The Biggest Mistake You're Making in the Gym

When you walk into any fitness center, where do you see the most people? Most likely they're all crowded around the treadmills, stationary bikes and ellipticals. The common misconception is that you can achieve the body that you want and get in great shape by spending half an hour to an hour doing "cardio."

Day after day, thousands of people slave away on the cardio machines, many of whom are watching Gossip Girls or reading a book.

Look, as long as you're getting your butt off of the couch, I'm happy for you. Really. My goal, however, is to help you maximize your time in the gym. If you are one of these people who fits the description above, I'm willing to bet you haven't really seen the results you've wanted.

I'm not really a fan of steady-state cardio sessions. If you like to go for a long run every once in a while, that's great, but it shouldn't be the only thing you're doing in the gym.

Don't be like these guys...

If you want a more shredded and resilient physique, though, then you need to do the following: interval training and weight training. That's it. That's the secret sauce. Someone who is "fit" should be ready to take on any task at hand. He should be fast, strong, and powerful. Fitness is reading Game of Thrones on the elliptical for forty five minutes.

Interval training is one of the most effective ways to build lean body mass and improve your overall athleticism. There are countless different types of intervals, but here are some suggestions (you can do these with any activity, whether it be rowing, burpees, running, etc.):

1. 10 rounds of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off (work up to decreasing the rest time as you improve)
2. 4 rounds of 1 minute of work, 2 minutes of rest
3. 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest (called a "Tabata" interval)

These are a few of my favorites.

Strength training is important and necessary for...everyone. Yep. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Everyone should get stronger. Besides, being strong is awesome.

Let's say you're moving into a new apartment, and you need to move heavy boxes up the stairs. Strength training will prepare you for damn near everything. I can't really think of one situation in which being stronger isn't helpful.

You're not only strengthening your muscles with weight training, though--you're also strengthening your tendons, your bones and your ligaments, making you more resilient. If you want to avoid broken bones and osteoporosis (which I imagine you would), then you need to lift weights.

I'm certainly not telling you to quit your steady state cardio. I know that some people love a leisurely run. I think a great program is one that makes you well-rounded. If you want to become fitter and more resilient, then strength training and sprints should be a part of your regular routine. Step off of the elliptical and pick up some dumbbells.

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How to BUST through a Plateau!

Busting a plateau, losing fat and weight is simple, but IT AINT EASY!   Accomplishing FAT LOSS - weight-loss goals takes effort, discipline, and consistency with EXERCISE  and NUTRITION.

It is simple, you need to exercise and eat right, BUT….It’s NOT EASY. It takes hard work and consistency to achieve the results you want. Depending on your goals, if they are lofty, it may take double the effort you are putting in with exercise, but especially NUTRITION.

Here are a few suggestions to get you dialed into your goals to seriously BURN FAT in the next month or two and bust through any plateaus.

If you are wanting more results or have hit a plateau, here you go:

NUTRITION:·

Nutrient timing. You need to be eating every 3 hours.  Breakfast. Snack. Lunch. Snack. Dinner.   If you want great choices, refer to the AllyFitness Food Guide where I provide some great options).  SIDE BAR NOTE - the only way to control weight is to control your blood sugar and insulin and the best way to do that is by eliminating processed foods, sugar and refined carbs).

EAT MORE frequently, and LESS - smaller portions. Focus on making sure you are getting enough protein and include it in every meal and snack.  I advocate between .5 and 1g per pound of bodyweight. Mix a scoop of whey protein isolate into 8-12 ounces of water or almond milk.  It’s yummy.  Be sure to include other sources of lean, high quality protein (chicken, tuna, salmon, steak, Greek yogurt, etc.).  If you need two servings of protein powder, you can also mix some into your yogurt for a snack.

Double your vegetable intake. Include veggies in your omelets, have peppers and /or carrots as a snack, have a salad with some protein for lunch, and be sure to include green veggies with dinner. Vegetables are NECESSARY for great health!  Try the green monster smoothie by filling a blender with spinach, romaine lettuce, celery, parsley, lemon, and coconut water.  This is loaded with anti-oxidants.  There are dozens of “great” greens drinks recipes.

ELIMINATE the Great White Hazards! No white bread (this includes biscuits!!!).  No sugar. No white pasta or rice. It is really bad for you and more than likely the main reason you aren’t progressing. Focus on complex carbs like Basmati brown rice, black rice, couscous, quinoa, lentils, etc.

Ditch the alcohol if you are serious about losing the fat.  A glass of wine is OK one to two nights per week. If you are serious about fat-loss, you can’t afford the extra calories.

Eat breakfast EVERY DAY!!!! Eggs and oatmeal, Greek yogurt and fruit, Ezekiel toast with almond butter, almond milk with a scoop or two of whey protein powder. No excuses on this.

Drink one-half your bodyweight in fluid ounces of water per day. DRINK MORE WATER! It satiates your appetite, helps your joints, and allows all of your organs and systems to function optimally.

Write down everything you eat for 5 days.  Write it down or log it in vitabot if you want to share with me!  Make sure you keep a really good journal and then you can analyze trends and see where extra / empty calories may be coming from and what triggers you may have.

 
EXERCISE  - To seriously change your body, the 3x per week exercise program needs to have some cardio mixed in on the off days. Here are a few suggestions to amp up your current routine:

Get in an extra 2 days a week of cardio. Walk, bike, hike, run, spin, swim, dance - whatever, but get a good 20 – 40 minutes in.  You all know I recommend intervals for intensity and do not recommend long cardion sessions.  The long cardio sessions will jeopardize your efforts.  Another sidebar: In 2012, research published in the British journal "Heart" stated: Running 20-25 miles or more per week eliminates the benefit of the exercise as you grow older and causes excessive wear and tear on the heart.  Dr Kenneth Cooper, the father of 'aerobics' has said, "If you are running more than 15 miles a week, you are doing it for some reason other than health."

When you come to AllyFitness for the workouts, SHOW UP!  The purpose of strength and conditioning training is to overload the body with a resistance greater than what it’s accustomed to. It is strength training that allows for maximum lean muscle tissue growth and the re-distribution of body composition. That means inches lost, fat lost, and BAM!  Your body is looking good.

Congratulations if you are getting the three workouts in per week.  That combined with clean eating will get results.  If you are stuck or need to kick it up a notch, Now you know what you need to do.

See you at the workout!

  

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Fat Loss and Strength Training – for Busy Women!

“I don't want to bulk up.”  I hear that from many women that strength train. While it’s true that the main effect of weight training is building muscle, research shows that moderately heavy, low repetition training increases a woman's metabolic rate more than light weight, high-repetition training.  All women need some form of resistance training in their workout program.   Women need to train at a high intensity so they can get the metabolism boosting benefits without the fear of developing the dreaded “bulk.”   Lifting light weights for 100’s of reps is not going to get you where you want to be.

So what’s a girl to do?  How do you maximize your workout efforts to get the most body sculpting benefits?

A well-rounded fitness and fat loss program avoids the old school one to two body parts per day with long, slow cardio sessions and includes the following:

·    High intensity total body weight training sessions - Use weights to build small amounts of muscle and burn lots of calories. I prefer to structure the workouts in supersets of non-competing exercises so that you never waste time resting. You will do one lower body exercise and immediately move to the upper body or core.

·    Bodyweight training – Bodyweight exercises can be used in traditional strength training supersets or in a series to create circuits to burn calories, boost metabolism and improve your overall fitness.

·    Interval training – The best results to get lean are achieved by high intensity cardio intervals.  Avoid the lower intensity, longer duration exercise sessions. You will notice how much leaner you get and you will save time!

·    Frequently changing your training variables will constantly demand your body to change, helping you get maximum results in minimum time.

·    Use bodyweight exercises - There are dozens of exercise variations you can do for lunges, push ups, bodyweight rows and chin ups.   Use the Stability ball for single leg exercises, and yes of course, abdominal exercises.

With my training and research, I have concluded the most effective training schedule for women wanting to sculpt muscle and get lean is workouts consisting of weight training and bodyweight exercises.  Three sessions per week is optimal while focusing on total body during each workout.  Punt the old school body-part training workouts - the ones where you do chest on Monday, back on Tuesday and so on.   Focus on a total body workout three times per week and zero in on what I call the FAB FOUR multi-joint exercises. You can add more exercises as time permits.

The FAB FOUR multi-joint, multi-muscle exercises that address the following movements: 

Pushing, pulling, squatting and hamstring hip hinge type of movement.  An example would be a push up, body weight row, over head squat and a dead lift of hip hinge.  These exercises all activate the core indirectly.  Planks and stabilization moves are best to strengthen the core and avoid stress on the discs that traditional sit ups can cause.

For more information on how to maximize your workout time and get fit, contact AllyFitness for a complementary consultation.

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HIIT IT - and make it count

What is HIIT?  It is high intensity interval training.  Advantages of interval training (are)is that it utilizes the body's two energy producing  systems: the aerobic and the anaerobic.  The aerobic system is the one that allows you to walk or run several miles and uses oxygen to convert carbs into energy. The anaerobic system draws energy from carbs stored in the muscles for short burst of activity such as sprinting, jumping or lifting heavy objects.  This system does not require oxygen and does not provide enough energy for more than the brief activity.

High Intensity Interval Training involves short intervals of high intensity work. The intervals require you to work at 90% of yourmaximum heart rate followed by a rest interval.  The intervals are termed work:rest.  If you are beginning this type of training, you may want to start with 30:60.  This means 30 seconds of work followed by 60 seconds of rest.  As your cardiovascular system becomes stronger and can handle more capacity, you will increase to 30:30 and eventually 60:30.

You can also use a less specific method knows as Fartlek  or speed play.  To use this method, you pick a land mark like a tree or a park bench and walk or run as fast as you can to that point, then walk at an easy pace to recover.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) will get you fit and save time.  In the 1994 study published in the journal Metabolism, researchers had one group follow a 15-week HIIT program and another perform only steady-state cardio for 20 weeks.  The data revealed the steady-state group burned 15,000 more calories, but the HIIT group lost significantly more body fat.  A more recent study conducted at the University of New South Wales (Australia) reported that a group of women who took part in a 20-minute HIIT program of eight-second sprints followed by 12 seconds of rest lost six times more body fat than a group that performed steady-state cardio for 40 minutes at 60% Maximum heart rate.  The increase in the intensity boosts your metabolism and keeps it higher longer after your workout.  This is known as EPOC, or the after burn.

So why not cut your cardio session in half and get more benefit?  Seems like a no brainer to me!

 

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Six More Fat Burning Tips for You

The holiday season is just around the corner and it's useful to remember some fat burning tips if you're in the process of losing weight.

Here are 6 more fat loss tips to help you control your weight and achieve your goals...

Tip 1: Avoid liquid calories and alcoholic drinks. These include all the sports drinks, juices, and sodas. If you want to drink liquid calories, make sure you drink after a workout. Liquid containing sugar should be the last thing on your mind if you're trying to burn fat. FYI: Calories in a can of Coke (330ml) is 139kcal. Calories in a glass of orange juice (200ml) is 88kcal. One bottle of beer contains about 150 calories.

Tip 2: Avoid eating at fast food restaurant. Forget about what you've read in a magazine telling you that you can choose to have healthy foods in a fast food restaurant. Fast food restaurant is all about making profit and giving you cheap and quick to prepare foods, the quality of the food ingredients will suffer. Walking into a burger outlet and grabbing a chicken breast on a white bread bun with a piece of lettuce and a half-green, half-pink tomato is NOT healthy eating. Conclusion: Fast food = Poor protein!

If you can handle the TRUTH, it's this... Preparing a healthy meal requires you to take significant amount of time and efforts. You will need to plan and shop for nutritious foods that have good ingredients and you will have to spend time preparing and cooking your foods. Now, that's the truth!

Tip 3: Eat more fruits and vegetables. If you are eating 2 servings per day, then go up to 4 servings per day by the end of the week. And even if you think you are doing great by having 5 servings per day, you still need to double that (take 2-3 weeks to work your way up to 10 servings per day). Stick with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables - organic if possible.

Tip 4: Eat 1oz of almonds or walnuts per day (1/2 oz in the AM, and the other half in the afternoon). Most nuts are roasted in oils (possible source of trans fats), so stick to natural or dry-roasted nuts. Rest assured that this small amount of nuts won't make you fat, but will fill you up and help you burn fat.

Tip 5: Be consistent with your workouts. And make sure the workouts are efficient and effective. To make it easy for you to follow, stick with the "Turbulence Training fat burning workout system". It doesn't matter if you train in the morning before or after breakfast, or at night before or after dinner, don't worry about the details, just follow the "Turbulence Training fat burning workout system" to train consistently.

Tip 6: Go for a walk after lunch or dinner (or anytime you eat a big meal). Research shows this will help you control your cholesterol and triglycerides, plus any movement is better than sitting around watching the TV and snacking.

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