Latest Marta Montenegro News | Fox News

How Switching 'Gender' Roles Can Improve Your Fitness

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 08:04:24 -0500

“Men train for aesthetics, where as women train for application. This statement is bold, but is saturated with truth,” says Jay Cardiello, certified strength and conditioning coach and the creator of JCORE.

Before you think this takes your chest press exercise too far, think twice. When was the last time you really worked out your hips? Men, may need to think about it, while women could give you a breakdown of reps and sets. But ladies when was the last time you performed a barbell chest press? (Yes, I’m not talking about a cable chest press. I’m talking about sitting on the men’s bench).

If you’re not a trainer, you may not notice this gender disparity when training, but the truth is that while men overemphasize the mirror muscles—chest, anterior part of the shoulders, and biceps—women neglect exercises needed for strength—chest press, barbell deadlift, among others—while overemphasizing the hip muscles.

Nevertheless, Cardiello considers women may be smarter than men when training. “Women train on a Prehab level, in order to create symmetry, balance and posterior strength, which avoids Rehab(ilitation) or injury,” he says. “Men choose anterior-overloaded protocols that create nothing more than an asymmetrical, imbalanced shell. This overdeveloped imbalance does nothing more than create a shorter road to Rehab(ilitation) or injury.”

Venus and Mars Fitness

Neither women nor men should feel guilty about their workouts of choice if they understand where these exercise preferences come from. This way you can adjust your workout and not get trapped on anatomic and other body composition issues that are intrinsic to your gender.

Without getting into complex exercise physiology, let’s say that men have more body mass and less body fat than women. But the way this tissue is distributed across the body also differs. Men have more upper muscle mass than women and tend to accumulate more belly fat—until women reach menopause in which this fat pattern disposition levels up—while women have less upper muscle mass and tend to accumulate fat around the hips.

However, the truth that men are stronger than women fades when compared to relative values in which some studies show that women may exhibit 53% of the strength of males in the bench press, and a stunning 106% of the strength of males in the leg muscles—when scores are adjusted by weight and body fat.

Another anatomic difference that may explain the exercise preferences between the sexes is that women tend to be more flexible than men. (Now men understand why they struggle to keep the leg straight while doing a single deadlift.) So women may be more comfortable doing exercises in which they flex and bend, which are more functional movements than a bicep curl.

Although, the anatomy and hormonal differences among the genders may dictate your exercise choices, this does not mean you have to stick with it. If you are a man and keep overworking the shoulders and the biceps, you are setting up for aesthetic—you will look good in your tight T-shirt, but nothing else, maybe—and application failure—i.e., daily life movements and sports.

The opposite is true. If you are a women and focus on exercises that combine balance and flexibility along with overemphasizing the leg exercises, you will underperform on the daily life activities because of lack of strength, particularly in the upper musculature. Likewise, a broader upper frame will make the waist look smaller and will help you stand straight, which minimizes your belly pouch too.

Fill Your Needs

If you are a woman, shake up your workout while adding some “aesthetic”—stronger upper body and some power—strength and speed—to your workout. For men, dive into the “application”—meaning to focus on multi-joint movements that emphasize the leg, core, and overall satiability along with hip strength exercises, which will not only make you look better from behind but also accomplish daily physical tasks and/or sports activities with less effort and reduce injury risk.

MEN’S TURN

Hip Bridge: When lifting up the bar, use your glutes and the hamstrings not your lower back. Raise the hips as high as you can while keeping your back straight and torso stable. When up, contract the muscles of the glutes for a couple of seconds before lowering the hips. Keep the contraction at all times and don’t release the hips when going down. They barely touch the floor. If you want to increase the intensity, place your feet on a physioball to add more instability (see images below for placement). Do 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps. (NOTE: To increase the range of motion, thus making the exercise harder, place your upper back on a bench and let the rest of your body fall, then place the bar on your lap, foot on the floor, and do the same movement.)

Unilateral Dumbbell Deadlift to Back Row: Hold the dumbbell close to your body and lower it while keeping the core tight and back straight. The movement initiates at the hips not at the back so push back and feel the stretch in the hamstrings. When your back is parallel to the floor, perform a dumbbell row. Return to standing position and try not to rest the leg that was extended on the floor to keep the tension on the working leg. Switch legs. This is not an exercise of showing off your strength, rather your “body functionality”—joint stability, flexibility, overall balance, core, upper and lower body strength. Do 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

WOMEN’S TURN

Barbell Chest Press: Work on pure upper strength and hit the free weights. When benching, make sure that your head, hips, and foot are all locked. Lower the bar while keeping a 90-degree elbow angle until the shoulders are parallel to your elbows. Any further of this point and you may increase the risk of injury at the shoulder. Do 2-4 sets, 10 reps. Women don’t need to “burn the fat around the chest,” but you need to strengthen these muscles so go heavy on this exercise as you make progress.

Deadlift to High Pull: This exercise works on transferring the strength from the legs to the upper body in a powerful move. It should be performed as only one move and not two. The position of the bar in front differs from the squat in that this taxes the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back muscles more, while the high pull will not only work the anterior part of the chest, but also the upper trapezius and other superior muscles of the back, which are overlooked by women. Do 2-4 reps, 10-12 reps.

Popular Fitness Advice —Debunked, Part 2

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:53:23 -0500

My previous post addressed some common fitness advice, what they really mean, and if you should ever follow it. Here I follow up examining the relationship between heavy weights and strength and the battle between treadmill and elliptical for burning the most calories.

Advice: “No need to lift heavy weights to get stronger”

This statement continues to make headlines in fitness media outlets. Most people—yes, even men— already lift weight that is too light. People often go through the motions and do the standard 10 to 12 reps when they could push out 15, or even more. But this advice only encourages people to keep doing the same.

Certainly, performing a lightweight squat is better than no squat at all, but if you already do some type of resistance training you have to take this statement with caution.

The fitness headline came out again in a recent study from McMaster University. Researchers found that lifting weights at 90 percent of your 1-RM (one rep maximum) 5-10 times, stimulated the muscles to make new proteins, thus you could build bigger and toner muscles the same as lifting at 30 percent of your 1-RM or around 24 reps.

The experts explained that what is important is muscle fatigue—not number of reps. As long as you can reach that feeling where you cannot complete another rep, you can bump up your muscle mass. This means you can complete 8, 15, or 24 reps with any sized weight so as long as you feel the muscle “burn” by the final rep.

My Advice: The approach that you can lift lighter weights and still build muscle is ideal for elderly people with compromised muscle mass, or those who are recovering from trauma, surgery, or even a stroke. However, if you can lift heavier weights for 8-10 reps, you will build mass whether you are a woman or man.

Advice: “You can get the same caloric expenditure doing the elliptical or the treadmill”

People who take up running to shed pounds may tire of the constant pounding and find the joint-friendly elliptical more comfortable, but does that mean your workout suffers?

A recent study from the University of Nebraska-Kearney had 18 males and females perform two 15 minutes sub-maximal exercise tests on the treadmill and elliptical. Both tests showed the same energy expenditure with no differences between the two exercises.

While the type of machine may not matter, how you exercise does. You have to select the same rating of perceived exertion (RPE) for each. This means that if your workout intensity on the treadmill is about 15 on the RPE scale where you only can talk in short phrases (4 or 5 words), you have to feel the same effort on the elliptical to burn the same calories.

There are some other issues to consider. Experts also think the energy expenditure the elliptical machine presents may not be as accurate as the treadmill. Likewise, if hold on to the treadmill’s side rails, the caloric expenditure may be 25 to 35 percent less than what the screen shows, according to Richard Lopez, Ph.D., professor of exercise sciences at Florida International University.

My Advice: Do the cardio you most enjoy, but realize that whatever aerobic activity you select, you have to put in the effort to see the calorie-burning results. “If a person runs at an RPE of 13, 14 or 15 on the treadmill and a person exercises on an elliptical machine at an RPE of 13, 14, or 15 then his/her caloric expenditure is comparable on the two pieces of equipment,” says Lopez.

Popular Fitness Advice — Debunked, Part 1

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:19:01 -0500

“Burn more than 1,000 calories by doing this group fitness class.” “Maximize fat burning with high intensity interval training.” “Yoga can cure almost everything!” We come across headlines like these everywhere, from magazines to blogs to Twitter. But should we heed to all this advice?

Many popular fitness practices often come from studies and/or research conducted on a particular fitness matter, yet many factors play a role in the results and cannot be considered one size fits all.

The key here is to understand what is behind some common fitness expertise and how you can make the most out of them. There are many out there. Here is the first of a two-part look at some popular advice and what they really mean.

1. “High intensity cardio: better results in less time”

It has become the most popular fitness advice: ditch the hour-long, low intensity cardio for a 20 minute high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout in which you alternate short periods —from 30 to 60 seconds at maximum intensity followed by a recovery period of the same duration or longer. Boom! You burn more calories and finish sooner.

Not so fast. HIIT definitely will add a metabolic stress that ignites the endocrine system in such a way that even after your session ends you still burn calories. In fact, studies show this effect can last more than 14 hours. The benefits show up in your waistline and your heart in terms of better blood pressure and aerobic capacity.

However, when looking at these studies, one important element stands out: the interval intensity is around 90 percent of VO2max. In other words, very, very high intensity. You can barely say a word or two.

As you may have experienced, this out of breath state is hard to maintain and can be quite painful, and not something everyone can do. So you may not see the promised results because you cannot consistently reach this high intensity stage.

My Advice: HIIT is a great way to tax your metabolism, muscles and heart. But if you cannot hit the high level, tweak your workouts so you can still receive the same overall benefits. For example, if you have to lower the intensity, then the duration should go up. Here are some other tips for a more doable interval training session:

- Perform a 10 minute low to increase moderate intensity warm-up.

- Do 20 minutes HIIT —60 seconds-30 seconds or 60-60 seconds. For the high intensity exercise, simply make sure you work hard, but do not go all out. Your effort should feel like you can complete the interval without being exhausted. Get out of your comfort zone so you can speak a short sentence.

- Perform a 10-minute moderate to low intensity cool down.

2. “Burn more than 1,000 calories per hour by doing (fill the blank)”

This headline makes a splash in almost every fitness magazine whether the story is about whole body resistance training, Zumba, cross-fit or boot camps. People believe any activity perceived as a high intensity one easily burns high-figure calories. But that is not necessarily true.

“A big factor in determining the number of calories expended is a person’s body weight,” says Richard Lopez, Ph.D., professor of exercise sciences at Florida International University. “For example, if a 200-pound person exercises for an hour and we assume that he or she exercises with the same efficiency of a 100-pound person, then the 200-pound person will expend twice as many calories.”

But it’s not that simple. You also have to take realistic intensity into consideration. It is difficult for anyone to burn 1,000 calories per hour, let alone someone who weighs 200-plus pounds. To expend this amount per hour you have to consume the approximate equivalent of 200 liters of oxygen/hour. For a 132-pound female this is the same as running a 6-minute mile pace for an hour.

Likewise, other variables, such as movement efficiency and the degree to which movements are actually performed, factor into the equation. “The bottom line is that a 1,000 calories per hour is heavy to very heavy exercise,” says Lopez.

My Advice: Don’t focus on calories, but on generating enough effort. Make sure you break a sweat. True, the harder the intensity, the more calories you will burn, but don’t think that a single class will do the trick if you don’t put out the right effort. Put in the work and you will see and feel the results.

3. “Do yoga to prevent back pain”

Anyone who has tried yoga knows it helps build core strength. And why is this so important for your back? Studies show that non-specific chronic low back pain may be related to lack of strength in the core muscles: abdominals, glutes, hips, and lower back muscles.

In fact, one study showed that 10 weeks of yoga intervention combining breathing, stretching, strengthening and mindfulness exercises, increased quality of life, decreased fear avoidance beliefs, and decreased pain disability in people who experienced non-specific chronic low back pain.

But this does not mean ALL yoga is ideal for tricky backs. Some styles like Ashtanga or high intense hybrids like “Power Yoga” may be too intense. However, most yoga classes are adoptable to an individual’s physical limitations, while others are designed to address specific health issues, including the back and core.

Still, injuries in a yoga class can occur, especially when you try too hard or not mindful. “You can’t zone out in a yoga class —that is setting yourself up for injury,” explains Aileen Febles, Certified Yoga and Prenatal Yoga Instructor at The Sports Club LA/MIA.

While men often see their natural lack of flexibility as a weakness, when it comes to injury prevention it can be a valuable asset. A less flexible person will have a more challenging time, but they won’t get injured as quickly as someone more flexible. The reason? “They won’t be able to push and strain their ligaments or muscles like someone who is flexible and doesn’t know or understand their level of boundaries.”

My Advice: Do yoga for a stronger back, but be careful. Here are some other tips from Febles to back up your back:

- Iyengar Yoga is the best yoga style for anyone dealing with an acute or chronic injury as it utilizes many props and other supportive equipment.

- If you experience acute lower back pain, do not engage in any forward bends without proper support like blocks or straps. This will help you from aggravating a sore back by putting too much compression on the spine.

- An experienced teacher should guide you during twisting poses to ensure flexion takes place through the hip joints and not the lower back. Otherwise, the facet joints can become irritated and the posterior ligament can be strained, which can lead to further injury.

How to Build a Well-Rounded Body

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 08:00:20 -0500

If you eat the same food every day, even when healthy, you still may be missing important vitamins and minerals. The same is true when you stick with only one type of workout like strength training, running, spinning, or yoga. Your body soon will reach a plateau, which makes further improvement more difficult, and you increase your risk of repetitive injury. Most of all, you ignore other aspects for all-around fitness.

Put another way—you can fly up the stairs, but need help lifting something heavy.

While athletes need to work on specific areas due to her or his sports demands, the rest of us are better off building a well-rounded body. This does not mean you have to drop your spinning class or roll up your yoga mat for good. Instead, learn how to add to your workout-of-choice.

Strength Training

What you get: “As we age, we lose strength and eventually even activities like walking up the stairs and lifting a bag of groceries could become too difficult. Strength training can maintain your lean body mass, which will also help you maintain a healthy body weight,” says Sara Mahoney, Ph.D., assistant professor of exercise science at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Even more, muscles activate the metabolism at rest since it’s the most energy consumer body tissue you have. Likewise, the stronger your muscles the stronger your bone mass and joints. This keeps osteoporosis, low back pain, and other bone-joint related issues at bay.

What you miss: “In general, strength training provides some cardio-respiratory benefits, but not the same as traditional cardio exercises, such as running, swimming, or cycling,” explains Pete McCall, exercise physiologist of the American Council on Exercise. And even though a study shows that keeping full range of motion while lifting weights may increase flexibility, McCall says muscles can lose the ability to lengthen and become tight.

Get more: If the idea of 30 minutes of cardio sounds daunting, McCall recommends circuit training—performing a number of exercises in a row before rest. Your heart will work hard to pump more oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles and thus provide a cardio benefit. “It is also important to save time for static stretching or self-myofascial release like foam roll or stick, after strength training to reduce tension in the muscles and restore to a normal resting length,” he says. Ideally, devote one full day to some type of cardio-respiratory training and do some flexibility training at the end of the workout.

Yoga

What you get: Yoga provides many benefits for flexibility and resistance training. The isometric contractions and balance positions engage all of the muscles and can provide an effective overload, according to McCall. Plus, the combined works of flexibility and resistance training improves your balance, which helps reduce your risk of falling as you age.

What you miss: Yoga may work on your breathing and increase your heart rate response, but it will not be enough to improve your aerobic capacity. Also, the caloric burnout is not that much compared with other aerobic activities.

Get more: Add one to three days per week of dedicated cardio-respiratory training to improve aerobic capacity, heart health, and receive energy expenditure benefits, says McCall.

Running

What you get: Running is the most cost-effective exercise. You only need a good pair of running shoes and a place to run. Running provides many benefits of cardio-respiratory fitness, such as a healthy heart and good circulatory system. It also reduced high cholesterol and controls weight. It is no surprise that runners have been shown to live longer.

What you miss: “Its strength training is limited to the leg muscles,” says McCall. Running also can reduce flexibility by creating tight hip and lower leg muscles.

Get more: Add whole body resistance trainings that target the major muscles once or twice a week. The idea is to focus on muscle endurance so anything around 15 reps, one to two sets, will provide great benefits. The idea that strength training will reduce your running performance is an old fashion myth. In fact, when done the right way, it decreases pressure on the joints and increases overall leg power and stamina. Also, pay attention to your core. “Core training can provide additional stability at the pelvis-lumbar spine-hip region, which can reduce common knee soreness issues and help with stride rate/frequency,” says McCall.

Spinning

What you get: Spinning increases your aerobic capacity and heart strength. Regular aerobic exercise also reduces your chance for developing heart disease, type II diabetes, and obesity. A spinning class is often intense enough to burn a high number of calories and thus help you maintain a healthy weight, says Mahoney.

What you miss: Spinning strengths the legs, but almost none for the upper body musculature, according to McCall. Even if you add some weights in between the cycling, as some new programs offer, the resistance will not be enough to stimulate strength benefits. Also, cycling is among the sports that taxes the less the bone mass to help prevent osteoporosis.

Get more: Add two to three days a week of strength training—either through class or free weight workouts. It is important to target all major muscles (eight to 10 exercises) and complete one to three sets, advises McCall.

New Year, New You: Pour on the Vinegar, Lose the Body Fat

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 08:00:04 -0500

One day it is tea. The next it is grapefruit. The list for the next “fat burner food” seems endless. But here is the hard truth: it is not the food itself that makes your muffin top crumble. Instead, the so-called “magic” comes from its specific ingredients or enzymes that have proven fat-burning properties.

Take simple vinegar. According to my grandma, if you want to cut the fat, pour on the vinegar.

Certainly, vinegar has many health benefits. Its caloric content is quite low—around 3 calories per tablespoon. It adds strong flavor, which may help reduce the sodium in many dishes as you won’t be tempted to go overboard with the saltshaker. And paired with oils rich in mono-saturated fats, such as olive and avocado oils, you have the ideal recipe to better manage your cholesterol and lower inflammation.

But does it help to decrease body fat? My grandma may be right.

A recent study published in the journal Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry had subjects consume one to two tablespoons of apple vinegar daily for 12 weeks. Afterwards, they significantly lowered body weight, body mass index, visceral fat and waist circumference, compared to the control group who did not consume any vinegar.

What is vinegar’s “magic?” The researchers point to acetatic acid, a main component of vinegar. It seems to switch on genes that pump out proteins that break down fat.

Fat Blocker

To shrink your waist, it’s not a matter of reducing extra fat, but preventing it in the first place. Here again, vinegar can be your weight loss ally.

Sugar swings are the perfect scenario to increase body fat. First, insulin may need to work overtime to transport the sugar into the cells, and in many incidents the extra sugar will turn into fat. Secondly, the sugar ups and downs can make you enter into a circle of a rapid blood glucose increase, follow by a decrease, which will make you crave more sugar. It is an endless loop.

However, vinegar can help stop this loop. When a group was given a high carbohydrate meal on two different days, with and without the addition of vinegar, the glucose release pattern was lower after the vinegar addition. Equally, the insulin response was reduced, says a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Another extra benefit of vinegar —in particular, balsamic— is its resveratrol content, which has shown to activate fat reducing genes.

Vinaigrette Fat Shakers

How can you benefit from vinegar as your preferred seasoning ingredient? There are many types of vinegar on the market, so feel free to experiment with different versions, such as apple cedar and raspberry and blueberry infused flavors, wine vinegar, among others. (Also, don’t forget to read the nutritional labels: an added flavor or spice is okay, but not added sugars that are not the natural ones found with the fruit.)

Vinegar is easy to add to meals and versatile. It takes only a few minutes and a blender to put together yummy fat blaster dressings that can be added to salads, vegetables, fish, poultry, pasta and even omelets. Here are a few to try from Elizabeth Brown, MS, RD, CPT, CDE, of TheKitchenVixen.com. Add all the ingredients in a large bowl or blender and mix well.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
• 3 Cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp. Sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. Fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil

Parmesan Vinaigrette

• 1 Clove garlic
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp. Lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. Ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped basil
• 2 Tbsp. freshly shaved Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup Water

Papaya Dressing

• 1/4 cup Chopped papaya with a few seeds
• 1/4 cup Brown rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. Raw honey
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Thyme Vinaigrette

• Juice of one lemon
• 3 Cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 Tbsp. Red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 tsp. Black pepper

Finding the Best Workout Routine

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 08:00:37 -0500

Which is better—the elliptical machine or the almighty treadmill? Does a boot camp class beat a cross fit session? Dumbbells or weight machines? Yoga or Pilates? Certainly, no exercise satisfies all your needs. Exercises come in different intensities, tackle diverse energy sources and movement patterns, and vary according to every individual’s goal, fitness level, overall health and age.

While every exercise has a place in any training routine, there are some that perhaps give you more reward, such as caloric expenditure, strength, flexibility, endurance, better bone health, and even greater motivation.

So when faced with a choice between two similar exercises look at the pros and cons of each before making a decision. Bret Contreras, CSCS; Nigel Harris, senior lecturer, Sport & Exercise Science, AUT University, New Zeeland; and Kelli Calabrese, exercise expert with “Living Well with Montel,” provide their expertise and point of view when making these eight exercise comparisons.

The elliptical machine, stationary bike or treadmill?

Winner: Draw

Contreras’ pick: If you want to go all out, the bicycle would be good, as its low impact and involves a lot of quads, hamstrings, and calves. And when you sprint it’s harder.

Harris’ pick: The treadmill for the weight bearing impact. Weight bearing exercise has been linked to prevent osteoporosis—bone loss—more than any other type of exercise. Likewise, weight-bearing impact will have a higher physiological demand, thus higher energy cost.

Calabrase’s pick: Elliptical machines. They involve an upper and lower body component, are low impact, have up to 10-plus different programs, and can go up to 20 levels to keep people challenged. You also can change the focus from lower to upper body or both; it promotes good posture, is easy to perform intervals, and more comfortable than a bike seat; it involves the core and best mimics striding without the joint stress.

Free weight circuits or resistance-machine circuits?

Winner: Free Weight Circuit

All three experts agree on the free weight circuit. This is usually eight to 10 exercises performed one after another with minimal rest in between that work the major muscles. According to Calabrese, free weight circuit is ideal because they involve major stabilizers muscles, help to promote bone growth reducing osteoporosis, improve function for every day movements, are easy to progress, and allow the body to move freely in all planes of motion. On the other hand, machines isolate one or several small muscle groups, must be properly adjusted, do not fit all sizes, and you are often limited to the number of machines available.

However, don’t ditch out the machines completely. Beginners and people recovering from an injury or long rest period may be better off with machine exercises before moving to free weights.

Yoga or Pilates?

Winner: Pilates

Calabrese’s pick: Pilates incorporates both mat work and apparatus for variety and progression.

Pilates was originally done on the mat before equipment and apparatus were added. Anytime you continually do an exercise, your body adapts and needs additional stress. That stress can come in the form of added resistance. When you do body weight exercises like Pilates, involving other equipment, such as cables, bands, balls, or other apparatus, is a way to add resistance and therefore progression.

Harris’s pick: Pilates is a more complex workout. In many ways floorwork is similar to yoga, but equipment-based Pilates in particular is essentially overall strength, balance, and range of motion combined. Yoga tends to be more range of motion and proprioception—body sense of space—with some core strength.

Boot camps or Crossfit?

Winner: Draw

Contrera’s pick: Crossfit has more of a system to it than boot camps. The fact they have determined the workouts of the day, set up the Crossfit games, you can have 10 people cheering you on during deadlifts. That support boosts results in two ways. 1. During the actual workouts you are on the supportive high. 2. You have an accountability—if you miss a workout, you’ll get called out.

Calabrese’s pick: Boot camp is still more appealing to the masses. The beauty of boot camp is that anything goes. Depending on the experience of the coach, the camps can include a variety of modalities from martial arts and Pilates to obstacle courses, speed, agility and quickness, strength, and more. Cross Fit is effective—it’s adapting training from existing styles, such power lifting, track and field, gymnastics, and other established disciplines. However, there is still a smaller percentage of the population that would consider a cross fit style of training. The injury rate with cross fit also may be higher compared with boot camp. This is due to repetition, the heavy use of resistance, the high volume of training, and/or the shortage of recovery time between high intensity workouts.

Zumba or aerobic-strength group classes?

Winner: Draw

Harris’s pick: Aerobic-strength group classes are more complete—they tax the cardiovascular system and add resistance to work the muscles. They attract groups that are often intimidated by resistance training, especially women. That in itself is a good as resistance training should be a fundamental part of exercise for health and wellbeing for everyone, not just young males wanting to get big. The flip side is that big class techniques can go astray, as it is sometime hard for an instructor to watch everyone. Also, people do have a tendency to just go through the motions. Of course, this is still better than inactivity, but it is not an effective way to progress unless you keep adding resistance and making sure you push yourself so every rep counts.

Calabrese’s pick: Zumba. It’s fun, high energy, heart pumping, and social, which are important factors to consider to ensure you stick with a fitness program. Traditional group strength classes have been around a long time and after time the high repetition, low weight workout becomes not as challenging. Zumba simply wins for the fun factor and it fills a void in people’s lives to dance to music, moving their bodies, and doing so in a social setting.

Planks or crunches on a physioball?

Winner: Planks

Experts like both. However, the edge went to planks because it is sometime tough to properly perform crunches—people use momentum and involve other muscles that should not be stressed (have you ended with a neck pain rather than abs sore?). “Planks improve core stability—in the front, side, abdominals, obliques, gluteus medius, quadratus—it’s a really amazing exercise,” says Contreras.

Barbell chest press or dumbbell chest press?

Winner: Dumbbell Chest Press

You can’t go wrong with the dumbbell press. “You have more freedom due to the natural movement of the press. You have to work both sides independently of each other. You also can add rotational movements for variety,” says Calabrese. Likewise, studies show that DB press allows you to put less stress over the shoulders and the wrists, and this movement freedom will guarantee you hit the muscles from every angle.

Squats or lunges (for a better butt)?

Winner: Lunge—and Neither

Calabrese’s pick: Lunges can be done in a variety of ways from stationary to dynamic. Both are highly effective for developing a firm butt. There is especially emphasis on the glutes when the weight is focused throughout the heel of the front leg versus the ball or the foot. Drive up from the front heel and you can feel the glutes engaged, especially on the front leg. You don’t need to go as heavy on lunges as you do on squats to feel the glutes work.

Contrera’s pick: Neither. You instead should do the barbell hip thrust. A hip thrust, or bridge, exercise involves extending the hips, and pulling them forward to a neutral position with the spine. This movement works your core muscles: the glutes, hamstrings, and low back and abdominal muscles. You can do hip thrust exercises on the floor, or for more of a balance challenge, on a stability ball. You can also do single leg hip thrusts. The hip thrusts also don’t stress the joints like a squat or lunge. You can add an isometric contraction at the top of the hip thrust that gives an intense gluteus maximus contraction.

Here is how to perform the barbell hip thrust: Sit on the ground with your back up against a bench, facing up, and a barbell in your lap, and your feet on the floor. Your upper back should be across the bench. Bridge upwards like you is performing a hip extension. You should be level from your shoulders to your knees. Your knees should remain bent.

Diet Trends Worth Skipping and Trying

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 08:00:17 -0500

This year, athletes and celebrities praised the gluten free diet as the panacea to nearly everything—from winning top tennis tournaments to red carpet ready for the Oscars. Plenty of studies showed our erratic sleep patterns make our waists bigger. Almost every health magazine welcomed back fats to our plates while vitamin D seems to aid on keeping everyone’s weight in check.

From all these diet related trends, some came to stay while others should be taken with a grain of salt. So, before you embrace—or if you already did—any of these weight control plans you need to know if they are really worth it.

Here is my look at some popular dietary trends, how they work, and whether they are truly a passing trend or something you should consider.

1. Gluten free diet: Trend

Gluten free diets are for people diagnosed with celiac disease or suffer from gluten sensitivity. If you do have either problem, a gluten free diet helps alleviates inflammation or damage to the intestinal tract, says Sharon Ritcher, R.D. from New York. However, gluten-free has been viewed as a sure-fire weight loss strategy.

If you switched to a gluten free diet thinking that this will make you lose weight, be cautious. “A gluten-free diet, as typically followed, may be high in fat and low in fiber and many vitamins and minerals, including iron, calcium, folate, and niacin,” says Tricia Thompson, MS, RD, a nutrition consultant for celiac disease. “Many prepared gluten-free foods are made from refined flours—white rice flour, milled corn—and starch like corn starch and tapioca starch, and as a result contain very little in the way of nutritional value. Potato chips and French fries are gluten-free but not necessarily the healthiest options.”

Regardless, the food industry claims many benefits of eating gluten-free, ranging from stopping hip pain to a better sleep. Some people may experience these benefits because they could have an underlying intolerance to gluten that hasn’t been diagnosed. Oftentimes, it’s the other ingredients in food that contain gluten that is to blame, such as dairy, corn, or eggs that cause the problem, explains Carol Fenster, author of 125 Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes (2011).

People could also lose weight on a gluten-free diet because gluten is usually present in high-calorie items, such as baked goods, pasta, and desserts. “People would lose weight by eliminating these foods whether gluten was present in the foods or not,” says Fenster.

The Takeaway: Be a gluten free advocate if you have been diagnosed with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. You don’t need to be gluten-free to stay away from chips, white flour, and refined carbohydrates.

2. Fat free: Remain—but think in terms of healthy fats

“People see fat and they think fat makes you fat,” says Ritcher. The truth is that overeating any macronutrient, whether carbohydrate, protein, or fat, will tilt the scale. American swapped the oil for the sugar—particularly added sugar, not the one that comes naturally in fruits and veggies—based on the general health consensus that stated fats were to blame for the increase in heart disease and weight gain.

The results: the fat free and the sugar industries exploded. Worse are the numbers on the overweight-obesity statistics as well as the rise of heart disease and other conditions that have an inflammatory component, such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which are related to high intake of sugar.

All organs need fat to function at its best, but not all fats are created equal. Some fats—such as monosaturated fats found in olive oil and avocado, and omega 3- fatty acids found in salmon and some seeds—have anti-inflammatory properties, and help reduce belly fat reduction and even boost moods.

The Takeaway: Fats can help you slim your waist, but know which ones are the best to include in your diet. This is what Barry Sears, Ph.D., author of The Zone Diet, advises as the correct health ranking of fats from best to worse: Long-chain omega-3 fats (EPA and DHA like found in salmon, mackerel, sardines, and albacore); short chain-omega-3 (flaxseed oil); monounsaturated fats (olive oil); long, medium, and short-chain saturated fats, such as palm oil, coconut oil, cocoa butter, and butterfat; omega-6 fats found in oils like soybean, canola, safflower, and corn; and arachidonic acid (usually found in dressings, chips, fast food, and meats.

3. Paleo Diet: Be cautious

What’s the Paleo or “Caveman” Diet? “Basically, eating lean proteins and any fruit/vegetable that was found pre-agricultural revolution. Very restrictive in other foods,” says Bob Seebohar, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS, author of Nutrition Periodization for Athletes.

It seems that fitness programs, such as Cross-Fit, Tabata, and other high intensity interval training workouts are good at promoting a protein rich diet. However, while the role of this nutrient has been well documented to maintain a healthy body mass and metabolism, and decrease body fat, experts advise on the health hazards of overconsumption—especially when other nutrients rich in fiber and vitamins and minerals are put aside.

“Any diet that eliminates a food group, eliminates essential nutrients,” says Shari Portnoy, M.P.H., R.D., www.FoodLabelNutrition.com. Indeed, the Paleo avoids grains and dairy and even though it promotes high fruit and vegetable intake, the overall carbohydrates consumption may be insufficient.

To Portnoy, the body needs carbohydrate meals to fuel and refuel properly, adding, “The brain runs on glucose only, a fuel received from carbohydrates. Using protein for fuel is inefficient because then what do you have left to build and repair muscle tissue?”

Eating more fruits and vegetables is always good, but keep in mind you need at least 10 servings to meet carbohydrate needs for short, intense exercise, says Seebohar. However, statistics show that Americans have a tough time meeting five servings a day so it is unrealistic to expect followers of Paleo to double that amount.

The Takeaway: have more lean protein, healthy fats, fruits and veggies—but do not eliminate whole grains, such as quinoa, brown rice, bulgur, amaranth, etc. And don’t avoid skim dairy food sources either. If anything, fiber, calcium and vitamin D have been shown to decrease abdominal fat.

4. Foods with added benefits: Remain—but be cautious

Are you confused at the grocery store when looking at so many products with added fiber, omega-3, probiotics, etc? You’re not alone. No wonder more than 50 percent of Americans think it is easier to fill out their taxes than understand food labels.

Take flaxseed content claims, for example. Flaxseeds have been shown as protector against cancer and an anti-inflammatory. They are rich in folate, other B vitamins, iron, protein, and fiber. But does the tiny flaxseed content in a bar filled with so many other artificial ingredients really make a specific food healthy?

“My own view is that because there is currently no one accepted or regulated definition of ‘functional foods,’ the term is best interpreted as a marketing tool designed to sell products. And we know that promoting foods showing particular health benefits can have a powerful effect on sales,” says Amanda Berhaupt-Glickstein, MS, RD, co-author of the study “Functional Foods. Perceptions, Attitudes, and Practices of Registered Dietitians,” published in Topics in Clinical Nutrition.

The Takeaway: An easy way to avoid falling for food-marketing gimmicks is to simply select the whole food over processed version even when something healthy-sounding has been added. So if your goal is to have more calcium in your diet, make sure to consume skim milk, yogurt or leafy greens instead of sugary drinks with added calcium. If you want to decrease your risk of heart disease, enjoy more salmon, flaxseeds, oatmeal and potassium-rich fruits instead of a ready-to-go health bar with added fiber.

5. Sunshine vitamin deficit: Remain—but be cautious

“Up to 75 percent of people have low vitamin D levels,” says Michael Smith, M.D., WebMD’s chief medical editor. The primary role of vitamin D is to keep bones strong and prevent osteoporosis. However, there is some controversy about linking vitamin D intake to the prevention of other diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. “We just don’t know enough to say vitamin D definitely does or does not prevent these diseases,” says Smith.

More studies are piling up that connect weight loss with vitamin D. However, the best results come when this vitamin is paired with calcium-rich food. For instance, a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that both higher dairy calcium intake and increased serum vitamin D are related to greater diet-induced weight loss.

The Takeaway: Vitamin D whole foods like fatty fish, milk, yogurts, eggs and cereal are always your best bet. “You can take supplements—but it is possible to take too much vitamin D. It is a fat-soluble vitamin and can build up in the body. 4,000 mg is the upper limit, and with recommendations at 600 to 800 daily, you have a lot of room to play with. Still, you can suffer toxicity from too much vitamin,” explains Smith.

It’s always recommended you consult your doctor to measure your vitamin D levels, particularly, if you live in areas where the sunshine is scared. (Sunshine is another great source of vitamin D, but you can risk too much sun exposure.) This will be the best way to gauge if you run low on this vitamin and what are the best ways is to get adequate amounts.

6. Sleep to lose weight: Remain

Lack of sleep will make you increase both your pant’s size and risk of heart disease and diabetes. Numerous studies show that inadequate slumber disrupts essential hormones involved on appetite and overall metabolism. For instance, a study from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, showed people who sleep less than 7 hours, eat on average 549 calories more a day than those who sleep 8 hours.

“Lack of sleep affects hormone levels that regulate appetite. The hormone ghrelin—which stimulates appetite—goes up. And levels of leptin, which normally sends the ‘I’m full’ message to your brain, fall so you eat more,” says Smith. “Sleep loss also stimulates cravings for high fat and high carb foods for energy.”

The Takeaway: Take your sleep hygiene seriously. No matter if you are active and follow a clean diet, sacrificing a good night’s sleep will harm your overall health.

Getting Rid of Belly Fat

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 08:00:35 -0500

How can I reduce belly fat? This is the most popular question asked to trainers and one of the most problematic one to answer. The answer though is simple: exercise and proper diet. However, the type of exercise is more complex. Experts do not have a conclusive answer on the best training to maximize belly fat expenditure.

Resistance Training vs. Cardio Workout

Some say strength training is best to decrease the midsection. “Lifting weights is more effective at burning fat than a long, slow run because of the damage it causes to the muscles,” says Joe Warner in “7 Rules of Building Muscle.” “A hard weights session creates an oxygen debt in your muscle that should be replenished. This is called excess post oxygen consumption (EPOC) and its accompanied by an increased consumption energy.”

In other words, while a steady run keeps you burning calories for around 30 minutes after the session, weight training can stretch out this caloric expenditure for up to 48 hours.

Certainly, muscles are caloric burners. However, body fat is also tied to aerobic exercise. “Cardio helps expand your network of capillaries—the tiny blood vessels that allow nutrients to be exchanged between body tissues. The more capillaries you have, the more efficient your body becomes in liberating and using fat, particularly from stubborn areas,” says Brad Schoenfeld, author of The MAX Muscle Plan. Therefore, a cardio session expands the size and number of mitochondria (the place where fat gets burnt) and increases the aerobic enzymes, which will accelerate the process.

Fit vs. Fat

Depending on your intensity, duration, fitness level and even diet, when you exercise fat may provide anywhere from 30% to 80% of your energy supply. In fact, the more fit you are, the more fat your body burns. This is to preserve other energy sources, such as glycogen (glucose storage in the muscle and the liver) and protein.

So, what should you do: lift weights or jump on the cardio machine? And how much should you devote to either one? Can isolated exercises like crunches get rid of specific fat deposits?

Let’s begin with these two recent studies that show: 1. no matter how many abdominals you perform, you cannot shrink belly fat; however, you will strengthen your abs muscles; 2. aerobic exercise seems to have a greater effect on reducing visceral fat compared to resistance weight.

The first study was expected. It is known you can strengthen and tone a muscle—but cannot spot fat reduce. Nevertheless, the second study needs to be approached with caution. This is because previous studies have shown strength training does decrease visceral fat, but only depending on the exercise selection, order, and intensity you perform them.

Diet? Diet+ Strength? Diet + Strength+ Cardio?

A recent study compared three groups—diet (reduce carbohydrate intake), diet-strength training, and diet-strength-cardio—to evaluate the most effective strategy to decrease abdominal fat among other health variables. The results show the latter three-tier approach was most effective at shrinking body fat. How many times a week did the subjects work out? Twice a week! Not too bad.

20 Minute Combo Belly Fat Burner Workout

To lose that pesky abdominal fat, you cannot go wrong mixing both resistance training and aerobic. However, you cannot maximize the results without the right exercise selection, order, and intensity.

Your cardio intensity makes a significant difference in your mid-section. Belly fat is highly stimulated by sympathetic activity. Exercise increases the sympathetic response through the release of epinephrine, dopamine, and other catecholamine that love to use your mid-waist fat as a preferred source of energy. Thus, the higher the intensity, the more fat you burn.

In fact, High intensity exercise training (HIET) was more effectively for reducing total abdominal fat, subcutaneous fat, and abdominal visceral fat than low intensity training, concluded a study published in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Following the same exercise protocol used in the study in which strength training and cardio were paired together in the same workout, my exercise routine calls for what it’s known as a Peripheral Heart Action Super-Set, which means alternating between one upper and lower body part. It also selects exercises that work big muscles. Your heart has to work harder to pump blood from one extreme to the other, which increases the intensity right away along with a brief cardio burst in between.

Exercise Routine Guidelines

- Perform this routine in super-set (two exercises: one for the upper body and one for the lower body) for 60 seconds each. Select a weight in which you struggle to make it to the end. This is followed by 2 minutes of cardio—jogging in place, bike, squat jumps, elliptical, etc.—and alternating between 30 seconds high intensity and 30 seconds recovery during the 2-minute span. Total hard workout: 16 minutes

- Recovery time at the end of each strength-cardio super set is no longer than 90 seconds.

- Perform this routine two to three times a week on alternating days.

- Warm-up for 2 minutes with some dynamic stretching and cool-down for 2 minutes with static and foam roll stretching. Total warm-up and cool-down: 2 minutes.

- Want more of a challenge? Repeat the routine twice for a 40-minute total workout.

Don’t forget! At the end of each super set do 2 minutes of your choice of cardio as explained above.

Peripheral Heart Action Super-Set

Super-set one: Barbell Chest Press followed by Barbell Squat.

Super-set two: Lat Pull Down followed by Straight Leg Deadlift. (You can do this with a tubing or lat pull-down machine.) For the Straight Leg Deadlift this make sure your buttocks is out while your back remains straight. Set your legs a little bit wider than shoulder width apart to work the glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and inner thighs. Go as low as you can while keeping your back straight. Keep the weight close to your body, your chest up, and use your hamstrings and glutes, not your back.

Super-set three: Barbell Shoulder Press (top) followed by Barbell Lunges.

Super-set four: Barbell Back Row (below) followed by Leg Press (not shown). For the Back Row, bend at a 45-degree angle, and keep your chest up, core tight, and your arms close to your body. Do not shrink your shoulders. You should feel the effort in the middle of the back. For the Leg Press, use the standard seated leg press machine in either a wide or close stance. A wide stance shifts the focus to the inner thighs while the close one works the outer thighs.

Enjoying the Holidays Without Packing on the Pounds

Sun, 02 Dec 2012 08:00:24 -0500

Let’s face it: There is a general acceptance you will add few extra pounds during the holidays. But so what? You have worked out the entire year so any indulgences are backed up by your higher total energy expenditure (TEE). It sounds unfair, but no matter how active you are pre-holiday season, you will end up packing on the same extra fat as someone with a lower TEE.

At least this is what a study found when testing whether holiday weight gain was reduced in participants with high baseline total energy expenditure during the pre-winter quarter. Among 449 women and men who participated in the study, high TEE did not protect them against increase body weight gain during winter, concluded the research published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Before you think the sweat and effort at the gym is a waste of time, keep in mind this study did not look into two important issues: exercise and diet during the winter months—and not just pre-season. Indeed, the authors commented that the findings were the result of people who exercise less and/or eat more during this time of the year.

Avoid the Diet Missteps

Between random schedules, which make it harder to stick to a workout, and the holiday food bombardment everywhere you go, it’s easy to cut back on exercise and ramp up your daily caloric intake. However, you can avoid beginning the New Year with a resolution to lose weight by following these tips to avoid common diet missteps.

First off, avoid classifying the indulging days, meals, and/or events as “cheats.” “When we feel like we are cheating, we go big! We feel like this is the only time in the week I can have chocolate, so you think, ‘I am going to take advantage and eat two slices of cake with ice cream instead of having a small piece of candy,’” says Alexandra Caspero, R.D, owner of weight-management and sports-nutrition service Delicous-Knowledge.com.

Losing or maintaining the body weight is not about when or how to cheat, rather than following a lifestyle diet. “I encourage people to choose small portions of foods they desire, which may be a glass of wine, a small dessert, etc. Choose it, eat it with full mindfulness and presence, and don’t think of it as forbidden,” says Georgie Fear, R.D, nutrition expert and physique coach at askgeorgie.com. “It’s part of the plan. You may find that when you allow all foods, you stop wanting the junk food as much and find you really do enjoy the healthy items 90 percent of the time.”

Whether you are trapped in the never-end agenda at work or endless holiday get-togethers, you may face situations in which savoring a good wine can turn into gulping the entire Pinot Noir bottle. What can you do? Here are some common traps and how to escape them:

At dinner you couldn’t resist stuffing yourself

Why? When this happens, you have to go back and evaluate how you ate during the day. If you had been avoiding food or undereating because you were saving your calories for mom’s pecan pie, you will devour not just the pie, but every morsels of food in front of you.

In a study in which the effect of short-time undereating was followed by overeating—a meal high in carbohydrates and fat, which is the most common overeating food composition—subjects showed a decrease in the amino-acid tryptophan and an increase in insulin levels. What does this mean? The production of serotonin will be compromised. (Serotonin is a neurochemical synthesized by this amino-acid that keeps you calm and relax among other functions.) So when serotonin levels are low, the appetite for carbohydrates increases, while the insulin spikes will stimulate fat deposition.

What to do? Prevent this from happening in the first place by keeping a healthy meal pattern throughout the day, so you will feel less hunger and more content come dinner time. One of the most important: never skip breakfast. You don’t need to eat much either. Some of the more popular breakfast items, such as bagel, all-fruit smoothie, and cereal, offer carbs with a little fiber and protein; both fiber and protein increases satiety and prevents sugar swings. Instead, have meals rich in fiber and protein like an oatmeal with 1 tablespoon peanut butter mixed in; all-bran cereal with berries and an egg; Greek yogurt with fruit and Go Lean cereal, a smoothie with yogurt, or protein shake, suggests Caspero.

Happy hour turned into a full drinking night

Why? How does an after work drink turn into a full tequila night. Aside from the most commonly perceived culprits, like skipping meals to social peer pressure, check your stress thermostat.

For instance, more than 200 women, who were part of a study in which work-related stress levels were evaluated in relation to emotional and uncontrolled eating, showed that “those experiencing burnout may be more vulnerable to emotional and uncontrolled eating and have a hindered ability to make changes in their eating behavior, according to a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

In other words, being under a chronic stress will make harder to keep up with a healthy diet unless the stress is managed.

What to do? Reduce the drink binge situation by eating something before you head to the pub, especially something high in protein and fiber like a low-fat string cheese, a hard boiled egg, or even veggies with a low-fat or fat-free dip. Then after one drink, order a club soda with a lime. This will help you to slow your drinking pace so you don’t overdo it, says Erin Palinski, RD,CDE, LDN, CPT, author of the new book, Belly Fat Diet for Dummies.

If you do binge drink focus on rehydrating the next day, and make fruits, vegetables, and broth based soups your best allies. “Also, if you are hangover, you may crave less healthy food options. Resist this urge since you already overdid the calories last night,” adds Palinski. “Choose healthy ‘junk’ foods like air popped popcorn, baked French fries, or making a “pizza” with low fat cheese on a whole grain tortilla versus ordering take out.”

The office gingerbread cookies, chocolates and other sweeties were too hard to resist

Why? Office snacks are mainly sugar and saturated fats. Both nutrients spike the serotonin and dopamine neurochemicals, which makes you crave more of these feel-good foods. This becomes more of an issue if you skipped an earlier meal, or during your previous snack time you ate food high in both simple carbohydrates and saturated food, or are dehydrated, under stress, and/or didn’t sleep well.

And the problem gets worse because once you begin munching on the cookie plate you can’t seem to stop. A recent study concluded that after prolonged exposure of energy dense snack foods ,such as hazelnuts, chocolate, and potato chips, participants experimented a decreased in sensory-specific satiety meaning they will need to eat more of the same food to feel satisfied.

What to do? Stock your office with healthy finger foods, such as fresh fruit, air popped popcorn, and dry roasted nuts to help curb your appetite and prevent splurging on sweets.

The late night snack was too sweet and salty to pass

Why? You may have had a dinner too low in protein and fiber, which keeps sugar levels under control, or watching TV for anywhere from 25 to 45 minutes, which studies have shown is the second most common cause of increasing appetite after alcohol and before sleep deprivation.

What to do? When subjects were given a snack either high in protein or high in carbohydrates, approximately two hours after having a full meal—like after dinner—neither type affected the intake of the following meal. In other words, there was no benefit of the snack. The authors of the study attribute the results in part to the participants were not hungry because they were still digesting their previous meal.

Since the type of food won’t stop you from snacking, Caspero recommends to keep your late night food on the light side, such as whole wheat toast with peanut or almond butter, Greek yogurt with some grapes, airing popped popcorn with a handful of nuts or a low sugar and high fiber and protein cereal. Watch out the portion size though. Remember, it’s a snack not a full meal.

Get Fit with Marta Montenegro: Post-Thanksgiving Day Workout

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 08:00:25 -0500

Giving Thanks to Your Body with a Post-Holiday Workout

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 08:00:07 -0500

The diet damage may be already done. The sweet potato and green bean casseroles were too yummy to pass. Your promise to drink just two glasses of wine turned into a wine testing. You were thankful for all the food and beverages, but now not so much.
Your stomach feels like a balloon and the guilt of emptying overflowing plates and going back to seconds —easily and extra 1,200 calories— has settled in.

But do not think you have to fast to undo your feast. Instead, have a good sweat!

Chances are you may not feel like working out, but right now your body is in damage control, and physical activity will deliver nutrients and oxygen to your brain and muscles, which will expedite the caloric burnout. The good news: you don’t need to change your normal routine to overcome your indulges. In fact, doing too much and/or too hard may add more stress to your body.

Ready? Go!
When the goal is to maximize the caloric burnout, you need a routine that combines both aerobic and anaerobic training at the same time. When done together, this combo —selecting exercises that work big muscles, done in a circuit fashion, higher reps, lower weight— has shown to increase the caloric expenditure during and after the workout.

But don’t expect to burn all your extra splurge calories in one workout. Keep in mind you also may be experiencing some dehydration or headache, which compromises your neuromuscular response —muscle response, stability, agility and cardiovascular capacity. So make sure your equipment is familiar and easy to use. The following post-Thanksgiving “Calorie Blast Circuit” is done with simple dumbbells and barbells.

Exercise Guidelines
- Perform a general 5-minute warm-up like dynamic stretching —walking lunges, side lunges with trunk rotation, knee to chest walking, etc.

- Perform this workout as a circuit —one exercise after another— for 15-20 reps; repeat once more if desired. The weight should be lighter than you use for 10-12 reps. Note: here you want to work on muscle endurance —mixing the cardio and resistance training benefits in one session.

- In all exercises keep your back straight, chest up and core tight.

- Do a 5-minute static stretching and foam rolling at the end.

Caloric Blaster Circuit
Barbell Narrow Squat: Keep the legs slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart to engage more the quadriceps. Go to a 90-degree angle or until the point where you can keep the back straight and not bend at the waist.

Cardio: Jogging, marching in place, biking, or elliptical (your choice) for 2 minutes at moderate intensity:

Mountain Climber: Maintain a straight torso and do not swing your hips. The effort should come from your abdominals. Keep a good flow alternating the legs back and forth as you stay in place.

Lunge to Bicep Curl to Shoulder Press: Perform a standard lunge, but as you lower your body to sit in your hips do a bicep curl with both arms. The raise both arms overhead as you raise your bent leg back up to complete one rep. Perform 10 on each side.

Cardio: Repeat the same.

Squat Jumps: Land softly and bounce back as soon as you hit the ground. You want to take advantage of the rapid eccentric motion to spring back forcefully.

Stiff-Dead Lift to Back Row: Keep the bar close to your body, push your buttocks out. While you lower the bar, lift up the body by using the hamstrings and the glutes, not your waist. When you are at a 45-degree angle, perform a back row and straighten up your body. This is one rep.

Cardio: Repeat the same.

Barbell Push-Press: Slightly bend your knees as if you were going to perform a squat. Use your legs to raise up the bar in one powerful move.

Dumbbell Side Leg Raise: Keep your arm holding the dumbbell straight. Lift the opposite leg, and your arm and try to touch your leg. You should feel this in your side abdominals, not in the neck or lower back. Perform 10 reps on each side.

Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Alternatives

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 08:15:28 -0500

If you watch your weight, and your food choice includes a salad, there is a good chance you will select the bowl of greens and veggies. Unfortunately, sometimes healthy food can be a diet sabotage if you are not careful. Top that salad with a few dollops of high calorie dressing, a sprinkle of croutons, and a touch of shredded cheese and you have tipped the scale from healthy to high fat. And you probably do not even realize it. This can happen with other types of food choices too, where you have to decide between two similar foods. Which one is really the healthiest? And at no time is this test more in play than Thanksgiving.

This or That?

Making a decision, conscious or unconscious, drains your will power. So we asked two nutrition experts—Sarah B. Krieger MPH, RD, LD/N, Spokesperson, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Lisa DeFazio, MS, RD Media Nutrition Expert, Dietitian and Host— to weigh in on what to eat and what to pass on when facing these typical Thanksgiving options.

1. Ham vs. Turkey

Winner: Turkey

While 4 oz. of turkey has just 190 calories and 6 g of fat without the skin, the same ham portion size has a whooping 345 calories and 21 g of fat. Likewise, turkey will nourish your muscles and provide you with more energy due to its B vitamins, potassium, folic acid, zinc, protein and iron.

2. Mashed Potatoes vs. Candied Yams

Winner: Draw

The yams may look like a straight winner due to its fiber content, which will keep hunger at bay. However, according to Krieger, candid yams can be loaded with butter and sugar/marshmallows while the “mashed potatoes are the easiest to modify to be more nutritious, simply by replacing a stick of butter with nonfat sour cream, a few tablespoons butter and nonfat milk, and keeping the peels on the potatoes before mashing-added garlic is a nutritious bonus.”

But for DeFazio, the yam's nutritional content outperforms the potato. Yams have more fiber, as well as vitamins C and A.

This may be a plus when the hectic holiday season spikes the stress hormone and weaken your immune system, in which vitamin C is much on demand. Vitamin A keeps the skin glowing and supple during the dry winter.

3. Eggnog vs. Spiked Apple Cider

Winner: Apple Cider

If you think eggnog is a super-fat sugar bombshell, you are right. This beverage can be a total diet disaster with more than 450 calories. Its contender may have just 140 calories and zero fat (skip the alcohol, though).

Apples also are loaded with quercitin flavonoids, which keep the blood vessels healthy and reduce inflammation through the body. This is particularly important when other choices on the table may stress the vessels with excess saturated fat and sugar.

“To get the most from this winter staple, make sure to get real apple cider, which is cloudy because it’s not filtered like apple juice,” says Charles Stuart Platkin, JD, MPH, author of The Diet Detective. “For an added boost, sprinkle cinnamon on top or add a cinnamon stick —studies show that this spice can lower bad cholesterol and improve glucose levels.”

4. Sugar Cookies vs. Gingerbread Cookies

Winner: Gingerbread Cookies

This is a close “unhealthy draw” in the sense that both can provide nothing but sugar and fat. Nevertheless, both experts agree gingerbread can have less fat and sugar than the obvious sugar cookies.

“The gingerbread has a slight edge with the spices, which can be added heavily —more than the recipe calls for— if you prefer an extra boost of flavor. Regardless, sticking with 1-2 small cookies is best for either,” says Krieger.

5. Cheese Balls vs. Mixed Nuts

Winner: Mixed Nuts

Although calorie-wise nuts can be on the high range, they also provide healthy fats, vitamin E, fiber, and less sodium than the cheese balls —which usually goes with salty crackers and adds more calories and sodium, says Krieger.

Bonus: Studies show regular nuts eaters maintain better weight. However, keep an eye on the portion size; just ¼ cup can easily have more than 100 calories.

6. Apple Pie vs. Pecan Pie

Winner: Apple Pie

Desserts are all about indulging and it is fine to treat occasionally. But enjoy a slice of apple, which usually has less sugar and fat, and thus fewer calories than pecan pie.

“This is close as the crust is the same for each pie —both are made with white flour and shortening/butter,” says Krieger. “Yet, the apple pie filing has a slight edge due to being a fruit serving with less sugar than the syrupy coating on the pecan topping.” Of course, portions are key in desserts: aim for 1/10 of a 9-inch pie.

How to Fight Belly Fat with a Holiday Diet

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 10:00:32 -0500

You see it, you feel it, you can even pinch it. It is that pesky belly fat we all complaint about – no matter gender, age or whether you are overweight or even thin. Why does this annoying fat sit right there in the middle of the body for everyone to see? Are there some foods that promote this type of body fat more than others? Equally, are there foods with the power to shrink that muffin top? And perhaps most important: is this fat the most dangerous to your health?

There are many factors that dictate where, and at what rate, you deposit fat. This includes everything from diet and stress to gender, physical activity, and even hormones.

Fat Trapped

Eat a bagel and wash it down with coffee, cream, and sugar; spend the next six-plus hours on your computer to make a pressing deadline while you skip your morning workout, and end up staying up too late. What will you get? The perfect set up to increase abdominal fat. Here is how.

Insulin hormone spikes due to the rapid sugar release from the bagel. This flow of energy will be barely used right away, so it gets deposited as belly fat. Since you are under stress from your deadline, cortisol goes up. Visceral fat loves cortisol, which stimulates enzymes, such as lipoprotein lipase, that promotes fat storage. Everything gets worse when you cut back on your sleep, which throws off some metabolic hormones and will make you crave for more sugar and fat. In the end, you are trapped in a fat belly cycle that never ends.

The First to Come In and Out

The skin you can pinch between your fingers is your subcutaneous fat. This fat may not be 100 percent directly related to some diseases ¬like cardiovascular disease, diabetes type 2, metabolic syndrome among others that have an inflammatory component underneath. However, the bigger this kind of fat, the greater chances the visceral fat becomes—the fat that gets deep within the belly.

“We used to think that fat was a passive substance. The latest research shows that fat cells are very active secreting hormones and chemicals that under normal weight can be healthy, but when these fat cells get larger they are very dangerous,” says Erin Palinski, RD, CDE, author of the new book Belly Fat Diet for Dummies.

The good news is while the belly is the body’s preferred fat storage, it is also the first fat spot to be reduced when you change your diet and exercises (particularly aerobic exercise and/or resistance training circuit type). Belly fat is highly responsive to sympathetic activity, which means that when you exercise, the adrenalin rush acts as a flame to burnt it out. Women now understand why is so hard to get rid of fat in the thighs. This one does not response to the same conditions as belly fat. It stands to support maternity and lactation.

Although you can lose weight and even achieve your ideal weight through diet alone, if you really want to flatten your belly and keep it that way, you have to exercise too. “Part of what makes up your ‘belly’ is your abdominal muscles. If you begin to strengthen these muscles, they work like an internal girdle, pulling your stomach in, flattening it, and showing those perfect abs you desire.” says Palinski.

Food Fat Fighters

So if you don’t move, don’t expect to have a leaner midsection. Plus, if your diet relies on fast food and vending machine selections, you know what you will get: a larger belly. But the question remains: what are the best foods to shred your expanding belly?

According to Palinski, plenty of research points out that the following foods and ingredients are proven fat fighters—and also perfect for holiday festivities too.

Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids like chia seeds, walnuts, and fish like salmon. Omega-3 rich foods been shown to help reduce abdominal fat storage and prevent the stress hormone cortisol from peaking.

Holiday option: walnuts and pumpkin seeds

Foods rich in fiber: whole grains (whole- wheat pasta, brown rice, and quinoa, for example) + beans + fruits like berries and apples). A study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found dieters who ate five servings of whole grains every day for 12 weeks lost two times as much belly fat as people who instead ate refined carbohydrates. The key factor is fiber, in particular resistance starch, which helps resist digestion and is found in lentils and beans.

Holiday option: look for whole grain dinner rolls and even oatmeal cookies. On the fruit side, apples are the best option—they are rich in an antioxidant called quercetin, which can help block baby fat cells from expanding and fight inflammation.

Foods rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) like low fat milk and dairy and beef products has been shown to promote body fat losses. Animal studies show that mice consuming a diet high in CLA had significant reductions in body fat, and some human studies have shown a reduction in belly fat with increased CLA. Dairy products are also rich in the amino acid arginine, which has been shown to help promote fat loss and increase muscle mass.

Holiday option: Low fat milk (grass-fed cows produce milk with the highest CLA content), low fat yogurt, lamb, beef, and fortified eggs.

Foods rich in vitamin C, such as bell peppers. Studies have shown vitamin C prevents the hormone cortisol to remain elevated in a stressful situation. Cortisol will circulate in your body for shorter amounts of time, which helps to fight against belly fat storage.

Holiday option: sweet potato

Cinnamon. This seasoning has been found in studies to make fat cells more responsive to insulin, which helps to better regulate blood sugar levels and prevent fat storage.

Holiday option: sprinkle some in your light cappuccino, latte, and hot chocolate

On the beverage department beyond the water:

Green tea: The main polyphenol, EGCG, in green tea as been shown to have thermogenic properties as well as help to increase fat oxidation in several studies. In fact, one study found when overweight individuals consumed the same amount of calories and performed the same amount of exercise, those who drank green tea lost more weight, especially from the abdomen.

Red wine: This may be the best choice for alcohol since it is rich in resveratrol. Resveratrol has been shown to suppress levels of the hormone estrogen. High levels of estrogen in your body promote increased fat storage, so suppressing them may decrease body fat while helping to increase lean muscle mass.

Apple cider: The non-alcoholic variety can make a warm treat on those cold fall nights and at family gatherings. But some commercial brands add large amounts of sugar. Couple this with the additional calories from the rum (if you choose to add it) and your drink can parallel the calories in a slice of apple pie. To lighten it up, select apple cider with no added sugars and enjoy it warm and alcohol free. For hard apple ciders that are served chilled, slim it down by making an apple cider spritzer. Mix ½ cup apple cider, ½ cup club soda, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice for a refreshing seasonal cocktail.

Holiday options: All these are ideal holiday season beverages. Switch out your morning coffee for tea; enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner; toast with apple cider at family gatherings.

Swap These Moves to Give Your Back a Break

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 09:52:25 -0500

Exercising has its risks even though the benefits often outweigh the risks. At times your daily training quota may give you some aches and pains—back, shoulder, neck, and so on. Some are due to the “too much-too soon” effect while others are blamed on overuse or risky exercises like the squat and deadlift, which place a great deal of stress on the back muscles.

Many studies report that weight training can improve and prevent lower back problems by strengthening the deep and surrounding muscles of the back, thus reducing the pressure in this area. Yet experts point out there are many factors to consider when performing exercises that engage the lower back, such as age, gender, height, weight, fitness level, overall health, and exercise techniques like standing or sitting and machine or free weights.

This is particular true when performing the squat. A person with a long torso and short limbs reduces the stress on the back by flexing the hips (the torso will tilt only a little). In comparison, a long limbed individual will lean forward too much and add more risk to the back.

Switch It Out

Many common exercises place a lot of pressure on the back. This is not necessarily bad. In fact, these exercises provide plenty of benefits to strengthen the lower and upper body along with your core in an integrated way, which is important for sports and daily life tasks. Likewise, they often help to increase bone mass and prevent its deterioration.

However, there are times when you need to give your back a break, whether it is due to physical limitations, previous injury, or simply the need for variation.

Christopher J. Sims, BS, NASM CPT/PES, private trainer at The Sports Club LA/MIA, explains why each of these common exercises put the back in a risky position and which moves you can swap out to save your back, but still get the muscular benefit.

Barbell Squat

Why? This exercise requires you use a forward leaning torso posture to keep the weight centered over your base of support. This forward leaning torso places the vertebrae, especially the lumbar vertebrae, in a vulnerable position for disc herniation if you do not maintain neutral spinal alignment—or are unable to—during ascent and descent of the squatting movement.

Swap it: A substitute leg exercise for the squat is the lunge. It allows you to maintain a more neutral spinal alignment through a greater range of motion.

Standing Overhead Press

Why? This exercise places the latissimus dorsi (located at the back sides of your trunk) in a stretched position as you attempt to straighten your arms overhead. If you do not have adequate flexibility in the lats, enough core stability, and proper strength in the deltoids, upper trapezius and triceps, your spine may be pulled out of alignment. You may inadvertently or intentionally arch your back for more leverage, which places the vertebrae in a vulnerable position.

Swap it: A substitute to the standing overhead press is the seated overhead press, but you should remain cautious of excessive lumbar arching while also seated. (Exercise Not Shown).

Deadlift

Why? The deadlift shares a similar body positioning as the barbell squat. If you try to deadlift the weight by flexing then extending the spinal erector muscles—in addition to extending the hips and knees—you are placing your body in a vulnerable position for disc herniation. The vulnerability can be worsened when you have a large differential of strength between the two major hip extensors, the hamstring group, and the gluteus maximus.

Swap it: A substitute exercise is leg curls to isolate the hamstrings (the muscles of the back of the legs). However, the deadlift is such a complete exercise that it is hard to find a similar all-around movement that also challenges the posterior kenetic chain—the trapezius, back, core muscles, glutes, and hamstrings. So a substitute exercise that also targets these key areas while decreasing the spine pressure is the leg curl on the physioball. When doing this exercise keep your core tight and don’t let your hips fall. Bring the ball in by using the hamstrings (the back of the leg muscles) as you lift up the torso. Control the lengthening phase by using the same muscles and do not let your leg touch the floor. Do one leg and then the other. If this too hard do it with both legs at the beginning.

Front Shoulder Raises

Why? Front shoulder raises are often accompanied by a person excessively leaning backward, which can stress the back.

Swap it: Most people overwork the front part of the shoulders because the anterior deltoid is used when training the chest with exercises like the bench press and flyers. There is no need to do front shoulder raises if you already do incline dumbbell chest press. However, if you want to isolate this part of the shoulder muscles, you can do incline dumbbell front shoulder raises. You will use less weight due to the more effective isolation of this area—all while your back remains against the bench. To perform this exercise, set up the bench as you were doing an incline chest press with your arms rested to the side. Lift one arm up to shoulder level as you do when performing front shoulder raises; alternate with the other arm. Do not lift your head and/or the upper body off the bench. The movement should come from the anterior part of the shoulder although the pec muscles will assist on the move.

Bent Over Row

Why? The bent over row shares the same postural risk factors as the squat and the deadlift.

Swap it: A suitable substitute is the prone dumbbell row from the plank position, or the prone single-arm dumbbell row using a weight bench for support. Likewise, a squat to pulley or tubing row can effectively target the middle back muscles with the legs benefits added. (See below). Keep the elbows close to your body and squeeze the muscles around the scapula. Keep your back straight and core tight.

Kettle Bell Swing or Dumbbell Swing

Why? The bottom phase of the swing pattern places you in a similar forward leaning position as the deadlift, albeit with less weight and more repetitions. If repeated (even subtle), spinal flexions and extensions occur along with your hip and knee extension (as opposed to a stable spinal structure with hip/knee extension). Due to its unique compression and shear load ratios in the lumbar spine, there is an increased risk for disc herniation.

Swap it: The swing involves a powerful strength transfer from the legs to the upper body in which the abdominals and the spine muscles act as stabilizers by resisting the external force. A good exercise that taxes the same muscles and exercise power abilities is the pulley or tubing squat to overhead arm extension. This exercise should be performed in a single powerful and controlled movement where you use your legs to transfer strength to the upper body while the mid-section stabilizes and controls the move.

How to Do a Hamstring and Quads Workout Properly

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 10:00:48 -0500

The squat is the gold standard leg exercise either done with weights, no weights, tubing, and/or weighted balls. The benefits are many—from sports skills improvements to maximize caloric expenditure. However, if you don’t see muscular or well-defined legs after doing plenty of squats, or worse, have some knee and hamstrings aches, you may be over squatting.

When a muscle contracts, the opposite muscle has two jobs: it relaxes to allow the primary muscle to do its job, and also resists forces to stabilize the joint and help decrease the risk of injury.

Take a leg curl as an example. While the hamstrings (muscles on the back of the leg) exert the force, the quadriceps help to decelerate the hamstrings movement and stabilize the knee joint when you lower the leg.

Yet, if one of these muscles is stronger than the other—odds are the quadriceps—your performance will be affected and your risk of injury rises. And, aesthetically, you will have some muscle to show on the front of the leg, but nothing to show from the back.

Quadriceps Overload

Experts know if the quad strength exceeds hamstring strength then both the knee and the hamstrings are more prone to injury. “Many exercises, especially those involving squatting motions, typically involve the quadriceps to a greater extent than the hamstrings, thus further decreasing the hamstrings/quadriceps (H:Q) ratio,” confirms a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Indeed, compared to two hamstrings exercises—leg curl and stiff-leg deadlift—the squat tackles just one-half as much hamstrings activity.

The good news: you can improve your H:Q ratio in just 12 weeks with a hamstrings/quadriceps strength training program done twice a week.

Runners and those who play explosive sports like basketball would benefit from increasing their H:Q ratio. This is because resisting actions produce more force than concentric actions, which puts the muscle in a higher injury risk. This is what the hamstrings do during the last 25 percent of the swing phase in running—resisting the force.

So to proper work both sides of your legs, you should include one hamstring exercise for every quadriceps one. But not any hamstrings move will have the same effect. Some need to emphasize more the concentric action—shortening the muscle—while others will stress more the eccentric action—lengthening the muscle/resisting the force.

Super Set Leg Workout

This routine is designed in a super-set format: two exercises that focus on working opposite muscles, done one after another without rest. Rest at the end of each super-set for no more than 90 seconds, and do this workout twice a week with at least one day rest in between.

When doing this routine, follow these tips:

- Perform a light warm-up and stretch at the end of the workout

- Perform 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps. After two weeks, do one week of 15 reps to shake up the workout

- Make sure to keep your back straight, chest up, and abdominals tights and do not let the knees pass your toes

- This routine can be done with dumbbells and/or barbells

- If you are at the gym, switch one Good Morning exercise for a leg curl once in a while

Super-set: Straight Leg Deadlift (top) followed by Squat (bottom): when doing the SLD, push your hips back and go as low as you can while keeping the bar close to your body and the back straight. Use the back of the leg muscles to lift up your body and not the back.

Super-set: Good Morning (top) followed by Step-Up (bottom): the Good morning should be done with care. You must resist the weight with your hamstrings and lift up your body using the same muscles—not the back muscles. As per the step-up, a study shows that a 30-40 centimeter high (12-15 inches) bench produces greater quad strength than a lower bench; however, progress slowly. If you have knee issues, consult with your physician.

Super-set: Physioball Hamstrings Curl (top seqence) followed by Lunge (bottom): when doing the physioball hamstring curls make sure you keep your hips straight and exert the force with the hamstrings. Do not relax the hips when going down. The tension should be felt at all times. For more of a challenge do one leg at a time.

Get Fit with Marta Montenegro: The Anywhere, Anytime Body Blaster

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 11:32:04 -0400

Hurricane Sandy: How to Stay in Shape when Your Cooped Up at Home

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 11:52:14 -0400

Superstorm Sandy has left the scene, but its affects will linger for some time. It is still dangerous to venture outside—piles of debris, flooded roads, torn trees, and snapped power lines—so your regular runs or gym sessions have no doubt been put on hold.

Until everyday life returns, you can still stay healthy and active inside your home even with no power or gym equipment. All you need is your body weight and a little space.

Here is an eight-step workout that focuses on high-intensity interval training that hits all the major muscle groups. You can dial it up or down depending on your fitness level. You even can break it up into mini-routines of two to three workouts.

The Anywhere, Anytime Body Blaster

The Exercises

1. Burpee with Push-Up

2. Squat jumps

3. Walk Forward and Backward with Push-Up

4. Skater Jumps

5. Squat Jumps In and Out

6. Mountain Climbers

7. Plank, Alternating Arms

8. Plank, Push Up, Twist

Beginners

-Perform one exercise after another with minimal rest in between or as you need it according to your fitness level.
-Do 10 reps of each exercise.
-Repeat two times.
-Rest 90 seconds at the end of each circuit.
-Warm up around 5 minutes by walking or marching in place.
-Stretch at the end.
-Perform this routine three times over the week.

Intermediate/Advanced

-Perform one exercise after another with minimal rest in between.
-Do 15 reps of each exercise.
-More advanced: Challenge yourself by doing as much reps as you can in 30 seconds.
-Repeat three to four times.
-Rest 60 seconds at the end of each circuit.
-Warm up around 5 minutes by walking, marching in place, or doing knee raises.
-If you have some dumbbells, add them to the routine to increase the intensity. No dumbbells? Use gallon containers or bottles of water.
-Stretch at the end.

How to Beat Low Medical Numbers

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 09:16:03 -0400

Blood pressure 10/55 mmg. Heart rate 47 bpm. “Are you okay?” the nursed asked me. I smiled and explained how active I am, which is why my levels were so low.

We are used to hearing about high blood pressure, high resting heart rate and high cholesterol, among many other cardiovascular risk markers, but what about when these numbers are low? Are you at risk for heart and cardiovascular problems? Here is a look at what common medical low numbers really mean, if there is a potential problem and what you can do about it.

Low HDL Cholesterol: Not So Good

Total cholesterol is compromised by both LDL and HDL lipoproteins, whose functions oppose each other. When your doctor checks your total cholesterol, he or she will pay attention to these two values right away.

“LDL is like taxi cabs and escorts cholesterol into the arteries. HDL is like taxi cabs and drives cholesterol out of arteries. You need a sizeable number of taxi cabs taking cholesterol out of the arteries to reduce bad cholesterol levels and protect the heart,” says Jim Jirjis, M.D., Assistant Chief Medical Officer of Primary Care and Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

You want to keep LDL low —less than 100 mg/dL— while HDL higher than 40 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL for women. “Generally, low HDL level is genetic, and is more common in men than in women,” says Keri Peterson, M.D. Likewise, Jirjis points out that some medications, such as progestins and anabolic steroids, may lower the levels. Low HDL means there is less “taxi cabs” to transport out harmful LDL. The more LDL that hangs around increases the risk it can stick to the arteries and form damaging plaque.

What to do? The general advice to reduce total dietary fat intake doesn’t work for HDL. Studies show that when reducing total fat intake, without discriminating among the different types of body fat, you reduce both the good and bad fats: LDL and HDL. So, while cutting back saturated fat is important to reduce overall cardiovascular risk, some foods have shown to increase HDL, such as dark chocolate (rich in flavonoids) and mono-saturated fats like olive and canola oil and avocado.

But to lower LDL and to raise HDL faster, add exercise to your food intake equation. In a systematic review of the current evidence on exercise and cholesterol relationship, the best results were the following:

Moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise improves HDL levels.
Resistance exercise works better to decrease the bad cholesterol: LDL.
Combined exercise —aerobic and resistance— increases HDL and reduces LDL.

Low Blood Pressure: Watch Out

If you are a healthy person who exercises, you probably already enjoy many benefits of a good sweat. When you exercise “there is an increase in cardiac output —i.e., increase the volume of blood pumped from the heart— and a decrease in peripheral vascular resistance,” writes Paul Sorace, James R. Churilla and Peter M. Magyari in the article “Resistance Training for Hypertension,” published in Health & Fitness Journal.

And studies show that both endurance training and circuit type resistance training reduces blood pressure at rest.

Peterson adds that low blood pressure is also common in thin, young women. “As long as you don’t have dizziness or lightheadedness, it’s fine.” However, there are other situations that will need immediate assistance. For example, if your blood pressure’s top number (systolic) is in the 80s this is a sign of potential problems—beware that a normal reading is 120/70 mm HG—such as risk of severe dizziness or even a heart attack, says Peterson. Other causes, although rare, include dehydration —due to not drinking enough or taking diuretics— and adrenal insufficiency, adds Jirjis.

What to do? Keep working out and following an overall a healthy lifestyle. However, if you have symptoms see your doctor.

Low Resting Heart Rate: Fit if You Workout

Exercise reduces resting and submaximal exercise heart rate (workouts below your max heart rate). Training boosts the parasympathetic tone to the pacemaker of the heart at rest, while also increases volume of blood pumped from heart. This means that the heart has longer time to fill out between contractions, which make it pump more blood to the muscles with less effort.

Nevertheless, a low resting heart rate can mean other no-so-healthy issues. “If you aren’t exercising, it could be an arrhythmia,” says Peterson. “Also, certain medications called beta-blockers can slow down your heart rate —they are usually taken when having high blood pressure. While it’s normal to have a resting heart rate in the 70s, some people are also born with rates in the 50s for 60s. If it’s their normal rate then it isn’t a problem.”

What to do? Consult with your doctor about your medications and if you are not fit to help rule out bradycardia (low heart rate), which appears if you have sick sinus syndrome.

Low Sodium: Rare!

The typical Western diet is usually high in sodium, so it is rare for people to have low sodium levels. On the opposite end, some chronic diseases are exacerbated because of extra sodium intake.

“High sodium can trigger increased sodium retention, which can result in increased fluid volume and high blood pressure,” say Thomas P. Martin, Ph.D., FACSM, RCEP and Anastasia N. Fischer, M.D, in their article “Sodium, Potassium and High Blood Pressure” published in the Health & Fitness Journal.

When most people hear their sodium is low, they think they don’t get enough salt, but the real problem is they may be drinking too much water. Sodium levels are measured by how much salt is dissolved per cubic centimeter in the blood, but when there is too much free water in your body sodium gets diluted.

What to do? Be mindful about how much water you drink during exercise. Some people who engage in endurance events often may drink too much water, which puts them at risk of lowering the sodium level. However, in most incidences you need to reduce your overall sodium intake, such as processed food and bread, which have been reported as the main culprits the high sodium levels in the American diet.

Low Potassium: Not So Good

The adequate intake of potassium is 4,700 mg/day, yet the average men intake is 3,200 mg/day and 2,400 mg/day for women.

“A moderate potassium deficiency is characterized by increased blood pressure, increased risk of kidney stones, increased urinary excretion of calcium and salt sensitivity,” says Martin and Fischer. “Potassium blunts the effects of sodium and is therefore important in the control of blood pressure.”

In some extreme cases, diarrhea and vomiting or some weight loss pills (diuretics) can cause abnormally low levels of potassium —known as hypokalemia— which requires immediate medical attention.

What to do? Increase your intake of foods rich in potassium, such as raisins (1 cup has 1,086 mg of potassium), potato with the skin (1,081 mg of potassium), beans, spinach, yogurt, oranges, avocados and tomatoes.

How Intensive Workouts Help to Beat Pain

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 11:00:31 -0400

I once ran a half-marathon with anemia, which means hemoglobin is low and less oxygen is carried to the muscles, among many other health issues. Another time I ran a 10K with a partial tear of an ankle ligament. My personal best of a 140-pound dead lift occurred while having hamstrings tendinitis. And recently, I experienced a complex dentist job without anesthesia.

I certainly don’t advise anyone to endure this kind of physical pain, but my ability to withstand such high levels of discomfort comes from the 20 years I have been exercising without a break.

When we exercise we expect to get stronger, have more energy, increase endurance and stamina, and improve our health. Yet, have you ever thought the same “pain” you feel when squeezing your butt in the last rep while squatting, or when pushing through the last mile, will make you more resistant to physical pain in general —from flu-like symptoms to a torture headache?

It may be that exercise can work as a natural anesthesia to tolerate physical pain. Indeed, in a study published in the monthly journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, physical activity performed by 21 healthy women —from moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for a minimum of 150 min/ week to vigorous-intensity aerobic activity for a minimum of 75 minutes per week— was compared with pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings to noxious thermal stimuli. The findings showed that the most active participants reported significantly lower unpleasantness ratings than the less active peers.

Pick Up the Intensity

Experts advise to get moving no matter what the activity is, as long as you do it regularly. But in the same way you can’t expect to have a toned body only by walking, there are some exercises that will make you tougher at decreasing pain sensitivity than others.

“Cardiovascular exercise is the best for this —anything that uses large muscle groups of the body at the same time for at least 20 to 30 minutes nonstop, such as running, swimming or cycling,” says Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter, sports psychology expert and coach, author of You Performing Edge (2012). “By working continuously, the body creates endorphins, which can act as an analgesic and also increase the sense of well-being in the brain. That change in brain chemistry can have a sort of numbing effect as well as a stress-reduction effect, therefore any pain isn’t as pronounced.”

While performing a continuous activity that uses the whole body can make you pain tolerance stronger, how intense the exercise is what ultimately provides the most benefit.

“We found that only time spent in vigorous activity was significantly related to pain sensitivity. Both low and moderate intensity activities did not appear to play a role,” says Laura Ellingson, Ph.D., Research Scientist in the Exercise Psychology Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the study’s authors. “Vigorous physical activity may lead to lowered pain sensitivity because this type of exercise is often painful. Reduced sensitivity to pain stimuli may be an adaptation to repeated muscle pain exposure through this higher intensity exercise.”

According to Dahlkoetter, you can expect the pain reduction effect during exercise and one to two hours later, when endorphins are at its highest. “The more continuous, the better,” she says. “That’s why it’s really important for people to exercise once a day.”

Workouts That Work Out

Unfortunately, a body-mind workout like yoga will not make you more resistant to tolerate physical pain. Dahlkoetter points out that “other forms of exercise like yoga could help with pain associated with that particular exercise or yoga position, but you may not feel the increase in endorphins.”

Indeed, some studies show how yoga and Pilates may help to relieve chronic low back pain; nevertheless, this is different from making you less sensitive to the dentist’s pain work or other type of physical pain. Experts say these types of discipline instead may release different neuro-chemicals that slow you down and thus decrease anxiety and stress.

To strength your pain tolerance, you don’t need to push yourself all the way through your exercise routine every time. “For instance, running is hard to do once a day. What I would recommend is running three to fours days a week, and something else on alternate days like swimming or yoga,” says Dahlkoetter.

By most definitions, all exercise is mind-body exercise. And based on the available research, what is important is to begin an exercise program at a low intensity so any physical issues like chronic pain symptoms don’t increase dramatically, but enough for the body to begin to adapt to the increased workload. “This can be done with a careful progression in really any type of exercise,” says Ellingson.

Good and Bad Pain

The takeaway message here is to workout at higher intensity to make you less pain sensitive. However, you need to also understand the difference between “good” pain and “bad” pain. Bad pain is often localized, centered around a joint, and typically involves swelling. Yet, good pain is common when you first begin to increase your physical activity and is a sign that your body is adjusting.

“I think many people who are unfamiliar with exercise and are just beginning to increase their physical activity will also be unfamiliar with “good” muscle pain and may see it as a signal that they should stop,” says Ellingson. But she points out that general muscle pain and soreness is a normal part of adapting to physical activity and could potentially go a long way to help you continue to exercise when you experience soreness. So in this case there are gains from pains.

How to Increase Your Basal Metabolic Rate

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 08:00:18 -0400

Women blame their metabolism for how easily they pack the pounds compared to men. Certainly, men’s metabolism is faster than theirs due to having more muscle mass and less fat. However, when looking at the basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the calories your body consumes at rest to keep up with vital functions—the difference between sexes can be less than 100 calories.

We refer to metabolism as a whole (all the chemical reactions that happen in the body’s cell to keep us alive), but understand what compromises your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and you can change your approach to weight loss and weight maintenance.

When you think about shaking up your metabolism you think exercise. Indeed, a gym session can represent 15 to 30 percent of your total daily energy expenditure, along with 10 percent required in the digestion and assimilation of nutrients. But keep in mind that protein produces the highest impact on this process. This means you burn more calories digesting protein than carbs and fats. But what takes up the remaining 60 to 75 percent of the total daily energy expenditure? Your basal metabolic rate.

Bump Up Your BMR

If you already exercise and eat healthy, you may have covered about 40 percent of your TDEE. So how do you use the other 60 percent?

Certain events you cannot control can accelerate your metabolism and impact your energy expenditure at rest; for instance, exposure to cold weather or a pregnancy. However, you can control how that 15 to 30 percent is used for physical activity as well as the 10 percent spent for digesting food.

What does all this mean? Simple: working out helps you make the most of the 15 to 30 percent of your TDEE, in addition to the significant impact it creates on the remaining 60 to 75 percent. This is due to the fact that the more muscle you add, the more calories you burn even at rest. Likewise, the higher the intensity and the frequency of exercise, the more you impact metabolism at rest.

Of course, not any exercise will affect your resting metabolic rate the same way. Here are four workout methods that can increase your BMR.

Metabolic Accelerators Workouts

1. Maximize the weights workout: Researches show around 7 percent increase in resting metabolic rate after several weeks of resistance training. The squat effect does not end here. “Recent studies have revealed similar elevations in resting metabolic rate (5 to 9 percent) for three days following a single session of resistance training,” explains Wayne L. Wescott, Ph.D., in Sports Medicine Reports.

Note that to make the most out of your metabolism, heavy lifting is needed. When you lift a dumbbell and do 8 to 10 reps—struggling at the last two reps—you activate more fast-twitch fiber, which are the ones that have the highest strength and power capabilities and way less endurance. Studies show exercises that rely on these fibers, such as sprint, plyometric moves, heavy lifting, etc., create higher metabolic load compared to the slow-twitch fiber—the ones that work the most in aerobic-endurance exercises.

Your plan: Resistance training increases epinephrine, dopamine, and other catecholomines, which increases fat breakdown. To maximize the sympathetic response and post energy expenditure (the calories that your body burns after the workout ends) experts recommend using high volume (eight multi-joint exercises, such as push-press, pull-ups, dips, deadlift, and weighted squats (see below); 4 to 6 sets, and up to 10 reps each) and short rest intervals (30 to 90 seconds).

2. Mix cardio and weights: Working both your cardiovascular system and muscles in the same session will make you burn more calories during the 30-minute period after your workout. This is due to increased oxygen uptake, and the more oxygen you consume the more calories you burn and thus the more active your metabolism. However, you have to properly mix the two.

In a study, published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, subjects performed six resistance exercises, 3 sets of 10 repetitions, with a 60 second interval rest. They then cycled for 20 minutes (two minutes low intensity, one minute high intensity) before, after, and in the middle of the resistance training. The results showed that doing the cardio in the middle provided the most metabolic impact post-exercise—meaning your metabolism will stay on fire after the exercise session has ended.

Your plan: Choose six multi-joint exercises (squat, bench press, leg press, lat-pull down, abdominals, and back extensions), which you will perform 3 sets of 10 reps with a 60 second rest period. After doing three of the exercises for the numbers of sets and reps described, perform 20 minutes of interval-cardio as explained above, and finish up with the remaining three resistance exercises.

3. Interval training to get more in less time: A study published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism compared sprint-interval training (2 minutes long) to continuous endurance training (30 minutes total) to measure oxygen consumption during the exercise and then again after 24 hours. The results showed that sprint-interval training elicited 24-hour oxygen consumption similar to continuous endurance exercise. In other words, you got more benefits during a shorter period of time.

Your plan: Select your favorite aerobic exercise and do intervals of 30 seconds at high intensity, followed by 1 minute at low intensity for recovery. Do a 5 minute warm-up and a 5 minute cool down for a total of 20 minutes. The key here is for the high intensity intervals to be tough where you can barely sustain the pace for the time suggested.

4. Stretch it out: You may not always have the time to stretch, but will it make a difference before your workout in terms of your total caloric expenditure?

When subjects did different dynamic stretching exercises before running, they increased their caloric burnt significantly compared with those that did nothing beforehand. In addition, their average oxygen consumption and flexibility increased, according to an article published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Your plan: Before working out, perform five different dynamic stretching exercises, such as toe heel walks, hand walks, different angle lunges, and walking groaners (2 sets, 4 reps). Keep in mind the exercises should be dynamic, which means not holding the stretching position for set time. Static stretching should be reserved at the end of the workout.

Discovering the Ups and Downs of Your Favorite Drinks

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 09:40:46 -0400

You run into work with your tall latte in hand. Around mid-morning you pop a vending machine soda. At lunch, you can’t resist a Nestea. The day is only half over and you have already consumed around 400 calories from beverages! That is a 6-oz. lean sirloin steak with 100 calories to spare.

But the main problem is that you do not notice this intake. If you keep a food blog, chances are you never pencil in the Nestea. And experts explain that liquid calories quicken gastric emptying, which decreases satiety, thus caloric intake may increase. In other words, your body does not register the beverage as a solid meal; therefore, the metabolic response is not the same.

And the problem gets worse. Researchers have shown that some beverages can decrease fat oxidation after a meal. So it’s not just the 158 soda calories that went through your stomach and brain unnoticed, but it also slows down fat metabolism.

Certainly, one of the easiest ways to shave off some pounds is to examine your beverage intake. I won’t give you the most common healthy swap suggestions for your high calorie drinks —e.g. swap whole milk for skim. Rather I will analyze which common beverages can either improve or sabotage your weight loss effort.

The Liquids Up and Down

Mooo: Calcium intake has shown to decrease fat storage. However, in a recent study, flavored milk drinkers —250 grams a day— consumed more soft drinks and fruit juices than non-milk consumers throughout the day, thus ingesting more calories overall, says Michael I. McBurney, Ph.D., FACN, in the article “Drink Fluids to Maintain Hydration and Eat to Obtain Calories” published in Nutrition Today. So stay away from flavored milks.

OJ: Having orange juice with a meal may not be friendly for your waist. In a study published in Advances in Nutrition, subjects had breakfast either with orange juice or water. The results showed that resting fat oxidation was significantly lower after the meal with OJ. The researchers explained the caloric beverage not just caused an excess of energy intake, but also limited fat oxidation at rest. While the water group had already metabolized the meal’s fats after 150 minutes, the OJ group did not.

A Cup of Joe: While a cup of coffee 60 minutes prior to a workout can enhance fat mobilization, drink it after a carbohydrates meal —cereal, toast, etc.— and the effect will be canceled. Studies published in the Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, report that caffeine is known for enhancing fatty acid oxidation; however, in the presence of a high carbohydrate meal, the stimulus gets overpowered by the glucose metabolism.

Smoothie Fan: Researchers report satiety may increase when fiber is added to a drink. This was the case when a fiber-rich beverage was given during a meal for seven days; overall energy intake decreased 10 percent at evening, according to results in Advances in Nutrition. However, when comparing “apples with apples,” this is what happened: Apple juice, apple puree, and regular apples were evaluated on satiety and insulin response. As you may expect, insulin response was higher with the liquid and satiety was lower compared to the regular apples. The study authors suggest the removal of fiber from food results in faster and easier ingestion, decreased satiety, and disturbed glucose balance. So if your smoothie includes food rich in fiber, such as apples, oatmeal, etc, you are fine. However, make sure your added fruits are in chunk size. In the same study, the researchers point out that subjects who had a large fruit portion added to their smoothie experienced higher satiety than those with a small fruit portion, even though both beverages had the same calories and nutrients.

Water: You’re drained after your hour workout, so you reach for a sports drink to hydrate. Unless your workout lasted over an hour and/or did it at noon outside in sunny Florida, the sports drink will shut down your fat burnout. Several studies have shown fat oxidation can be around 40 percent greater after water intake than after a caloric beverage. “Decades of crossover experiments consistently demonstrate greater rates of fat oxidation when water is consumed instead of a caloric beverage, before or during low-to-moderate intensity exercise,” says Jody D. Stookey, Ph.D. in his article, “Drinking Water and Weight Management” published in Nutrition Today.

Diet Soda: If you are like me and can’t give up diet soda, it’s time to make a change. After a meal, particularly one high in carbohydrates, insulin release interferes with some of the hormones that promote fat breakdown. Any beverage other than water will affect insulin; thus, the fat oxidation process. The lower the beverage’s glycemic index, the less insulin response, so water is better than milk, milk is better than juices, etc. But aren’t diet sodas calorie-free? Yes, but their sweet taste can stimulate insulin release, which can increase appetite. This also stimulates fat storage and lowers glucose levels, which can lead to sugar crashes and cravings.

Marta Montenegro: How Are You Feeding Your Brain?

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 09:47:07 -0400

My mom still does the newspaper crossword puzzle. I don’t think she enjoys it, but she’s fully convinced that by crossing words in her mind will keep her brain sharp. She sometimes struggles to find the right words while she eats a familiar Venezuela food: tequeno—fried dough with cheese. Of course, I am shocked looking at this scene. Where are the antioxidants and food sources of omega-3 fatty acids to feed her brain?

Like most people, my mom does not relate what she eats with her brain health. Food is what gives us energy when we feel down, what we have to watch when losing weight, and what gathers people around a table. But how does food relate to remembering a doctor’s appointment next week, where you left your keys, or how to perform regular, daily activities.

Brain Diet

“Our brains are seven times larger than they should be for an animal of our size. Just feeding our brains take a quarter of all calories we use at rest,” says William D. Lassek, M.D. and Steve J.C. Gaulin, Ph.D, authors of the book Why Women Need Fat.

Our brains are not just energy consumers, but they do need specific nutrients to properly function. Carbohydrates (the whole grain types) are required to avoid a “sugar crash” while healthy omega-3 fatty acids) particularly the DHA type) feed your brains neurons.

My mom may not think that she needs a diet for her brain, but what you eat—and how much—not only can affect your waistline, but also influence the how much you can recall from your recent office meeting.

In a recent study in The Journal of Nutrition, participants who had an average intake of less than 2,490 daily calories for men and less than 1,810 for women, showed better cognitive function, verbal memory, and executive functioning than those with a higher caloric intake. And a recent “Study of Aging” from the Mayo Clinic found overeating could double the risk of memory loss.

There are a variety of reasons a reduced calorie diet may improve brain function. One component is likely due to the overall decrease in sugary carbohydrates, which leads to less insulin release, less inflammation, and even a reduced risk of diabetes (which also increases risk for cognitive decline), according to Richard S. Isaacson, M.D., associate professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and author of Alzheimer’s Treatment, Alzheimer’s Prevention: A Patient and Family Guide.

IQ Food Bumper and Crasher

Cutting out calories from your daily intake may trim belly inches and make you smarter. Not bad! While keeping your daily caloric intake to around 1,800 for women and 2,400 for men will raise your IQ, there are some foods that help improve your memory and better recall information, while others can make this effort more difficult.

Studies in patients who are both at risk for Alzheimer’s disease—who are having mild memory loss—as well as in patients already diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, have found that reducing the amount of simple carbohydrates like soda, white rice, and candy, can lead to improved memory function.

So what should you eat for a better brain? It depends on your needs.

What’s Your Brain Problem?

Moody: Omega-3 fatty acids—DHA and ALA—found in salmon, walnuts, and kiwi fruit has been shown to fight against mental conditions, such depression, mood disorders, and dementia. Likewise, folic acid, which is found in spinach, orange juice, lentils, and peanuts, is essential to prevent neurological disorders that can lead to a depression and other cognitive impairments, explains Tara Gidus, MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N.

Be smart: DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid type found mainly in fish, is the main component of the brain synapses. A lack of this essential fat has been shown to diminish intellectual performance, says Gidus who recommends 1,000 mg a day if you don’t eat deep-water fish regularly.

Where’s my keys?: Blueberries and strawberries are one of the highest food sources in antioxidants. Researches show that berries can reverse some effects of age-related brain decline. “Improving your memory and increasing your brain health can be as simple as eating ¼ cup of blueberries every day,” says Gidus. A daily multivitamin can also help as it can boost immediate memory, according to a recent study in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Stay focused: Popeye ate spinach for instant muscles, but this vegetable can also pump up your memory and improve performance on learning tests. The secret? Its rich magnesium content. Gidus explains that magnesium deficiency has been associated with a lack of focus. And don’t forget eggs. They are rich in choline, a fat-like B vitamin that has been shown to enhance memory and minimize fatigue. Other choline food sources include milk, nuts, and meats.

Move Your Brain

While feeding your brain is important you also need to move your body. Regular physical activity modifies other brain functions. According to London researcher Archana Singh-Manoux, Ph.D., exercise sustains cerebral blood flow, increasing the supply of cerebral nutrients and facilitating neurotransmitter metabolism. All of these functions are related to our cognitive abilities. For example, a recent study from University of Illinois researchers determined that fitness training increased the cognitive performance and executive control processes, which are responsible for abstract thinking, planning and decision-making, and troubleshooting technical situations. Another exercise-brain study cited in the American Journal of Public Health reported that physical inactivity proved to be a risk factor for reduced cognitive functioning—more specifically, fluid intelligence in adults, or the ability to think abstractly and solve new problems.

Smart Exercise

While any type of exercise can shake your brain, but the more you master an exercise or a sport, the less you will tax your mind. So moving while learning something new is critical to work out the brain. Try a new Zumba, cross-fit, or yoga class. Or you can simply tweak one of your most common resistance exercises. Try this single leg Deadlift to DB Row to your regular workout routine. You will challenge not just your brain, but also your muscles.

As for my mom, I have her lifting some weight, but not successful with the new eating yet.

Single Deadlift to DB Row

You already know how to do a row and a deadlift so how you can give to these two exercises a spin? Perform a single leg deadlift with dumbbells in both hands for better stabilization. When you have lifted the leg completely by flexing your hips backwards—keep the back straight, chest up, and neck align with the spine—and perform a row where you fully contract the muscles of the back. Use your glutes and the hamstrings (the muscles of the back of your legs) to return to the standing position.

Perform one leg at a time. Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps. This exercise works the core, back and glutes-hamstrings—and the brain When you master it, do it by holding one dumbbell on the opposite arm to the leg that is planted on the floor. Tiny changes like this is all your brain needs to be challenged.

Marta Montenegro: Time Off From Bilateral Exercises

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:09:43 -0400

The fitness world has moved to circuit training (eight to 10 exercises performed one after another without rest); high intensity training (short burst of maximal intensity followed by recovery periods at low intensity); and multi-joint exercises (exercises that use more than one joint/muscle at a time).

What do all these exercise approaches have in common? They emphasize less time at the gym while maximizing results.

Certainly, when you combine bilateral and multi-joint exercises you will activate more muscle mass, thus producing a higher metabolic response. Since the effort will be higher too, you will tired sooner, and finish your workout in 30 minutes rather than an hour. Isn’t this great?

It is, but it may be time to add unilateral exercises to your exercise program. Athletes often develop more than 10 percent greater strength in one extremity over the other. This can happen to you if only stick to a two-arm shoulder press and never weave in an unilateral shoulder press.

Strength Balance

Experts agree that one main problem of too much bilateral exercises is that the strongest side will take a greater load, which deepen the muscle imbalances and may increase the risk of injury.

It’s not just a matter of having the right leg stronger than the left one, but also the added pressure on the joints. In a recent study where bilateral, multi-joint exercises (e.g. squatting) was compared to unilateral, single joint exercise (e.g. leg extension), researchers showed the average peak knee moment force was 12.8 percent greater in the dominant limb compared to the non-dominant limb.

The weakness of one extremity over the other shows up in powerful moves, and also in exercises where you hold a muscle contraction and there’s no move—e.g., plank. Another study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, concluded that when tests evaluated different outputs properties between dominant and non-dominant upper limbs, the dominant side overcame the non-dominant limber in the majority of tests.

High Intensity Unilateral Circuit

In this exercise program maintain two of the proven fitness techniques: circuit training and moderate-high intensity. You can accomplish a great workout while working on your unilateral muscle-joint weakness, plus your overall workout time and calorie expenditure (your ability to burn a lot of calories) won’t be affected much.

In no time, you will make the weakness gap shorter and diminish your risk of future injuries.

Exercise Routine Guidelines

Perform this routine in circuit: one exercise after another without rest
Do 2-3 circuits, 10-12 reps. Select a weight that makes it hard to perform the last two reps. Rest 60 seconds maximum
In all exercises do one side and then move to the other
Do a light warm-up and stretch at the end
Do this routine twice a week with at least 24 hours apart
General technique guidelines: keep your back straight, chest up, abdominals tight, and don’t allow your knee to pass the toes
The exercises performed with a tubing can be done with the pulley machine as well

High Intensity Unilateral Circuit

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 11:03:04 -0400

Marta Montenegro: Exercises to Boost Your Workout

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:12:23 -0400

When you do a set of pull-ups as part of your back routine, whether with the pull-up machine or old school, you probably feel some tension in your biceps and even chest. Pull-ups are an example of a multi-joint exercise, which is designed to engage several joints and muscle at the same time.

However, there is always one primary muscle or muscle group that acts as the primary mover. In this case the back muscles. The biceps and chest benefit from the up and down workout, but they also need to be in proper shape to assist the movement, otherwise you will fatigue sooner and cannot do as many reps.

Indeed, when researchers tested three different pull-up exercises—changing the grip position for each one—they found that while the lats were activated the most, the biceps and the pectorals muscles were highly stressed, concludes a study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. So if you struggle with pull-ups, you may need to work your biceps and chest to better isolate the back muscles and take the stress off them.

An Exercise Helper

It’s a funny scenario. Your secondary muscle need to be strong so you can work the main muscles more. This is true for many common exercises. For instance, if you find yourself bending forward when doing a squat, the problem may lay in a weak core or tight hip flexor. If this is the case, adding another core-leg exercise—either to stretch the muscles or strengthen them—to your routine may help you better perform the workout.

The body’s ability to adapt is impressive. When performing an exercise, the neuromuscular system kicks in first to recruit the appropriate motor units and coordinate the movement pattern, through both feed forward and feedback mechanisms. Meanwhile, the appropriate metabolic adjustments occur depending on your training plan (i.e. an increase in strength, muscular endurance, hypertrophy, or some combination).

Mastering every exercise is critical to produce the right mechanical and physiological stress to help you reach your fitness goals and avoid injuries. Otherwise, you may be over-emphasizing the workload on some muscles and joints, while making others weaker along with creating erroneous motion patterns.

Master It

There are some common exercises you see many people struggle to correctly perform. Besides the pull-up and squat, these also include the chest press, dips, and plank just to name a few. These exercises involve the use of multiple muscle groups in a coordinated manner. Some of these muscle groups may act as prime movers, while others may act as assistant movers, stabilizers, neutralizers, or antagonists.

Here, Brian Biagioli, Ed.D., Executive Director NCSF and Jeff Plasschaert, MS, CSCS, USAT and USA Coach, explains what are the best exercises to help overcome most common issues when performing these common gym moves:

Squat: to improve your technique in the back squat or front squat, practice the Bulgarian squat, says Biagioli. While this may seem counter-intuitive, the Bulgarian squat will help correct some common barriers while squatting, such as stabilize the pelvis, stretch the trunk and the hips and better activation of the inner abdominal muscles.

Free weights chest press: do a single arm cable chest press on your knees—instead of standing. Plasschaert says this helps stabilize the core and put more emphasis on shoulder stabilization. Another alternative is internal and external shoulder rotations. Biagioli adds these exercises will not just improve the shoulder joint stability, but also reduce the joint capsule tightness.

Pull-ups: the experts recommend two exercises to master the pull-ups. The bent over face pulls with a resistance band or cable, and hanging leg raises to promote trunk stability and upper body isometric strength. For the bent over face pulls, begin in a bent-over position (similar to bent over row) and hold the band out in front of your with a shoulder-width grip. Bring your hands to shoulder level and pause. Return to starting position. For the hanging leg raises, use an overhand grip and grab onto a bar, while keeping your body in a straight line. Keeping your upper body still, lift your legs out in front of you. Hold briefly at the top of the motion, and then slowly lower to the starting position. Move in a slow and controlled manner so momentum does not take over.

Dips: perform an elevated between box push-ups. Place two boxes or benches (height relative to strength) at the desired width apart. Place your hands on both sides and push-up in between the benches to optimize range of motion and joint stability.“It provides for better synergy to shoulders, pecs and trunk,” says Biagioli.

Plank: perform a lateral hand walk over a step. Begin by placing a 4-inch step on the floor and kneeing behind it. Place both hands shoulder-width apart, arms straight, and a theraband around your wrists/forearm. Starting in the plank position, “step down” with one hand beside the step and bring the other hand to the floor. Then “step up” so both hands are on top of the step. Repeat to the other side to complete one rep, says Plasschaert.

Barbell/DB Step-up: to improve your step-up, practice doing a reverse lunge to a knee-raise. Biagioli explains this will promote glutes/ham extension force coupling as well as balance. Plasschaert says another to help overcome muscle weakness when performing the step up is a single leg heel-tap. This exercise is performed on a step while standing on one leg (with the knee slightly bent. The free leg is lowered to the ground with the ankle in a dorsiflexed position until the heel taps lightly on the ground and then is raised back to the starting position. Increase the height of the step for added difficulty.

Lunge With Knee Raise (above): step back into a lunge position. Sit back to 90 degree angle and return while simultaneously lift the other leg. Use the gluteus and the core to keep the hips and the back straight.