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

I ate a few too much heavenly chocolate (my Grandmother’s secret recipe) and pumpkin pie over the holidays - I’ll admit it -

So I figured…

Why wait until 2009 to work off a few of the fat pounds I put on?

Here’s a glimpse into my 30 minute fat loss session that I just returned from (My heart is STILL beating fast). It doesn’t seem like much, but I kept the rest periods short and believe me, the intensity was high - I refuse to be fat - haha -

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The Workout - Quad Dominant, Vertical Push, Vertical Pull

A1. Neutral Grip Dumbell Push Press, 35’s - 12, 12

A2. Close Grip Chinups, BW - 10, 7

A3. Bulgarian Split Squats, 35’s - 10, 10 / leg

B1. Walking Lunges holding a 35 lb plate overhead - 10, 10 / leg

B2. 1 Arm Dumbell Swing, 30 lb dumbell - 15, 15 / arm

B3. Triceps Duck Unders (I needed this rest station, the swings killed me), 12, 10

---

I tried to keep the rest to under 1 minute between sets, and I think I was in and out of the gym before some of the other people switched exercises!!

Happy New Year, and I’ll talk to you in 2009!

Technorati Tags: fat loss, Program Design, quick workouts

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:

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

Let’s say that you’ve been inactive and you’ve decided to ease in to some sort of exercise only two days a week..

Now..

Would you choose to spend these two sessions performing cardio like running on the treadmill??

Or would you do some sort or strength training with higher reps??

Alwyn Cosgrove has a good article titled Strength or Cardio? where he insists that if you had to choose one, do the strength FIRST–meaning if you only have two days do strength, and then add cardio later if you choose to work out more frequently.

His point is that if you want to lose weight, you have to burn Calories and elevate your metabolism. And the easiest way to do that is through strength training.

He says that the best way to initially burn Calories is to make your muscles active–and the best way to elevate your metabolism is to gain MORE muscle, which will require you to burn even more Calories.

A simple concept, but it won’t do any good unless you apply it. So go do some lifting!!!

Technorati Tags: cardio, fat loss, metabolism, strength training

Question:

I am professional dancer and I have recently change my eating and exercising habits and dropped 20 lbs. I do 40 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning 5 days a week and I do the ab wheel every night and some push ups pull ups and dips 3x a week. I still have a little bit of fat around my lower abdominal area. I know diet is 80% of the battle and I eat fruits and vegetables everyday along with lean protein and a little bit of carbs. Are there any little tricks I can do to lose the last little bit of fat? Otherwise I am quite happy with my body… Thanks Doug!

Congrats on your weight loss and getting a body you’re happy with. And props for addressing the major issues like exercise and nutrition and for realizing their importance before worrying yourself with the smaller details.

Here is what I noticed you’re doing right:

• Nutrition–eating lean protein, fruits, and vegetables every day-keeping carbs to a minimum.
• Exercise
  • Frequency- This is how many times per week you exercise. I haven’t stressed this very much on this blog, but frequency is crucial. You’ve built a lifestyle that incorporates exercise so you can get your work in 5+ days a week–way to go!
  • Strength Training- You’re doing 3 days/week of some sort of strength work with your dips, pushups, and pull-ups.
  • Cardio- You’re also incorporating cardio 5 days per week (though I recommend interval training).
  • Core-Training-Keep it up with the pushups and ab wheel exercises.
• Mindset–You realize the importance of nutrition and consistent exercise, are not looking for shortcuts, and you’re obviously willing to put in the necessary work.

That being said, there is one thing I noticed from what you told me about your program that jumped out at me.

Where’s the lower body strength training?!!!!!

Ya know, for your ass and legs—You missed a few BIG muscles here.

Remember, you want to build muscle so that your body burns fat more efficiently. And believe me-if you’re not yet incorporating resistance training with your lower body, you still have a lot of room to grow.

I know you’re doing cardio (and a lot of it), but you’d be better off replacing 20 minutes of cardio with some squat, deadlift, and lunge variations on your three strength training days. This will allow you to keep the ball rolling with your results.

This will ensure that every part of your body will be constantly in a state of building new muscle and burning Calories, (which is what you want in order to lose that last bit of fat.)

So go do some squats and let me know how it goes!!!

Technorati Tags: ab roller, abs, calories, cardio, Core Training, fat loss, lower-body-training, meal frequency, Nutrition, Program Design, strength training, weight loss

What are the best ways to get them [my abs and thighs] in shape pretty quickly but without taking over 15 minutes a day? And I’m 5′4; 125lbs and was considering getting my belly button pierced, opinions?

It is definitely possible for you to do something 15 minutes a day and see results– as long as your session is of a high intensity (meaning hard)!

You should stick to two basic types of training:

1. Total Body weight training.

These exercises consist of compound movements-these are movements that involve multiple muscle groups:

Think squats, lunges, deadlifts (picking stuff up off the floor), bench presses, rows, chin ups (assisted), and you can’t go wrong. If you lack fancy equipment or the time to head to the gym, you can perform movements that simply use your bodyweight–squats, lunges, pushups, and planks can be done anywhere-put all these exercises back to back in a circuit and should be breathing hard..

2. Interval Training (high intensity)

Rather than doing long, slow, boring cardio for 60 minutes (who has the time?? not you!), you should use high intensity interval training.

For example, on a treadmill, you could go for a minute and a half at a moderate pace like a slow jog or walk (say 3.5 mph–this is your “rest pace”). Followed by 20 seconds of an all out or close to all out sprinting (Say 10 mph–this is your work pace). After the 20 seconds, go back to your rest pace. Doing this for 7 intervals (an interval includes the work and rest period) would take about 15 minutes.

Note: I picked the speeds above as an example, but feel free to adjust your intervals to your fitness level. Your work interval should be strenuous enough so that you couldn’t go much longer than the designated time.

You can apply this principle to other things like the Elliptical, Stair Climber, Rowing machine, running outside, etc. As long as you have a rest phase and a work phase.

Just make sure that during your 20 second phase, you’re busting your butt! I’m talking, when you get to the end of the interval, you should be absolutely spent–use the rest phase to recover so you can do it again.

Feel free to play with the times if you want to change it up-a 20 second (more advanced) work phase is going to be more intense than a 40 second work phase.

Time to get to work!!

These above two types of training are meant to be hard, as they squeeze a lot of work into a short time period–the other goods news is that every new study that comes out has shown this type of training to be MORE effective than traditional cardio in that it breaks down muscle and stimulates EPOC, which speeds up your metabolism even after your workout!

Simply put, your body will keep burning more Calories throughout the day, and your metabolism will increase–meaning more fat burning–meaning abs that show.

Technorati Tags: abs, EPOC, exercise selection, fat loss, Get A Flatter Stomach, interval training, Program Design, strength training, time-management, total-body-training

Question:

Does the ab roller really work? Or are sit-ups just as good? What are the best exercises for firming your middle?

I know there are a few products out there similar to the ab roller (like the ab dolly, ab slide, ab wheel..) so I’m assuming you’re talking about any one of these similar products where you grip the device with both hands laying face down on the floor, and extending out with your truck, using your core to stabilize yourself.

Anyway, I’ll answer your first two questions right now:

Ab roller or Sit-ups?

The short answer is, yes the ab roller does work and no, sit-ups aren’t just as good. When I say work, I’m not necessarily talking about what you call “firming”, but I’ll get into that later.

For now, the more interesting question is why the ab roller a better exercise than the sit-up.

Function of Abs

First let’s examine the function of your abs. While they can serve to flex the trunk (as in a sit-up), their main function is to stabilize the body.

Your abs are there to PREVENT MOVEMENT during activities that require you to stabilize yourself—which is virtually every movement.

Think about when your throw a ball, reach over your head to put something on a shelf, stand on one foot, or serve a tennis ball—start to notice what your abs are doing. They’re being activated and holding your core in place so that you are able to perform these movements.

Have your abs ever been really sore after a tough workout?

If yes, notice how difficult every day activities become with sore abs!! Yes, in all these normal movements, your abs are firing and active–because they’re preventing movement.

So let me ask you—what are you accomplishing by doing a sit-up?

Well, a sit-up is pretty much just repeated flexion of the trunk, rather than stabilizing your body—not good. Not to mention, sit-ups are a good way to injure yourself!

The ab roller exercise, however, does make sense. You’re not flexing or extending at the trunk, but you’re supporting your own bodyweight as you roll out. This uses your abs in a role of preventing movement, acting as a core stabilizer—this makes much more sense!

Problem With the Ab Roller

The problem with the ab roller exercise is that it’s extremely advanced and, quite honestly, I’d be surprised if you could find a handful of people at your gym at any given time that could do 10 of these with no problem.

(If you’re one of them, good for you—you probably don’t need to read below).

Ab Variations

The good news is, there are some simple progressions and variations to this exercise, and you don’t have to go out and buy anything from a late night infomercial to do it!!

I’ll summarize two basic exercises that can be found on T-nation. Feel free to check out the article as it goes into more depth, but for most people, these two will be enough.

1) Basic Plank

I love planks. Just ask any of my clients!!

This is where you’re in a prone (face down) position, with only your forearms and feet touching the ground. Your back is in a straight line, and your core and glutes are completely tight and activated, working to keep your body in this position.

You should be able to hold this position for 60-90 seconds. If you can’t hold it for at least 40 seconds, definitely start with this exercise before moving to move advanced ab rollouts.

The great thing about planks is that you can do them anywhere, any time! For a while there, my dad was doing these along with pushups every time he changed clothes.

2) Stability Ball Rollout

This is pretty much the same exercise as with the ab roller.

The only difference is you’re placing your forearms on the ball rather than gripping the ab wheel.

The smaller the ball you use, the harder the exercise will be—so start with the biggest one. Trust me—these are hard.

If you get to a few sets of 15 reps on your stability ball rollouts, you can progress to the ab roller!

Now to your third question…

How to Firm the Middle

I did my best to answer your core training questions, but I can’t help but wonder what you meant by “firm your middle”..

So far, I’ve assumed that you meant better, stronger, more functional abs.

You chose the phrase “firm up”!

What this hints to me is that you want to lose any fat in that area so that your abs will show and you’ll have the healthy, slim, and dare I say toned look that so many people strive for.

That’s a great goal!

But..

It’s important for you to realize that while taking care of your abs and doing the proper exercises is a good thing, this alone will not give you a 6 pack or the slim look you desire.

It really drives me nuts when I see infomercials full of people with very low body fat, abs showing, etc., swearing that X product will deliver instant results and give you sleek, sexy abs.

Give me a break.

The reality is that you cannot isolate fat loss to a specific area of the body by targeting it with a particular exercise. Period.

I went over this in some more detail in a previous article titled, Help Me Get a 6 Pack that you may want to check out if you haven’t already. I also talk about what does work in getting that healthy, slim look.

Basically, you’ll need to follow an exercise plan designed specifically for fat loss while also focusing on proper nutrition—which is absolutely crucial.

I also highly recommend downloading this very popular book:

The Truth About 6-Pack Abs - I think you can even try it out for a whole week for under five bucks, and the information is fantastic.

So go get started with your planks and stability ball rollouts! Five minutes of ab work per workout should be plenty. If you need to lose some fat, start an exercise and nutrition program with that goal in mind.

As always, keep the questions coming by using the “Ask Doug” section, and feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

Technorati Tags: 6-pack, ab exercises, ab roller, core, Core Training, exercise selection, fat loss, Get A Flatter Stomach, role of abs, sit-ups, toning