You might be using these excuses yourself, or maybe your friends are. Either way, I'm going to write some of them and some rebuttals for them...and I'll have a few funny ones at the end.
So here they are, common excuses not to workout and their rebuttals!
"I don't have time."
"If you're reading this or have time for Facebook, then you have time to workout. Only 15 minutes a day is a whole lot better than nothing!"
"I don't like or can't afford going to a gym."
"Workout at home. I did that for years, and sometimes still do."
"I don't want to be sore..."
"Dude, being sore is awesome. It usually means your workout was a good workout."
"I have have a hurt or bad ______, so I can't workout."
"Talk to your doctor first, but try your best to work around it, or take care of that issue is possible."
"I don't like getting sweaty."
"You're kidding right? Sweat means you're working."
"I don't know what to do..."
"Send me an email or something of your goals. I'll give you a plan and then teach you the exercises sometime."
"I don't need to, I'm at a healthy weight."
"Well, working out will turn your "health weight", into a fitter, healthier, and longer living weight. Why not workout?"
"I've seen you workout, working out is way too hard."
"I train for sports, been working out for years and have set high goals. Start off easy. My first goals were to run 3 miles and complete 30 pushups and be able to complete 5 pull ups. That's a good start...and you never have to go hardcore, just slowly progress if you aren't that interested in your fitness."
"I have to do homework."
"Get off my blog, Facebook, your phone, your gaming system and get your homework done so you can workout. This may take time, but slowly limiting your time on those distractions will help you find time. Or if you only do homework and still don't have time, then try only working out 15 minutes a day, it freshens up your mind so you can do your homework faster."
"I eat healthy, so I don't need to."
"You are full of potential! Eating healthy is 1/3 of health and fitness! Workout and you should get grand results, a stronger heart, less body fat and many other bonuses!"
"I already showered today."
"Showering twice won't kill you."
"I'm sore in my *insert muscle group here*"
"Work something else."
"Working out is vain."
"If you think working out is vain because it makes you look better, let me say this, brushing your teeth, showering, eating healthy aren't considered vain, yet they make you look better. Why? Because they are healthy and help you live longer. So does working out."
"I'm really sore all over!"
"Rest and eat maybe do some rotator cuff work, but you better workout tomorrow."
"I have a nose cold."
"If it's not too bad and only in your head, you should be fine...just wash or wipe down the equipment you use."
"I have a chest cough, fever or something really bad."
"Dude, rest, don't eat sugar, eat veggies and sleep a lot."
Funny Ones!
"I'm in shape! Round is a shape!"
"Uh, not the right kind of shape..."
"If I workout I'll smell bad."
"So, you smell bad for one or two hours, look better, feel better and are healthier...or you smell better and get none of those, and who really cares if you smell bad when you workout?"
"I don't want to get all muscly."
"You won't. Unless you eat like a man...and when I say eat like like a man, I mean like two men."
"My heart only has so many beats, I don't want to waste them working out!"
*sigh* "...This is hopeless..."
"I get sore just thinking about working out."
"Ok...that's weird, now go workout."
"My hair might get messy!"
"That's horrible! We can't have that! Just kidding, workout, shower and fix your hair."
Do you have any other excuses? Let me know.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Blowing Your Diet
Let's say you are dieting. Taking in 300-600 less calories than what you spend, so to lose 1/2 to 1 pound a week. You might be working out via weights, cardio or even better, them together. That way you you don't lose muscle (maybe even gain a little) while dieting... also you can eat more that way!
Anyway, let's say you completely blow your diet. I do this too. Someone brings over an apple pie or a pumpkin pie, I can't hold back. I must devour. Granted, I'm not trying to lose weight, but I still try to keep a healthy diet for fitness gains and overall health. So you're like me and eat not one slice, but two slices of pie. Boom. You blew your diet. Right? Maybe. It all depends on how you react to blowing your diet. If you think, "Oh, man. I blew my diet. I guess I might as well eat some cookies and ice-cream now. Doesn't matter because I blew it anyway!" then, yes you blew your diet. You'll probably gain some weight from that rampage through desserts. If you think like this instead, "Hm. I kind of blew my diet, but if I don't eat anymore junk food today, I won't gain weight! I just won't lose any." then you didn't blow your diet. You didn't lose weight that day, but you didn't gain any either! That's fine, as long as you don't make a habit of it. If you continue using that thought process throughout the week you won't lose any weight that week. You won't gain any, but you still didn't move closer to your goal. What I try to do during this time of year (I call it pie season) I try to limit myself to one or two days when I can have a pie slice or two. I still don't eat your average cookie, but I might it a pumpkin one once in awhile instead of a pie slice.
If you're not like me and are in love with chocolate, not fruity pies, your battle is harder. Chocolate is always in season. So eating chocolate desserts twice a week all year round (not 1-3 months) isn't going to allow you to lose much weight, if any. What do you do? You eat chocolate once a week if you can't cut it out. If you do cheat and eat more cake than that, make sure you tell yourself (set an alarm too) to have a painfully hard workout some time soon after that cake. Soon that cake may not seem worth doing interval training for 5 miles or doing one hour of hard interval weight training. Oh, and if it's only the chocolate flavor your crave (not the cake, cookie, candy bar or something-else-not-so-good-for-you), then maybe you should get into protein shakes. Whey protein shakes come in a bunch of flavors, taste pretty good, are high in protein and are low in calories.
Train hard, eat well (veggies: BFF, Best Friends for Fitness), rest well (at LEAST 7 hours of sleep, 8 or 9 hours is better), avoid (or manage) stress and you'll get fit.
Anyway, let's say you completely blow your diet. I do this too. Someone brings over an apple pie or a pumpkin pie, I can't hold back. I must devour. Granted, I'm not trying to lose weight, but I still try to keep a healthy diet for fitness gains and overall health. So you're like me and eat not one slice, but two slices of pie. Boom. You blew your diet. Right? Maybe. It all depends on how you react to blowing your diet. If you think, "Oh, man. I blew my diet. I guess I might as well eat some cookies and ice-cream now. Doesn't matter because I blew it anyway!" then, yes you blew your diet. You'll probably gain some weight from that rampage through desserts. If you think like this instead, "Hm. I kind of blew my diet, but if I don't eat anymore junk food today, I won't gain weight! I just won't lose any." then you didn't blow your diet. You didn't lose weight that day, but you didn't gain any either! That's fine, as long as you don't make a habit of it. If you continue using that thought process throughout the week you won't lose any weight that week. You won't gain any, but you still didn't move closer to your goal. What I try to do during this time of year (I call it pie season) I try to limit myself to one or two days when I can have a pie slice or two. I still don't eat your average cookie, but I might it a pumpkin one once in awhile instead of a pie slice.
If you're not like me and are in love with chocolate, not fruity pies, your battle is harder. Chocolate is always in season. So eating chocolate desserts twice a week all year round (not 1-3 months) isn't going to allow you to lose much weight, if any. What do you do? You eat chocolate once a week if you can't cut it out. If you do cheat and eat more cake than that, make sure you tell yourself (set an alarm too) to have a painfully hard workout some time soon after that cake. Soon that cake may not seem worth doing interval training for 5 miles or doing one hour of hard interval weight training. Oh, and if it's only the chocolate flavor your crave (not the cake, cookie, candy bar or something-else-not-so-good-for-you), then maybe you should get into protein shakes. Whey protein shakes come in a bunch of flavors, taste pretty good, are high in protein and are low in calories.
Train hard, eat well (veggies: BFF, Best Friends for Fitness), rest well (at LEAST 7 hours of sleep, 8 or 9 hours is better), avoid (or manage) stress and you'll get fit.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Train Like a Man
At first glance this may look like a guy telling other guys to go hardcore. Well, if you're a guy and you aren't got hard at your training, then you should start now... but this post isn't only for guys. Girls, you too, should train like a man. That is if you want to get fit faster.
What do I mean, train like a man? I mean train heavy. Don't waste your time on 'toning' for 30-50 reps. That rep range is way too high. You might say, "I don't want to lift heavy because I'll become bulky." Guess what? You won't get too bulky unless you use steroids or hormone booster... or maybe if you are a Olympic-lifter who trains for years and eats a ton. Girls don't have enough of the right hormones to 'get bulky', so don't worry.
If you train heavy, you'll also become stronger... duh. Low, heavy reps are ideal for strength. That is, 2 to 6 reps are best for strength. 8 to 12 reps are best for gaining size (as long as the strength is there to go heavy enough). 12+ is endurance. Training for endurance has it's place, but if you run you don't really need much more endurance.
Now, why would you train heavy? Well here are a few reasons: it burns more calories, it builds more muscle, your core gets stronger with out targeting it, and it's pretty impressive! Also, being strong (naturally, mind you) is healthy. I was reading about studies about how older people tend to live longer if they have more lean muscle mass... so why not be stronger? Being strong just makes your daily life easier anyway!
Now that you know that training 'like a man' isn't all that bad, but is actually good, how do you do so? Just lift heavy? No... you have to train right. Doing heavy dumbbell curls won't get you far. You need compound movements. Some of the best barbell/dumbbell ones are: squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, barbell rows, Romanian deadlifts, and many more. Don't have access to heavy enough weights for these exercises? No problem. Train with your body weight! If you're super paranoid about getting too big, then you will probably prefer these over using weights. Here are a few examples of what you can use: squats, pistol squats (one legged, epic exercise), single leg Romanian deadlifts, jump squats, pushups(progress from easier variations to harder variations), pull ups (same as pushups), planks (same as pushups and pull ups) gymnastic moves, sprinting, V-pushups (shoulder), and burpees.
A few ending notes: always warm up! You preform better, and greatly deduce your chance of injury. Train hard. You girls won't get too bulky, guys will get bulkier (yay!). Eat healthy. If you're trying to lose weight, eat about 500 less calories that you burn that day. If you're trying to gain weight eat at least 500 calories than you burn. If you are trying to maintain weight, but replace fat with muscle, then eat as much as you burn. Stretch. Deduces injury risk and increases flexibility (cool!). Set reasonable goals. One you can complete in a month (repeat every mont) and another long term one that could take a year or more. Lastly, have fun! Training shouldn't be a chore. You may enjoy lifting heavy things, it's fun! Or you may enjoy doing cool body weight feats. Either way, have fun!
Monday, July 23, 2012
When to Eat
Yeah. So you know what to eat now: healthy food. Less fat, maybe less carbs, no processed sugar, etc... More protein, veggies, fruits, whole grains, etc...
The question is: do you know when to eat these foods? Well, carbs are better pre-workout foods. Doesn't mean you should only eat carbs before a workout. Always mix your meals. You should have veggies or fruit in every meal, some protein, and plenty of carbs before a workout. After a workout? Food high in protein, with less carbs is good.
Yeah, yeah, you probably know all that... but I've done some more reading on eating. There's more to it!
I've told you that 5-6 meals a day is better than 2-3 meals a day. Very true! This helps your metabolism work faster and more efficiently... but did you know that you should have a 12 hour fast every day? You see, when you sleep, your digestion slows down... a ton. Apparently, your digestive system needs a rest too! Not just your muscles! Imagine that...
Ok, this is another reason for you to go to bed earlier. Why? Because when you stay up late, you are likely to snack. Because you're tired, your will power is lower, so you're likely eating something bad for you: like chips, ice cream, cookies, etc. That wasn't even my main point. My main point is that to give your digestive system a good 12 hour rest, you can't eat for 12 hours... so if you're snacking away at 11pm, you're going to have a rough time not eating until 11am in the morning.
So for you night owls you may think: awesome! I can now just eat late, and then eat a late breakfast and do just fine! No, you can't. You digest slower at night! You'll gain fat, my friend. Let's say, you always stay up late (or all night) because of your job (if it's because you're partying, change your habits, dude) then eating late is fine. Just don't eat 2-4 hours before you go to bed... If you stay up late on the weekends, or if you work nights, actually be awake like a normal person to be social, you don't only throw off your sleeping patterns, but your digestive patterns. You have a digestive clock too. To change it properly, you can only vary your eating my one hour at a time, if you don't you'll likely gain fat and/or you get less muscle.
Alrighty. So you have to eat earlier, and less at night. It's better for your body! There is all kinds of weird chemical and hormones that are effected by your eating times, I just can't remember them.
I read something like this, it's a little off topic, but I found it pretty funny, and true!
"There have been studies that show people lose more weight they eat eggs for breakfast. There has also been studies that show people lose more weight when they have oatmeal for breakfast. There were even studies that showed that people who ate cereal for breakfast lost more weight. There were even more studies that show if you eat chocolate cake you lose more weight... common denominator? They ate breakfast."
Obviously, cake is one of the worst things for you as a breakfast, but it's better than nothing! Eat breakfast dude.
It's also a good idea to stop eating carbs 4-5 hours before you go to bed. You can still have protein and such, but you don't want energy food that late at night. Just another tip for yah!
The question is: do you know when to eat these foods? Well, carbs are better pre-workout foods. Doesn't mean you should only eat carbs before a workout. Always mix your meals. You should have veggies or fruit in every meal, some protein, and plenty of carbs before a workout. After a workout? Food high in protein, with less carbs is good.
Yeah, yeah, you probably know all that... but I've done some more reading on eating. There's more to it!
I've told you that 5-6 meals a day is better than 2-3 meals a day. Very true! This helps your metabolism work faster and more efficiently... but did you know that you should have a 12 hour fast every day? You see, when you sleep, your digestion slows down... a ton. Apparently, your digestive system needs a rest too! Not just your muscles! Imagine that...
Ok, this is another reason for you to go to bed earlier. Why? Because when you stay up late, you are likely to snack. Because you're tired, your will power is lower, so you're likely eating something bad for you: like chips, ice cream, cookies, etc. That wasn't even my main point. My main point is that to give your digestive system a good 12 hour rest, you can't eat for 12 hours... so if you're snacking away at 11pm, you're going to have a rough time not eating until 11am in the morning.
So for you night owls you may think: awesome! I can now just eat late, and then eat a late breakfast and do just fine! No, you can't. You digest slower at night! You'll gain fat, my friend. Let's say, you always stay up late (or all night) because of your job (if it's because you're partying, change your habits, dude) then eating late is fine. Just don't eat 2-4 hours before you go to bed... If you stay up late on the weekends, or if you work nights, actually be awake like a normal person to be social, you don't only throw off your sleeping patterns, but your digestive patterns. You have a digestive clock too. To change it properly, you can only vary your eating my one hour at a time, if you don't you'll likely gain fat and/or you get less muscle.
Alrighty. So you have to eat earlier, and less at night. It's better for your body! There is all kinds of weird chemical and hormones that are effected by your eating times, I just can't remember them.
I read something like this, it's a little off topic, but I found it pretty funny, and true!
"There have been studies that show people lose more weight they eat eggs for breakfast. There has also been studies that show people lose more weight when they have oatmeal for breakfast. There were even studies that showed that people who ate cereal for breakfast lost more weight. There were even more studies that show if you eat chocolate cake you lose more weight... common denominator? They ate breakfast."
Obviously, cake is one of the worst things for you as a breakfast, but it's better than nothing! Eat breakfast dude.
It's also a good idea to stop eating carbs 4-5 hours before you go to bed. You can still have protein and such, but you don't want energy food that late at night. Just another tip for yah!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Sleep
Sleep. You all love sleep, right? Do know how good it is for you? It's really good. Sleeping right is about as important as eating right is! And eating right is more important than exercise! Exercise is pretty darn important... so eating and sleep are super important!
Anyway, back to sleep...zzzzzzz...
Correct sleep is really important: it helps to replace your hormones to the correct levels, restores energy (duh), repairs muscles (which also means builds muscles), rests the brain, and a ton of other stuff I'm not knowable in!
What's the basic idea of a healthy amount of sleep? 7-9 hours. That's a generalization. Everyone needs their own amount of sleep. Don't say 6 hours is good enough... because it likely is not. Actually the best way to sleep is to not use an alarm. That way, you wake up naturally. You have these sleep cycles lasting 45-90 minutes (I've heard a bunch of variations), and if you interrupt one of those cycles it can make you more tired, lose some of your results from your previous workout, cause you to eat more (because you need more energy), thus gain fat and probably a bunch of not-so-good stuff.
For you teens you might be thinking: "Awesome! I now can sleep in, and say it's for my good health!"
You could... but actually it's best just to 'go to bed earlier'. Yup. That's right. It's best for your health to go to bed before or around 10pm! Sorry folks!
If you're an athlete, trying to gain muscle mass, or trying to lose weight, you should try and get into the habit of going to bed early and not using your alarm! I personally just read about this, so I'm still trying to get into the habit of going to bed earlier, but it's hard when the rest of your family wants to stay up.
Anyway, back to sleep...zzzzzzz...
Correct sleep is really important: it helps to replace your hormones to the correct levels, restores energy (duh), repairs muscles (which also means builds muscles), rests the brain, and a ton of other stuff I'm not knowable in!
What's the basic idea of a healthy amount of sleep? 7-9 hours. That's a generalization. Everyone needs their own amount of sleep. Don't say 6 hours is good enough... because it likely is not. Actually the best way to sleep is to not use an alarm. That way, you wake up naturally. You have these sleep cycles lasting 45-90 minutes (I've heard a bunch of variations), and if you interrupt one of those cycles it can make you more tired, lose some of your results from your previous workout, cause you to eat more (because you need more energy), thus gain fat and probably a bunch of not-so-good stuff.
For you teens you might be thinking: "Awesome! I now can sleep in, and say it's for my good health!"
You could... but actually it's best just to 'go to bed earlier'. Yup. That's right. It's best for your health to go to bed before or around 10pm! Sorry folks!
If you're an athlete, trying to gain muscle mass, or trying to lose weight, you should try and get into the habit of going to bed early and not using your alarm! I personally just read about this, so I'm still trying to get into the habit of going to bed earlier, but it's hard when the rest of your family wants to stay up.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Caffeine
I don't know a ton about caffeine, but I read a few articles on the subject. So here we go...
From my own experience, I don't find caffeine worth it. It usually can cause addiction, crashing, dehydration and headaches... with a short burst of energy.
But it's not all bad! Caffeine can be used to up your performance! Well, if you use it right. Drinking your daily cup isn't the way. If you drink (or take pill form) one hour before you lift. It can give you a energy spike while you lift, which could help you lift that extra weight, or get one more rep... but I don't know all the effects caffeine has on you, but you're supposed to wean off of it at least one week before a big event, like a track meet or a soccer game. I have games/meets weekly, so caffeine just wouldn't be worth it except during the winter for me.
There are all these claims that coffee helps live longer and such, but I somehow doubt it. Maybe in small amounts... but eating healthy, staying fit and sleeping right will give you more benefits than coffee ever will, and make you live even longer!
If you like your coffee with sugar in it, then the whole helpful aspect of it is gone. Drink it black or maybe with non-sweetened cream (honey is ok though) or don't drink it.
Here's a article I found about soccer and caffeine. Turns out it effects your 'fine-motor-skills' (ball handling skills, writing, typing, etc), so it wouldn't help a soccer player in the long run. Just being fit is better!
http://www.scienceofsocceronline.com/2008/03/is-caffeine-and-effective-ergogenic-aid.html?m=1
From my own experience, I don't find caffeine worth it. It usually can cause addiction, crashing, dehydration and headaches... with a short burst of energy.
But it's not all bad! Caffeine can be used to up your performance! Well, if you use it right. Drinking your daily cup isn't the way. If you drink (or take pill form) one hour before you lift. It can give you a energy spike while you lift, which could help you lift that extra weight, or get one more rep... but I don't know all the effects caffeine has on you, but you're supposed to wean off of it at least one week before a big event, like a track meet or a soccer game. I have games/meets weekly, so caffeine just wouldn't be worth it except during the winter for me.
There are all these claims that coffee helps live longer and such, but I somehow doubt it. Maybe in small amounts... but eating healthy, staying fit and sleeping right will give you more benefits than coffee ever will, and make you live even longer!
If you like your coffee with sugar in it, then the whole helpful aspect of it is gone. Drink it black or maybe with non-sweetened cream (honey is ok though) or don't drink it.
Here's a article I found about soccer and caffeine. Turns out it effects your 'fine-motor-skills' (ball handling skills, writing, typing, etc), so it wouldn't help a soccer player in the long run. Just being fit is better!
http://www.scienceofsocceronline.com/2008/03/is-caffeine-and-effective-ergogenic-aid.html?m=1
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Dip Belt
Well, I just came back from the Allagash canoeing trip, but because I don't feel like writing a long post right now, I'm not going to write about that right now.
Instead, I'm writing about my new dip belt! We just received the box it came it when I was on the canoeing trip. It cost $27, so that's not that bad. That's cheaper than some fancy meals! I read the reviews on Amazon.com, and the only problem people seemed to have was the chain that connected the weights to the belt was a little too short. I'm a short and skinny guy, so that shouldn't be a problem with me! I'll just have to keep thin.
So, what's a dip belt? It's a belt that goes around your waist (duh), and has a chain in front that you can connect weights to. Some people claimed they did pull ups for reps with over 100 pounds on it, so I don't think that I'll be 'out growing' it anytime soon. The great thing about a dip belt is that I can add weight to my pull ups/chin ups/dips without bringing weights (weighed vest) to the gym, or I can use my home weights. The belt also places weight under your center of gravity, so it moves with your bodyweight naturally.
Another plus is I can add weights from 2.5 pounds to 155 pounds to it! Pretty good for any strength range! Though, I think my pull up bar's max weight is 300 pounds, so 160+155=315. That's if I don't gain any weight while lifting! So, I'd eventually max out my pull up bar, which is fine because I'll have built plenty of muscle, and I can work on one arm chin ups!
To say the least, I'm excited to use my dip belt!
Instead, I'm writing about my new dip belt! We just received the box it came it when I was on the canoeing trip. It cost $27, so that's not that bad. That's cheaper than some fancy meals! I read the reviews on Amazon.com, and the only problem people seemed to have was the chain that connected the weights to the belt was a little too short. I'm a short and skinny guy, so that shouldn't be a problem with me! I'll just have to keep thin.
So, what's a dip belt? It's a belt that goes around your waist (duh), and has a chain in front that you can connect weights to. Some people claimed they did pull ups for reps with over 100 pounds on it, so I don't think that I'll be 'out growing' it anytime soon. The great thing about a dip belt is that I can add weight to my pull ups/chin ups/dips without bringing weights (weighed vest) to the gym, or I can use my home weights. The belt also places weight under your center of gravity, so it moves with your bodyweight naturally.
Another plus is I can add weights from 2.5 pounds to 155 pounds to it! Pretty good for any strength range! Though, I think my pull up bar's max weight is 300 pounds, so 160+155=315. That's if I don't gain any weight while lifting! So, I'd eventually max out my pull up bar, which is fine because I'll have built plenty of muscle, and I can work on one arm chin ups!
To say the least, I'm excited to use my dip belt!
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