DR Fitness

So.  Last month, the news reported some pretty depressing news.  They were referring to a new study that said middle-aged women should workout every day for 1 hour just to maintain their current body weight.

When I saw this report I about spit up milk out of my mouth all over my dad!

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this was, “Why don’t ya just discourage more women from exercising by telling them they should exercise 7 hours a week and all they get to do is to stay the same?  That sounds more like torture to me!”

Who are they kidding?  Who has an extra 7 hours a week lying around the house?  Not me.  And probably not you.

As I re-read the article just to make sure me peepers weren’t deceiving me, I noticed something that I didn’t see the first time I read it.  It said that the participants in the study worked out at a ‘moderate’ intensity.  And for laboratory scientist who’ve probably only been to the gym about 3.14 times in their lives, I’m guessing ‘moderate’ had something to do with pink dumbbells and elliptical machines.

In my years of working with women wanting to lose weight, I’ve found that nothing short of intense is effective.  Now, I know what you’re thinking. And you want to know what?  Get over it!

You’ve already seen what an hour a day of moderate will get you – the same you.  No worse, but certainly no better.  And I think we can all agree that anything less than moderate will yield even less impressive results.  So what does that leave us with?

You guessed it.  High intensity, baby!

The  top 2 benefits of high intensity workouts are:

1. Less time in the gym

No more 1 hour, 7 days a week junk.  How does 45 minutes, 3-4 days a week work for you?  Much better, right?  When you train at a higher intensity, your body’s metabolism can be elevated for up to 36 hours after your workout.  That means that high intensity training will have you burning extra calories and burning more fat, even while you’re sleeping!

2. Build more muscle

The more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn during and after your workouts.  A moderate intensity workout just won’t stimulate your body to build muscle as well as a high intensity workout will.

As well, the more muscle you have, the better shape your body has.  Fat has, well, no shape.  It just sits there.  And jiggles.  Kind of like Jell-O.  Not exactly the image of sexy.  It’s muscle that gives you that lean, tone appearance.  It’s muscle that makes you look good when you’re showing off your beach body.

And let’s face it.  When most people say that they workout for the ‘health benefits’,  they’re usually lying.  The truth is, they want to look good!  Who doesn’t?  Certainly nothing wrong with wanting to look good.  Put on some muscle and you will too.

What’s that?  What does ‘intense’ mean?  It means that your workout should be uncomfortable on some level.  Physically, mentally, it doesn’t matter.  You just need to pushing yourself past your comfort zone.  That’s when the real change occurs.  Just like any other thing you’ve ever done in your life.  And trying to lose weight is certainly no different.

So there you have it.  It’s pretty simply.  When you workout, give it all you can for 45 intense minutes, 3-4 times a week.  Build muscle, get strong, and while you’re at it, lose a lot of fat.  Sounds good to me.

DR Fitness – “Get Your Fitness On!”

Popularity: 58% [?]

It’s nice to think about.  I’m sure even you’ve thought about it before.  Being able to simply exercise a certain body part a lot, and lose fat in that area.  How many pieces of late-night T.V. infomercial junk have we been exposed to over the years that have promised us this.  From the Thigh Master to the Ab Dolly to creams that’ll melt the fat off wherever you rub it in, we’ve all been lied to.  I know, I know.  How could Suzanne Somers have lied to me…I thought we were friends?!

Whether it’s your love handles, or flabby arms, or your inner thighs, we’ve had an endless list of D-list celebrities/pseudo-act-like-they-know-what-they’re-talking-about-wanna-be-fitness-experts hock us the cheesiest gadgets.  And who could blame ‘em?  The scam works every time and they end up making 6 or 7 figures in the process.  When will we ever learn?

Someday, you’re gonna have to face the facts – you can’t spot reduce.

So the logical question is, “Why can’t I spot reduce?”

The answer is pretty simple really.  Your body loses weight proportionally.  When you lose 2% body fat from your arms, you’ll lose 2% body fat around your waist.

Think of a bath tub.  Now take a cup and scoop out some water.  Is there a “hole” where you scooped the water from?  Of course not.  The level of the water drops as a whole, not just from one spot.  And so it is with the body.  When we lose a pound of fat, that pound came from everywhere in your body, not just from one spot.

While this may not be what you want to hear,  this is actually a good thing!  Now you don’t have to waste your time doing 500 crunches in hopes of losing fat in just your abs.  Instead, you can focus your time on exercises that actually build muscle and burn more calories.

But the reality of fat loss is much more than just the exercises you do.  In fact, about 80% of your fat loss success has nothing to do with exercise at all, and has absolutely nothing to do with the gym.  Your success will be determined in the…kitchen!

That’s right.  Your diet is what will either make or break your fat loss success.  Simply put, you can’t out-train a crappy diet!  Damn those laws of thermodynamics!

If you exercise 5 days a week, and burn 3500 calories in that time, while still going out to eat or drink 3-5 times a week, you’re not gonna lose any weight.  And if you do, it’s gonna take forever!

Until you’ve got your diet under control, don’t expect to reach your goals any time soon.

By now you’re probably saying to yourself, “so what do I eat then?”

The diet I recommend for fat loss is so simple, a caveman could do it.

In fact, that’s exactly the type of diet I recommend.  The caveman diet.  Best part is, you don’t need a huge forehead to do it!

For me, the caveman diet is pretty easy.  You only eat what a caveman would be exposed to.  Meats of all kinds, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and water.  The closer to Mother Nature, the better.  If it comes in a box, has ingredients you can’t pronounce, or is processed in any way, it’s a no-no.

Now, I know what your thinking.  “I don’t see dairy/chocolate/favorite dessert on this menu!”

Well, first off, cavemen didn’t have access to that kind of food.  And second, we’re talkin’ about fat loss!  If that’s what you want, do it.  No excuses.  No shortcuts.  Simply set your mind on your goal and follow through.

Besides, it’s not for the rest of your life.  Just until you’ve reached your goals.  Then you can have a little more room to add in those “cheat” foods.  But until then, no cheat meals.  They just serve to detract you from what’s important – reaching your goals.

DR Fitness – “Get Your Fitness On!”

Popularity: 61% [?]

If you’ve ever tried counting sheep (or any farm animal for that fact) to fall asleep, you’re not alone.  There are over 40 million Americans with some kind of sleeping disorder.  And we can all agree that nothing is worse than looking at your clock every 15 minutes and realizing, “It’s only been 15 minutes?” “And what number was I on?”

Why does sleep elude us so often?  For most, it’s stress.  That nagging, persistent, never-ending stress that follows you everywhere, even into your bed (bow-chicky-bow-wow!)  You know, the kind of stress that’ll make even the strongest man curl up into a ball with his thumb in his mouth all night long.  No sleepy, no happy.

Our 24 hour lifestyles has got our brains stuck in overdrive all day long and it won’t stop, even when we’re sleeping.  We’re on sensory overload and it shows.  Insomnia is now the new normal and Fight Clubs are forming all around the country.  Zoloft, Ambien and Lunesta are the modern day Three Amigos and everybody’s friends.  A whole generation of people strung out on sleeping pills because they  have yet to implement one of their inalienable rights – choice.

Many people have simply given up on the idea that they have choice.  They allow themselves to become involved in “checkout line news.”  Does anybody still care (or have they ever really?) about what Brittany Spears is up to these days?  Or  about how many celebrities got fat, then skinny, then fat again, and finally got skinny again?  This kind of trash really does accumulate in your mind, and if you act like you care, it starts to affect your emotions and you get sucked in, caring about a whole new stress all while waiting to pay for your groceries.  Just pay for your food and get the hell out of there!

The news is another stressful thing that we tend to obsess about.  “Hmm…what’s going on in the world today?”  Pretty much the same thing as yesterday…and the day before that.  Some good stuff, which is buried somewhere on page 7 of section G where you’ll never find it,  and some bad stuff, well, pretty much everywhere else.  No doubt looking at that kind of negativity everyday will make you a basket care really fast!  All for what?  So that you can be the life of the party when the discussion shifts to world events (which, by the way, rarely happens)?  Or just in case Jeopardy comes a knockin’ on yer door?  “I’ll take ‘I don’t give a crap’ for $400, Alex.’” There is really no reason the carry the weight of the worlds problems on your mind everyday, because that’s the kind of stress that’ll  definitely keep you from dreamland.

As we look for a way out of this sleepless lifestyle, prescription and over the counter drugs are leading the way towards the promise land, I mean, dream land.  The allure of sleep has tens of millions of people emptying their pockets for pills that will have them addicted in no time!  Well, it ’s time to put the Three Amigos down and look for 3 new buddies.

Contrary to popular belief, there actually are some natural supplements that can help you get a good nights sleep without pumping yourself up with harsh, addictive chemicals.  Let’s take a look at my 3 favorite natural sleep aides.

1. Your first new buddy is the supplement ZMA.  It’s a combination of the minerals zinc and magnesium which are minerals that are frequently depleted due to our stressful lifestyles.  The first time I took this supplement I think I only counted like 7 or 8 sheep…I felt great the next morning! Nothing beats going to bed and waking up refreshed, feeling like you actually slept. And not only is this supplement effective, it’s also pretty cheap.

2.  Your other new friend is Valerian Root.  This non-addictive herb has sedative  properties and has been used to treat sleep disorders for centuries.  It’s been known to decrease  anxiety and nighttime awakenings, improve  the quality of your sleep, all without the common side effects of common sleeping aides.

This supplement actually has several ways  that you can apply it.  You can take Valerian Root either in a capsule, as a tea, or by soaking in a tub with essential oil extract.  If you have the time, the tub is the way to go since you also get the relaxing benefits of the warm water.  Just be careful not to fall asleep in the tub!

3.  The last of your new friends has actually been a friend of yours (probably) for years, you just usually forget about him.  When was the last time you two hung out?  Probably on Thanksgiving.  Remember now?  Thats right, tryptophan!  You’re ol’ buddy misses you.  Did you forget about all those great times you had together?  Turkey filled bellies and unbuckled belts.  What memories.  Well, it’s time to get reacquainted!

This naturally occurring amino acid will undergo  some chemical alterations and end up as Melatonin, another common sleep aide with a long history of treating sleeping problems itself.  As well, one of the most common side effects of tryptophan is also one of it’s most beneficial for those of you having a hard time to sleep – drowsiness.  Go figure, you’re actually taking something for it’s side-effects.

I know, it’s hard to make new friends.  But you don’t want to hang out with friends that aren’t good for you and don’t play fair.   And that’s just what prescription and over the counter sleep aides are – addictive and unhealthy.  While these supplements will take several weeks to reach their full strength, they’re definitely worth the wait.

Mandatory disclaimer here –> As with all medications and supplements, check with your doctor before you take them and always follow the recommended doses.  Take care, and good night…

DR Fitness – “Get Your Fitness On!”

Popularity: 82% [?]