Question:

Doug I’m, 39 years, female, 5′ 2″, 224lbs - I started exercising and eating right about 1 month ago and I’ve lost 5lbs. I have a weight loss goal of 100lbs and that could take a year or more to achieve. So I thought that I could also have a fitness level goal as well. Do you think that participating (actually running) in a 5K in June 2009 is too much of a lofty goal? Thanks

Answer:

First, Happy New Year, and congrats on losing 5 pounds on your own in your first month of change!

And I want to commend you on:

1) Actually taking ACTION, in changing your eating and beginning some form of exercise – and sticking to it for an entire month.

I read somewhere recently that it takes between 30 – 90 days to cement a habit and lifestyle change. What’s even more interesting is that it takes the MOST willpower during the initial 30 days, while it actually becomes EASIER to keep a routine going, the longer you go. This means that on days 1-10, you really have to just grit your teeth and make yourself prepare salads, get to your workouts, avoid sweets, etc. But the longer you go, the more the habits become AUTOMATIC, so you do them without thinking.

2) The second thing I’d like to comment on is your use of the deadline – This is a concept I’ve yet to mention on this blog. The use of deadlines is a very effective tool in your goal-setting arsenal.

For example, have you ever had a project, test, or other chore that just HAD to be done by in a certain time period? We humans are pretty good about getting things accomplished when this is the case. Think about it – how many bills would get paid if there wasn’t an actual due date and the company just told you to send the money in when it’s convenient? If it were me, I’d probably be in debt with a credit score in the 300’s.. – Somehow the deadline makes you get off your butt and get stuff accomplished.

On the other side of the coin, have you ever had something that you know you needed to do, but just never seemed to get done? It’s sort something that’s always on your mind, but you never seem to be able to get it off your to do list?

Well the same thing applies to making LASTING OVERHAULS to your diet and exercise. (Which, by the way are the two keys to losing fat - despite what some late night infomercials want you to think).

Here, you’re using June 2009 for a specific 5K event – Make sure you know the exact date of the event and mark it in bold on your calendar. Somehow having this deadline for a time where we HAVE to be ready to run seems to have a profound effect on allowing us to accomplish our goals.

Now to answer your question..

YES!!

Okay, so you’ve probably figured out that weighing less makes it easier to run – It’s easy to see that with less weight on your body, it takes less energy to move. Also, it’s much easier on your joints, making it a more realistic option when choosing appropriate exercises.

So..

Traditionally, us trainers are taught in our certifications and textbooks that a realistic and safe rate of fat loss is approximately 1-2 pounds a week. Although I personally believe it is very realistic and perfectly healthy to lose weight even faster.

For the sake of this question, we’ll say your goal is to lose 2 pounds per week.

Now, to see how whether it’s realistic to make your goal, we just take the number of weeks until your race and multiply it by 2.

I don’t know the exact date of your race, but we’ll say June 20^th (a Saturday).

Starting next Monday, you have 21 weeks until your race.

So here’s what you do..

Set a 21 week goal to lose 42 pounds, and plan on weighing 179 by June 20th 2009. Unless you have some kind of injury, 179 should be plenty light enough to run in your 5K!!

Make sure to take this main goal, and break it up into a series of mini-goals along the way so that you make sure you’re staying on track. For example, after 11 weeks, you’d want to be down to 202 – After 6 weeks, 212, and so on.

If you’re not hitting your mini-goals, you know that you need to change something in order to get there.

So way to go in making a change for a month – Be sure to look around this website and others for tips on what changes you can make to your diet and exercise today in order to get you the fastest rate of fat loss.

More people are writing in, which is good, and I’d like to see some more comments – That will help me address the stuff that you need on here. So use the Ask Doug section and the comments section, and I’ll talk to you soon.

Technorati Tags: 5k, deadlines, fat loss, goal-setting, lifestyle change, running

Question:

I’m a high school football player and have a potential college career. i want to burn fat and gain muscle. how do i do this. should i take protein shakes concidering i workout 5 days a week. or should i just do tons of cardio. etc. any advice is welcomed. also if i pack on 5 pounds i dont care. as long as its good weight. how do i go about this and would protein shakes help?

Answer:

Before I answer your question I’m going to get a couple of thoughts out of my system.

First of all, if your goal is to play football at the next level, your only concerns should be what you should do in order to get there. One thing I can say without even knowing you is that one of your goals in training is to get stronger (if not, it should be). I’ll assume this is what you mean by gaining muscle, so you’re on the right track here.

As far as losing fat, be careful. Are you looking to lose fat in order to look good for the ladies? Or do you have a weight issue that can hinder your performance on the field? Make sure that if you’re trying to lose any fat, it’s the latter reason.

I’m not sure what your position is, but if you’re a lineman of some type, forget about the 6 pack! Really. Look at your favorite linemen in the NFL. If you get them to take their jerseys off, I guarantee you won’t see any rippling abs. Why not? Because it’s all about PERFORMANCE.

Trust me, I wasn’t in high school all that long ago, and I have to admit that I wanted my mirror muscles to show - chest, abs, and biceps were all that really mattered at times.. But wouldn’t you rather to have the body that allows you to DOMINATE on the field? That’s what’ll really impress the ladies…

Anyway..

If you’re at a skill position, that ripped type of physique is more realistic and should come along with proper training and nutrition, so don’t worry too much about it if you’re a wideout, corner, or even a safety - it’ll come.

Now about your training regimen and nutrition..

Training Regimen

Every time you do something in your training regimen, you need to ask yourself the following question:

“Is this going to make me a better football player?”

Is doing “tons of cardio” going to make you a better football player? Since football is an anaerobic sport (I think the average play is around 7 seconds or so), then the answer is NO. Why train your body like a marathon runner? It makes no sense. You want to be able to perform explosive, powerful movements for short periods of time - And then be able to repeat it over and over throughout the course of the game. So this is how you should train!

Explode. Rest. Explode Rest. Explode Rest… You get the point..

If you find a high level football player running in any 5K races or jogging on the treadmill, let me know, and I’ll give you 20 bucks (it can’t be a kicker).

Right now, you should be just beginning your off season for football. If you’re not playing any other sports, the off season is the perfect time to get stronger, as you don’t have to worry about any grueling practices or important games - It’s your chance to put in your work and show up to practice next summer with a new body.

If you work hard in the off season, you should have build so much muscle, there won’t be much room for fat on your body.

But..

If you still have too much body fat at the end of the day, the problem isn’t in your training–you may want to look at your nutrition–are you eating junk?? If so, stop it.

Nutrition

You are on the right track in knowing that protein is important to build muscle. Before worrying about a protein shake or supplement, make sure you’re eating healthy, staying away from soft drinks, eating vegetables, and including a source of protein in every meal. If you’re already doing all this, a protein supplement can help in that it’s an easy way to fuel your body between meals.

Say you’re between meals, and don’t really have time to cook up a chicken breast or cook up some ground beef. Now’s when a shake comes in handy as it allows you to supply your body with the protein it needs between meals.

It’s not that using the powder is better than eating real food (it’s not). The reason to use the powder is that it’s fast and convenient. It’s a way to get your 40-60 grams in without having to cook up 7 complete meals every day.

If you train hard and eat well consistently, you’ll have a true advantage over your competition.

I hope this information helps, and I wish you the best of luck in your career!

Technorati Tags: fat loss, football training, Nutrition, Performance, sport specific training, strength training, training-philosophy

Question:

I do push-ups all day and they’re not getting any easier. I’m about to join the military and have been working out for about 4 months. I’ve lost 30 pounds and feel much better about my physical abilities. At first I couldn’t do 10 good push-ups in a row, now I can do intervals of 25. I’ve been stuck at 25 for a long time and it’s not improving. I feel It would be better if I could do at least 40 or 50 at a time. How do I get there quickly?

Answer:

First, great job losing 30 pounds and going from being able to do only 10 push-ups in a row to sets of 25. That’s a 150% increase in your push-ups!

Second, I feel for you, as the military is very demanding. You have to pass the situp test, the 2 mile test, and the push-up test. This requires you maintain a blend of athletic attributes - Primarily, strength, muscle endurance, and cardiovascular fitness. Not to mention extreme mental toughness..

Focusing on the push-up, there are three main things you’re going to want to address in order to increase this number.

• Stability - Your ability to maintain a good push-up position without your shoulder girdle or core stabilizers becoming fatigued. To improve this, try performing holds in the down position, planks, and side bridges. Also scapular stabilization exercises such the scap push-up and the wall slide will help.

• Maximal Strength - Your ability to lift a heavier loads with fewer reps. To improve this, you can add weight to your push-up in the form of plates or chains and propping your feet in the air. I’m also a big fan of heavy bench pressing (1-6 RM) in order to increase raw strength.
• Strength Endurance - Your ability to lift a lighter load for higher reps. Try performing max push-ups in a certain amount of time (I think the army test is 2:00, right?). Of you can break it up into smaller times intervals and try to set new records with that amount of time. Performing high rep bench presses with lighter weight is also an idea.

In addition the exercises listed above, something simple that may be overlooked is your weight. Especially if it’s mostly FAT.

Think about it…

When performing a military style push-up, you are lifting approximately 2/3 of your body weight. So, if you weigh less, that is automatically going to make the exercise easier and allow your to increase your total number of push-ups.

Simple, huh?

Anyway, if you’re reading this post, your main goal is likely to pass the military basic training test. If you’re really willing to do whatever it takes to get this accomplished, you should invest in some expert help. Or if you’re more of a do-it-your-selfer, you can do the next best thing and invest in a system that works.

In his book, Eric does a great job going through EXACTLY what you need to do in order to get in to military kind of shape.

You can check it out here: Invincible Fitness: Basic Training

Now go get to work! I hope this info helps all you future soldiers out there - I really admire what you all do. Best of luck becoming a push-up machine and making it in the military!

Related Posts

9 Ways to Increase the Difficulty of a Push-up (Part 1)

9 Ways to Increase the Difficulty of a Push-up (Part 2)

Video Demo of Push-up Variations

Technorati Tags: Core Training, hartman, muscle endurance, push-ups, stability, strength training

Question:

Hey, Doug! Whenever I’ve gone to the gym to do high interval training, I usually lift (three of the six days per week). I’m in pretty nice shape (15″ toned biceps, 42″ chest), but I want to take it to the next level. For the last 5 years, I’ve used machines, and they seem to have worked very well. That is, up until now. Is there a point where you can “max out” or should I switch to the more traditional free weights?

Answer:

Great job committing to a regular training plan and sticking to it, and congrats on seeing results in the form of increases in strength and muscle mass.

Before I get directly into your question, I’d like to get in to why I prefer free weights over machines by starting with a question of my own..

When moving an object or your own body in real life, is it on a fixed axis where all you have to do is apply force?

The answer is no–you have to use coordination and balance along with your overall strength in order to perform real life movements.

Machine movements have very little in common with real life movements like picking things up, bending down, lifting stuff over your head, etc. Not only does this type of training not train balance and coordination, but it renders your stabilizer muscles, tendons, and ligaments useless because the axis of the machine is acting in place of these stabilizers.

Imagine for a moment learning to walk as a child. You must go through the steps of the learning process–standing up, taking a step, falling over, trying again, etc. etc..

Now imagine this..

Instead of learning to walk in real life, (which is difficult) you are restricted to using four machines to build up your leg muscles so that you will be strong enough to walk. With one machine, you have to extend your knee, with another machine, you flex your knee , with another machine you extend at the hip, and with the final machine you flex at the hip. You could add resistance (instead of gravity) so that you could build strength in your leg muscles.

What’s going to happen when you take the machine away and try to walk?

You guessed it..

You’re going to fall flat on your face.

Sure, you have built up “strength” in your main leg muscles, but your stabilizers are extremely weak and, more importantly, you don’t have the coordination to carry out such a complex task.

The same principle applies to your strength training.

I’ve read some articles that do a great job explaining the importance of using free weights in much more detail (unfortunately I don’t have them with me), but what I can tell you is it important to be able to move your own bodyweight and other weights without the security of a fixed axis. Using free weights forces you to actually develop the coordination and balance that you need in order to carry over in to the real world movements.

Isn’t that just as important if not more important than training purely for aesthetic purposes? If not, it should be, in my humble opinion.

Also by using free weights, your tendons, ligaments, and stabilizer muscles will develop properly, which will allow you to lift more weight, which will get you stronger and prevent injury, which will actually allow you to develop more muscle and to “look the part”.

So go out and start learning some basic free weight movements like squats, deadlifts, lunges, pushups, pullups, and rows. You’ll likely have to begin with lighter weights than you do on your machines until you develop the coordination and appropriate stabilizers to execute these movements safely with more weight–this can be tough to swallow at first, but it will be worth it in the long run. Leave your pride at the door!

To answer your question more directly, in addition to being healthier you’ll definitely have more room to grow in mastering the use of free weights–especially when you’ve implemented an optimal strength or muscle building program.

I hope this helps. As always, questions and comments are encouraged on the blog!

Technorati Tags: bodyweight-training, exercise selection, free weights, functional training, machines, stabilizers, strength training

Question:

Doug, I am 23 years old and 5 feet tall and getting married 11/7/2009. I used to play hard core softball which kept me in great shape of weighing 135-145 depending on what i was doing for weight lifting. Now, I work fulltime and seem to not be motivated like i should be. Please let me know what would be the best way nutritonally and physically to lose the 25+ lbs by next September (dress fitting begins) and KEEP IT OFF. Hope to hear from you soon, thank you!

Answer:

Congrats on the wedding. With well over a year until your important date, you have plenty of time to lose this weight. As I’ve said before on here, there are two important components to fat loss–nutrition and exercise.

You already know you have to make a change in order to see results. So what do you change?

Nutrition

Well, you didn’t give me much information on what you’re doing with nutrition, but for starters, sit down and pinpoint certain aspects of your nutrition that you could correct IMMEDIATELY and improve your diet.

Do you drink soda, pop, or juice? If so, simply stop it.

Do you eat sweets? If so, stop it-eat fruit instead. Peaches and strawberries are sweet!

Do you go long periods of time without eating and then gorge? If so, pack healthy snacks (nuts, fruit, meat) so you don’t get too hungry. Plan ahead.

Is there anything else that you know you do wrong that you can fix? Eat chips? Replace with veggies. Can’t help snacking on junk at home? Don’t buy junk.

Simple, but very important.

You’d be surprised at how making one crucial change can add up over a long period of time. Just eliminating the really bad habits can easy drop you a few pounds without you having to do any real work. The hard part is making yourself stick to it. For this, you just have to get tough on yourself–find a way to not eat the crap that doesn’t contribute to your health.

Once you’ve gotten rid of all the blatantly terrible habits you may have, check out Precision Nutrition and sign up for the free E-mail course. You’ll learn a lot in the 7 days and it will change the way you view your own nutrition.

Exercise

You mentioned that since your softball days ended and your working days began, you’ve come to struggle with your weight. What this shows is how important it is to exercise with the right frequency. Remember going to softball practice 5 days a week? You probably didn’t think much of it then, but that’s one thing that kept you from gaining fat.

So I’m going to recommend you get back to your old ways and commit to 5 days of exercise per week. Depending on how busy you are in your pre/post work responsibilities, you may have to budget your time. Sit down with your schedule and look for 30 minute-60 minute slots where you are free and can commit to exercise. And if there’s no time, you should consider making time–investing in yourself an hour a day shouldn’t be too much to ask–your health is worth it, right?!

Enough lecturing..

With your 5 days, I recommend three of the days be spent doing total body strength training-spaced out evenly throughout the week–like Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Make sure your program includes total body movements, circuits, and incomplete rest periods– preferably with reps in the 12-20 range. Seeking out a good personal trainer with experience in designing programs geared toward fat loss may be a worthwhile investment.

Along with your strength training, commit to doing energy work or cardio two days a week–preferably some form of interval training–like Tuesday, Thursday.

These are some ideas to get you started. Remember that it’s not a question of whether you can lose the weight and keep it off. It’s more a matter of taking the attitude:

“I am going to lose the weight and get to my goal in time for my wedding no matter what.”

I find the no matter what part to be extremely powerful in going after any goals in life.

Technorati Tags: exercise-frequency, fat loss, how to eat healthy, Nutrition, Program Design

Question

I haven’t worked out or conditioned in years. I am running a 5K in less than a week. What do I need to do to prepare?

Well—this is an interesting question.

Obviously, you should have started training for this event several weeks in advance—but since you haven’t and you’re going to go ahead and run it anyway, I am going to assume that you’re participating in this event for fun.

Awesome!

Depending on how deconditioned you are, this race is likely going to be a challenge for you.

Since you don’t really have time to get your body in shape for the race, all you can do is make sure you don’t do anything drastic that could make you sick or prevent your from finishing.

1. Don’t try to pack 6-8 weeks of conditioning in to the few days before the race. This will just make you sore so you’ll be better off just resting or going for an easy jog. If you had even a week or two more to prepare, my advice would be different. But you don’t.
2. Eat like normal. Hopefully, you’re eating healthy foods already. If not, try to make sure you’re getting your veggies, fruits, proteins, good fats and good carbs in. I wouldn’t try anything drastic like carb loading or anything if you haven’t tried this technique before as it could give you unpredictable results during the race.
3. Drink plenty of fluids between now and the race. Use the pee test: if your pee is translucent, you’re ok. If it looks like the color of lemon lime Gatorade when you dump the whole box of powder in, then you probably need to go fill up your water bottle. Or heck–just go to the nearest faucet and starting sucking back some H2O straight from the tap!
4. Have fun! Don’t expect to break any world records. You’re probably doing this for fun or for a charitable cause, which is great—so leave it at that. If you happen to be a very competitive person or if you were a competitive runner in the past, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t set any personal records..

It’s OK. Next time, just make sure you train!

Maybe this race can serve as a starting point for you to start a conditioning program—either for another race in the future of just for health benefits. Use the race as psychological momentum to get yourself active again.

Good luck and have fun!

Technorati Tags: 5k, endurance training, Momentum, Performance, running