Weight Loss

“A snail was mugged by two turtles.  When the police asked him what happened, he said,”I don’t know.  It all happened so fast.”

How many times have we seen celebrities representing weight loss products gain and drop weight faster than we can keep up with?  The sad answer is many, many times.  It seems to be a cultural element to want things immediately especially when we see cultural icons who have ripped abs and look like they are carved out of marble.   We see these images and as a culture we seek those images as ideals in our own lives.  We want an instantaneous result for problems that maybe took us several YEARS to incur.

I was at a party recently and I noticed a friend who has dropped a significant amount of weight since I had seen her last year at thanksgiving.   I’m always interested to hear someones’ story so naturally I asked what they did.  The simplicity astounded me, but the discipline was equally impressive.  Basically, my friend said, I wrote down everything I ate and I counted calories.  When I got to 1200 calories, I stopped eating.  Maybe I stopped at 3pm but maybe it was 8pm.  Either way I made a commitment to stop eating once I hit my goal.  Since January of 2011 my friend dropped 50 lbs.  WOW!  

This seems incredibly simple.  But it’s the TRUTH!   If you want to lose weight we have to expend more calories than we intake.  Now my friend paid close attention to what she was eating.  She didn’t diet.  She didn’t eat only protein, or carbs or fat.  She kept her basic nutrition and simply paid attention to her portions.  And she limited herself.  She set a daily goal, and achieved it!

The average person needs somewhere between 1200 and 2000 calories to maintain basic metabolic function (cell replication, respiration, etc) depending on activity level and muscle to fat ratio.  If you’re like me, you may not know the caloric values for the typical meal that you eat.  No problem!  Here’s a web site that helps you track your calories for each meal:

http://www.acaloriecounter.com/

There are many calorie counters online.  If you don’t like this one, try another.   

Although counting calories worked for my friend,  (who is, by the way, a numbers orientated person) maybe counting each calorie seems daunting.  No problem.  I still suggest writing down everything you eat and drink.  I always tell people to write down not only what they ate but what time and where.   

When everything you eat / drink is written down you can really see the scope of your nutrition.  This gives you a chance to evaluate your nutrition.  Maybe you don’t eat until 4 hours after you wake up.  This lag time between waking up and eating is never advised because having fuel in the tank to start your day helps you throughout the day.  People who tend to eat within 1 hour of waking up also tend NOT to eat 1 hour before they go to sleep.    An important distinction, since going to bed burns about 20 – 100 calories (depending on your metabolic rate) while eating a meal before you go to bed can be many more multiples of 20 -100 calories.  That’s one potential benefit of watching what you eat.

I like to coach people (interested in weight loss) in replacing items.   What I mean is to replace one thing in your nutrition with another item.  

 For example: maybe you are like me and LOVE Cheese!  Well, instead of a cheese platter snack, maybe you could find a vegetable to replace the volume and kind of snack the cheese platter snack represents in your nutrition.  Long story short (as my 10^th grade biology teacher, Mr. Nale would say), “Awareness PRECEDES Control.”  We have to know about something before we can impact it. 

The idea is to take a long term perspective when it comes to weight loss.  Typically ½ to 1 lbs of body weight dropped per week is a healthy long term weight loss goal.  Any more than that in a shorter period of time tends to be muscle atrophy and water weight: not anything anyone wants to lose, actually. 
Mo-tate.  Motivate your life to motion.

Mal-Adaptation?

A woman reports her husband’s disappearance to the police.  They ask her for a description, and she says, “He’s six feet, three inches tall, well-built, with thick, curly hair.”  Her friend says, “What are you talking about?  Your husband is five feet four, bald and has a huge belly.”  And she says, “Who wants that one back.”

Adaptation occurs all the time in strength and conditioning program.  The goal is to anticipate and to avoid mal-adaptation.  Huh?  

Basically, if we give a person an activity to do every day over a long enough timeline, that person will adapt to the activity.  It will go from being work to being normal activity.  There are many elements that determine how quickly adaptation occurs.  Rest, nutrition, stress, and activity levels can all determine how quickly / slowly adaptation occurs.  The trick is to plan on adaptation and to manipulate basic training elements before mal- adaptation occurs.  Here’s where the G.A.S.S. principle comes into play.

The G.A.S.S. principle (the general adaptation to stress syndrome) occurs in the following way:  when stress or stimulus is originally given to a person, the system experiences a drop in its ability to manage the stress or stimulus.   The body ultimately adapts to the stress.  If the stress does not change, there is a point at which we get diminishing returns for our effort and the same effort yields fewer results.  Without change, we get into injuries.

 Ever brush your teeth with your non dominant hand?  For those of us who are not ambidextrous, we are not very good at brushing our teeth immediately.  If you do it often enough, you get better!  T hat’s called adaptation!  The same is true for exercise.   With a new stimulus our body (system) experiences a drop in ability.  But the skill can be learned with enough time and practice.  It goes from being exercise to activity. 

Once we adapt to the stimulus, we establish a new level of ability or skill.  Now if we continue to do that new skill or ability we run the risk of diminishing returns.  That simply means with more effort, we don’t get the same or more results: we can possibly injure ourselves.   Before over use occurs, we have to change the stimulus in order to get more change.    There’s a drop in the system again, and we start the process all over again.

How often do we have to change the stimulus?  That depends on each individual and how quickly they learn whatever skill they are trying to build.  Keep in mind that when I say skill I mean everything from gaining strength to explosive activity to any physical skill one can learn.  

Mal adaptation is basically an injury that has occurred to someone who hasn’t changed their workout program.  Ever happen to you?  Shin splints from running, shoulder injuries, hip injuries, back pain and many other problems could be examples of overuse injuries that we may experience when we don’t change our workout program at the right time. It's not about "Changing it up" for changes sake.   It's about a progression that makes sense determined by your fitness level and your goals.

If you have any questions about your workout program, please don’t hesitate to contact me at:

Pcmtrain1@hotmail.com or any exercise professional.  Find out.

Mo-tate.  Motivate your life to motion.

It's a fiber thing.

Nurse: “Doctor: there’s an invisible man in the waiting room.”

Doctor: “Tell him I can’t see him.”

A recent study found that in exhumed cadavers, there were no type II muscle fibers.  The question asked is, where did they go?

In every person there are 2 broad types of muscle fibers: type I and type II.  There are several sub strata of type II but for our discussion let’s keep focused on these two types.   

 If you’ve ever had turkey on thanksgiving, you’d know them by another name: dark and light meat.  Dark meat is typically type II muscle fiber (short burst of energy muscle fiber) and light meat is usually type I (or endurance energy using muscle fiber). 

As you know, when you strength train you’re actually energy system training.   What, you say?  Energy system training?  You don’t know what that is, either?   Given what I see on the gym floor on a daily basis, I know that many people don’t know what this means because very few of us are actually making use of it in our workouts.

 Here are the three energy systems that a body uses to do work:   ATP-PC system, Anaerobic system, and Aerobic system.  At all times, all three energy systems are always working simultaneously.   Depending on the activity, one of the three systems gets focus. 

The ATP-PC energy system is used during short durations of work; say 10 seconds or less.

The Anaerobic system is typically focused on 2 minutes of effort or less.

The Aerobic system is used for activity lasting more than 2 minutes.

Here’s the idea. 

When you do short bursts of activity (for example strength training and sprinting) we focus on the ATP – PC energy system to do work.  This typically recruits the type II muscle fibers to do these high intensity short burst of energy.

When we use the anaerobic system, we shift focus from type II to type I as we near the 1 – 2 minute range of work time.    This could be longer sprinting (400 meters for example) or a timed strength set less than 2 minutes long. 

We kick the endurance work in when we go to 2 minutes or longer and typically this is distance running biking, swimming, or some other activity that lasts longer than 2 minutes.  This is usually a low intensity activity to kick in the type I fibers.

The problem here is usage.  Can you think of any other activities that last longer than 2 minutes?  I can.  Walking, sitting, driving, and practically any other number of activities that we do on a regular basis is a low level endurance activity.  We consistently use our type I muscle fibers all day long, every day.  Where do the type II muscle fibers go?  

Use it or lose it is a phrase I bet you’ve heard.  That’s exactly what happens.  They don’t get used and so the body adapts.  It stops focusing on them and they atrophy to the point of disappearance. 

Forgetting for a second that a person’s genetics determine their makeup of type I and type II muscle fibers, we can influence whatever types we do have.  But you may be asking me, why should I care about type II fibers?  Who cares?

I’ll tell you why you should care.  I heard this story about a trainers 80 year old client.  Firstly, congrats being 80 years old and working out.  But here’s where we can care about muscle fiber recruitment:  during a walk a gust of wind blew and her hat picked up off her head.  Like anyone, she quickly reached to grab the hat but in doing so injured her shoulder because she was moving too quickly!  Yikes!

What can we do?  Genuine strength training, I argue.  Now we don’t teach a client who has never run in their life, to run by making them run a marathon.   Nope.  We start off with significantly shorter distances and intensities.  The same is true for strength training.  Safely progressing someone at lower intensities (in the 15 to 20 rep range) will help to build strength so that they build not only strength but skill (i.e.: compound movements like a squat).  Building that skill is usually dependent on what the client wants to achieve and what their current fitness level allows.  Ask a professional if you have any questions.   

Let’s bring type II muscle fibers back by learning to progress into explosive activities that promote short duration work.  The fitness industry is full of endurance activity.  Let’s work on the short duration, high intensity energy systems too. 

Mo-tate.  Motivate your life to motion.

Your ticket.

 A man is in desperate financial straits and prays to God to save him by letting him win the lottery.  Days go by, then weeks, and the man fails to win a single lottery.  Finally, in misery, he cries out to God,  “You tell us ‘Knock and it shall be opened to you.  Seek and you shall find.’ I’m going down the tubes here, and I still havent’ won the lottery!”    Clouds part, sun shines and a big booming voice is heard to say , “Buy a ticket.”

We do this all the time with our health and fitness.  We proclaim we need help but then don’t take the steps necessary to actually improve our health.

I came across the attached clip yesterday.  I know it’s 9 minutes long, but it is worth your time. 

Particularly for older and deconditioned populations, I present your “Ticket.”

Next week we'll talk about more conditioned populations and their ticket.

Mo-Tate.  Motivate your life to motion.

Egos? In the gym?

A 911 dispatcher receives a panicky call from a hunter.  “I’ve just come across a bloodstained body in the woods!  It’s a man, and I think he’s dead!  What should I do?”

 The dispatcher calmly replies, “it’s going to be all right sir.  Just follow my instructions.  The first thing is to put the phone down and make sure he’s dead.” 

 There’s a silence on the phone, followed by the sound of a shot.  The man’s voice returns, “Okay.  Now what do I do?” 

(courtesy of the book, “Plato and a Platypus walk into a bar…” pg. 141)

I think it’s pretty plain that the fitness industry houses some Immense EGOS!      Like many other industries, the fitness industry contains some massive egos that put the aggrandizement of themselves above the virtue of the industry: namely the truth of health and fitness.  

Typically we see the self-stroking egoist represented in 2 ways: The over-compliment in advertising (our product is the best for "x") and the negative attacks of other perspectives and consequently an appeal to authority; namely that the attacker is the authority and if they can tear a perspective down, they MUST be the authority.

“…There are more things in heaven and earth, horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” -Hamlet

Our job in the fitness industry is to educate the public about the truth of health and wellness.  When our egos get in the way, we’re not doing our job but serving our own selfish ends.  In both the above cases, not only does the egotist lose out but so does the listener / reader.  

In both cases, the egoist is trying to sell you something: themselves.  This is incredibly dangerous and sadly persuasive to many people.  Gossip thrives on the same negative talk that bashing a perspective does: it’s an appeal to the basher as an authority.  "Respect my authority!"  But it’s an authority on what not to do, not necessarily on what “to do.”   

Egotism can also ring true for people who need help.  Asking for help takes real courage.  It shows vulnerability.   Some people have a difficult time showing real vulnerability because of their ego.  There's an old saying:

"Ego will get you in trouble, but pride will keep you there...(in trouble)."  

I’m often heard saying that in the gym we are MORAL RELATIVISTS.   What we do and how we do it and why is determined by two critical elements:

1.        What is our current fitness level?

2.       What are our goals?

If we can’t justify what we’re doing with reasons relating to 1 and 2, we ought not to do whatever it is we’re doing.    Really folks, it’s just that simple.   Let’s take the egos’ out.  

Mo-tate.  Motivate your life to motion.

Coach-Ability

A man is praying to God.

Man:  “Lord, Is it true that a million years to you are but a second?”

God: “Yes, that is true.”

Man: “Well, then, what is a million dollars to you?”

God: “A million dollars to me is but a penny.”

Man: “Ah, then, Lord, may I have a penny?”

God: “Sure.  Just a second.”

Coaching a person past their constraints is always a matter of coachability.  There are 2 aspects to coachability. 

1.        1.  What is an individuals willingness to learn, to listen, observe, and seek out knowledge?

2.         2.   What is an individuals willingness to change?  

Over the years, I’ve often heard people casually declare goals.

“I want to drop 20 lbs.”

“I want to run a marathon (26.2 miles)”

“I want to be in better shape.”

As we discuss their goals, it becomes clear whether that individual is prepared to learn whatever information I have at my disposal to give them and whether they are ready for change.

Change is difficult.  It’s different than what we are used to.  It’s outside normal activity. It’s uncomfortable.  It’s the undiscovered country.  Yet, it is exactly what our bodies need in order to achieve our goals.  That’s assuming we’re not already at our goal level.  

Change is also the future.  Guess what?  Our lives, as they are today, will never be the way they are again, tomorrow.  We are traveling on an island in a river with our hands in the stream.  Can’t ever touch the same stream twice because it moves by us and changes!  

In order to bring someone closer to their goals, I often have to challenge an individual.  The truth is that whatever they are currently doing is not getting them what they want.  I’m being consulted to help ease them from where their fitness currently lives to where their fitness will be!  I’m a futurist. 

 I find the clients that I’m most connected to are the clients that have affected me, challenged me as much as I’ve ever challenged them.  They forced me to look for an answer that I didn’t have at my fingertips.  They forced me to grow, to change!  

As a personal trainer, It is my responsibility to teach a person how to attain their goals.  I’m often heard saying if I give you a fish I fed you today.  But If I can teach you to fish, I’ve fed you the rest of your life.  Fitness is a lifelong pursuit for me and hopefully for you, my reader.   

Fitness isn’t easy.  But getting started and asking difficult questions is a good way to start.

Mo-Tate.  Motivate your life to motion.