Exercise + Nutrition = Results

Now that you understand some of the core principles of Nutrition and Exercise here is a general outline of what to do when trying to achieve one of the goals listed below. I recommend reading through them because you may find that one or more goals may apply to you and you will need to combine tactics. Please remember that this is not everything you need to know. The recommendations below will always vary based on the individual and their training history, but this is a great general outline based around the big principles to get you started and thinking the right way. Understanding these principles is what will help you make the right decisions when you eat and exercise (or at least ask the right questions when seeking help). If at first this looks like too long a read, just focus on two of the goals the most apply to you and come back to read the others tomorrow. But remember, with all this information there will be no excuses for not getting to your goal. If you need help shoot me an email or comment and let's get you there!

A quick tid bit that applies to all of the goals below is......
Frequency is more important than duration: Each workout produces a stimulus for change in your body. These stimuli have the ability to build on top of each other. When you only workout 1-2 times per week you are creating a stimulus, but that stimulus subsides before your next workout. In a more frequent training schedule of 3-6 days per week you create staircase of adaptation. Each stimulus builds on top of the previous. So rather than doing 1-3 real long workouts a week do shorter, more intense and more frequent workouts. This could be short 30 minute sessions with a different emphasis of training on consecutive days. Unless your goal calls for long duration activity (and some do, such as long runs for a marathon 1-2 times per week) try and keep the intensity high by keeping the duration low. The longer the workout, the more acute fatigue you begin to feel and the more sloppy your workout becomes.

Weight Loss (strictly decrease scale weight)
Most will immediately jump to this goal because of its headline (or the simple fact that I put it first). However, in many cases one of the following goals or combination of goals is actually going to be more specific to what most really want.

Description: The goal of "weight loss" strictly refers to decreasing your weight. Whether it  be due to losing fat, water or muscle you are saying that you just want to see that number drop. Because the majority of Americans are overweight and/or obese many do need to" lose weight", but as you read on you might change your mind to one of the later mentioned goals as building muscle or decreasing body fat may be more suited toward your goal (You will see what I mean if you read on).

• Principles: Calories In vs. Calories Out. It's real simple, if you want to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you are consuming on a daily basis. There are only 3 ways to do this: Eat less, burn more or both. 
• Nutrition: Try to decrease the calories you are consuming on a daily basis. Using a food log, app or other logging method is usually helpful, but not absolutely necessary. Many do this by restricting portion sizes and/or eating healthier foods because they tend to be lower in calories.
• Exercise: Simply become more active. Find different ways to get more movement and exercise into your day. Think about Frequency and not always duration. A 10-20 minute walk every day at lunch is usually going to be better than one long workout session each week when you start. It will also make it easier to implement as a habit. As the activity you chose becomes easier try and push yourself. You should always consider exercise intensity (previous post) to assure that your exercise is sufficient.  

Decrease Body Fat ( Not Muscle)

Description: This is what I think of when I hear "lean and tone." I consider reducing body fat as an individual that wants to maintain all of the muscle they have or even build a little bit. Think of stripping a few layers of your "indestructible wetsuit" so that the muscle  you already have or will soon have can be more visible. This goal refers to the individual that cares more about the mirror, how their clothes fit or how they feel rather than just the scale (I think it is safe to say that most of us are these people). For those who have very little muscle on their body this may require gaining some "good" weight (gaining lean muscle weight). For those with a higher body fat percentage (Body Fat Percentage) and/or fall into the category of overweight (roughly 70% of the U.S. population) or obese (roughly 33% of the U.S. Population) this will require losing weight. To figure out your Body Mass Index (BMI) check out this site (BMI).Finally, in some cases this may require simply maintaining weight while building muscle and decreasing body fat. Figuring out which plan is best for you may require some help, so ask for it (only qualified personnel of course)!

• Principles: Calories in vs. Calories Out , Regulate Macronutrients (Proteins, Carbs and Fats), Training Intensity 
• Nutrition: Generally the best thing you can do here depends on where you are starting. If your body fat percentage does require you to lose some weight then a coloric deficit (eat less calories than you burn) is necessary. If you have a significantly small amount of muscle mass you may require a caloric surplus (eat more calories than you burn) and should refer to the section titled "Hypertorphy" for further information. In most cases this goal will require a caloric deficit because most peoples body fat percentages are significantly higher than what their "goal image" entails. Basically the rate at which one can decrease fat (lose 0-2 lb. per week) is greater than the rate at which one can gain muscle (gain 0-1 lb. per week) Either way the key to this goal is quality of food. There are millions of ways to modify ones diet and there are millions of people who have achieved the same results with very different diets (okay maybe not millions, but alot). What I recommend is trying NOT to "diet," but rather start to re-structure your diet (food that you consume regularly) to consist of much healthier items. This means Don't cut out carbs! Don't go all liquids! A healthy and effective diet is one that you can maintain for the rest of your life (Mentally, Physically and Monetarily). We all know what is "healthy." Here are some words to jog your memory and remind you of your mother: Fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fiber, complex carbohydrates. If there is any macronutrient that I would recommend being more aware of related to your intake it would be fat. The "typical" American diet already has pleanty of it so your body can do with a little restriction there and for reasons discussed in the nutrition post (go check it out. hint: 4 calories, 4 calories, 9 calories). Additionally you will want to make sure you are consuming adequate protein and quality carbohydrates. As I have mentioned many times before, some sort of food log, nutrition program or application will always prove useful here. Especially if you are someone that doesn't have an idea how much protein, carbohydrates, fats or calories you will need to be taking in (or currently take in) to maintain muscle and/or create a caloric deficit or caloric surplus. This is just the tip of the icerberg people. There is much more to learn and consider and I promise to get into that more as we go along (especially if I hear from YOU what questions or thoughts YOU need answered). 
• Exercise: When most consider decreasing body fat or leaning and toning they think light weights and high repititions, but I say screw that! If you want something to improve, adapt and perform better the best way to do this is by challenging yourself. When looking at exercises to perform and rep and set ranges think quality and not quantity. When one is exercising at a low intensity (low weights, high repetitions) it only serves to burn calories. When one exercises at higher intensities not only can they accomplish burning calories (in fact, more calories burned with high intensity training than low intensity training per time worked), but they can also stimulate muscle adaptation or simply reduce the decrease in muscle mass. As you use more energy during your workouts and consume fewer calories to decrease that body fat your body will inevitably start tapping into other sources of energy besides fat. This is when muscle can be vulnerable. For an individual that does some high intenisty (RPE: 7-10) and moderate to low volume (total repetitions and total exercise duration) training it is more likely that your body will regenerate damaged (from workouts) muscle tissue rather than letting it degenerate over time. For the typical individual 30-60 minutes, 3-5 days per week, with 4-6 compound exercises, of 3-5 sets of 1-15 repetitions, at a RPE: 6-10 should do the trick. Yeah, I realize there is a lot to take in with that sentence, which is exactly why I have a job. It's not super simple to create a workout program for anyone, especially yourself. So, get some qualified help!

RPE: Rate of Perceived Exertion (How hard you are working, see preceding exercise post)

Hypertrophy (Build Muscle)
Most females and some males that see the words "build muscle" will quickly look away, but I recommend you reconsider. The benefits of having a couple extra pounds of lean muscle on your body are proven (higher "metabolism", more intense workouts, greater strength, etc.)

Description: The goal of hypertrophy is not only for body builders and machismo men. Sure they have a great deal more muscle than the rest of us, but this goal relates to anyone who would like to build some muscle. This goal refers to the actual size increase of muscle tissue, whether it is 5,10 or 20 pounds that you desire to put on.

• Principles: Surplus of Calories, High Volume and Moderate to High Intensity,
• Nutrition: You must consume adequate calories. This means not only what you were burning before training, but additional calories for the new exercise regimen and more on top of that to supply muscle growth. If your body is not receiving adequate energy then the energy that would be being used to build muscle tissue is instead being used to get through workouts or every day tasks. However, just because you are attempting to consume more calories it is important to keep these calories of quality by avoiding high fat options. Adequate protein intake is crucial as the body cannot supply itself will all forms of amino acids (protein). Additionally, there should be a priority on consuming a post workout meal. There is plenty of research validating the importance of a high protein/carbohydrate meal post rigorous exercise for the process of recovery, regeneration of tissue (muscle tissue) and synthesis of new muscle tissue.
• Exercise: For those of you who don't plan to get up on stage and model your figure in competition I recommend working your entire body. Don't get caught up in just working individual muscles (leg extensions for the quads, curls for the biceps, etc.), but rather work the entire body and stimulate as much tissue as possible. I can't tell you how effective a simple program including squats, deadlifts,  pull-ups, presses and other various pull exercises can be when your goal is to put on muscle. Refer to the previous post on exercise in the section titled "Choose Your Artillery Wisely."Start with the compound exercises and if there is some extra time left feel free to do a few isolated exercises on the triceps or biceps if that's what you want to grow. Now additionally take into consideration that not only do you want to use compound and more time-efficient exercises, it is also important to use some serious resistance. No it doesn't have to be the heaviest dumbells, but it should be something challenging for you.  For the typical individual 30-60 minutes, 3-5 days per week, with 4-6 compound exercises, of 3-5 sets of 1-15 repetitions, at a RPE: 6-10 should do the trick. Do these recommendations look familiar? That's because they are and for the average person they will do just fine for your goal as long as you take the nutrition into consideration. And once again, I realize these recommendations leave for a lot of room to play with and a lot of ways to lose yourself in creating a plan, but that is why there are degrees and certifications about the very subject. It's an art.

Strength ( Be Stronger)
 Strength is one of only a few things related to mortality (how long you live or how soon you die). Think of it this way. When you are stronger everything on a day to day basis is easier. It is easier to go up a set of stairs, play with the kids or go on a trip. As you lose strength (as often is seen with age) things become harder so you do less of them. Less activities eventually leads to less strength ( If you don't use it, you lose it). Unfortunately, this can occur earlier in life, but you have the choice to prevent it. 

Description: Although there is strong relationship between having more muscle and being stronger you don't have to build muscle to become stronger. Strength or the ability of muscles to produce force is also facilitated by several other factors (mostly neural, but I will spare your brain cells of further elaboration). Don't get me wrong, more muscle will significantly help strength gains for those who are willing to put on some extra lean muscle, but I realize that isn't everyone's goal. Building strength consists of training each muscle or group of muscles to produce more force. Then multiple groups of muscles work together and create strong movements. Now take a look below for further recommendations.

• Principles: More Muscle = More strength, Train Intensely, Sufficient Protein, Nutrients and Recovery.
• Nutrition: If you are one that wants to pack on some lean muscle then you should put yourself in a caloric surplus. If you are someone who would like to maintain your weight then just eat adequate calories and macronutrients especially protein to allow for muscle recovery.
• Exercise: When it comes to exercise it is purely intensity. The average person will see an increase in strength after a few sessions of doing anything, but these gains will start to diminish quickly if a logical program is not implemented. For this reason I recommend progressing by way of resistance for a while rather than just doing different exercises all the time. Find a few well rounded exercises that you feel fairly confident in your technique and little by little load them up on weight. Obviously as the weight gets heavier you will not be able to do the same repetitions and for this reason I recommend decreasing volume as you increase intensity. For example, follow this training schedule for 4 weeks. 
• Week 1: 4 sets of 10 reps @ RPE: 6  
• Week 2: 4 sets of 8 reps @ RPE: 7  
• Week 3: 4 sets of 6 reps @ RPE: 8  
• Week 4: 4 sets of 4 reps @ RPE: 9  
• Then you could repeat the following month and compare the loads that were lifted
• Another key factor to keep in consideration when trying to build strength is recovery. This might not be very important at first, but after building your strength for a few months your strength will allow for lifting heavier weights, which requires more from your body (especially your brain). This is often referred to as neural fatigue. Although most realize when they are fatigued and need to take a day or two off many choose not to do so. Recovery is extremely important, especially when trying to build strength. Remember that the neural component of strength is tremendous and thus with a fatigued neural drive (brain) it will be hard to get through a quality workout. Since quality is always better than quantity allow yourself that day or two off from training and do anything else that will help your body recover. 

Improve Endurance Performance (running, cycling, swimming, etc.)

Description: This goal refers to individuals who love competing or partaking in any sort of endurance events such as 5k, 10k, marathons, century rides or triathlons). It is important to realize that in these specific activities there is large amount of stress repeatedly put on the same aspects of the body. Day after day, step after step, stroke after stroke and mile after mile. The greatest recommendation

• Principles: Efficiency of Movement, Human Horsepower and Threshold
• Nutrition: When it comes to nutrition for endurance events there are many different aspects to consider. What, when, how much. All that good stuff. However, I would focus on making sure that your are consuming adequate calories (with well rounded macronutrients) to fuel your workouts and maintain or develop performance. Consume calories prior to longer workouts and immediately after. Recovery is an ongoing process. It is always taking place. This is why in some cases fueling during workouts can be extremely beneficial as well. Fueling play a large part in time to exhaustion or fatigue, which is crucial to any endurance activity.
• Exercise: When it comes to Exercise there are 3 key factors that aid any endurance activity. Those are VO2 Max, Lactate Threshold and Efficiency of movement. VO2 Max is how much of the oxygen you breath in your body can actually uptake, deliver and utilize for the production of energy (i.e. You could think of your VO2 Max as how much horsepower your body has. You can rev it up there, but not for long or you are likely to burn out). Lactate Threshold is the tipping point of your RPE where you can only hold that intensity for so long (i.e. you might be able to run an hour at 6mph, but as soon as you take the speed up to 8mph you can only last a few minutes). Efficiency is a combination of movement patterns, muscle activation and other factors that allow you to use less energy to move at the same rate or do the same amount of work (i.e. After training systems of your body will adapt to allow you to run at a slightly higher speed without expending additional or even less energy). When trying to enhance performance it is best to target one, two or all three of the components above. Here is how you can do that:
• VO2 Max: Train at high intensities or RPE near 10 every so often for durations of 1-5 minutes. More muscle = a greater ability to utilize oxygen to create energy so don't be afraid of a little extra lean tissue in the muscles that are working. That means more arm muscle would not benefit a cyclist, but more leg muscle could. 
• Lactate Threshold: Most people settle in at intensities and speeds they can handle for long periods of time, but this doesn't create much lactate in the blood (that burning sensation). Similar to the recommendation for VO2 max occasionally to threshold training where you train at a pace faster than you know you could hold for the entire event. This serves two purposes:  One it will stimulate adaptation by telling your body it needs to get better at holding that speed and processing byproducts created at that speed. Two, it will get you ready for when you can actually move at that speed after ample training.
• Efficiency of Movement: Obviously the more you run the more efficient you will become at it and likewise for other sports. However, looking into mechanics can help a lot. Even getting some coaching could help you move just a little faster for the same amount of energy. Just think, over the course of a marathon or 2 mile swim that could shave off minutes of time. Lastly I always recommend building strength in the muscles specific to the sport. The stronger the muscles are the easier each stroke, step, or stride will feel and will likely improve your performance. Train to be stronger 1-3x week. Keep it short and sweet and use some of the recommendations from the section above labeled "Strength."

Final Note:

Of course there are other topics related to all of the above goals such as supplements, exercises, etc. but for the average person that I see at the gym and the population reading this blog you don't need to worry just yet. Remember it is about instituting methods based on the large principles and then fine tuning details later on. So make sure that you have a "why" for what you are doing, a "how" it is going to help you, start simple and work your way up, and always listen  to your body. Exercise, Nutrition and Recovery (Could RECOVERY be the next post?) should always be kept in mind.

With that I am curious to hear what you all thought about this one and where you all would like more guidance so I can better gear further posts. Thanks for stopping by and shout out on the comment portion of the blog rather than email (anything you please!). 

Exercise: Don't Waste Your Time

We started with nutrition in the first post, but that is only half of the equation. The other half, exercise, is where people really get lost.  Whether the goal is losing weight, gaining weight, decreasing body fat, building strength, flexibility, mobility, increasing endurance, completing an athletic event or improving some other aspect of performance the variables related to exercise can be drastically different. Assuming you have started cracking down on your nutritional quantity with an emphasis on quality (If you don't know what I am talking about go back and read the last post: Very important!) let's dive into exercise. Because the topics related to exercise are endless, below are just a few things that I think everyone should be aware of before going into the gym for their daily workout. Start with these BIG PICTURE ideas when deciding what you are going to do for your workout tomorrow.


It is all Resistance Training
People group exercise into "cardio" or "weight lifting", but what most fail to realize is that they are both forms of resistance training. For the sake of this post let's consider exercise as any activity in which muscle activity is required (suffice for the purpose of this post). Thus, activities such as walking, running, swimming, cycling, jumping, weight lifting, crossfit "ing", standing, skating and many others fit the bill. Exercise basically consists of one or more forces acting on the muscles and subsequent tissue of the body (and other small details that most need not worry about). What most consider "cardio" could be referred to as low intensity (to be discussed in the next section) exercise or muscle actions or "Long Slow Endurance" because it is often done for an extended period of time.

Don't Be Afraid of Heavy Weights
Fiction- Lifting weights will always make you build muscle
Too often I hear the universal response to lifting weights; "I don't want to lift heavy, I put muscle on so easily." If only you knew how hard it really is to build muscle. There are specific requirements such as a surplus of calories and large volume (a lot of repetitions, i.e. multiple sets of 10 or more repetitions with a low to moderate weight) of training. The caloric surplus is usually the key ingredient to muscle growth, thus if you are not limiting your caloric intake you are not going to see what most want to see (lean, toned, ripped, shredded, skinny, etc.) Often what people mistake for "building muscle," in my opinion, is a little muscle pump (muscles filled with blood from recent workout) and other acute (not going to stick around) effects of exercise. Give it a few days, your muscle will recover and your body won't feel the need to flood the muscle with blood because it is fully repaired. Remember the snowman analogy from the previous post. If you are not taking in extra calories it is impossible for you to get bigger (You can't make your snowman bigger if it isn't snowing). There is more being expended than you are consuming and thus you will only get smaller. If that is not the case then you probably need to reassess your nutrition (read the previous post one more time and figure out what you are missing)


One Big Spectrum
Rather than looking at it as two distinct groups of activity let's view it as a spectrum of activities based on the intensity or effort required to complete the task. Exercise intensity, the key to it all, can be defined as how much energy is being expended when doing the exercise. On the far left of the spectrum we have basic movements such as moving from a seated position to a standing position (modified squat), while on the far right side of the spectrum we have the same activity loaded with 200+ lbs. on your back (a tad bit more intense). In between moving from left to right we have walking, repeated body weight squatting, jogging, squatting with 50lbs., running and sprinting. The general theme of locomotion and squatting was kept consistent so that the increase in intensity (left to right) could be understood, but believe it or not EVERY form of exercise can be placed within this spectrum. A simple way to figure out how intensely you are working is to use a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). Ask yourself: On a scale of 1-10 how hard are you working? Consider 1-4: low intensity, 5-7: moderate intensity and 8-10: High intensity. This method of assessing intensity takes your fitness level into consideration. Thus,  if you and the person next to you are both at an intensity of "8" you are both working intensely, even if you are only lifting 15lbs while they lift 25lbs. Keep challenging your intensity and before you know it you will start to feel like that 15lbs is more like a "7" or "6." When that happens you will undoubtedly (because of your new found knowledge and desire to reach your goals) increase the weight to make sure you are still working with a challenging intensity (weight).

You Get Out What You Put In
As stated above, intensity is "how much energy is being expended when doing the exercise" and that is why one expends more energy doing activities on the far right than on the far left. It's simple, if it feels easy, your heart rate is low it probably is not very intense. On the other hand if your heart is jumping out of your chest, it feels very to maximally challenging it is probably pretty intense. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not telling everyone to go squat 300lbs. Rather, I am trying to open your eyes to the fact that you really do get out what you put into your workouts. Are you walking when you could be jogging? Are you doing body weight squats when you could be loading a barbell with some weight? Are you jogging on flat ground when you could be jogging on an incline? Are you lying down on the ground doing crunches when you could be doing something upright that is more "abdominally" engaging such as loaded squat. Are you feeding yourself a lie by saying that body weight and those little 5lbs weights are challenging enough to see the results you want? Could you add 1, 5, 25, 100 .lbs or something to increase the intensity? If you for even a second considered saying "yes" or didn't immediately say "No!" then you probably need to kick it up a notch!


Remember, muscles, tendons, ligaments and bone can't tell what you are doing they can only "sense" intensity (due to the forces exerted and damage aftermath). When your body detects a challenging intensity you have provided an adequate stimulus for your body to change. If you don't continue to increase the intensity your body will adapt to a mode barely capable of doing what you ask of it and not continue to adapt: ENTER-The Plateau. Challenging your body by increasing resistance or increasing speed through intervals (in the event you are just too fond of locomotive activities such as running or swimming to let them go) should be a constant consideration during every single one of your workouts if you are trying to see change. A simple interval to begin with could be 30 seconds fast followed by 60 seconds moderate (i.e. run for 30 seconds then jog or walk for 60 seconds) and repeat for 10, 20 or 30 minutes based on your current fitness level.


Choose Your Artillery Wisely
I use the analogy of weaponry to describe muscles of the body. Imagine the muscles of the body, based on size are in actuality each a weapon. Small muscle = small weapon. Big muscle = big weapon. Here are some examples:

Abdomen: sling shot
Bicep: pistol
Quadriceps: Shotgun
Glutes: Bazooka

Now, turn your imagination on and imagine that your workout is a video game and you are trying to do as much damage as possible during a workout. You could consider this damage as actual damage to the muscle tissue to stimulate muscle growth (Those trying to build muscle) or overall energy expenditure (Those trying to lean and tone by building a little muscle and getting rid of a lot of fat) in the event of trying to wipe out fat. Which of the weapons above would you want to use? If you aren't sure of the right answer let Jim Carey help you out in the picture below..... Why would you want to use a sling shot firing-reloading-firing 100 times (100 crunches on the hard floor) when you could pull out the bazooka, shotgun and sling shot all at the same time (Barbell Squat, Over Head Squat or Lunge with Rotation)? When you set aside an hour or two of your day to exercise and you want to see results you need to go to the bigger muscles and target multiple muscle groups at once. Not only does this stimulate more muscle tissue to adapt and super compensate, but it also improves your bodies ability to burn through stored energy (calories). Rather than wasting your time doing isolated exercises like bicep curls and crunches or seated leg extensions try to find compound exercises such as squats, lunges, presses, pulls, etc. to tap into more fat destruction! And you know what is even better than just using compound exercises? Increasing the intensity by increasing the weight. If you said it before reading it, than you are catching on!

So, get to it! Go do some SERIOUS DAMAGE!

Nutrition: Keep it Simple

Now that you have a general understanding of how principles dictate methods let's get to making it happen!

There are 2 themes that apply to all fitness programs: Exercise and Nutrition. Whether the goal is losing weight, gaining weight, decreasing body fat, building strength, flexibility, mobility, increasing endurance, completing an athletic event or becoming a better athlete these themes are all that matter. In fact they are so important that in many cases one with out the other just won't do. Below is a BRIEF explanation of Nutrition (post on Exercise to come) and how to use scientific principles to devise methods to achieve your goal.

Nutrition
"Nutrition" for the purpose of this post refers to anything that you put into your body. To keep this short and sweet let's focus primarily on Macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats), Micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and Water. Your body basically uses all these items to maintain your castle(body) and you are ultimately a product of the the products you take in. However, let's look at this from a principles approach.

To keep it very simple (simple enough to still reach the goals of any non-elite athlete), realize that your body is able to take in energy and either use it or store it. Thus, if you....

Use the same energy as you consume and you will maintain your body weight
Use less energy than you consume and you will gain weight
Use more energy than you consume and you will lose weight

Now, decide which of the above best lies within your goal.

When I hear people talk about their "diet" (the kinds of food that a person habitually eats) related to a fitness goal there are usually two major approaches that people take (whether or not they know it): Quality and/or Quantity. Quantity refers to the amount of calories (energy) you eat vs. use. Quality refers to the quality of the food you consume and can be described as healthy, unhealthy, protein, fat, carbohydrates, nutritious, etc. In almost all cases I tend to lean toward a "Quantity" focus with a "Quality" emphasis. Here is why:

Quantity
Because most of us have a plethora of stored energy within our body (often enough stored energy to last us weeks if we could harness it). We want to get rid of some of that energy (for different health and aesthetic reasons). The way that we do this is by using this stored energy and not fully replenishing our stores. I like to use a simple snowman example:

You build a snowman (your body) in the winter after a heavy snowstorm. The storm passes and the weather heats up just a little (our "metabolism" is constantly using energy for different reasons such as regulating body temperature, digestion, and breathing). With this small increase of heat your snowman is slowly melting. If you want to maintain your snowman than each day (morning, afternoon, night or all throughout) you pack some snow (eat some food) back on your snowman to keep him just the right size and shape. If you don't pack enough snow back on after a few days, weeks or a month your snowman is smaller and possibly gone. If you continually pack more snow on, than has melted, your snowman will grow. 

Fact: There is approximately 3,500 calories in each pound of body fat
Thus, if you wanted to lose one pound of fat in a week than you would try to eat 500 calories less than you burn each day for a 7 day period (7x500=3,500) The same idea applies when you want to go the opposite direction (weight gain) although there are a few other considerations.

This is why quantity is the backbone of most goals.


Quality
The reason why there should and usually is a quality emphasis is that we need to care about where this energy is coming from and what else is packaged together with it (vitamins, minerals, water).
Obviously we all know what healthy is. I like to think fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, etc. without "sweating the small Sh!t"(see previous post).

Additionally take into consideration the energy that accompanies each macronutrient (fat, protein and carbohydrate). In the fact below realize that each "gram" (size of a paperclip) harnesses a different amount of energy.

Fact:
1 gram of carbohydrate = about 4 calories
1 gram of protein= about 4 calories
1 gram of fat= about 9 calories
1 gram of alcohol= about 7 calories

So, now you should be able to see why most diets that are low in fat and alcohol consumption tend to be more successful. If 1stick of butter has about 1,600 calories you could eat 3 large chicken breasts, or 7 cups of brown rice, or 1 chicken breast and 2 cups of brown rice (putting you in a caloric deficit to lose weight).

In some cases this is a hard concept to grasp, but at the end of the day it is calories consumed vs. calories used. My recommendation is to use a food log or journal such as myfitnesspal.com or other such nutrition program that has a mobile phone app to get started. Just keeping track of what you eat on a daily and weekly basis can be eye opening. Stop waiting and get on it!

For additional information check out http://www.nutrition.gov/weight-management and comment or email.

Out of the Office

Checking out of the real world until Friday. If you need me you can find me here....

Keep emailing me your thoughts on posts and ideas for future posts. I love getting your feedback!

Stop Sweatin' the Small Sh!T: Principles Trump Methods

Ask a client that I have worked with and they will confirm it. At some point I asked them to execute a very critical action; “Forget what you’ve read or heard about fitness, exercise and working out. Let’s start from scratch.” I explain that everything I ask them to do will have a specific purpose, but because of a lack of foundational knowledge (and to avoid a 4 hour lecture) you may not understand its purpose immediately. Although, I assure them that in most cases I will be able to express the purpose of what we are doing to a comfortable level of understanding. It is over the course of weeks, months and years that clients understand how the pieces of the puzzle have fit together: The “Ah Ha!” moments take place.

It’s hard for someone to let go of what they thought they knew, but it’s important to remember like any other discipline such as business, medicine or teaching, fitness and exercise is not something that you can simply just “pick-up”. There is a learning process and like the other disciplines listed above it takes coursework and studies to comprehend the principles that govern the intricate systems of our bodies. These systems and sub-systems interact among each other in a web-like fashion, and that is an understatement to their true complexity. Most experienced and successful professionals recognize there is always more to be learned. I realize that I will never have all the answers to the body, but I stress that my education and experience has given me some of them. And, when I don’t know the answer I usually know where to look.

The reason I make such an extreme request and have taken the time to explain this is because it always seems that people are placing too much emphasis on what needs much less and neglecting what needs much more. I have heard it said in many different ways to many different effects, but I find it key to accomplishing any goal:

Methods are many,

Principles are few,

Methods will change,

Principles Never do.

Below are the definitions of principle and method from dictionary.com in the context to which I would like you to understand.  

A principle is a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which others are derived.

A method is a procedure, technique, or way of doing something, especially in accordance with a definite plan.

The principles I am referring to dealing with the human body are found within science. They have been tested and proven true. For example, the law of conservation of energy states “that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. However, energy can change forms, and energy can flow from one place to another.” Thus, the energy that we consume in calories (for ease of understanding I will use “calories”) does not just disintegrate when it enters our body. It is transformed and either used or stored (in different forms). As I explained in the previous post atoms and molecules have a weight and when they enter the body their weight will contribute to our scale weight. Considering the most common fitness goal is losing weight, appreciate the principle of conservation of energy or “calories in vs. calories out” governs success or failure. The method that you choose or in essence the “route” you take to achieve your goal is another matter. When you group all the methods (i.e. crossfit, running, dieting, etc.) for losing weight (strictly decreasing your weight on a scale) they fit within three groups; restrict the energy going into your body, increase the energy being expended by your body, or a combination of the previous two. Some methods may be more effective than others, but they are all governed by the same principle. I too often see people focusing on the minute details of a method before they have realized and accepted the overarching principle.


Below are a few examples of when a minute detail or method is over glorified to the point that the overarching principle is ignored:

“I stopped eating carbs because it just turns into fat.”
“I started taking [X supplement] because it makes you lose weight.”
“I eat two extra small meals a day because it will increase my metabolism.”
“I stay in my fat burn zone because it burns more fat.”

Oh, boy! The list goes on (Can you tell there is something horribly wrong with every one of the above statements?!?!), but I have to stop myself. All of the statements above overemphasize the method while neglecting the principle. If a person were to tell me they were trying to lose weight and then repeat any of the statements above I would go right back to the principle and ask how many calories they are eating on a daily basis (I realize this method does not work for everyone, but unless there are pre-existing health concerns I always start here). The miniscule details that people blow out of proportion astound me every day. Always go back to the principles. Devise your method or course of action in accordance with those principles. Relating back to the weight loss example simply eat less calories and burn more (Yes, which means YOU will have to keep track somehow). Want to get a little bit more effective start to figure out the methods that allow you to burn more calories and the methods that allow you to eat fewer calories (while still being safe and healthy).

At the bottom of this post is a simple hierarchal diagram to illustrate this idea. The boxes that could be added are infinite, but for now take notice to the order. If you are of the majority because your goal is to lose weight, lean out or get ripped and you feel like something is missing, guess what? It’s probably one of those fine details that I was talking about and in a completed and vertically extended version of this diagram (it doesn’t exist, because the methods are infinite) your precious detail is probably located far below the bottom of this webpage. 

So I ask you, the reader, to execute a very critical action; forget what you think you know and allow yourself to start from scratch. While reading posts, forget minor details and understand the principles. Like the castle that represents your body, realize and consider the principles when building your its foundation. Then you will be able to differentiate methods that make sense and methods that are nonsense for yourself.

Fat: The Indestructible Wetsuit

Understanding theWetsuit

Whether you refer to the goal as losing weight, leaning up,toning, getting ripped or getting rid of “this” there is one thing in common; youare trying to decrease your body fat (to some degree). As I explain to theclients I work with, we all wear a wetsuit that encases our skeleton, organs and muscles. Our wetsuits have multiple layers. Each of these layers consist of subcutaneous fat (fat that lies just beneath the skin), and is most often the fat that we aesthetically do not appreciate (visceral fat is the other type offat and surrounds the organs of the body). However, our wetsuits are all very unique in that there are variable layers (different amounts) among wetsuits(different people) and areas of each wetsuit (thighs, belly, etc.). One might have an overall thin wetsuit, thick wetsuit or as in almost all cases, areas with varying thickness (and always thicker where we wish it were thin). So, how do you attack the unwanted insulation?  

Unfortunately, each layer happens to be made of a remarkably durable and resilient material. (Okay, maybe our wetsuits aren’t really that “durable”and would be easily sliced by the likes of a butter knife, but for explanation purposes I am going to assume liposuction does not exist) No matter how hard you try to rip one portion of a layer from one specific area (1,000 crunches toget rid of your belly) you just won’t be successful. Studies have shown that “spot reduction” does not occur. (1) Rather, you must look at the big picture. In order to do this you need to understand more about adipose tissue (fat) than the fact that it tastes much better than it looks.

What is fat? How do weget it? How do we get rid of it?

Let’s get straight to the point. You probably have a simple answer to the questions above, but your answers are most likely not what I am getting at or worthy of full credit on a physiology/nutrition exam. To keep it short and sweet I am going to avoid most (as much as possible) of the science.In the picture below you see a diagram of a fat molecule (triglyceride to be specific). You will notice that “H” stands for Hydrogen, “O” for Oxygen and “C”for Carbon. Accept that proteins and carbohydrates are made up of relatively the same atoms.  Now you know what fat,carbohydrates and proteins really are; an assortment of Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen atoms that are consumed within our diet (as healthy or unhealthy as itmay be). Now, your answer to the second question was probably correct; we eatit and our body has the ability to create it (Well, I guess you were only halfcorrect). 

It is the answer to the third question that is the key to our 21^st century dilemma (The Obesity Epidemic). Sure the easy answer would have been“exercise,” but how does exercise take molecules of fat in the body (weight on the bathroom scale) and get rid of it (losing 10 pounds). Seriously, consider this for a second. It wasn't until I got into my first graduate level course that I was asked to figure this out. A fat molecule, like any other molecule has a weight. Unless that weight is removed from the body it would be impossible for you to lose any weight due to a reduction in fat.  No, you don’t “burn” this molecule into oblivion, sweat it out or excrete it as waste. So what happens?

 Alright, I will assume that you don’t enjoy the perplexity of this question (or at least as much as I did) and explain…

We breathe in Oxygen, as the molecule O₂. O₂, the combination of two Oxygen atoms, has a weight (don’t worry about how much; just accept that it does weigh something). We breathe out Carbon Dioxide as the molecule CO₂. CO₂, weighs more than O₂ because it contains two oxygen atoms AND a carbon atom. So, if you are still asking yourself what this all means, it’s simple. We breathe something in and breathe out something heavier. The extra weight is due to the carbon.  When we exercise and our body breaks down fat (carbohydrates and proteins too) we are breathing out carbon atoms. Thus, if were strict the amount of carbon atoms that enter our body (through our mouth) and increase the amount of carbon atoms that leave our body (through our mouth) we lose weight. Or more precisely we lose true weight equal to the net balance of Carbon atoms entering vs. leaving the body. Conversely, if more carbon atoms are going your mouth than are coming out on a daily/weekly/monthly basis you are simply supplying your body with a surplus of carbon atoms to construct fat.

So, next year at about this time when you head out to the beach and into the cold water you will find yourself in one of two predicaments:

1. Your natural wetsuit will be sufficient insulation and keep you warm in the water

Or

2. You will need a wetsuit because you chose to use this blog and its upcoming posts to help shed a few layers of your natural wetsuit

If you are still interested in some of the science (nerd/fitness junkie alert) this is a great video (click the link) depicting how “Acetylcoenzyme A” is the crossroads of fat and carbohydrates when your body decides to store fat. Your body has no idea whether it entered your mouth as a fat or carbohydrate it just knows how to package and store it. (A teaser to a later post on why “low” and “no” carbohydrate diets are ridiculous in most situations)

1. Kostek M,Pescatello L, Seip R, Angelopoulos T, Clarkson P, Gordon P, Moyna N, Visich P,Zoeller R, Thompson P, Hoffman E, and Price T. Subcutaneous fat alterations resulting from an upper-body resistance training program. Medicine and Sciencein Sports and Exercise 39: 1177-1185, 2007.

Constructing Your Castle

It seems more and more common each week that someone asks me for help when trying to create a workout program or “training plan.” Whether it is a member that has been taking one of my group exercise classes or a close friend that has recently become motivated, people are starting to realize what some of us have known all along. Working out is like baking; the product is a result of ingredients and with too many, too little or the wrong ingredients the product will never look, taste, smell or feel just right. Now, it would be simple to just say add “X”, remove “Y” and stop eating “Z,” but the truth of the matter is that working out and training is much more intricate than that. Like baking it requires a level of dedication and every recipe can be altered to an individual’s specific liking. This is precisely why there are so many books, videos and magazines out there of which some are helpful, others are hurtful, and some are just darn right useless. So, with that being said I offer up another metaphor to help you understand concepts associated with working out from another perspective to let you decide if you are ready to begin.

A few weeks ago I came across a motivational metaphor that I found to be a rather interesting and accurate way to describe and think of training.  The metaphor, of which I could not figure out the original author or exact text, described training like building a castle. It explained, in more ways than one, how training is very similar to building a castle. Over the past few weeks I have pondered upon this metaphor’s relationship to training and transformed it into something that I felt might be a more holistic description of the training process.

Your body is a castle and training is the process of constructing that castle. We all start with a vision (goal) and each day of training is a day spent on your castle. Like any structure you must first choose the right location and environment to build (i.e. healthy environments and positive human influences). Once the location has been decided a plan (program) is imperative (although too often neglected). Construction is sequential, as a solid foundation precedes a sturdy structure creating the skeleton to any other fine details (Sometimes this foundation does not initially seem directly linked to the end product). As it is often said, “you get back what you put in,” and thus without adequate time (on a daily or weekly basis) allocated to your castle, construction will slow or even stop (Plateau). If construction stops for too long the rough elements and time will deteriorate your structure at an exponential rate (detraining) leaving your castle in ruins.  On the other hand if construction is rushed the quality of the end product will be jeopardized. Remember that at times mortar will need to set and paint will need time to dry (recovery-mental and physical). Though more time, effort and detail put into your castle can result in more elegance, working smarter rather than harder can have similar and often better results within a shorter period of time. A benefit that leaves more time to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor and all aspects of life surrounding one’s castle.

As I tell anyone that solicits my services in creating a workout program or achieving a goal, it requires your time, commitment and determination. None of which, can be provided by anyone other than one’s self. Thus, decide how elegant, magnificent and extraordinary you desire your castle to be and then accept the time, commitment and change that will be required to construct, transform and create your castle.

1. Devise an Effective plan

2. Make your goal a priority

3. Stick to the plan

4. Stick to the plan (No! Seriously, stick to the plan)

Tell me what aspects of building your castle seem to resonate most with you?