How to Keep Going When You Lack Motivation

Why is staying motivated so hard?

Because starting your fitness program is usually easier than sticking with it over time.

Staying Motivated

How do you stay motivated with health and fitness?

It comes down to your mental game and discipline. You will not always be motivated, but discipline takes over and provides the drive to keep going.

Motivation involves a feeling whereas discipline is all about action. You will not want to eat right or exercise all the time and you may even dread it. You are not alone. This happens to all of us at every fitness level.

Hang in There!

The important thing is not to quit, or base your fitness program on a fleeting feeling. Discipline is what gets you to the workout and motivation kicks in once you get started. Being around other people who are working towards a similar goal can be very motivating.

The same goes for eating healthy and meal prep. You may be tempted to order a pizza instead of getting out the pots and pans to cook healthy food and clean a big kitchen mess afterward. However, once you get in there and start chopping, grilling, and slow-cooking it becomes an enjoyable experience.

You are gaining control of what you're eating and feel good about the accomplishment. This is called sticking to the program and has nothing to do with motivation. Although, feeling better about your choices can be very motivating. Again, it starts with discipline and the actions to motivate the process.

Staying motivated takes daily choices and a positive attitude. It's more about discipline and wanting to succeed than feelings. Once you grasp that it's absolutely normal to feel unmotivated sometimes is when you actually gain motivation. You understand actions speak louder than feelings and will keep you going when motivation is lacking.

Helpful Tips and Ideas

The following tips may help during those times when motivation needs a boost:

• Realize motivation is a feeling that changes daily.
• Discipline carries you when motivation is lacking.
• Do your workout anyway - you will feel better afterward.
• Stay positive and surround yourself with like-minded people with similar goals.
• Reach out to a friend or significant other to help keep you accountable.
• Hire a personal trainer.
• You are not too busy (excuses are unacceptable).
• Whatever is going on in your life, you can succeed.
• Place post-it notes with positive affirmations all over the place.
• You have come too far to only come this far. Keep going!
• The struggle is real and the best reason to keep going.
• You can do it!
• Join a gym and take fitness classes.
• Sign up for a healthy cooking class.

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Finding the Best Exercise Program That Works For You

Are you struggling with finding the right workout? You're not alone. It can feel overwhelming with so many different programs available.

The Best Exercise Program

The best exercise for you is one that works for your body and lifestyle. It's also one you should enjoy and keeps you coming back for more.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the best workout program for you. Your fitness level and lifestyle are the first things that come to mind. Also, your overall feeling about exercise.

Exercise is a component of physical fitness and an important part of achieving lasting results. Keeping this in mind, it will be essential for you to first identify where you see yourself regarding exercise:

The Physical Part

• I am a sedentary person and don't exercise at all.
• I exercise occasionally. (a few times per month).
• I exercise regularly (3-5 times weekly).

The Mental Part

• I dislike the thought of exercising.
• I don't like exercise discomfort and being sore the next day.
• I don't like to get sweaty or feel hot.
• I feel overwhelmed, intimidated, and don't know what I am doing.
• I am too busy to exercise.
• I fear to go to the gym.
• I can get bored easily and quit.
• I feel pretty confident in my exercise program.
• I enjoy going to the gym, feel stronger, and better because of it.

Choosing Your Workout Program

Acceptance of where you are physically and mentally will be the start of selecting the best workout program for you. Allowing yourself to be a beginner will be an important part of this process. It will also help with improving how you feel about exercise. 

All components of fitness are individual and not universal making this about your program, your body, and your progress. Your workout may mimic an exercise program through guidance but it belongs to you. This is true for everyone at any fitness level.

That being said, the following tips will help you get motivated about choosing a workout program that works best for you:

• Accept and allow yourself to be a beginner. This may require enlisting the help of a qualified personal trainer, watching online fitness expert workshops and exercise classes, and buying books on the subject of exercise for beginners. 

• Understand that exercise will be a brief uncomfortable process. Change takes challenging your body and exercise discomfort is normal. Remember, short-term discomfort for lasting results. This will take getting comfortable with getting uncomfortable. 

• Write down physical activity that sounds fun to you. Look into classes, videos, etc., that cater to your likes. This is very helpful for those who dislike the thought of exercising. You can do it!

• Make it a goal to exercise at least 3 days per week to start.

• A challenging workout will heat up your body and produce sweat. This will require a change of mindset for those uncomfortable with this. Remember, it's only for a short time and gets you closer to your goals. This also requires getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

• Avoid boredom and promote muscle confusion by changing up your workout programs regularly. This will keep you motivated.

• Gain workout confidence by pushing past your fears and into the gym. This will feel hard, but each day will get easier. I promise!

• Being too busy is an unacceptable excuse not to take care of your fitness. This is an issue of priorities, not having time. Remove the calendar clutter and make time to exercise. 

• Already confident in the gym but have hit a plateau? Research different ways to challenge your body, join a new fitness class, increase your weight resistance/reps. There is always a way to improve and progress your workout program.

• Your ultimate goal is to become a regular exerciser (3-5 times per week for life).

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5 Workouts You May Want to Try For Improved Fitness

The good thing about workout programs is they’re individual and not universal. We all differ in fitness level, personality, lifestyle, and goals. Taking this into consideration, selecting the right workout program is an important part of our fitness journey. 

There’s a wide variety of exercise modalities available to accommodate every individual and lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned athlete or newbie fitness enthusiast, there’s something for everyone. The best and most effective workout is one that you do consistently, enjoy, and works with your lifestyle and goals. 

Selecting the right workout program can be a challenge with all the different options available. A helpful tool in choosing the best exercise plan is writing down your health and fitness goals. Are you an active adult or athlete who wants to increase exercise intensity or a beginner with a desire to lose a few pounds? What about a bodybuilder trying to increase lean mass or an individual struggling with flexibility? Whatever your fitness goal, there are specific workout programs supplying these benefits.

Once your fitness goals are defined, choosing an exercise program becomes simplified. The next step includes understanding the definition, purpose, and benefits of each workout modality. The following popular exercise programs are shown to be effective for health and fitness improvement:

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has become one of the most popular training methods. What makes this exercise program so appealing is being able to complete a workout in a short period of time. According to research, HIIT is a time-efficient strategy to improve our health and fitness and cuts our exercise training in half.

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is also referred to as high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) or sprint interval training (SIT). HIIT is a vigorous form of exercise combining interval training and cardiovascular exercise. As a participant of HIIT, you would be challenging your body with low and high-intensity work. An example would be performing a maximum sprint for 100 yards followed by a few seconds of light jogging or walking to recover. The workout duration is typically 30 minutes or to exercise exhaustion.

Research indicates high-intensity interval training is effective for reducing body fat, improving athletic performance, and flexibility. However, due to the extreme challenge on the body, some studies show it may not be the best fit for inactive individuals beginning a fitness program. In this instance, HIIT could be a progressive program implemented later once fitness and activity levels have increased. It appears to be highly favorable for active adults and athletes taking their workouts to the next level. 

Strength Training

Strength or resistance training is another popular and effective exercise modality. This form of exercise is designed to improve muscular fitness by challenging a muscle or muscle group using external resistance. External resistance can include free weights, resistance bands, or cable machines for example. Strength training can be modified to the fitness level of an individual making it a superior workout option.

Resistance training is the preferred method of exercise for bodybuilders to increase muscle strength and size. It’s also favored among new exercisers and active adults who desire to improve muscle tone and stimulate fat loss. The program is best performed using a progressive style increasing in weight resistance, sets, and repetitions as muscular strength is increased. Beginners may find it easier to start with machines before moving into more complex free-weight exercises. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends strength training at least two non-consecutive days per week for optimal results.

Besides being one of the most versatile and enjoyable ways to exercise among the general population, strength training is indicated to provide numerous health benefits. Chronic research has shown regular resistance training to reduce our risk of heart disease by lowering body fat. It’s also said to increase our metabolism, decrease blood pressure, increase bone density, and improve cholesterol levels.

Bodyweight Training

Bodyweight training or exercises take us back to the basics and a great workout option for individuals without access to gym equipment. This method of training uses body weight as the resistance to build muscular strength, lean mass, endurance, and flexibility. Bodyweight training is considered the ‘no gym, no excuses’ workout program you can perform anywhere.

Bodyweight training is still considered strength training and accomplished without free weights or machines. Another bonus to this program is no gym membership fee and time-efficient because it can be done right at home.

Popular bodyweight training exercises include pull-ups, push-ups, crunches, planks, and squats. Advanced movements incorporate handstands and strength holds. Bodyweight training is very challenging but is easily modified to accommodate any fitness level. It is also shown to have a reduced risk of personal injury compared to weighted exercise.

Group Training

Group training is an excellent workout choice for those who like the push of being in an exercise class environment. This mode of exercise is led by an instructor and performed by a group of individuals. Gyms or boot camps commonly offer modified versions to exercise accommodating all fitness levels. This makes for a fun, active, and social exercise experience.

Group training formats can include muscle conditioning, body pump, yoga, Pilates, step, and kickboxing. The wide variety of class options creates an ever-changing workout atmosphere helpful to avoid burnout. Also, the classes are typically well-structured, effective, and completed within a one-hour duration.

Working out with friends is another way to describe group training. When we exercise with others, it provides an accountability factor not given when we train alone. Group settings are shown to keep us motivated and interested. This is important for continued success and maintaining our fitness.

Yoga

Yoga is considered holistic therapy with the purpose of creating strength, awareness, balance, and harmony within the mind and body. There are many disciplines of this exercise method, one of the most popular being Hatha yoga. Hatha yoga focuses on physical applications to strengthen the body along with exercises to center the mind. This practice also emphasizes proper nutrition to detoxify the body and breathing techniques supporting relaxation.

Yoga includes physical posturing to strengthen the body, increase flexibility, promote relaxation, and enhance our concentration. Research indicates yoga is a safe way to exercise to improve physical function along with mental and social well-being. It’s also indicated to help with stress-relief, improved energy, and vitality. 

Closing thoughts:

Regular exercise is an important part of achieving and maintaining our health and fitness. The great news is we have options in what works best for us, our bodies, and individual goals. Research indicates strength, aerobic, and flexibility training should be included in a well-balanced exercise program. Providing this variety is something to keep in mind while planning the best workout routine for you. Many individuals opt to include a supplement program along with their exercise routine. Certain supplements, such as whey protein, are shown to benefit workout recovery. This or other supplements can also be beneficial but it’s always a good idea to discuss with your doctor.

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I prepared this article as a compensated feature post for Life Extension and you can read more about them below:

About Life Extension: Life Extension has been helping people stay healthy and live better for more than 35 years. Life Extension is committed to sourcing the highest quality raw materials and creating the best supplements since 1980. Life Extension provides the latest research on health, wellness, nutrition, & aging. Offering unique, premium quality dietary supplements, vitamins, minerals, herbs, & hormones. Visit our website at Life Extension and connect with us on social media; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest! 

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Find Your Motivation Mojo For Health Improvement

Have you found motivation mojo when it comes to improving your health? 

Motivation is an important part of your fitness journey. And when that is lacking, having a disciplined lifestyle can jumpstart that motivation. 

Staying motivated includes finding the best workouts, healthy foods, and lifestyle that keeps you interested. A healthy life that is enjoyable, sustainable, and suits who you are.

What Motivates You

Some may not be motivated by visual images of healthy people and respond better to written affirmations: YOU CAN DO IT, FIND YOUR STRONG, or BE YOUR BEST HEALTHY YOU for example. Regardless of what suits your motivational fancy, the important thing is to just get yourself going.

Motivation comes from what makes you happy and keeps you coming back for more. The following are a few examples of things that have helped people get and stay motivated:

• upbeat music
• fun fitness clothes/shoes
• positive affirmations
• joining a gym
• goal setting
• seeing results
• eating better
• good health
• wearing whatever you want
• feeling better
• fun workouts
• living a quality life

I will not tell you it will be easy because there are days when it will be straight-up hard. I'm speaking from personal experience. We all struggle with tough days of keeping it healthy. At the same time, I want to stress the importance of living the healthiest life you can. You only have one life with no playbacks.

Making Time

I don't accept that anyone is too busy to take care of their health, and that includes me. 

For example, I am a business owner, personal trainer, and writer with a demanding schedule. And if the day only allows a 20-minute workout then I do that.

Exercise doesn't have to be some long-duration program lasting over an hour. In fact, studies have shown the greatest benefit of exercise is achieved within the first 30-minutes. Also, 45-minutes of focused exercise is sufficient to maintain a healthy body. I adhere to this philosophy and keep my exercise sessions limited to 45-minutes and no more than 5 times per week.

Steps to Motivation

So how do you find your motivation mojo? 

Get out a piece of paper and write down your active passions … fun things you like to do. It's time to get off the couch, dance your pants off in the living room, go hiking, play games with the kiddos and fur babies.

What is it that makes you happy and will ensure you keep coming back for more? Changing up your thinking about fitness being a burden is also important. Think positive and create a plan you can maintain for a lifetime.  Share your mojo in the comment section and I look forward to reading and responding to all of your shares. 

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Excuses Will Not Change Your Body or Health

The truth about health and fitness is you either want it or you don’t.

Let’s face it, many of us come up with reasons not to exercise or eat healthy. We even sound pretty convincing. Unfortunately, all the reasons in the world eventually catch up to you in the form of illness or injury.

What we often fail to realize is how much your lifestyle impacts your health. The food you eat, being physically active, and rest is truly your medicine.

Many people continue to walk around in an unhealthy body and come to accept this existence. Living this way causes you to miss out on how good you're supposed to feel and look.

The true story of health is your body reflects your lifestyle.

Make Your Health a Priority

I want to believe all of you have a strong desire to be healthy people. Working in the health and fitness industry, I certainly hear this loud and clear. We talk about wanting to feel and look better, but what continues to be lacking is the action required to make this happen. More often than not, healthy living isn't a priority.

Living a life of excuses will not change your health or appearance. It only guarantees you not to feel your best and is often accompanied by unhappiness. Change takes changing your daily habits. The body you have is determined by what you do. I'm sure we can all agree with that statement.

Let me clarify my reference is to the general population who have the ability to get healthy. Some medical conditions and illnesses are out of our control, but I have seen those who struggle this way live the healthiest lives.

Change Takes Change

The first step to change your body for the better is owning your current lifestyle. This includes admitting you are making excuses not to eat healthy, exercise, sleep more, reduce stress and the list goes on. It's important to understand why health is not a priority.

Admitting your part in creating an unhealthy body can be hard to face - but necessary. It's in that frustrating moment you can really be honest about your life and body. This is often the beginning of getting serious about a healthy lifestyle.

Think about these things:

• You are responsible for replacing reasons/excuses with action. 
• You are capable of taking care of your health and making it a priority.
• Having a fit body can happen at every age and it's never too late to start.
• You control what your body looks like. 
• What you eat in private you wear in public.

Masking the Problem

Being healthy and having a fit body is achievable for the majority. Sadly, many people are turning to prescribed pharmaceuticals to reduce the symptoms of self-induced health conditions. A pill doesn't fix the problem, it only masks the problem.

Let me clarify - certain medications are required for a small percentage of Americans but not for the general population who can get healthy. Many cholesterol-lowering and blood pressure medications can be discontinued when weight is lost and body composition improved.

Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle

The problem continues to be accommodating an unhealthy lifestyle justifying it with reasons that really can't be validated. This can be changed - if you want it to change.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle is the way to lasting health and fitness. It's not an occasional event and requires full-time effort.

The bottom line is results can and will happen, but the choice is up to you.

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Exercise Doesn't Have to Be Extreme to Be Effective

Do you think workouts mean no pain, no gain, and push till you puke? There is some discomfort with exercise but it doesn't have to be extreme to be effective.

The best exercise is one you enjoy and keep coming back to as part of a healthy lifestyle. If you hate your workout, it will more than likely be discontinued in short order.  

Keep Workouts Short and Effective

Another thing about great workouts is that they don't take lots of time. There is something wrong if it takes hours in the gym to accomplish your goal. Time is precious in and out of the gym. Effective exercise is planned, focused, quality, works best for your body, and can be completed within an hour. 

I believe in quality and not quantity when it comes to workouts. When the focus is on quality, the exercises are challenging but without risk of injury. You are on a mission to build muscle and strength, not hurt yourself. Nobody wants to sustain an injury from exercise and be laid up unable to train at all. 

Train Smarter Not Harder

Staying focused means you are in touch with how your body feels during your workout. There is a difference between normal exercise discomfort and pain that doesn't feel right.

Many people fail to listen to the wrong pain and perform movements that should have been immediately halted or modified. Pushing through the wrong type of exercise discomfort can lead to an injury and potential chronic medical issue. What it comes down to is knowing how to train smarter, not harder.

Your Body, Your Workout

You don't need to prove anything to anyone when it comes to fitness and workouts. Exercise programs are individual, not universal. This means we all work at different fitness levels doing our own thing. As long as you're bringing 100% of you to the workout is all that matters.

Your goal is to maintain a healthy body through your workouts. Of course, healthy nutrition is included in that equation. You want to not only look good because of your efforts but also feel great for the rest of your life. All this takes is keeping your routine simple, smart, and effective to get the job done. 

Avoid Overtraining

Your body is a fabulous machine that appreciates smart maintenance through quality exercise and premium fuel for energy. 

A body that's in a constant state of overtraining will experience wear and tear. Poor exercise technique lumped into this scenario makes it even worse.  Eventually, this type of training will break down and create a body that doesn't feel good in the years to come. 

It's important to include rest and recovery as part of your fitness program. As long as you're challenging the different exercise components 3 to 5 times weekly should be sufficient. Hitting the gym daily can actually be counterproductive to losing fat and gaining muscle. Give your body some time to recover from intense workouts.

Components of Physical Fitness

Smart training consists of challenging the following components of fitness:

• muscular strength

• muscular endurance

• cardiovascular endurance

• flexibility

• body fat composition

Simple programs can accomplish all of these goals and are necessary to create and maintain a healthy body. 

The challenge doesn't have to be gut-wrenching, feel like death kind of stuff. You simply need to push your body above the physical limits of what is considered normal physical status. Standing would turn into brisk walking for 30-minutes for example. Combine that with resistance training and a stretch program to create a smartly balanced fitness program.   

Avoid Feeling Overwhelmed 

When physical training is kept simple and smart, it doesn't feel so overwhelming. It's important to feel great about your workout and not consider it a burden. A positive attitude brings about the confidence you need to achieve your fitness goals.  

Training smart also helps you see exercise programs as an easy process. It enables you to best select workouts to best fit your body. This creates a training environment that produces results and keeps you healthy.

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Exercise For 30-Minutes 5 Days Per Week For Lasting Results

Exercise doesn't have to be extreme to be effective. In fact, working out for at least 30-minutes 5 days per week can provide a fit body for a lifetime. 

Athletes with certain goals may need to perform above the maintenance requirement, but in general, active adults can achieve great results using the 30-minute strategy.

Get Fit and Healthy 

Most of us want to feel good and look good naked with a simple exercise routine. This is possible without extreme workouts or lifting super heavy. If the extreme is what you enjoy, and it works for your body, go for it. I am addressing the norm demographic of everyday people who just want to get fit and be healthy. 

What is Recommended?

Studies have shown that 150-minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity such as brisk walking are sufficient to maintain a healthy body. It would be reduced to 75-minutes per week for vigorous exercise like running or attending an aerobics class. High-intensity interval training reduces the minutes per workout even more.

Also recommended is weight resistance training two days per week. Although the guidelines are quite variable with weightlifting, you can accomplish an effective workout in less than 45-minutes.

Give it 30-Minutes

Maintaining a healthy body is a fairly basic process. Exercise for 30-minutes five days per week and eat right at least 80% of the time for best results. It's really not that complicated.

Everyone has 30-minutes to give to their health regardless of any excuse. Sorry, true story. If health and fitness are a priority, the exercise will be a priority and that's the simple truth of it. 

The best part about getting your sweat on for 30-minutes is making it your own. Creating workouts that are enjoyable is what builds a lifestyle of physical activity.

If being outdoors motivates you, lace up the tennis shoes or hiking boots and find some fun trails. If using cardio equipment and listening to music floats your boat, go for it. Love to lift weights? Get to the gym and put in the time.

Keep it Simple and Fun

The heart muscle responds to the demands of exercise being placed on it, not what you are specifically doing. Sweat is sweat, a mile is a mile, and 30-minutes is 30-minutes. What you do to increase the heart rate at a moderate level for that amount of time is up to you. The point is to just to move for 30-minutes.

Stick to the basics of exercise. Keep it simple, fun, and a part of your everyday life. The latest extreme workout til you puke, faint, or die is not what will carry you from where you are now into your elder years.

Extreme programs may be used to meet specific athletic goals for some people. However, not necessary for active adults or new exerciser looking to get healthy and improve their overall quality of life.

Get Motivated

The point of this blog is to motivate you to start an exercise program. All you need is 30-minutes to start. Work with what you like and at your fitness level.

The amazing thing about workouts and fitness is being able to create what works best for each of us. There is never only one way to achieve the body you want. The best exercise is one you look forward to doing and will repeat for a lifetime.  

Effective and Efficient Exercise

Working in the industry for over 30 years, I have come to appreciate the simplicity of fitness. It truly doesn't require as much time as you think to be a healthy person.

For example, I keep my workouts to a one-hour session or less if performing interval training. Honestly, I can achieve an effective workout and prefer exercising for 30-minutes because it fits with my work schedule.

As long as you challenge your body and perform quality exercise movements, it's good enough. Try not to get caught up in the stress of what you think exercise is according to fitness marketing. Honestly, some of the things I see out there are kinda scary.

Do What Works Best For You

The caveat to remember is finding fitness programs that work best for you. Keep it simple, basic, and fun. When exercise is enjoyed and done right, you will keep it for life.

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How to Lose Weight and Gain Muscle in 7 Steps

How do I lose weight and gain muscle? This is probably the top-ranked question heard daily as a trainer/coach. The question is not always easily answered.

There is never a one-size-fits-all fitness program. That being said, I'm providing a general list of factors that should be considered to achieve your goals:

1. Mental readiness: If you're not ready mentally, your body is unable to follow. Mental readiness is accepting a change is needed in your life to improve your health. Your desire to finally get serious may come from a doctor saying your cholesterol, triglycerides, or blood pressure is too high. You may have been told being overweight has contributed to these issues and potential for increased risk of diabetes or heart problems.

Many times, the desire to change comes from you reaching a point of not liking how you feel or what you see in the mirror. Moments like this typically motivate you to finally commit to eating healthy and exercising regularly. You are ready for a lifestyle change.

2. Plan to succeed: Nothing happens without good planning. Whether achieving fitness goals with a qualified personal trainer or solo, you will require knowledge and a plan to succeed. If working on your own, you will need reliable nutrition and fitness books or online sources. Stick with realistic approaches and stay away from fad diets and trends. These are typically short-term quick fixes without long-term solutions.

Another strategy is seeking the help of a qualified personal trainer/nutrition counselor. Proper fitness/health coaching can really motivate you in the right direction. If taught correctly, you will gain lifelong education on healthy eating, proper exercise technique, weight loss management, and muscle growth.

3. Food and fitness journals: recording progress is a great strategy for successful weight loss and muscle gain. You can include 'before' pictures and measurements, feelings of the day, daily food and water intake, and exercises performed in your workout. This consistent information will allow you to repeat successful weeks and show you where things didn't go quite right.

4. Progressive fitness: you have heard fitness is about progress, not perfection. Getting fit will require patience and consistent effort. Every positive step toward your goal is making a difference even when you don't see it right away. Progressive fitness means you take it slow, keep going, and trust the process.

5. Eating healthy: losing weight and gaining muscle requires eating for your goals. This means the majority of your food intake will include vegetables and leafy greens, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats, and lots of water. This will be a nutrition lifestyle change taking you from unhealthy eating habits to eating a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods. Physical demands will also increase the number of calories coming from these foods. For example, weightlifters and long distance runners will require more fuel than an individual selecting a light aerobics class for physical activity.

6. Exercise: workouts don't have to be extreme or long duration to be effective. We tend to overcomplicate fitness and consider workouts a burden. Find an exercise you enjoy and stick with it. Working out at least 4 times per week is recommended to increase muscle mass and reduce body fat. A balanced workout program includes exercise that challenges your aerobic, strength, balance and flexibility.

Applying a progressive workout strategy is also important. Allow yourself to be a beginner and increase in exercise intensity and duration slowly. This will give your body time to adapt, promote muscle growth, and progress at a healthy rate reducing the risk of injury.

7. Healthy lifestyle: adopting a healthy lifestyle includes a combination of eating right, exercise, adequate sleep, and balancing work and play. Losing weight and gaining muscle is just a result of living this way. It's really a goal achievable for everyone and simply applying these 7 steps is a great way to start seeing results and living healthy for life.

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Be well and Stay Healthy

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Fine-Tuning your Ab Routine

In a previous article, I noted how the range of motion of crunches is not conducive to building a strong core. Crunches will only effectively engage the rectus abdominal muscles, while some of the surrounding important core musculature is not addressed. Ultimately, it is a basic exercises that serves little purpose for individuals with more than a few of strength training experiences.

The biggest problem in many "ab" routines that I see people do is that there's no progressive overload. People will do the same handful of exercises for the same number of sets and repetitions every session, week after week. Now, imagine you did that with a back squat, or with any other movement: what if you just squatted 135 pounds for 5 sets of 5 repetitions on every leg day? You might make a little bit of progress for a week or two, but eventually you're not going to continue to make gains. Your legs won't get any bigger or stronger. The same is true for the abdominal muscles. If you're just doing 3 sets of 15 crunches, 3 sets of 20 Russian twists, etc., then guess what? Your core isn't going to get any stronger either. I watch many people do the same core exercises day in and day out, and they aren't continuing to adapt.

There are four ways to create progressive overload for strength training:

1. Increase the number of repetitions. If you've been sticking with 3x10 leg lifts, for example, try to do 3x15 next week. This is one way to add volume.
2. Increase the number of sets. Additionally, you can add in more sets to increase total training volume.
3. Increase the amount of time. This is specific to isometric movements like the plank, hollow hold, side plank, etc. Try to increase the length of the hold by 10-15 seconds per week.
4. Add load. I like to add weighted ab exercises into my programs, once the client has demonstrated competency in the non-weighted variation. Examples of exercises include weighted hanging knee raises, weighted planks, weighted sit-ups, cable chops, and weighted leg lifts.
5. Change the exercises. Get creative. There are so many exercises out there that allow you to continue to progress. Constantly challenge yourself. I constantly post new exercise ideas on my Instagram page, such as those in the above links, so always be on the lookout for new ideas. Just when you think you have abs of steel, you find a new exercise variation to humble yourself once again.

If  you're going through the same routine multiple times per week, you may still "feel a burn," but you're not necessarily going to achieve the desired result of a rock solid core. Instead, here are my suggestions for improving your core training. Core training has to be progressed in the same way that you would continue to periodize the big strength movements. Think outside of the box and don't get complacent with your ab routine!

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Why Altitude Masks are a Scam

You've all seen those guys in the gym—the ones who look like Bane and sound like Darth Vader hopping from one exercise to the next. Maybe you've though to yourself, "what is that awesome looking gadget," or, if you're like me, something along the lines of "what exactly does this tool think he's accomplishing?"

Many Olympic marathoners utilize altitude training to take their fitness to the next level (pun intended), so it makes sense that these masks would be worth the money.

What these companies aren't telling you, however, is that the research doesn't support these absurd-looking masks. On the contrary.

The positive adaptations of altitude training include an increased red blood cell count. This is one such adaptation that will only come from prolonged exposure to higher altitudes (meaning wearing a mask for an hour a few times per week isn't going to help in that arena. I most often see people wearing these masks on exercise machines (like the bro in the photo). Even if these masks were to work, you certainly wouldn't want to wear them for an exercise that doesn't rely on oxygen for energy (anaerobic exercises).

Another huge flaw in the reasoning behind wearing these masks is that they do not result in a change in barometric (atmospheric) pressure, as we would find in mountainous regions. Instead, they merely restrict your respiratory muscles, which effectively make breathing more challenging. These two things are not the same. In fact, in my opinion, limiting the efficacy of the respiratory muscles is just dangerous and foolish.

Finally, the current theory for altitude training is the "live high, train low." This means that athletes should live in higher altitudes, but train in lower altitudes so as not to impede their physical performance (obviously we cannot perform maximally at 10,000 feet above sea level). The altitude training masks directly contradict this principle, as people are not wearing them to do their household chores, but rather to do biceps curls in the squat rack. You definitely don't need to be an exercise physiologist to understand why this won't confer any added athletic benefits.

If you want to improve your aerobic capacity, avoid the scams and gimmicks. You can't take a shortcut to attain peak fitness levels (without the use of PEDs, of course), so quit throwing your money down the drain and put in the hard work. These masks will make you the laughing stock of your gym and they certainly won't provide any physiological advantage in your training.

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Try this Hack to Get Bigger

While I've previously explained that stretching seldom helps improve your flexibility in the long term, there are some benefits that come from stretching. This exciting study from 2015 done by Miranda et. al. tested stretching as a means for increasing training volume (the number of repetitions performed in a set or session) in the wide-grip seated row exercise. There were two groups of participants, both of whom performed three sets to failure with two minutes of rest in between sets. The only difference between the groups was that the experimental group performed 40 seconds of a passive pectoralis major stretch at the end of their allotted rest periods. The idea here was to stretch the antagonist (opposing) muscles.

What the experimenters found was fascinating: there was a statistically significant difference in the antagonist stretching group. Those participants performed more repetitions in all three sets. Additionally, the experimental group demonstrated greater contractions in the latissimus dorsi and the biceps brachii muscles.

 

While this particular study only tested one exercise, it is likely that we can utilize this concept with other movements to reap similar benefits. For instance, in doing a bench press, you could stretch the latissimus dorsi. Before your set of leg curls, stretch out your quadriceps. You get the idea. This hack can help you get more training volume, which will ultimately result in greater hypertrophy (muscle growth)!

The mechanisms behind these findings are still unclear. My guess would be that stretching the antagonist muscles would allow for greater range of motion throughout the exercise, and thus, a stronger contraction in the agonist muscles. For example, the pecs have to stretch during the top of the rowing exercise. A bigger stretch in the pecs could possibly allow for the lats to generate a stronger contraction.

Static stretching before a set may be disadvantageous for power production, and thus, I do not prescribe it before movements like the clean and jerk. However, in a bodybuilding routine, there may be some added bonuses to stretching during rest periods to accumulate more total training volume.
This concept has not yet been applied to strength-based movements, but it could be an interesting point for experimentation on your own before the big lifts. Give this trick a try and see how you like it!

Works Cited:

1. Miranda, Humberto, et al. "Acute effects of antagonist static stretching in the inter-set rest period on repetition performance and muscle activation." Research in Sports Medicine 23.1 (2015): 37-50.

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The 4 Exercises that Your Shoulders Hate

It is common for a lifter to seek boulder shoulder status. While having protruding, rounded shoulders certainly looks nice, the shoulders are very vulnerable to injury. The demands of a sedentary, desk-ridden society already makes our shoulders unhappy, and if you translate this dysfunction into the gym, you're gonna have a bad time.

I have dealt with my own shoulder issues in the past, and I know just how aggravating it can be to have to modify workouts or avoid certain movements. Ultimately, I had to learn the hard way what exercises provoked my shoulder pain. Many common-place shoulder exercises can be effective for deltoid and pectoralis hypertrophy, but they also promote instability and compensation. For both myself and my clients, there are four main exercises that I avoid for the sake of sparing their shoulders:

1. Pec flies. Regardless of whether you're using cables, dumbbells, or even the pec-deck machine, you're most likely better off without them. With this movement, many lifters tend to go well beyond the necessary range of motion to isolate the pectoralis muscles in transverse shoulder flexion. You also run the risk of sufficiently irritating your biceps tendons. Instead, they end up stretching the hell out of their anterior deltoids and forcing their shoulders into a yucky internally rotated position that makes me cringe. For chest development, I prefer to have clients do reverse grip bench press, neutral grip dumbbell bench press (with a slow eccentric focus), and Spoon presses. If you're hell-bent on keeping pec flies in your workout routine, try to minimize the range of motion so that your arms only go slightly above parallel, and make sure you maintain a slight bend in your elbows.
2. Behind-the-neck lat pull-downs. I've addressed my feelings about behind-the-neck exercises previously, so to save you from a redundant rant, I'll give you the abridged version: these movements (especially in lat pull-downs) encourage you into flexed cervical spine and often reinforce poor shoulder movement. Very few people possess adequate shoulder and thoracic mobility to perform these. If you really want wings, stay away from these. Instead, try rowing variations, pull-ups (you add weight or go chest-to-bar if you want a greater challenge), straight arm pull-downs, and maybe the occasional Red Bull. (I couldn't resist...)

   

   Yikes!

3. Box dips. In a recent Instagram video, I mentioned that I stray away from programming dips on a bench or a box. Effectively, this variation places unnecessary stress on the anterior capsule and tendons of the shoulder. To perform these, a client must flare the elbows out excessively, while the shoulder again shifts into a precarious position. You will see this as well on bar dips, but to a lesser degree, because the athlete's shoulder and elbows are closer to his center of mass. The ideal way to do dips, in my opinion, though, is on the rings. The rings force the athlete to properly adduct his shoulder, and his arms are closest to his center of mass (thus resulting in a more mechanically advantageous position. If you're currently unable to do ring dips, stick to push-ups on the rings, and then slowly progress to a full ring dip.
4. Upright rows. I'm sure you've heard trainers shun this exercise before. While I think it can be helpful for developing the shoulders for the right client, there are always other options. I've found that they cause more harm than good for most people, as usually the anterior deltoids are the strongest part of the shoulder. Instead, many people would benefit from training the posterior or rear deltoids with back flies to balance out the omnipresent imbalance from front to back.

In general, gym goers can benefit from fewer pushing exercises and more pulling exercises. I usually propose a 2:1 ratio for upper body pulling:pushing days. By this, I mean that you should only spend about one day per week doing bench press, push press, etc. (or at least with those movements as your primary focus), and two days with a pulling/rowing focus. The anterior deltoids and pectoralis tend to run the show (especially in men), and, thus, can cause a lot of pathologies and mobility restrictions. Your rhomboids, rear deltoids, lats, and lower trapezius can always benefit from some more love and attention.

There are plenty of safe and effective exercises that will still give you strong shoulders, such as those that I've listed in this article. You can be smart about your upper body training and avoid nagging injuries that will keep you sidelined for weeks at-a-time. Make these changes to your routine, and your shoulders will be happier in the long run!

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Debunking the Myth of the Vastus Medialis

The quadriceps complex is comprised of four main muscles: the rectus femoris, the vastus intermedius, the vastus lateralis, and the vastus medialis (which seems to have become the most buzzworthy muscle of the four). The vastus medialis obliquus (commonly referred to as the VMO) is the middle “tear drop” shaped muscle of the quadriceps complex. Both personal trainers and physical therapists often blame generic knee pain on this guy being weak, but the literature just does not seem to substantiate that concept. If a doctor or physiotherapist has ever told you that you need to strengthen your vastus medialis, then he or she is spouting off outdated and false information.

I have seen many an article claiming that one can “isolate” the vastus medialis, or emphasize its activation, by raising the heels in a squat, by narrowing one’s squat stance, or by doing some wild exercises. These exercises are frequently prescribed to individuals with patellar tendinopathy, patellar tracking, or post-op ACL tear patients. While these concepts sound excellent in theory, the data has shown that those ideas are effectively no more than broscience. The vastus medialis and lateralis muscles contract together, and no amount of heel raise, hip external rotation, or close-stance squats will change that.

Do decline squats increase VMO activation?

The first exercise myth about the VMO is that raising the heels will increase its activation in the squat. While using Olympic lifting shoes or standing on a board will undoubtedly increase total quadriceps recruitment, as your torso will be more upright, the vastus medialis receives no preferential treatment. Rather, the vastus lateralis and medialis simultaneously work harder to squat when the heels are elevated. Similarly, the high bar squat is more quad-dominant than a powerlifting low-bar squat, and a front squat is the most quad-dominant of the three.

Does squat depth influence VMO activation?

When analyzing the angles at which the vastus medialis and lateralis are most active, Lee et. al. found that 90° or less of knee flexion was optimal. Essentially, deeper squats allow for greater vastus medialis and vastus lateralis contraction. Again, both muscles are being targeted in this instance, so the VMO is working harder, but so too is the vastus lateralis.

The other take home here is that if you want quads of the Gods, you can’t skimp on your depth. If you have to ask someone if you’re going low enough, you’re probably not! If mobility is an issue for you, then you should seek the advice of a qualified professional and dedicate time at the end of your sessions to improving your bottom position.

What about narrow-stance squats?

None of the research to date indicates that squatting with a narrow stance impacts the vastus medialis to a higher degree. In fact, it doesn’t appear that it changes the activation in any of the quadriceps muscles at all. I’m not quite sure where this myth arose, but it seems to be contradicted by the literature.

Squatting with your feet close together won't increase VMO activation,
but it may result in faulty mechanics and potential for hip impingement.

One study with Paoli et. al. looked at the EMG in 8 different thigh muscles, measuring activity in three different squatting widths and three different intensities (no load, 30% of 1 RM, and 70% of 1 RM). They tested both quadriceps and hamstrings muscles, and there was effectively no statistical difference in any of the muscles except for the gluteus maximus. No matter how close the lifters stances, their quadriceps muscles (vastus medialis included) were no more or less active at any intensity.

Surely foot position matters?

This is one that I have heard for years, and even believed myself for a while: trainers boast that externally rotating the feet will preferentially recruit the VMO, whereas a parallel foot position would lead to more evenly divided muscular recruitment. Unfortunately, no studies to date have confirmed this concept.

Murray et. al. tested twenty physically active adults in 4 different foot positions during a partial squat on the Power Tower machine. They found no real differences in EMG amplitude in differing levels of external/internal rotation. Similarly, Ninos and colleagues tested two varying foot positions (externally rotated and neutral) in the Olympic squat, and there was no noteworthy difference in vastus medialis activation.

The take home? If you have strong quads, you have a strong VMO.

Trainers have managed to come up with many creative circus-trick exercises for targeting the vastus medialis muscle, but while they might look exciting to try in videos, the basic foundational leg movements are all you need; squats, lunges, step-ups, and split squats will help you build strong quadriceps muscles, and, in turn, strong vastus medialis muscles. You can perform your leg extensions with your feet externally rotated all day, and you still won’t be able to isolate your medial quadriceps. Instead, just stick to those previously mentioned core movements and reap the benefits of your tree trunk legs!

Works Cited:

1. Caterisano, A., Moss, R. E., Pellinger, T. K., Woodruff, K., Lewis, V. C., Booth, W., & Khadra, T. (2002). The effect of back squat depth on the EMG activity of 4 superficial hip and thigh muscles. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 16(3), 428-432.
2. Dionisio, V. C., Azevedo, B. M. S., & Siqueira, D. A. (2013). Horizontal and Declined Squats in Healthy Individuals: A Study of Kinematic and Muscle Patterns. ISRN Rehabilitation, 2013. Chicago
3. Murray, N. G., Cipriani, D., O’Rand, D., & Reed-Jones, R. (2014). Effects of Foot Position during Squatting on the Quadriceps Femoris: An Electromyographic Study. International Journal of Exercise Science, 6(2).
4. Paoli, A., Marcolin, G., & Petrone, N. (2009). The effect of stance width on the electromyographical activity of eight superficial thigh muscles during back squat with different bar loads. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 23(1), 246-250.

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4 Interesting Facts about Mind-Body Connection

The body and mind are intimately intertwined. We must always look at the bigger picture. Despite Western medicine’s attempt to further break the body up into distinct “parts,” everything is connected. Your stress at work and your shoulder pain are absolutely related. Your toxic relationship and your sinus infection is likely the result of your body’s symbiosis. Emotional stress manifests itself physically, and, conversely, physical pain impacts our emotions.

“Muscles” are just used for classification purposes, but that is not exactly how your brain works. You’re never just using one muscle at a time, and the same thing goes for your organs: nothing works in solitude, but rather, your body is a symphony.

Everything is originated in your brain. The brain is responsible for the function of all bodily functions (heart beat, digestion, respiration, etc.), and it also controls your perception. Thus, it would be foolish to consider pain without first understanding the cognitive processes behind it. 

1. Research suggests that thinking about contracting a specific muscle is beneficial for improving muscular hypertrophy. A study of 18 resistance-trained men found that "individuals can increase triceps brachii or pectarilis major muscle activity during the bench press when focusing on using the specific muscle at intensities up to 60 % of 1RM." Essentially, thinking about activating a muscle can increase its activation at lower intensities.
2. A history of injury to a certain area can perpetuate symptoms, even after your body has healed. Pain and trauma form pathways in your brain. There's an adage that says "neurons that fire together wire together." This means that if a pathway of pain becomes familiar to you, it can be difficult to dissociate the two things. Let's say you tore your UCL in your elbow throwing a baseball. You may still experience pain when throwing, even long after the tissue has healed, because your brain associates throwing with danger.
3. You can improve on a skill using mental imagery. "Vandell et. al. reported that groups of subjects who mentally practiced basketball free throws or dart throwing demonstrated improved skills similar to those who physically practiced the task. The [mental practice] and [physical practice] groups improved 23% and 24%, respectively, as compared with no improvement in a control group that did not practice either task," mentioned Warner and McNeill. That means that the group who practiced a skill using mental imagery alone had nearly the same level of improvements as did the group using physical practice!
4. Mental practice can improve balance. Fansler et. al. tested 36 elderly female subjects. Women were randomly assigned to one of three groups: non-sense+physical practice, relaxation+physical practice, or ideokinetic facilitation+physical practice. The final group "showed fewer subjects with negative change and more subjects with greater than 100% improvement." Effectively, the combination of mind-body awareness along with physical practice elicited significant improvements for the subjects. "This improvement in balance, which is a fundamental component of human movement, suggests that [ideokinetic facilitation] has promising usefulness in health care." Perhaps this study could be expanded into other areas, as well!

Wim Hof, a dutch man known as the "Ice Man" has been able to achieve incredible feats using meditative breathing. He regularly goes for dunks in freezing cold water, hikes frigid mountains in only his shorts, and has even demonstrated control over his autonomic nervous system. If you haven't heard of this guy, I recommend watching this video and reading more about him! He's a pretty incredible and inspiring man.

There's still much research to be done on the concept of mind-body connectivity. I believe that with a strong mind, we can build a strong body. We cannot achieve what the mind doesn't believe. Incorporating mental imagery into your routine might just be the change you need to break through your training plateaus!

Works Cited:

1. Calatayud, Joaquin, Jonas Vinstrup, Markus Due Jakobsen, Emil Sundstrup, Mikkel Brandt, Kenneth Jay, Juan Carlos Colado, and Lars Louis Andersen. "Importance of Mind-muscle Connection during Progressive Resistance Training." European Journal of Applied Physiology 116.3 (2015): 527-33. Web.
2. Haggard, Patrick. "Conscious Intention and Motor Cognition." Trends in Cognitive Sciences 9.6 (2005): 290-95. Web.
3. Ramachandran, V. S., and Sandra Blakeslee. Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009. Print.
4. Sarno, John E. Mind over Back Pain: A Radically New Approach to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Back Pain. New York: Berkley, 1999. Print.
5. Warner, Linda, and M. Evelyn Mcneill. "Mental Imagery and Its Potential for Physical Therapy." Physical Therapy 68.4 (1988): 516-21. Web.

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