Shawsu Workout Studio

The Truth About Target Heart Rates

 

Here is a great post by Mike Boyle, I'll add some commentary later, enjoy!

Sergio Maldonado

I know. You’re probably saying “here he goes again”
and you are correct.

You’re thinking “Come on, don’t attack the target
heartrate zone idea too”. Sorry. Here we go again.

Every time I have this conversation with a group
I always get the question:

“If this stuff isn’t true, why is it plastered on the
front of every treadmill”.

I can’t really answer except to say that it probably
came out of the legal department.

The truth is that target heartrate zone training is a
highly flawed concept that could result in us drastically
overtraining or undertraining ourselves or a client.
Why is it a flawed concept? Because the physiologists
know that only a small percentage of the population
actually fits the formula. Did you know that seventy
percent of the population is plus or minus ten to twelve
beats from the theoretical 220- age formula.

Yes seven out of ten people don’t fit the mold. Even
worse, thirty percent of the population deviates nearly
twice that much.

In mathematical terms for seventy percent of the
population maximal heartrate actually equals:

220 – age plus or minus 10-12 beats per minute

For thirty percent of the population maximal heartrate
actually equals:

220- age plus or minus 20-24 beats per minute

Why is this such a big deal?

To realize why, we need to first state that those
whose heartrates are on the high end are at little
to no risk. All that happens with those folks is that
we don’t push them hard enough. The problem is
with the folks who have an unusually low maximum
heartrate. If we were to push a person in the thirty
percent group that is minus twenty-four beats per minute
to eighty percent of their theoretical maximal heartrate,
we would actually be pushing them to ninety percent.

This would be a major error that could have significant
ramifications.

The lesson here is that, as with so many of the so-called
truths of fitness, there is actually significant variability
in what we seem to think is an accurate and time-honored
formula. Be careful with yourself and with you clients.

Buy a heartrate monitor and learn how both you
and your clients really respond to exercise.

To your success,

Mike Boyle
www.FunctionalStrengthCoach3.com

PS – I have just launched an incredible new site that
you absolutely need to be a part of if you train hockey
players. It's called Hockey Strength & Conditioning.

Here is the website:

http://www.functionalstrengthcoach3.com/hockey

 

The dirty thirty!

Let's see if you can stay away from the "dirty thirty."

 Basically 30 foods you should avoid, most people only eat certain food anyway, so see if you can avoid these foods and enjoy the results. Below I will also show Martin Rooney's 20 best foods, see if you can eat those.

Stay tuned for a challenge coming soon!

The Dirty Thirty

James Harris MS,RD

Posted on 9/10/10

This list is from the nutrition section of Duane Carlisle's Total Football Conditioning courtesy of nutritionist James Harris

Original work from James Harris MS,RD

Foods That Slow Recovery and Increase Bodyfat

1- Kids cereal - Cap'n Crunch etc.
2- Donuts
3- Soda
4- French fries
5- White bread
6- White rice
7- Candy
8- Ice cream
9- Cookies / cake
10- Hash browns
11- Croissants
12- Sugary Coffee drinks
13- Energy Drinks- Monster, Rock Star Etc
14- Chips, Doritos etc.
15- Pot Pies
16- Ramen Noodles
17- Fried meats- Chicken Tenders, etc
18- Bacon
19- Salami/ pepperoni
20- Hot Dogs
21- Bloomin Onions
22- Nachos
23- Crispy Chicken Sandwiches
24- Margarine
25- Gravy
26- Caeser Dressing
27- Ranch Dressing
28- Alcohol
29- Mayonnaise
30- Cheddar Cheese

1. Apple

2. Fish (SALMON, TUNA, wild please!)

3. broccoli

4. spinach (kale) get your pop-eye on

5. oats (raw!)

6. almonds and walnuts

7. blue berries

8. eggs with the YOLK, yo!

9. green tea/ black tea/ coffee (no sugar !)

10. chicken

11. grass fed beef

12.milk if you are tolerant

13. dark chocolate (just a 1/2 ounce a day)

14. avocado

15. cottage cheese

16. WATER

17. whey protein

18. fish oil

19. olive oil

20.  green supplement if you are not getting your veggie on

 

Perform Better Part II: Why machines suck

Why machines suck

Functional training is always the giant overlying theme at seminars. It is just a given, this seminar was even called the Perform Better FUNCTIONAL TRAINING Summit. Every GOOD trainer knows that machines are not an effective way to train and may be detrimental for some people. The main reason they are currently used and marketed is because they are simple and people feel isolated body parts working. However, the general population does not get the right information about how the human body actually works, which is as an integrated unit. Although, there may be times that one needs to isolate your body, to function properly and remain pain-free you need to train your body as a whole. In addition, if you are interested in losing fat, lose the machines! Dumbbells or any other implement including your bodyweight will help you burn more calories then doing the same type of exercise on a machine because there are more muscles and systems activated. Another reason machines are around is that they are expensive, more machines = more money for the firms that sell them.

Now here are 10 reasons why machines suck:

1) They do not support the body. The current book I am reading Gray Cook’s Athletic Body in Balance refers to this fact. But it is obvious, if you are sitting on a machine you are only supporting the limb(s) that are working. Nothing else is working as significantly as it can, it’s the definition of LESS BANG for you BUCK.

2) The best don't use them. If you check Men’s Health 2010 Top 10 Gyms in America and see the videos, what are they doing?  They are not sitting on machines doing “circuit training.” They are swinging Kettlebells, squatting, benching, running through ladders, chin-ups, flipping tires, pushing sleds, they are TRAINING MOVEMENTS. Now if machines were the BEST way to train wouldn’t the BEST trainers and the BEST GYMS use them? Obviously you can tell that they are not an effective way to spend your training time if the best don’t use them at ALL.

3) You can not vary the exercises much. Periodic variation is a key principle in progression.  With machines you are always stuck in the same position which is usually seated. Meaning you will be stuck doing the same exercise forever if you do not learn to lift free-weights. I saw this when I worked at the Y, people would come in day in and day out and do the same routine. With no results, now isn’t that the definition of crazy? I guess you could say they maintained but isn’t there better goals then just STAYING EXACTLY THE SAME. I have seen people in their 90′s progress, so I know you can too.

4) You are sitting! Most people sit at work, sit on the couch, sit in the car and you are going to exercise and SIT! That makes no sense, try not sitting and you will see a whole new world.

5) Many machines only work one joint at a time, some even two, wow! When just the act of sitting down in that machine involves more muscle groups! Use multi-joint movements as your staple exercises (squat, lunge,push, pull, rotate and run).

6) They take up tons of space. From a trainer’s perspective this makes tons of sense to not have machines around. We are trying to help more people not less, so why have a bulky machine that only does ONE thing take up all this space?

7) Exercise machines do not help you improve your posture.  If you are relying on a machine to sit up against your postural muscles do not have to work nearly a fraction as much with many other typical free weight training exercise.

8) Machines are flat out boring.  Their are so many great free-weight, body-weight, med ball… exercises out there that you can have lots of fun with and get much greater results.

9) They do not help you train balance, stability and mobility in the way that other exercises can. In an increasingly sedentary society we need to train all of those aspects just to function in daily life without getting hurt. If not then we are a ticking time bomb.

10) They do not resemble anything you will do athletically in real life. If you like to run, play sports, ride a bike, play with you kids/grand-kids or walk you should train to do those type of activities. Not train how to lift heavy weight while sitting down and reading a book.

If you have any questions, comments, arguments or would like to learn more about training. Always feel free to contact me:

Sergio

sergiom_personaltrainer@yahoo.com

machines suck

VS

Perform Better Summit- "More than just lifting weights"

A few weeks ago Shawn and myself attended the Perform Better Summit in Long Beach. Three days of hands-on seminars and lectures from the world's top strength coaches, PT's, Rehab Specialist's and Performance based coaches. I wanted to share three big takeaways:

1) Mobility

Everyone that was talking training or especially in injury prevention/rehab emphasized the importance of mobility work for ALL clients. Mobility we can define as the ability to use flexibility through movement. Whether you were learning the Kettlebell Sport with Steve Cotter, going through some fast paced power training with Todd Durkin or learning about Cardio Strength with Robert Dos Remedios. Mobility work was a requirement, no controversy there.

So what is mobility exercise and why do we need it?  It's usually the exercises you do at the beginning of the workout to move your joints through their full functional range of motion. These include lunge variations (side, front, rotation), inch worms, hip lifts, knee hugs... Everyone needs to do mobility so we can prepare our muscles, joints and neuro system to work in that range of motion. Since most people sit most of the day then many  muscles be come tight and weak. Mobility work prior to a workout increases the benefit of the workout as well as helps prevent injury during the workout.

Here is a great example of a mobility routine from Athlete's Performance where I will be going on a one week mentorship in October woohoo!:

Movement Prep

Movements	Sets	Reps
Glute Bridge - Marching	01	06 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Hip Rotation - External - Sidelying	01	12 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Leg Overs	01	06 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Knee Hug - Moving	01	06 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Reverse Lunge - with Twist	01	06 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Knee Hug to Forward Lunge - Elbow to Instep	01	06 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Drop Lunge	01	06 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Lateral Squat - Low	01	06 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Inverted Hamstring - Moving Forward	01	06 reps each	Play Video
View Movement Details
Heel to Butt - Moving Forward with Arm Reach	01	06 reps each	Play Video

Stayed tuned for part 2 and 3. As Carol Nuttal said "this is a lot more than just lifting weights."

Sergio Maldonado

sergiom_personaltrainer@yahoo.com

Secrets of Fat-Loss

Get ripped, lean out, lose fat, keep my butt from sagging.... These are goals I hear everyday when I ask the people I train. I just watched a DVD  of a seminar I attended last year by Alwyn Cosgrove, the seminar had some great guidelines  for fat-loss which were all PRACTICAL and RESEARCH based. That means if you do it, then  IT WORKS.

We will start with the Hierarchy of Fat-Loss from most important to least:

1) Nutrition

2) See #1, yes it's that important

3) Activities that promote lean body mass, burn calories and raise metabolism

4) Activities that raise metabolism and burn calories

5) Activities that burn calories

Now we understand Nutrition is KEY and if you expect a change a body-composition you need to tweak your nutritional habits, more on this later. As for the activities here is what number  3, 4 and 5 correspond to in real life:

1) Strength training and metabolic acceleration training (MET). The first part is a progressive strength training routine which promotes lean body mass. Also, in the case that  you are in a caloric decficit you can keep or gain muscle with strength training . The second part is called MET, which is what I typically call metabolic conditioning, this includes timed sets, circuits, countdowns, tabatas and "cardio strength" mixed in with intervals. This type of work can elevate your metabolism for up to 36 hours afterwords!

2) Anaerobic intervals, these are intervals done at a pace that leaves you breathing hard by the end of the set above 85% max HR

3) Aerobic Intervals, intervals in a zone where you are left aware of your breathing under 85% HR

4) Aerobic conditioning, includes long distance pace work

If you have 1-3 hours a week use #1

3-5 hours use 1 and 2

6 plus hours add in 3 and 4

Here is a Nutrition Checklist which is a summary of the seminar:

1) Eat a big breakfast

2) Eat at regular intervals throughout the day

3) eat 3-5 meals

4) reduce the amount of refined carbs in the diet, basically go low-carb, still eat VEGGIES!

5) Supplement with Fish Oil as well as protein if you are not eating protein every meal

6) balance your Glycemic Load, basically eat carbs, protein and fat EVERY meal

7) drink tons of water, 1/2 body-weight in ounces

8) Take advantage of the post workout period by having a post-workout meal, with in 30-45mins after the workout.

All the recommendations above are researched backed and applied to everyday gym goers and it works. If you want to borrow the DVD let me know!

Note that strength training means it needs to be progressive and challenging. Just lifting a weight WILL NOT get it done. Become technically sound at a lift then overload it and lift heavy! Also note that the MET type of training should be activities that you are proficinet at and can use to get an cardio response as well as strength training. I post videos and articles on this frequently since this is hardest to "get."

Bottom line is that you need  to plan what you will eat for the week use these nutrition tips, strength train hard and get in some MET and enjoy the results!

Any questions, comments do not hesitate to contact me

Happy training

SM

Sergiom_personaltrainer@yahoo.com