Bear Hug, Bro Hug, or Big Hug a Trainer Day

May 10, 2013

Reblog

Hug a trainer. Really. Go find one, even if you don’t currently use one.  Show your strength and some love.  I know we can be an intimidating bunch, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

One of the great joys of my fitness career is having the opportunity to be a fitness leader and travel around speaking to other fitness trainers to help them get better at what they do.  And they are some of the most passionate and dedicated people you will meet. 

I can see it in their eyes during my presentations.  They are hungry for more knowledge and ideas to help you.  They want to be better so they can make you better.  They always ask me about you.  After one of my sessions or in the halls, it always starts with, “I have a client who…” and the end of that sentence contains information about someone the trainer is working with that is proving difficult to find success with.  They want my help in helping you and I can see the dedication in their eyes.

However we train you, and whatever our personalities or training style, every trainer starts in fitness at the same place – with a desire, some would call it a need, to help people like you.  We know that whatever you do in life, it gets better and you will enjoy it more when you are fitter.  And we want to share this feeling with you.

We constantly question what we do and why we do it to get better at presenting fitness to you in such a way that you can more successfully make it part of your life.

From the TV shows, you think we are all scary, screaming fitness monsters.  The majority of us aren’t.  Most of us are just deeply passionate.  Yes, we are sometimes intense, but our enthusiasm comes from our desire to see you shine, not just to have you follow orders.

I just spent a couple days speaking to trainers on the east coast at a fitness conference and am now on the west coast speaking to another group of great trainers who want to get even better for you.

So go find a trainer and hug one.  Bear hug, bro hug, or big hug.  Show your appreciation through a show of strength and love. 

Trust me when I say that we give until it hurts.  We don’t want you to do what we say, we want you to absorb what we teach and to make it part of you so that you can benefit from it for the rest of your life.  The bigger your struggles have been with fitness, the stronger our desire to help you and see you succeed.  This often takes a lot out of us. 

The physical effort it takes to get in shape is a fraction of the mental and emotional energy it takes us to help you turn the corner and own it and make it part of you.  Underneath our muscles and tough façade, we are just like you.  We want the same things – the best for you. 

Bear hug, bro hug, or big hug…go find a trainer and hug one. 

Jonathon teaching his fellow trainers how to receive a hug

How’s that “Personal Responsibility” Thing Working Out for You?

April 12, 2013

Reblog

Defeating obesity is all about “personal responsibility.”  This is a closely held belief by many individuals and industries.  Well, we’ve tried the “personal responsibility” approach for almost a century now, and how’s that been working out for us?

Recently, the proposed New York City limitation on sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces was struck down by a judge one day before it was to go into effect.   And for champions of freedom and personal responsibility, this was seen as a victory and a blow against the “nanny state,” or “food police.” 

The best way to avoid junk food is to keep it out of the house!

Viewed simply, the idea of personal responsibility makes sense. The problem is that our brains are wired to love, love, love sugar and fat – two items drastically more scarce for most of human history than they are now. The heightened attention given to fat and sugar and the heightened momentary reward derived from consuming them combined with their widespread availability anywhere, anytime, can lead to a sensible conclusion:  it’s no longer a fair fight.

It’s true that everything is a choice, but must we insist on making good choices as hard as possible?  If you’re struggling to avoid the temptation of unhealthy foods in today’s world, it’s a little like putting a recovering drug addict around drugs all day and then blaming them for using. 

Our brains are simply not equipped to successfully resist the chronic temptation of fat and sugar once we have been conditioned to have them. 

There’s no such thing as a natural sweet tooth.  We get a sweet tooth by consistently eating something sweet.  Yes, it actually is just that simple. 

I’ve worked with hundreds of obese people, grew up with two of them, and have had first-hand experience in kicking the sugar habit.  It is not easy.  I grew up eating too much sugar and fat, drinking too many sodas, eating too many sugary cereals, and enjoying too much junk food in general. 

Reducing or removing exposure to and availability of the most tempting food items is a kind and generous thing to do. Countless studies have conclusively shown that when you use a lot of willpower, you have less willpower available for the next challenge. And the next challenge is always coming soon.

It’s always amusing to see what freedoms we give up freely and which ones we fight for.  We have no problem allowing homeowners associations to dictate every detail of our homes and yards while we angrily demand the freedom to eat and thus “decorate” our homes with the worst possible choices for our health.

How’s this personal responsibility thing working out for us?

Obesity issues started in the mid-20^th century; that’s over 60 years of struggle for Americans and runaway increases in obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic disease. 

We’ve been trying the personal responsibility thing for a while now.  The results are in, and it failed.  It is time to start, at the very least, making it more difficult to make poor food choices. 

I’ve lived through making the changes in eating that it takes to live a healthier, more fulfilling life, and it is far harder than it should be.  It’s not a fair fight.

I applaud Mayor Bloomberg for having the courage to lead on this issue with his attempt to ban unnecessarily large sodas.  Someone has to try this first to get the momentum started.  Even if the appeals ultimately fail, this is how change often starts – with someone having the courage to go first.  

Mixed Messaging in Workout Trends

March 12, 2013

Reblog

It’s not easy to be you.  How can it be?

You are told one thing about exercise and nutrition one day and then before you know it, you are told something contradictory the next. 

Sometimes it all just seems like too much.  And I would agree, it can be too much.  You shouldn’t have to work so hard to make sense of things.  I’m here to tell you it’s not your fault.

I blame the media.  Kind of.  And scientists.  Kind of.  And my fellow trainers.  Kind of.  Let me explain.

If no one reads your articles – which are increasingly being read online – then no one is looking at your banner ads, no one is paying your bills, and you and your media outlet have to shut down.   Thus, every story must have some shock value. 

No one is going to read the article that says more intense exercise is better than less, you shouldn’t skip breakfast, and that you shouldn’t eat too many carbs at night.  So every story that gets headlines reports a study that “proves” (ahem) the opposite.

For example, a recent article in the Washington Post ran with the following headline:

“Less intense but longer-lasting exercise may be better than strenuous workouts” 

When you examine the study used for this, you see that the media drew conclusions that cannot be drawn from the study.  Notice I didn’t say “wrong” conclusions. 

Now we get to the part where I blame the scientists.

The study was so poorly designed; you can almost tell that the researchers set out to get a study that gets them the end result they wanted.

I will keep this short and sweet.

There were three groups studied: a “sitting” group that did very little physical activity, a “minimal intensity physical activity” group and an “exercise” group (emphasis added by me to the last two groups).  The results showed that the minimal intensity physical activity group showed more improvement in various measures of health.  All you need to do is check out the graphics used to illustrate the problem with the conclusion here:

PLOS ONE

The study makes conclusions about “exercise” but there are too many variables changing to lead to the conclusions. And of course, the poor, unsuspecting media outlets that trusted the scientists – drew from the results.

Here are the two big problems, both easily visible in the graphic above.

1. Note that the exercise group did MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity) in the form of cycling (yellow section) while the minimal intensity physical activity did NO exercise at all.  They just stood and walked.
2. But next, and more importantly, note that the minimal intensity group did far less sitting than the exercise group.  Other than the higher intensity exercise, the exercise group sat down most of the rest of the day!  What was the difference in sitting time?

I hope you’re sitting down for this.

The exercise group spent 12.7 hours sitting while the minimal intensity physical activity group spent 7.4 hours sitting and about 8.6 hours standing or walking.  Yes, that’s right, by forcing the exercise group to sit as much as humanly possible the rest of the day, the researchers managed to “show” that less “exercise” is better than more intense exercise. 

Just what a shocking-headline-hungry media and an unmotivated public want to hear!

If you’re interested in reading the details of the study, it is from the Feb. 13 online issue of PLoS One.

Now we get to the part where I blame fitness trainers.

Even when a study is designed well, we don’t know how to use it properly.  Many of my colleagues claim to do “Tabata Training,” but not one of them anywhere is actually doing it.  In fact, most of them have never even read the Tabata study from 1996.  Anyone claiming to do Tabata training is really just doing interval training (not a sexy, catchy term anymore – Tabata sounds exotic and foreign!) where the interval is 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of full rest.

What’s the problem?

Without doing the intensity used in the Tabata study and only using the interval timing used, you are not doing Tabata training.  And it is impossible to achieve the intensities used in the study outside of a research setting.  You cannot do it with push-ups or jumping jacks.  It just can’t happen. 

So even my fellow members of the fitness industry have contributed to the problem by using a term they have no business using for training that they aren’t really doing.  If Izumi Tabata’s last name were “Jones” no one would be imitating his training.

And you, the poor public, just keep getting more confused.  Scientists tweak data to show a “breakthrough,” to score attention, while a media desperate for eyeballs and clicks scoops it up and leagues of well-meaning fitness trainers start haphazardly using whatever buzzwords they’ve heard in the media and from clients in an effort to ride current fads to success.

So which is better, less intense or more intense exercise?  I can’t answer that based on the study above.  And this is why you can seemingly never get definitive answers – only contradictory ones – no matter how many studies are done.  Too many of them are done not in the name of science but in the name of shocking stories dressed up like science.

Get Out of Your Chair Alive

March 04, 2013

Reblog

Not sure if you’ve heard the news, but sitting is bad for you.  You live in a body created for – and best served by – regular movement. 

I’m not talking about intense exercise, just movement.  We aren’t meant to be still during long periods of our waking hours and we really aren’t meant to be sitting for long periods.

The big news splash last year on this topic revealed that if you sit for more than 6 hours a day, you are 40% more likely to die within 15 years than someone who sits less than 3 hours a day – even if you exercise!

With more and more labor engineered out of jobs, we sit more than we do anything else. We average 9.3 hours a day, compared to 7.7 hours of sleeping.  Here are some more fun stats to scare you out of your seat. 

When you sit:

• Your calorie burning rate drops to one per minute
• Enzymes that break down fat drop by 90%
• After 2 hours, your good cholesterol levels drop 20% (since it’s not needed when less active)

And more fun with numbers…

• Obese people sit for 2.5 more hours per day than thin people (This is just a stat/fact – not a statement of cause and effect: It could be that once you become obese, you tend to sit more.)
• Between 1980 and 2000:  Exercise rates were constant; sitting time increased by 8%; obesity doubled

Sitting vs. Smoking: Which is worse?

The death rate for obesity in the US is now 35 million.  It’s 3.5 million for tobacco.  Smoking is finally illegal inside of most public buildings – perhaps sitting should be as well given these statistics!  Just kidding, of course. 

I know what you’re thinking:  “Okay.  I get it! Sitting is bad for me.  But what do I do about this?”  I’m so glad you asked.

1. Just get up more.  Take stretch breaks.  Set a timer if you have to.  Have walking meetings (If you’re in charge of leading meetings, then be a leader!)
2. Undo what gets tight from sitting.  When you get up, stretch the front of your shoulders, the front of your hips, and the back of your thighs.
3. Invest in a stand-up desk.  I finally did.  When I began a shift from strictly personal training to writing books and articles, consulting, and planning/delivering fitness presentations, I began to spend a lot more time seated at the computer.  Yes, even a full-time fitness professional was sitting too much!

There are a number of options for a stand-up desk.  You can get either an entire desk that elevates or an add-on to the desk which allows for keeping your existing desk.  The latter option is often significantly less expensive than the former. 

If you’re interested in investing in a standing desk, check out these companies: Ergotron and Ergo Desktop.

It is very easy to change from standing to sitting (for those times when you just really need or want to sit) and the ability to stand keeps my mind much sharper while at the computer.

The Bottom Line

You can’t sit for most of the day if you want to be healthy and live long.  If simply getting up more often can provide health benefits, then we should all take a stand for our health.  

Intermittent Fasting

February 19, 2013

Reblog

Contrary to popular recommendations to eat smaller, more frequent meals, new research suggests that a short, periodic fast (called “intermittent fasting”) might actually rev up your fat-burning machinery while helping you control glucose and insulin. Important hormonal changes mean that you might lose more fat and gain more muscle, all by skipping a few meals.  Some data show that Intermittent  fasting, when done properly, might help extend life, regulate blood glucose, control blood lipids, manage body weight, gain (or maintain) lean mass, and more.

There is no conclusiveness to the research on intermittent fasting, but honestly there doesn’t likely need to be.  In my opinion “conclusive” will always be somewhat unachievable and unrealistic when it comes to human nutrition.  For some people it will be a wise approach that will lead to better health while for others intermittent fasting will be the wrong approach.

Elusive Conclusiveness

There is too much individuality and variability in humanity to make any one approach the answer for everyone.  From omnivorism vs. veganism to intermittent fasting, this is one truth that becomes apparent the more you investigate nutrition.  We all come from a line of genes that are built on highly diverse diets based on your ancestral geography.  And chances are good that it will be very different from the person next to you.  Espousing one approach as the correct way for all humans will always be wrong.

Traditional Doesn’t Necessarily Make it Right

Yes, the idea that we should return to our roots and eat “paleo,” run barefoot, and eat less often all have a certain appeal.  But we have to be very careful with this line of thinking.  I’m guessing that we’re not going stop bathing, using deodorant, or using cell phones are we?  Not everything we used to do as cavemen is practical – or even smart – anymore. We have evolved. It doesn’t mean we should ignore our evolutionary history, but it also doesn’t mean we should devolve and embrace everything from the paleo period of human history.

This is Your Brain on Calories

Sometimes I think I know too much about how the brain works. Your brain uses a very high amount of energy – around 20% of the calories you used in a day!  In fact, per unit of tissue, your brain uses more energy than your quadriceps muscle.  In caveman times, we were fasting/starving more often for sure.  But we also did not have to think as much as we do now.  The body of knowledge we have to walk around with combined with the incoming stream of information and news from around the world and in your own personal world is staggering.  And this means your brain is going to work harder and thus need more energy. 

Cause and Effect or “Just ’Cause I Said So?”

Too often with an extreme shift in thinking, something seems so shocking that it can create a buzz and cause people to rush and adopt a certain behavior.  Other people just do it because they know someone else who did it.  There is often a rush to find the next perfect diet, which is the risk with intermittent fasting. 

It could be that the results are just from people eating better food (since this often happens when someone is dieting anyway) and/or eating less junk (if you’re periodically fasting, you’re eating less junk even if you’re still eating junk when you eat.)  It could also be that a periodic fast might help you learn the difference between real hunger (the body telling you it needs something) and mental hunger (eating from boredom or any other reason than real hunger.) 

Find out More

If you want more information or would like to give it a try, I would direct you to the excellent free e-book by John Berardi of Precision Nutrition.  It is an excellent review of the pros and cons along with helpful details of how to try various versions of intermittent fasting.  It is mostly a spot on review of all the factors you would need to know to decide if you want to try it and if it might be for you. 

Do the research from credible sources and decide for yourself. 

Training the Abs Without Ab Exercises

February 04, 2013

Reblog

It has gotten very popular to recommend squats and deadlifts as "abdominal" strengthening exercises, but like a lot of ideas that are appealing and sound good, this approach is not quite correct although this is mostly dependent on what type of ab training you are after.

In general, I'm not inclined to recommend heavier, bilateral back squats or deadlifts as "abdominal" exercises.  The distinction is critical.  The traditional versions of these exercises don’t develop abdominal strength so much as display it.  Or, if you use a heavy enough weight beyond what the abs are prepared for, they display a lack of it – and doing so would typically put one at risk.  The same appealing but faulty logic is used to make people think they jump higher from doing box jumps…box jumps demonstrate how high you are already capable of jumping, they don’t magically make you able to jump higher from putting a box in front of you.

If you are seeking abdominal strength to support your back and to be able to move, live, work, and play without hurting yourself, then you may be able to use strength training exercises (as described below, not above) to strengthen the abs.  However, if you are after that ripped look for the abs, you need to do targeted abdominal training and eat a very clean diet – period.  To get that look, the muscles have to be targeted and well-developed so they stick out a bit.  And without removing the layers of body fat beneath the skin that cover up muscle definition, the lean look will be elusive.  For more details on how to do this, try the workouts, exercises, and nutrition recommendations in my top-selling fitness book, Abs Revealed.  Check out Abs Revealed on iTunes for the iPhone app.

To use non-abdominal exercises to develop strength (and stability) in the abs for general fitness and “everyday” strength, then you need to use asymmetrical loading.  Some examples…

1. “Suitcase” Deadlift – standing holding the middle of a barbell (hold it like a dumbbell) on one side of your body. Perform a deadlift as you traditionally would while holding the weight level.  Bend forward at the hips and then the knees while keeping the back straight – not vertical, but straight.
2. Rainbow Squat – hold the sides of a dumbbell, medicine ball, or horn of an upside-down kettlebell with both hands.  Start with the weight overhead. As you squat down move the weight to the right, lowering it as far as is comfortable just outside your right leg.  Stand back up and return the weight overhead and repeat to the left side.
3. Single Arm Dumbbell Row from Lunge Stance – stand holding one dumbbell with the opposite foot forward and lean over the front foot so that very little weight is on the back foot.  Keep the torso in the same alignment as if you were doing the row on a bench while performing a dumbbell row.  Keeping your body up with your own muscles will make the abs (and the glute of the front leg) work very hard.
4. Single Arm DB Press on Stability Ball – lay down supine on a stability ball with the neck and shoulders supported on the ball, knees bent, and feet flat on the floor.  Hold a dumbbell in one hand and perform a single are DB chest press moving the arm in the same technique with a two-arm press. 

Wrap Up

If you want to get something you need to go after it, not avoid it.  For decades we did too much ab training in the hopes of changing the look of our mid-sections.  The correction for doing too much of something is not to do too little of it.  But if you’re just after general strength and not ripped abs, you can do strength training in certain ways to achieve that goal and may not need much targeted abdominal training.

How Do You Spell Immunity?

January 18, 2013

Reblog

I bet you didn’t know that the word immunity is spelled with ZZZ’s, EOs, and greens!

It’s full-on flu season time!  And that means your best bets are to improve your own resistance.  Here are some essential tips to do just that.

Low in Z’s?

Don’t roll your eyes.  Close them.  And go get some rest.  We don’t get enough – you might be tired of hearing it, but that’s just because you’re chronically tired.  Adult humans need 7-9 hours of sleep a night.  No, you’re not the exception.  You’re fooling yourself if you think you are.  Sleep is when your mind stores the day’s memories and when your body sends out repair and recovery hormones.  If you cut it short, you cut short your body’s ability to defend itself from injury, inflammation, and illness. 

You don’t have to be an early-to-bed and early-to-rise person – that’s a big sleep myth.  You just need a quality 7-9 hours of sleep per night.  And yes, you can make it up.  Try to turn lights low early in the evening, avoid watching anything too stimulating on TV and don’t turn on that bathroom light if you get up in the middle of the night to go – use a night light.  Light entering your eyes shuts down melatonin production in your brain and this makes it harder for you to sleep.  

Use those EOs

EOs, or essential oils, can play a crucial role in building your defenses.  I asked Rose Chard, a certified aromatherapist, and owner of Your Body Needs to provide information on oils that strengthen the immune system. Here they are:

1. Thyme (Thymus vulgaris):  Recommended for most infections. Known to stimulate the production of white blood corpuscles and thus strengthen your body’s immune system. Thyme is excellent oil for addressing infection. It helps support good immune, respiratory and circulatory systems. Thyme brings relief and strength to the discomfort of infections such as colds, flu and bronchitis. It is also a powerful anti-viral.

2. Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia):  Tea is a powerful immune stimulant. Tea Tree is antifungal and antimicrobial.

3. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis):  strengthens the immune system and Eucalyptus (Eucalptus globulus) helps stimulate the immune system.

How to Use:

• All these oils can be used in a diffuser blend, up to 12 drops total. Perhaps, 5 drops Thyme, 4 drops Tea Tree and 4 drops Eucalyptus added to water in a nebulizer or tealight diffuser.

• As a rub, add 5 drops eucalyptus, 5 drops rosemary and 3 drops tea tree added to 1oz (30mls) of grapeseed or almond carrier oil. Use a small amount to rub over chest, neck, shoulders or feet once a day.

Eat Your Greens (and Other Healthy Foods)

Your body builds its defenses from vitamins and minerals – the micronutrients found in food.  They are not found in orange juice, but in real, whole, intact food.  Eat an orange, don’t drink the juice.  Plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, are packed with the micronutrients your body needs to build its immunity against viral and bacterial infections. 

And it might not be bad to take a supplemental probiotic and enzyme blend.  The probiotic will help ensure you have enough healthy, good bacteria in your gut that help with proper digestion and an enzyme blend will help your body more efficiently use the vitamins and minerals in the food you eat. In case you are wondering, I use a New Chapter’s All-Flora Probiotic and Omega-Zyme’s Enzyme Blend. 

And if you do get sick and have to take a round of antibiotics, once it is over, take a larger daily dose of the probiotics and/or consume extra probiotic foods to rapidly rebuild the colonies of healthy bacteria in your gut.

 

Immunity isn’t something we have or don’t have.  It is something we build.  And you can build it by combining healthy behaviors to make sure the flu flies right on by you this year!

Healthy Versions of Unhealthy Coffee Drinks

January 02, 2013

Reblog

 I love a great cup of coffee.  And chances are, so do you.  Coffee has many health benefits, but these days, having a “coffee” often means having a couple of shots of espresso along with enough fat, sugar, whipped cream, chocolate or caramel to make a cake.  Calling a Peppermint Mocha a coffee is like calling a banana split a fruit. 

Below you will find the caloric damage done by some common favorites along with the stats for plain coffee, followed by how to save a bunch of money, a bunch of calories, and provide a boost to health by making your own variations.  Keep in mind that the variations will have no sugar so don’t expect them to make your taste buds explode, but the use of real ingredients will make up for it as you can enjoy real flavors.

 

Drink (16 ounces)	Caffeine (mg)	Sugar (g)	Fat (g)	Calories
Caramel Macchiato	150	32	7	240
Cinnamon Dolce Latte	150	40	13	330
Gingerbread Latte	150	37	13	320
Peppermint Latte	175	54	15	410
Vanilla Latte	150	35	6	250
1 oz. shot espresso	75	0	0	5
Bold pick-of-the-day	330	0	0	5

 

Caramel Macchiato, Vanilla Latte

Use Pure Vanilla Powder (by Madagascar Bourbon) – using real vanilla will provide an elegant touch and a wonderful change from the sugar overdose.  You can find this product in most organic and gourmet food stores.

Cinnamon Dolce Latte, Gingerbread Latte

Brew your coffee however you like, and then use essential oils of Cinnamon and Ginger to add the real flavoring.  You’ll only need to use one drop as the real thing packs enough punch.  I use essential oils purchased from Your Body Needs.  Most cinnamon sold in stores isn’t real cinnamon.  Real cinnamon helps control blood sugar while real ginger fights inflammation.

Peppermint Latte

Brew your coffee however you like, and then use essential oil of Peppermint along with Cocoa extract to add a shot of the real thing.  As with the cinnamon and ginger, you’ll only need to use one drop as the real thing packs enough punch.  Essential oils purchased from Your Body Needs, and the cocoa I use is Pure Inventions.  Real peppermint aids in digestion. 

 

If you call it coffee, it should be mostly coffee. Add some real cinnamon, ginger, peppermint, cocoa, and vanilla to boost the health benefits and add some authentic flavor to your next coffee.

 

4 Ways to Have a Lean 2013

December 23, 2012

Reblog

It’s the time of year where many people’s attention turns from indulgence to diligence. Does your new year's resolution involve fitness? Here are 4 helpful tips and products to get you launching into a successful pursuit of fitness in 2013.

1. Calluses Are for Cavemen
2. Beat the Stink
3. Get Your App in Gear
4. Compression the Right Way

Calluses Are for Cavemen

For some odd reason, many people are now proudly displaying calluses they’ve gotten from working out. The same people often claim weight gloves are for wimps. Wrong. Calluses are for cavemen. It’s almost the year 2013 – evolve already. Calluses are so the last epoch of human history. Just like other outdated notions like body hair (we live indoors now!) and body odor, calluses were acceptable in the stone ages when there was no way around them. Modern individuals avoid calluses even while hitting good workout intensities.

Avoid calluses without the hassle of putting on and taking off weight gloves by using new type of grips like the Lynx grips or the Grip Power Pads.

Beat the Stink

No one likes stinky athletic shoes (or clothes, or workout gloves, etc.) Try this great tip I’ve been using for decades that not many people know about: Never wear the same pair of workout shoes two days in a row. Always give them a day to dry out before wearing them again. It’s simple, but it works. The warm, moist environment inside the shoes is a breeding ground for the bacteria that cause odor. Allowing them to dry fully before reusing them beats the stink.

For clothing, you can buy workout clothing blended with silver which has natural antimicrobial properties (bacteria are the main cause of stink from sweat.) One I like is the Silverscent line of workout clothes from Lululemon. Frequently, the synthetic fabrics in workout clothing can emit a very unpleasant odor from sweat which remains even after washing. In that case, use Win Performance Detergent. It will get the existing stink out of exercise clothing.

Get Your App in Gear

Find a fitness app and monitoring device that allows you to measure your calorie expenditure, exercise intensity, number of steps you take, and more (some can even measure sleep quality.) My personal favorite is the armbands from BodyMedia. Some products have Bluetooth capabilities so you can see your data in real time on your smartphone. Most of the body monitoring devices include a free companion smartphone app to see your data in the app.

Another great feature of these products is that many of them have partnered with other companies to offer rewards for accumulating points from how much exercise you do or how many steps you take. You can score discounts or get some free gear.

Compression the Right Way

Compression gear is getting popular – and for good reason. It can work. But only if you do compression the right way. Especially in the lower extremity, compression can aid in the return of blood from the legs to the torso, which aids in waste product removal from the muscles during exercise. It also prevents blood pooling in the legs.

Basic physics of fluid dynamics means that compression socks and full-length compression tights would be good choices. Conversely, compression sleeves covering only the calf or part of the arm are nearly useless. If you only compress one small part of the body – like a forearm, upper arm, or calf -- you’ll squeeze blood out of that area and force it above and below the point of compression. This is not what you want. Wearing a compression sleeve on your calf will cause some blood to go up into the thigh (good) and some to be squeezed down into the foot (not good.)

Compression sleeves are as silly as they look. It is puzzling why anyone would even want to pay separately for compressing each single part of a limb instead of simply buying one item to provide better compression by covering more body parts at once. Stick with compression socks or full length tights for the best results from compression gear. My personal favorite is the SKINS line of gear.

Wrap Up

Fitness is easier if you enjoy it a bit more and smooth out the rough spots in the experience. The tips above will nudge your workout experience a little more to the enjoyable side which will make it easier for you to stick with it.

More on Fitness:

Are You A Toe-Dipper or a Jumper?

3 Tips for  Fit Holiday Season

Does an Apple a Day Keep the Doctor Away?

Are You a Toe-Dipper or a Jumper?

December 12, 2012

Reblog

Do you often have an all-or-nothing approach to fitness?  Does this keep you moving forward and backward – never really making any real and lasting progress.  It could be that you’re not following your own instincts about how best to try new challenges.

We can't all be the first ones to jump in the deep end

We are all familiar with many of the popular motivational slogans such “Just Do It.” And a frequently aired commercial during this past summer’s Olympic Games spread a terrible message under the guise of an inspirational one.  It talked of athletes who “never take an off day,” and who “haven’t watched a TV show in five years.” 

Does any of this make working hard to achieve something great or getting in shape seem like a big bag of fun to anyone? 

Know Thyself to Become Someone Else

All the rah-rah nonsense just leaves regular people feeling discouraged, like they don’t have what it takes, and like it’s all too much work.

Some people like to test the waters of the pool by dipping their toe in first.  Others – like the personalities often portrayed in popular media messages – climb to the top of the cliff and dive right into the water without a second thought. 

If you’re a toe-dipper type of person (and the majority of us are), this may leave you feeling a bit left out, uncool, and perhaps a little dorky.  It shouldn’t be that way.  You have to go at your own pace to change in life.  In essence, yes you have to get outside your comfort zone, etc.  But you shouldn’t get so far outside of that you get completely freaked out.  While getting uncomfortable, it’s comforting to know that comfort isn’t too far away. 

And if that’s your personality type, that is fine.  You do not have to change.  You probably like to take things slowly.  The trick, when it comes to fitness, is to adopt change at a pace that is fast enough to make progress but slow enough to not freak you out.

We all would be a lot better off if we stopped expecting professional athlete level of performance and adherence to our training programs.  Be a little kinder to yourself.  Anything you do in life is full of ups and downs and fitness is no different. 

Be cautious, but not complacent.  Make tomorrow a little better than today.  Repeat.  Repeat again.  Fitness is just that basic.  Do things a little bit better than you did before. 

Instead of going “all out” the next time you get re-started on fitness, dip your toe in that pool instead of jumping in.  See what the water is like.  Prepare yourself and get in the pool at your own pace.