Hi All! I read this article and think this is a good read for all my AAF Boot Campers, my personal training clients, or if you plan to be a client of mine. I completely agree with this author. Please take these tips to heart. They can make a huge impact on the outcome of your progress. Enjoy! Jimmy ----------------------------------- The Beginner’s Guide to Working With Your Personal Trainer Author: Kassandre Harper-Cotton The New Year is upon you. You have decided to abandon last year’s promise to ‘get in shape’ and just ‘enjoy the holidays’ until January 1, 2010. This date holds the promise of a new life, new goals, and a new start. You are eager and are going to enlist the help of a personal trainer to transform your body. You can see it, clearly. This will be the year that you don that bikini revealing perfectly sculpted shoulders and a beautifully muscled back, that narrow to a tight midsection and seductively curves out to drum-tight glutes and thighs. Or you will finally walk around shirtless and shameless seducing all you meet with your defined delts and full pecs. The sun’s rays shine on your peaked biceps, and you let your beach shorts hang just a bit lower than usual to reveal perfect obliques. This is the vision. This is the year that it is going to happen! You have done your research, and are now armed with a personal trainer who you are confident is going to help you reach your goals. You are ready to change your life. Now, we are going to pump the proverbial brakes and talk about your responsibilities as a client. I am not writing this article as a trainer, but as a fitness enthusiast, figure competitor who takes my relationship with my trainer and coach very seriously. There are many variables to consider when looking for, and working with a trainer. Everyone has their personal list of non-negotiable qualifications: credentials, years in business, client success, the trainer’s personal appearance, philosophy, personality, chemistry, creativity, education, personal experience, etc. Some could care less if their trainer is barking orders or poking them with a stick as long as progress is being made. Let us assume that you have found the trainer for you. Here are some tips to increase your chance of success in your new partnership. 1. Be Committed. Embarking on a journey towards one’s physical goals is not just an emotional journey. When you sign on with a trainer, be prepared to give 100% of your effort. You are making an investment in your health. You are paying for a service and this person’s expertise. 2. Be Honest. Going to a trainer is almost like going to your physician. They cannot not help you and provide the full range of their expertise if you are lying about: injuries, the frequency of your training, how you ate throughout the week, and the amount of sleep you are getting. A good trainer knows when you are not progressing as you should or could. They are not there to judge; they are there to coach. 3. Be Courteous. Be on time for your sessions. Your session should be able to begin at your agreed upon time. You should not be parking your car, coming through the door, or getting dressed. And if you need to cancel, be sure to give your trainer advanced notice. 4. Be Realistic. If you have abused your body for years you cannot expect your trainer to ‘fix it’ in 12 weeks. Remember that changing your body is a process, not an event. And, refer to #2. If you are not following the plan laid out for you, you are only hindering your progress. 5. Be Courageous. Your trainer is there to push you past your own expectations and help you reach your goals. The introduction of a new move or concept is not to embarrass you, but to help you help you attain new levels of fitness. 6. Be Positive. The mind is a powerful thing. Go into your sessions with an open mind and ready to challenge yourself. When you are energized your trainer is, too! 7. Be Intense. There is something about being under the watchful eye of a professional. You train harder and with more intensity. Try to keep this intensity and focus even when your trainer is not there. You would not hold an engaging conversation with other gym-goers when working with your trainer. Treat your gym time with the same seriousness. 8. Be Smart. Sometimes your trainer will introduce you to weight loads and/or exercises that are best practiced with under their watchful eye. Be smart and avoid injuries. Do not try to be a superhero. There may be instances when you need to lower your weight when you are alone to ensure that you use good form. Taking notes as you are training is also a great way to remember tips and feedback that can be used when you are not with your trainer. Now, prepare to optimize your training time and results with your new partner in fitness! Add Comment Hi all, Here are two of many articles I've found regarding static stretching and why I don't incorporate this type of stretching before we begin our boot camp workouts. There have been numerous studies and articles written about the negative impacts on stretching before exercising. The last thing I want is for someone to injure themselves during boot camp class. As most of you notice, my workouts usually begin with a warm up run and/or some calisthenic exercises. The warm up run and calisthenic exercises warms up the body and gets the blood pumping to those muscles you will be using during the workout, as well as taking those muscles through a full range of motion before going full blast on them. So just some food for thought for you old school people out there who have always stretched before exercising... Jimmy Pember, NASM-CPT, Certified Fitness Specialist ----------------------------------------------- Stretch Only If You Want Less Strength? Study indicates static stretching negatively affects muscular force Colorado Springs, Colo.Although we know more about the human body than ever before, it still holds some amazing secrets. Take stretching for example. Static stretching (stretching the muscle to the farthest point and holding for 20-30 seconds) was long thought to be the best way to prepare muscles for physical activity. As scientists learn more about how muscles work, they are finding that stretching before competition may decrease strength. Therefore, negatively affecting performance. According to a recent study published in the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s (NSCA) journal, The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (Vol. 18, No. 2, page 236-241), stretching before a workout or physical activity can actually reduce the power available in the stretched muscle. Even more surprising is that power was also reduced in the non-stretched muscle. Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln studied the effects of static stretching on peak torque in fourteen women. The subjects underwent four static stretching exercises on their dominant leg only. Each stretch was performed four times and held for 30 seconds. Peak torque was measured in both the dominant and non-dominant leg. Results showed that peak torque decreased in both limbs after static stretching. While the reason for this decrease in force is not known, the current study suggests that it may be related to changes in the mechanical properties of the muscle, or a central nervous system precautionary mechanism. Additional research is needed to fully understand the cause. As more studies continue to suggest that static stretching may decrease maximal force production, the effects that this decrease will have on performance must now be considered. Strength and conditioning professionals may want to re-evaluate static stretching before high performance activities. Indeed, the human body has a lot of secrets to reveal. About the NSCA The National Strength and Conditioning Association is the leading authority on strength and conditioning. For 27 years, the NSCA has bridged science and application to provide reliable, research-based, strength and conditioning information to its members and the general public. With nearly 30,000 members worldwide, the NSCA is the largest health and fitness association in the world. For more information on NSCA professional journals, cutting edge conferences, educational text and videos, or other services, visit www.nsca-lift.org. NOTE: The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research is the official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and is available from Alliance Communication Group at 800-627-0932. For a complete copy of this study (May 2004, page 236-241) or to speak with a leading strength and conditioning expert on the topic, you may contact the NSCA Public Relations Department at 800-815-6826. --------------------------------------------- Don't Stretch Before Sports, Experts SayStatic Stretching Can Tighten Muscles MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer LONDON -- Want a better workout? Then don't stretch beforehand, some experts say. Many people take it for granted that they should start their exercise routines with some stretching on the spot, perhaps hoping it will loosen them up for their work-out. Most fitness experts now agree this kind of static stretching before exercise is not just counter-productive, but potentially harmful. Traditional stretches, like when people bend over to touch their toes or stretch their legs on a fence, often cause the muscles to tighten rather than relax -- exactly the opposite of what is needed for physical activity. Experts say it is like extending a rubber band to its limit. When people stretch to the maximum, they are more likely to pull a muscle. "We have developed this idea of static stretching at exactly the wrong time," said Kieran O'Sullivan, an exercise expert at the University of Limerick in Ireland, who has studied various types of stretching and their impact on athletes. When you stretch before exercising, your body may think it's at risk of being overstretched. It compensates by contracting and becoming more tense. That means you aren't able to move as fast or as freely, making you more likely to get hurt. O'Sullivan said stretching helps with flexibility, but people should only do it when they aren't about to exercise, like after a workout, or at the end of the day. "It's like weight training to become stronger," he said. "You wouldn't do a weight session right before you exercise, and you shouldn't stretch right before either." In the last few years, several studies have found static stretching before playing a sport makes you slower and weaker. And when experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention combed through more than 100 papers looking at stretching studies, they found people who stretched before exercise were no less likely to suffer injuries such as a pulled muscle, which the increased flexibility from stretching is supposed to prevent. Instead of stretching, many experts recommend warming up with a light jog or sport-specific exercise, like kicking for football or a few serves for tennis. That type of light movement increases the heart rate and blood flow to the muscles, warming up the body temperature. "This allows you to approach your full range of motion, but in a very controlled way," said Dr. Anders Cohen, chief of neurosurgery and spine surgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center and former physician for the U.S. Tennis Open. Cohen said elite athletes in all sports are increasingly ditching static stretching and using other warm-up techniques instead. But the message has yet to trickle down to legions of joggers and recreational athletes. "This is classic, old-school stretching that has been done for generations," Cohen said. "It's going to be very hard to convince people to start doing something different." There's more news for the traditionalists: research shows static stretching doesn't work as well as more active kinds of stretching that incorporate movement, such as lunges. In a study published earlier this year in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, Roberto Meroni of the University of Milan and colleagues found people who stretched using conventional techniques, like bending over to touch their toes, were less flexible than those who did a more active type of stretching that used more muscle groups. Meroni said static stretching simply forces the muscle being stretched to endure the pain of that stretch. With active stretches that work more muscles, the stretched muscles learn to extend while another group is working. Those types of stretches are commonly used in yoga, which emphasizes how the body is aligned during stretches, not just flexibility. Many yoga poses involve the whole body and focus not only on stretching a particular muscle, but the ligaments, tendons and joints around it. Still, experts don't discount static stretching entirely. Lynn Millar, a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, said they recommend people stretch several times a week and that most types of stretching work. Maximizing the benefits of stretching may simply boil down to a matter of when you do it and how, according to Jonny Booth, a health and fitness manager at a north London branch of gym chain Fitness First. "If you are going to stretch your muscles and then do some intense training, you're not going to get fantastic results," he said. Instead, Booth recommends active stretches that mimic the movement of your intended activity, like some deep knee lunges while walking for runners. "Stretching is vital to become more flexible," Booth said. "But it has to be done at the right time and for the right reasons." ARTICLE site - http://www.10news.com/irresistible/23158050/detail.html ACE Study on the Benefits of Boot Camp 04/14/2010
Exclusive ACE study investigates the fitness benefits of popular boot camp–style workouts By John Porcari, Ph.D., Kirsten Hendrickson, B.S., and Carl Foster, Ph.D., with Mark Anders Fitness fads come and go, but boot-camp workouts are still among the most popular. Back in the spring of 1998, the American Council on Exercise first spotted the rapid growth of instructor-led workouts based loosely on the calisthenics used (like push-ups, squat thrusts, punches, kicks, etc.) to whip new recruits into shape in the U.S. Army’s basic-training program. Ten years later, take a look at the class schedules of gyms and fitness centers across the country and you’ll still find boot camp. According to recent stats from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, a trade organization for health clubs, 955 of its 3,306 member clubs offer boot camp–style fitness classes. And it’s not just hot in the gyms. A quick scan of the exercise videos offered on Amazon.com yields more than 30 different boot-camp videos. "There’s a certain element of getting back to the basics and a more functional-training approach," says ACE’s chief science officer Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D. "People are looking for different experiences. With boot camps, you’re giving them something outside the traditional club environment." Maybe the boot-camp trend is still going strong because it’s not really trendy at all. The workout is simple and not tied to a single piece of equipment. Or maybe it’s the motivating team-oriented atmosphere that’s created as fellow exercisers ‘survive’ the workouts together. Whatever the reason, boot camp remains wildly popular, yet surprisingly its efficacy has never been formally studied. "Boot camp is becoming more and more popular in the health club setting so obviously people want to know if they’re really going to get something out of it, and if it’s going to be worth their time," says Kirsten Hendrickson, a graduate student in exercise and sports science at the University of Wisconsin. "So we decided to take a look at it." The Study To analyze the health and fitness benefits of boot camp–style workouts, a team of exercise scientists from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Exercise and Health Program, led by John Porcari, Ph.D., and Hendrickson, recruited six men and six women ages 19 to 29. All volunteers were given an exercise test on a motorized treadmill to determine each subject’s maximal heart rate(HR max) and maximal oxygen consumption (V• O2 max) to establish a baseline of fitness. Ratings of perceived exertion using the 6–20 Borg Scale, a measure of how hard subjects feel they’re exercising, were also recorded throughout the exercise testing. Once that baseline was established, the subjects were invited back into the lab to view a 40-minute recorded boot-camp exercise video. Naturally there are many boot camp–style exercise videos on the market, so researchers reviewed a wide range of titles, eventually settling on The Method: Cardio Boot Camp with Tracey Mallett. "We chose that DVD because it has a good blend of aerobic movements and strength moves that you’d picture military guys doing at boot camp," notes Porcari. "Plus we wanted to pick one where people were taxed pretty hard because that’s what you picture when you think of boot camp." The study volunteers were given a copy of the DVD to take home and practice until they felt familiar enough with the choreography to be able to follow along easily with the workout. At that point, they were asked to return to the lab for testing. Each subject was then outfitted with the Cosmed portable analyzer, a backpack and facemask apparatus that measures oxygen consumption and caloric burn. Heart rate and perceived exertion were also tracked every three minutes throughout the 40-minute workout. The Results After analyzing the data, researchers found that the average exerciser burns approximately 9.8 calories per minute during a typical boot-camp workout, which equals nearly 400 calories during the entire 40-minute boot-camp video studied (Table 1) "The biggest benefit is you’re burning an average of 600 calories per hour," says Porcari. "That’s obviously going to help with weight loss, but you’re also getting the muscle-building benefit from pushups, arm curls and squat thrusts that you wouldn’t get just from going out for a fast walk or jog." According to recommendations set by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), to enhance cardiorespiratory endurance individuals need to exercise at 70 percent to 94 percent of HR max and 50 percent to 85 percent of V• O2 max. Based upon the data collected in this study, subjects were exercising well within those recommended intensity levels. "On average, people were working at 77 percent of heart-rate max, which is considered moderate intensity, but it also gets as high as 91 percent, meaning, all these boot-camp workouts have peaks and valleys," Porcari explains. Figures 1 and 2 offer a visual representation of how heart rate and oxygen consumption varied by the minute as the test subjects followed the video from high-intensity moves like kicking and punching, down to low-intensity moves with the dumbbells, and back up again to high-intensity moves. "These workouts are designed to be cyclical like that," he explains. "Boot camp is a good form of interval training because you get periods of high intensity interspersed with moves that tend to be lower in aerobic intensity but they serve a whole different purpose—to build muscle strength." The Bottom Line Boot camp is an excellent way to enhance aerobic capacity and help control body weight. "I think it’s a great workout with great variety," says Porcari. "It’s a good combination of aerobic exercise and muscle conditioning and it’s much more of a total-body workout than just going out for a run or bicycle ride." But remember, not all boot-camp workouts are created equal, he warns. Some are heavy on cardio, while others emphasize martial arts–inspired movements or basic strength-training exercises. For best results, our researchers recommend picking a well-balanced program with equal helpings of aerobic movements and calisthenics. However, if you’re looking to improve in a particular area, you might consider looking for a boot-camp class or video that caters to your particular fitness weaknesses. For example, if you’d prefer build more upper-body strength and endurance, consider picking one with more push-ups, squat thrusts and similar moves. "If people are looking for something that’s fun and variable that will increase their adherence to an exercise program, and, most importantly, burn a lot of calories," says Hendrickson, "boot camp would be a really great option." Six Exercise & Weight Loss Myths 04/05/2010
Six Exercise & Weight Loss Myths: Written by Jimmy Pember April 5th, 2010
I pulled this article off fullyflexed.com. It's something to definitely keep in mind for all those who are dieting and weight training, and since I just recently posted my own article which I referred to caloric intake and expenditure for weight loss, I wanted to share this article with you all in case some of you get stuck on that weight loss plateau. There's one thing I would like to point out and that is the amount of protein intake they recommend. I completely agree that protein is vital for maintaining muscle mass, although the amount of protein they recommend is in my opinion on the extreme for the normal person dieting. Keep in mind also, this article was written primarily for bodybuilders. So this really doesn't directly apply to people strictly trying to lose weight. So if you're trying to lose, say 15 to even 50 or 100 pounds, I definitely do not recommend the amount of protein they require. Once again, I can't stress enough that the protein intake recommended is primarily for bodybuilders. You can use your ideal weight based off your height and use that as a general guide for your protein intake, for those of you trying to lose weight AND are doing resistance training. Stay on track and I wish you all the best! Jimmy Pember, NASM-CPT, Certified Fitness Specialist P.S. You can click on the link below to go to their website. They also have a lot of good info (nutrition, dieting, training, and etc.) on their site too. ------------------------------------- http://fullyflexed.com/evolution-of-fat-loss Evolution Of Fat Loss – There’s More To Reducing Bodyfat Than Just Cutting Calorie Intake | FullyFlexed.com By admin on Apr 02, 2010 in Losing Weight, Nutritional Tips Sorry to burst the bubble: the idea that burning 3,500 calories will burn a pound of fat may be true on paper, but it’s not always true in reality. In the best of all possible worlds, when you cut 3,500 calories from your diet, you should lose a pound of bodyfat, but that’s not always the case. There’s a lot more to dropping bodyfat than just the numbers. In fact, if we were to stubbornly remain steadfast to the mathematical model for bodyfat management, then dieting for a bodybuilding contest would be little more than an exercise in pushing the buttons on a calculator. Bodybuilders would resort to running the numbers, always trying to cut 3,500 calories from their diets with little regard for other elements that play a bigger role in dropping fat. Here are the Factors that explain why it’s overly simplistic to try to diet according to the maxim that “3,500 calories equals a pound of fat” and the ways to go about really burning bodyfat. Factor #1 – The body adapts to reduced-calorie intake. Let’s say a bodybuilder reduces his daily caloric intake from 3,500 to 3,000 to cut up. That’s 3,500 fewer calories per week. During weeks one and two–and possibly weeks three and four–he may drop a pound of bodyfat a week for a total of four pounds in bodyfat reduction. However, by the fifth or sixth week, he may no longer lose additional bodyfat. This is called plateauing. The problem is that the body adapts to reductions in calories by burning fewer of them. When you eat less, your body eventually starts to burn fewer calories. That puts a dent in the belief that cutting 3,500 calories from a diet will continue to result in the loss of a pound of bodyfat each week. Factor #2 – Some calories are more readily stored as bodyfat. Among carbohydrates, protein and dietary fat, the last is the most fattening. The body actually burns calories when it digests all three of these macronutrients, but it requires fewer calories to digest dietary fat–about two to three times less than carbs and about 10 times less than protein. So, dietary fat yields a greater net caloric intake available for bodyfat storage than carbohydrates or protein. Using our example, the bodybuilder who eats 3,000 calories a day should lose more fat by following a very low-fat plan rather than one higher in fat–even if the calories are the same. This is just one example of how there is more to bodyfat management than just total caloric intake. Factor #3 – Protein protects muscle mass. When you consume fewer calories, you always risk burning muscle tissue for fuel. It would be great to be able to cut calories and burn bodyfat exclusively, but that’s not how the body works. Therefore, you need to eat enough protein to protect your muscles from being burned as fuel. Protein is protein sparing. When calories are reduced, protein helps protect your muscles and when you preserve your muscles, you prevent a decline in your metabolism. In general, a dieter who takes in 3,000 calories a day–or 3,500 less weekly than when he consumed 3,500 each day–will save more muscle, and therefore maintain a higher metabolism, by eating more protein. For best results, a trainer should eat at least one gram (g) of protein per pound of bodyweight daily, up to 1 1/2g of protein per pound. In other words, a 200-pound bodybuilder on a 3,000-calorie-a-day diet can consume 300 g of protein, or 1,200 calories from protein, each day. This 40% ratio of protein is excellent for helping to protect a dieting bodybuilder’s muscle mass. Factor #4 – Hormones shift during a diet. One of the most critical–and overlooked–elements of dieting is how a reduction in calories affects the body’s hormone levels. One study showed that men who follow a higher protein diet had higher insulinlike growth Factor (IGF) levels than those on a lower protein diet–even though total calorie consumption was the same for the two groups. IGF hugely affects metabolism, increasing muscle growth. When you stimulate muscle growth–even when calories are lower than normal–the metabolic rate and fat-burning ability in the body increases. So, you could follow a lower protein plan–say 3,000 calories a day (again 3,500 fewer each week than eating 3,500 a day)–and miss out on beneficial IGF, which means less muscle and a smaller impact on metabolism. Keep your protein consumption high (1-1 1/2g per pound of bodyweight each day), and you’ll improve your hormone levels for assisting bodyfat burning. Factor #5 – The glycemic index of foods impacts bodyfat burning. The May 2005 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition affirmed the longtime dietary habits of many bodybuilders: following a low-glycemic diet supports the loss of bodyfat even when calories aren’t reduced. The research showed that people on a low-fat diet lost less bodyfat than those who followed a plan that emphasized low-glycemic carbs–even though the low-fat group consumed fewer calories. Low-glycemic carbs include oatmeal, buckwheat noodles, buckwheat pancakes, red (new) potatoes, yams, cherries and oranges. They digest slowly, converting more slowly to glucose, the basic energy source of the body. Slower-digesting carbs help make the body less efficient at storing bodyfat than other sources of carbohydrates. The primary reason for this is likely due to effects on insulin secretion. Insulin is a potentially fat-storing hormone that increases with carbohydrate consumption. As it turns out, the more refined the carb source–or the higher the glycemic rating–the greater the insulin secretion. Higher insulin levels, in turn, make the body extremely efficient at storing bodyfat, while lower insulin levels allow bodyfat to be burned as fuel. If you reduce calories by 3,500 a week while still consuming high-glycemic carbs, you might fail to lose weight, you might lose less than a pound of bodyfat each week or you might reach plateaus quickly. However, if you reduce your consumption by just 3,000 calories a week (a more moderate cut in calories), but rely mostly on low-glycemic carbs (in addition to a high protein intake), you are much more likely to extend the time that your body continues burning bodyfat. Factor #6 – Meal frequency is an important element in bodyfat burning. A bodybuilder who eats 3,500 fewer calories a week will lose more fat by eating seven times a day rather than five. Every time you eat, your metabolism increases mildly; also, having multiple meals suppresses cortisol, which, in turn, raises testosterone levels. When testosterone remains elevated–even in tiny amounts over a dieting period–the body becomes better at holding onto its muscle mass. The more mass you can retain, the higher your metabolic rate. On the flip side, the same bodybuilder might eat four or five times a day and fail to consistently lose the expected pound of fat a week, which, of course, means the math does not add up. Factor #7 – Time of day is important in losing fat. FullyFlexed typically recommends eating less food as the day progresses, particularly carbs, because insulin sensitivity decreases later in the day. Insulin sensitivity refers to the hormone’s ability to move nutrients into muscle. When insulin sensitivity decreases, more insulin must be released to get the job done. The problem is that insulin also increases fat storage. If you eat high-carb meals late in the day, when insulin sensitivity is low, you will get a much bigger insulin spike and greater fat storage. Later in the day, switch to fibrous carbs from veggies and focus on protein. Factoring it all in Bodyfat management at its most basic level is about calories in versus calories burned, but more Factors than that must be considered when it comes to the specific needs of dieting bodybuilders. Calorie reduction is only step one. Next, you must increase protein and low-glycemic-carb consumption while reducing dietary fat intake. In addition, eat more frequent meals (especially earlier in the day) to create the hormonal environment that’s most effective at burning bodyfat while allowing you to maintain muscle mass. |  AuthorJimmy Pember ArchivesJuly 2010 CategoriesAll       |
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