Wicked Wednesday: Fact from Fairytale

Did you know that the "No Pain No Gain" approach towards exercise is a bunch of hooey?

Yep. Turns out that's not the only fitness myth we've been told over the years. Celebrity fitness trainer Harley Pasternak debunks six of these myths:

Myth: No pain, no gain
Harvey explains: "While resistance training can be intense, and some level of discomfort may occur, pain is not required for a successful workout. It’s also important to note that pain can be a warning sign of an exhausted muscle or torn ligament."

Myth: Stretching before a workout will reduce the risk of injury.
A 2002 article in the British Medical Journal noted a lack of supportive evidence concerning stretching as an effective preventative for muscle soreness or injury. Despite this, many sports medicine specialists still support and encourage flexibility training - such as that found in yoga and martial arts. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends people follow a basic stretching program two to three days a week.

Myth: The best time to work out is early in the morning.
In truth, it doesn't really matter when you exercise - JUST DO IT.

Myth: If you’re not going to exercise intensely and frequently, exercise is a waste of time.
"...the human body burns fat most efficiently at our target heart rate (which is 80 percent of maximum heart rate). Even 25 minutes 5 times a week can get you major results and change your entire status of health....[however] the body must be regularly challenged for further change and adaptation."

Myth: Exercising the same body part every day is the best way to increase strength.
You need to change up your routine to keep your muscles working and evolving.

"Example: Many people think they need to exercise just their lower abs to reduce a potbelly. Actually, while ab exercises define muscle, cardio exercises burn fat. A cardio workout on an elliptical machine will do more to tighten the waistline than a round of crunches."

Myth: Running is the best way to get in shape.
"...there is no “best” way to get fit...if you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight."

Myth: Heavy weights make big muscles and small weights make lean muscles.
"If you’re using free weights, there are many different variables — sets, reps, tempo, intensity, rest, exercise selection, duration and frequency — that can all be adjusted to achieve optimal results without looking too muscular. Choosing various core stabilization exercises, including stability ball push-ups or single-leg squats, will burn more calories, have a smaller likelihood of increasing muscle mass and be much more likely to lead to a lean and toned physique."

Don't forget to tell us about your fitness routine in the comments section!

Wicked Wednesday: Wake Up Sleeping Beauty!

Diet.
Exercise.
Resolutions to diet and exercise.

Ick.
Ick!
ICK!!!

For me, the TwitterPT Challenge is not as much about diet and exercise (have I said ICK?!) as it is about making better lifestyle choices that will get the “Sleeping Beauty” inside of me MOVING in the right direction. A healthier direction. My motivation comes from an Oprah show I saw a few years ago.

(Leave it to a SAHM to bring Oprah into the picture, right? SHUT UP.)

The show featured Bob Greene who was talking about his basic “dieting” principles; principles which Oprah adopted in her daily regimen to lose weight and get healthy. The things he was talking about seemed simple enough. Three things in particular stuck with me:

1. Breakfast
Even if I’m not hungry, I’m trying to eat within an hour of waking up – to BREAK the FAST of not eating for the 8-ish hours I've been asleep and help jump start my metabolism. Bob says: "Eating bigger breakfasts and smaller dinners can help boost your metabolism."

2. Green Tea
I’m substituting at least ONE of my two morning cups of coffee with green tea. I like my coffee extra sweet and extra light with half & half, so I’m cutting my morning sugar/fat intake in half by cutting back on the coffee. And we all know the health benefit claims of green tea, right?

3. No eating 2-3 hours before going to bed.
I’m a notorious nighttime snacker. So this is a tough habit to break. But whenever I do get that hunger feeling in my tummy late at night, I try to remind myself that that feeling is my body going after the extra fat reserves. So I can choose to either feed that “hunger”, or let my body feed on that unwanted fat. Instead, I’ve been enjoying a pot of green tea with my husband and we toast to a long life together.

Simple! And as a SAHM of three kids, I NEED simple.

Plus, I’m MOVING.

I’m terminally lazy. I’ve never exercised a day in my life. So I started small. I was moving about the house with my kids - walking in place, DANCING to music, or just chasing them around and being silly. I was moving in some way – which is way better than not moving at all.

Lucky for me, a girlfriend was giving away her old treadmill, so I’ve NO excuse not to get up and move. Now with the help of the treadmill and our huge 52" flat screen TV as my distraction I’m walking a minimum of 20 minutes a day. I'm also trying to do my walking early in the day, because as Bob puts it:

"Activity actually has an “after burn” effect—that is, it raises your metabolism for hours after you’ve stopped exercising. Once you step off the treadmill, cease digging in your garden, or return home from a walk in the park, the rate at which you burn calories remains higher than normal."

Read more on Bob Greene’s secrets and his fitness tips.

What can YOU do to awaken the Sleeping Beauty in you?

Body for Life Cardio Plan

I've done Body for Life in the past and dropped a solid 25 pounds in a month. To be honest, I'm not doing it now, but only because I am preparing for the Air Force Fitness Test which is centered around running, push-ups and crunches. In order to do best, one must simply work really hard on those three areas prior to the test. Eventually I'll resume the basic Body for Life workouts.

Be sure and post today's activity below!

Here is the Cardio plan from http://www.bodyforlife.com/:

Cardio workouts are indispensable to an effective training program and general good health. By definition, cardio workouts can be any exercise—jogging, running, biking, swimming, elliptical machine, stairs, even jumping rope—that raises and maintains your heart rate over a predetermined amount of time. By doing so, you strengthen your heart and lungs and lower your resting heart rate, which means that over time the same effort that produced a 10-minute mile will produce a 9-minute mile. Cardio workouts burn fat. And cardio fitness is what gives you endurance and the ability to persist in sports and in life.

The Benefits of Cardio

• Increases metabolic rate
• Increases growth hormone secretion
• Reduces stress levels
• Increases blood flow to the brain increasing alertness
• Improve cholesterol levels
• Improves digestion
• Boosts immune-system function

20-Minute Aerobics Solution™ — The Official Body-for-LIFE Cardio Plan

1. Warm up the first 2 minutes at Intensity Level 5
2. Minutes 2-3 move from Intensity Level 5 to 6
3. Minutes 4-5, 6-10 and 11-14 work your way from Intensity Level 6 to Level 9, maintain for one minute.
4. Minutes 15-19 work your way from Intensity Level 6 to Level 10 (High Point at Level 10), maintain for one minute.
5. Minute 20 cool down to Intensity Level 5 for one minute.

Alternate weight-training and cardio workouts for six consecutive days and rest on the seventh day.

Be Like Mike Phelps - Champion Swimmer

Taken from the January 2008 issue of "Outside" magazine:

You'll never swim faster than Michael Phelps, but you can learn from him.

1. Keep Your Goals Nearby. "I have to see them every day, whether I want to or not," Phelps says of the time time goals he keeps on his nightstand. "They're a constant reminder whenever I turn off the alarm clock."

2. Befriend the Weight Room. "I do lots of legs, pull-downs, push-ups, box squats. My weight coach pretty much destroys me every time I see her."

3. Move on, Smarter. "A friend of mine once told me, 'You can make a million mistakes, but never make the same mistake again.' I try to live that in and out of the pool. In 2004 I didn't expect to get a DUI. But it happened. And I've become a better person as a result."

4. Find Your Rhythm. "Whatever is the last song on when I get oout of the car is going to be what's in my head during practice. So it has to be a good one."

5. Never Be Satisfied. "I always criticize myself. I always think about what I can change to get better."

Source: http://outside.away.com/outside/toc/200801.html

Be sure and put down your workout for today in the comments section of this posting!

Day 3?

Well it's January 3rd, so I can't really call this Day 1, but it really is for the Twitter PT Challenge. As Sonya pointed out, this is an opportunity to help each out via accountability. So when my alarm went off at 0515 AM, I didn't even let the usual thoughts of "I'm too tired to work out" pass through my mind. I made my coffee, watched the news and readied my clothes for the day. Next I headed out to Peterson Air Force Base here in Colorado Springs to work out at the base gym.

Right at the start this poses an interesting question for many people. "But Dan, I don't belong to a gym or don't have access to one, what do I do?" It should be perfectly clear, this is the Twitter PT Challenge, not preparation for a marathon or a big weight loss event, though you could use it for that. This challenge is designed to help you get yourself into a routine. That means it might only be stretching and walking 5 or 6 days a week. Or it could mean 3 hours at the gym everyday. It's up to you!

Why I did I respond to Sonya's tweet the other day? She said in her tweet "Who's up for joining me on a 25-day fitness challenge to kickstart the New Year - to be completed by the end of THIS January? " I hemmed and hawed mentally. I usually work out 3 times a week, and I've lost some weight and my run times have improved, but it hasn't been enough. I was going to thoroughly ignore Sonya, but my conscience wouldn't let me. I responded.

A year ago nearly to the day, I had a pretty bad accident involving me and a gun, the gun nearly won. So I've gone from wheelchair to running over the past 12 months. This is part of getting back into shape for my US Air Force Reserve career (I've vowed not to wear a flight suit until I'm in significantly better form - you shouldn't see me in a flight suit and wonder if the technologically superior USAF has somehow managed to get a man pregnant).

All I think each of us should do, is accomplish our personal workout. Than I'd like to see us share what we did. I'll do a comment to setup a framework for how it could be done. You can comment however you feel most comfortable.