Thought of the Day

   It's always a good idea to take time out of your day to step back and determine what's most important to you.  Today, your assignment is to think about what motivates you to exercise? Take time to write the reasons down and keep them in a safe place.  It's good practice to come back and review your motivations and see if different factors have changed over time.


  Do you exercise because you need to stay fit for your job (military, sports officials, etc..)?  Do you exercise because you are conscious about your health?  Do you do it because it is something you truly enjoy? Do you exercise because it's something you know you "should do" or "have to do"?

  I exercise for a bunch of reasons:

1. I enjoy the rush of energy during exercise.
2. I like to challenge myself and see what kind of changes I can make to my body.
3. I want to have control over my health.
4. I exercise because I want to perform well during competitions in 2012.
5. I exercise because it's a social event for me to see some of my friends at the gym.
6. I do it because exercise is something I love to do.

   Now, I want to focus on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors for exercise.  Research has shown in many different cases that people who are motivated by intrinsic factors (personal motivation, achievement, etc...) out-perform and even perform longer than those simply motivated by extrinsic forces (pressure from others, social pressure, media pressures, etc...).  I know that in order for me to truly enjoy my time training and keep up quality workouts, I need to focus on my intrinsic drive!


  If you noticed, all of my reasons to exercise are intrinsic drives and that's the way I want to keep it.  Take your list of motivations and look it over carefully.  Find the intrinsic motivators on the list and stick to them.  You'll find exercise much more rewarding and stress-free if you pursue your intrinsic drives.

   What motivates you?

Russ

Metabolic Measures

Hey there die-hard!

   Every week I hear questions or comments regarding metabolism.  Everyone is posting, tweeting or blogging about basal metabolic rates, MET training, metabolism reduction during aging, etc...  While these are all hot topics, many people don't actually understand the different ways we can currently measure metabolism or even what one's metabolism really is!


   Metabolism is loosely defined as the combination of reactions performed by the body that both breakdown substances (catabolism) as well as build molecular structures (anabolism).  This can be seen as clearly as gaining or losing fat and or muscle!  Typically, catabolism is an energy generating process while anabolic processes take an input of energy to occur (there are some exceptions to this rule, however).

  The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy required for homeostasis (bare-minimum amount of bodily function for survival).  Typically, these processes (breathing, heart rate, brain activity, etc...) can use around 65% of the calories a person consumes.  That means that the rest of the calories are used during activities of daily living (ADL) or through exercise.

  There are also other important and useful metabolism measurements that a trained healthcare professional or trainer may be able to administer.  These measurements are aerobic threshold (VO2 Max) and anaerobic threshold.  An easy way to explain these two measurements are as follows:

   1. Aerobic Threshold: If you imagine that your body is an automobile, the aerobic threshold is the maximum miles per gallon that the car can achieve.  Physiologically speaking, aerobic threshold refers to one's maximum rate of oxygen processing to provide fuel.  This number is very important to have during training so that clients can have a benchmark to measure their progress as well as a reference point for how intense they should be training.

   2. Anaerobic Threshold: Using the car analogy, anaerobic threshold is the car's red-line.  Physiologically, anaerobic threshold refers to the body's ability to process energy when there is not enough oxygen being delivered to the tissue.  In this hypoxic state, a biproduct called lactic acid builds up and eventually causes fatigue.  The body's ability to deal with the accumulation of lactic acid ultimately defines the anaerobic threshold.

   All of these metabolic measures are incredibly important numbers for both controlling weight gain as well as for making exercise progress.  It's vital to familiarize yourself with the numbers and where you fall on the fitness spectrum.  Use these measurements as an aid to continued progress and feel free to post the improvements that you see!

  What's your benchmark?

Russ

Monday Motivation

Hey Fit People!

     December is almost upon us and with the month of December comes holidays, celebrations and even a few extra pounds of weight.  Studies have shown that weight gain during the winter months is a common and often expected occurrence.  This makes sense since most people reduce their activity levels as well as over indulge during the holidays.  Evolutionarily, it has also been to our advantage to store more fat during the winter months.  This fat adds to protection from the extreme cold temperatures as well as provides necessary fuel during times of food scarcity.  Unfortunately, we are no longer cave men and women!

   There's no reason that your fitness should get in the way of enjoying the holidays, as long as compromises are made.  I want to challenge you to make the following changes to this year's holiday celebrations:

1. Everything in moderation: Next time you find yourself loading up your plate with cookies and cakes, think for a moment, "What do I want?" and "What will make me filled and satisfied?".  Compare the differences between these two answers and decide what portion size is going to be appropriate to both enjoy holiday food as well as prevent any regrets later.

2. Pick up the slack in other ways:  Bargain with yourself.  Any additional caloric intake should have its countermeasure with some additional exercise or activity.  Now you don't need to go run a marathon if you have an additional glass of egg nog, but on the other hand, no crime goes unpunished.  My challenge to you is to include 30 minutes of brisk walking for any dramatic caloric increase.  Walking isn't going to stave off all the pounds, but it will keep your metabolism high during the temperature drop and it will help lessen the caloric damage that had occurred.  Better yet, you'll be much happier you had the walk when all is said and done.

3. Look for alternative recipes:  In the age of the internet, there are alternatives to just about any recipe! I've recently subscribed to a blog called, "Lean Body Lifestyle".  This blog is dedicated to taking everyday recipes and changing them to reduce calories, increase protein, increase fiber and increase micronutrients!  Something as simple as using apple sauce instead of oil while baking can create great shifts in the calorie density of foods without compromising great taste!

4. Enjoy the Holidays: Holidays are great times to rest and recuperate.  I love the month of December, because it is a time that my own training becomes less intense and I'm able to recover both physically and mentally.  This really preps me for January when I can set all new goals and really get to work at having the next best year of my life!

     Take these tips and run with them.  As long as you can give an effort to one or two of these tips, you'll be well on your way to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and not gaining any unnecessary pounds.  Keep at it and I'll see you at the gym!

Russ

Tough Thursday

     Today I'm focusing on all the training I love to do.  Every 4 weeks, I give myself a week-long treat where I mix up my training to make sure I hit all of my favorite exercises and iron out any imbalances I might have. 
    
      Some of my favoite ways to train include: TRX Suspension Training, Kettlebells, plyometrics, partner exercises, competitions, swimming, yoga, supersets with elastic bands and sprints.

     Find something active that you truely enjoy and do it today. You and your body will be happy you made the choice.

Monday Motivation

     What drives you?  Is it something external (fear of unemployment, etc...) or something from within (personal goals, aspirations, enjoyment, etc..)? Studies have shown time and time again that the best form of motivation is internal and not external.

     What does this mean? This means that the people who set their goals often achieve them and those who are told who the should be or what they should do, often don't get there.

     I challenge you this week to take time to think about what your goals are and where the pressure to achieve them comes from.  Is is something that you want because it will make you happier and healthier or is it something you "should do"?  Find the goals and explanations that are internally driven and stick to them.  These will help guide you and motivate you along the way.

     Find out those internal goals and I'll see you on the road to progress!

Stay strong,

Russ

5 Days Strong This Week

     So far this week I've been very productive. I've had 5 days of resistance training, 3 days of cardiovascular training and 6 days of flexibility training.  Even better yet: I'm going to get another workout in tomorrow!

     "How much is enough?"  I get this question all the time and the answer isn't as straight forward as it may seem.  Often times I can't give an accurate answer without asking some questions of my own:


What are your goals? 
What does achieving your goals mean to you? 
How much time are you willing to commit to exercise? 
What's at stake?


     After finding this out, the answer is simple: the more focused attention spent on achieving your goals, the better your chances of achieving them and the quicker you'll get there.

     With that being said, pay attention to your body and pay attention to your strength and stamina.  Rushing in head-first to a new exercise routine can easily backfire if you overtrain your body.  Generally, a good rule of thumb is to take a few days off and to change your routine if you see a decrease in performance by 15% or more for longer than 2 weeks.


     Some sure-fire minimums that you should shoot for each week are:


2 days of resistance training
3 days of cardiovascular training (30-60min)
Flexibility training after either resistance or cardiovascular training.


     Spend some time this weekend, determining what your goals are and what they mean to you.  Find the time to dedicate to exercise and I'll see you around the gym next week!

New Kicks & 10.5 miles down

As a part of my own fitness revolution, I've started running from one job to my other. I've started with only a 1.5 mile loop but am going to slowly increase it weekly until the snow starts flying!