Your Group Fitness Class Isn't Helping You Lose Fat (pt 2)

Last week I wrote about how most group fitness classes aren't doing the thing most people are going to them to do: fat loss. Check it out here. I won't say that I was bashing group fitness classes but I did point out the limitations group fitness classes face when it comes to fat loss. I've had a few people ask what they should do instead of group fitness classes then. Makes sense since I didn't really give many solutions. So then it makes sense that I should give some solutions now. So that's what I'll do. So I'm going to give 3 suggestions that you can use. Before that though, I'll say that any fat loss strategy is only as good as the way you eat while you're doing it. This is where the phrase "you can't out train a bad diet" comes from.

1. I'm not saying you should forgo group fitness classes forever. If you are a person who likes group fitness classes and you're looking to burn fat, then find a short High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) class. By short I mean 30-45 minutes. If it's a 45 minute class, then about 10 minutes of that should be devoted to warmup/cool down. A shorter class will ensure that you'll be able to reach the (really) high intensities that are needed to burn fat.
2. Start lifting. Or better yet, start lifting heavy. I'm talking about doing compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench presses and overhead presses. These are big bang for your buck exercises that will help you build muscle. Building more muscle will help you to raise your resting metabolism. This will allow you to burn more fat as you're sitting around doing nothing.

   Let me take a minute to define heavy lifting. To really be lifting heavy you're going to at least know your 5 rep max and even better would be your 1 rep max. Your max is the maximum amount of weight you can lift. A rep max is your max for a given number of reps. So when I'm talking about "lifting heavy", you're going to be at at least 80% of your 1 rep max. (If your max is 100lb, then you'll be using at least 80lbs.) The reps you use will depend on how heavy you go beyond 80%. Generally speaking you're going to be working in the 4-6 rep range.

   When you're lifting heavy, you're form is going to need to be perfect. So you're going to need to take the time to learn how to lift. Find a certified trainer in your area and make the investment to get coached.

3. My final suggestion is go the long slow distance route. This is also known as "traditional" cardio. Go on a run, hit the elliptical or the exercise bike for 30-60 minutes. The trend is definitely towards HIIT but cardio stills works. A good cardio session will burn a lot of calories, with the majority of those calories burned coming from fat.

The three suggestions aren't any in particular order of importance. So in conclusion, let's put these in order. First off, you should be on a lifting program. Your lifting program should cycle between heavier periods and lighter periods (of lifting). So when you're in a heavy cycle you'd be better off adding a couple of days of "traditional" cardio. This will help with recovery. When you're in a light cycle this is when you can go to you're HIIT classes. This is a really basic suggestion of a workout structure. If you want to get more specific, this is where investing in a good trainer will come in handy.

28 Days is all it takes...

"My clothes fit better, my core felt stronger and my posture improved. My co-workers notice a difference in the way I looked almost immediately." Laura, 36

Laura did my 28 Day Online Fitness Challenge. This is part of the feedback/testimonial she gave at the end of the challenge. Now if I paid someone to write a testimonial for me (people do this, I don't because I'm honest....and cheap, but mostly honest) I would want that sentence included. I promise I didn't pay Laura.

I think if you ask any personal trainer/strength coach what benefits they want their clients to achieve Laura's results would be near the top of the list. I've been dabbling in online training for about 2 years or so now. This 28 Day Online Fitness Challenge is going to be my ongoing way to offer online training.

• Why: Online training is way for me to help more people and people who aren't in my vicinity necessarily. Laura and I were able to communicate almost daily but we were never in the same place once. That's pretty cool.

  I settled on the "28 Day Online Fitness Challenge" because it's a way for me to easily deliver quality coaching without having to sacrifice the quality of my in-person coaching. Win/win.

• What is it?: It's just like the name says. It's 28 days long and completely online. Actually it's all done on Facebook. It includes personalized nutrition and workout plans. You get daily coaching and accountability. It will be the simplest (not easy) way you'll find to to start making the healthy lifestyle changes.

  It's not a magic pill. To get maximal results, you have to do the work. I ask that you take a photo of everything you eat and post it in our private Facebook group (you and I) and post a daily gratitude post in the challenge's group page (everyone in the challenge). Again this is simple but I get that sometimes life gets in the way and that's where the daily coaching and accountability come in handy.

  "It was simple yet designed for the individual. Dwayne is always following up on you but understands that "life" can happen." Kim, 52 (another challenge member)

• When is it?: The next challenge will begin next Monday, July 30. It will end on Sunday, August 19. As you go through the challenge, you'll do your daily posts at times that are convenient to you. I'll respond to any questions you have as soon as possible. That's usually within a couple of hours.
• How?: All you need to participate in the challenge is a Facebook account. You'll be able to do all the workouts at home so if you don't have a gym membership or equipment that's all good.

So that's a little info on the 28 Day Online Fitness Challenge. If you'd like to sign up or if you have questions, just LEAVE A REPLY and I'll get you all the info. I'll finish up with another quote from Laura:

"I recommend the 28 Day Online Fitness Challenge for anyone who’s looking to make changes and doesn’t know where or how to start. Even for those who have experience with health and fitness there’s always something new to learn."

Advice: Giving & Taking

Have you ever given someone the same advice over and over again? I'm talking about they keep asking for your advice and you keep giving it over months and years. Then out of the blue you see the person and they're like, "I was watching Oprah and she gave out some really great advice." It's always Oprah. And the advice is the same advice you've been giving  the person since the beginning of time. If you haven't been in this situation before then I'm super jealous of you. This happens to me all the time. Honestly, I have to hold back from yelling at clients and if I ever meet Oprah we are definitely going to have words.

I was in a little bit of a different situation recently. I had to listen to my client talk about how she always has to give her sister the same advice over and over again. My client was very visually annoyed. The interesting for me was that I was looking at the situation from outside. It forced me to empathize with not only my client but also her sister.

It would've been easy for me to just agree with my client about how annoying the situation can be (have I mentioned how annoying it is?) but I don't think that would've helped her in the long run. I tried to take her sister's side just so she could at least here that perspective. The thing is I got a lot out of it also. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to handle these same situations with clients better.

A thought I came out of the session with was "body blows". Whenever you watch a boxing or MMA match the commentators always mention body blows. They talk about how when body blows are landed it makes it easier to score a knockout with a head shot. So when you're giving the same advice over and over again, you're landing body blows. Then they hear the advice somewhere else and it finally clicks. That's the head shot.

This leads to my other thought that came out of the conversation. People not only have to get the advice at the right time but they also have to get it from the right person. Or maybe the not the wrong person.

My client was talking about her older sister. It's probably hard for an older sibling to accept advice from a younger sibling. (I'm totally speculating here about there relationship.) Or maybe they are too close to each other to give/receive this kind of advice from one another. I think this happens with clients and myself.

Yes it's part of my job to give advice but, especially with long term clients, over time the relationship can/does change. So I think it can be hard for clients to hear and accept advice that's coming from me. This is where Oprah comes in.

The Foundational Blocks

My three year old son likes to play with Duplo blocks (the giant version of Legos). He'll ask "do you want to build with me?" He likes to build tall towers. Inevitably he'll stack the blocks on top of one another until the stack can no longer support itself and it falls over. He hasn't quite figured out the importance of having a strong foundation. Believe it or not, a lot of  people are the same way when it comes to fitness and nutrition. I've had a lot of clients who've started training with me that I've had to slow down at the beginning. This one guy came in for his second session and announced that he wanted to start intermittent fasting. This was a guy who didn't have complete control over his schedule (he was an on call ER doctor) but he somehow thought he would be able to control when he would be able to eat. He skipped building the foundation.

Before I get into what, I think, are the foundational blocks, let's talk about why I think they're important. When it comes to exercise/fitness you have to work on the basics for no other reason than preventing injury. You can't do a barbell snatch if can't do a squat. If you try to do so, you will get hurt. The same goes for cardio. If you try to run a marathon without building a base of cardiovascular training first you will get hurt.

On the nutrition side it comes down to longevity. The majority of diets work...while you're on them. The problem with diets is that end at some point. If you don't know how to eat when you're not dieting then there really is no point in going on a diet. At best you'll just yo-yo around the same weight. I'd even go so far to say that if you knew how to eat when you weren't dieting then you wouldn't need to diet at all.

So what are the foundational blocks?

• Consistency: whether it's fitness or nutrition, this is going to play the biggest role in whether you are successful or not. For fitness I tell clients they should be aiming for a consistent 3-4 workouts per week. Getting those workouts in every week is going to go much further than worrying about the types of workouts you're doing in the beginning.

  For nutrition, I work with clients to eat "balanced" meals at least 80% of the time. Doing this will act as your "diet" in the beginning and be home base when/if you do try different diets.

• Patience: I know you want results and I know you want them now. That being said, I'll tell you the quicker you make progress you're likely to lose it just as fast if not faster. On the other hand, long-lasting progress takes a long time. You need to know and understand this going in.
• Mindfulness: this is about enjoying the process. As you're consistently and patiently going through your plan (whatever it is) take the time to figure out what you like about it. Or more importantly, what you don't like about it. How can you do it better? Are there workouts/exercises that you love/hate? Are there times or situations that you turn to food to feel better?

  Being able to ask and answer these questions will keep you in the moment. Staying in the moment will help you to stay patient and take your progress as it comes.

These are the things that I work on with all of my clients. When they can master these things it is only a matter of time before progress starts. Then the best part about this progress is it is progress that stays with you. The other thing about progress built from foundational blocks is that it's repeatable. So it becomes the progress that continues to build on itself.

FREE HOLIDAY WORKOUTS

I've been talking about the holiday season a lot over the past couple of weeks. For good reason. With all the social, professional and family events that get scheduled things can get super stressful. It's when things get super stressful that health and fitness go by the wayside. This doesn't have to be the case.

Before I tell you how to make sure you're not in this situation, let's talk about why it works out this way. Us (modern day) humans are kind of strange in that we err toward complicated solutions for simple problems. We've forgotten about Occam's Razor (the simplest solution is the usually the best; shoutout to Google for the spelling of "Occam").

I've often heard people say "I've got to work out more because I've got all these parties to go to". I'm all for people working out more but this doesn't make any sense. The parties are already taking up more time/energy and you want to combat this by demanding more time/energy of your body. Again it doesn't make any sense.

So what to do? First thing is just make sure you're doing enough. If you've been going to the gym twice/week, make sure you keep going twice a week. This may mean rescheduling gym appointments (by the way, the gym should be a scheduled appointment) or finding different ways to get workouts in outside the gym.

The second thing I'll suggest is shortening your workout. Stick with me here. You're going to shorten the workout but you're going to do more. Just saying you're only going to be in the gym for 30 minutes versus your normal hour is going to make your workout more efficient.

(Let's be honest, most of us spend way too much time standing around/talking to people and not working out during our workouts.)

Shorter workouts tend to be more intense workouts. This means you can get more bang for your buck and still make it to the all the parties.

I've put together a 4 workout plan that you can use to hit all the major body parts. To get this free workout plan all you have to click this link. Fill out the form and then the workout plan will be delivered to your inbox.

You get your workouts in and you still get to party. Best of both worlds.

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Benefits of Kettlebells

Kettlebells have become so popular that I have multiple clients who have sets of them in their apartment building gyms. Now if you've ever spent any time in an apartment building gym you know that they aren't necessarily recognized as being "state of the art". However, the kettlebell isn't a "state of the art" piece of workout equipment. Kettlebells (not "kettleballs" or "cattle bells") have been around for hundreds of years. In the last 5-10 years they've made a huge resurgence. Difference between a kettlebell & dumbbell

The obvious difference is the shape. A dumbbell has equal weights on the end of a bar/handle that can be held in one hand. In the simplest terms, a kettlebell is a weighted ball (traditionally iron) with a handle. The different shapes make for different functionality and use. Without having to consult my 11th grade physics textbook, the center of mass of a dumbbell sits in your palm (when holding by the handle); with a kettlebell the center of mass sits outside the hand more on the back of the wrist.

I only mention this because these differences will change how "heavy" a kettlebell and dumbbell of equal weight feels, even when doing the same exercise. The different shapes also will change how you move and what you can do with each tool.

Benefits of using kettlebells

• Versatility: KBs can be used for any type of exercise: power, strength, cardio or corrective. KBs can be used to do just about every movement type: push, pull, squat, hinge and carry.
• Portability: other than having a KB or two you don't need to have any other equipment to get a great workout in. This means you can take KBs anywhere and you don't have to be confined to a gym. You can take bells out to a park or keep a few at home for quick and not so easy workouts.

These are just a couple of the big picture benefits that training with KBs can offer. Here's a video showing how you can use a KB to string together a bunch of different exercises. The video shows how a KB can be used to perform strength exercises and also how it can be used to get a cardiovascular workout.

Kettlebells do have a learning curve. You need to get coaching before trying some the ballistic movements, namely the clean and the snatch. If you have any questions or would like to set up some coaching let me know.

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Squatting Basics

I've mostly been writing about some pretty abstract things like change (and here & here) and motivation. This post is going to be more concrete. It's about the squat. Last week a friend sent me a text about squatting and how to do them correctly. My elementary school teachers always said if I had a question then somebody else probably has the same question. So I figured this would be as good a place as any to talk about the squat. Squats pretty much work all the muscles in your thighs, predominantly the quads (front of thigh), glutes (butt) and hamstrings (back of thigh). Since these are such large muscles squats are a great cardio option along with being a one of the best strength exercises. While squats focus on the legs, squats are a full body exercise. They require mobility and stability at different parts of the body. So you may need to do some stretching and warmup exercises before hand. Also it may take time to be able to do a full range of motion squat.

First thing you should know is that squatting is good for you, despite what you may have heard. Second thing is that everybody squats at some point everyday. I can confidently say this because everyone sits and/or goes to the bathroom everyday. Knowing those two things, everyone should add squats to their workout routine.

So with that being said I'm going to lay out the basic components to a good squat. A couple of caveats before I start. First, squats (actually no exercise) shouldn't hurt while you're doing them. If there is pain stop. Go to a professional (orthopedist, chiropractor, physical therapist, trainer) to figure out what is causing the pain. Second, it's up to you to figure out your starting point. If you can't get full range of motion on day one that's ok. Keep working on it and there will be progress. Let's get to it...

• Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart: I say "about" because this is going to be different for everyone. Some people will be able to have a narrower stance and some will need to be wider. Also your toes will probably be somewhere between being pointed straight ahead and 45°. Stance is highly individual so you're going to have to experiment a little to find what works best.
• Sit BACK and down: squatting occurs at the hips. Pushing your butt back is the first movement and then it goes down. Stand in front of a bench/chair: take a step away: sit on the bench/chair. Notice how you have to "reach" back to get to the chair/bench? This is the   you want to replicate when you squat.
• Keep  your back straight: your spine (back) should not move when you're doing a squat, especially if you're using weights. This one may be a little tougher depending on your flexibility. Imagine you have a broomstick taped to your back when you squat. Now depending on the length of your legs and torso, your torso may be completely vertical, more "folded" down towards the ground or somewhere in between. No matter where the torso ends up just make sure the spine/back doesn't move to get there.
• Butt just below parallel: the goal of the squat is to get the butt just below the knees. If you can get lower while keeping your back straight that's great but from a strengthening stand point, just below parallel is the standard. Also the lower you go the higher the risk your lower back will round (remember the back moving is a no-no). If you can't get below parallel try stretching your glutes, quads and calves and keep squatting. This is a case where practice will lead to closer to perfect.
• Keep your heels down: your feet should stay flat on the ground the whole time. Don't lift the heels just so you can get lower. If you can't get low without lifting your heels, work on stretching the areas I mentioned above and only go to the point where your heels begin to rise.

These are the main points a beginner squatter needs to remember. There are hundreds of squat variations. These rules will hold true in the vast majority of variations. Once/if you can follow all of these rules then you can begin to add weight or try more advanced squat variations. Try these out and/or share with a friend. Let me know if you have any questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkbtqX4U6Ts

DON'T JUST LIFT WEIGHTS...

Move weights. What's the difference? Lifting is mostly what we do in the gym. Moving weight is mostly what we do in life. https://youtu.be/SNT7wTPdiOc

I'm not saying not to lift. In fact get strong as fuck (as the kids say). Get strong in as many ways as possible.

https://youtu.be/I02EZiMyrMQ

Here Dora is doing shovel pattern and a lunge with a rotational shift with a 10kg ViPR. Also Dorothy is doing a Zercher carry with a 12kg ViPR.

https://youtu.be/KQGabICXYvw

Core Activated Leg Lift

On Monday I wrote a blog and talked about this exercise a little. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ot5i9u_mM

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This is a great ab exercise for everyone but particularly if you have back issues. Laying on the floor supports the back and since only the leg is moving the spine is stable.

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This exercise is harder than it looks. You may need to start by bringing the knee to the chest instead of lifting the whole leg. If shown version isn't too tough, try using a smaller ball. Just make sure to keep your entire back flat on the floor. Begin with 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Step Into The Rack...

The first time I wrote my wife a workout program it included barbell squats. She asked how she was supposed to do them. My caveman response was along the lines of "go into the squat rack and squat." To which she replied, "I don't do that". After some back and forth, I figured out it wasn't that she didn't want to do barbell squats, it was more she didn't know  how to go about doing barbell squats. Not so much how to do the exercise but how to set up the squat rack for the exercise. Let's talk about the squat rack. They come in many different shapes and sizes but they are all mostly large, hulking and somewhat foreboding pieces of equipment usually off in the corner of the gym. The fact that it houses the weight plates that aren't being used and is called the cage by some, I can see why the squat rack might not crack your 'Top 10 Places to Visit in 2016' list.

That being said though, the squat rack/cage (whatever you want to call it) should be one of the places that you visit the most when you go to the gym. Despite it's name, the squat rack is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment in every gym. You can obviously do barbell squats but you can also do overhead presses, bench presses and bent over rows to name a few other barbell exercises. Most cages will come equipped with pull-up bars and may even have attachments so you can do other body weight exercises such as dips and elevated push ups. Oh yea, you can do curls in the squat rack also. You shouldn't do them there but you can. Let me repeat, YOU SHOULDN'T DO CURLS IN THE SQUAT RACK.

Here's a short video describing how to set up a squat rack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrvr12a5eHw

5 Things you'll need for a great home workout

For my wife and I life has become dictated by one question first and foremost: who's going to watch Graham? (Graham is our son if you haven't guessed). For those without children, children demand a lot of time and attention. A LOT OF TIME AND ATTENTION! For the record I love all the time I get to spend with my son and I wouldn't change it for the world. That being said, some things had to change. One of the biggest changes was my workouts. Life B.G. (before Graham) I could finish up with clients, dick around a while and then put myself through a nice leisurely workout. Now most days I have to finish up with clients and head home pick up Graham. This means my workouts are usually shorter and take place at home the majority of the time. So I thought it would be cool to list some of the essentials you'll need to create an effective at home workout space. Here goes:

1. SPACE: but not as much as you think. In life B.G., I had a whole room to workout in. Life after Graham, has relegated my workout space to the area between our coffee table our wall unit. I live in a 900 sq ft apartment in Brooklyn so we're not talking about a lot of space. When I'm feeling really crazy, I push the coffee table against the couch and I get a whole extra 5 FEET!!! Seriously though it doesn't take a lot of space to get a good workout. Stand up, reach your hands out to the side, if you didn't hit anything on either side you've got enough space. Check out this video to see what I'm talking about.
2. A BODY: specifically your body (it'd be weird if I was talking about somebody else's right?). I just typed the phrase 'body weight workouts' into Google and there were almost 9 million results. So having no equipment is no excuse for not being able to get a good workout at home. Squats, lunges, push ups and dips (to name a few) can be done anywhere. Try this: lie down on the floor and stand back up as fast as possible. Repeat 10 times. Then rest for a minute. Do this whole cycle a total of ten times (by the end you will have gotten down & up 100x).
3. TIME: again not as much as you think. Everyone knows that time is a commodity but people with infants and toddlers really know this. If your (I'm talking about you, the person reading this) average gym workout is an hour long, I'm almost willing to guarantee that same workout will only take about 40 minutes at home (assuming you had the same equipment available). You wouldn't have to wait for equipment and you wouldn't spend time talking to that lady you met that one time at some friend's party. Then once we take out the fluff (those stretches you only do because you saw the good looking guy/gal doing them at the gym) you can get a great workout in 30 minutes or less. Don't believe me? Comment and I'll send you the same workouts I gave to my wife when she asked for 30 minute workouts.

4. 

   TRX: or any suspension trainer. A TRX is a great way to make bodyweight exercises easier or harder when needed. A TRX also gives you access to exercises that normally you need weights or other equipment such as

   bicep curls. Another great thing about suspension trainers is that they are portable, so now it doesn't matter if the hotel gym smells like a person died in it during the first Bush administration.

5. KETTLEBELLS: an equal sized pair. [DISCLAIMER: if you've never used kettlebells, either get taught how to use them by a certified professional or don't read the rest of this section.] I'm a firm believer that eventually everyone needs to add some weight to their workouts because....well because science. Kettlebells don't take up much space (relatively) and they are great for both strength exercises (squat, presses, deadlifts) and power exercises (swings, cleans, snatches; again get proper instruction). Kettlebells are also relatively cheap once you consider the fact that you'll never have to replace a kettlebell. I suggest 16kg (~35lbs) for women and 24kg (~53lbs) for men. Once you can do all of the above exercises with the suggested bells then you can think about going heavier (for the last time, GET PROPER INSTRUCTION).

This is a list of 5, three of which everyone on the planet has. The other two are worth the investment many times over. The gym may have all the doodads and gadgets that we want for a workout but most of what we need is already at home. If you need home workout ideas let me know in the comments and I'll be glad to help out.

Get On Your Foot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv12_1Cih1w How much time do you spend on one foot? The answer is probably more than you think. Every time you take a step during walking you're standing on one foot.

Knowing this, it stands to reason that we should practice being on one foot when we exercise. However, most of the time when you look at people in the gym they have both feet firmly planted on the ground.

I can't think of any standing exercise that can't (eventually) be progressed to one leg. Start by standing on one foot for as long as possible. Then compare that to the other side. If there's a significant difference (>10 seconds), then work on evening the two sides by practicing extra on the worst side.

Once you can easily stand on each foot for 30 seconds, then you can begin working on different exercises like the one Dorothy is doing in the video.

If you need ideas for single leg exercises let me know. #StartingLine

http://starting-line-fitness.squarespace.com

https://www.facebook.com/dbrownpt/

Today's Success....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yVpd6ZIlwY&feature=youtu.be Today's success: I know it doesn't  necessarily look pretty and doesn't display a feat of athletic awesomeness. What makes it a success? The fact that she emailed me 2 days ago saying she tripped on the sidewalk...she had a stitch in her lip and said her right palm and left knee were both sore. What makes it a success? The fact that the main reason she started training 8 years ago is because she was diagnosed with osteoporosis. So yes the fact that she still showed up to train despite having tripped and despite having a stitch in her lip and despite having some lingering soreness is what made her successful today.

Would she have been more successful had she never fallen? Obviously. I wish I could've have prevented her from falling. I'm still very proud of this video and the movement she displays in it. Why? Because her email could've read, "I fell and I broke my arm. I won't be able to train for a couple months" or worse. Instead she was able to pick herself up (literally) and show up for training.