MGFS Breaking News: 2013

Move More!

Today my 65 year old female client that I've been training for ten years finished up an intense Structural Integrity session and asked if she could workout another hour! I had a cancellation so it worked out perfectly for me but, I hesitated because we just recently resolved a chronic injury.

We all need a lot more movement than we get in our daily lives so, I decided to run her through a cardiovascular kickboxing routine. At the end of our second hour of intensive exercise she asked if she could do a third hour. I reluctantly declined because we could have done something else, but by this time she needed to eat something.

She was feeling great and was definitely on an endorphin high but I was happy for her. She's pain free and is able to safely do more than most 20-year olds.

We all should aspire to move more every day. An hour at the gym isn't enough... get on the floor and crawl around with your child or grandchild, stretch, walk, run and lift - and you will enjoy your life more.

Contributed by Mike George

Align Before Load!

Leaning tower of pisa 4 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently, we told you about the basic necessities for getting results from your workout program. Now it is time that we discuss going to the next level. OK, you've calculated your 'target heart rate' zone and had your fitness level evaluated; now it's time to see how much you actually know and what else you should learn before you get started. If you are new to exercise, your first six weeks should be centered on learning proper form and developing structural integrity, or creating balance around the joints of the body. In a nutshell, when you learned to write, you had someone qualified teach you proper form and technique as well as evaluate your progress.

The same goes for exercise. Your perception of your own posture and reality may be far apart. A properly trained fitness professional will monitor your alignment so that you learn to recruit the proper muscles and avoid injury at the same time. If you're like most people, psychologically you will want to jump into things too fast. This can lead directly to injury.

Alignment/posture are important to address before you do anything else. If you were hired to add ten stories onto the leaning tower of Pisa, wouldn't you try to straighten the structure first? Like this structure, your body would buckle under the added strain. Don't be too anxious or impatient by discouraging your trainer from spending the necessary time breaking down your alignment and exercising smaller muscle groups before moving into your regular exercise program.

We know you want results now but doing it wrong will yield poor results and/or injury, so it's not worth it. Your exercise program should be an overall wellness program, extending the quality of your life properly, appropriately, systematically and scientifically. After six weeks of structural integrity exercises and you’ve learned proper form, you may be ready to develop strength, metabolism, speed and agility.

Recognizing the importance of flexibility and an appropriate range of motion is imperative to maintaining proper form throughout an exercise. Otherwise, muscular imbalance can lead to further posture problems and leave you more susceptible to injury, which sidelines you for a while. Then the downward spiral right back to where you started...on the couch!

Too Tired to Move?

To tired to exercise, do errands, take the stairs, talk, get off the couch and go to bed?

If you leave any electrical appliance on constantly we know it will burn out, isn’t that one of the reasons our parents made us shut things off constantly?

You may have heard that the human body is electrical. How does that apply to you?

Your body craves several things to function well and get out of it’s slumber and I’ll tell you what they are in a minute…First you need to understand a couple basic things; unlike a light bulb or an engine, when our body’s source of fuel is compromised it seeks out other sources of fuel (translation: if you don’t eat your body will eat your muscle from the inside out, mmm).

The human body is like a perfect machine. It will do anything that it can to survive, even if it means harvesting its own lean tissues to keep its brain and vital organs healthy. If your body has to dip into this emergency source of fuel it is a sure sign that your metabolism, immunity and energy will be jeopardized while your stores of body fat and lethargy will increase. Your perfect machine will shut down your motivation to do any unnecessary activity if it is in this state. Give yourself a boost by eating at least three square meals a day and drinking half of your body weight in ounces.

Sleep. Less than eight-hours a night of quality sleep will wear on you. Your body repairs itself while you sleep, shorten that and you are essentially pulling your vehicle out of the garage before it is fixed. In my years of helping people, I have heard many say that 5-6 hours is enough for them. That little sleep is proven to increase your hunger and your body fat!

When your body lacks the rest it needs it seeks out sources of energy (food & caffeine) and it’s cortisol levels get out of wack, leading to a magnification of the problem.

We all know what problem the munchies cause at night but did you know that caffeine is just as detrimental. Paramount to keeping a light bulb on constantly, caffeine abuse inhibits deep sleep and your normal appetite.

Where an imperfect machine would sputter out with no fuel, your body will figure out how to continue to run, at any cost. If your goal is to get in shape this year, start exercising and eat a diet that is high in nutrients. Choose carbs with fiber rather than refined carbs and see a registered dietician or a nutritionist to make certain that your efforts are not in vain.

Contributed by Mike George

Running on Empty?

What happens if you remove the source of energy from a light bulb or an engine? If you do the same thing to a person exercising, what do you think the result might be? The answer is exactly why the low-carb diet is so ridiculous. In order to form one of it’s most readily available sources of fuel, the human body needs complex carbohydrates. Unlike a light bulb or an engine, when our bodies source of fuel is compromised it seeks out other sources of fuel.

The human body is like a perfect machine. It will do anything that it can to survive, even if it means harvesting it’s own lean tissues to keep its’ brain & vital organs healthy. Since you probably have goals of getting into shape this New Year, you may want to consider that the perfect machine will shut down your motivation to exercise if it does not have enough fuel.

The body gets energy using several sources for fuel. Complex-carbohydrates, fat, oxygen and lean tissues. The problem is, when you derive energy from lean tissue you are doing damage that is difficult to reverse. If your body has to dip into this emergency source of fuel it is a sure sign that your metabolism, immunity and energy will be jeopardized while your stores of body fat and lethargy will increase.

Your body stores carbohydrate energy in the form of glycogen inside of your lean tissues. In addition, it also uses about 3 grams of water to keep it there. This is the premier location for quick bursts of energy and it makes you look healthy and supple. If you don’t consume enough carb’s, not only will your supply of quick energy be diminished, you will also lose weight in the form of glycogen, water and lean tissue! You see, for every gram of glycogen that you lose, you also lose about 3 grams of water. Even though you may lose weight, it will be mostly water weight and comes at a price to your body. The way our bodies harvest carbohydrates is by internally digesting lean tissues and converting some of the proteins into carbohydrates.

Where an imperfect machine would sputter out with no fuel, your body will figure out how to continue to run, at any cost. If your goal is to get in shape this year, start exercising and eat a diet that is high in nutrients. Choose carbs with fiber rather than refined carbs and see a registered dietician or a licensed nutritionist to make certain that your efforts are not in vain.

Keeping Resolutions!

With the sounds of champagne popping and tones of noise makers silenced behind us, one sound lingers: the promise of the resolution. Thousands are made across the globe, but how many are kept? How many are realistic and how many pertain to fitness? Perhaps 2013 should be your year to do the unthinkable: keep your fitness resolution!

Think about it: obesity is on the rise, super-sizing has become a staple to the diet and stress is a demon that plagues us all. An excuse is easy to find: too tired, too busy, and too expensive. We all look to succeed in our jobs, finances and interpersonal relations yet overlook success that is of most importance: our health. Instead of contemplating change in fitness or diet, be proactive: do something!

For those of us who run at the site of a gym, start small: take that extra flight of stairs, walk at lunch or to work or do the inevitable and see a trainer. This is the easiest way to maintain consistent since there is no burden in managing your workout or intensities. All you have to do is show up to shape up!

Every year we see the cardio machines packed in every gym from January through February. In March, it is always empty again. We find that the number one reason is boredom. So instead of 45 minutes on the treadmill, try 15 minutes on the bike, stepper and elliptical instead. Hit the treadmill too, but break it up to relieve the monotony. The important thing, if you are trying to lose weight, is to keep your heart in the fat burning zone. If you are bored of lifting weights, try an intense Pilates or Yoga session. Many clubs offer resistance classes so you can keep it interesting there too.

Regardless of your fitness level the one component we can all benefit from is nutrition. With the 3 leading causes of death being diet related (heart disease, cancer and stroke) we owe it to ourselves to nix that super-sizing habit, trade an apple for that chocolate scone and cut out the fat. These are all easier said than done. Lucky for us there is an increasing amount of professional dietitians and personal chefs to help us make that transition and provide knowledge and tools for success. Many studios and clubs now offer these services with either full time or part time staff. Take advantage as these professionals for either an assessment or recurring appointments. Either way, these professionals can help you get big results by making little adjustments.