Core Training

As it is every summer, suddenly everyone is concerned about their "abs" and we see numerous people spending hours in the gym trying to get a "6 pack". There are quite a few things that we need to understand in order for us to achieve this. You may find that you might be overtraining your abdominal muscles, and maybe even going about this whole thing the wrong way. There are many misconceptions when it comes to the abs. We need to understand the purpose of the rectus abdominis (the 6 pack) and the proper way to train it.

The number one thing I hear from nearly EVERYONE is, "I only want to lose belly fat, I'm fine everywhere else." What people need to understand is that you CAN NOT lose fat in a specific area. There is no such thing as spot reduction, so spending hours doing crunches is not going to get rid of the fat on your belly. When trying to lose fat it is important to understand that the last place you gained it will be the first place you lose it. This also means that the first place you gained it, will be the last place you lose it. If your belly was the first place that you stored fat, then it will be the last place you lose it and this means that you must work much harder to get rid of it. The take away message from this is that if you are trying to lose belly fat, you need to lose fat PERIOD. Do not focus on one specific area, focus on large muscle groups, compound movements, and full body workouts. This will get the calories burning and expend a large amount of energy.

Secondly we need to understand the purpose of the rectus abdominis (the 6 pack) and this will ultimately tell us how to train it. It is common to see people training their abs by doing countless crunches and sit ups but is this how we should be training our abs? If you have ever sat on a swiss ball and tried to sit straight for a long period of time, you would notice that you have to keep the core engaged in order to keep your body up-right and to keep good posture (position). You can slouch (crunch) all you want, but this will not keep you stable or allow you to stay up longer. From this we can see that the functional purpose of the core is to keep the body stabilized (erect) for a long period of time, in other words, endure. If the functional purpose of the abs is to endure and hold posture, then why are wasting time doing hundreds of crunches? Would it not make sense to train them by enduring and using momentary holds? If you've ever taken an anatomy and physiology course, you might have also learned that the fibers of the rectus abdominis run parallel meaning that they are built for endurance rather than power.

The Core
There is more to the core than just those frontal 6 pack muscles. The core consists of muscles on the front, the sides, and the back of the trunk (as well as deep within). As I mentioned earlier, the functional purpose of the core is to stabilize but each individual set of muscles serve for specific purposes. The muscles of the front work to flex or draw the trunk forward, the muscles to the sides work to rotate and laterally flex the trunk, and lastly the muscles to the back work to extend or move the trunk backwards. For the sake of keeping things simple, this will be as far as I go in explaining the muscles of the core.

I should also mention that when flexing the trunk forward, the abdominal muscles only flex while the pelvis is stabilized or held in place. When people do full sit ups- the hip flexors are the primary muscles working, NOT the abdominal muscles. Not only does this not target the abs it also places a tremendous amount of stress on the low back, so PLEASE STOP DOING SIT UPS.

Beyond the Gym
The most important point that should be made about getting a "6 pack" is that diet/nutrition is the key to the entire equation. We all have a 6 pack it's just that some of us have it covered up. In order to show these muscles off we have to reduce the amount of body fat that we store.

A balanced diet that contains mostly natural foods is best when it comes to promoting the reduction of fat storage. If you currently have a high percentage of body fat it is important that you start to make better food choices and make exercise a regular occurrence. To reduce body fat there must be a caloric deficit meaning that we must expend (burn) more calories than we take in (eat). In order to lose 1 pound of body fat there must be a deficit of 3500 calories for the week. This can be done by eating 200-300 calories less a day and burning 200-300 calories through exercise. This would give us a deficit of 500 calories a day and 3500 for the week. Obviously some people will reduce their calories by more than this but we need to realize that losing more then 1-2 pounds a week can be unhealthy. However, in the event that someone is obese, losing more than 1-2 pounds a week is very common.

Key Points

• The "core" consists of more than just the six pack or frontal muscles. It includes the muscles to the sides and back as well.
• Teaching the core as a whole to stabilize allows us to function more efficiently and allows us to endure with better posture for longer periods of time.
• Include exercises such as planks to enhance core stabilization.
• When performing crunches, hold for about 5 seconds at the top before performing the next rep.
• In order to show your abs off you must eat a balanced diet of mostly natural foods to promote body fat reduction.
• Drink lots of water!
• STOP DOING SIT UPS!!!!!

Sports Conditioning and Circuit Training

I have always been interested in training athletes, but it wasn't until recently that I became interested in sports conditioning and circuit training. I'm talking about those workouts that most people hate to do; the intense, up-tempo, oxygen stealing, make-you-wanna-cry circuits and/orcomplexes.

The difference between these type of workouts and your typical cardio or resistance workout, is that these circuits do a great job of taxing the body both anaerobically (without oxygen, utilizing ATP) and aerobically (utilizing oxygen). Along with training both of these energy systems, the workouts do a great job of training for metabolic efficiency and utilize what we call "Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption" or EPOC. This is basically the after effects of intense training when your body is at an elevated state of oxygen consumption and is trying to return to a normal rate. During recovery this is where the body is able to adapt to exercise, ATP is replenished, and hormone levels become balanced. This is what people refer to when they say "increasing your metabolism". We won't get too much into the science of EPOC but I just wanted to briefly touch on it.

Generally, circuit training involves a number of exercises performed with little or no rest in between. That is to say we will perform 8 exercises in a row with little or no rest. Once you have completed these exercises, you are then able to rest for about 1 minute or full recovery (depending on your conditioning). After the rest you will again perform the exercises. About 3 rounds of circuits are usually pretty good depending on the number of exercises and the intensity at which they are performed.

The way that I set up my circuits depends on what we are trying to train. If it is a day of full body exercises, then my circuits will include upper body, lower body, core, and possibly cardio exercises. I will provide a sample session at the end of this post.

If it is an upper body circuit then I will incorporate pushing and pulling exercises and alternate between the two. Along with pushing and pulling, make sure to include pushing forward and pushing upward and/or downward, and with the pulling, make sure to pull backwards, upwards, and/or from the floor as well.

You can also perform circuits for the lower body as well, making sure to hit all of the muscles of the lower body.

Here is a simple sample full body circuit that I would use at the end of an exercise session to improve conditioning, this one uses minimal equipment. You can perform each exercises for either 8-15 reps or for 15-30 seconds. The rest between each exercises could be between the time it takes you to switch to the next one and 30 seconds. As mentioned earlier, the time between each circuit should be 1 minute or full recovery. Perform for 3-5 rounds or as needed.

Squat Jumps
Push ups
Jumping Jacks
Dumbbell or Bodyweight Squats
Weighted Upper-Cuts
Barbell (or dumbbell) Row
Mountain Climbers
Plank hold

For a more complex circuit that involves more weights and equipment, follow this one. This would be great for someone interested in MMA or Boxing. If you do not know most of these exercises or understand the circuit or do not have a base level conditioning, DO NOT perform this circuit.

1 Arm Medicine Ball Push/Throw (alternate arm with each throw)
Box Single Leg Step up with a Jump (alternate legs with each jump)
Resisted Tubing Band Punches (as quickly as possible)
Resisted Tubing Band Alternate Pulls (as quickly as possible)
Sprawls (moving quickly and exaggerating hip extension on the way up)
Dumbbell Shoulder Press (alternate arms with each press)
Romanian Deadlift
Pike Roll out on Swiss Ball
Dot drill (or other agility drill)
Medicine Ball Lateral Squats (moving from side to side as if you were ducking under a string and going on both sides of it)
Barbell Row

Whether you are interested in conditioning or fat loss, there are endless amounts of combinations that you can have for various types of circuits. Remember that with circuit training you can go at your own pace while performing each exercise but obviously the harder you push, the more intense the workout will be and most likely the better results you will achieve.I have provided a general circuit and a more intense circuit. When planning you own, make sure to incorporate various movements in all directions for whichever part of the body you are working (upper, lower, core, etc).

Making Progress. Part 2 (Calories and Carbs)

In the second installment of Making Progress, I'll explain some other issues on why we do not make any progress towards our fitness goals.

Now that we understand some key factors for making progress with our exercise, let's look at some key factors that go beyond the gym. As I mentioned in Making Progress Part 1, there is more to reaching your goal than just exercising and working hard. We also need to understand the importance of nutrition.

Many people think that diet and nutrition are only important if you are trying to lose weight but this is not the case. In fact, not only does diet play a major role in health and wellness but it also plays a big part in sports performance. We often see many high level athletes and sports teams hire nutritionists and chefs that truly understand how to enhance performance through diet.

Why your diet is so important
If you read one of my first blogs, The Basics, you may remember that I briefly went over some of the basics of nutrition. We must remember that our energy comes from the food that we eat and in order for our bodies to function properly we must consume various foods that provide us with all types of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

In our society today we want everything right away. This can include knowledge, results, and even food. We have become so caught up in convenience that we have neglected the entire PURPOSE of eating. The reason why we eat is to provide our bodies with energy. The problem here is that when food is convenient, that generally means that it has been processed. Many people have heard of processed foods but they really do not understand why this is a bad thing.

The reason why processed foods can hinder progress is because they are usually stripped of their nutritional value. When foods are stripped of their nutritional value, you are likely to have a deficiency of key vitamins and minerals in your diet. If there is a deficiency somewhere in your diet this can throw off the way that your body operates and functions. Along with being stripped of their nutrients, these processed foods also tend to have preservatives and hormones that can truly do some damage to your body. Think about it, some of the foods out there today have preservatives that allow it to last for YEARS. We need to realize that these preservatives and chemicals then sit inside of our bodies! It's a pretty scary thing to think about how toxic our body can become from consuming so much processed food!

The Carb Craze
Another issue with processed foods is that it usually tends to be high in calories, bad fat, and carbs. Before we go any further I wan't to say that carbohydrates are NOT bad for you. There is a huge craze in society today that we need to avoid carbs because they can add excess body fat. If we eat foods in moderation we do not need to freak out over how many carbs something has. Anytime we continue to over-eat we will add excess body fat, so moderation is really key. The total number of calories you take in and what you do with them will ultimately determine if you store or burn excess body fat.

We really need carbohydrates because they are our main source of fuel during exercise. Carbohydrates can be broken down into glucose and the storage form of glucose is glycogen. You may have heard in the past that after exercise we need to replenish our glycogen storage. Without that glycogen we would not be able to produce enough ATP (energy molecules associated with muscular contraction and cellular energy) to exercise and function.

Calories
I will say this again, the total number of calories you take in and what you do with them will ultimately determine if you store or burn excess body fat. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, there must be a caloric deficit of 3500 calories in order to lose 1 lb. This means that if you want to lose 1 lb of fat you must burn 3500 calories. In order to do this safely it is suggested that you do this over the course of a week, so a daily deficit of 500 calories is a safe and effective way to lose weight. We can reach this deficit of 500 calories by a combination of exercise and diet. If you can burn 250 calories for the day in exercise and eat 250 calories less for the day, then you have created a 500 calorie deficit.

Your body needs a certain amount of calories per day in order to carry out it's daily functions, because of this our body also naturally burns a certain amount of calories even if we are resting. These are known as the basal metabolic rate and resting metabolic rate.

If we know our metabolic rates, it allows us to know about how many calories we should eat for the day. Here is a link to a website that will estimate the number of calories that you should be taking in daily. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

As I mentioned if you want to lose weight you should have a deficit of about 500 calories a day, the number is the same for those who are trying to gain weight except you should take IN an additional 500 calories.

We often do not reach our fitness goals because we do not understand the relationship between the foods we eat and the work that we do. Many of us do not eat enough while others eat too much, and both of these groups often make bad food choices and are not eating the foods that give us the most amount of fuel, energy, and nutrients. For some more help on how to eat better, check out choose my plate!
https://www.choosemyplate.gov/SuperTracker/samplemealplans.aspx


Key Points

• The purpose of eating is to fuel the body and give us enough energy to carry out our daily activities and to give our body what it needs in order to function properly.
• Processed foods contain hormones, preservatives, lack nutrients, and can contain high amounts of bad fat and carbohydrates.
• Our diet should contain about 90% natural food (fruits, vegetables, foods from the earth) and we should limit the amount of processed foods we consume.
• Carbohydrates are not your enemies! When broken down they are our main source of fuel during exercise and so they should take up about 60% of our diet.
• Eating in moderation will help the fight against excess calories and body fat storage.
• Calories in vs Calories out is what ultimately decides if you will store fat and gain weight.

Making Progress. Part 1

"I've been working out for ___ months but I haven't seen any results". Do you ever feel like you are working hard but still haven't seen any changes? I know that this can be frustrating and it can even make some people stop exercising all together. Today I'll try and explain why some people do not see any progress no matter how hard they work.

Train Smarter, Not Harder.

The purpose of my blogs are to give you all the knowledge to train smarter and explain things in a way that is understandable. I will now explain how to train smarter and avoid training harder than you have to.

Once you have established a goal it is important to understand how this goal can be achieved. Understanding how to stimulate your body to achieve specific results is key and this will ultimately determine if you will reach your goal. 

You may remember one of my earlier blogs titled, What are you doing? I went over the proper rep ranges for various types of resistance training.For example, if you are looking to get bigger it is important that you work within the specific rep ranges (8-12) and sets (3-4). For someone who did not have this knowledge, it is possible that they would be lifting all kinds of different weight using very different rep ranges, causing them to work harder (or even not enough) and therefore not reaching their goal. Train smarter, not harder.

Along with understanding rep ranges we should understand that if you want to increase the size of certain muscles or muscle groups, we must specifically work those muscles or muscle groups. Your calves will not get bigger by working your shoulders. You must specifically target the area in which you want to see improvement.

Next, it is extremely important that you understand that muscle must continually be stimulated and overloaded in order to grow. If you are lifting the same amount of weight all the time, chances are you will not grow and you will stay the same because you have not changed the stress to your muscle. Our muscles adapt to the stress we put them under and this allows for change. Along with increasing the weight we use, it is also a good idea to change the way we stimulate the muscle by changing the exercises we use. Again, our body adapts fairly quickly so we do not want it to become accustomed to the same stimulation

Another important factor is that we must progressively overload the muscle. This means that we must continue to add weight (weekly, bi-weekly) to the given exercise. When we continue adding weight, we keep our body in a state of change.

NOTE: The increase in weight is not meant to be a large increase. It is much better to increase the weight by smaller increments so that we can continue to progress this overload.

I should also mention that if someone is looking to gain some size, they must also increase their caloric intake (they must eat more food). NO THIS DOES NOT MEAN STUFF YOURSELF WITH JUNK! 

I will go over how nutrition plays a role in progress for both fat loss and muscle gain in Making Progress Part 2.

This does not apply to me because I don't lift weights....

This actually does apply to everyone who performs some type of exercise. If you are trying to improve something specific you must continue to stimulate and put the body under greater stress so that it may overcome new adaptations.

Let's say you are interested in improving your mile time, you must also follow these principles. In order to run a faster mile, you must continue to vary the distance you are running as well as the pace in which you are running it. By running longer distances, you are telling your body that it needs to run further and that it must adapt. This adaptation will then allow you to run farther and fatigue less quickly because your body has now become accustomed to running longer distances. This allows you to be more efficient when it comes to running a shorter distance again (the 1 mile run).

Along with this, it is a good idea to run shorter distances at faster paces so that your body can get used to pushing harder and running faster for a longer period of time. By doing this your body will be able to better control your heart rate, rate of fatigue, etc. 

So we see that to improve our Cardio, we must be specific, overload, and progress our training. 

Again it is important that we progress at a steady pace and not make huge leaps. We can only improve so much at a time. Trying to dramatically increase your distances or pace can cause injury and therefore it is recommended that we progress with small increments.

Limiting Factors.

It is very important to understand that if we want to improve it goes beyond just exercising.

So many people do not understand the importance of nutrition and rest. If someone was exercising properly but not eating or sleeping right, 2/3's of the training factors would be missing. If 2/3's of what is necessary is missing, chances are you won't see great results. 

When it comes to nutrition it is important that we understand that food is simply energy for our body. Without food we will not have the proper fuel to energize us for exercise or replenish us when we are done. Muscles need food to recover, and i'm not just talking about protein. Many people do not understand the importance of carbohydrates because our society has basically made everyone think that carbs are monsters that deposit fat into our belly's. If you would like a recap on the basics of nutrition check out my earlier blog The Basics. 

Along with nutrition, sleep and rest are when our muscles are able to repair themselves and recover from the training. 

Key Points

If we want to improve and see progress, we must:

• Be specific with our training
• Continually overload our muscles and cardiovascular system
• Progressively overload our muscles and cardiovascular system
• Rest and recover
• Ensure that our meals are balanced and that we eat natural foods that have not been processed 

Stay tuned for Progress Part 2!

Train the way you want to perform.

Many athletes try to improve their game by spending hours in the gym. It is very important that athletes give 100% during their training and not just in games. Today we see plenty of athletes who feel that they don't need to practice, lift weights, or train hard and that the only thing that matters is how they play during the game. This type of decision can greatly hinder you from achieving optimal results and reaching your full potential.

Training
Whether it be weight lifting or actual practice (sport/skill), how you train can directly affect how you will perform. In order to become fast and agile, one must practice being fast and agile. Specificity is key to improving and developing strength, power, speed, agility, and balance.

It is very important to put in 100% effort during training. If speed is what you are trying to develop, you would  achieve much better results by doing 5 sprints concentrating on perfect form and fluidity than doing 10 sprints where good form has gone out the window and fatigue has set in.

The same can be said about weight lifting. If someone is attempting to get bigger arms and they are doing bicep curls, the focus should be on each individual contraction while maintaining good form. The focus SHOULD NOT be on how much weight you can move or on pushing past fatigue. When we place the focus on simply moving the weight, momentum becomes a major player and therefore the effort is not concentrated on the biceps, but rather on the shoulders or back. Don't let your pride get in the way of developing maximal results.

Again, when we focus on giving our best effort, it is best to go to the point where form is still good. Once we begin to see bad form, we are no longer able to give 100% effort and fatigue sets in (this is also the point at which injury usually occurs).

Key Points

• Work specifically to your goal: If you want to be quicker, all of your movements should be performed quickly.
• Quality is better than Quantity: Focus on each individual contraction/movement and give it your best effort. 5 good reps are better than 10 poor reps.
• Once form has gone, it is best to stop the exercise to ensure that injury does not take place.
• Leave your ego at home!

Warming up vs Stretching.

Warming up and Stretching... There is quite a bit of confusion between the two. Often people tend to blend the two together when really they are two different components of physical activity. How many of you warm up and stretch? How do you know when to do which? I'll explain the difference today.

I often hear people say that they never warm up before they work out and I'd like to explain the importance of warming up. Contrary to what commoners believe, warming up does NOT mean stretching. When we think of stretching we usually think of static stretches (sit and reach, touching the toes, etc..) although there are other forms. Warming up is what we do to activate the muscles and prepare them for physical activity and exercise. 

Warming Up

During your warm up, your main goal is to prepare your muscles and body for exercise. You should focus on increasing your body temperature and blood flow to the muscles that will be involved. If you are going to be doing cardio, you should begin with a lighter pace and then progress through your activity of choice (walking, increasing the pace, and finally jogging). 

With resistance exercise, it is a good idea to warm up while doing the same activity that you will be doing. For example: If you are going to bench press, a good warm up would be to simply do the motions of the bench press focusing on movement and form to open up the chest. Next you would move to a very light weight so that you can again focus on activating your muscles and on preparing them for a heavier load. Increase the weight about 2 or 3 more times until you feel warmed up, and then begin your working sets (actual workout).

So we see here that the main focus of warming up is to increase blood flow and activate the muscles and joints for activity.

Stretching

While we are stretching, our main focus is on increasing range of motion and flexibility of our joints and muscles. We often see people sitting and reach or holding a stretch in place (static stretching), when they feel that a muscle is tight. There are other forms of stretching, but the most common is static.

The reason why stretching is not as good as warming up before exercise, is that although stretching increases the range of motion, it does nothing for muscular activation and preparation. Yes it increases the elasticity, but this can often hinder power and strength output because it simply increases the range that the joint moves, not necessarily the ability to recruit motor units. 

Stretching is great for post exercise because it helps reduce the inflammation and tightness that we have just created and can possibly reduce the risk of soreness, although studies have not necessarily proven this to be true. If tightness remains after warm up, some stretching may be necessary.

Key Points 

• Warm up before exercise because it increases blood flow and activates the muscles in preparation for exercise.
• Stretching should be associated with the cool down and so should be done after exercise to reduce inflammation, the risk of soreness, and increase range of motion. 
• Some stretching may be done after the warm up if an area remains tight. 
• Warming up should be done for 5-10 minutes.
• Stretching should be done for 10 minutes after cool down (and after warm up if necessary).

What are you doing?

While observing people at my local gym, as well as speaking with others throughout the week, It was again made clear that many people simply do not know HOW to exercise or achieve their goals. There are many different reasons for this. Some may have never been told the difference in training methods, some may have attempted to do some research and got confused with all of the information, and others may be too stubborn to do things the right way. Hopefully none of you are the later!

Today I would like to explain the difference in training methods, that is, how to achieve your fitness goals.

The following are some common questions and some pointers on achieving the given goal, as well as some common misconceptions about them.

How do I get stronger? (Maximal Strength)

• Low rep range (1-5)
• Use heavy weights (80-100% of 1 rep maximum)
• Long rest periods (3-5 minutes)

What I mean by stronger here, is the ability to produce as much force as possible. Progression towards higher load (weight) must occur. In order to get stronger you must either add weight, change the rep scheme, or both. It is best to add weight each week (by small increments of course).

For those interested in Powerlifting and the Olympic lifts, this is why it is important to know your 1 rep max and not just guess. Lifting based on percentages is a very efficient way to increase strength. *CAUTION: You MUST have a spotter when attempting your 1 rep max, or when you are using heavy weights.


It is important to know here that gaining strength does NOT necessarily mean gaining size or getting bigger, this is a huge misconception. The reasoning here is because the muscle fibers are recruited in very different ways (I'll explain how in a later post). Maximum strength training attempts to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible to assist in producing force.


How do I get Bigger (and stronger)?

• Moderate rep range (8-12 reps)
• Moderate weights (we're not talking super light or super heavy here).
• Shorter rest periods (30 seconds-2 minutes)

When attempting to get bigger, a key factor here is working the muscle long enough for it to actually breakdown. I'm sure some of you have heard that muscles repair themselves while you are sleeping. This is true and this is also why sleep is so important for muscle growth.

The growth of the muscle occurs due (partially) to the swelling of muscle cells, which is due to fluid retention. The muscles get bigger because they are increasing the amount of sarcoplasm (fluid found in muscle) in the muscle. Also, the growth of a muscle occurs when the size of  myofibrils (muscle cells) increase.

While this a common way to get bigger, I highly suggest combining low reps with heavy weights, and moderate reps with moderate weights to maximize your gains. 

How do I tone?


This is something that is often misunderstood. The truth is, there is no such thing as "toning".  It is common for people to believe that toning is just the increase of muscle definition. What ACTUALLY occurs when people are "toning" is the loss of fat, and possibly an increase in muscle, giving the illusion of increased muscle definition.

This is why people must lose some fat in order to see their abs. Doing hours of crunches or any other miscellaneous ab exercise, is not going to make your abs visible.

On that note, Losing Fat occurs when there is a caloric deficit (more calories burned than consumed). According to ACSM, "In order to lose 1lb of body fat, there must be a deficit of 500 calories for the day, or 3500 for the week". It is important to mention that losing more than 1-2lb of body fat a week is not recommended because it can negatively affect your metabolic rate (rate at which you burn energy at rest).

 It is important to know how many calories your body needs in order to function properly and so I will provide a link to a cool calculator that shows you how much you should eat based on your information. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

When trying to burn fat and using weights, a common way to do this is circuit training. This means performing a number of exercises with very short to no-rest periods in-between . A common way to lose fat is by cardiorespiratory or "cardio" exercise. The optimal amount of time spent doing cardio is dependent on the type of exercise and the intensity of the exercise, as well as on your endurance levels. Combining cardio and weights is a great combination because you can burn fat and build muscle. If you do not have weights, body exercises work great as well (push ups, pull ups, dips, etc..).

For optimal results, a combination of diet and exercise is recommended.

Key Points:

• Power and Strength are not the same thing. Strength is the maximum force that can be exerted, and Power is the speed at which that maximum force is exerted. (Power can be reached by training between 30-65% of 1RM, and moving the weight as quickly as possible).
• When beginning a resistance program, it is important to start out with lighter weights and higher reps so that your muscles and tendons can adapt to resistance and progress towards heavier loads. Starting out too heavy too fast can cause serious injury.
• When losing fat it is important to make smart choices with food. Do not think that just because you exercise you can eat whatever you want. The foods you eat go beyond the number of calories you consume, high levels of fat can lead to high cholesterol and a number of other problems.
• While on an exercise program it is important to vary the types of exercise, the rep schemes, and the intensity in order to see progress and achieve maximum results.

The Basics

Like any subject that we study, in order to truly learn and understand something we must first begin with the basics. It is important to learn the basics because they create a foundation for which we can build upon and progress from. Without this fundamental knowledge, the choices we make regarding diet and exercise become less productive and less effective than what we were hoping for (meaning we do not see results, or the results we do see are minimal).A perfect example is math. We cannot learn addition unless we first know our numbers and how to count. Our dietary and exercise choices become less effective because either we have no idea why we are doing what we are doing, or we simply have no idea what we are doing. Today I hope to answer some of those why and what questions.

Why We Do What We Do

It is most common for people to eat certain foods or exercise a certain way because they "heard from someone else" that this is how you should do it. I'm not saying to discredit what everyone says, but I do believe that when you hear someone explain that you should do _____ type of exercise, you should ask why. 

Every person has a different level of understanding. Communication is extremely important. I can relay a message to someone with good intentions yet the message can be received in such a negative way- a way it was not intended. When we ask someone to further explain their reasoning it helps to clear up this miscommunication as well as establish some type of credibility. 

Cardiovascular Training

Cardiovascular training is one of the most common forms of training and is usually referred to as "Cardio" or "Aerobics". Usually people tend to do this type of exercise when trying to lose weight or when trying to improve their endurance levels. When hearing these words most people think of spending hours on a treadmill, or envision Richard Simmons creepily standing at your door  similar to Jack Nicholson in The Shinning.

So what is Cardiovascular training? According to the American College of Sports Medicine it is, "Exercise that recruits cardiovascular and respiratory systems (heart, blood vessels, and lungs)".

Functions of the Cardiovascular System

• Transport nutrients throughout the body
• Transport deoxygenated blood from the tissues to the heart and from heart to lungs.
• Deliver oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart and from the heart to the tissues
• Remove carbon dioxide and other metabolic waste from tissue.

The respiratory system plays an important role here because it is responsible for oxygenating the blood that eventually reaches our tissues. This is the purpose of breathing.

So when we do cardiovascular exercise, we are asking our body to perform these regular functions (transport  blood and deliver oxygen) at a much quicker pace than what it is used to. We begin to see some acute (short term) responses such as an increase of heart rate, sweating, and heavy breathing. As we are working harder, our body must transport oxygen and blood to our tissues to ensure that we can continue with the physical activity. Basically these acute responses are our bodies defense mechanisms trying to regulate and neutralize what is occurring. They try to make up for this increase in work by creating an increase of blood flow to certain working tissues. Overtime our bodies adapt to this new stimulation, making it easier to perform the exercise. These adaptations are some of the reasons why we can run further than we used to after some training.

I will go deeper into how physical activity and exercise manipulate the cardiovascular system and why it is a common tool for losing weight in later postings.

Resistance Training

This is the other most common form of training. Simply put, this is training the muscles to work against some type of force that is restricting movement, or resistance. 

There are many forms of resistance training which we won't get into. The common thought here though is strength training. This could include body weight exercises and exercising with weights. We perform resistance training for reasons that include making our bones stronger, strengthening our joints, strengthening and increasing the size of our muscles, rehabbing injuries, preventing injuries, etc.

Diet and Nutrition

Like the other topics, we could spend hours talking about each one. I just want to cover the basics of these topics.

Energy is what allows us to function and do the things that we do. In terms of our bodies, energy is similar to gas in a car. Without the gas, the car will not move or function properly. The calories in the nutrients we eat are what give us this energy.

Nutrients are comprised of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. I will try to make this as elementary as possible and give words that describe each nutrient without really diving deep into detail. We will talk about fuel utilization at another time.

Carbohydrates

• Most common macronutrient used for energy
• Basic form is sugar- Glucose.  Simple Carbohydrate = Glucose
• Polysaccharides- Numerous molecules of sugar
• Dietary Fiber is a form of carbohydrate that improves blood sugar
• Stored as Glycogen.  Our bodies create a complex carbohydrate = Glycogen
• Quick source of energy
• Glycogen can be restored back to glucose.
• Eating too much can lead to fat storage
• Examples of simple carbs are sugar, breads made with flour, candy, cake, and juices.
• Examples of complex carbs include: Fruits, vegetables, potatoes, rice, pastas, and grains.
• 4 Calories per gram
• According to ACSM, "55-65% of total calories should come from carbohydrates".

Proteins

• Compounds made of Amino Acids (bind together to form proteins)
• Can be made within the body
• Carry nutrients to proper destinations within the body
• Assist in hormone production
• Helps to maintain and grow muscle tissues
• Good Examples: Tuna, Turkey, Beef, Beans, Chicken, Milk, Cheese, and Yogurt.
• 4 Calories per gram
• It is recommended that adults consume .8 grams per pound of body weight and athletes consume anywhere from 1.2-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight.
• ACSM recommends, "12-15%" of total calories should come from protein.

Fats

• Quick source of energy
• Commonly coupled with oils (Fat and Oils)
• Helps make us feel full for a longer amount of time
• Helps to dissolve certain vitamins
• Can carry necessary nutrients
• Good Fats: Monounsaturated- Improves cholesterol levels. Polyunsaturated- Also improves cholesterol levels. Both of these fats help to decrease the risk heart disease.
• Bad Fats: Saturated- Raises blood cholesterol levels and LDL (bad cholesterol). Trans Fat- Naturally occurring but usually made during the processing of foods. Increases LDL and lowers HDL (healthy cholesterol).
• 9 calories per gram
• 25% of calories should come from fats

Vitamins, Mineral, and Water

• Vitamins help the body function and ensure that bodily reactions occur
• Minerals help with water balance and help with nerve stimulation
• Water acts as a transportation mode of minerals. Also helps to maintain body temperature.

Tying It All Together

We saw that certain foods affect our bodies in different ways and without these nutrients, our bodies will not perform certain functions. It is evident that food is utilized as fuel and without food we simply would not be able to do anything. This is why a balanced diet is important and any given deficiency can cause a number of problems that creates a cycle of even more serious problems.

With this given energy, we see that it allows us to perform physical activity and exercise because our bodies have what they need to do work. With cardiovascular and resistance exercise our bodies are asking us to work harder than what we are accustomed to and so more energy is required. Since our bodies won't lack anything with proper nutrition, we can perform the functions necessary to endure cardiovascular and resistance exercise and have energy available (Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats) as well as ensure that our bodies have what it needs to react to stimulation (Vitamins, Minerals, and water) and will continue with the intended function.

I hope that this was simple and understandable and that those of you who are reading this will use this and apply it to your daily life. I also hope that you continue to further your knowledge and research these topics  to help deepen your understanding. In the future, I will explore components of these topics with much more detail and explain how to achieve results using this knowledge.

Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is JonPaul and this is my first blog entry. I am very excited to share my knowledge with you all and I hope that you will find my postings enjoyable and informative.

The majority of my posts will be about health, exercise, and fitness. I know many people reading this might think,  "oh great another fitness blog". The difference here is that I will try and write about subjects that matter to you, and explain them in the simplest way possible. As an aspiring fitness professional, I have spent hours upon hours researching the many different aspects of health and fitness. I'm sure that many of you can agree that when trying to find answers to simple questions we often find responses that leave us even more confused than we originally were! This "technical jargon" needs to stop!

 Many people feel that someone who uses words that require us to check the dictionary multiple times must be correct, right??? WRONG! Often this is a ploy to buy into their system. Also, some of these people spread information that they "heard from a friend" without researching the topic themselves. I will not post about a topic unless I have researched it thoroughly and there is science to back it up!

In this blog I will answer the most popular questions in a way that is easily understandable. I will talk about losing fat, gaining muscle, sports performance, living a healthy lifestyle, injury prevention, and many other topics.

Thank you for stopping by and stay tuned!