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In a nation where we are constantly bombarded by the media with infomercials on the latest fitness trends and the hottest super-supplement on the market, I want to bring a more holistic and balanced approach to what a healthy lifestyle should be. With the population estimated to being 80% overweight/obese by the year 2013, people are so quick to medicate and find quick fixes, not realizing that it is just like placing a band aid on a bullet wound.
As a trainer, I see exercise and nutrition as preventative medicine. Fitness-wise, we need to work to treat the ailments of inactivity and poor food consumption in order to treat the disease of the obesity epidemic…not the symptoms. We shouldn’t rely on supplements to replace the real things that our body truly craves: to be able to move and be nourished well.
Stay hungry... :)
Bethany
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Behind The Scenes of Working Out
Bethany Santos
When I worked in the gym, there were 3 types of people:
1. The Creatures of Habit: those who came in, day in and day out at the same hour everyday and did the same cardio equipment everytime...and didn't look any different from the previous year.
2. The Smart Ones: those who worked out consistenly with a smarter, educated approach to working out (because they sought after the knowledge of wanting to do their bodies right) and actually saw muscle gains or fat loss over time.
3. The Alice in Wonderland people: those who came in, not knowing what to do or how to train. So it didn't matter what they'd do...they'd end up doing a little of this and that sporadically.
In addition to that, I would get ask the same questions over and over:
"What should I eat before I work out?"
"Is cardio better before or right after weight training or a separate time?"
"Doesn't doing cardio and training with weights burn the same type of calories/energy?"
"Am I not burning fat during my workouts?"
"How to I get 'toned' arms?"
So let me break down the mystery of training in the gym...and why some people are stupid. :)
Aerobic training (cardiovascular activity, aerobics) uses the fuel source primarily from fat and small amounts of glucose. The recovery factor is a 1- 3 recover rate. This means that if you workout aerobically for 1 hour, it will take about 3 hours for your body to replenish the fuel source. An example would be in long distance runners: when you first begin training for distance or time you are limited to the amount of fuel your body can store because you have not allowed your body to acclimate to the work load. Beginners who have not trained aerobically will not be able to have the endurance to go beyond what their body can do, but through proper training, their aerobic capacity will increase.
Anaerobic training (football, power lifting and weight training) for strength use ATP stores of energy mostly from glucose (what the body breaks carbohydrates down to) or sugar in the blood system. A pre workout meal should consist of fruit or some kind of quick, attainable source of food, such as apples, pears, melons, bananas, kiwis or rice, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and some nuts. The denser the food the longer it will last in your system. The recovery cycle is a 1 – 1 recovery rate. This means that if it takes 30 seconds to reach failure, then muscles are refueled in the same amount of time. This is why it is so important to continue the failure process and recovery process in a systemic and consistent manor. Once the process begins it should continue until the muscles have reached total failure and the fuel is completely used up. This is usually felt when muscles feel full and tired. This is why most really fit people only should train no more then 45 min per training session. The body can only hold on to a certain amount of fuel at any given time. Over-training usually occurs and progress stops. The more advance the weight trainer, the more fuel the person can store. So a newbie in the weight training experience really only has about 30 minutes or less of fuel. It’s all about adaptation to the amount of fuel you can store, like a small car with a small fuel tank and a large car with a large fuel tank. This is another reason why it is very difficult, if not impossible, to train two people at a time in a strength training program.
Mind to Muscle recruitment process
A muscle bundle is like a cable with a bunch of internal wires. When a muscle bundle is new to a work load it can only fire a small amount of wires (fibers), maybe 25%. After a period of time at this work load, the muscles will start to adapt; this adaptation is the recruitment of more wires or muscle fibers to the brain. The body can only fire about 90%; this is why great athletes are better then good ones. The great athletes are working 90% and the good ones are working maybe 80% or less. World class bodybuilders are using up to 90% which means they are failing 90% to get to 90% growth as opposed to novice bodybuilders only using 50-75% of growth potential. This is the reason for added sets, not necessarily reps because you are trying to increase the body’s ability to fire more fibers in order to fail more fibers. It really doesn’t matter how many reps you do because failure can be reached with 1 rep or 100 reps. Remember, the muscle only knows 3 phases: Atrophy (shrinkage), Hypertrophy (growth), and Sedentary (Not growing and not shrinking) stages. If you are working out and not failing the muscle then you are in sedentary mode. This is usually where most people will waste years of time in the gym looking for what everyone calls “definition.” Definition can only happen when there are a significant amount of muscle gain and a significant amount of fat loss.
Train smarter, people.
Have a healthy day :)
Bethany
PS: Next up - The difference of weight training, strength training, and power lifting.
**Special thanks to Curt Babin: a great friend, mentor, and fellow trainer/colleague for helping me compile this post**
1. The Creatures of Habit: those who came in, day in and day out at the same hour everyday and did the same cardio equipment everytime...and didn't look any different from the previous year.
2. The Smart Ones: those who worked out consistenly with a smarter, educated approach to working out (because they sought after the knowledge of wanting to do their bodies right) and actually saw muscle gains or fat loss over time.
3. The Alice in Wonderland people: those who came in, not knowing what to do or how to train. So it didn't matter what they'd do...they'd end up doing a little of this and that sporadically.
In addition to that, I would get ask the same questions over and over:
"What should I eat before I work out?"
"Is cardio better before or right after weight training or a separate time?"
"Doesn't doing cardio and training with weights burn the same type of calories/energy?"
"Am I not burning fat during my workouts?"
"How to I get 'toned' arms?"
So let me break down the mystery of training in the gym...and why some people are stupid. :)
Aerobic training (cardiovascular activity, aerobics) uses the fuel source primarily from fat and small amounts of glucose. The recovery factor is a 1- 3 recover rate. This means that if you workout aerobically for 1 hour, it will take about 3 hours for your body to replenish the fuel source. An example would be in long distance runners: when you first begin training for distance or time you are limited to the amount of fuel your body can store because you have not allowed your body to acclimate to the work load. Beginners who have not trained aerobically will not be able to have the endurance to go beyond what their body can do, but through proper training, their aerobic capacity will increase.
Anaerobic training (football, power lifting and weight training) for strength use ATP stores of energy mostly from glucose (what the body breaks carbohydrates down to) or sugar in the blood system. A pre workout meal should consist of fruit or some kind of quick, attainable source of food, such as apples, pears, melons, bananas, kiwis or rice, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and some nuts. The denser the food the longer it will last in your system. The recovery cycle is a 1 – 1 recovery rate. This means that if it takes 30 seconds to reach failure, then muscles are refueled in the same amount of time. This is why it is so important to continue the failure process and recovery process in a systemic and consistent manor. Once the process begins it should continue until the muscles have reached total failure and the fuel is completely used up. This is usually felt when muscles feel full and tired. This is why most really fit people only should train no more then 45 min per training session. The body can only hold on to a certain amount of fuel at any given time. Over-training usually occurs and progress stops. The more advance the weight trainer, the more fuel the person can store. So a newbie in the weight training experience really only has about 30 minutes or less of fuel. It’s all about adaptation to the amount of fuel you can store, like a small car with a small fuel tank and a large car with a large fuel tank. This is another reason why it is very difficult, if not impossible, to train two people at a time in a strength training program.
Mind to Muscle recruitment process
A muscle bundle is like a cable with a bunch of internal wires. When a muscle bundle is new to a work load it can only fire a small amount of wires (fibers), maybe 25%. After a period of time at this work load, the muscles will start to adapt; this adaptation is the recruitment of more wires or muscle fibers to the brain. The body can only fire about 90%; this is why great athletes are better then good ones. The great athletes are working 90% and the good ones are working maybe 80% or less. World class bodybuilders are using up to 90% which means they are failing 90% to get to 90% growth as opposed to novice bodybuilders only using 50-75% of growth potential. This is the reason for added sets, not necessarily reps because you are trying to increase the body’s ability to fire more fibers in order to fail more fibers. It really doesn’t matter how many reps you do because failure can be reached with 1 rep or 100 reps. Remember, the muscle only knows 3 phases: Atrophy (shrinkage), Hypertrophy (growth), and Sedentary (Not growing and not shrinking) stages. If you are working out and not failing the muscle then you are in sedentary mode. This is usually where most people will waste years of time in the gym looking for what everyone calls “definition.” Definition can only happen when there are a significant amount of muscle gain and a significant amount of fat loss.
Train smarter, people.
Have a healthy day :)
Bethany
PS: Next up - The difference of weight training, strength training, and power lifting.
**Special thanks to Curt Babin: a great friend, mentor, and fellow trainer/colleague for helping me compile this post**
"The Myth of Discipline"
Bethany Santos
Friday
My goal for any starting client is to simply make better choices out of love: Self Love. Love for your health, your families, your job, your friends…it all begins with taking better care of ourselves. What this means is we need to be better prepped for life’s daily stressors. Our lives are chaotic and polluted with things to do, people to see, and all sorts of tasks that keep us going and going. Life is going to happen, it’s inevitable and we cannot stop doing what we do, but we can prepare our bodies to ensure that our physical, mental, and emotional responses mirror that of being stable, balanced, and healthy. Science likes to call this “homeostasis.” Before demanding more from your body, you have to give more to yourself. Through a more educated approach to fitness and nutrition, we can transform the human body to be an internal environment strong enough to take on fluctuating, external stimulus. The best thing we can do out of love is to look after ourselves as individuals. Only then can we take on showing love and care for the people around us.
“There is no such thing as discipline. There is only love. Love is the most powerful creative force in the universe. You are the result of what you love most.” Charles Poliquin
Here’s to loving who we are!
Bethany
**"Self Love" theme adapted from Cathy Savage Fitness. Post inspired by DCB.**
“There is no such thing as discipline. There is only love. Love is the most powerful creative force in the universe. You are the result of what you love most.” Charles Poliquin
Here’s to loving who we are!
Bethany
**"Self Love" theme adapted from Cathy Savage Fitness. Post inspired by DCB.**
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