Gravity Fx Fitness

“The fat people are over here and the skinny people are over there,” said a new client before her first session at the healthclub.

At one point I worked in a large healthclub that was part of a complex owned by a professional sports team, who had their own private training facility there. This club had programs for everyone from kids to older adults, with an area that had pre-programmed exercise machines.

These weight machines were used with a special key that had a program for that individual that could be downloaded from a kiosk. When they put the key in the machine it would automatically adjust the seat and the amount of weight to be lifted.

A trainer would take a new member through a few sessions to show them the exercises and determine how much weight to be used. Later on the new members would go through the program on their own and turn their workout results in to a trainer with comments about how difficult it was.

The trainer would then make a few simple adjustments such as adding more reps or weight or sets. When the member came in for the next workout, the new info would be automatically updated.  This was a big selling point for those with little experience lifting weights, particularly those over 40.

So as I took this new member back for the first of her 3 free sessions, she made that comment – that the “fat people” were in the section with the computerized equipment while the “skinny people” were working out in the free weight section (low-tech).

I didn’t say anything, but thought that she was very observant. She had been coming in for a month and working out with her sister prior to our first session.

Even though high tech equipment can be useful from time to time, its not necessary for great results.  Simple tools like dumbbells, barbells, sandbags, medicine balls, bands or kettlebells will all get the job done just fine.

The big difference generally between these two groups is how hard they worked, combined with the fact that these simple tools require you to use more muscles to stabilize the weight. Machines usually stabilize the weight for you……

which sounds like a good idea, but really isn’t, unless you have some special circumstances due to an injury.  The Power Plate is an exception to this, but I’ll talk about that in more detail, later.

If fat loss and general fitness is your primary goal, then gradually increasing your intensity is key. Since most people hit a plateau at some point, where you struggle to lift more weight, cutting the rest periods between exercises will help, as this allows you to get more work done in the same time period.

This increased amount of work will burn more calories and let you get more done in a shorter amount of time than most people at the healthclub.

Unless you enjoy the 2 hour workouts – or you are training for a bodybuilding or endurance competition.

Otherwise, it makes more sense to do your training in the shortest time possible.  When time is a factor you definitely want to use multi-joint exercises to work more muscles.  Go from a pushing exercise to a pulling one or throw in a lower body movement and do a circuit.

Get moving!

Brian

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Today’s fat loss workout combined rope training with 1 arm kettlebell swings, alternating from one exercise to the other with limited rest intervals.

I recently started using a heart rate monitor to keep my intensity higher, making sure to keep my HR elevated as much as possible.  This allows me to get more work done in a shorter time and burn more fat.

Last Saturday was my first workout with it and it had me burning about 422 calories in just 23 minutes!  Not too bad.  Of course, I hadn’t fully recovered from the previous week’s workouts and it didn’t take too much to get my heart rate up and burning lots of oxygen.

In the video you will see one of the rope exercises that I really enjoy.  Besides being a total body exercise, it really challenges my core.  Anything that trains your abs and burns plenty of calories at the same time has to be good!

I alternated the rope with doing the kettlebell swings – just a few exercises that hit lots of muscles.  Are you seeing a theme develop in my personal fat loss journey?  Using multi-joint exercises with little rest and high intensity, as measured by HR percentage.

This workout lasted 30 minutes and burned 464 calories according to the monitor, with an average HR of 82%.  So I got my cardio training along with a bit of strength work with the kettlebell, all at the same time.  Wore my Vibram five fingers to train my feet.

I didn’t spend 2 hours in the gym doing a workout that many people find incredibly boring – probably why so many people just give up, because they don’t have enough time.

These type of workouts can be done with sandbags ,kettlebells, ropes or even dumbbells and your own bodyweight.  The trick is to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time, gradually increasing the intensity as you get in better shape.

Oh yeah, because I’m using some resistance my muscles have more shape than if I just walked on a treadmill.  Definitely going to be a little leaner this Summer.  Check out Art of Strength for more rope training.

Get moving!

Brian

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Did my short term fasting today until dinner time.  Intermittent fasting is where you go approximately 24 hours without eating, just lots of water to flush out the garbage that accumulates.

Which means plenty of trips to the bathroom!  Today was the perfect day for it since I work third shift for two nights.  Which means I slept in this morning…..

the perfect time to fast, since I’ll be sleeping for some of that time.  By doing this once or twice a week you reduce the number of calories you consume in a week, while helping to cleanse your body.

Its not that difficult for most people and its really more mental than anything.  I don’t do it that much but definitely notice a difference when I do and since Summer is fast approaching, every little bit helps.

This is Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat program and I think its going to help me trim some fat off my abs.  I’ve also been reading through Leigh Peele’s Fat Loss Troubleshoot and getting some good ideas.  If you have tried exercising and dieting in the past without results, she may have the answers you’re looking for.

For my workout I kept it simple, alternating pushups with 1 arm rows using a kettlebell, but a dumbbell will also do the trick.  I added some overhead lifts with the sandbag and a few light sandbag squats.  Still a little fatigued.

So if you’ve noticed, I don’t isolate muscles like bodybuilders do.  Instead I do exercises that use multiple muscles and go from a pushing move to a pulling exercise, so while I’m resting one group of muscles I’m working the opposite ones.

This saves time and lets you get a great workout in less time.  Many people spend too much time at the healthclub for the results they get (or lack of).  Unless you’re training for a specific competition, you don’t need to train like someone who is.

Work several muscles in each session with some intensity, get your heart rate up and limit your rest in between exercises.  If you’re not training for an endurance competition, such as running long distances, interval training is more time efficient than steady pace aerobics.

There’s a lot more to losing fat than just exercising more and eating less.  If it was that easy, you wouldn’t see so many people getting frustrated and stop going to the gym after not getting the results they want.

The third component is social support/accountability and I will talk about that tomorrow.  There is a phsychological component that many have to conquer to get optimal results.

Get moving!

Brian

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After my high intensity interval training on Saturday I have taken it down a few notches, as my body has said it needs time to recover.

On Sunday I took it pretty easy and just did 20 minutes of joint mobility movements.  They are great for recovery and relaxation in general, as well as keeping the joints healthy.

They also make all your movements more efficient.  If you are training hard, things like massage therapy, chiropractic, self massage, and joint mobility training minimize the risk of injuries or inflamed joints.

Monday and Tuesday are my 12 hour workdays and leave me little time to exercise.  Because of fatigue from a couple weeks of pushing it, I didn’t do any training, but did get a little walking in and did some isometrics here and there.

I talked about the resistance stretching last week and doing the isometric contractions in various positions is making a difference.  My shoulder feels better and my walking is more efficient as I’ve removed a lot of excess tension in my right hip.

Otherwise, I would have done a short workout on one of these last two days, such as the resistance band squat/row and alternate this with some pushups or some stability work on the Power Plate.  Irregardless, there is no way I could have gone to the gym and done anything.

Just not enough time for an hour and a half workout when you have to get up at 4:30 in the morning and you didn’t get home til 7 at night!

No wonder so many people don’t even bother working out.  That’s why an alternative solution is needed – something that is quick and can be done at home.  I didn’t say easy, ’cause it takes hard work, but the increased energy and health benefits are worth it.

The next 5 days I will have more time to train for fat loss.  By the way, when going through this, don’t worry about checking the scale every day.  You should be paying more attention to how your clothes fit or how you look in the mirror.

Inches lost are more important than pounds!  You’re not looking to lose weight, you want to lose fat – there’s a difference.  Take pictures to measure your progress and having pictures of a thinner you or someone you’d like to look like can be great for motivation and mental imagery.

Place them where you will see them throughout the day.

Til next time,

Get moving!

Brian

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Yesterday was the “official” start of my own personal fat loss journey.  It was also the first workout with my new HR monitor.

After being in decent shape for a 40-something, I’ve decided to reduce my bodyfat level to the lowest its been in over twenty years.  I’m going to do it without going to the gym and I’ll be using tools like sandbags, ropes, resistance bands, and a few kettlebells.

Another interesting note, almost all the workouts will be 30-60 minutes, with an “occasional” bike ride that goes longer than an hour.  I want to make a couple points through my progress – A, it doesn’t take long workouts to lose fat and B, intensity is key to getting the best results.

After some frustrating business and financial situations, I’m not currently working with anyone in person and want to use this transformation to help inspire others to get in shape, as well as get me back in the position of helping people.

So I used my new HR monitor to keep my intensity levels high yesterday.  The workout was short and fairly simple.  The actual training lasted 23 minutes, with a total of about 30 minutes including  warmup and cooldown.

If that seems short, you should know that at one point my heart rate was at 99% of my maximum!  and the average HR for the 23 minutes was about 93%.  The monitor (Polar F6) said that I burned 442 calories in that brief, but intense session.

Now, you definitely don’t want to start out that intense, but I have been exercising regularly and am used to these kinds of sessions.  I switched back and forth between sandbag exercises and rope training, obviously, keeping my rest periods very short.

I did some military presses, walking lunges, and explosive lifts with a medium sandbag and did some grappler’s throws and front waves with the rope.  Several times my heart rate got to 97 or 98% of its max (theoretical).

So in 30 minutes I got my cardio and strength endurance work done at the same time, getting a lot of core work in, too.  Doing full body workouts are the way to go if you have limited time to exercise.  The previous two days I did some walking to enjoy the weather and burn a few calories, though definitely not 442!

So if interested, stay with me as I blog about getting my abs back as Summer fast approaches.

Get moving!

Brian

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Does your pet know something about stretching that you don’t?  Watch what your dog or cat does after a nice, long nap.

The first thing they do is stretch, but they don’t hold a stretch for 20-30 seconds like most people, they stretch out while contracting their muscles at the same time – shaking for a few seconds and then moving on.

Same thing with a wild animal, they contract their muscles at the same time they stretch.  I’ve ben re-reading about resistance stretching in a book by Bob Cooley, called The Genius of Flexibility.  Cooley was struck by a drunk driver in 1976 while crossing a street.

He lost quite a bit of his ability to function properly and spent time working with various doctors and therapists.  Stretching seemed to be the only thing that helped.  Over several years he tried different ways to stretch and breathe while stretching.

He discovered that he got the best results when he simultaneously contracted his muscles while stretching.  He had received very minimal results with traditional methods.  After discovering his method he started working with other people.

In 2000, he was working on a Pilates and yoga instructor where Olympic swimmer Dara Torres was also taking a private session and watched the flexibility session very intently.  He ended up working with Torres before she went to the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Long story short, his methods go against tradition, but seem to get great results.  From my perspective I agree that there has to be strength to go along with your flexibility, both for performance reasons, as well as injury prevention.

I had tried traditional methods of holding for 20-30 seconds in a passive stretch wirthout any results in the past and had quit trying, until I found some active stretching which got much better results.  Not having proper strength/stability is probably why most people are tight to begin with.

Your body is smart enough to know that without strength you run the risk of injury, and doesn’t let you stretch far enough to get hurt.  So I’ve been experimenting with this for the last few days and made some improvements.

His methods require a partner for optimal results – someone to stretch your muscles while you resist.  I’d like to go try a workshop to see how it feels.  Probably go up to Chicago this Summer.

I do resistance band stretching and like the results I get from that.  I pull on the band as much as possible to strengthen while working on my flexibility.  Dave Schmitz isn’t just flexible but agile and powerful, too.  That is what you should be shooting for.

Stay tuned as I will be writing about the different types of mobility and dynamic movement in greater detail.  I’ve tried most every method out there and have stretched many people in the last 10 years.

Get moving!

Brian

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Do runners need to do any core training?  Will it make you a more efficient runner?  Most definitely.

This topic of training for the core has gotten a lot of publicity in recent years, with good reason.  Proper stability in this area is necessary for preventing low back pain as well as increasing performance.

Everyone seems to have a different definition of the core and how to train it, but it is much more than your abs and just doing plenty of crunches and situps.  It also includes your low back and the muscles of hips.

One key area that runners need to focus on is your glutes!  These muscles stabilize your hips which obviously will add to your running efficiency.  If your hip joint is not stable your body won’t properly absorb shock or generate adequate muscle force.

I was at a seminar a few years back and a physical therapist was reporting about an injured triathlete who came to see him.  During the evaluation he asked the man “where is your (butt)?”  Apparently, he had no glute development and that was part of the problem.

By spending a lot of time training his glutes the man greatly increased his age group ranking while spending less time running and such.  If you want to reduce the risk of IT band injuries and other lower leg issues, you need some focus on stability.

Single leg bridges are a simple way to train your glutes.  Keep your knee bent about 90 degrees and push through your heel.  Pause at the top for a second or two and slowly lower.  Make sure you move through your hip, the low back is just “along for the ride,” holding still.

Single leg exercises like step ups and multi-direction lunges are excellent.  Start with your own bodyweight and then add dumbbells or sandbags for extra resistance.  Lunges and squats with sandbags are a great way to train your abs and low back, also.

Most crunches and sit-up variations will have minimal positive impact and could increase your risk for back pain.  Bridges and planks in different positions will provide more stability.  For more resistance, push/pull exercises with resistance bands will challenge your core, as will sandbag exercises.

Get moving!

Brian

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If you are someone who travels frequently, you might have some difficulty training while on the road.  Some hotels have decent workout facilities while others have nothing, or just a treadmill or elliptical machine.

If you prefer resistance training you can always do a bodyweight circuit in your room – using pushups, lunges, planks, etc.

Or, if you want something more you could use resistance bands for a little more variety.  You could easily take these with you and not take up much room.  You can attach them to the door and do various pushing and pulling moves.

You can also use them for stretching and assisted lunges.  They can also give your pushups a little more resistance.  Since you probably have little time but still need to unwind after sitting all day in the car or in a meeting, bands are the way to go.

Just do a circuit, going from one exercise to the next with little or no rest time and you got your cardio in with a little bit of resistance, too.

You can get several different bands to handle all levels of resistance, but if you are just starting out and want to keep it simple and inexpensive I would suggest the economy package from Resistance Band Training.

Get moving!

Brian

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