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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.