HOW TO STAY INJURY FREE!

AVOID THE CUMULATIVE INJURY CYCLE!

Here are My top 4 rules for injury prevention:

Everything in the human body needs to be balanced

1. Daily balance of stretching and mobility drills on our TIGHT and PAINFUL areas. Forget the areas that don’t bother you and the areas that are easy to stretch!
2. Balance of strength is a must. If you can bench 300lbs but cannot properly squat 150lbs, then we have a huge problem. Stop benching and work on your weak areas.
3. Follow an Integrated training program that includes Core, Balance, Plyo’s, Agility, Resistance, and Cardio Conditioning. Again focus more on areas of weakness FIRST.
4. If you encounter an injury, first priority is to follow the R.I.C.E. protocol: Rest (Stop doing anything that irritates the injured site), Ice (20min on, 20min off 3-5xday), Compress and Elevate the injured area while you ice.

Get in touch with me for any additional info or  questions!

Call Shawn today for an appointment @ 994-6309.

 

NOT SEEING RESULTS?

ANALYZE YOUR BODIES “READINESS TO TRAIN!”

VS  

Not seeing the results you are looking for? Has progress stopped or significantly regressed? Try analyzing your body’s “readiness to train”. Far too often I see people physically exhausted and over trained, yet still trying to push their bodies’ too hard. When your body is over stressed or over trained you will no longer see positive results. Exercise is like medicine, in the right dose it can be beneficial, in the wrong dose it can be detrimental. The three biggest factors to analyze before beginning an intense workout are as follows:

1. SLEEP. (How was your sleep the night of and 1-2 nights prior? The hours and quality?)

2. FUEL. (Your body is a machine, fuel it with high performance fuel and it will perform well. Fuel it with garbage and  your performance will suffer. How was your nutrition the day of and 2 days prior?)

3. STRESS. Stress has a large effect on our adrenals (Hormones) and their regulation. Stress can be categorized as Physical, Mental, and Emotional. A stressed body is a tired body. Too much stress and your  performance will suffer.

I use a simple system in my training programs. I evaluate the three above factors every single day. Based on my findings, my  “readiness to train”  for the days workout will either be LOW 😦 , MODERATE :I , OR HIGH :).   If my readiness is low then I will cut back and/or lower the intensity of my workouts.

The bottom line: If your bodies “readiness” is low, your performance will slow or halt willingly (by you backing off) or unwillingly (pushing harder and harder to no avail).

Get in touch with me today for any additional info or  questions!!

Call Shawn today for an appointment @ 994-6309.

MYTH BUSTING 101!

Women and Cardio VS  Strength Training

 

This edition of myth busting I want to give a little help to all the ladies out there who have been working very hard to achieve their goal physique without complete success. So often do I see the ladies doing endless hours of cardio and minimal to no strength training.

Which brings me to Myth #1. Lifting weights will make women bulky?: ANSWER: FALSE! What is required to create these “bulky” physiques you see above is VERY difficult, and in most cases illegal…hint hint. Professional trainers know that strength training supplemented with proper nutrition is phenomenal, if not the best way to firm up and burn body fat.

So If the ultimate goal is a well “toned” and or “firmed” physique then ladies listen up! Your new best friend MUST be STRENGTH TRAINING. That’s right I said it! Strength training will not only build the lean muscle that INSINERATES calories, but it will also boost  your metabolism, increase work capacity, overall athleticism, and injury prevention!

Solution #1 Cut back on the endless hours of cardio. Get a hold of myself or any of our well qualified trainers and have us teach you the basics of weight training to get you started. (Bench Press, Back/Front Squat, Deadlift, and Overhead Press)

Get in touch with me today for any additional info or  questions!!

Call Shawn today for an appointment @ 994-6309.

 

 

 

When Should I see Results? Part 1 of 2

Part 1: Looking for gains in muscle size?

If you are exercising for the goal of muscle “growth” or “size”, you need to understand the variables associated with that goal in mind. You are ultimately looking for  increased diameter of the muscle fibers known as “Hypertrophy”, therefore  your resistance variables are as follows: A) High Volume = 4-6 Sets, 8-12 Reps.  B) Minimal to Moderate rest periods = 1-3 Minutes. C) Moderate Load = 65-85% of 1RM (1RM= the weight you can execute only 1 time). Or put simply, long periods of  “time under tension”.  A classic workout  example of Hypertrophy would be 4-6 Sets of 10-12 repetitions, with 90 second rest intervals between sets, using a load of 70-80% 1RM.  Now on to the results. You must be very patient when training for Hypertrophy. The majority of research done on Hypertrophy tells us that significant gains will take a minimum of 4-8 weeks. In my personal experience I wait  a solid 6-9 weeks before I worry. That is of course after establishing a proper nutritional regime to support growth. In summary:

A) Follow a very specific exercise routine with the main goal of hypertrophy.

B) Establish the proper nutritional regime to support growth (adequate protein/cal.)

C) Dedicate a minimum 4-6 weeks to the above before looking for significant results.

Just to be clear, by significant results I am referring to yourself and or others noticing a general increase or improvement in overall physique.

The below images are of the all too popular fitness models. I have attached them to make one point very clear as far muscle growth and or definition results go. The majority of these men and women have dedicated many years and countless hours into achieving these figures. This does not happen overnight. Keep that in mind. “You cannot become superman in one day, but you can pursue him”. 🙂

References:

Moritani T , Diveres HA. Neural Factors VS hypertrophy in the time course of muscle strength gain. AM J Phys Med 1979:58(3): 115-129

Staron RS, KarapondoDL , Kraemer WJ, t al. Skelatal Muscle adaptations during early phase of  heavy resistance training in men and women. J Appl Physiol 1994:76: 1247-1255

Chelsey A Macdougal JD, Tarno polskyMA, Atkinsin SA, Smith K, Changes in human Muscke Protein Synthesis after resistance exercise. J Appl Physiol 1992:73:1383-1388