Resistance Training is the REAL Fountain of Youth!

Forget botox, liposuction, $500 skin creams and the like, the real fountain of youth comes from lifting heavy things on a consistent basis. Before I delve into the many benefits of strength training and how absolutely CRUCIAL it is for everyone, especially women, to regularly incorporate resistance training exercises into their lives I want to also mention some other keys to staying young. If you haven’t already, please go to: RealAge.com and take Dr. Oz’s test to find out your real age.  (My real age was about 3.1 years younger than my biological age. Go me!) You would be surprised at many of the questions (as I was) and what really affects your real age. I know I was docked a few points for not knowing my cholesterol, not eating enough fruits and vegetables and having a recent major “stressful” event in my life. (Job loss). Amongst my other tips for keeping a youthful appearance: drink lots of water (dry skin looks aged); wear SPF 30+ everyday on your face and neck (foundation with SPF – even better!) and do cardio/get your heart rate up and give your heart a good workout as many days of the week as you can.

Okay, now back to resistance training. Wikepedia defines resistance training as:

“a form of strength training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated by resistance (i.e. resistance to being pushed, squeezed, stretched or bent). Exercises are isotonic if a body part is moving against the force. Exercises are isometric if a body part is holding still against the force. Resistance exercise is used to develop the strength and size of skeletal muscles. Properly performed, resistance training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being.”

Resistance training can be performed training with dumbbells, barbells, exercise machines, cables, bands, your own bodyweight, milk jugs, soup cans, small pets and children or any other inanimate object that has a weight to it.  You do not need to belong to a gym or have tons of equipment to resistance train.  The goal of resistance training is to make our muscles stronger. Studies show that as we age, beginning as early as our mid-twenties, we can lose muscle mass at the rate of 1-2% of muscle mass per year. That’s about 5-6lbs of muscle per decade after age 25! This can be reversed, however, with a consistent weight training program. Why is this loss of muscle so important? Not only does this SIGNIFICANTLY lower your metabolism but it makes us weaker, flabbier and more prone to osteoporosis.

Resistance training helps us maintain our lean muscle mass. Lean muscle is metabolically active tissue, as is adipose tissue (a.k.a. body fat), however, muscle tissue burns slightly more calories per day than fat tissue. It was thought, until recently that adding a pound of muscle to your body could increase your metabolism by 35-50 calories per day, but it turns out that number was estimated too high.  There is much debate on the subject as to the actual number but recent studies I have read indicate that a pound of bodyfat burns around 2 calories per day and a pound of lean muscle burns around 6 calories per day. Not a huge difference that will make a significant impact, however that does not mean weight training is not important.  Remember, doing cardio only or not exercising at all, you can lose about 5-6 lbs of muscle per decade after 25. By weight training, you avoid that loss plus might gain another pound or two.  Having more lean muscle also increases your EPOC factor (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). EPOC is just a fancy way of saying that your body continues burning calories for a period of time AFTER you’re done exercising. Studies have shown that following a weight training (anearobic) workout your body continues burning calories at a higher rate for a LONGER period of time as compared to a cardio (aerobic) session. Over time, this can really add up to a significant amount of fat loss.

Something AMAZING!

I will be writing a more in depth article on how to set up a resistance training program for beginners but for now I just want to stress the importance of resistance training in the aging process. According to this recent study by Doug McGuff, MD on the effects of resistance training on aging [calling attention to a study published in PLoS ONE showing a reversal of aging in over 500 genes. (Melov S, Tarnopolsky MA, Beckman K, Felkey K, Hubbard A (2007) Resistance Exercise Reverses Aging in Human Skeletal Muscle. PLoS ONE 2(5): e465. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000465)] it may actually be possible to REVERSE the aging process! Yes, not “slow down” or even “stop” aging, but reverse it! The study looked at the effects of a 6 month long resistance training program in 14 “older adults” (they didn’t give ages) who were previously sedentary. Don’t believe me? The full paper can be read here.

Another interesting (yet controversial) statement made by the doctor in this study is that long duration, low-intensity aerobic exercise may actually contribute to the aging process. (i.e. going for long walk, using a cardio machine at a steady-state intensity). His quote is:

“If we embrace this concept of aging (the gap between maximal and minimal output), and the type of training that enhances this capability; then we must acknowledge that there is a type of exercise which can produce the opposite result.  Low intensity, steady state exercise will actually accelerate aging by this definition.”

In other words the type of exercise that tells our genes to be young, strong, and disease-free is primarily short, intense, mostly anaerobic in nature vs. longer, slower, less intense exercise. So, weight training plus cardio that alternates between periods of aerobic and anaerobic (i.e. high intensity interval training), plyometrics, sprints, etc.

This is a very interesting finding, however I don’t think the message should be “aerobic exercise makes you older” or “don’t do aerobic exercise.” There is MORE than enough research to show that aerobic activity is vital to one’s heart health and cardiovascular health. An elderly or very obese person may not be able to exercise very intensely at first and may need to build up intensity over time. Doing SOMETHING is always better than doing NOTHING I don’t care what anyone says!

In conclusion, you can see there are many benefits to resistance training and substantial evidence that this type of training will improve your health, make you stronger, improve your bone density and may even reverse the aging process.

So if you haven’t started a weight training program yet – WHY NOT???

I’m becoming one of THOSE people…

Lately I have been ridiculously busy and stressed out beyond my limits at work. In the past whenever I faced times like these I somehow still managed to eat 5-6 small, healthy meals a day and get all my scheduled workouts in. Although I am still faithfully getting my workouts done (taking my anger and stress out in a healthy way feels great) I am letting my nutrition fall to the wayside. I am becoming one of those people that is “too busy” to eat! As I look over my diet journal for the past 2 days I am appalled at myself. It’s 10pm and I have only eaten 3 meals today!

Let’s look at today and see what I could have done to fix my problem. First, I got up late and was rushing around to get out of the house. I knew I was going to have to fly out of work right at 5pm if I had any chance at all of making it to BodyPump class at 6pm so I grabbed my sneakers, tank top and shorts, along with my food for the day. I got in my car and drove off to work, eating meal #1 in the car as usual (2 pieces of whole wheat bread). Fix = I could have gotten up 15 minutes earlier, microwaved some egg white and had an egg white wrap.  Then I got to work a little after 9am and after an annoyingly inconviently timed fire drill, I was back at my desk by 9:30am to tackle my impossible workload. I work in an office, if you can’t tell, in a cubicle (or as I like to call it a padded cell without the padding..or a jail cell with invisible bars). I begin responding to emails, checking voicemails, answering phone calls, answering endless questions from my co-workers, etc. Before I realize it the time is now 12:15 and it’s time for lunch. That is what my stomach thinks, but unfortunately I’m tied to my chair and unable to escape even to take a 3 minute break to the ladies room. Fix = Protein shake! If I had some time in the morning I could have easily made a shake and thrown it in my bag. My muscles now hate me! So I continue to work, on empty, and just deny my hunger. Now it’s 3pm and I NEED food! I go in my bag again and all I have is more whole wheat bread. Oh well, better than nothing. I’m still so busy so I eat at my desk as I work, unable to finish eating because I keep getting interrupted! Fix = I should have had somethings on hand – almonds, protein shakes, a protein bar, etc. No excuses! Now at 5pm I bolted out of work and walked as fast as I could to the other side of the world where my car is parked and drove like a true Masshole so I could get to the gym on time for BodyPump. No time to eat. Fix = Keep snacks in the car at all time! Instead I make it to the gym right on time, workout in class for one hour and then do my regular workout after that. Now it’s almost 8pm and all I have had all day is bread. Yikes! Finally I get home, shower and get myself something “real” to eat. It’s now 8:30pm. Since I barely ate I eat another meal right before bed. (Incase you are wondering that is perfectly okay to do!)

Alright – no more excuses. Eating is easy and not eating means flabby ass syndrome, loss of muscle and a slower metabolism. No one is going to force me into that situation so work just better DEAL cuz this girl’s gotta eat!

Kit-Kat in the Morning Anyone?

You have GOT to be kidding me! That was my first thought the other morning when I heard the morning DJ read the latest Kit Kat radio commercial.  In my morning haze just trying to wake up and function enough to be able to get behind a motor vehicle takes all of my concentration, so for me to actually remember hearing something before 9am requires a lot of doing. The first few times I heard the ad I assumed it was one of those long, drawn out, Dunkin Donut commercials advertising a Kit Kat flavored coffee. But no. They were actually suggesting having a Kit Kat with your morning coffee. Seriously people, candy for breakfast? Is that really what this country needs right now? The sad thing is that a Kit Kat bar is less damaging to your waistline than a greasy egg/bacon/sausage Mcmuffin or one of those giant muffins or bagels from your favorite coffee shop. 

Is it really that hard to eat a healthy breakfast on the run? I am by no means a morning person but every day I still manage to put something in my body (often in the car, on the way to work) that is nutritious and will keep me full until lunch.  How about a yogurt and banana? A couple pieces of whole wheat toast (or just bread if you REALLY don’t have time) with a couple slices of fat free cheese or natural peanutbutter on it? My favorite is oatmeal mixed in water with a scoop of vanilla protein powder and a few blueberries. Total prep time: 20 seconds!

My point is that we have a choice – eat the sh&t that the Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and HoneyDew Donuts of the world inflict upon us or choose to be better than that.  It isn’t even a matter of wanting to lose weight or not, it is more important than that. It’s a matter of health. Really think about this for a minute. When we were young our parents would never allow us to have coffee and a Kit Kat for breakfast but now as adults these genious marketers are telling us it’s okay. Hmmmm, something is not right with this picture.

So, to conclude, let’s all make a promise to not treat our bodies as a landfill for unhealthy, disease-producing, artery-clogging, energy-zapping, low quality food products which don’t even deserve to be called “food.” Instead, let’s buck the system, stay healthy, live longer, live better and look better than the evil capitalistic money-hungry companies want us to be. The power is ours!

Strength-Power Workout

3 days per week, nonconsecutive days

Purpose = Use this powerlifting routine for 4-6 weeks max at a time to see dramatic increases in strength and muscle. It is a very taxing routine so don’t follow this routine for too long.  Each workout focuses on one power exercise. Always do this exercise first and each week add more weight.  The goal here is strength so rest is at least 2-3 minutes between sets on your power exercise (for worksets, less for warmup sets). For the ancillary work rests may be less, 45-90 sec or so.

Power Exercises = Warmup by doing 2 easy sets with a weight that is about half that of the weight used during your work sets.  Work Sets = 6 sets of 3-7 reps.  If you can do more than 7 reps add weight. Be careful and have a spotter if you are attempting really low reps.  You are going to fatigue very quickly using weights this heavy so if you are only on your 2nd or 3rd set and you can only do 3 reps I suggest doing a little less weight and taking a little longer of a rest before continuing if you don’t have a spotter or you might hurt yourself. Don’t be afraid to lift heavy but just make sure you are a little more cautious.

Day One: Power Exercise = Bench Press*

• Barbell Bench Press*
• Dip 3×10
• Tricep Extension 3×10
• Plate Front Raise 3×10
• Ab Crunch 3×25

Day Two: Power Exercise = Squat*

• Barbell Squat*
• Dumbbell Lunge 3×10
• V sit up on bench 3×25
• Leg Extension 3×10
• Calf Raise 5×25 (30 sec rest)

Day 3: Power Exercise = Deadlift*

• Barbell Deadlift*
• Lat Pulldown
• Rear Delt Dumbbell Fly
• Hyperextension on Ball

Intermediate Weight Routine 1

3 days a week:

• Workout A: Full Body
• Workout B: Upper Body
• Workout C: Lower Body

A good schedule might be:

• Sun – Full Body
• Wed – Upper Body
• Fri – Lower

DAY 1:  Full Body:

3 mini-circuits, 2 sets 10.  For each circuit do each exercise in the group without rest for 10 reps and repeat. So you are doing each exercise twice before resting. Then move onto the next group.

Leg Circuit:

• Free-standing Squat
• Jump Squat
• Jump Lunge

Upper Circuit 1:

• Plyo Pushup
• Band Shoulder Press
• Band Bicep Curl
• Band Tricep Extension

Upper Circuit 2:

• Ropepull Ab Crunch
• Rope Back Row
• Plank Hold

DAY 2: Upper Body: Do 3 sets of 8-10

• Dumbbell Bench Press
• One Arm Dumbbell Row
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
• Lat Pulldown
• Dumbbell Fly
• Dumbbell Bicep Curl
• Decline Lying Tricep Extension
• Prone Ab Crunch on Ball

DAY 3: Lower Body: Do 3 sets of 8-10

• Barbell Squat
• Romanian Bent Leg Deadlift
• Lying Leg Curl
• Leg Extension

Do 4 sets of 20 for these and rest only 20-30 seconds

• Calf Raise or Press
• Hyperextension

Beginner Weight Routine 1

Full Body Program

Protocol: 3xweek, nonconsecutive days

Example of how to structure this routine:

Mon  – Workout A

Wed – Workout B

Fri – Workout A

Mon – Workout B

Wed – Workout A

Fri – Workout B

repeat

Workout A: Perform  2 sets of 15 reps per exercise

1. DB Bench Press
2. Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
3. Barbell Squat
4. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
5. Lying Tricep Extension
6. Seated Dumbbell Bicep Curl
7. Stability Ball Crunch

Workout B:

1. DB Lunge (or medicine ball)
2. Standing Barbbell Shoulder Press
3. V sit up off bench
4. Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
5. Seated Cable Row
6. Tricep Pressdown
7. Bicep Cable Curl

Medicine Ball Routine

This is a great routine because the only equipment you need is a medicine ball. This can be done at home or while traveling. Repeat the exercises as a circuit with no rest until after the last exercise. For beginners, do the circuit twice. More advanced – do the circuit 3 times. Enjoy!

Warmup:

Repeat twice:

• 20 Free standing squats, no weight
• 20 Pushups, on knees if you have to

Repeat the following circuit, rest and repeat twice. For each exercise, perform 15-20 repetitions:

1. Medicine Ball Squat & Press
2. Medicine Ball Side-To-Side Lunge
3. Medicine Ball Woodchopper
4. Medicine Ball Bench Press
5. Medicine Ball Side-To-Side Twist to Crunch

Medicine Ball Squat & Press:

Stand in an upright position with feet shoulder width apart. Hold Medicine Ball with both hands firmly against chest.
This is a 2 part exercise: A squat plus shoulder press. First, hold the ball in front of you at or just below chest level. Squat down and back up. When you return to start position immediately press the ball above your head and then back down to chest level, that is one rep. Do 15-20 reps in a row before moving onto the next exercise. The movement is done so you flow from squat to press back to squat and press, etc. in one fluid movement. Advanced: Use a heavier ball or add a toss after the press movement.

Medicine Ball Side-To-Side Lunge:

Stand with feet wide, toes out at about a 45-degree angle and hold the medicine ball or weight at chest level. Lunge to the right, bending the knee and taking care to keep the knee behind the toe. Touch the ball to the floor while keeping the abs engaged and the back flat (don’t round the shoulders). Stand up, bringing the weight to the chest. Repeat the lunge on the left side. One rep is a lunge to the right and left. Tips: Keep your knee in line with your toe as you lunge. If the knee angles in or out, adjust the angle of your toes. Press through the heel of you foot as you push up from the lunge to engage your glutes. Avoid letting the knee bend over the toe by sitting back into the heel.

Medicine Ball Woodchopper:

Hold a medicine ball with both hands standing with legs shoulder width apart. Hold the ball on a 45-degree angle in front of your body so that it’s closest to the right hip. Now swing the ball diagonally and upward over your opposite shoulder (do not let go). Reverse the motion to return to the starting position. That’s one rep. Complete all your reps on one side, and then switch legs and sides and repeat.

Medicine Ball Bench Press:

Lie flat on floor holding ball in both hands and press the ball up at chest level. If you have a bench or ball you can lie do this exercise on them.

Medicine Ball Side-To-Side Twist to Crunch:

Stand in an upright position with feet shoulder width apart. Hold Medicine Ball with both hands firmly against chest. Twist torso in either direction at 45 degrees. Hold form for one second and repeat movement. 15-20 reps each side. Lie on the floor with knees bent, ball held with both hands against the chest. Commence a standard crunch by lifting upper torso off the ground with chin erect. Hold form for one second and descend to starting position, allowing half and inch cushion between the shoulder blades and the floor.

Stability Ball Routine

This is a great routine because the only equipment you need is a stability ball. This can be done at home or while traveling. Repeat the exercises as a circuit with no rest until after the last exercise. For beginners, do the circuit twice. More advanced – do the circuit 3 times. Enjoy!

Warmup:

Repeat twice:

• 20 Free standing squats, no weight
• 20 Pushups, on knees if you have to

Repeat the following circuit, rest and repeat twice. For each exercise, perform 15-20 repetitions:

1.  
   1. Stability Ball Bench Press
   2. Stability Ball Tricep Extension
   3. Stability Ball Shoulder Press
   4. Stability Ball Bicep Curls
   5. Stability Ball Squats against the wall
   6. Stability Ball Hyperextension
   7. Stability Ball Crunch
   8. Stability Ball Pushup with Rollout

Top 10 Tips for Healthy Food Shopping

1.  The Golden Rule of food shopping: Don’t shop on an empty stomach.  Your cravings will be in high gear and it will be more difficult to resist buying tempting foods.

2. Shop the perimeter of the store first.  There you will usually find: the produce section full of fresh fruits and vegetables; the deli and fish section where you can get low fat meats, cheeses and fresh/frozen fish; and the dairy and refrigerated meat section where you can find low fat hamburger/turkey and low fat dairy products, and the aisles where you can find frozen (unsweetened) fruits and vegetables.

3. Don’t be fooled by the claims on the front of the label (that’s marketing people!) always read the back of the label.  You would be very suprised to find how many products claim to be “healthy”, “light”, “reduced fat” or “whole wheat” are actually barely (and sometimes not at all) meeting that standard.

4. Be aware of serving size.  If the calories in a product are 50 per serving but the serving is teaspoon and you would normally eat 1/2 cup of it that’s 24 servings. Guess what? It’s still a high calorie food.

5. Buy in Bulk.  Typically the healthiest foods are never on sale and are more expensive than their higher fat, higher sugar or higher calorie versions.  Stock up when your staples are on sale, use coupons and invest in a membership to Sam’s Club or BJ’s.

6. Watch the sugar.  Read the ingredients and look at the label. If a product has more than 10g of sugar per serving don’t buy it.  Sugar goes by many codenames: high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, mannitol and many more. (Hint: lots of sugars end in “ose.”)

7. Make portion control easy.  You don’t have to give up your favorite foods.  Buying single sized servings of the foods you crave and know you will likely eat more than one serving of is a smart idea.  Instead of buying a half-gallon of ice cream buy a pint of the low-fat version (or frozen yogurt).  Buy single serving bags of chips or 100 calorie packs of your favorite treats.

8. Avoid “Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil” and shortening at all costs!  This nasty cholesterol-raising, artery-clogging trans fat appears in pretty much all packaged snack foods and commercial bakery products (cookies, chips, crackers, etc).  Manufacturers have changed the molecular structure of a perfectly healthy oil through the process of hydrogenation in order to give their products a longer shelf life so they can produce more and make more money.  Their greed to make more money is poisoning us and reducing our shelf life.  Also don’t believe it when a product states it has “Zero Trans Fats.”  The FDA allows manufacturers to label items containing “less than 0.5g” of trans fats per serving as containing no trans fats.  If you eat 5 servings of a product labeled “trans fat free” that actually has 0.4g of trans fat per serving then you just unknowingly ingested 2g of trans fat.  It doesn’t sound like much but what if this was just one thing you ate in a typical day? What if all the products you bought were trans fat free and you had them at every meal, every day?

9. Experiment with spices, marinades, and various flavorings.  To make healthy eating a permanent part of your life it’s vital that you enjoy the foods you are eating or you will not stick with it.  When making lean turkey burgers or hamburgers experiment by using different spices such as garlic powder, steak seasoning or any of the Mrs. Dash or other salt-free seasonings.  There are a million ways you can make chicken – marinate the chicken breasts overnight in terriyaki, lemon pepper, buffalo sauce or hickory bbq sauce for lots of flavor.  Desire something sweet? Use splenda, stevia, sugar free syrup, sugar free jam or some fat free cool whip in your recipes.

10.  My last piece of advice – always read the ingredients list.  The shorter the list is the better.  If you recognize most of the ingredients, even better. Ingredients are listed in the order of abundance from most to least.  The first 2 or 3 ingredients are the ones making up the majority of the product so make sure they are all natural.