Custom Fitness Concepts

The area of fitness is filled with myths that many people take on face value as true. But when it comes to exercise and wellness, it is important to understand the facts to ensure optimal health.  These are some of the most common myths about fitness and the truth behind them.

Myth 1: The more the better.

Truth: Most of us tend to think that the more of anything we do the better it is for us. This is not necessarily the case with exercise. As far as repetitions and amount of weight is concerned, it is quality not quantity that counts the most. In other words, it isn’t how many reps of a particular exercise you do but the form and intensity at which you work muscles that get the desired result. With weight training, for example, the more you focus on the muscle(s) that are working (by lifting the weights in a slow and controlled manner through the entire range of motion), the more you will feel the muscle(s) working and the quicker you will see a change in your body.

Myth 2: Warming up before exercise is not necessary.

Truth: There is a heated debate among fitness professionals in regard to this topic. Many feel that there is no truth to it and others, like those working at CFC, feel it is extremely important. CFC trainers agree that warming up and stretching before and after your workout will help prevent injuries and alleviate muscle soreness. The purpose of warming up is to increase blood flow to the muscles and joints. It also increases the blood flow to extremities, increases core body temperature, lubricates joints and basically prepares the body for more intense activities. Any client will tell you that stretching is extremely important to his/her ability to function in the morning. Additionally, our evening clients who sit at their desk all day will tell you that the warm ups are equally important.

Myth 3: Weight/resistance training will create bulky muscles.

Truth: Weight training is one of the best ways for someone to look leaner, more sculpted and toned. In order to get large bulky muscles, one has to train a certain way with weights.  It takes an incredible amount of weight and specific training make muscles grow larger.  A body builder type typically hits the weights 8-12 times per week. We at CFC encourage our clients to incorporate resistance training only three times a week. The purpose of resistance training is to help protect against and prevent injuries and tone muscles, making them stronger and more lean while also helping to prevent osteoporosis. The extra muscle also helps to burn excess body fat by increasing metabolism, even when you are resting!

Myth 4: If you exercise, you can eat whatever you want.

Truth: Many of our clients jokingly tell us that they exercise with us so that they can eat whatever they want. Unfortunately, I think, most of them are not joking. Think about it this way: a 150 pound person running a 10 minute mile for 30 minutes burns about 360 calories. 1 Piña Colada has 245 calories, 1 serving of nachos (6-8 nachos) is 345 calories.  You are what you eat; nothing can change that. If your goal is to lose weight, then you should be eating smaller meals more often. Your goal should be to eat about four or five smaller meals per day.

Myth 5: Your metabolism slows down once you hit 30.

Truth: False! Actually, hundreds of research studies have shown that the slow down in metabolism is due to a loss of muscle tissue. And the loss of muscle tissue is directly related to a lack of hard physical activity!

Myth 6: If you want to reduce the fat on the back of your arms, you should do a lot of tricep exercises.

Truth: Sorry, but there is no such thing as ‘spot reduction!’ Fat is located underneath the skin evenly through out the entire body. Fat is reduced through out the body in equal measures. Areas with a higher amount of fat will show results at a slower rate because there is more of it to lose.

Myth 7: Running is bad for your knees.

Truth: There are many factors that cause pain in the knees. The most common cause of knee pain is a muscle imbalance in the quadriceps. This imbalance causes the knee joint to be pulled in a direction in which it isn’t designed to be pulled. Running is the easiest activity to blame for this imbalance, but there are many factors that can contribute to knee pain including: old worn out running shoes, hard running surface, and bad form while running. All these causes are actually the fault of the client; they are not caused by running. If certain precautions are taken, your knee can get better if you listen to your body and to your trainer. In time, and with the right training, you can rid yourself of knee pain and continue to run into retirement!

Author Bio:

Tom Kalka is the President and CEO of Custom Fitness Concepts in Virginia and has been providing exercise advice and guidance to his clients for more than 14 years. Contact Tom today for more information about removing these and other fitness myths from your personal training programs.

Are you already in pretty good shape and now need to take your workout to the next level?

Here are some tips and suggestions about taking it up a notch.  Some of these are fairly obvious but some others you might not have thought of.

Obvious ways:

Do more (in order of effectiveness)

o    Time – spend an extra 15-30 minutes at the end of your current workout doing a cardiovascular exercise like jogging/ running, spinning or the elliptical machine.  Do this about 2-3 times per week and you’ll burn tons extra fat calories.  Cardiovascular exercises at the end of a workout will utilize more of the energy (calories) stored inside the body’s fat cells and will therefore produce quicker results.

o    Days/week – It’s safe to say that for most people an hour long strength building workout with some cardiovascular exercises mixed in will burn anywhere from 350-600 calories in an hour.  By increasing the number of these types of workouts you get in a week you’ll obviously burn more calories and start seeing more results!

o    Weight – don’t opt for the lighter resistance; increase the amount of resistance you usually use, even if it’s just 10%.  Increasing the resistance will make your body work harder and will burn a few extra calories.  This doesn’t mean you have to stack on the weight, just add more than you are use to. You can always go back to the easier resistance between sets.

o    Repetitions – Instead of doing 10-15 reps of an exercise, increase it to 20-25 reps. The best way to tone muscle is to use it over and over again.  10-15 reps is a good start, but once you get use to doing something, it’s time to change it up and adding additional reps should do the trick.

o    Use Training Variables – Training variables are things you can do to change how an exercise is preformed.  A couple examples include: change the speed at which you perform the exercise (go faster or slower), change the grip you normally use to perform an exercise, or do a mega set (this is where you do three exercises back to back to back then start over again).  There are about 18 different training variables in all and any good trainer should be able to guide you on how to use them properly.

Eat less

• Eating less isn’t the same as skipping meals.  The goal should be to eat smaller meals more often.  Skipping meals slows down your natural metabolism while eating on a schedule will keep your metabolism working at a higher rate.  Stop trying to lose weight by skipping meals, it is a horribly ineffective technique.
• Cut some of the carbohydrates. FACT: one ounce of carbs (bread, pasta, rice) has about three times as many calories as one ounce of protein. So, cutting the amount of carbs in your diet will cut many of the calories in your diet as well. (This is NOT an endorsement for a low or no carbohydrate diet, just a reminder that you do not need to eat bread at every meal, especially at restaurants).

Less Obvious:

• Stop talking during your workout.  When you are talking you are detracting from the effort you should be putting into your workout.  The rule of thumb should be, if you are able to hold a conversation, then you are not pushing yourself hard enough.  It doesn’t matter if you are walking, running, or lifting weights, you should not be able to hold a conversation.  However, you should be able to answer questions (from your trainer) with short answers.  If you are unable to do so, then you are likely working too hard.

• Focus on each exercise you perform, better yet, focus on each rep you perform.  Pay attention to the muscle contract; think about how you want that muscle to look someday.  Focus on your form, your breathing, and your range of motion.  Ensure you are going through the entire range of motion and if you aren’t sure what this means or what the proper range of motion is, then you should be seeking help from a professional that does know.

• If out on a run, bike, swim or any cardiovascular event; have a goal.   Don’t just go for a run.  Your goal can/should be time or distance based.  During your run, you can add additional goals, like hanging with the group that is typically in front of you, versus being content with what you normally do.  Or, you can sprint up hills and jog down hills, another goal is to run a certain distance for time, then at some point in the future, you try to get to that same point quicker.  Having a goal will help keep you focused and motivated to accomplish it.

• During your sets – Avoid taking all the small breaks.  Skipping a rep here and there, resting the resistance on a protruding body part on the way down or using momentum or allowing tension off of the muscle are all ways to cheat.  Despite your trainers requests, demands and pleads, you are the only one who can actually stop cheating.  Pushing through those extra few reps and not taking the breaks will make the muscles get stronger, leaner and will help burn off those extra calories.

• Gadgets – yes, add something extra to your workout and reap all the benefits.  Add a few of the below recommended products to your normal routine and all of a sudden you will have a completely new workout that will challenge you in new ways.  It doesn’t matter if you are an outdoor conditioning client or an in home Personal Training client. These items will work!

o    Medicine balls – Can be used with squats, lunges, abs, running, jumping, etc. (these are small balls that are weighted and come in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, lbs.)

o    Weighted vests – Can be used with squats, lunges, running, jumping, etc.

o    Bosu Ball – Good for most lower body exercises like squats and lunges; assists in the development of the core body to help prevent injuries and lower back pains.

o    Weighted jump ropes – Assist in increasing cardiovascular intensity, therefore burning more calories.

o    Stability balls – Assist in the development of the core body to help prevent injuries and lower back pains. (these are the large balls that you can sit on)

o    Wrist and/or ankle weights – Increase your intensity while running/walking to get your heart rate up higher and help you burn more calories.

For a one time cost, these gadgets will enhance your workout and your fitness a great deal.

Author Bio:

Tom Kalka is the President and CEO of Custom Fitness Concepts in Virginia which offers a wide range of personal fitness training programs.  If you are serious about ramping up your workouts, try a fitness boot camp for free and see what a difference it can make.