Gymnasts, swimmers, sprinters, and dancers all typically have extremely impressive physiques- and not from doing 3 sets of 10 reps on 10 exercises in the weight room.  The common perception (especially by professionals within the fitness industry) is that you can’t build muscle without heavy weights.  So if that’s the case, then why does that gymnast on the rings have more muscle than almost all of the guys spending countless hours on the bench press and squat rack, when all he uses is body weight?  It’s time to stop thinking inside of the box and following a cookie cutter exercise list, when the results can be even better from using less equipment.  By performing exercises without the stability of a machine or bench, the entire body has to work in harmony to create its own stability.  This is where core strength comes from, not from crunches.

The term “core” is thrown out improperly all too often, so I will briefly define what it really refers to.  The word core is NOT synonymous with abs.  The core is the entire torso and all of the various muscles within it that work to stabilize the spine, hips, and shoulder girdle.  The entire body is meant to function as a unit, and the core is what holds everything together.  So if everyone talks about wanting a strong core, then why do the same people typically work one body part at a time and almost completely eliminate the core from their exercise program?

Your body doesn’t count reps, it doesn’t assign a number to the amount of weight you are lifting, and it doesn’t only react to a small list of “approved” exercises.  There are many ways to make your muscles work hard, and it is my belief that you were born with one of the best weights around…  Yep, you guessed it- your entire body.

Also, for all of the women who are scared that lifting weights will make you bulky instead of slender, this simply is not true.  We have all seen the women around the gym who could put male football players to shame with their muscles, but I will put your mind at ease by letting you know that for them to accomplish this they had to inject a little “help”.  Women do not naturally have the testosterone levels to build nearly as much muscle as men, so you are not going to accidentally get buff.  You can look around anywhere and see men who are trying to get buff and still can’t- so if they can’t do it on purpose, I assure you that you will not do it on accident!  Just doing cardio will not get you the toned look that you desire, because you can’t have MUSCLE tone without MUSCLE!  Not to mention, muscle is the most important component of metabolism!  Every pound of muscle burns about 50 calories per day, so adding just 5lbs of muscle will add 250 calories to your daily expenditure!  One last point I want to make on this is in regard to a topic that all personal trainers get asked about all the time- bodyweight exercise.  Many people will say that they only do bodyweight exercise because they don’t want to lift weights and get bulky.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with bodyweight exercise (in fact, I utilize bodyweight more than anything else), but bodyWEIGHT is still a WEIGHT!  So you’re not going to get any more bulky by lifting a piece of iron than you will get from lifting a piece of flesh and bones!

Just about every person out there has a long list of foods that they are sensitive or allergic to.  Just because you don’t get a stomach ache, a rash, a stuffy nose, or other common allergic symptoms, does not mean that you’re not allergic or sensitive to a food.  I urge all of my personal training clients to pay very close attention to which foods make them FEEL the best after eating them.  If certain foods cause your energy levels to be lower than normal then that can be a sign that you are not efficiently able to process those foods.  This may not come as a surprise, but here is the interesting part- the foods you don’t process very well can just as easily be some of the healthiest foods there are.  Sweet potatoes are an extremely nutrient dense food with many health benefits, but if you feel lethargic after eating them then stop eating them!  Sometimes we try so hard to do things right, and we miss the obvious signs that our body is trying to give us.  My first rule of nutrition (and exercise for that matter!), is to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!  Just to be clear though, apply common sense to this rule.  If you feel good after eating hot dogs, french fries, and cokes, this does not mean that these foods are healthy!  You may process them fine, but if there are minimal nutrients to process then being able to process it doesn’t do you much good!

Here are a few other pointers that I will try to dive into in more depth in future postings:

1. Try to avoid long gaps between meals.  Frequent small meals / snacks (preferably 5-6, but at least 4 per day) will keep your metabolism revving all day.  Going long time periods without food will train your body to store energy as fat instead of using it.  This results in fewer calories being burned, energy levels being lower, muscle being burned for energy instead of fat, and more stored body fat.

2. If you must “cheat”, at least watch your portion sizes.  It will not ruin all of your results to have bad foods from time to time, as long as you have them in modest amounts.

3. If you are not sure how to construct a balanced meal, here is a simplified guide: one complete protein source the size of your palm (ex: meat or eggs), one carbohydrate source, also the size of your palm (ex: quinoa, brown rice, or sweet potato), and one green vegetable serving the size of your palm (ex: broccoli, spinach, or turnip greens).

I will do later blog posts about individual supplements, but for now I will address the baseline of all supplements- the multi-vitamin.  First off, all multi-vitamins are NOT created equal!  The common brands such as Centrum and One-a-Day are practically useless because they will pass right through your system with minimal absorption.  This is because most of the ingredients are synthetic (made in a lab!) rather than pulled from whole food sources.  Your body is obviously supposed to ingest vitamins and minerals from food, and when synthetic vitamins and minerals enter the digestive system they are usually not recognized by the body- and therefore they do not get absorbed.  It is also important to only take a vitamin with food to ensure proper absorption.  Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat soluble vitamins, meaning that if they are ingested without a fat source then they cannot be absorbed.  This doesn’t mean you need to eat an excessive amount of fat, even a small amount of fat that you will attain in any meal will suffice.  Eating a meal will also keep the vitamin in the digestive tract for longer and allow more time for it to absorb.

There are many good whole food multi-vitamins out there, but the one I typically recommend is Nature’s Way- Alive (for men and post-menopausal women, use the iron-free version).  I order most of my supplements from Allstarhealth.com because they are the cheapest I have found and are very prompt with delivery.  I have no affiliation with Nature’s Way or All Star Health, so you do not need to go through me to order.

The problem is, not everyone functions well enough early in the morning to get a productive workout.  All other things being equal, of course it is better to exercise earlier.  But if the choices are to have a lazy, half-hearted work out in the morning or a productive, energized work out in the evening, I will recommend the 2^nd option every time.  That being said, one thing to keep in mind is that over time your body will adapt to morning exercise and you may actually become a “morning person”!  Many people will also choose to do their cardio in the morning and weight lifting later in the day- that way they are still energized for their lifting but get a metabolic boost to start the day!  Either way, until you get used to it, you just have to rely on pure will power to stay in the routine long enough to make it a habit!  And you better believe that if I am there next to you that you won’t be allowed to slack off regardless of how tired you are!  Overall, I cannot say that I have personally seen a difference in my client’s results between morning sessions and night sessions.  This seems to only be a small factor in the big scheme of things, because I’ve seen great results from either option.  Whether you workout in the morning, afternoon, or night, the important thing is that you DO workout and workout properly!

Cables are the middle ground between free weights and guided machines.  Cables give the user control, but not quite as much as free weights because they will always pull back to the same point.  One advantage of that is being able to change the direction in which the weight is pulling from.  Where a free weight will obviously always be resisting downward because of gravity, the user can choose the location that the resistance comes from with a cable.

Guided machines can be helpful for a beginner to learn how to perform an exercise, but can also be harmful.  Machines are typically easier to use, but require very little control from the user.  But more importantly- since machines usually only allow a set motion, the user can push or pull at an incorrect angle and never know it since the machine will still move the same way.   This can lead to unnecessary stress being placed on the muscles of the rotator cuff, and can lead to a variety of injuries.  There are still plenty of reasons to use these machines, but it should never be assumed that form is any less important on a machine than on free weights or cables!  I usually have beginner clients learn an exercise on a machine, and progress toward cables and free weights shortly after.  Even for advanced users there is still a place for machines in a workout routine though, especially isolation routines.  Variety is very important in any workout program, and when working only 1-2 body parts in a single workout it can be helpful to use machines later in the workout when control is dwindling.

Clearly there is a place for all types of equipment, you just have to know how and when to use them!

Exercise programs based around full body exercises will burn more calories during the workout, but will make it harder to develop individual body parts that are under-developed.  On these exercises, it is common for the strongest body parts to take over and the weakest body parts to do very little.  Thus the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker!  However, if time is a major limitation, full body exercise might be the only way to burn enough calories to ensure weight loss.  When doing full body exercises one after another, you are in essence doing weights and cardio at the same time.

In the long-term though, either exercise program can lead to weight loss because the more muscle you build, the more calories your body naturally burns all day long.  On average, every pound of muscle you build will burn about 50 calories per day.  That means if you gain 10 pounds of muscle over the course of a couple months, you will end up adding 500 calories per day to your metabolism!  That’s like doing a long cardio session every single day without ever actually having to set aside time for cardio (I still recommend doing some cardio anyway though for heart health, which will lead to even more calories being burned)!  If you’re not sure which program is right for you and how to design/execute each program, call or email me for a free assessment!

That is why it is essential to only create a program AFTER a comprehensive body alignment evaluation.  Over years of repetitive movements, every person’s body learns to move a little bit different.

This can be caused by good or bad posture, the use of high heeled shoes, extended periods of sitting at a computer (and just generally how you sit and how much you sit!), injuries, etc.  The list could go on forever, but the point is that everything you do has an effect on how your body moves.  A well-done assessment should diagnose which muscles are over-active and need to be lengthened, and which muscles are under-active and need to be strengthened.  Once a program has been tailored to fit your body, your body will soon be properly aligned and ready to be much more efficient!  This will speed up your results, prevent injuries, and help eliminate neck, back, and joint pain that causes your body to be stiff and hold onto stress!