Month: August 2016

You may have heard me say it before: Form over speed equals results.
This isn’t just a slogan on a shirt or something I say in my videos. This is a true statement that I wish more people would understand. When you have great form, you’re able to achieve a better range of motion. With better range of motion, you will definitely get better results.
So let’s talk about a few simple movements: planks, push-ups, plyometrics, lunges, and squats. Making some small tweaks to how you’re doing them can help get you to good form. And good form with these leads to good form in most movements. Just keep a close eye on your form while you’re working out—either face a mirror or put your phone in selfie mode. You don’t have to even hit record on the phone; watch yourself on the screen and see what your body looks like through different movement patterns.
I promise you that these simple tweaks will create a huge impact in your workout routines—and your results!

Plank

Do It Right: Plank is the foundation of many movements, especially those that activate the core, so maintaining proper positioning is critical to your results. Place your hands directly underneath your shoulders. Your butt should be down and your back flat. Press all the weight into your heels. Your neck and head should be in alignment, so be sure to look slightly out, not directly down at the ground. Be cautious of letting your hips sink to the mat or pike up in the air. To modify plank, simply drop the knees to the ground and keep the rest of your body in alignment. Whether you’re on knees or toes doesn’t really matter—do whatever is right for you and your body. Just make sure to follow these guidelines so you’re getting the most out of this movement.

Push-Up

Do It Right: Push-ups are a functional exercise and a great way to work the upper body without equipment. A lot of the principles of plank also apply to the push-up—with a few minor tweaks. There are of course multiple kinds of push-ups, but for the standard one, your arms should be slightly wider than the shoulders so that the work is in the chest. All of the other plank principles apply as far your body alignment is concerned. Same goes for modified plank. Don’t stress out over range of motion at first. Over time you’ll be able to go deeper into your push-up as you perfect the movement. In the beginning it’s better to perform the move in a modified position and focus on form, rather than try to do it on your toes with bad form. Form breeds results, but it also protects us from injury.

Plyometrics

Do It Right: People are often afraid of injuring their knees with plyometrics, but when done with excellent form, they’re completely safe. First, you have to go down to go up! In other words, your movement for any plyo work should start with a squat or soft bend in the knees. Second, land softly. Just think toe, ball, heel. These are the parts of the foot that you want to land through in order to not put undue strain on your joints. Third, finish where you started…in a squat. If you need to modify any plyometric movements, simply remove the jump but keep the “explosive power” by squatting and rising up onto the balls of the feet.

Lunge

Do It Right: Lunges are a great functional movement and are especially effective at working the lower part of your body. It’s important to keep your body in the proper position by ensuring that your ears, shoulder, and hips are in alignment. Toes should be tracking forward, and you should have a wide enough stance to be able to drop your knees down toward the ground in two 90-degree angles. Don’t let your knees push past your toes. The motion should be up and down, not forward and back.

Squat

Do It Right: There are many variations of squats, but for standard squats, your feet should be about hip distance apart. You want all the weight in your heels, so much so that you can slightly lift your toes off of the ground. Push your butt back but keep your back flat, shoulders pulled back, and chest lifted. To modify a squat, simply decrease your range of motion or turn your toes out ever so slightly to open up your hip flexors and ensure that your knees don’t track inward.

I’ve never counted the myriad of ways you can mess up your diet, but I know firsthand it’s a lot. That’s because dieting is rarely straightforward; it’s often fraught with decisions that can send your diet spiraling down the drain. 

Here are five common dieting pitfalls, along with my solutions to keeping yourself heading in the right direction…no matter what life throws your way.

Treats

Food treats are one of the most common diet pitfalls. There’s nothing wrong with having a small dessert after a meal or the occasional sweet treat, but there is something wrong if you look at that treat as a reward for eating well or exercising. Your favorite indulgence should just be part of your overall eating plan. As long as it fits within your calorie and nutrient guidelines, you’re good to go. 

Cheats

A cheat is different than a treat. You throw caution to the wind and eat whatever you want for a meal, a day, or even several days. Sometimes you plan the cheat, and sometimes it just happens. I’m not a fan of cheat meals or days; it implies your diet is something that needs cheating on. Don’t look at your diet that way. Instead, see it as a way to lose weight, improve your health, and make you feel better about yourself.

Nighttime Snacking

In dieting, the amount and type of food are more important than the time you eat, but nighttime snacking can be a big pitfall. Have some chips, some dip, and a little bit of ice cream, and you’ve hit 500 calories without even feeling full. My tip: plan for an after-dinner snack. Save some calories for later in the evening, and it won’t matter if you have a midnight snack or not.

Eating Exercise Calories

Exercise is great, but it doesn’t give you free reign to eat whatever you want. After all, exercise calories help your weight loss move along a little quicker, so if you eat them all back, you’ll lose weight more slowly. Even worse, if you overestimate how many calories you burned, you can end up stalling your weight loss. 

Potluck Meals and Buffet Lines

A lot of overweight and obese people enjoy potluck meals and buffet lines. And I used to be one of them. It was acceptable to eat as much as I wanted without feeling any judgment. But when you’re trying to lose weight, it’s important to move away from feeling enjoyment at overeating. If you must go to a potluck meal or restaurant with a buffet line, limit yourself to one plate. Don’t go back for anything except vegetables. Your waistline will thank you later.

Muscle definition happens in the gym, right? Pumping iron and showing off bulging muscles?
Well, weight training is essential, of course. But it’s only part of the process. What you don’t see is what people do when they leave the gym. Diet, for example, is even more important in attaining the muscle tone you’re after. And it’s just one of the factors to consider.
Here are 5 surprising muscle-defining tips to take your body to the next level.

Lose the fat.

Many people have a lot more muscle than they think—it might just be hidden under a nice cushy layer of fat. In fact, heavier people typically have more muscle mass, especially if they’re relatively active. The weight makes them stronger simply because every movement is a form of resistance training.
With more muscle mass comes more calories burned, even at rest. So a person who carries more weight is typically burning more calories and working harder, even at a slower pace, than a lighter fit person. The key to uncovering all that muscle is fat loss. As the fat melts away, you’ll start to see what’s been hiding.

Work harder in the kitchen.

Diet is the key component to achieving muscle definition. Think of it this way. Working out without watching what you eat is like washing your car and driving it through the mud; it could take 30 seconds to ruin what you spent an hour cleaning up. In the same way, you can erase an hour of hard work in the gym with just a few bites of the wrong foods.
To shed the fat that’s covering your fit physique, you will need to be in a caloric deficit. So track your calories with apps like LoseIt!, which will help you set a caloric budget. Once you begin to shed the extra baggage, you’ll start to see all that muscle you’ve been working so hard to sculpt.

Increase cardio.

Bodybuilders tend to avoid cardio because they’re scared of losing muscle. But the more body fat you lose, the more muscular you’ll look. And one way to help you lean out is by increasing your cardio. You can also boost fat burn by changing up your weight training. Try more circuit training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT training).

Decrease your carbs.

Most people eat way too many carbohydrates and not enough healthy fats and proteins. You can preserve muscle during weight loss by boosting your protein intake and decreasing unhealthy carbs like processed foods, cereals, bread, chips, cookies, and sugary foods.
Also, limit carbs to only when you need them, so your body will be less likely to store them. They’re great fuel for activity, but you don’t need them to sleep. A great time to have healthy carbohydrates (like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, brown rice, or whole grain pasta) is in the morning or before a workout.

Stick with it longer.

Many people are doing all the right things—for a short amount of time. The key to getting lean is sticking to your diet and exercise routine until you get the results you want. Most of my clients will do it right for a period of time, but then stop short of their goal. I don’t stop until I’ve reached my goal. That’s really the only difference. Same diet, same workout, different stopping place.

Weight loss isn’t a one-size-fits-all experience. 

When I lost 150 pounds, about 50 percent of my diet was from carbohydrates; cutting way back on them was essential for me. But if you want to eat a gluten-free diet or follow a low-carb plan, you might not have the same success I did. 

There are plenty of times when seemingly good weight-loss advice won’t work for your specific needs. Here are 5 key factors to consider.

Medications

I’ve had a lot of clients who are on medications that make weight loss difficult and slow, even when they’re doing all the right things. If you’re on meds that make weight loss hard, be sure to take this into account when analyzing your weight-loss progress. For you, losing 2 pounds a month may be a terrific result. Be sure to ask your doctor if your medications are in fact contributing to your difficulty in losing weight, and whether there’s a more weight loss-friendly option.

Physical Abilities

Weight-loss advice that includes exercise is great, unless you can’t exercise per your doctor’s orders. I once had a client whose doctor said she could only exercise sitting down. If I had insisted she get on the treadmill or do aerobics, she could have been injured. I encourage you to exercise within your physical limitations. When I was 300 pounds, I couldn’t run, but I could walk. You might not be able to do Zumba or CrossFit, but perhaps you can do yoga or water aerobics.

Blanket Statements

Have you ever looked at a weight-loss website that says things like “Lose 10 pounds in a week!” or “Guaranteed success or your money back!” These claims are blanket statements. While success stories can be encouraging, make sure you read the fine print and analyze whether the statements are true, or may just be an exaggeration to get you to buy a product or sign up for an email list.

Rigidity

It’s good advice to follow an eating program and not try to lose weight willy nilly. But an overly rigid eating plan can quickly backfire (believe me, I know from personal experience). Be wary of weight-loss advice that gives you exact foods to eat at particular times of day. Usually these very rigid diets are simply fads that may work for a short time but are impossible to stick with.

Promises of steady loss

If anyone implies that you’re failing because your weight loss isn’t steady or quick, tune them out. While the standard recommended weight loss is 0.5 to 2 pounds a week, real-life experience is often different. Take the advice that you need to lose a certain number of pounds each week or month with a grain of salt. The measure of successful weight loss isn’t how long it takes you to lose the weight, but whether you keep it off.

When I was overweight, I spent many years thinking about how great my life would be when I lost 150 pounds, but not much time actively trying to lose weight.

This is a common rut. A lot of people who say they’re “trying to lose weight” are stuck in the thinking cycle. Now, there’s nothing wrong with thinking about losing weight. It’s important to visualize your success, figure out what you’ll eat that day or week, and imagine what your life will be like when you’re at a healthy weight. But there is something wrong when all you do is think about it and don’t act. 

So how do you break the cycle? Ask yourself these five questions to discover if you’re doing more thinking than acting. Be honest with yourself when answering, even if it hurts.

1. Have you been trying/thinking about losing weight but seen very few results?

2. Do you spend a lot of time researching weight loss but don’t put what you learn into practice?

3. Are you frustrated with your lack of progress even though you know all the right things to do?

4. Do people ask you when you’re going to start your diet? (In other words, do they see you working toward your stated goal of weight loss?)

5. Do you try to stick to a diet for a day or two and then go back to just reading about weight loss?

If you honestly answered “Yes,” to more than a few of these questions then you’re probably doing more thinking than trying.

All Is Not Lost

It’s a relatively easy process to start actively losing weight, especially since you probably know a lot about losing weight from all your thinking and research. I know I sure did.

Here are the steps to take:

First, acknowledge that you’ve been doing too much thinking and not enough doing. This is sometimes the hardest part. Who wants to admit they are the problem? It was hard for me, but once I did, I never looked back.

Second, put what you already know into practice. This may include:

• Signing up on a weight loss website like MyFitnessPal.
• Cleaning out your pantry.
• Shopping for healthy foods for the next week.
• Tracking your food intake every single day.
• Exercising regularly.
• Having an accountability group or partner.

Third, ask yourself every night whether you’ve put your weight-loss plan into action or if you’ve just spent time thinking about it.

Once you’ve seen some success from your actions, you can start thinking about weight maintenance, all the great clothes you can buy, and your exciting new fitness goals!

CrossFit. HIIT. Body-building competitions. Fitspo. Pushing ourselves to our physical limits has become more mainstream than ever. But is there a dark side to the surge in high-intensity training routines for the average Jane or Joe?

We often don’t pay much attention to our routines. We sign up for a class, embark on an organized run, or follow along with a video. We settle on something we enjoy, then return to it out of habit and convenience. But our comfort zone, when mixed with the oft-touted adage “If some is good, more is better,” creates a perfect storm for fitness fatalities.

One of the most fundamental issues with this level of frequent and intense exercise is not adequately rotating our muscle groups. When we follow the same routine and push ourselves to the maximum every time, we run the risk of overloading our muscles. As a result, we may not be seeing desired results. But this also poses a number of serious health risks. Here’s why.

Muscles need rest

Any trainer worth her salt will tell you that strength gains and progress are not made in the gym; they’re made during recovery periods between gym sessions. The only way to get stronger is by tearing your muscle fibers and then backing off to let them repair themselves. 

How much rest a muscle needs depends on several factors. More intense sessions require longer periods of recovery, as do those that recruit larger muscle groups (think lower body more than upper body here). Generally, one or two days is sufficient, but you may find that if you’re just starting out, you need a little longer.

If you don’t respect your body’s need to recover, you run the risk of developing overtraining syndrome. Performance first plateaus, then eventually declines. You feel tired and sluggish all the time. Your muscles are always sore. You may catch more viral infections than usual. Oh, and you’re a heck of a lot more likely to hurt yourself.

No one needs illnesses or injuries to further slow them down. Take care not to overstress any muscle group; it could put you out of commission entirely.

Muscles adapt to imposed demands

The first time you attempt an exercise, you’re likely to be sore for days; keep doing it and it gets easier. It’s not just you mastering the exercise. Our body finds more efficient ways to accomplish the same motion over time, which winds up burning fewer calories and being less challenging. A workout shouldn’t be torture, but it’s not always meant to be easy, either. That’s why switching it up is so important!

If you do follow one routine consistently, vary the exercises, intensity, duration, or speed every four to six weeks. It’s also a good idea to shake things up more often than that: try a variety of classes throughout the week, vary your intensity (HIIT isn’t meant for every workout!), and bottom line, make sure you’re rotating which muscles you focus on each session.

There are a lot of online resources to help you split your muscles into different gym sessions, and the one you choose will depend a lot on personal preference, time availability, and desired goals. You can also hire a personal trainer to help design a workout program that’s safe and effective; the trainer can also progress the workout over time to avoid plateaus.

Just because you work legs one day and arms the next, however, doesn’t mean there aren’t risks to intense physical activity seven days a week. There isn’t a single fiber of our bodies that works in isolation from everything else. Our body is one complex unit, and focusing on one area doesn’t mean the rest of it is on vacation. Even if you rotate muscle groups, taking days off remains crucial to staying healthy and fit.

Rotate. Rest. And remember: more is not always better.