Thursday, August 26, 2010

Evolve: Fall 2010

Making your Minutes Count in the Gym via the "Super-Set"
The key to starting and not stopping a workout regimen is to part-take in one that is realistic and not ridiculous. This means that, although excited and fired up to begin working out and seeing results, the worst thing you can do to your psyche is to spend 5 hours in the gym working out only to wake up the next day sore as sore can be and feel like, "I need a week off". This not only ruins any motivation you once had, but can cause injury and burnout as well. Don't get me wrong, a moderate amount of soreness is to be expected when starting any workout plan. Recovery is required, but progression and a rational approach is necessary to prevent injury and allow working out to become an integrated benefit of each week.

Each workout I design for myself is handled like a small masterpiece. As Wooden would say, "Make each day your masterpiece", well we can apply this to our workouts too. Each workout has a beginning, middle, and end and most of all each movement has a purpose and benefit. In other words, time is valuable; it would be pointless to waste it when yielding no results.

When embarking on a workout routine it's important to develop consistency. Instead of shoving a 4-hour workout into one day of the week, the best results can be attained by spreading them out over 3-5 days for 1 hour sessions. The rule of thumb is work out 3-6 days per week, never seven and to leave no more than 48 hours of rest between sessions. This ensures you do not over train, but train frequently enough to enable adaptations - a.k.a. results.

Once those days and times are determined, it is important that upon arriving at the gym it is all business for the 1-hour block. 1-hour sessions are fantastic because you will be moving the entire time from one exercise to the next. Now, when attempting to complete a quick and intense workout, a great idea is to use "super-sets". This is a style of "ordering" your workout that entails alternating, with no rest between, two different exercises that each recruit a different muscle. This type of workout will ensure high-intensity and a quick pace. An example of a super-set is combining row and push-ups. The lats recover while performing the push-ups which focus on the triceps.

Next, lets start with the outline of a one-hour session. To start a workout, a warm-up is necessary. Contrary to what most people believe, a warm-up does not include a long-winded stretch. "Warm-up" means to break a sweat. I like to jump on a treadmill and build from a walk to a run for about 5 minutes. Then I will perform 5 minutes of active stretching (what is this?) and light plyometrics (high knees, lunge walks, butt-kickers, side shuffles, etc). 10-15 minutes into my workout... I am ready to go.

The middle part of the workout contains the meat of the activity. Depending on your goals, this can include cardiovascular and/or resistance training. For the next 30 minutes, choose 4-5 exercises to perform, which can be cardiovascular, body weight, freeweight, barbell, etc. The idea is to decide what body parts are going to be the focus for the workout. Then choose those exercise that fits. An example of this may be for a leg/core day, do back-squats/sit-ups and back extensions/sit-ups with rotation. Remember, if you have different goals, then the ratio of cardiovascular to resistance training will be modified. If you are able to come to the gym more frequently, resistance and cardio workouts can be split into two separate days.

Workout like the ones above care called metabolic conditioning because they keep the heart rate elevated for the duration of the workout, making them very intense and a great way to yield results. Remember, workouts like these are not meant to waste your time; choose exercises that translate to the most function in your everyday life, such as squats, deadlifts, and pull and push exercises. A friend of mine, Cheryl Licon says, "Fitness doesn't need to be a chore. What's most important is that you are challenging yourself on a daily basis and doing functional movements. I like to think of working out as playtime; it's an activity that you should have fun with and allows self-improvement mentally and physically. It keeps you from plateauing and sheer boredom. Just have fun, get sweaty, and grunt with some heavy loads."

Lastly, the end of my hour will wrap up with a cool-down stretch. I really attempt to focus on stretching the muscles I worked or that I struggle with during my workout because, again, I do not need to waste time or do anything unnecessary. For example, with the "super-set" we performed, above, I would stretch the chest, triceps, wrists and core.

Then, your home free! Developing this type of mentality towards your workouts will make them reasonable to incorporate into your busy schedule. A really helpful tip is to learn exercises that workout the major muscle groups so that you can pick and choose appropriate exercises to combine to design a whole body effective workout.

Recipe Box"Paleo- Fruit Fondu"Ingredients:
12 oz dark chocolate chips
0.5 T. butter
0.5 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup dried, unsweetened coconut
1 cup chopped nuts (your choice)
2 pints strawberries or other fruit (apples, peaches, pears, oranges, raspberries)
Skewers
Directions:
1. Place the chocolate chips and butter in a bowl and microwave until melted or melt over flame in a fondu pot.
2. After the chips have melted, add vanilla extract
3. Place nuts and coconut in different bowls.
4. Dip strawberries in chocolate and then dip in the coconut or in the nuts and enjoy!

Super-saving Market Finds
Poultry Seasoning
So I moved into my new apartment and I decided to get some spices for making some delicious food. Well, the problem with this venture was I needed to purchase 6 different spices costing 35 dollars just for chicken! So I dug through the spice-shelf some more and found something PERFECT. I came across this delicious spice mix that incorporates thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper, and nutmeg called Poultry Seasoning by Mccormick. It makes it a cheap (~4 bucks/.65 oz) way to buy 6 spices in one small package. Even better, it does not contain added salt or sugar. It is very delicious on chicken, pork, and fish! SAVINGS $30!