. Nuts
16. Lean Proteins
17. Salad dressing – Olive oil/Lemon/ Apple cider or Rice wine vinegar
18. Cinnamon- Will help level out blood sugar
Two Things to absolutely take out of your diet
1. Take all white flour out
2. Soda-Leaches Calcium from bones, horrible for you
Other things to Eliminate from your diet
1. White sugar –processed sugar – all baked goods
2. Dairy (causes bloating and too much mucus in the body-making body acidic)
3. Processed Meats
4. Hydrogenated Fats
Miscellaneous items
1. Soak your beans overnight, and then change the water will virtually eliminate gas problems
2. Soy products – not really recommended by Missy. It is very highly acidic and hard to digest. Replace with almond milk or rice milk, you can eat organic edamame for a good source of soy protein.
3. When you are feeling like you are getting sick
a. Echinaechia
b. Golden Seal
c. Tons of water
A recommended book by Missy is the Metabolic Typing Diet- not because it is a DIET book but Missy pointed out that all of us are made different and different things work for different people and this book will help you to determine what may work best for you. (I also ordered this book yesterday)"
If you made it this far and read the whole thing, KUDOS! =0) Have a great day everyone! Remember start small! It is a long list, but at least try to chose one thing you can change to live a healthier lifestyle! If you have any questions feel free to ask me!
Keith
It is a process, so maybe chose one thing you can eliminate from your diet, and one thing to add to your diet. Then as you get comfortable with that, you can do another thing. I want all of us to be as healthy as we can be! Most of us are relatively young, so if we make these lifestyle changes now, the odds will be that when we reach our 40's, 50's, 60's, etc we won't have the health issues that so many of those in that age group start to have. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.
Notes by Julie
"Key Points that I documented from Missy Costello’s Nutrition Notes from lectures at the Vegas Tony Horton Fitness Camp.Missy is Tony Horton’s cook and personal assistant- she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met (and we are only 3 days apart in age, we both turn 40 in September- fellow Virgos)
Four Principles to Live by:
1. Drink plenty of water throughout the day; carry a water bottle with you everywhere. Putting lemon in your water will also help break the acidity (seems counterintuitive but it does) You can also put a couple drops of Stevia in your water to sweeten it.a. When you wake up in the morning drink 16 oz of water- this will help to break the acidity in your body from the overnight fast. I have also been told that this will increase your metabolism as well.
2. Shoot for 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Too much sleep actually prevents the body from burning fat.
3. Exercise 5-6 days per week
4. Eat Unprocessed Whole Foods
a. Leafy Greens
b. Fruits
c. Lean Proteins
d. Whole Grainse. Healthy Fats
f. Legumes
DIETS DO NOT WORK- HEALTHY EATING LIFESTYLE WORKS
12 Foods to Buy Organic if You Buy Organic
(#9 in front of the number on the sticker = organic)
1. Peaches (over 100 pesticides sprayed on peaches)
2. Apples
3. Bell Peppers (especially Red, Yellow and Orange)
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Berries
7. Greens -Leaves
8. Grape (especially imported grapes)
9. Pears
10. Spinach
11. Potatoes
12. Lettuce
Utilize your Farmers Market- Go to localharvest.org
Items you can Buy Non-Organic
1. Onions
2. Avocados
3. Pineapples
4. Mango
5. Frozen Sweet Peas
6. Asparagus
7. Kiwi
8. Bananas
9. Cabbage
10. Broccoli
11. Eggplant
Coconut Oil One of the best things you can add to your diet. Coconut Oil/butter is a medium chained fatty acid that will actually increase your metabolism and produce energy in your body. Missy just swears by the use of Coconut Oil- she recommends a book entitled The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife (I ordered it yesterday, I can’t wait to get it)Coconut oil melts at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Only buy the Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. Missy recommends the brand by the name of Nutiva. You can cook with Coconut oil just like olive oil, use it in stir-fry dishes, use the coconut butter on bread or put it in a smoothie.
80/20 Rule
80% of the times eat perfectly clean 20% of the time have cheat meals otherwise you will feel deprived and may binge. Over time your idea of a cheat will change as you eat more and more healthy, the sweet stuff will start to taste horrible. Missy talked about her cheat as being fresh fruit with Kefir (yogurt like substance) poured over the top with some agave nectar.
Get the Sugar out of your Diet!!!Sugar turns into fat- plain and simple.
Do not eat anything that has High Fructose Corn Syrup in the label. Sometimes on the label as Evaporated Cane Sugar.
Keep fruit in your diet as something sweet and a great source of fiber
Take all artificial sweeteners out of your diet (nutra sweet, splenda, equal etc)Increase your blood sugar level and create more cravings
Many medical studies have shown deleterious effect such as a carcinogen
Use AGAVE NECTAR as a sweetener- very low on the glycemic index scale and can be put on anything. (I have been using agave nectar for a while now and I absolutely love it. I use it on my waffles, eggs, and coffee, unsweetened yogurt…. So many things)
Xylitol is another great sweetener to use in baking or to sweeten tea, put it over kefir or in your smoothies etc. It is used as an equal measurement to sugar.
Brown Rice Syrup is also very low on the glycemic index and good for baking. Tony swears by this stuff for his pancakes.
Rapadum is the least processed can sugar. It is a little higher on the glycemic index
Stevia- this is an herb it is 300X sweeter than sugar. Missy carries a bottle with her and puts it in her water. If you want to know how many teaspoons of sugar are in what you are eating, divide grams of carbohydrates by 4.
Foods that decrease your blood sugar- causing an insulin surge
1. Caffeine
2. Alcohol
3. Chocolate
4. Energy Drinks
5. Ice cream
6. Refined White Flour
Some recommended Foods by Missy:
1. Greens Plus Protein Bar
2. Quinoa (Use in place of brown rice)
3. Ezekiel Bread and Tortillas (all sprouted grains, no sugar, no flour- found in freezer section of store)
4. Green Tea (replace coffee) Guayaki- Yerba Mate
Green tea (so good)
a. Suppressed appetite
b. Gives you even energy throughout the day
c. Loaded with anti-oxidants
5. Millet
6. Amaranth
7. Nuts and Seeds (make your own trail mix)
a. Almonds
b. Pistachios
c. Gogi berries
d. Raw cashews
e. Raw sunflower seeds
f. Unsweetened dried fruit (cranberries, cherries, mulberries)
g. Walnuts
h. Raw cacao pieces
8. Almond Milk (Diamond Unsweetened natural and vanilla flavor- great in smoothies
9. Coconut Water- Use in a smoothie or mix in your recovery drink or drink as your recovery drink- this is natures Gatorade- a good brand is ONE
10. Rice Milk- used in smoothies or for anything you would use milk or soymilk for. Make sure it is unsweetened or low in sugar.
11. Aloe Vera Juices- use in smoothies 2 oz. Helps with digestion and aids sleep
12. Kefir- this is a great probiotic, use it just like you would use yogurt, mix with fruit or add to a smoothie.
13. Legumes
14. Sea Salt- flushes out whatever your body does not need, it will not cause bloating like table salt
15. Healthy fats
a. Olive Oil
b. Avocados
c. Nuts
16. Lean Proteins
17. Salad dressing – Olive oil/Lemon/ Apple cider or Rice wine vinegar
18. Cinnamon- Will help level out blood sugar
Two Things to absolutely take out of your diet
1. Take all white flour out
2. Soda-Leaches Calcium from bones, horrible for you
Other things to Eliminate from your diet
1. White sugar –processed sugar – all baked goods
2. Dairy (causes bloating and too much mucus in the body-making body acidic)
3. Processed Meats
4. Hydrogenated Fats
Miscellaneous items
1. Soak your beans overnight, and then change the water will virtually eliminate gas problems
2. Soy products – not really recommended by Missy. It is very highly acidic and hard to digest. Replace with almond milk or rice milk, you can eat organic edamame for a good source of soy protein.
3. When you are feeling like you are getting sick
a. Echinaechia
b. Golden Seal
c. Tons of water
A recommended book by Missy is the Metabolic Typing Diet- not because it is a DIET book but Missy pointed out that all of us are made different and different things work for different people and this book will help you to determine what may work best for you. (I also ordered this book yesterday)"
If you made it this far and read the whole thing, KUDOS! =0) Have a great day everyone! Remember start small! It is a long list, but at least try to chose one thing you can change to live a healthier lifestyle! If you have any questions feel free to ask me!
Keith
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
How Important Is Weight Training to Losing Weight?
This post is complements of Steve Edwards, the Fitness Advisor for Beachbody.
"Weight Training: The Best Way to Get Lean
By Steve Edwards
When it comes to reshaping your body, nothing is quite as effective as lifting weights. Cardio is great for your heart, Pilates will help you get stronger, and yoga will balance you out; but nothing compares with a well-designed resistance program for getting lean.
This is in contrast to our weight lifting cultural icons. Arnold, Hulk Hogan, and the WWE are who and what we tend to associate with pumping iron. It may be more accurate, however, to associate those massive bodies with anabolic steroids and turn our attention to the real cultural icon for weight training: Jack LaLanne. The guy who practically invented "lifting" as we now know it is well into his 90s and can still ace the fitness standard designed for a 30-year-old. Once considered a bodybuilder, his legacy has far more to do with his fitness exploits than his brawn. His feats include things like swimming with his hands and feet shackled and towing 70 people in 70 boats across Long Beach Harbor on his 70th birthday. The key to Jack's success over all these years has been lifting weights.
In his intro to P90X's Chest, Shoulders & Triceps workout, Tony Horton tells us, "It's just good old-fashioned weight training that's gotten lost in a lot of fancy gidgits and gadgets and things that don't work." But weight lifting is making a comeback. In a couple of months, Turbo Jam® creator Chalene Johnson will unveil her new program focusing on weight training as the path to a lean and healthy body. As scientists look for the latest way to halt a growing obesity epidemic, the research still leads them back to the same simple fact: resistance stimulates the muscles to work, which causes an effect throughout the body that keeps it strong, healthy, and lean. Let's take a brief look at why.
The basics of body composition
The science of how our bodies work is complex. However, the basics of body composition, and why we get obese and out of shape, are very simple. Due to the former, we can see how it's possible to believe that one magic nutrient, drug, or movement might transform us from fat to fit. But once we understand the latter, we see how this is highly unlikely, if not impossible.
A simple overview of body composition looks like this. At the base is a skeleton that is held together with connective tissues. This encases most of your organs and circulatory system. Muscles surround the structure and enable it to move. Body fat protects the organs and joints. It's all covered by your largest organ, your skin. We're leaving out some obvious functionality but this is basically what makes up your body composition, which determines your shape.
While there are different body types, all of them look good when all of the above are in the correct proportion. We look worse when our body fat percentages exceed their intended uses. Excess body fat inhibits the body's natural ability to function, and, hence, leads to myriad health problems. To correct this, we need to reduce the amount of body fat in our bodies. There are many ways to make this happen. Eating less, eating better, and exercising moves the process in the right direction. But the easiest way to do this is to add muscle. And the best way to add muscle is to exercise using resistance.
Weight training basics
Most weight training is what we call anaerobic. This means, simply, that the intensity it takes to do it exceeds your body's aerobic (oxygen-carrying) capability. Anaerobic training relies on something called the Krebs cycle, which is a process in each cell that puts the body under stress. This stress forces your body to adapt and works nearly every human function we associate with fitness, including your body's aerobic system. So, oddly enough, a well-crafted anaerobic workout program is all the work you need to have a perfectly healthy aerobic system. This is because recovering from anaerobic work requires your aerobic system to work. If you can understand this concept, it will be easy to understand why weight training is so vital.
The fat-burning misnomer
Many less intense programs, like aerobics and most "cardio" programs, focus on training in what some people call the "fat burning zone." This term is misleading because what it really means is utilizing fat for fuel—not burning body fat. Well—wait—it does actually mean that. The process is a little complicated, but I'll simplify it.
At low-level outputs, your body burns its stored fat as fuel. At higher outputs, it burns sugars that have been stored in your blood and liver, called blood glycogen. It's important to do both, but targeting fat mobilization as your primary fuel source in your workout makes little sense, unless you're training for endurance sports.
Your body has a limited store of glycogen—about enough for an hour or so of hard work. It attempts to save this for intense exercise (and brain function) and tries to do low-level tasks by burning body fat. Training at low intensity has a benefit, but it's only a fraction of what high intensity can accomplish in the same amount of time. And even though you are burning stored fat instead of glycogen, you aren't stimulating your muscles in the same way. This lack of stimulation means that you aren't creating the same level of hormone release, organ function, or muscle growth. The result is that you get far less fitness improvement in a given amount of time.
The metabolic process
This is, at its most basic, the speed at which your body engine runs while resting. The more fit you are, the higher your metabolic rate is likely to be. Excess muscle on your body takes more energy just to keep it there. Body fat doesn't have the same requirements. In fact, it sort of does the opposite, by gumming up the works and inhibiting the metabolic process. Remember that muscle is there so that the body can move and do stuff. Fat is there to protect the body, especially the organs. It is similar to having a spare tire sitting inside of you. It adds weight and slows you down but does nothing helpful for your metabolism. This means that the most effective way to burn body fat is to add muscle to your frame because it burns fat around the clock. That is precisely what Chalene Johnson's new program will do—and you'll be hearing a lot more about "muscle burns fat" in the coming weeks.
Why your scale is lying to you
Using the above body-composition basics, it's pretty easy to understand why losing weight should not be your ultimate goal. Instead, you should focus on losing body fat, which means that you'll get smaller at the same weight. By volume, muscle weighs far more than body fat. So much so that by adding muscle you can actually gain weight as you shrink. This isn't true for most people, but many "skinny fat" people find that all of their health indicators improve as they gain weight.
This is especially important to consider if you're highly de-conditioned, because not only do you have more fat on your body than you should, you probably have less muscle. As this ratio comes into balance, the scale may not be dropping, but your body can be making substantial changes. Furthermore, weight training can change your bone density. This does not increase the size of your bones but increases their weight and strength. For this fact alone, it's recommended that everyone add some resistance training into their lifestyle as they age.
What to do if you want lean muscles instead of bulky muscles
The bad news is that there is no such thing as a lean muscle. The good news is that there is really no such thing as a bulky muscle. We use these terms to describe a body type, not a muscle. Lean muscle is also a term that means, well, muscle. All muscle is lean. Body fat is not lean. So the only non-lean muscle is one that has excess fat around it.
You can't really change a muscle's shape. It either grows, called hypertrophy, or shrinks, called atrophy. Weight training programs target muscle growth. All muscles are lean and shapely. To look lean and shapely, you want to build your muscles so that your metabolism increases and your body-fat percentage decreases.
"Bulky" (in quotes, because it's a matter of opinion) is a term used for muscles that are larger than normal. These are much harder to get than most of us, especially women, tend to believe. Bodybuilders certainly wish it were a lot easier. But adding excessive muscle takes an almost obsessive amount of work. Due to gravity, our bodies don't like to weigh too much and resist adding muscle. It's easier to add excess fat because not much can be done about overeating. Adding bulk is so difficult that steroids have become a huge societal problem.
It's also easy to control whether or not you become "bulky" through the number of repetitions (or time spent) doing resistance work. Sets that are longer than 12 or so repetitions (or about 30 seconds) self-limit the muscle's ability to grow. Therefore, those looking for a "lean" look should target higher reps once they've decided that their muscles are large enough.
And the added benefit of antiaging
Finally, nothing helps you age more gracefully than weight training. There are other ways to stay lean, but using resistance training creates hormonal releases that offset the aging process better than anything else. Furthermore, you lose muscle as you age—about 1 percent or so per year beyond the age of 30. Antiaging medicine is often prescribed in the form of injections of the very same hormones that are released when you do intense resistance workouts. Weight training is a cheaper, and arguably more effective, alternative to spending a lot of money on doctors. Just ask Jack LaLanne. (And stay tuned for more information about our new weight training program . . . ChaLEAN Extreme!)"
"Weight Training: The Best Way to Get Lean
By Steve Edwards
When it comes to reshaping your body, nothing is quite as effective as lifting weights. Cardio is great for your heart, Pilates will help you get stronger, and yoga will balance you out; but nothing compares with a well-designed resistance program for getting lean.
This is in contrast to our weight lifting cultural icons. Arnold, Hulk Hogan, and the WWE are who and what we tend to associate with pumping iron. It may be more accurate, however, to associate those massive bodies with anabolic steroids and turn our attention to the real cultural icon for weight training: Jack LaLanne. The guy who practically invented "lifting" as we now know it is well into his 90s and can still ace the fitness standard designed for a 30-year-old. Once considered a bodybuilder, his legacy has far more to do with his fitness exploits than his brawn. His feats include things like swimming with his hands and feet shackled and towing 70 people in 70 boats across Long Beach Harbor on his 70th birthday. The key to Jack's success over all these years has been lifting weights.
In his intro to P90X's Chest, Shoulders & Triceps workout, Tony Horton tells us, "It's just good old-fashioned weight training that's gotten lost in a lot of fancy gidgits and gadgets and things that don't work." But weight lifting is making a comeback. In a couple of months, Turbo Jam® creator Chalene Johnson will unveil her new program focusing on weight training as the path to a lean and healthy body. As scientists look for the latest way to halt a growing obesity epidemic, the research still leads them back to the same simple fact: resistance stimulates the muscles to work, which causes an effect throughout the body that keeps it strong, healthy, and lean. Let's take a brief look at why.
The basics of body composition
The science of how our bodies work is complex. However, the basics of body composition, and why we get obese and out of shape, are very simple. Due to the former, we can see how it's possible to believe that one magic nutrient, drug, or movement might transform us from fat to fit. But once we understand the latter, we see how this is highly unlikely, if not impossible.
A simple overview of body composition looks like this. At the base is a skeleton that is held together with connective tissues. This encases most of your organs and circulatory system. Muscles surround the structure and enable it to move. Body fat protects the organs and joints. It's all covered by your largest organ, your skin. We're leaving out some obvious functionality but this is basically what makes up your body composition, which determines your shape.
While there are different body types, all of them look good when all of the above are in the correct proportion. We look worse when our body fat percentages exceed their intended uses. Excess body fat inhibits the body's natural ability to function, and, hence, leads to myriad health problems. To correct this, we need to reduce the amount of body fat in our bodies. There are many ways to make this happen. Eating less, eating better, and exercising moves the process in the right direction. But the easiest way to do this is to add muscle. And the best way to add muscle is to exercise using resistance.
Weight training basics
Most weight training is what we call anaerobic. This means, simply, that the intensity it takes to do it exceeds your body's aerobic (oxygen-carrying) capability. Anaerobic training relies on something called the Krebs cycle, which is a process in each cell that puts the body under stress. This stress forces your body to adapt and works nearly every human function we associate with fitness, including your body's aerobic system. So, oddly enough, a well-crafted anaerobic workout program is all the work you need to have a perfectly healthy aerobic system. This is because recovering from anaerobic work requires your aerobic system to work. If you can understand this concept, it will be easy to understand why weight training is so vital.
The fat-burning misnomer
Many less intense programs, like aerobics and most "cardio" programs, focus on training in what some people call the "fat burning zone." This term is misleading because what it really means is utilizing fat for fuel—not burning body fat. Well—wait—it does actually mean that. The process is a little complicated, but I'll simplify it.
At low-level outputs, your body burns its stored fat as fuel. At higher outputs, it burns sugars that have been stored in your blood and liver, called blood glycogen. It's important to do both, but targeting fat mobilization as your primary fuel source in your workout makes little sense, unless you're training for endurance sports.
Your body has a limited store of glycogen—about enough for an hour or so of hard work. It attempts to save this for intense exercise (and brain function) and tries to do low-level tasks by burning body fat. Training at low intensity has a benefit, but it's only a fraction of what high intensity can accomplish in the same amount of time. And even though you are burning stored fat instead of glycogen, you aren't stimulating your muscles in the same way. This lack of stimulation means that you aren't creating the same level of hormone release, organ function, or muscle growth. The result is that you get far less fitness improvement in a given amount of time.
The metabolic process
This is, at its most basic, the speed at which your body engine runs while resting. The more fit you are, the higher your metabolic rate is likely to be. Excess muscle on your body takes more energy just to keep it there. Body fat doesn't have the same requirements. In fact, it sort of does the opposite, by gumming up the works and inhibiting the metabolic process. Remember that muscle is there so that the body can move and do stuff. Fat is there to protect the body, especially the organs. It is similar to having a spare tire sitting inside of you. It adds weight and slows you down but does nothing helpful for your metabolism. This means that the most effective way to burn body fat is to add muscle to your frame because it burns fat around the clock. That is precisely what Chalene Johnson's new program will do—and you'll be hearing a lot more about "muscle burns fat" in the coming weeks.
Why your scale is lying to you
Using the above body-composition basics, it's pretty easy to understand why losing weight should not be your ultimate goal. Instead, you should focus on losing body fat, which means that you'll get smaller at the same weight. By volume, muscle weighs far more than body fat. So much so that by adding muscle you can actually gain weight as you shrink. This isn't true for most people, but many "skinny fat" people find that all of their health indicators improve as they gain weight.
This is especially important to consider if you're highly de-conditioned, because not only do you have more fat on your body than you should, you probably have less muscle. As this ratio comes into balance, the scale may not be dropping, but your body can be making substantial changes. Furthermore, weight training can change your bone density. This does not increase the size of your bones but increases their weight and strength. For this fact alone, it's recommended that everyone add some resistance training into their lifestyle as they age.
What to do if you want lean muscles instead of bulky muscles
The bad news is that there is no such thing as a lean muscle. The good news is that there is really no such thing as a bulky muscle. We use these terms to describe a body type, not a muscle. Lean muscle is also a term that means, well, muscle. All muscle is lean. Body fat is not lean. So the only non-lean muscle is one that has excess fat around it.
You can't really change a muscle's shape. It either grows, called hypertrophy, or shrinks, called atrophy. Weight training programs target muscle growth. All muscles are lean and shapely. To look lean and shapely, you want to build your muscles so that your metabolism increases and your body-fat percentage decreases.
"Bulky" (in quotes, because it's a matter of opinion) is a term used for muscles that are larger than normal. These are much harder to get than most of us, especially women, tend to believe. Bodybuilders certainly wish it were a lot easier. But adding excessive muscle takes an almost obsessive amount of work. Due to gravity, our bodies don't like to weigh too much and resist adding muscle. It's easier to add excess fat because not much can be done about overeating. Adding bulk is so difficult that steroids have become a huge societal problem.
It's also easy to control whether or not you become "bulky" through the number of repetitions (or time spent) doing resistance work. Sets that are longer than 12 or so repetitions (or about 30 seconds) self-limit the muscle's ability to grow. Therefore, those looking for a "lean" look should target higher reps once they've decided that their muscles are large enough.
And the added benefit of antiaging
Finally, nothing helps you age more gracefully than weight training. There are other ways to stay lean, but using resistance training creates hormonal releases that offset the aging process better than anything else. Furthermore, you lose muscle as you age—about 1 percent or so per year beyond the age of 30. Antiaging medicine is often prescribed in the form of injections of the very same hormones that are released when you do intense resistance workouts. Weight training is a cheaper, and arguably more effective, alternative to spending a lot of money on doctors. Just ask Jack LaLanne. (And stay tuned for more information about our new weight training program . . . ChaLEAN Extreme!)"
Sunday, March 30, 2008
My First Post
This is my first post and hopefully there will be many to come. I plan on using this space to talk about fitness in general. I'll post recipes of things I really enjoy eating and any helpful tips I come across for nutrition.
Keith
Keith
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