The Biggest Fat Loss Exercise Mistake:

Fat loss is by far the most common goal in the fitness industry.  (Have you ever met anyone who wanted to ADD body fat?  Me neither…)

Which begs the question, why do so many people fail to achieve it?  Of course there are several reasons, but when it comes to exercise methodologies that factor into losing body fat, there is a very common yet quite obvious mistake exercisers make:

Mistake: When starting on a fat loss program, many exercisers exercise with the intention of burning calories instead of raising their metabolism.

Your metabolism, or resting metabolic rate, is how many calories you will burn in a 24 hour period at rest.  

Yes, age and genetics are a factor in what your RMR is but yours can always be improved. 

IF YOU EXERCISE WITH THE INTENTION OF RAISING IT. 

With effective exercise, one can raise their metabolism and be burning more calories 24/7/365.

Even a small increase in your metabolism can reduce your body fat levels significantly.  Do the math – if you can get your body to burn only 100 more calories per day (not much), on its own while you’re resting, that’s over 10 pounds of body fat you will lose in one year.  Not 10 pounds total – ten pounds of FAT.

But because of the short sightedness of many exercise programs, many (most?) people focus on the caloric expenditure of each individual workout. 

To me this is like counting your calories at one meal of the day but ignoring everything else you eat and drink all day – just doesn’t make any sense.

The focus should be on what each workout does to improve your metabolism.

Was it intense enough to force your metabolism to adjust and rise?  Or was it of little consequence and you stopped burning calories as soon as you stopped the workout? (Which is a VERY common mistake…)

The way to know the answers to these questions is far too expansive to get into in a blog post, but some good rules of thumb are:

• Was the intensity high and/or was it difficult to complete?  If yes, it probably raised your RMR.

• Was it long duration?  If so, you probably didn’t do much to your metabolism.  By definition, the longer a workout is, the more the intensity has to drop.

• Has it been done consistently?  If yes, then your metabolism is probably on the way up.  If no, then your workout was just a masochistic ass-kicking.

If your goal is to lose body fat - and again, whose isn't - don't focus on the short term caloric expenditure of a workout, which frankly is irrelevant information.  Make the workouts efficient and metabolism raising and you'll see the changes that you seek.

100% Guaranteed Way to Fail:

I’ve been doing this a long time so I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t.  This doesn’t make me better or smarter than anyone; it just means I’ve observed many people try to be more healthy and fit.  Few succeed. Exponentially more fail.  This is a harsh reality, but a reality nonetheless.

And one of the things I’ve noticed is that a GREAT way to fail is to try to accomplish your goals quickly.  

Look for the short term, quick fix.  This is the 100% guaranteed way to not get what you want.

If I’ve learned one thing over the years it’s this: There is no short term, quick fix solution.

Not one. 

Never has been, never will be.

If you are looking for an easy, short cut way to your fitness goals I can tell you unequivocally it…does…not…exist.

The people who achieve great successes in the exercise realm are invariably people who seek and attain small, incremental improvements over time.  When consistently applied, the philosophy and application of simply just improving a little bit at a time adds up much more quickly than you think.

People who succeed:

• Understand it takes time, patience and perseverance.
• Think long term
• Stay focused on the goal
• Measure their progress against where they were and where they are now
• Run their own race and compete against themselves
• Exercise and move deliberately, making sure each rep and set is perfect

People who DO NOT succeed:

• Try to do more than they can both in the gym and with their eating habits.
• Think “what can I do in the next “X” number of days?” (i.e., "I'm going to lose 10 pounds in 10 days!)
• Change just for changes’ sake
• Measure their progress by an arbitrary number like “I can bench press X pounds…” “I want to weigh X pounds…”
• Compare their successes and failures to those of others – in most cases very apples and oranges
• Mistake activity for accomplishment and improvement

The late great coach John Wooden once said: “Don’t look for the big quick improvement.  Seek the small improvement one day at a time.  That’s the only way it happens - and when it happens it lasts.”

Great advice coach – that’s been my observational experience as well.

Insane

Like with most of my blogs, this blog comes from having answered a particular question a few thousand times so clearly it’s a large enough issue that I can get it out there for everybody.

Today’s (and yesterday’s, and tomorrow’s) question:

Are all these “extreme” workouts such as Insanity, Tapout XT, Crossfit, etc., effective?

Answer: No.

The reasons for that are numerous and mostly have to do with bio-mechanics, physiology, and programming (or lack thereof, which is the real issue) which bores the heck out of most people.  So I’ll focus on one of the major rebuttals from people who promote these workouts when I say “No”.

Typically, the rebuttal goes something like this:  But the people who do it look great, they have low body fat, they have muscles, etc.

And I find myself saying this often:

The people doing those workouts can do them because they are in great shape.  They are not in great shape because they do those workouts.

Which is why when average John and Jane Doe, who don’t start off in great shape try things like plyometrics to exhaustion, power moves to exhaustion, or anything else that marketing geniuses (not trainers) call “extreme” or “insane”, they invariably attain chronic or acute injuries or reach a state of diminishing returns pretty quickly.

The people you see doing those “insane” workouts are generally young, and generally fit based on their structures.  They can get away with risky exercise behaviors.  The other 99.9% of us cannot.

I know there’s something in our ever transforming society that finds anything “extreme” or “insane” appealing.  When I was doing a little research for this I saw ads for “Extreme Couponing” and “Intense Dance”.

Seriously? Come on...

But that doesn’t mean because there is an appeal that it makes any sense because anything insane is…well…insane.

Does this happen to you?

Cramps or tension in the upper back and neck area?  Shoulder stiffness? Previous injuries in the shoulder area? Acute pain in the shoulder joint(s)?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions you can join the other 80% or so of people who will experience those symptoms at some point.

There are a myriad of lifestyle issues that can cause shoulder dysfunction:

• Constantly carrying items (bags, brief cases, babies) on or in front of your shoulders
• Sedentary jobs
• Improper training, exercise and rehab techniques
• Excessively repetitive and/or unilateral motion (throwing and swinging sports)
• Awkward sleeping positions

In addition to those issues, the shoulder is a complex series of joints that requires a unique combination of mobility and stability in order for you to move efficiently.  The clavicle (collar bone), glenohumeral joint (ball and socket), scapula (shoulder blades), thoracic spine (mid/upper back) among other things all combine to help you move efficiently both in and out of the gym.  If even one of those systems is a little off, your shoulders will let you know.

Because of this complex setup, many shoulder problems are actually coordination issues, not issues with the structures themselves.  Getting the brain to send many messages to many joints simultaneously and efficiently requires much coordination.  Because of this, we need to train the neuro-muscular control of the area as well as the strength and mobility of the area.

There are many ways we go about addressing this at the TR, but one of our cooler looking, more fun methods are Indian clubs.  Indian clubs force the shoulders to move in all possible directions while simultaneously improving coordination.  Most first time users don’t realize how uncoordinated they are in their shoulder complex until they try them out!

But the take home message is that whatever the shoulder issue is (tissue restriction or motor control) using Indian clubs will address it.

Check out TR super member Leigh, demonstrating one of her warm-ups with the clubs in this video:

"Wrong." What your doctor doesn't know:

3/9/13:

I was watching the news this morning and invariably the mandatory segment on a new exercise regimen had to come on.  Generally speaking, these segments are so nonsensical they’re surreal.  Apparently, people who watch the news insist on seeing something “new” with regards to exercise.  FYI: there is nothing new in exercise.

As usual, I digress…

The segment was about a modified gymnastics class that seemed to cater to older people.  Obviously, some questioned the safety of older people performing gymnastics which is a pretty sound concern to me and anyone with a frontal lobe.  Frankly, questioning the safety of ANYBODY performing gymnastics is sound logic.

I digress again…

So the reporter asked a doctor about the safety of the workouts, to which the doctor responded (I’m paraphrasing) that it would be best for the participants to improve their basic levels of strength first prior to engaging in this class.  “The best thing perhaps…” he continued “…is to work on your situps first” to strengthen the abdomen and the lower back.

Watch Jon slow boil…

I’ve had this discussion before with other fitness professionals with whom I place some trust.  I (we) just don’t understand the connection between Doctors and fitness.  More specifically, why are they asked for advice in an area in which they are obviously not experts?

There isn’t a fitness professional anywhere who’s done their homework and who has some experience training people who would have their clients flex the spine in an attempt to improve strength.  I wouldn’t do it with anyone frankly, but older people?!?  Come on…have you ever seen an older person?!? They’re already trying to keep their spines from moving into the letter “C”!  And this doctor’s advice: put your spine in the shape of a “C” over and over and over…

See Jon’s eyes roll…

You don’t need a degree in Exercise Science to understand this.  This is common sense.  Frankly, if you’re a member at the TR you know it’s a bad idea, and you’re more qualified than most doctors to discuss exercise issues.

And I’ve used the term “doctors” because this is not an isolated incident.  As my colleagues and I have noticed, the rule is a doctor being asked for exercise advice, then said doctor giving some REALLY bad advice.

Does this make doctors bad people? No.  

Does this mean doctors are dumb?  Of course not.

It means exercise IS NOT THEIR AREA OF EXPERTISE. 

If you need surgery, go to a doctor.

If you need prescription medication, go to a doctor.

If you have an illness that needs to be diagnosed, go to a doctor.

If you need exercise advice, go to someone who is knowledgeable in the area of exercise – NOT a doctor.

Situps?!? Come...on...

That’s my public service announcement for the day, thanks for listening.

(And yes, this was 1st thing in the a.m. pre-caffeination - thanks for bearing with me!)

Everyone says the same thing...

When I first meet people who have questions about getting started with an exercise program everyone uses different words and terms, but ultimately they’re all saying the same thing.

They want to be happy.  They want a higher quality of life.

Get toned.  Lose weight. Have more energy. Run faster. Climb stairs pain free.

It all means the same thing.  They just want to be happy and enjoy a higher quality of life.

Even with long standing current members, I’m constantly reminding them to keep it simple (TR tenet #2!).  Because whatever your fitness goal is, exercising smart and consistently is the answer.  With that behavioral pattern, things have a tendency to work themselves out for the better.

Along those lines, I recently read “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg.  Essentially, it’s about how everything in our lives, good and bad, is a direct result of a habit.  The key is to identify the bad habits and insert new routines and new habits in their place.

One of the take home messages in the book is that good habits have a tendency to generate other good habits in other areas of your life.  Success breeds success.

More specifically, exercising consistently is a good habit that research has shown to improve other areas of 

one’s life outside of the exercise world.

Take, for instance, studies* examining the impacts of exercise on daily routines. Typically, people who exercise regularly:

• Become more productive at work
• Smoke less 
• Show more patience in interpersonal relationships
• Use credit cards less frequently
• Feel less stresed

It’s not completely clear why.  But for many people, exercise is a keystone habit that triggers widespread change.  “Exercise spills over,” said James Prochaska, a University of Rhode Island researcher.  “There’s something about it that makes other good habits easier.”

So it’s really not a stretch to say that simply getting an effective workout on a consistent basis can improve your quality of life.  Which is why I always preach to TR members about consistency of training and to future TR members about how simply getting started on the right track can be a game changer for everything in your life.

TR tenet #1 – Time to improve.

*Numerous studies have supported these statements.  If you need to be directed to the specific studies, let me know. – JR

Why Are You Doing That?

I just wanted to take a moment to clarify a training philosophy question.  Admittedly this may be my ego speaking, but it’s a question that’s come up more than a few times so there may be more confusion than I realized.  It’s also a topic on which I want everyone to be clear.  (Well, those who actually read my stuff, anyway…)

Last year I competed in a Spartan Race – one of a few types of outdoor obstacle course races.  I’ve also signed on to do 3 more in 2013 (more on that below).  At the TR we’ve also added a Competition Training Small Group session to our schedule to specifically address the training protocols of regular, non-professional athletes like us who are now competing in ultra-marathons, triathlons, obstacle course races, mud runs, etc. 

If you’re somebody who doesn’t have the advantage of youth anymore, has a job, family, etc. training for these events poses some major challenges.  Challenges that if I may be so bold to say, require the guidance of a knowledgeable fitness professional who can accurately assess injury risk and improve performance simultaneously for this demographic.

The confusion has apparently been borne from my previous discussions (lectures? rants?) where I have made a point of saying those types of events are a bad idea for most of us.

They are.

The confusion, I believe comes not from my answers, but from two different questions.

If the question is the following: “Is endurance training such as distance running, biking, etc. healthy for you or a good way to stay fit?”

The answer is an unequivocal NO.  

Any kind of long duration training is not intense enough to force metabolic changes (which is what burns body fat) and due to the fatigue borne from such training, impossible to do in a correct bio-mechanical position.  The repetitive movement in an incorrect bio-mechanical position will lead to injury either chronic or acute.  This is not a question of “if” it will, but “when” it will.  This is something I believed several years ago and has been confirmed through my years of observing people exercise.

However, if you compete in a sport where some unhealthy occurrences are going to come up (ultra-marathons, obstacle course races, biking, etc) it MAY be necessary to have some less than optimally safe training protocols in your program.  Therefore, if you’re doing an obstacle course race or trail marathon, you may have to get outside on trails for a LONG time to acclimate yourself to the style of competition.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN IT IS HEALTHY FOR OR WILL HELP YOU LOSE BODY FAT.

When I was training for the Spartan Race last summer I actually GAINED body fat in the 6 weeks leading up to it.  And I also have a tissue restriction in my lower leg that still prevents normal movement in training – don’t get me started…

The Better Question to Ask Yourself: Why Do I Do IT?

I do it, and I speak for a friend who does ultra-marathons, because we like the challenge, we like the emotional reward, and we like competition.  We do not do it because we think it’s a healthy habit.

Following many peoples’ line of thinking, a client could come to me and say

“Jon, I want you to include punching me in the face during our training sessions.  Serioulsy, three or four times per session, maybe after our core work, just crack me square in the face. I’ve seen boxers that are in very good shape so I should be doing what they do.” 

Boxers are in shape + boxers get punched = I should get punched, right?

Wrong. They do it because it’s a necessary evil of their competition.

Ditto for any kind of endurance training.

Whenever you take up any exercise program ask yourself “Why am I doing this?”  The answer, whether it be improved health, fat loss, strength gain, athletic performance improvement, whatever – should dictate the type of training protocol you undertake.  Don’t get punched in the face just because boxers do.  Don’t run one gazillion miles just because an endurance athlete does.  All that does is increase your chance of injury with no correlative increase in chance of success. 

If you’re in a competition, you MAY be able to justify some risk in your training.

If your goal is health, fat loss, strength gain, etc.  Keep it safe.

Keep it intense, but keep it safe.