fatigue

Back to the Basics Never hurt Anyone! – Strengthening w/ free weights 411

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Strength train!  Build Muscle!  Muscle burns more calories than fat! Yadda Yadda….you all have heard this before. You know what it means, but do you know how to do it? Do you know where to begin? Most don’t….so here’s the 411 on the basics of muscle-building.

I do not like the machines at the gym. (My opinion!) They work 1-2 muscles at a time in one direction. I don’t have time for that. I need to be able to work many muscles at one time and get on with my day. I also like to work them in functional patterns and movements which I use on a daily basis. Free weights allow that. For beginners, I recommend getting some free weights. Start w/ 5 lbs. It’s not a bad idea to get some 7-10 pounders too. The exercises should be done slowly so that your muscle is carrying you through the movement, not the momentum carrying you through. Do reps of 8-12. The last 3 of each should be difficult. If it’s not…increase the weight or go up to 15 reps. Repeat the exercise & reps 2-3 rounds. Do not compensate with other muscles….keep the rest of the body still (this uses core strength) and there are always ways to make the exercise harder. =) That’s what therapists do to patients…..always make it more difficult to showing progress! Stay within your pain-free range of motion with all exercises.
You can also do these without free weights too, or use objects around the house as weights.
I will give you 3 exercises for your butt and thighs to start. Back to the basics. It never hurts to re-examine basic form.  Stay tuned for more exercises!

SQUATS: free weight in each hand. Stand about 1-2 feet in-front of the couch. Slowly bend knees, and stick butt out until butt touches couch and then stand up. Having knee pain? Don’t go so deep. Important facts: to avoid future knee pain, keep knees behind toes at all times! Weight should be through heels. Do not allow knees to lean towards each other!! Keep knees apart and it works the butt more.

LUNGES: Free weight in each hand. Stand w/ feet shoulder width apart and take a LARGE step forward w/ one leg. Slowly bring pelvis straight down towards floor keeping back straight. Slowly raise up. This is a balance exercise also. No need to go lower than 90 degrees of knee flexion (bending) for knees. Weight should be on front heel and back toes. As with the squats, if it hurts, don’t go so deep. Stay within your pain-free range of motion.

DIAGONAL: stand feet shoulder width apart. Put a weight by your left foot. Without moving your feet, tighten your core and slowly squat down and pick up the weight with both hands and act as though you are going to transfer it to a shelf above your head on the right side of your body. Return weight to left foot. Your feet should not move, this is an overall strengthener into a PNF (diagonal) pattern. Do 8-12 reps and repeat on the other side. You will want a heavier weight for this exercise.

Remember….going until the muscle fatigues is key!! Then, eat protein post workout to supply muscles with the ability to heal faster so you are ready for tomorrow’s workout.

If you are looking for ways to advance these exercises, contact me on facebook at www.facebook.com/YourFitnessInfo or my website at http://www.YourFitness-411.com.

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…like PB & Jelly.

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PB Jelly
I was ill last week and had a hard time keeping much food down.  When I did get hungry, I found myself making a PB & Jelly sandwich.  It tasted wonderful and made me start to think about what a perfect combo it is.

When you think of a PB & Jelly sandwich, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  For me, it’s the memory of being a kid and swimming at my Aunt or Grandma’s pond on a hot summer day.  After a couple of hours of swimming, we would come home and eat PB & Jelly sandwiches.  To this day, after swimming, I crave one of those gooey sandwiches on super soft bread.

PB & Jelly is a perfect combo.  The nutty, pasty goodness of creamy PB with the sweet, cold fruit spread on soft bread.  It’s a childhood staple (before all the PB allergies emerged).  It’s so good, that it’s even used in language as a reference to 2 things perfectly fitting together ‘…like PB & Jelly.’ 

This is exactly how Nutrition & Exercise fit together also.  They blend perfectly with one another to create a strong, healthy body inside and out.  Think about it….not only are they both very important in a weight loss program, but in life in general.

Proper food choices are essential for our health – fighting against illness, disease, fatigue, emotions, weight gain, etc.  We need food to survive!  The food choices we make each day are a continuing choice.  Exercise is a 1x/day choice.  Therefore,  food choice makes up a lot of our daily decision-making.

If you only focus on your food choices, you will lose weight.  There’s no doubt about it.  Typically, if you lose significant weight, you will notice loose skin and find yourself wanting to be more active now that you actually can without all that weight!  This is where exercise comes into play.  It tones musculature and cont. to push the body through plateaus.

Exercise aids in prevention of injury, illness, mood swings, joint pain, and fatigue too!  It also helps with weight loss and changing the body composition from flabby to firm and sexy.  A nice little bicep/triceps combo is sexy….and shows the effort that a person has put into their own body…which leads to pride.

But, neither of these is as effective alone as they are together.  Nutrition and Exercise work so incredibly well together!

If you exercise often, but fill your body with junk, then your body is going to perform poorly, muscle soreness will hang on longer than typical (longer recovery post exercise), weight loss/toning will not be as rapid as it could be, and you won’t reap the benefits of exercise.  And, let’s be real…..if you are putting forth the effort of exercise, you want to see the results!!!  Nutrition fuels your workouts.

Often, my workout quality is related to what I have eaten recently.  Fill your body with junk, and it’s going to perform like junk.  Pre and post exercise nutrition is a whole other topic, but to be discussed another time.

So, just as PB & Jelly are perfectly matched for one another, the same can be said for Nutrition and Exercise.  They are each other’s perfect mate and complement one another creating a yummy goodness…..whether it’s a childhood memory, a tasteful treat, pride, or eye candy!

(Notice I never used the word, ’diet.’ I really dislike that word.  It has negative connotations associated with it and to me, ‘diet’ is temporary, but proper ‘nutrition’ is a lifestyle.)

Here’s an article on this topic.  Just more info!  🙂

http://www.livestrong.com/article/451983-the-importance-of-exercise-nutrition/

Nutrition + Exercise = Success.

PB + Jelly = A childhood memory for me. 🙂