The best changes don't happen overnight

Personal Trainer myths

True or False:

• Personal Trainers don't have to work out much because they are "naturally fit".
• Workouts are easier for Personal Trainers because they are strong.
• Personal Trainers don't need to pay attention to a healthy diet because they burn it all off.
• Personal Trainers never have a day where they would rather stay in bed than workout.

FALSE, FALSE, FALSE, and FALSE!

Your Personal Trainers are human too, and while we may be further down the fitness path than some of you, we had to start the same way as each of you; one small step at a time.  And we have had our share of obstacles to overcome through the years, and we continue to face some of the same challenges that each of you face such as stress, relationship struggles, raising children, aging, losing loved ones, etc.  Even though it may seem to some that as Fitness Trainers we have "arrived" at our fitness destination, the reality is that attaining a healthy body and lifestyle is a work in progress.

Both of your Trainers have traversed a relatively long journey on their respective roads to fitness.  After an active youth, followed by a relatively sedentary decade in my 20s, my road to fitness started almost 25 years ago with a one mile run.  One mile led to a 5k, 5k to a 10k , 10k to a half marathon, half marathon to a full marathon...  to a career as a Firefighter and then a Personal Trainer.  My journey seems sorta boring and it started sooooo many years ago that I have a hard time recalling details.

Katie's journey, on the other hand, is more recent in my 50+ year old brain and I seem to have a knack for remembering funny details.  Some of you have known Katie for as long, or longer, than I have and know that prior to her current job of ordering you to squat lower and do one more push up when you don't possibly think you can, she held the stressful job of spa director at a local resort.  In addition to that, she had a young child and all the responsibilities that go along with being a wife and mother.

I tried my best to get her to take up running but she insisted that her body DID NOT RUN.  The "running shoes" that I saw her wearing were "yard shoes".  Repeated attempts at trying to get her to move failed until 2007 when she decided to walk the Sedona 5k to support the members in the training club where she worked.  Then she swallowed her pride, and her yard shoes too, and in November of 2007 asked if I would train her to run the 2008 Sedona 5k.  I suppressed my sarcastic side and resisted the urge to say anything but "sure".  And so it began...

As some of you have heard, Katie used to whine about anything and everything imaginable.  It is too cold to run, it is too hot to run, it is windy today, my toe hurts, my teeth hurt, my nose is running, I am never going to be able to run up this hill, my stomach doesn't feel good, I'm tired, I am never going to be able to run up this hill, it is still dark, I am never going to be able to run up this hill.  So you can see the hill was a really big problem.  But eventually the whining became less frequent and, yes, she finally made it up the hill.  She also ran not just the 2008 Sedona 5k but she went on to run the 2009 Sedona Half Marathon as well as several other half marathons.

The picture below was taken on a trip to Idaho in the summer of 2010.  At this point Katie had been running steadily and strength training off and on for almost 3 years.  The Idaho trip included running the Mesa Falls Half Marathon and lots of hiking and biking.  And while she was still known to whine a fair amount she had reached a relatively high level of fitness.

But the journey was just beginning.  Over the next three years, Katie progressively added more intensity to her runs and cardio training, and became more consistent with her strength training.  Throughout this I endured her dirty looks and tantrums.  She has been known to walk out of the gym on me when I give her an exercise that challenges her.  But the sick flip side of that is that when she masters the exercise it finds a place on her favorites list.  She also once threw the dumbbells on the garage floor when I introduced a 40 second interval and told me I was going to kill everyone.  Interpretation: she really meant she thought I was going to kill HER.

So I have pushed forward trying to kill her with my Personal Trainer kindness, and she has taken on both me and the challenges I throw at her.  She has lost 25 to 30 pounds (depending on that lovely weight bounce we all have).  She has completed many half marathons and two full marathons, coming within just a few minutes of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  She has gained strength and muscle definition and can now bench press me, while I am holding a couple dumbbells!  So I now flinch sometimes when she gives me that look.  One of her latest goals has been to tackle pull ups and she is now doing double digit pull ups.

During her journey to fitness she has been through two major surgeries, and as mentioned earlier, deals with all the same day to day life challenges that we all face.  So how did she do it?  One small step at a time, sometimes a couple steps backward, but she picked herself up, re-evaluated and set new goals, and kept pushing forward.  It is the only healthy direction to go.

As you can see in the next picture, she has continued her transformation into 2014 and has no plans to stop.  She would only let me brag on her and post this blog if I agreed to one thing, though.  I had to reveal that the best changes she has experienced aren't those that are visible on the outside.  Much of her drive to keep going comes from knowing that heart disease runs in her family.  She knows she has a stronger heart, lungs, and body and that by pursuing a healthy lifestyle she is doing the best she can do to reduce her risk of many different diseases.  She is a better wife and mother because she takes care of herself and can give more to her family.  She has more self confidence and an inner strength that comes from knowing she can tackle physical challenges that she once thought impossible.

Remember, her fitness quest began in November 2007 which means she is approaching seven years.  It is an interesting correlation to me that my running research tells me that no matter what age you begin running, you can usually continue to see improvement for at least 7 years, and that it also takes at least that long to mature as a runner or athlete.  And the really exciting part is that both world class athletes, and everyday Joes and Katies, continue to blow holes in the notion that our best days are behind us once we reach 40.

I am now well beyond that 7 year improvement phase, and quite a few years ago reached my "fitness peak", but that certainly does not mean that the journey is over.  In fact, there are perhaps more reasons than ever now to continue.  Research continues to support the benefits of fitness at all ages and fit people simply lead longer, healthier lives.

So use the mirror if you wish to motivate you toward your goals, but find the intrinsic reasons that will keep you moving down that fitness path and enjoy the ride because it is a rewarding, lifelong journey and there is no finish line.

Part 2 Building Muscle

Hey there, do you consider yourself to be an average Jane or average Joe? Have you achieved a good level of functional fitness? Are you looking lean and feeling strong, but you would like to see more definition? This article is for you. Side note: If you are a Metabolic Warrior you not AVERAGE, but this article is still for you.

Most men in our Metabolic training started out with 10 or 12 lb dumbbells and are now at 25 or 30 lbs. It may not seem like much to a power lifter, but when you throw functional movements like squats and lunges in with bicep curls, triceps extensions, rows and endless push ups, it is a hefty weight. Many women started out with 5 lb dumbbells and have moved up to 15, 20, or 25 lb dumbbells! The cool thing is that these Metabolic Warriors who have been doing the training religiously, twice a week, for the past 2 to 3 years have seen incredible fat loss, lower cholesterol levels, and improved blood sugar levels. They have significantly increased their cardio capacity, agility, speed, and yes, strength.  And they have leaner, more athletic bodies to show for it!  If you want to compliment the twice a week program you are doing with additional strength training, then get your body into a local gym for some extra work! Here are some fundamentals to keep in mind for your next gym workout.

Muscles Under Tension…Badda Bing Badda Boom you are building a muscle!

Genetics play a role. We can beneficially strengthen our bodies but we don't all build muscle the same way.

How to achieve muscle strength and definition following five basic principles:

1. Increase weight or resistance progressively over time. Consistently make the muscle work for maximum results. Muscles adapt quickly so don't be a nervous Nelly about going progressively heavier. Just use caution by giving your body time to adapt to each new increase.  Strength training also puts stress on tendons and ligaments and they adapt more slowly than muscles, so give them a chance to catch up and decrease your risk of injury by progressing in small increments. 
2. Include a variety of exercises for each muscle group. Example: biceps; standing bicep curls, seated bicep curls, seated incline bicep curls, concentration curl.  This approach challenges the muscles in many different ways so the muscle is more effectively worked in different ranges of motion.
3. Include a variety of techniques in your exercises. Example: standing bicep curls; use negative emphasis by curling up fast and releasing slowly. Try slo-motion reps in a full range of motion.  Do some repetitions only in the eccentric or concentric phase of the curl.  The possibilities are endless! 
4. Decrease weight. What?!?  Yes, decrease weight and challenge your muscles to meet an endurance demand. Kick the 12 reps to the curb, step down to a moderately challenging weight, and go for 20 to 25 reps. Again, a muscle that can only work in a short range, or for a short period of time, won't serve you so well when you need to recruit it for a full range of motion activity or an endurance activity.
5. No weight! That means recovery. Be smart and plan out the muscle groups you want to work on which day(s) and then build in recovery.  Muscles break down during strength training and it is actually during the rest or recovery phase that they rebuild and become stronger. Part of the recovery is based on the fuel you are putting in your body for 24-48 hours following a good workout. Quality fuel translates to a quality body. 

This is an overview of muscle building fundamentals. There are many layers on this subject and this is where a good personal trainer is worth their weight in gold.  They listen to you and take their education and knowledge and put it to work for you, based on YOU, not based on generalities. If you are a Metabolic Warriors you have got it going on because you have TWO Personal Trainers! We are invested in you and your fitness. We want to see you succeed! So what is your next step? Running? Strength training? Supplemental program to compliment Metabolic? Training for another type of event or activity? We want to hear from you and we never tire of helping you achieve your goals!;)

-Your Personal Trainers

One martini, two martini, three martini... floor?

It is a little bit curious and amusing to us that our blog postings about alcohol seem to generate the most "buzz".  One of our recent postings prompted a question about what happens to alcohol once it is consumed.  We found some amazing information on the subject that includes diagrams of alcohol molecules, hydrogen atoms, and stuff that perhaps we would recognize if we had taken chemistry.  But alas, we did not. So we would prefer to use just a little science, and try to explain the rest in Warrior terms, as we describe how alcohol is metabolized in the human body.

When you drink alcohol approximately 2 to 8 percent is lost through urine, sweat, and breath.  The remaining 92 to 98 percent is metabolized by your body.  When ethyl alcohol is broken down in our bodies it is first converted to acetaldehyde.  Acetaldehyde is converted to acetate by other enzymes and is eventually metabolized to carbon dioxide and water.  Since we promised to minimize the science we will skip the bit about enzymes and stripping of hydrogen atoms and simply point out that acetaldehyde is a poison which is a close relative of formaldehyde.

Okay, we need to talk about enzymes for just a second.  There are three enzymes that can convert alcohol to acetaldehyde; alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), cytochrome P450 (CYP2E1), and catalase.

Alcohol dehydrogenase is an enzyme that removes hydrogen atoms from the alcohol molecule.  ADH is the worker bee of the alcohol enzymes as it breaks down the majority of the alcohol that enters our bodies.  ADH is actually the name for a family of enzymes that break down alcohol.  Researchers have identified as many as ten varieties of ADH, each of which has a slightly different molecular structure.  These differences can explain why individuals can react differently to alcohol.  More on this later.

Hopefully our bodies are not relying on the next enzyme, cytochrome P450, to metabolize our alcohol.  Why?  In light social drinkers nearly all the alcohol we consume is taken care of by ADH.  However, cytochrome P450 becomes quite active in metabolizing alcohol in chronic heavy drinkers and this enzyme does its work in the liver. 

The third enzyme, catalase, metabolizes alcohol in the brain, and as such, is of particular interest to researchers.  The acetaldehyde that is released into the brain by the metabolism of alcohol by catalase has the potential to combine with neurotransmitters to form new compounds called THIQs (tetrahydroisoquinolines).  Some researchers believe that THIQs are responsible for alcohol addiction and that the presence of THIQs distinguishes addicted drinkers from social drinkers.  Other researchers dispute this hypothesis.  

The end result of alcohol metabolism produces excess amounts of NADH (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide plus Hydrogen) in our bodies.  It is this excess of NADH that can lead to acidosis from lactic acid build-up and hypoglycemia from lack of glucose synthesis.  Getting back to plain English, it can also lead to weight gain, fatty liver, and heart attack.  

As mentioned above, alcohol can affect individuals in different ways.  For instance, if a woman and a man of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol under the exact same circumstances, the woman will on average have a much high blood alcohol content (BAC) than the man.  This is because women have much less of the enzyme ADH in their stomachs than men do.  If, however, the same man and woman are given an injection of alcohol instead of drinking it they will tend to have the same BAC.  This is because when the alcohol is injected it bypasses the ADH in the stomach.

Ethnicity can also have an impact on alcohol metabolism.  Most individuals use a form of ADH called ALD2 to metabolize the acetaldehyde.  However, East Asians and American Indians produce a form of ADH called ALD2*2 which is only about 8% as efficient as ALD2 at metabolizing acetaldehyde.  As a result they end up with large amounts of the poisonous compound acetaldehyde in their bodies when they drink alcohol.  This causes their faces to flush and leads to headaches, nausea, vomiting, heart palpatations and other extreme physical symptoms.  In fact, the drug antabuse acts in the same way to make people sick if they drink alcohol.  Antabuse binds with the enzyme ADH and prevents it from breaking down the acetaldehyde produced by the metabolism of alcohol.  Acetaldehyde levels then build and cause the aforementioned symptoms.

It is true that you can build up a tolerance to alcohol.  Frequent heavy drinkers produce more ADH than other people and then become less intoxicated on larger quantities of alcohol.  Heavy drinkers can metabolize up to 38 ml (over 2 standard drinks) of alcohol per hour while the average person metabolizes around 13 ml, or about 0.7 standard drinks per hour.  On the flip side, a phenomenon known as reverse tolerance can occur in people with liver damage.  They produce less ADH and can become more intoxicated on smaller doses of alcohol.

And it appears that it is not our imagination that as we get older we don't seem to tolerate the effects of alcohol as well.  It seems that hormone changes that women experience at menopause can cause them to become intoxicated on smaller amounts of alcohol.  And men, you are not immune either.  As men age, they tend to produce less ADH and are more likely to become intoxicated on smaller amounts of alcohol than younger men.

Wow!  Even with eliminating a lot of the "science talk" that is a lot of information.  So here's a distraction for the next bit of information.  Blues man Charlie Patton used to say, "If you eat a lot of fat meat you don't get so drunk".  Well, it seems there is some science behind that too.  The small intestine is many times more efficient than the stomach at absorbing alcohol so if you want the alcohol to be absorbed into the bloodstream slowly, you want to keep the alcohol in the stomach as long as possible.  There is a valve between the stomach and small intestines called the pyloric valve.  When this valve is closed the alcohol will stay in the stomach, and this valve stays closed when the stomach is full of food.  And what about that fat meat?  Fatty and heavy foods tend to stay in the stomach longer than sugars and vegetables.

So now that we have figured out HOW our bodies metabolize what we drink, does WHAT we drink matter?  Some people say that alcohol is alcohol and it doesn't matter.  But once again science, along with some predictable behavioral patterns, show us that what we drink does matter.  For instance, many people will get more intoxicated when drinking straight vodka as opposed to beer.  This is because they will consume a higher concentration of alcohol in a shorter period of time.  Flavor also tends to influence the rate of drinking.  People tend to drink strongly flavored drinks more slowly so someone consuming whiskey will typically consume his or her drink slower than someone consuming a vodka beverage.

Another factor to consider is carbonation.  Carbonation speeds the absorption of alcohol so people drinking alcoholic beverages with carbonation will become intoxicated more quickly than people drinking the same amount of alcohol per hour in non-carbonated drinks.  And just as when we compare regular soda with diet soda in a person's daily diet, diet soda comes out the loser in the alcoholic beverage arena as well.  People drinking mixed drinks made with diet soda will become intoxicated more quickly and achieve higher BACs than people drinking identical drinks made with regular soda.  Researchers in Adelaide, Australia found that the stomach emptied into the small intestine in 21.1 minutes for people who drank mixed drinks with diet soda compared to 36.3 minutes for people who drank drinks mixed with regular soda.  You're just not going to win that diet soda war with us any which way you mix it!

Part 1 Building Muscles-History Highlights

This is a two part article. Part 1 provides historical information about body building. Part 2 will focus on building muscle naturally, not to be confused with competitive body building.

Ancient Greeks get the credit for the assertive pursuit of athletic endeavors. The Greeks did not start out solely focusing on body building as we know it. The focus was to improve and train for specific sports rather than focus on changing their physique. One historical figure is Milo the Croton, an Olympic Wrestler. He was reported to walk around with a calf on his back everyday until it became a bull. A great demonstration of strength training with progressive resistance. I wonder how that was for the bull:0
India is credited with the earliest form of body building with rocks being dumbbells. By the 16th century it was the national past time.

Mid 19th century, body building stepped out in the form of 'Strong Man' side shows where amazing acts of strength were performed. Next up, Eugene Sandow, a 'Strong Man'  credited with coining the term 'body building' for the first time. He started the first body building magazine and created and sold body building equipment...with great success. He is considered to be the pioneer of modern body building. He is reported to have died of a brain aneurism after trying to lift his car out of ditch. Hmmm...

 Early 1900's the first serious body building competitions make an appearance.

 Steve Reeves, actor and bodybuilder, pictured below as Hercules in 1958. His fame as an actor and his obvious body building physique inspired a new generation of body builders. Hence, for the first time body building takes off in an explosive way. Steve began his body building career while in high school. Winner of 1947 Mr. America, 1950 winner of Mr. Universe and a huge proponent in later life of drug free body building.

In 1977  Lou Ferrigno becomes synonymous with The Incredible Hulk. Lou began lifting weights at age 12 and never stopped. Lou was 6.' 5" tall and weighed in between 285 and 315lbs during competition years.  He earned major titles in Mr. America & Mr. Universe. He placed 2nd in Mr. Olympia in 1974. He also competed in the first ever 'Worlds Strongest Man' competition and placed in the top 4 competitors. Lou is very much alive at this time but less green.

Jack Lalanne is pictured here at the age of 71. He made a career out of fitness and health. In a competition against Schwarzenegger for pushups and chin-ups...Lalanne kicked butt, despite being 30+ years older! Lalanne worked out every day for two hours, even supposedly the day before he died.  At age 60 he swam from Alcatraz to the shore, dragging a 1000lb boat while handcuffed! How about all those photos of him doing a plank on his fingertips and toes! Lalane was not the biggest guy cited in this article. HE WAS THE FITTEST! 

Kudos to all of these physically fitness motivated individuals who were obviously notable in their field. It is interesting to note that HIIT (high intensity interval training) was promoted heavily first in body building, greatly reducing the amount of time a person had to workout to see amazing results. It is now a very mainstream way to train and if you are a Metabolic Warrior you are very familiar with this training. The person we want to zero in on for this article is Jack Lalanne. Functional fitness served this man very well. He advertised and lived a healthy life and lived to be 96...that is a poster child for all of us. Stayed tuned...next article we will take a closer look at how you can naturally build muscle for function.