Gadgets & Gear: “Wii” All Want to Get Fit

Several months back I wrote an article about how video games aren’t just for the couch-potato, Doritos-munching crowd but in fact, can be used to help get into shape and have fun with it at the same time. In that article, I mentioned that Nintendo had really taken notice of just how many people were using the Wii Sports game to help get fit and was planning on releasing a fitness themed game. Well that time is now (mid-May to be specific) and that game is Wii Fit.

The Wii Fit system consists of a balance board and the game disk. The balance board performs a variety of functions. It monitors your center of balance, your weight, and where you are standing/pressing on the board. It uses this data to help you control your on-screen character in the games as well as track your overall fitness.

You start out by telling the system some basic info about yourself such as your age, height, and sex. It then measures your weight and calculates your Body Mass Index (BMI). If you happen to fall into one of the overweight categories it will even adjust your Mii (your onscreen avatar) to be a little more plump! You can then tell the Wii your fitness goals – be it to drop two points on your BMI or to lose ten pounds – and the Wii will keep help develop a plan to get you there using the exercises and games on the disk. You can even input data from exercises you do away from the Wii to help keep track of everything in one place.

The Wii will also keep track of the stats for everyone in the family, so that you can make it a project to all get fit together and add a bit of competition to the mix.

The fitness games are grouped into four categories: yoga, muscle-building, aerobic, and balance. Some examples of the games are a skiing simulator that has you swooshing down the slalom by shifting your weight back and forth on the board, to doing push-ups, to step aerobics, to performing yoga postures such as tree and warrior. All-in-all there are about 40 different activities included in the system. You start with the more basic routines but as you get better, it unlocks some of the more challenging activities.

So if you are still hemming and hawing about getting that Wii for the little ones, just know now that in addition to a little family fun, you (and the kids) can now use system to get into better shape. The Wii Fit package will cost about $90 when it launches on or about the 19th of this month. Better reserve one quick because they will probably be in just as short supply as the Wii itself.

That’s it for this month. As usual if you have any questions or ideas for future articles, feel free to write me at jeff@healthandleisureonline.com.

Fitness: Defining Fitness

I find it very interesting to go someplace and “people watch” with a bunch of people who are “fit.” Gyms and health clubs across America are some of the best places to observe human nature. But before I digress, let me get back to the subject at hand. How does one define “fit” or being “in shape.”

I can say personally that my own ideas of being in shape have changed a lot from the time I was a teenager until now. Back then, being in shape meant that you could bench press a lot, and a lot back then meant anything over 225 lbs (having 2 45 lb. plates on each end of a bar defined life you know). So basically, high school weight rooms were filled with “in shape” boys who looked like light bulbs – big upper body from benching and doing curls every day and no legs. Then as I got older, workouts became well rounded. We would also work our upper back and legs once a week (maybe once every 2 weeks).

As an athlete all my life, I never really had to worry about my cardiovascular conditioning, because sporting activities took care of that. It wasn’t until I stopped playing the competitive sports that I actually had to start working on my cardio. This seems to be a common story for many males who work out. Females are a bit different about their workouts. They usually focused on legs a lot more than the guys, and a bit more on cardio. But in all these cases, we are mainly talking about strength training to define fitness. You mean there are other areas of fitness?

First let’s look at some examples of being “in shape.”

1) Bench Press World Record of 1050 lbs. set by Ryan Kennelly.

Now, that’s a strong upper body but let’s go a step further.

2) Power lifting World Record of 2850 lbs (that’s combined bench press, squat, and deadlift) by Donnie Thompson.

Strong throughout the whole body, but not as strong with just upper body (I think he only benched like 900 lbs). So who is in better shape?

3) World’s Strongest Man is Mariusz Pudzianowski who lifts stone balls weighing over 300 lbs, throws kegs over a high bar, carries anvils around, flips huge tires, and other crazy things!

This is an example of being strong throughout the whole body, and strong in many different ways (not just 3). So who is in the best shape so far? All these guys have “strength” but chances are their cardio isn’t as world class as their strength (although their sports do require a certain amount of cardio as well). So how about this:

4) Marathon world record (in official competition) of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 26 seconds (that is less than a 5 minute mile for 26.2 miles!) by Haile Gebrselassie.

But just like the bench presser, how are they with multiple forms of cardio?

5) World record for the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon (2.4 mile ocean swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) of 8 hours, 4 minutes, 8 seconds by Luc Van Lierde.

And again, to make a similar comparison as the strength athletes:

6) Adventure Racing’s most successful racer of all time: Ian Adamson has dominated the sport which involves racers doing things like mountain biking, canoeing/kayaking, trekking, rapelling, climbing, swimming, and whatever else can be thought of in harsh environments while finding their way with a map and compass. The big races can take over a week and cover hundreds of miles!

So, there is strength and cardio, but do most regular people need that kind of fitness? Most of the people I see as patients, as well as training clients, are severely lacking in muscular endurance. How about this feat:

7) Girevoy (Kettlebell) Sport Champion Valery Fedoronko can perform over 200 snatches (swinging the kettlebell between the legs and then overhead with one arm) without stopping for 10 minutes with a 70 lb. bell – only being allowed to switch arms once.

As we get older, very few people could not benefit from improved flexibility:

Dick Hartsell, owner and developer of Jump Stretch, Inc. can hang in the full splits with his legs in two resistance bands hanging from a bar overhead. (By the way, he is 67 years old).

How about balance:

9) Ashrita Furman broke the record for balancing on a Swiss ball at 2 hours, 16 minutes, 2 seconds

Or, control/awareness of one’s body.

10) Yogi Masters have demonstrated often unexplainable feats, including sitting completely motionless for hours or even days, and being able to control heart, brain, and muscle function through meditation.

Most people define fitness by what they can see, and so now we get into the people who are the masters of looking good, although looks can be very deceiving.

11) Bodybuilding champs are often the symbols of fitness by demonstrating incredibly low body fat levels, combined with large and well defined muscles.

An area that usually gets forgotten is speed, agility, and quickness. Although these are three different things, they often get grouped together. For this, we may look at different sports and try to decide who is the fittest.

So which sport is: basketball, gymnastics, swimming, track and field, football, soccer? How about any of the sports mentioned above, or the hundreds of sports we have not mentioned? It really depends on each sport and what is required, and now we are back at square one deciding who is most fit.

Probably the best example of all around fitness is this:

12) Joe Decker – “World’s Fittest Man” in 24 hours completed the following feats: ran 10 miles; biked 100 miles; powerwalked 5 miles; kayaked 6 miles; rowed 10 miles; swam 2 miles; skied 10 miles on a NordicTrack; did 3,000 consecutive abdominal crunches; 1,100 jumping jacks; 1,000 leg lifts; 1,100 pushups, and lift a cumulative 278,540 lbs!

Here are some other interesting fitness records from our friends at Guinness (the record book, not the beer):

Pushups:

• nonstop = 10,507
• 1 arm in 10 minutes = 546
• 1 finger = 124

Wall sit:

• 11 hours, 5 minutes

Pullups:

• in 1 minute = 46
• in 1 hour = 825

Punching bag marathon:

• 36 hours, 3 minutes

Heaviest weight lifted using only the ear:

• 61.7 kg (136 lbs) – I don’t think anyone considers this to be fitness. I just found it amusing!

Having competed in a variety of sports myself including soccer, basketball, volleyball, martial arts, endurance sports (marathon, triathlon, adventure racing), kettlebell/Girevoy sport, powerlifting, and others; I can say that at various points I have had to change the focus of my training greatly. Does this make me more or less in shape from one to the next? Can I bench press as much as I could when I was 17 years old? Who knows to the first question, and yes – quite a bit more actually – to the second question.

The point is, everyone’s idea of fitness is relative and you just need to discover what is most important to you and work at it. Figure out what your natural physical abilities are and try to develop them, while working on your weaknesses. The biggest thing is: try not to compare yourself to someone else, because as I said before, looks can be deceiving and does not necessarily indicate true fitness.

For more information about different types of fitness, contact Bob by email at: bob@functional-strength-training.com, or visit his website at: www.functional-strength-training.com

Fitness: A Little R&R

Do you ever wonder why kids often seem much more relaxed than adults (although that depends on who you ask)? Is it because they don’t have all the same worries as adults, like: working 40+ hours per week, paying bills, taking care of families, etc? That may be part of it, but kids have their own stressors, and it is all relative. I feel it is partially because kids take time for R & R (some more than others), including regularly scheduled vacations like Christmas, Spring Break, and Summer vacation. All too often, we get so lost in the rat race we don’t take time for ourselves to recuperate physically and mentally until our bodies and brains are so screwed up we are useless to everyone around us. Those of us who know better often struggle with taking necessary time off for ourselves.

This was the case for me recently. My wife and I had not had a real vacation (meaning just the two of us without kids, not work related, and for a decent length of time) since our honeymoon eight years ago. Between being busy with work, having two kids (ages 5 and 3), the stress of owning two homes (not by choice) and hence two mortgages like many Michiganders, battling illness throughout the household, and all the other things life throws at you – we were both suffering burnout.

Luckily, a work incentive offered us the opportunity we likely would not have taken otherwise – a seven day cruise in the Western Carribbean! We boarded the Costa Mediterranea in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday and set out to ports which included: Key West, Grand Cayman, Roatan, and Cozumel. Now, let me tell you, having had no prior experience with cruising, I thought the trip was fantastic and a generally great way to recharge the engines. Our cruise offered a perfect balance of opportunities to relax, along with many activities. Generally, when I go on vacation I am too A.D.D. to sit around. On this trip, however, my body let me know I needed some of that. So I took advantage of sleeping in every day until 7 or 8:00! (Anyone who is or was a parent of young children can appreciate my excitement, everyone else will either learn one day or appreciate that 8:00 is not sleeping in to them). We also did a little bit of laying around by the pool and beach.

The majority of the trip included activities like: swimming with stingrays and dolphins, snorkeling along the coral reef, zip-lining through the jungle, shopping – of course (I was with my wife after all), and working out (Costa actually has a decent facility, even though there were no kettlebells). And, as with all cruises that I have heard about, there is the food! This was something I was looking forward to, as I appreciate good food, and am fortunate enough to be able to eat most things that I want without worry – which means I eat a lot anyways, so the idea of nonstop cruise buffets was very appealing. As I said before, we had nothing to compare it to, which was probably good because while the food was good to us, it did not seem to be a strong suit of Costa cruises compared to others – and that’s all I have to say about that.

We returned home to the craziness one week later, and although life has not slowed down (which is probably a good thing), we definitely had improved energy, focus, and mental clarity to deal with everything.

So the point is, paying attention to your fitness is great, but one of the best things you can do for yourself is take time for yourself. Whether it’s a cruise, camping, staying at a Holiday Inn in Toledo, or any other vacation – do yourself a favor and make time regularly to get away with the people who are important to you, so you can stay on track when you are home.

On a side note, if you want to try something fun, try running on a treadmill on a cruise ship during rough seas, you will feel terrific!

For more information about Costa cruises, visit their website at: www.costacruise.com, or email Bob at: bob@functional-strength-training.com

Fitness: Life in Balance

“I have noticed as I’m aging that my balance isn’t as good as it used to be and that I’m easily knocked off step if I bump into someone or something. Somewhere I heard that since I’m aging, my “core” strength is getting weaker and can affect my balance. What suggestions do you have for a 58 year old man, (I’m in okay shape) to help this problem.” D.A. – Rochester Hills

Dear D.A.,

While your core does affect your balance, strengthening the core may only partially improve it. Balance is basically influenced by three systems in your body: the vestibulocochlear (inner ear), visual, and proprioceptive (sense of position within the joints of the body). I will touch on the first two and I will go into more depth on the third.

Various factors, some within and some out of your control, affect the inner ear. First, you should check with your doctor to see if any problems exist within the ear. Outside of any medical issues, the inner ear can be “trained” by performing various head movements. Tilting your head back and forth, side to side, and rotating left and right will all challenge the inner ear. Adding theses movements to various balance exercises can complement the “workout.”

Try this example: stand on one foot without touching anything with your hands or opposite foot. Get a sense of your stability. Now, continue to stand on one foot while you do one of the previously mentioned head movements – keep moving the head in the specific direction back and forth while you attempt to balance. Most likely, you will not be as stable. Don’t worry if you fall over, you are just increasing a level of difficulty to this exercise that can be improved upon over time.

The visual system is one that most people highly depend upon for balance. I am not necessarily talking about visual acuity, I am talking about how much you rely on sight for balance. Closing one or both eyes during our balance exercises will be another training stimulus. Again, let’s use the standing on one foot example. Now, close one eye and check your balance, do the same with the other eye, then close both eyes. I would be surprised if without prior training, most of you can maintain balance on one leg with both eyes closed.

Another training method is to combine both the head movements (for the inner ear) with the eyes closed during balance exercises – have fun with that one!

Now for the biggie: the proprioceptive system.

Proprioception is the sense within all the joints in the body about position and movement. For example, if you bend your elbow, you know it is bent without having to look at it (unless proprioception is compromised that is). The same should be true throughout the body. Different factors can affect proprioception, these include: injury/trauma, pain, and “joint issues” such as arthritis. Additionally, proprioception is related to strength, flexibility/mobility, agility, and all the neuromuscular “connections” within the body.

Another principle to understand is the difference between static and dynamic balance. Static balance is the ability to balance in one place without moving, such as standing on one foot. Dynamic balance is the ability to balance along with movement, such as walking. Most who attempt to improve balance, exercise mainly with static techniques, such as standing on one foot, or standing on tools such as balance boards, BOSU balls, dynadiscs, etc.

These are all great options, but don’t fully rely on it for improving dynamic balance, which is what most people need. After all most falls that you hear about, especially in the elderly population, happen while people are moving, not just standing in one place.

One of the best tools for improving dynamic balance (in my opinion) is an agility ladder. You may have seen football players, or other athletes use these – they are ladders that you lay on the ground and move through them using various foot and body techniques. Some may be saying, “Bob, you are insane, there is no way a non-athlete or elderly person should use one of those.” However, agility is defined as “the power of moving quickly and easily; nimbleness” (dictionary.com), especially with change of directions.

Think about how most people lose their balance, they are trying to move in a certain direction (or change directions) quicker or harder than their bodies can handle. I’m not suggesting that a 75 year old grandmother has to do it as quickly or complexly as a wide receiver, but they should be able to go through it with certain patterns and with a certain amount of proficiency. Besides directly training balance, people also need to focus on the areas of fitness mentioned earlier, including overall and joint specific strength; as well as flexibility and joint mobility.

The last comment I will make, and this can be rather controversial thinking, is that people should learn how to fall. One of the larger populations that suffer from limited balance and falls are the people who are very afraid of falling. I’m not saying that anyone wants to fall, but when you have to worry about broken hips and the medical complications that often follow, it takes the fear to a whole new level. Martial artists and gymnasts are two groups of athletes who learn how to fall as part of their training. We learn what happens when you fall, how to land, and how to recover without injury. Fall training is something to be done when the body is pretty healthy, not once the skeletal system has been compromised by age, arthritis, injury, etc.

For this group however, there are other training methods to help. For example, most people who use a balance board, BOSU, etc. will stand on it and try to maintain balance without the tool moving. They may add arm or leg movements for dynamic balance, but still the goal is to not let the object move. As an alternate method, practice rocking the object side to side, front to back, or rotating. Also, try to move the different joints in your body (specifically the ankle, knee, and hips) in different directions – basically all of this will somewhat mimic falling, and by training your body to handle that, will help protect it from injury.

It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyways, please be safe with trying all of these techniques. They should generally be done under supervision and/or with assistance, especially when first starting out or if balance is compromised. I don’t want my next article to be in reference to rehabilitation for an injury incurred by someone practicing the things in this article!

Hope this helps, good luck D.A.

For more information on balance training, please contact Bob at: bob@functional-strength-training.com,

or visit his website at www.functional-strength-training.com.

Fitness: January 2008

Dear Editor – I have a question for your fitness writer. I always hear different ways to work out. Some say light weight, high number of reps, less sets. Others say heavy weight, fewer reps, more sets. I’m not sure which is the best way, or best for me. Can you shed some light on this topic? Thanks, Matt

Great question, Matt and thanks for opening Pandora’s Box within the fitness field! The question of how many sets, reps, and weight has been asked for as long as people have been working out. I warn you, the reason why you don’t know the answer is because there is not a clear one. Let me attempt to shed some light (although it may confuse you further).

First of all, let me make a definite statement: it depends on what you are looking for. The majority of people looking for answers to this question, do so in regards to strength training. We are not going to go into what will help most with speed, power, skill, rehabilitation, etc. The concept of strength training is often misunderstood, where people think there is a difference between “toning” and building.

Let me explain: most people refer to toning as becoming well defined, where each muscle can be separately seen from the other muscles around it. To accomplish this, you still need to “build” the muscle, and at the same time – lose the fat around it. People who are worried about building too much muscle are comparing themselves to the freaks they see in magazines.

Most people do not need to worry about “bulking up” provided they are not working out as long or with the intensity that magazine models have, or as long as they do not take steroids! So toning and building muscle is the same thing; toning is just building to a lesser degree, while at the same time attempting to lose the flab in the area. Unfortunately, weight training will not burn fat in specific areas, but does help in the overall fat-burning process by increasing metabolism (metabolism will actually be raised more however when you “bulk up”: more muscle = higher metabolism).

The other issue is there are multiple types of strength, including relative strength, maximal strength, limit strength, endurance strength, speed strength, stabilization strength, optimal strength, and functional strength. So again, it depends what you are looking for.

That being said, the National Academy of Sports Medicine offers some guidelines. Take a look at the chart to the right. If this answers your question sufficiently, stop reading now! If you want to be brave, proceed.

The reason why many people do not achieve the results they are looking for, even when following a similar set/rep model to the one above is because there are many other variables to consider when strength training. These include: speed of contraction (how fast you lift the weight), type of contraction (eccentric/isometric/concentric), rest period length, workout length, exercise frequency, types of exercise (isolated/integrated/single joint/multi joint/varying planes, angles, body positions, etc), exercise volume, time under tension, medical health, and nutrition just to name a few. It also depends what you do with the other 23 hours of your day, and how honest you are with yourself.

The fact is, the most common set/rep scheme is 3 sets of 10 reps. Your body does not know the significance of the number 10 in terms of how easy it is to count that high, or how even and well rounded it is. It is hard to believe that so many people’s bodies just stop working at 10 reps! People think that their muscles may spontaneously combust if they do 7, 11, or heaven forbid – 13 reps! Most people pick a number of reps, not as a goal, but as a limitation. They do 10, but could have done 12 or 15, or even 28. Let me tell you, if you could have done 20, 30, or 40 reps but stopped at 10, that set did not count towards anything in the table at the right. I am not promoting lifting to failure for most people, but if your goal is 10, your muscles should be working hard by that point, and if you squeeze out a couple more reps (provided it is with good technique) nothing bad will happen.

One method to get out of the set/rep trap is to forget about reps and lift for time. Shoot for 10, 30, or 60 seconds. There are strength/ endurance competitions out there, including kettlebell sport, where the goal is to last for 10 minutes without stopping – that will put some hair on your chest! Many people get amazing results by following a set/rep scheme that is completely different than what was stated earlier.

The best results come from the people that pay attention to their bodies and how it responds, and do not just arbitrarily go through the motions of exercising. The NASM model above is a good guide to try. If it does not work out for you, hope is not lost, there are other methods. The main thing for most people is to stop spending so much time thinking about what will work, but instead going out and doing it.

Good luck, Matt.

SIDEBAR – National Academy of Sports Medicine Guidelines:

REPETITIONS

• 1-5 reps = neural adaptation (the connections between the brain and muscles)
• 6-8 reps = strength adaptation
• 9-12 reps = cellular adaptation (muscle growth)
• 12-25 reps = strength endurance adaptation

SETS

• 4-8 sets = neural
• 3-4 sets = strength
• 3 sets = cellular
• 2-3 sets = strength endurance

INTENSITY

• 85- 100% = neural
• 75-85% = strength
• 70-75% = cellular
• 50-70% = strength endurance

For more information, contact Bob at bob@functional-strength-training.com or visit his website at www.functional-strength-training.com.

Fitness: Let the Good Times Roll

Warning: The techniques being presented here may reveal issues you did not want to know about!

Flexibility is often one of the most neglected areas of fitness. Some find it boring, too time consuming, painful, not worth the effort (after all, you cannot really “see” flexibility in most cases), or ineffective – this is what we are going to talk about.

There are many different types of stretching: static, dynamic, ballistic, and PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation). There are also many philosophies about how and when to stretch: pre or post workout, hold for 10 seconds or 30 minutes. While there are physiological principles that do determine all the variables of effective stretching, that is not what this article is about. Many people attempt to stretch to increase flexibility, diminish pain, or “warm up” – all to no avail; this is where foam rolling can help.

Foam rollers are tools which help relax muscles to allow proper stretching to occur. If a muscle is too tense and cannot relax it is very difficult to improve the flexibility. Foam rolling will help inhibit these overactive muscles. Conversely, foam rolling can also help stimulate underactive muscles and “wake them up” when they have been inactive due to immobility, injury, or misuse. All of this can help with flexibility, pain, and tissue warm up, as well as strength, speed, power, coordination, and overall performance.

Foam rolling is a fairly simple technique to understand, but more difficult to perform for most people in the beginning. It can be uncomfortable to the point of painful if the muscles are extraordinarily tight. It can be very physically taxing on the arms (they are supporting most of your bodyweight), and it can be time consuming. However, the dedicated addition of foam rolling to your exercise regime can be one of the most beneficial things you can do for your body, regardless of your fitness goals.

The rules are the same for all body parts: 10-20 rolls per part (you may need to build up to this); put as much weight from the chosen body part onto the roller as you can tolerate; avoid bony prominences; and DO NOT AVOID TENDER SPOTS – this is where you need it most. So let’s get to it!

HIPS

Common problems associated with tight hips: back, hip, and knee pain.

Gluteals/Piriformis – Sit on the roller (Fig. 1). Cross one leg over the other. Shift your weight onto the side of the crossed leg. Roll from your butt bone (the one you sit on) to the bone that sticks out just above your butt muscle (in the low back area). You will need to shift from the back of your butt to the outside of it to get the whole area rolled.

THIGHS

Common problems associated with tight thigh muscles: back, hip, knee and ankle pain.

Hamstrings – Roll along the back of the thigh from the butt to the knee. Roll directly on the back (in the middle), then also slightly rotate your leg in and out to get the inside and outsides of your hamstring.

Quadriceps – Roll along the front of the thigh from the hip to the knee (Fig. 2). Roll directly on the front (in the middle), then also slightly rotate your leg in and out to get the inside and outsides of your quads. Try to do one leg at a time.

IT Band – One of the worst exercises (and most needed) for most people. Lay on your side with the top leg crossed over the bottom one and the top foot flat on the floor (Fig. 3). Roll along the outside of your thigh – make sure you are not getting the front muscles (quadriceps) or back (hamstrings). The IT Band runs right along the outside from the side of the hip to the outside of the knee. Many hip, back, and knee problems come from tightness in this area.

Adductors – Lay down like you did for the quadriceps but bring your leg out from your body with the knee bent (Fig. 4). Position the foam roll so it makes a 90 degree angle with your thigh. Roll along the inner thigh from the knee to the groin. This is another “un-fun” exercise, but also another source of many problems.

LOWER LEGS

Common problems associated with tight lower legs: knee and ankle pain, plantar fasciitis, tendonitis.

Gastroc/Soleus (Calf muscle) – Roll along the back of the calf from the knee to the heel (Fig. 5). Roll your leg in and out to get the whole calf muscle.

Peroneals – Lay like you did for the IT band (Fig. 6). Roll along the outside of the lower leg from the knee to the ankle.

TORSO

Common problems associated with tight torso: pain anywhere in the body.

Lumbar/Thoracic Spine – Lay down and roll along the spine, from the low back through the upper back (Fig. 7). This may need to be broken up into two parts (low back, then upper back). Try to position your torso horizontal. Added bonus: your abdominals will get a workout, especially when doing the low back.

Latissimus Dorsi/Posterior Shoulder Muscles – Lay on your side with the bottom arm stretched out (in the direction of your head) (Fig. 8). Roll along the side of your upper back (outside of your shoulder blade) up to the armpit and back of the shoulder.

EVERYTHING ELSE

While foam rolling is certainly easier to apply to some areas than others, it can be done throughout the body in addition to what was presented here. There are other tools on the market that can be used similarly to foam rolls and should also be considered as supplements. Foam rollers can also be used for different training purposes, including balance training (generally done with foam rolls cut in half lengthwise).

Foam rollers can be purchased from $10-25 and range in length from 1-3 feet with diameters of 3-6 inches. Just make sure to use a quality roll that will not break down quickly with use. Quality foam rollers can be purchased at www.performbetter.com and/or www.power-systems.com.

Special thanks to Tara Egli, for subjecting her body to these demonstrations and allowing me to photograph it.

For more information on foam rolling, contact Bob at: bob@functional-strength-training.com, or visit his website at: www.functional-strength-training.com.

Fitness: Gut Check Time

So here we are, the end of beach season. Many people are sorry to see it end, others say, “Thank goodness I don’t have to wear a swim suit for another 9 months!” Most people’s New Years or Memorial Day resolutions to get in shape did not turn out the way they wanted. Oh well, better luck next year, right? It doesn’t have to be that way.

Before deciding which of the thousand new fad diets or exercise programs you may look into in the next 12 months, first look inside and do a “gut check” as to why things have not worked out thus far. As you read this article, be true to yourself about how much any of this applies to you. If you are happy with your physical self, then great! If not, stop doing the same thing you have been doing, but hoping for different results, and make the change.

DIET

Before addressing what my clients SHOULD eat, I always first look at what they ARE eating. There are a number of diets out there, and most of them do work for some people, but none of them work for everyone. We are not going to compare and contrast the differences, let’s point out why many people cannot succeed with their diets.

1. Right idea, but missing the point. “I don’t know why I’m overweight, I pretty much just eat salad all the time”, or “my diet is healthy, I eat high protein which is low in fat”. Let’s examine a typical salad – iceberg lettuce (almost no nutritional value), cheese (take your pick which kind, they are generally processed with lots of chemicals and fat), bacon bits (not a good source of protein, but plenty of fat and sodium), croutons (sodium and fat), maybe a little bit of cucumbers and a tomato (the only redeeming value of the salad), and plenty of dressing (even most of the low fat alternatives are not exactly healthy). Or the protein eater – what was it cooked in (butter, oil, etc?), what did you eat with it (that wonderful salad, or maybe a good creamy sauce). Don’t get me wrong, I like salad and protein, and they can be extremely healthy, but just because you eat salad and chicken does not automatically make you a healthy eater.

2. The old standard: “just don’t eat anything.” Super-low calorie diets have been a staple for people looking to lose weight forever. Fortunately some very smart people have figured out that eating a cracker and a diet coke all day is not the healthy alternative. Starving your body will cause it to feed on areas you do not want to lose, like muscle tissue; and affect overall functioning throughout your body. Furthermore, these types of diets basically destroy a person’s metabolism, causing your body to burn very few calories on its own.

3. Think before you stuff: the people who do actually eat healthy, and then some. It is amazing to me how generous people can be. As a physical therapist, I am often blessed with thank you gifts from my patients. I cannot accept money or other similar gifts, and people know this. So what do they give: food. This is the case in most office settings, the thank you gift, or it could be leftovers from someone’s party – brought in for the office to share. While it usually tastes good, the food is rarely good for you, but instead some sort of “sugary” treat. When sweets appear, or maybe it is a bag of chips lying around, people often will shovel it in without thinking. So while someone may eat healthy meals, it is the unhealthy snacking that gets them.

I have found that the best first step towards eating right is to keep a food journal – a pain in the butt, but effective. There are only a few requirements, write down everything you put in your mouth (and I mean everything), how much of it, and what time you did it. Try to be as specific as possible – don’t just write “salad” or “sandwich”; write down everything in it. If you have water, write down “1 glass (8 oz.) of water at 9:17 a.m.”.

This task helps in multiple ways. First it makes you actually think before you eat, and decide if putting that cookie in your mouth is worth having to write it down. Second, it makes you aware of your current eating habits and what needs to change. Third, if someone else is helping you with your eating (a personal trainer, dietician, etc.) they can have the facts vs. what you tell them (which is often less than accurate).

EXERCISE

1. “I belong to a gym”, or “I have a great gym in my house.” This may be true, but indicates being in shape about as much as a person who owns a lot of books claiming to be an intellectual. Many of the big, expensive gyms are losing members to the cheaper, more basic gyms. People’s philosophy, why waste $100 per month on a membership I don’t use, when I can just waste $20 per month – can’t argue with that logic.

2. “I am at the gym 3 hours a day.” I actually had a woman say this to me once in an attempt to brag about what great shape she was in. After taking one look at her, I thought, “then you are wasting 2 1/2 hours per day.”

I estimate (and this comes from observing many people) that for every hour the average person “works out,” they get about 20-30 minutes of work done. The rest of the time is spent chatting, taking unnecessary breaks, or just standing around not having a clue.

The other end of the spectrum is the person who actually does spend hours working out. Unless someone is training for a specific endurance event, these people usually are sacrificing quality for quantity, and are risking overworking their bodies, which can be a serious condition.

3. “The lazy exerciser”: the person who does quality exercise on a regular basis, but is lazy the rest of the time. These are the people who drive around a parking lot for 10 minutes looking for the closest spot to the door so they don’t have to walk too far, the first in line to take the elevator to the second floor, or the person who comes home and plops down on the couch, because they are tired from sitting all day at work. Let’s get real, 60 minutes of exercise does not compete with 1380 minutes of laziness.

4. “My job is physical enough.” The truth is, most of the time, no it isn’t.

5. “I don’t have time.” It’s understandable – people need to spend time at work, driving, sleeping, eating, watching TV for four hours, “working” on the computer for two hours, etc. It’s not my place to tell people how to prioritize their lives, but everyone needs to prioritize their own life.

6. “I got off schedule when I went on vacation.” People like to claim that they have specific days that they work out, and specific things they work on those days. For example, Saturdays they work chest and shoulders, Tuesdays are legs (men usually skip that day), Thursdays are back and arms. While all of this probably sounded good in the Muscle and Fitness article where it came from, it gives people the excuse that since they missed the Saturday workout, their schedule was off and that’s why a month has gone by without being able to “get back on.”

There is a simple solution. Schedules will be thrown off; unless you are competing for Mr. Olympia in the next week, start back today. You don’t need to wait for New Years, Christmas, or Rosh Hashanah – be like Nike, “just do it.”

7. “I don’t know what I am supposed to do, or how to do it.” So, instead they do nothing. Here’s the deal: LEARN, or if you don’t want to learn, find someone to tell you what to do. If none of that works, use common sense – you know you should not just be sitting around all the time, start walking every day (and don’t say you walk all day at work).

8. My favorite: “I workout with a personal trainer 3 days per week.” Refer back to number 1 – talking to your trainer for an hour about what they did over the weekend, how their week is going, and what their weekend plans are, does not constitute working out. Obviously, as a trainer myself, I think having a personal trainer is a great way to go, but only if you are doing it for what it is meant.

As I said, this article is meant for everyone’s personal use. It may seem harsh at times, but reality often is. I don’t want to make light of legitimate reasons for not being in the kind of shape you want, because there are many. The point is to examine if you are in the kind of shape you want to be in, look at what may be contributing to it, and make necessary changes. If you try something and it doesn’t work, make another change and keep trying until you find what works for you. Remember, “the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary” – unknown.

Bob can be reached by email at bob@functional-strength-training.com or visit his website at www.functional-strength-training.com

Fitness: Putting the “Personal” Back in Training

It seems like everyone these days has a personal trainer. What used to be reserved for high level athletes, or the very wealthy, has now found its way into the lives of the blue collar worker, the soccer mom, and the 12-year old without a shred of athletic ability. The growth of personal training is great, but why then is the country more out of shape than ever?

Obesity, heart disease, loss of work due to injury and/or sickness are all at staggering levels. According to Alwyn Cosgrove, “in 1990, $33 billion dollars was spent on weight loss. In 2004, the amount spent on weight loss products alone (not training, diets, or surgery) was $46.3 billion dollars. Estimates suggest that in 2006, the US public spent a combined amount (products, training, diets, surgery) of $100 billion dollars on weight loss. The number one reason for hiring a personal trainer (2004) is weight loss.”

There are numerous reasons for the discrepancy between people’s efforts to get in shape and the realities. For now, we are going to address the “experts” who are there to help make it possible for people to have improved fitness – the trainers.

I wish I could say that everyone who has a trainer was really interested in getting in better shape. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Having a personal trainer is a status symbol for many; they want the best looking and most expensive one they can find, and love letting everyone know how much they spend and how often they “workout” together.

Others have a trainer to convince themselves that they are making the effort to stay in shape, even though if you did the math, they are actually exercising for maybe 30 minutes per month! Some want the companionship, or the attention, or whatever else.

And then there are the people who truly want to get in better shape for one reason or another. Sometimes they find a trainer to help them with that, and other times they are no further along physically than they would be on their own, just with less money. There is no right or wrong reason for working with a personal trainer, as long as you know what are your reasons.

So how does one find the right trainer? It mainly comes down to 3 factors: education, experience, and personality. If clients want the best trainer for themselves, they need to do their homework.

EDUCATION

Personal training is a science, and therefore, requires a certain amount of education. This comes in the form of degrees and/or certifications, along with continuing education. Many colleges have degrees related to exercise. Different names within the baccalaureate level include: exercise science/physiology, or kinesiology. Advanced degrees include Masters and Doctorate in the same areas, as well as physical therapy, chiropractic, athletic training, and medicine.

While commendation needs to be given to anyone who has gone through a degree program, the truth is that many degrees offer only theoretical knowledge of exercise, and many include very little exercise knowledge despite the impressive title. Degrees in an exercise related field are good foundations to start with, and/or good compliments to personal training, but do not always produce good trainers on their own.

Certifications in personal training are the common avenue for most serious trainers. Having the right certification is an indicator of the level of commitment on the part of the trainer, as they attempt to acquire the latest and best information.

So what is the “right” certification? A Google search online for “personal trainer certification” produces over 6 million results! Most of them have impressive sounding names, even the ones for $49.99 that you can get online in 30 minutes. Out of all the certifications out there, there is only a handful offering some quality.

There are a few things you should see in a certification. First, they should have been around for a while. New certifications are popping up almost daily as a method of making money for those starting them. Check how long the organization has been around. While all organizations had to start somewhere, there are inevitably bugs to be worked out in even the best ones, let alone the others.

Second, are they accredited? The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) is generally the logo you want to see somewhere in an organization’s description. Third, to get certified should not be quick, cheap, or easy. It should be something reserved for only those who are truly qualified and willing to make the commitment. To quote Tom Hanks from the movie A League of Their Own, “It’s supposed to be hard, if it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.”

Some of the organizations that offer quality personal trainer certifications are (but not limited to): American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), American Council on Exercise (ACE), National Academy of Sport Medicine (NASM), and National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Again let me reiterate, this is not an all-inclusive list of the best certifications out there.

Special credentials are offered through many organizations as well. Performance Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Certified Kettlebell Instructor, and Health Fitness Instructor are just some examples of what is offered. These credentials, like degrees, serve as supplementary education for trainers. If you are a client in need of what these advanced education courses offer, then check them out.

Possibly the most important aspect of being certified is what trainers have done to maintain their certifications. Any personal training certification worth anything requires recertification, generally every 2 to 3 years. Taking continuing education is what truly offers trainers the education that can help clients achieve their fitness goals. If a trainer chooses not to recertify, or acquire other continuing education, then in many ways, their knowledge becomes somewhat obsolete. The fitness field is always changing and a good trainer is consistently staying up-to-date by taking continuing education.

EXPERIENCE

There are two kinds of experience – personal experience with working out, and experience with training others – a good trainer should have both. The super, ripped bodybuilder looking-type, or former athlete does not equal an ability to teach, guide, and motivate others. By the same token, it is difficult to respect the trainer who is overweight with no strength, endurance, flexibility, or other physical attribute to speak of because they are “too busy” training others to work out themselves.

A trainer who wishes to train special populations (youth, elderly, athletes, weight loss, etc.) should have experience with that population as there are differences, and while most trainers fall into the “general” population, no trainer can specialize in everything. It is important for clients to know what kind of experience their trainer has in working with specific clients and how successful they have been.

PERSONALITY

This is probably the most important area regarding how successful a trainer will be. Education and experience are important for safety reasons, and for having the potential for being successful with their clients. Personality is what makes it all happen.

A client needs to think about what kind of personality they are looking for: a cheerleader, teacher, babysitter, drill sergeant, etc. This is the area that makes the training “personal.” The trainer with 20 letters after their name, and has been training people for years cannot work as well with every person they may meet. For example, an older client may not think that a young trainer can relate to their needs regardless of their education and experience. If a trainer does well with professional athletes, they may not be good for the 40-year old mother of three who works 50 hours per week. The trainer who works well for the affluent, non-working person with “status envy,” may not work as well with the low income, workaholic who knows they need the training to improve their health and quality of life. Whatever a client is looking for and/or needs is fine as long as they are honest with themselves in their search for their “perfect” trainer.

Other factors that are influential in people’s choices are:

Price – Personal training is rarely cheap, ranging from under $20 to over $100 per session, with the average (in Michigan) being in the $50-70 range. Trainers often choose a price arbitrarily without considering anything except what they think they can get. Personal trainers should have reasons for what they charge, and take many factors into consideration. There is nothing wrong with clients asking trainers why they charge what they do; a good trainer should have an answer that makes sense.

Location – Training generally takes place either in a gym/health club, athletic facility, workplace, or in people’s homes. The location should be comfortable and appropriate, and promote success for clients.

Flexibility – Things like how long sessions last (30 min, 60 min, etc), how many people can train together (individual or group sessions), how often people need to work with a trainer (once per month, 3 times per week) , and for how long (6 months, 1 year, etc) are all important to consider when choosing a trainer. If clients are looking to work out with friends, but have busy schedules, and limited income; they need to find a trainer experienced in doing group sessions, lasting maybe 30 or 45 minutes, once every 1 to 2 weeks. This is different than the trainer who has only done one on one sessions, for 1 hour, 3 days per week.

All of these factors should be considered by clients looking to work with a trainer. Clients should not be afraid to question trainers, interview them, and decide which is the best fit. On the flip side, personal trainers need to consider what they need to do to best serve their clients and any potential clients they may have in the future. It should be a win-win relationship for everyone involved.

For more information about personal training for clients and/or trainers, contact Bob at: bob@functional-strength-training.com or visit his website at: www.functional-strength-training.com

Get Fit Challenge Update

It’s 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and Elizabeth is already on the treadmill warming up. Her trainer, Brian Gambino, BACSCS, is finishing up with one of his other clients. These days are beginning to work their way into Elizabeth’s routine, a routine that she says she needs to keep herself on the fitness trail.

At 28-years old, Elizabeth had the foresight to notice that she did not like the path her health was taking. Overweight, but recognizing she needed to improve her health, Elizabeth faced the same obstacles many people do… she didn’t know how to get started.

This is now changing with the help of her trainer, Brian, and Bally Total Fitness. Brian has several accredited personal training certifications including: ACSM, Health & Fitness Instruction; NSCA, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and ACE. He is a past Personal Training Director for Bally Total Fitness and has been involved in personal training for over nine years. Elizabeth has her work cut out for her!

In their initial session, Brian set up a program for Elizabeth that involves cardiovascular workouts 5-6 times per week, accompanied by three days of circuit training. He also provided nutrition information and assigned Elizabeth to keep a food diary that she brings to him for evaluation.

“Our goals are to get her moving again and back into workouts. We want her to lose weight and just get healthier,” says Brian. “What I’ve set up for her is a three times per week total body workout that includes her major muscle groups and helps burn calories. Then she does two different modes of cardiovascular exercise, such as the treadmill and the elliptical.”

By changing up the machines Elizabeth uses as well as the cardiovascular workouts, Brian is trying to reduce the risk of repetitive injuries, as well as keeping her body guessing what is coming next.

Currently, Elizabeth is performing 6-9 different exercises each session at 12-20 repetitions. The circuit training allows for her to maintain an elevated heart rate so that she can continue to burn calories throughout her workout.

In just her first four sessions, Elizabeth has already increased some of her strength, as well as her cardiovascular endurance. She has increased her treadmill time from 20 minutes to 30 minutes, and Brian has noticed an increase in her strength.

Elizabeth’s submission for the Get Fit Challenge noted how she had a gym membership, had tried different workouts, but ultimately was unsuccessful because she was intimidated by the workout machines, as well as the lack of knowledge of what to do. Today, that is changing.

“I am pleasantly surprised (with the progress). I still don’t love the weight section and still find it intimidating, but the program Brian set up for me is super easy to follow. We walked through it 2-3 times the first day,” says Elizabeth. “I am the type of person that needs things neatly mapped out and structured. Brian has really helped.”

With just a few training sessions under her belt, there is no dramatic weight loss. And, as Brian points out, dramatic weight loss right away is not realistic.

“We can expect to lose one to two pounds per week for women somewhere between 4-6 weeks,” says Brian. “After that she will begin to burn more fat. Elizabeth has a great attitude and is fun to train. She makes the job more enjoyable.”

Brian has seen many people succeed in their attempts to improve their health and hopes that Elizabeth will be another one of those success stories.

We’ll continue to follow Elizabeth’s progress in our upcoming issues, including her results at the end of her three-month Challenge. Good luck, Elizabeth!

Fitness: Shooting for the Stars

Rip Hamilton, Steve Yzerman, Magglio Ordonez, anyone on the Lions? Okay, so maybe Detroit is not the center of the athletic universe to people living outside of Michigan. But, rest assured millions of kids around the world have had dreams of being a professional athlete. A smaller number of those youths may actually make it to the college and/or professional level. Whether or not high level sports are in the future for today’s young athletes, they and their parents are trying to do whatever it takes to give their child an edge.

According to Associated Press writer, Jamie Stengle, “Nearly a million American youngsters, some as young as 6, rely on personal trainers to shape up, lose weight or improve in sports.” Youth personal training has grown tremendously in the last number of years due to many factors. While most kids just want to be better physically, parents want to make sure that the programs their children are doing are safe and productive. With the cuts in physical education across the country, and the sometimes dismal fitness knowledge of coaches, these are legitimate concerns.

Kids are turning to the wrong sources to learn about fitness. According to West Bloomfield based personal trainer, Gary Gonte, “many of today’s youths are your typical ‘Generation X.’ They Google everything you tell them and do not always consider the source. For example, one of my clients weighs 140 pounds and thinks he should be eating 300 grams of protein per day. I am sure he read it in a muscle magazine. I told him that magazine is for professional body builders, and he should stick with Men’s Health.”

So what can a personal trainer offer young athletes that they cannot learn from gym class, or the magazines? There is no shortage of weight lifting programs out there for kids. Everyone has done some sort of resistance training using methods that are decades old, up to “the latest and greatest” new techniques.

In terms of resistance training, a primary problem is too much information. The basic fact is that while resistance training is fairly crucial for most sports, different sports and different athletes require different methods. Let me make this clear, there is no one method that works best for everyone. A qualified trainer can help make sense out of everything out there to design a proper program for each athlete’s individual needs. The other area of concern is that weight lifting neglects many other, often more important, physical aspects of sports. These areas include power, speed, agility, quickness, flexibility, balance, injury prevention, proper diet, and mental toughness. Not to mention the need for “functional strength” vs. “Hollywood muscle.” Here are a couple of tests that most athletes should be able to do:

1) Single leg squat: balance on one leg (don’t touch anything with your hands or other leg) do a full squat on the one leg dropping your butt almost all the way to the ground (I mean just a few inches from the floor) and stand back up – still only on the one leg. Most athletes past puberty age should be able to perform at least one repetition per leg – more for the “higher level” athlete. It is always fun to see the guy who can do a standard barbell squat with tons of weight, but cannot do one of these without either falling over or hardly going down to the floor.

2) Shoulder flexibility: reach one hand behind your head, down your back; and the other hand behind your back reaching up. The two hands should be able to touch and that should be the case with the arms reversed. That 400 lb. bench press doesn’t mean much if you can’t move your arms past the front of your body.

The other side of the youth training continuum is the non-athlete child who just needs, or wants, to get in better shape. The American Obesity Association states, “30 percent of children aged 6 to 18 are overweight, and another 15 percent are obese.” According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “kids as young as 8 can benefit from low-resistance exercise with small weights and actually grow stronger with little risk of injury.”

* This is a good time to mention that what I am talking about in this article is personal training, not athletic training. No offense to my athletic training colleagues, it’s just a different focus.*

While not all personal trainers are qualified to work with children (parents and kids should do their homework), there are those out there with the experience and knowledge that can greatly help. Especially with athletes, an evaluation of their current level of function should first be performed to design an appropriate program.

Parents and athletes should not feel that it is necessary to devote all of their time to working with a trainer. While some people require multiple days per week, others can benefit from working 1-2 times per month with a trainer. This does not mean that is the only time you should work out, but if you are very self motivated, a trainer only needs to get you going in the right direction. Training is often done in a group setting, but can also be individual; and can range in time and price.

Personal training can be a huge asset to a child’s physical education, and an athlete’s progress. An athlete who wants to excel to the top level needs to do what the others will not.

For more information regarding training for youths and adults, contact Bob at: bob@functional-strength-training.com or visit our website at: www.functional-strength-training.com

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