Thursday, February 26, 2009

3 Things to be Carefull With

Alcohol, caffeine, and sugar are three things that people with cortisol issues should be carefull with. All three of these cause a stress response in the body which leads to more cortisol. For those who love their morning coffee make sure to have your caffeine between 6-8am(when your cortisol levels are naturally the highest) and have your coffee with your breakfast. The protein and fat in your breakfast will slow down the stress response on your body from the caffeine.

Sugar and alcohol also cause stress on the body. Sugar causes a large release of insulin which is a stressor. If you have a cortisol problem then you are more than likely to have a problem with insulin resistance, which means that any excess sugar is going to create a lot of problems for you. Alcohol can also wreak havoc on cortisol metabolism, because it is also perceived as a stress. Once again, if you are going to have alcohol make sure to have it with some protein and fat in order to slow down the absorbtion.

Cortisol is meant to be high in the early morning in order to give us energy and then gradually decrease throughout the day. Many people today have backwards cortisol patterns in which they have very low levels in the morning and high levels at night. The typical person with a backwards cortisol pattern often needs caffeine to wake up in the morning and alcohol to wind down at night. If you fit this mold then try to break free of your dependance on these substances.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Lowering Your Cortisol

Do you make time to relax everyday? If not then you should make an effort to do something relaxing everyday. Most people that I talk to feel like they have more to do than there are hours in the day. If you fall into this category then it is important that you make some time to get away from everything for a couple of minutes everyday. This time can be a short break for 5 min or it can be 30 minutes to an hour, but it is important. For most people, simply getting away from your desk at lunch time and actually sitting down to eat is a good start. This will give you a little break from your workday. One of my favorite things to do to relax is yoga. Yoga can have a very calming effect on the body and is a great way to relax and add some flexibility work at the same time. If yoga is not for you then anything that relaxes you such as listening to music or reading will do just fine.

Another great way to relax is to establish a bed time routine that is full of relaxing activities that will prepare you for sleep. Since you should be going to bed earlier this can be helpful. For most people, the simple things such as taking a couple of minutes everyday to relax combined with going to bed an hour earlier can make a huge difference in the way you feel and the results that you get from your workouts. So make it a priority to get away from everything even if it is only for a couple of minutes today, and then get to bed early tonight.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Anti-Stress Week

So you have started working out consistently, your eating is getting dialed in but something is still missing and you are not getting the results that you would expect. What is the problem? Probably stress! Stress can ruin the best fat loss plan. When our bodies encounter stress it changes our hormonal environment which can make it very hard to lose fat and gain muscle. Some of the hormonal changes that occur with stress are increased cortisol, leading to abdominal fat storage, decreased testosterone leading to a hard time building muscle, and reduced insulin sensitivity leading to an inability to burn body fat. All of these changes are produced by stress and they are detrimental to your results and your health. So how do you know if you have a stress problem? Answer these simple questions

1) Do you feel like you have more to do than there are hours in the day? If yes, then this is strike one.

2) Do you routinely sleep less than 8 hours per night? If yes, then this is strike two.

3) Have you been overly aware of how many calories you have been eating for an extended period of time? If yes, then strike three.

All of these factors play a role in stress and most of the people that I know would answer yes to these three questions. So what do you do if you have a stress problem? This week every post will be devoted to giving you ways to lower your stress levels.

The first tip that I will give you to lower the stress levels on your body, is to go to bed earlier. Try to get to bed before 10pm and sleep for at least 8 hours. When you go to bed late you destroy the natural rhythm of the body and your hormones function by this natural rhythm. By getting more sleep you will regulate your cortisol, improve insulin sensitivity, and improve your growth hormone release. All of these things will improve your body composition and health.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

What do you do while you eat?

What are you doing while you are eating? This is a common question that I ask many of my clients. The typical response is that most people are either watching tv or working on the computer while they eat. A simple trick that can help your body composition is to get away from everything when you have your meals and just eat. Step away from the computer, turn off the tv, and enjoy your food. For many people this is easier said than done. By making some time to relax while you eat you will lower your cortisol levels, which will help you lose some of the fat on your stomach. If you are a person who works right through lunch this little break will definitely help you. One of my facvorite quotes by Paul Chek is that "you should drink your food, and chew your liquids." This means that you need to chew your food until it becomes liquid. So the next time you eat get away from everything, take your time and chew your food.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Keeping Records

The only way to know where you are going is to know where you have been. If you are not keeping records then it is hard to know if you are making progress on a consistent basis. If you are really looking to change your physique then you should be recording all of your workouts and probably some aspects of your nutrition. To record you workouts you should keep track of the exercises you performed, the amount of repetitions performed, the tempo that was used to lift the weights, and the rest period you took between sets. All of these aspects determine the quality of your workout, and by keeping records you will be able to track your progress.

Making long term progress in the gym is about continually improving the quality of your workouts which can be done by manipulating any of the variables that I mentioned earlier such as the amount of weight lifted or the rest period between sets. However, if you can't remember how much weight you lifted in your last workout or how many repetitions you lifted it for then you are just guessing the next time you workout. "They say that those who keep records break records."

To track your nutrition I don't think most people need to obsess about counting every gram of everything they eat. This often only makes people stress out more. There are two ways that often help many of my clients. One method is to simply write down every food that is eaten. This will give you a record of which foods provided the results that were obtained. The other method that works well for people is to give yourself a set of nutrition rules or guidelines to live by for a two week period. Track how often you follow these guidelines and the results that it produces. Through this process you can gradually refine your guidelines to find a formula that works for you.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Pre Workout Nutrition

One question I get asked often has to do with what to eat before your workout. The answer to this question depends on a couple of factors, such as whether you are looking to gain or lose weight, and if you are carb tolerant. If you are looking to get leaner I would most likely tell you to focus on eating something with protein and very low in carbs(no carbs at all is often better) before your workout. Many people make the mistake of eating a meal high in carbs before a workout while trying to get leaner. If you eat carbs before your workout you essentially shut off all fat burning during the workout and that is not what you want. If you are trying to gain mass then some carbs before your workout will probably help.

Those who workout early in the morning often ask about eating before working out and the answer to this question changes based on what people will actually do. If you are working out early in the morning and you are trying to get leaner then I would suggest that you take in something, but for most people they cannot eat before they workout that early. The optimal thing to do would be to wake up about two hours before your workout and eat a protein rich meal but not many people would choose this option. In this situation either a protein shake or a Branch Chain Amino Acid supplement would probably work best because they do not require much digestion and your body will be able to utilize these nutrients very easily. If you want to maximize your results then it is important that you make your nutrition surrounding your workout a priority. You can make tremendous progress by simply focusing on eating the right foods before and after your workouts.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Paired Antagonists

When scheduling your workouts one easy way to make it flow and get through it faster while performing the same amount of total work is by using paired antagonists. Paired antagonists are two exercises that work opposing muscle groups, an example would be overhead pressing and pullups. By alternating between the two movements you will be able to shorten your rest periods while still maintaining your strength. This occurs through something known as recipricol inhibition, which means that you tire out the opposing muscle group so that it does not apply the brakes. In any exercise the muscles that oppose the muscles working apply the brakes to the movement, but if you tire out the muscles that are applying the brakes you will often be stronger. If we use the example of the overhead press and pullups, then an example of a workout would be to perform 10 overhead presses, rest for 1 minute and then perform 10 pullups. Following the pullups rest for 1 minute again and then repeat the sequence. This format will allow you to perform your workout faster while still maintaining your strength because of reciprocal inhibition. This format also allows you to rest longer between each particular exercise, in the overhead press you would have about 3 full minutes of rest before performing your second set of presses. Since this format allows you to perform more work in less time and possibly with more weight the impact on your hormones will be much greater. Increasing the density of your training session in this way has a beneficial impact on your hormones. Keeping the total workout time under 50 minutes by using this format will also help you maximize the testosterone boost that comes from lifting weights while minimizing the cortisol(stress) response.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Workouts are an Irritant

With all of the different workout programs that are out there it can be difficult to figure out which one is best, but it doesn't have to be complicated. Workouts are an irritant to the body that it must adapt to. Workouts disrupt the body's homeostasis and cause it to adapt and change.

If you look at your workout from this perspective then all you need to do to improve is to put your body under a little more stress than it was under in your last workout. There are several ways to do this. You can increase the weight, the reps, the time under tension, or decrease the rest. Just remember that the basic idea of working out is to constantly force the body to adapt and you do this by giving it new challenges or irritants in each workout. The most common mistake that I see most people make is that they do the same exact workout over and over, which never forces their body to change.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Diet Sabotage

I have seen it many times where people who are trying to lose weight sabotage themselves with foods that they think are healthy. There are some common foods that people struggle with when trying to get leaner and here are some of those foods.

Peanut butter or other nut butters - Many people struggle with peanut butter because they cannot control their portions. How many of you have eaten peanut butter by the spoonful? Those spoonfuls can add up the calories in no time. The other issue with peanut butter is that most people do not eat the natural kind. If you eat the regular peanut butter off the shelf then you are eating a big dose of trans fat and that is not going to help your fat loss efforts

Nuts - I think that nuts are a very healthy food and that they should be allowed in most peoples nutrition plans but they also present a problem because most people cannot control their portions. I have seen many people myself included make the mistake of eating too many nuts. They are very easy to overeat.

Cheese - One of the first problems with cheese is that many people have food intolerance's to dairy so they would get better results by cutting out cheese. Cheese also presents the problem of controlling portions. Most people eat bigger portions than they need.

Dried fruit - Many dieters turn to dried fruit as a healthy alternative but I do not think that dried fruit is the best choice for most people looking to get leaner. Dried fruit is full of sugar and has been stripped of the fiber. If you want fruit then eat the real fruit do not drink the juice or eat dried fruit. Dried fruit is also another food that people have trouble controlling their portions with and the calories add up quickly.

Most of these foods I would say are fine in moderation but I have found that the people who need to lose body fat are usually the ones who like food the most, and it is often hard for them to stick to the correct portion sizes. All of these foods are very dense in calories, which means that they taste good nut also that the the correct portion sizes are not very big. So if you are trying to get leaner consider cutting out these foods.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Couch Potato

Is it natural to want to do a strenuous workout or is it natural to want to be a couch potato? I would say that for most people it is natural to want to be a couch potato. How many people wake up and say I really want to make my legs sore today? If you have thoughts that creep into your head that try to convince you not to workout that is natural. Our bodies always seek the path of least resistance and not working out is that path. What I have found is that if you can just show up to the gym and start your workout you will usually get a good workout. Showing up at the gym is half the battle. A great way to keep you motivated to workout is to workout with a partner or a group of people who can keep you accountable to your workouts. If you are ever lacking motivation to do your workout then remember this quote from Dennis Waitley "Failures do what is tension relieving, while winners do what is goal achieving."

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Weight Training Cements Your Current Flexibility

Recently I came across a quote from Dr. Eric Cobb who is the founder of Z-Health, which is a program that focuses on creating better health and performance by maximizing the nervous system. The quote stated that "weight training cements your current level of flexibility." So what does this mean. It means that weight lifting makes you stronger in the range of motion in which you lift the weight. For example, if you do squats and you only go 1/4 of the the way down, then you will become tighter in the hips because the muscles will tighten to accommodate the shortened range of motion. However, if you use a full range of motion you will cement the ability to move through a full range of motion.

Yes, moving the weight through a bigger range of motion is much harder, but there are many benefits. Not only will you gain flexibility but you will also gain more strength and elicit a better hormonal response by using a full range of motion on your lifts. So what do you do if you cannot move through the full range of motion?

You should either modify the the exercise to allow you to use a full range of motion or you should choose a different exercise that will allow you to progress your range of motion. I will use squats as an example again. If you cannot perform full range of motion squats one of the best things to do is split squats(which are very similar to lunges). By performing split squats with a full range of motion you will gain flexibility in the hips and the calves which are two common areas that prevent people from squatting properly. Once you have mastered the split squat it may be time to try the squats again.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Another Reason to Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup

I have talked several times about staying away from high fructose corn syrup. HFCS has many detrimental effects on the body and you should stay away from it all costs. The rise in obesity in the US actually mirrors the use of HFCS in our food supply. Recently, I came across a study that showed another reason to stay away from HFCS. It seems that HFCS has high levels of mercury, and that consumption of HFCS can lead to toxic levels of mercury in the body. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this stuff.