Train For Life

If you’re not healthy on the inside, it’s going to make it very difficult to look healthy on the outside.  There are exceptions to every rule, looks can be deceiving, but for most of us we need to first focus on our internal environment when we are trying to make improvements in our health.

The following are few things to consider before attacking a new workout and/or supplement program. 

First, if your digestive system isn’t working correctly, anything you put in your body will most likely not get assimilated properly and make it to the proper tissues.  You could be wasting alot of money on supplements if this is the case. The best quality supplements will do nothing in this case except empty your wallet.  It’s estimated that a large majority of the population (90+% by some) is HCL(stomach acid) deficient.  Hydrochloric acid, which is what is produced and present in our stomach, helps with the digestion of food.  Low levels could lead to poor digestion, gas, heartburn, bloating, cramps, leaky gut syndrome, allergies, etc.  This is the very first thing one needs to consider.  You could eat all the healthy food and supplements you want, if it’s not getting digested and broken down properly, it’s not making it to your muscle tissues.  One easy way to test for this is to take some HCL tabs (they usually come in 200-250mg betaine hcl capsules w/additional enzymes likes pepsin) in the middle of your next meal, preferably a meal that contains protein.  If you feel a warm sensation, or possibly a burning sensation with one capsule then that means your HCL levels are most likely OK and you don’t need to supplement.  If you don’t feel anything, during the next meal take 2 capsules.  If nothing still, take 3 and so on.  I’m sure there is a maximum safe dosage but it slips my mind at the moment.  There are plenty of online articles about the subject.  Once you reach a dosage where you feel your stomach get warm then take 1 less capsule then that dosage at every meal.  If your stomach starts to feel warm again after a while, then reduce dosage again by 1 capsule and so on.  Eventually the dosage needed will be reduced.  This is supposed to essentially retrain your stomach to produce the proper amounts of HCL so you can digest your food and supplements appropriately leading to better absorption of amino acids, vitamins, minerals, etc.

 A second supplement that you should consider is an L-glutamine supplement.  Among the many things it does for you, like help with recovery from exercise, support your immune system, and reduce sugar cravings, it also helps repair the lining of your intestinal walls that may have been damaged due to low HCL levels, leaky gut syndrome, eating processed foods, or the various chemicals your exposed to every day.

Third, you may want to get tested for food allergies.  There are many labs that do this.  Some are more thorough and will test a larger variety of foods, at a higher price of course, but it will be well worth it.  You may be eating foods you are intolerant or allergic to that may be causing problems that you would never associate with your food intake.  You could be eating broccoli thinking you’re doing the right thing and be allergic to it!  Symptoms can be anything from simple  headaches, skin rashes, lethargy, joint pain, weight gain, high blood pressure, depression, to things as serious as seizures.  They will give you results that let you know what foods you are not allergic to, foods you are mildly allegic to, and foods that you are highly allergic to.  These are tested against your blood.  I’m not sure if different labs use different tests, or what tests are more accurate.  You can probably find that info online fairly easily. 

You could also simply try an elimination diet.  This is when you remove certain things from your diet for a period of maybe 2-3 weeks and see if you notice any difference in how you feel, or a reduction in any symptoms you may be experiencing.  You should start with the most common allergens..wheat, dairy, eggs, sugar, corn and then try different foods after that.

One more option is to use what is called the Coca pulse test.  This test  involves you taking and recording your pulse at certain times of the day.  Upon waking, going to bed, before each meal, and in 3 -30 minute intervals after each meal.  After a few days you will get your average range, and your high and low rates.  After each meal you will record what you ate and what your pulse is.  A higher than normal pulse rate is an indication of a possible allergic reaction to the foods you just ate.  At this point you would try the elimination diet previously mentioned and monitor your symptons.  You can find out more specifics about this test online.

This article is about reality and time. 

 ”How much time should I spend working out?”  ”How often should I workout?”  “Is 2x’s/week enough?” 

Instead of just giving some blanket answer like 3-4x’s/week, I figured I would put it down in another format to make it a little more clear about what we are talking about.

The  calculations in this article are based on the following 3 assumptions which I think most of you will agree are fairly accurate in todays world.

1) We should all get about 8 hours of sleep per day.  Many of us don’t,  most get probably closer to 6.  Let’s give you the benefit of the doubt, split the difference between 6-8, and use 7 hours per day of sleep.  That leaves us with 17 active hours left per day.

2) The average person who exercises usually works out for 1 hour per day, and will usually exercise 2 or 3x’s per week

3) The average person spends approximately 2  hours per day eating.  This is based on spending 1/2 hour for breakfast, :45 for lunch, and :45  for dinner.  Some may spend more, some less, but I think it’s a fair estimate especially since we’re not including snacking time which usually happens at 10 a.m, 3 p.m., and 9 p.m.

4) In today’s world most of us are spending time sitting at the computer at work and at home, and then some time in front of the TV before turning in for the night.  I’ve estimated (quite low if you ask me) between the two, we spend about 4 hours per day.

Based on the stats above, let’s take a look at what we’re talking about in terms of percentages.

We spend approximately 23% of our days, weeks, months, and years at a computer and front of a TV being physically inactive.

We spend approximately 13 % of our days, weeks, months, and years eating (I think some spend even more than this).

For those of us who exercise, we spend approximately 1.6% of our time exercising  (2x’s per week), or approximately 2.4% of our time exercising (3x’s per week). 

When I get a client who is unhappy with the results they are getting and they are barely exercising 2x’s/wk, and not really nailing the eating like they should be, I like to point this out to them.  Do you really think you are going to be able to make any appreciable gains when your time spent exercising is at 1.6%-2.4% of your week and the time you spend between eating  and sitting in front of a screen alone accounts for 36% of your week? 

You have 1 hour to exercise and 16 hours of active time to nullify any positive effects you would have gained from your exercise  performed that day.

Do you really think that you can combat 119 hours of bad habits per week with 2-3 hours of exercise per week?  Now consider most do not have any actual exercise program based on achieving any sort of specific goals.  Most people just perform some random exercises, hop on a piece of cardio equipment for 20 minutes and they’re done. 

So what do  we do?  Am I suggesting we have to exercise more and more?  Some of us do need that, absolutely, but I know it’s not a possibility for many of us.  Actually that’s not true.  I believe many people honestly think it’s not a possibility but if you try hard enough you could find an extra hour per week, or 20 minutes  every other day.

If that’s not possible, what are our options?  Here are two to start with;

First, you have to have a specific goal and then have a program that is specifically written to achieve that goal.  You can not blindly go and exercise and expect to get results.  Your workout program also has to have a reasonable level of intensity.  People do not know what they are actually capable of, and they don’t really understand what it means to workout with intensity.  If you are overweight and struggling to get results I can guarantee your intensity levels are lacking.   

Second, we have to try and limit the negative impact our diet and lifestyle is having on our health and try to eat in order to support your exercise program and goals.  Every time you eat or drink something ask yourself “Is this something that is making me healthy, or unhealthy?  Every time you eat something it has the ability to make you healthier or unhealthier, plain and simple.  We need to be eating more healthy protein, better fats, less sugar, more water, and some supplements like fish oil, a high quality multivitamin, and a green concentrate for starters.  Please realize though that if you still decide to maintain poor eating habits, supplements will be useless.  You might as well just eat the $50 instead of spending it on supplements, the results will be the same.

Here’s a great workout method that I use with my clients, especially when we are working on conditioning.  It’s a great way to get a lot of work done in a minimal am0unt of time, get the heart rate elevated, and still use moderate  resistance loads.  It’s called a “ladder”. 

You can use it when you are performing single leg or arm movements like dumbbell presses, lunges, step ups, dumbbell rows, etc., or when  you are performing two exercises together like a squat and press,  a deadlift and row, squat and pullup, whatever you want.  The key is that you can switch quickly between exercises to limit the amount of rest. 

You will perform 1 rep of each exercise, or 1 rep on each side if your doing a single limb exercise.  For example, I was having clients perform reverse lunges off of a 4″ box.   They would do 1 reverse lunge each leg, then they would perform 2 on the right, 2 on the left, then 3 on the right, and 3 on the left, etc.  I usually have people work up to 5 or 6 reps per side or exercise.  If they were performing a squat and press, they would perform 1 squat, 1 press, 2 squats, 2 presses, etc.  It starts off feeling relatively easy but once you get to the 4th and 5th round you should be questioning your sanity as to why you are doing this workout.  If you are not, the resistance you are using is too light. 

Here’s an example of what we were doing this past week:

A)Reverse lunges (while holding dumbbells on shoulders) off a 4″ box – start at 1 rep, work up to 5.  It ends up being 15 reps total

B) Dumbbell squat and press (while holding dumbbells on shoulders) -  1 of each, then 2 of each, etc., up to 5

C) Cable stiff legged deadlift combined with a cable row – same as above

D) Stability knee tuck combined with a stability ball push-up

We performed one set of each resting :30-:60 max in between sets (exercises), then rested 2:00-3:00 after completing the entire cycle, then repeated for a total of 3 or 4 cycles. 

If you enjoy bodyweight workouts, this is a great method but it can also be used with somewhat higher loads as well.

Each client performed the exercises in a different order to accommodate for any strengths or weaknesses they might have.  For example if someone had quadriceps that weren’t as conditioned, they would perform lunges, then go to deadlifts or stability ball tuck and push-up, then go to squats and presses so their quads could get a little break.  If someone had shoulders that were a little weaker, they would keep the squat/overhead presses and knee tuck/pushups combos separated with lunges or deadlifts so their shoulders had some time to recover. 

Again you can perform this with any combo.  One disadvantage of this method is that if you’re performing a combo move, like the deadlift/row, you will be limited in intensity by the weaker exercise, in this instance the row, so your deadlift won’t be challenged too much.  You can deadlift much more than you can row.  This is why this isn’t necessarily and great workout if improving strength is your goal.  I use it as more of a conditioning, and fat loss workout.  It makes for a very dense workout in terms of volume performed, and is mentally challenging.  You will be talking to yourself, and convincing yourself to finish those last 5 reps.  If not, like I said before, you’re resistance is too light. 

Some other combinations I’ve used have been exercises like box jump and push-ups, single leg squats w/ single arm dumbbell rows (finish all squats, then move to rows), kettlebell clean and presses (alternate right and left), and regular barbell cleans and overhead presses (killer on the shoulders and forearms) to name a few.

Things to avoid would be pairing exercises that are too  grip intensive, or maybe too taxing on the low back.  It’s easy for these to tire, then form is compromised and risk of overuse injury is increased. 

Give it a try and let me know what  you think.  One more thing, don’t always choose exercises you enjoy because they are the ones you are probably good at.  Work on your weaknesses and your overall condition will improve.  Try to keep everything somewhat balanced in terms of strength and performance.  Good luck.