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!