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Deana Guidi ⁽⁵¹⁵⁾ Blue Level Author

Deana Guidi

Free Movement Fitness Inc.

Holiday Fitness Survival

Posted Monday, November 02, 2009 (6 days 14 hours ago.) Viewed 124 times.

It's two days after Halloween. You probably have plenty of left over candy in your house. Candy apples and popcorn balls are all over the grocery stores, and Thanksgiving is around the corner.

The holiday season can be both joyful and terribly stressful particularly for people trying to eat well and stay fit. There can be a lot of pressure to both eat and not eat. Over the years, I have observed people who sail through the holidays without a blip and people who fall into a pit. Here are some of my observations of people who get from October 31 to January 2 without tipping the scale:

Joe Fit does not accept conventional thought about food and the holidays. He does not believe that he has to eat pie after dinner. He does not believe he has to eat anything to please his wife, mother, or mother-in-law. He enjoys everything he chooses to eat, but he does not eat any particular food simply to follow tradition or please others.

Joes Fit does not widely vary his exercise or eating habits during the holidays. He eats breakfast and lunch even though he knows he will go to a party at night. He might eat a couple extra bites of meat, have half a beer, and eat a few bites of dessert, but he does not eat too much food he would not normally eat.

Joe Fit uses his time off of work to be active. He takes his kids sledding. He goes on a ski trip with his buddies. He participates in the company reindeer run/walk. He spends hours on Christmas Eve assembling bikes and toys. If he ate a bit extra, he definitely works off the extra calories. The holidays are as much a time for re-creation with family and friends as it is a time to enjoy food.

Joes Fit might skip the buffet altogether. He has been there and done that. The buffet is not a big deal. He makes sure he socializes with everyone. He eats at home before or after the party. He wants to feel good tomorrow and does not need a brick of cheese sitting in his stomach at 10 pm.

Joe Fit sees the big picture. He knows how to have fun without compromising his health. He sees more than food when he thinks about the holidays. It is a time to end the old year on a positive note and plan for the new year. He would rather start the new year refreshed from a holiday break than making up lost ground from too much eating, sitting, and spending.

Early November is a good time to think about how you want to handle the holidays. Food and leisure is a big part of that planning. Like any other area of your life, if you plan for success, you will feel great on January 2. Perhaps your plan is to eat small portions of certain desserts and skip others. Perhaps your plan is to skip dessert altogether and find another way to treat yourself. Maybe you want to schedule a few more hours of exercise. You have plenty of options. Most importantly, think about your thoughts about food and the holidays. What do you believe about food? Does it benefit you to keep that belief, or is it better for you to change it.

Set up a simple plan and follow through. Every time you reach your nutrition and fitness goal, not matter how small it may seem, you build your confidence. It will be easier for you to reach your next goal. Recruit a team. You might have to discuss your plan with your family and friends so they support you rather than pull you away from your goals. Hire a trainer, nutritionist or other professional to guide you and make the journey easier. You can both enjoy the holidays and stay fit. The two belong together.

Lastly, keep in mind that the positive lessons you learn on your fitness journey applies to all other areas of your life such as your finances, your career, and your relationships. Think about what is holding you back, create a plan to overcome your issues, and execute your plan. You do not need to be perfect. Forgive your mistakes and keep moving.

References:

Bauer, Kathleen and Sokolik, Carol. "Making Behavior Change Last," Basic Nutrition Counseling Skill Development. Wadsworth Group. 2002. pg. 148-152.

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Maximize Your Cardio Program Part 4: Speed and Efficiency

Posted Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (12 days 14 hours ago.) Viewed 21 times.

The fourth and final article of this series on aerobic conditioning concerns increasing how fast you move. This article is for high achievers. If you are concerned only with decreasing your risk of chronic diseases, apply the suggestions from Part 1 and 2. Add Part 3 and 4 if you are fit for high intensity training and want extra challenge. Fortunately, training to increase speed is "fast" relative to your fitness level but not necessarily "hard" like the training for aerobic capacity discussed in Part 3.

One technique commonly used to increase speed and efficiency is repetition speed work. Repetitions are a type of interval training involving short bursts of activity for the purpose of minimizing unnecessary movement and learning to work more in less time with less effort. The work bouts are relatively short (about 2 minutes) with "full" periods of active recovery (about 5 to 6 minutes) between repetitions. During the speed bouts, you concentrate on body alignment and moving faster while staying relaxed. Long active recovery periods minimize fatigue and allow you to perform each speed interval with maximum effectiveness. Speed work typically involves more anaerobic energy systems (> 100% VO 2 max) than aerobic. Since anaerobic energy is available for only minutes at a time before muscles begin to fatigue, limit the speed work load to no more than 1 session per week and no more than 5% of the total volume for the week.

Plyometric drills, or stretch-shorting cycle training, are another training method used to increase speed and efficiency. Children's games such as jump roping, hop scotch, and leap frog are great examples of plyometric training. Drills and games that involve jumping and leaping high or far against little or no resistance teach the body to explode quickly and move efficiently through space. Although we usually associate these drills with team sports such as football and soccer, endurance athletes, dancers and anyone who wants to learn to move quickly and lightly on their feet benefit from plyometric exercises. For example, one study showed that recreational 10K runners increased their power output in their legs through single leg jump work. These runners out-paced their non-plyometric trained competitors. The concept is simple: teach your body to do something difficult, like hop high and far on one leg forward and backward, so that running or cycling will feel less difficult.

Third, strength training may help improve speed and efficiency. Strong muscles, tendons and joints help carry your body faster over greater distances. Furthermore, strength training teaches the body to move against resistance without high joint impact movements like plyometric drills. Many endurance athletes perform no lower body strength training or limit resistance to about 15RM (1RM = your 1 repetition maximum). Some believe that since strength training works anaerobic systems more than aerobic systems, there is no benefit for endurance athletes. However, recent studies show that strength training improves speed and efficiency in endurance athletes. My personal experience taught me that this is true. I ran faster with less effort when I performed high intensity lower body strength training once a week.

"High intensity" does not mean over-training. It refers to intensity of about 8 to 12RM per set. This intensity recruits enough fast and slow twitch muscle fibers to increase muscle, tendon, and ligament tensile strength. Women tend to work at intensities too low to produce results while men tend to work at intensities too high for their level and compromise form during exercises. First, build a base level of local muscular endurance by working in the 15RM or higher range, but then increase intensity to 8 to12RM per set for about 3 to 4 week and see how you feel. If you are happy with your results, continue to follow a periodized program varying volume and intensity over several weeks. If you feel like you are overtraining, cut back your volume and intensity until you feel prepared for greater strength work.

In summary:

1. For repetition work, work at a "fast" pace greater than 100% of your VO 2 max for short periods (up to 2 minutes) and follow with full active recovery periods of about 5 to 6 minutes. Concentrate on form, moving efficiently, and staying relaxed at a faster pace.

2. Limit repetition work to 1 session a week for about 5% of the total cardiovascular training volume for the week.

3. If outdoors, perform repetitions on flat, dry terrain on a clear day. Repetition training is great on treadmills and in spin classes since many machines allow you to program your workout and keep your speed and time consistent.

4. Other training options to increase speed include plyometric training and strength training. Plyometric training involves fun drills you probably enjoyed as a child like single leg hopping and frog leaps. Only about 15 minutes of plyometric training a week can improve speed and economy, add variety to training, and keep training fun. Strength training is a great option for people who want to increase muscular strength and power but limit high joint impact movements. First build a base of local muscular endurance and then progress to higher intensity maximum strength work.

Reference:

Daniels, Jack. "Incorporating Sport-Specific Skills into Conditioning: Distance Running," within High-Performance Sports Conditioning, Bill Foran ed., Human Kinetics, Inc. 2001.

Fleck, Steven J. and Kraemer, William J. Designing Resistance Training Programs. 3d ed. Human Kinetics, 2004, pg. 230-237.

Johnston, Ron, M.S. "Pump Iron: Run Easier." Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, 1995, printed in AFPA resource library.

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Maximize Your Cardio Program Part 3: Aerobic Capacity

Posted Tuesday, October 20, 2009 (19 days 13 hours ago.) Viewed 230 times.

You probably have a love-hate relationship with the next level of cardiovascular training: aerobic capacity or VO 2 max training. It is heart-pumping hard exercise. It could leave you feeling euphoric, but it is not for the faint of heart. Fortunately, you will reap many rewards for spending a relatively small amount of time on VO 2 max training. By devoting only about 8% of your training time to VO 2 max training, you will significantly upgrade the work capacity of your cardiovascular system. Your heart will begin to pump more blood with each beat (increased stroke volume), your resting heart rate will decrease, and your metabolism will increase. Although any type of cardiovascular exercise strengthens the heart to some extent, VO 2 max training, in particular, improves the efficiency of the cardiovascular system. It enables the body to absorb more of the oxygen coming in and convert it to high levels of energy. The net result is decreased risk for cardiovascular disease.

During VO 2 max training, you move one step up the intensity scale. To stimulate cellular adaptation, you work at 70% of your VO 2 max. To increase your lactate threshold, you work at 80 to 85% of your VO 2 max. To increase your VO 2 max itself, you work for short periods at 90-100% VO 2 max intensity. Hence, your VO 2 max is not necessarily a fixed number. It may increase or decrease depending on how your train.

Also, understand that VO 2 max refers to a two step process concerning oxygen intake. The first part is the maximum amount of oxygen your body could consume at one time. The second part is how much of that consumed oxygen gets delivered to working cells and used to produce energy. In other words, simply consuming large volumes of oxygen alone does not result in increased energy production. You must train your body to efficiently process the oxygen at the cellular level. Hence, cellular adaptation and lactate threshold training are important in conjunction with VO 2 max training to prepare the body for increased oxygen intake and absorption.

Subjectively, VO 2 max training should feel "hard." Get a medical clearance before starting this high intensity training. If you train with a heart rate monitor, work at the slowest pace that brings you up to 90% of your maximum heart rate. A faster pace will elicit your maximum heart rate, but it might put too much stress on your body and require a longer recovery period. Your goal is to work aerobically as hard as possible and minimize anaerobic energy production. A popular method for training at VO 2 max intensity is interval training. Interval training divides your high intensity work into short periods of hard work mixed with recovery periods of easier work. This keeps the high intensity work from becoming too stressful on your body. In addition, to avoid overtraining, limit your VO 2 max training to no more than 8% of your total volume for the week, and schedule 1 to 2 interval sessions for 3 to 4 weeks then replace with low intensity training for 1 to 2 weeks before resuming.

Note that the interval training to increase lactate threshold discussed in Part 2 is different from interval training to increase aerobic capacity. Intervals appropriate for lactate threshold training are mini tempo runs, or "cruise" intervals. They are longer in duration with shorter rest periods than aerobic threshold intervals. Lactate threshold training is a lower intensity method stressing aerobic endurance over aerobic capacity. For example, lactate threshold training might involve 4 sets of 1 mile runs with 1 minute walk breaks between run intervals. Aerobic capacity intervals for the same 4 mile run might involve 8, half mile runs at a faster pace with 2 minute walk breaks in between intervals.

Find a work to rest ratio that best meets your goals such as 1:2, 1:3 or 1:4. For example, accelerate for 1 minute then perform active rest exercise for 2, 3 or 4 minutes depending on your goal. Include at least a 5 to 10 minute warm up and cool down at the beginning and end of the interval portion. Consider the total length of the session. Beginners should start with longer work to rest periods. For example, warm up for 5 minutes, perform 5 intervals at a 1:3 ratio for a total of 20 minutes, and then cool down for 5 minutes. The total length of the session is 30 minutes. More advanced athletes might work hard for 3 to 5 minutes and actively rest for about the same amount of time. Work hard but not too hard. Work at a pace you could sustain for about 10 to 15 minutes. Decrease the rest period before increasing speed. Here, the goal is to increase maximum aerobic capacity and avoid too much anaerobic energy production that comes from high speed.

Listen to your body. Aerobic capacity (VO 2 max training) is demanding. Your body will tell you if you did too much. If you feel sore beyond one day after exercise, you probably worked too hard and need to cut back intensity for a session or two. If you do not feel sore, but you are tired and cranky, that is also a sign you are doing too much too soon. Overtraining will not help you reach your goal faster and may lead to illness or injury.

In summary:

1. Work at a "hard" pace which equals to about 90% of your VO 2 max. You should be able to say a few words, but you will be breathing hard. This is a step up from the "comfortably hard" pace required to increase lactate threshold. However, do not work so hard that you feel intense burning in your muscles. The burning feeling is a sign of anaerobic energy production; the goal of this training is to increase aerobic capacity.

2. Keep the duration of threshold training to about 8% of the total cardiovascular training volume for the week; runners, limit interval volume to 8% of total volume or 10,000 meters whichever is less.

3. Find a work to rest ratio that fits your fitness level and goals such as 1:2, 1:3 or 1:4.

4. If outdoors, perform intervals on flat, dry terrain on a clear day. Interval VO 2 max training is great on treadmills and in spin classes since many machines allow you to program your workout and keep your speed and time consistent.

5. Eat healthy, high energy carbohydrates such as apples, bananas, and whole grain toast at least an hour before these workouts. Aerobic capacity training is demanding and requires a lot of high quality energy.

6. Limit periods of interval training to about 3 to 4 weeks then take a break by doing lower intensity, lower volume training for 1 to 2 weeks. Periodizing your workout program helps prevent overtraining.

Reference:

Daniels, Jack. "Incorporating Sport-Specific Skills into Conditioning: Distance Running," within High-Performance Sports Conditioning, Bill Foran ed., Human Kinetics, Inc. 2001.

Tackett , Chad . "Cardiovascular Exercise Principles and Guidelines.," http://www.global-fitness.com. Article published in AFPA resource library.

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