Tag Archives: fitness

Active Workouts

I can’t tell you how many times I hear people exclaim that they have tried every kind of workout, exercise and diet plan, but still can’t lose weight. BULLSHIT! There is no person out there I can’t take and instruct on proper exercise and eating techniques and not show results. I guarantee it. And when I say results, I mean get them down to a healthy body composition, make them stronger, have more energy, even feel 10 years younger.

In the gym I pay a lot of attention to the way people work out. I can’t help it, I’m a trainer. It’s just what we do. Much of the time I see people moving weights back and forth in very passive and almost relaxed ways. I even saw a lady recently reading a book while she was doing leg presses. Even worse is the very sloppy form that people usually exhibit. It’s truly sad that people haven’t really bothered to do any real research on the proper ways to exercise and get healthy. I can see them getting frustrated and spinning their wheels. Especially the ladies who seem to think doing bench presses with 5 pound dumbbells is going to do anything for them and that if they go any heavier their muscles will suddenly get huge and bulky as if Harry Potter just waves his magic wand.

The real tragedy here is that women can benefit from proper weight training much more so than men. Women are naturally carrying much more fat and less muscle to begin with. Strong heavy intense weight training can really give a woman those fat burning results they so desire yet are too afraid to go after due to fear. They can also put muscle in the bank as they age so the fat storage systems in their body are much less effective when they get older. I guess most of them are out looking for quick fix surgery or the latest magic skin cream to give them their miracle results. It’s truly a shame so many of them can’t see what is right in front of them.

So the sad fact is that too many people don’t bother to think about what they are doing when they step up to a resistance machine or free weights. They don’t bother to focus on the lift. They don’t bother to learn about WHY they are dong a particular exercise. And they don’t really learn to bring any degree of intensity to their workouts. It’s no wonder so many people think that working out doesn’t work at losing weight.

Project 42 – Keeping it up…

OK…  I haven’t written in a while but I have been exercising.  I did 45 minutes on the Elliptical today.  Last Friday I tried to run in the Vibram 5s again but my groin hurt so I stopped after 20 minutes and moved to the Elliptical for 25 minutes more.  I did 45 minutes on the elliptical on Tuesday or Wednesday of last week also and the previous Saturday ran for 30 minutes and walked briskly for 1 hour the same day (or night).  This was part of a fundraiser called “Relay for Live” to support the American Cancer Society.  We had a team that walked/ran for 24 hours to raise money for Cancer Research.

I have been eating well with lots of salads, veggies, and fresh Salmon thanks to a 22 lb hog we got early Saturday morning on my friend Jeff’s boat…  🙂  Jeff brought him in and I netted him…

 

Big Incline DB Press

I did 75lb DB Incline presses this last week. It’s a first for me. I was pretty excited and proud of myself. I managed 7 reps which means it’s still a bit light since my ceiling is 6 reps. At these weights the most dangerous part of the lift is hoisting the damn things up into position while not tearing my shoulder all to hell. Spotters will definitely be necessary. It was just a couple months ago when I needed a spotter for 65lb DBs. I love seeing gains like this. Very exciting.

Project 42 – “Barefoot” Runner?

I ran 4 miles today in my new Vibram Five-Fingers…  Granted, it was on the treadmill and took me over 40 minutes, but it felt great!  I bought the Vibrams a few weeks ago and played ball with the boys a couple times in them but was afraid to actually do a run in them considering all the shin and calf pain I have experienced from running.  We will see how I feel tomorrow or Friday but the run was not very painful at all…  The balls of my feet got a little sore in the end but the feeling of running “barefoot” was a very free feeling.  I tried all the techniques described in McDougall’s book and nearly wiped out a couple times, but I can see how technique is really important.  When I drove my knees forward and kicked up my heals I sped up with the same effort and would need to increase the speed of the treadmill.  It almost feels like you are peddling a bicycle when you run like this.  Hopefully, I can continue to improve my technique and run some longer distances in these shoes…  I would highly recommend the book “Born to Run” if you have not read it…