Simple Rules To Faster Fitness

If you’re like the average person who is interested in improving health, dropping fat, and getting stronger, following these guidelines will help you get the best results from your strength training workouts:   

Always begin a workout with a full warmup. A good dynamic warmup prepares the muscles for what’s to come and allows you to work harder and with less risk of injury. If you are short on time, cut back on your working sets, never on your warmup. 

Perform a total body workout 3 times a week with at least one day of rest in between. Unless you plan on competing as a bodybuilder, ditch the musclehead magazines and their body part routines. Muscles work in groups and trying to isolate them during a workout is a waste of time for most people. 

Spend more time using free weights and bodyweight exercises rather than sitting on machines. You’ll work more muscles, burn more calories, and you’ll do it more naturally and functionally.

Concentrate on compound exercises. Exercises like Squats, Rows, Lunges, Pushups, Deadlifts, Presses, Pulldowns, etc. work multiple muscles at the same time, are more functional, and burn more calories than isolation work.

Ignore the "low weight, high reps to tone" myth that’s still floating around out there. There are exceptions, of course, but for most exercises, you should challenge your muscles using a resistance you can only lift 6-10 times with good form.

Unless you are correcting a current imbalance, make sure your weight training program is balanced between opposing muscle groups. Don't ignore exercises you don't like or do extra sets just of those that you do like. Either scenario can cause muscle imbalances and lead to injury.

Ditch the long, steady state cardio and switch to hill sprints, cardio intervals, finishers, metabolic circuits, etc. (unless you’re training for a specific event - 5K, half marathon, long distance bike ride, etc.) They’re more efficient and effective.
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7 Exercise Tips To Get Fitter Faster

If you’re like the average person interested in dropping body fat, improving your health and getting stronger, following these guidelines will help you get the best results from your strength training workouts:

1. Always begin a workout with a full warmup. A good dynamic warmup prepares the muscles for what’s to come and allows you to work harder and with less risk of injury. If you are short on time, cut back on your working sets, never on your warmup.


2. Perform a total body workout 3 times a week with at least one day of rest in between. Forget the bodybuilding magazines and their body part routines. Muscles work in groups and trying to isolate them during a workout is a waste of time for most people.

3. Spend more time using free weight and bodyweight exercises than sitting on machines. You’ll work more muscles, burn more calories, and you’ll do it more naturally and functionally.

4. Concentrate on compound exercises. Exercises like Squats, Rows, Lunges, Pushups, Deadlifts, Presses, Pulldowns, etc. work multiple muscles at the same time, are more functional, and burn more calories than isolation work.

5. Ignore the "low weight, high reps to tone" myth that’s still floating around out there. For most exercises, you should challenge your muscles using a resistance you can only lift 6-10 times with good form.

6. Unless you are correcting a current imbalance, make sure your weight training program is balanced between opposing muscle groups. Don't ignore exercises you don't like or do extra sets just of those that you do like. Either scenario can cause muscle imbalances and lead to injury.


7. If you’re not training for a specific event (5K, half marathon, long distance bike ride, etc.) ditch the long, steady state cardio and switch to cardio intervals, or metabolic circuits. They’re more efficient and effective.

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Workout Mistakes You're Probably Making #1

Part of me is surprised when people make certain exercise mistakes. After all, with the internet, you can get so much excellent information. Of course, on the other hand, there's still plenty of misinformation there, too and your regular Joe or Joanne doesn't know the knowledgeable expert from the media savvy scam artist.

With that in mind, I'm going to do a series on common exercise mistakes that can derail or slow your progress. 


You spend too much time doing isolation exercises. 



If your typical routine involves sitting on a bunch of machines, you're not getting the most from your time.

The majority of your workout should consist of compound exercises. Compound exercises are multi-joint movements which work more than one muscle at a time. They are more similar to real-life activities and burn more calories.


Which exercise do you think will get you the most bang for your buck? Pushups, which work your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core or a Tricep Extension machine where you're sitting on your butt and using just the triceps?

 
 











A well designed program concentrating on exercises like Squats, Pushups, Deadlifts, Rows, Lunges, Presses, etc. will be more efficient and effective in helping you reach your fitness goals.

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5 Tips To Stop Wasting Your Time At the Gym

The main excuse people give for not exercising regularly is lack of time. Here are 5 ways to reduce your time at the gym and still get a great workout.

1. Use primarily compound exercises rather than isolation exercises. Compound exercises are multi-joint movements that work more than one muscle at a time. Stop wasting time on Leg Extensions, Bicep Curls and Tricep Kickbacks. Concentrate on Lunges, Squats, Presses, Pushups, Deadlifts, Rows, etc. You'll not only save time but compound exercises are more functional (similar to how our body works in real life) and burn more calories.

 
2. Instead of doing 2 or 3 sets of the same exercise and resting between each set, pair a lower body and upper body exercise in a superset. For example, do a set of Squats followed immediately by a Row. Then, rest as needed and repeat. 


3. Get off the machines. Most people are familiar with the strength training circuits used in many gyms. You'll get a better workout by using free weights (dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, etc.). Why?

When do we ever do this motion?

a. Many of those machines isolate muscles. See #1.

b. You don't get the full benefit of an exercise when seated on a machine. Your body doesn't need to work as hard because the machine guides the movement and supports your body weight. With free weights you need to lift and guide the weight, and also stabilize yourself so more muscles are involved.

(Please note, the above comments do not apply to the cable machine but that's an entire article of its own.)

4. Use challenging weights. Forget the "high reps, low weigh to tone" B.S. To get the look that people refer to as "toned", you need to reduce the amount of fat covering the muscles. To do that, you need to challenge yourself in your workouts. You'll save time and get far better results by doing sets of 6-12 reps (and sometimes 15) than by doing sets of 20-25 reps or more. 


5. Ditch the slow, steady cardio workouts and replace them with metabolic circuits or cardio intervals.

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Why You're Not Getting The Results You Want, Part 2

In Why You're Not Getting The Results You Want, Part 1, I wrote about many people's over-reliance on cardio for fat loss.

Today I'm going to address strength training. Remember, these reasons are not in any particular order since what might be relevant to you may not apply to someone else.

Reason #2: You are strength training incorrectly.

The best workouts for fat loss are total body routines that emphasize compound exercises.

Compound exercises are movements that involve multiple muscles and joints. Examples would be Squats, Deadlifts, Rows, and Presses- Chest, Shoulder, etc. Compound exercises are more functional (they more closely simulate real-life activities) and they also burn more calories.

Most resistance training circuits are filled with machines that isolate muscles- Leg Extension, Leg Curl, Pec Flye, Lateral Raise, Bicep Curl, Tricep Extension, etc. These machines work one muscle (or muscle group) at a time.


For example, the Leg Extension, shown here ===============>
works the front thigh (quadriceps) muscles and the Leg Curl works the back of the thigh (hamstrings). Compare that to a Squat which works both those muscle groups and more.



Which exercise do you think is more useful? A Squat or a Leg Extension? How often do you have the need to sit on a chair and lift your legs in front of you? Now, how often do you need to squat down to pick something up?

So, a Squat is more functional, uses more muscles, and burns more calories. Then, why are so many people in gyms using the Leg Extension and Leg Curl machines instead of doing Squats?

If you want to get optimum results from your strength training efforts, the most effective exercise program would involve...

* Total body routines performed on non-consecutive days

* Primarily compound exercises using bodyweight and free weight exercises

* Functional core training (Plank, Hip Bridge, Pushups, Side Plank, etc.)



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Collected Fitness Wisdom #3

Treadmills are a great way to stay in your comfort zone, but a BAD way to lose body fat.

~Brad Pilon


People will do almost anything to end pain or cure a disease after they have it, but they usually won't lift a finger to prevent it. Only when debilitating pain or illness strikes them down or threatens them does changing their unhealthy ways even appear on their radar.

~Tom Venuto


Compound exercises recruit more muscle, allow you to use bigger loads, and burn more calories than isolation exercises. That's why you want to build your program around them, and why your workouts should start with exercises like deadlifts or squats, the ones that produce the best results on a rep-by-rep basis.

~Alwyn Cosgrove


It is how you fit into your clothes and look in the mirror that counts. NO ONE wears a scale around the neck or a t-shirt with their weight on the back. It's just a number. Don't get hung up on it.

~Craig Ballantyne

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K.I.S.S.

Don't get hung up on information overload. I think for people new to exercise, the simpler, the better.

If you want to lose weight, a lot of people recommend 30-60 minutes sessions but intensity (which is obviously relative to your current level of fitness) is more important than how long you exercise.

Don't try to get fancy with body part splits and assorted isolation exercises. For one thing, lots of people are confused about what exercises work which body parts. Even more important is that total body workouts consisting of primarily compound exercises will burn more calories. Plus, you can't truly isolate muscles anyway.

My advice to workout newbies is to get moving with challenging, no-fuss total body workouts, experience the benefits and results of regular exercise and THEN start debating / experimenting with body part splits, isolation exercises, etc. if they really feel the need.

Oprah, Get With The Program!

Yesterday, I promised to critique Oprah's current exercise program (or at least the parts she mentioned on her show on Monday).

The Good:

* Oprah said she is doing more strength training than previously. Yes!

* She also said that she's cut back on her cardio (to 20 minutes, I think). If I remember correctly, a few years ago she had worked up to an hour a day so this is definitely a step in the right direction.

* Although she didn't mention intervals, Oprah performs her cardio at a decent pace. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't see her reading a magazine while she exercises.


The Bad:

* Oprah demonstrated some of her strength training exercises. She did exercise after exercise, one right after the other with the same weight, which didn't look real challenging for any of them. I realize that she might not work out that way - it may have just been to demonstrate some moves for the camera- but I doubt it. Ladies, stop wasting time with light weights and lots of reps. If you want to reshape your body, you need to challenge it.

* Even though there was a short article in her magazine a few months back praising cardio interval training, I don't think she's doing it. Even if you're working hard, your body will adapt to doing the same time on the same machines at the same pace, etc.


The Worst

* The worst aspect for me was when she mentioned that she works one or two body parts a day. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Oprah, you are not a bodybuilder. Your goals right now are dropping body fat and overall health. You should be doing three non-consecutive total body strength training workouts a week, concentrating on compound exercises. Big movements, that work multiple muscles will burn more calories and get you out of the gym quicker. With your schedule, you need efficient, effective workouts not time wasters.


If you live in the Lancaster, PA area and have the same goals as Oprah and want to get maximum results for minimum time, call me at (717) 509-7777. If you aren't in my area, check out Craig Ballantyne's Ultimate Turbulence Training Fat Loss Solution which I blogged about below. If you grab it before midnight tonight, you'll still get all the terrific bonuses.

Mickey

If You're Not Injured Or A Bodybuilder

A few days ago in my Collected Wisdom post, I included the following from Paul Scott:

"Most of us are neither crippled nor on the verge of entering the Mr. Olympia competition, so why do we train as if either is the case? The answer is a combination of the gyms' desire to maximize profits, and our own desire to find workouts that don't involve work."

I realize that some readers may have been confused by that so I wanted to elaborate on it today.

Many, probably most, gyms have a machine circuit that contains exercises for different body parts. Typically, some of the machines you'll find are the Leg Extension, Leg Curl, Hip Abduction and Adduction, Pec Flye, Lateral Raise and Bicep Curl.

The object is to move through the circuit and when you're finished you will have worked all the major muscles of the body. The problem with this approach is that the majority of circuit machines work your muscles in isolation, which is rarely how our body works in real life.

Unless you're physically disabled, a bodybuilder or rehabbing an injury you will get far more benefit from performing compound exercises, which work multiple muscles at one time. Regardless of whether your goal is strength or fat loss, compound exercises are the way to go.

Too many people who are trying to drop fat spend way too much time doing exercises that are not the best use of their time. Bodybuilders may need to add some isolation work into their routine because their goal is too make their muscles are large as possible. Rehabbing an injury usually involves a lot of isolation work.

Are you injured? Is your goal to look like a bodybuilder? If not, and your goal is weight loss, Bicep Curls, Hip Abduction/Adduction, Tricep Kickbacks, Leg Extensions/Curls, Crunches, etc. will not give you the bang for your buck that Squats, Presses, Kettlebell Swings, Pushups, Rows, Deadlifts, etc. will.

I think Mr. Scott is right. Many gyms don't want to bother teaching members how to correctly perform free weights exercises; they use the excuse that machines are "safer". I also agree that most people will look for the easiest option when exercising. Of course, they'll also be the people who complain about not getting good results.

Remember, it's called working out for a reason.

What's Wrong With Bicep Curls?

Someone recently took issue with some advice I gave an exercise newbie on an online forum.

I basically posted that if your main goal is fat loss, I recommend 3 total body strength training sessions per week on non-consecutive days.

As I've written about before, although many of us did body part splts back in the day, many of the best fitness pros now believe total body workouts are superior for fat loss.

I also said that the majority of your exercises should be compound movements- exercises that use multiple muscles and joints. Examples would be Squats, Pulldowns, Deadlifts, Presses, Lunges, Pullups, Rows, etc.

As I stated on the thread, all of those exercises are more effective for fat loss than the type of exercises most women seem to gravitate toward - Bicep Curls, Tricep Kickbacks, Abduction / Adduction machines, etc.

One poster seemed to have a problem with my advice and along with some other comments asked, "What's wrong with Bicep Curls?"

Nothing's "wrong" with Bicep Curls, especially if people have lots of time to spend in the gym. For efficiency and fat loss, however, I recommend compound exercises- they work more muscles and burn more calories. Rows and Pulldowns will work the biceps along with the back so I prefer those over Bicep Curls, especially when time is a factor.

Does that mean that I think people should never do Bicep Curls? No but unless you're a bodybuilder or figure competitor, you're going to get more bang for your buck with compound exercises.

You'll see better results from a shorter but more challenging workout than a longer, less intense one. So, if you're primary goal is fat loss, concentrate on the exercises that will give you a bigger metabolic boost like Squats, Lunges and Deadlifts (rather than Leg Extensions and Leg Curls) and Rows, Pullups, Presses and Pulldowns (rather than Bicep Curls and Tricep Kickbacks).

Can You Handle the Truth?

There are a few exercise-related forums where I post and I sometimes wonder why. One message board in particular has a few fitness pros scattered about and you would think that people would appreciate a knowledgeable response to their questions.

Some do, of course, but others seem only interested in comments that validate their own beliefs or wishful thinking. So, instead of believing the personal trainer who is telling them to concentrate on compound exercises and cardio intervals, they listen to the poster who tells them that Tricep Kickbacks and biking around the neighborhood made all the difference for them.

How many times can a person read that you can't spot reduce and still start a thread asking for exercises to get rid of saddlebags, bat wings, "stomach", butt, etc.?

Yesterday, I saw a poster tell a fitness pro to "Chill out!" because she didn't appreciate his continued insistence that "light weight to tone" is a waste of time. Why get snarky with someone who is only trying to help you get the best results for your effort?

Regardless of how many times some of us stress the importance of strength training for weight loss, there are still people who spend hours doing mindless cardio and then start a thread asking why they're not seeing results or why their fat loss has stalled. Today, I saw a thread asking for routines that only included cardio and ab work.

Hey, if you want to spend your time using 2 pound pink dumbbells and doing hour-long elliptical sessions, be my guest. At least you're not sitting on the couch watching TV. But when you're unhappy with your results, try being open to the people who aren't just telling you what you want to hear.

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Which Exercises Do You Hate?

It's the really hard exercises that make a difference. It's worth the effort to do 'em, 'cause they'll actually produce results. ~Josh Hillis


I find that the exercises that people hate the most; the ones that are toughest for them are almost always the most productive.

Let's face it, when was the last time you heard anyone talking about how they dread doing Bicep Curls?

So, which exercises do you think are going to help you get more lean and fit? Which ones do you think burn more calories and engage more muscles?

Let's see. Lunges, Spiderman Climbs, Squats, Pushups OR Bicep Curls, Tricep Kickbacks, Crunches?

Next time you find yourself dreading certain exercises, change your mindset. Instead of thinking about how hard they are or how much you dislike them, remind yourself of how much closer doing them brings you to your goal of a lean, fit, healthy body.

Exercises, Reps, and How 3% Isn't Going to Help You Lose Fat

Exercises, Reps, and How 3% Isn't Going to Help You Lose Fat
By Dan Grant
dangrantfitness.com

When choosing exercises for your program you need to consider what exercises are going to be most beneficial for your goals.

What you want to do during your workouts is use as much muscle as possible. That means multi-joint exercises (squats, bench, pullups, deadlifts, rows, presses) are best because they will work more muscle then a single joint exercise (bicep curl, tricep kickback).

Take into consideration the size of your muscles as well. For example, doing squats are far more beneficial then bicep curls. Why?

Well your biceps are roughly only 3% of your entire muscle on your body. Doing the squat works over 50% of your total muscle.

So when you're thinking from a fat loss perspective, working out your bigger muscles will build you an overall greater lean muscle growth. The result of that is a higher metabolism, which is of course, what you want because you'll burn a higher amount of fat throughout the day. (My note: You will also burn more calories performing compound exercises than isolation movements because of the size and number of muscles you'll be using.)

Do I have my clients perform bicep curls? A little bit. Most of time we'll stick to 3-6 sets a week and actually push it kind of heavy for 6-10 reps.

Same thing applies with tricep specific exercises, EXCEPT we'll do 10-15 reps because I've found that the stress put on the elbow joints doing a heavier weight under 10 reps increases the risk of injury by a fair bit.

Generally we'll stick between 6-12 reps for most exercises but I'm going to mention that in the next email.

hope that helps,

Cheers,

Dan Grant
dangrantfitness.com

PS - Remember, look at the pros and cons of what you're doing. If it's increasing the risk of injury then re-evaluate. That's why i rarely do long cardio with my clients and it's also the reason we stick with over 10 reps for lying tricep extensions.

Exercises, Reps, and how 3% isn't going to help you lose fat

The Superiority of Total Body Workouts

Lately, I keep seeing people posting on online forums about breaking up their strength training routines in all kinds of "creative" ways.

A decade ago, like many people (although not many women), I used to split my weight training into body part splits like Legs, Back and Biceps one day and Chest, Shoulders and Triceps the next. When I think about it now, it doesn't surprise me that so many serious lifters ended up with shoulder injuries. (Luckily, I wasn't one of them.) Our body works in an integrated fashion and true muscle isolation is pretty much impossible so lots of shoulders were being overtrained, big time.

Back then, besides your basic circuit program, most workouts were based on the bodybuilder model. I don't know why because it really makes little sense if you think about it but that's how it was done. But as Maya Angelou says, "When you know better, you do better" so I have moved on from that method of training and now spread the gospel of total body training. :-)

Most people's main objective is dropping fat. Three total body strength workouts per week will help you accomplish that better than body part splits. (If you really want or need to divide your workouts, go with a lower / upper body split.) Concentrate on compound exercises, which are those that use more than one muscle. Your program should primarily consist of exercises like Squats, Lunges, Presses, Rows, Pushups, Deadlifts, Pulldowns, etc. Besides the fact that those exercises are more functional, you'll burn more calories doing them than you will isolation exercises like Bicep Curls and Tricep Kickbacks.

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3 Tips to Burn Belly Fat Fast

Here is a terrific article from Dan Grant.

No gimmicks, no magic formulas, no B.S., just straight talk about how to get the results you want. I couldn't have said it any better myself so I won't. :-)


3 Tips to Burn Belly Fat Fast

10 Machines You Shouldn't Use

10 Machines You Shouldn't Use

Obviously, writers want you to read their articles so they come up with attention grabbing headlines, that may or may not be totally accurate.

Let me start out by saying that if your primary goal is burning maximum calories and dropping weight, isolation machines should be a very small (if any) part of your strength training routine.

You will get much more metabolic "bang" for your time and effort "buck" by concentrating on compound exercises that work multiple muscles. Everyone seems to love Bicep Curls and there's nothing wrong with adding them to your program occasionally. However, if you are limited in time (like most people) and are interested in fat loss (like most people), you will be much better served by Rows and Pulldowns than by Curls.

I agree with much of this article. I haven't had a client do Behind the Neck Pulldowns in at least 8 or 9 years, Body & Soul's Leg Extension machine pretty much just collects dusts and I will never own a Hip Abduction machine. For the most part, I believe standing exercises are better than seated, and dumbbell exercises are superior to the same movement on a machine. That being said, I think a blanket condemnation of all 10 of those machines goes a little far.