To drink or not to drink.....

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! Many of us will be grilling out and having a couple of beers this weekend. I found a great article that was written by one of the Beachbody staff members on drinking and working out. Beachbody is the company that makes p90x and insanity. I thought it was a good article to share.

Booze Bust: Can Exercise and Alcohol Go Hand in Hand?

By Collette DeBenedetto

Summer (aka drinking) season is upon us—sun, fun, barbecues, and brewskis with your broskis. Ah, the good life. But with shirts off, where are you going to hide the burgers and beer? You wouldn't think of telling your buddies that you're passing up the booze to watch your weight because, let's be honest, you were Spring Break King of '93 and you have a reputation to uphold. How do you keep the six-pack, while still having fun? It's all about balance. You don't have to say no to all of the goodies, but you do need to make conscious choices to keep your days healthy. I would not recommend going cold turkey. This is not a "diet" or practice in social suicide; rather, this is a lifestyle change.

Evil spirits abound . . .

Just because you're logging hours on the treadmill and embarrassing Arnold in the weight room doesn't mean you can put the cast of Jersey Shore to shame in the bar and not have consequences. One does not cancel the other. There are some major side effects, including packed-on fat, slower recovery, and disrupted sleep, to name a few. It's common knowledge that alcohol is a powerful diuretic and can cause major electrolyte imbalances, which puts you at a much higher risk for musculoskeletal injuries and brain impairment. Other effects include altered reaction time, decreased testosterone levels, and sleep disturbance. Furthermore, alcohol is stored as fat in your body and destroys amino acids. When you've had one too many drinks, your body's glycolysis process becomes impaired. This means your body begins to produce lactic acid, causing a decline in energy, as well as decreased muscle recovery, and increased soreness.
In 2010, the University of Houston created a 3-week experiment on alcohol and exercise using rats. The scientists took a group of alcohol-loving rats and made half of them use running wheels while the other half stayed sedentary. Once the scientists took away the wheels, the active rats drank more alcohol than the sedentary rats. J. Leigh Leasure, PhD, told Fitbie that "it's possible that exercise could cause cross-tolerance to alcohol meaning, it may make alcohol less rewarding, so people would therefore drink more of it in order to get its feel-good effects." So the more curls you tackle in Back & Biceps may just have you wanting more 12-ounce curls on the weekend.
And whatever you do, don't pop a cold one post-exercise. When you work out, your blood sugar naturally drops. After you're finished, your body focuses on replacing your glycogen stores. If you consume alcohol post-workout, your glycogen stores will not be replaced since your body will be busy metabolizing alcohol, causing your blood sugar levels to stay at an unhealthy level. It's important to first replenish with a proper recovery drink post-workout, like P90X^® Results and Recovery Formula^® or alternative post-workout snack.

. . . And yet, we raise our glasses.

Regardless of these issues, most people reading this will still hoist a tankard this coming weekend. You can drink alcohol, have a social life, and still be healthy. Yes, I dared to say it. I promise. You do have to make choices and moderate those choices because after all, alcohol is made up of calories. And the calories usually don't stop at the alcohol. Think of the sugary mixers and the post-bar grub. How many times has eating cheese fries with gravy from a diner in North Jersey at 3 AM seemed like a "great idea"? The keys are in choices and in moderation.
Once you're at the barbecue or bar of choice, which drink do you choose? Let's take a look at your best bets from a caloric standpoint:

1. Hard alcohol. Most distilled spirits have under 100 calories and limited carbohydrates in their 1.5 ounce serving size. If you can stick to hard alcohol with a 0-calorie mixer, your waistline will thank you. We recommend water or club soda. You can also use diet sodas or juices, but then you're getting into artificial sweetener territory. Proceed at your own peril.
2. Wine (red/white/sparkling). A 5-ounce serving of wine will pack in about 100 calories. But be wary here. Many restaurants will pour larger servings.
3. Light Beer. Light beers have limited calories and carbohydrates, which makes them a great choice for the calorie conscious. Look for brands that have under 100 calories in a 12-ounce serving.

When looking at what to stay away from, try to nix mixed drinks and full-calorie beers—although if you're not counting calories, full-calorie, craft-brewed beers are your best bet from a holistic perspective, in that they're made from naturally healthy ingredients and free of additives, fillers, and other chemicals. Mixed drinks are packed with syrups, sugars, and sodas that can easily add in hundreds of calories to your cocktail. And no, it's not healthy even if the mixer is made from fruit. That fruit is high in sugar! They may look and taste sweet, but mixed drinks can wreak havoc on your body. Fruit by itself is great for you, but I don't think the bartender at Joe Shmo's pub down the street is grating coconut and chopping up pineapple . . . he's probably mixing canned fruit juice. The reason why fruit by itself is good for you is because it packs FIBER with it, which helps slow the digestion and absorption of the fructose, or sugar. Fruit juices have all the sugar, but none of the fiber, leaving your insulin response to skyrocket and fall. Furthermore, sugar masks the taste of alcohol and you may not realize how much alcohol you're consuming.
When imbibing, try to alternate between alcoholic beverage and water. This will aid the absorption process; keep you hydrated; and help you slow down, keeping your alcohol intake to a moderate level. Plus, when your buddies are on drink number four, you'll only be on drink number two. At that point, they may be too drunk to notice or care that you're not drinking alcohol! If you want to look like you're still drinking, one of my favorite tricks is to just get a club soda or diet soda and garnish with lemon or lime. It gives the appearance that you're drinking so you won't have to explain yourself to anyone.
If you overdo it, that's okay. Overdoing it is not an excuse to jump into a downward spiral. It's an opportunity to recognize that you didn't like the outcome of something and you can change it moving forward. Perhaps, waking up in Tijuana after a night of too much tequila doesn't feel or look so good. Your body will remind you of that in the days following. Moving forward, recognize you may need to balance and make different choices in the future.
So how much is too much? The National Health Service of the UK recommends that men should limit their intake to 3 to 4 units a day (that's about 2 to 3 standard drinks here in the States) while women should limit their drinks to no more than 2 to 3 units a day (1 or 2 drinks). You can still lift weights and drink beer too, just don't think you'll be able to drink scotch like Ron Burgundy at night and train like Rocky the next day at the gym.



Have a great holiday weekend!!!

6 Pack Abs

Lots of people think that they can get rock hard 6 pack abs by doing 100's of crunches and sit ups. You can do all the sit ups you want, but unless you lose the fat that's covering them, they won't show through. Think about it like this. A peach has a hard core in the middle of it. You have to 'peel' off the layers on top of it before you get to the hard part. Your abs are the same way. Everyone has a 6 pack, you have to get rid of the layer on top of it first. With a combination of cardio, eating right and core training, you can get that 6 pack you've always wanted.

I've found that the best exercise to strengthen my abs is the bicycle crunch. You should perform this move 3 days a week on alternating days. Check it out here to see how it's done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixQGJ3Ja-2I

Today

What are you going to do today to start living healthier? Are you going for a walk? Are you skipping that fast food lunch? Are you putting down the PS3 controller and getting outside for some exercise? Small changes make big results!!!  You have to start sometime. Do it today!! So I ask you again, What Are You Doing Today?

Review of P90X

Today I thought I would give a review of P90X. If you haven't heard of P90X as of yet, it's a workout program designed to get you in shape  in 90 days. The way it works is with a method called muscle confusion. You work out 6 days a week, but you're never doing the same set of exercises or directly working the same muscles, in any of those days. I'll start by giving a breakdown of each of the workouts and my thoughts on each.

CHEST AND BACK - This is the first workout in the P90X series. You perform 6 different exercises for the Chest and 6 different exercises for the Back. But, you do them twice for a total of 12 sets per body part. The Chest exercises are all different variations of pushups (standard, wide, decline, etc). For the back exercises, you need to have a pullup bar since 3 of the 6 exercises are pullup related. So for this workout, and most of the other P90x workouts, you will perform 2 sets of Chest exercises, 2 sets of Back exercises and then take about a minute break before going on to the next set of exercises. The rest in between exercises is minimal. I never really did pullups before starting P90X so I didn't know what to expect. They are tough. It took me a long time to be able to do them without using a chair for balance and to help get myself up. That's the beauty of P90X though. You do what you can. As Tony Horton constantly says in these videos, "Do your best and forget the rest"!!

PLYOMETRICS - Plyometrics stands for jump training. This is a grueling pure cardio workout that a lot of people tell me they could not complete for awhile. There are 20 total exercises in the main workout and 3 in the "Bonus" part if you still have energy to do them. The exercises are broken down into groups of 4. You perform three 30 second exercises and then do one 1 minute exercise before getting about a minute break. You then repeat the same set of exercises you just did, get the same break before before moving on to the next set of exercises. Like I said, this is a grueling cardio workout that will really make your legs burn. But, just like everything else, you take your time, do what you can and eventually you will be able to finish the complete program.

SHOULDERS AND ARMS - This is my favorite workout! There are 4 exercises for the shoulders, 4 for your biceps and 4 for the triceps. Plus, there is a bonus round that has 3 more exercises per muscle group if you would like to do them. In classic P90X style, you do a set for shoulders, a set for biceps and a set for triceps and get a minute break. Then you go back and repeat those exercises again before moving on to the next group. I really like this workout. It really pumps my arms up!

YOGA - I have to admit something right away. I don't like most of this program. I'm not very flexible, so I struggled with this DVD. This is the longest workout there is, 90 minutes. I believe the reason it is in this program is because of people like me who are not flexible. P90X is all about getting you in the best shape possible and flexibility is part of that. I just didn't care for it. I did the first half of the yoga and skipped the second half most of the time. The first half was some basic yoga moves, like warrior stance, downward dog, etc. The second half went more into advanced yoga moves and balance. I did notice my flexibility increase even though I wasn't doing the whole thing.

LEGS and BACK - There are 23 exercises in this workout. 15 for legs and 8 for back. The back workouts are 4 different types of pullups. The 15 leg exercises are all different. There are a lot of lunging moves and body squats that really make my legs burn.

KENPO - Kenpo is another cardio workout, but not as tough as Plyometrics. It is meant to get your heart rate up with moves similar to kickboxing....punches and kicks. Even though this workout isn't very intense, my joints were sore after it due to the amount of punches and kicks that you throw. Please be careful when doing this workout so you do not over extend your knee and elbow joints.

CORE SYNERGISTICS - This workout is part of the recovery week, but it is still pretty intense. The goal here is to work your core muscles (from just below your chest to your hips and everything in between). The core muscle group is a neglected part of most peoples training, but it shouldn't be. The core is what stabilizes your body and without a strong core, you can't breath as deeply, lift as heavy or move quickly. This workout has it all as far as a great core workout goes.

CHEST, SHOULDERS AND TRICEPS - Now the fun begins! This is the first workout where you are never repeating the same exercise. There are 24 exercises total, 8 for each muscle group and they are all very challenging. For chest, you are doing more pushups, but this time, it includes clap pushups and one handed pushups. I know what you're thinking, that's crazy and I can't do those. That's fine if you can't. Modify them! Do them from your knees. That's how I started out. The shoulder and tri workouts are somewhat the same from the previous workouts, with a couple of surprises that will make your muscles burn like crazy by the end.

BACK AND BICEPS - 24 moves, 12 for each muscle group. If you're not spent after this workout, you did it wrong. Both groups are basically the same workouts as you have been doing with some variations. For instance, there is a exercise called towel pullups where you hang on to the bar with one hand and wrap a towel over the other handle so that your one hand is slightly lower than the other. Again, muscle confusion. These little changes are what causes your body not to adapt and to keep on changing for the better. The strip set of bicep curls at the end is insane. If you don't know what a strip set is, let me tell you. You start with one set of weights, let's say 25 pound dumbells. After doing 10 reps, you rest for about 20 seconds and then do 10 more reps with 20 pound dumbells. You do 4 sets like that!! Let me tell you that after working out your biceps this entire workout and then doing the strip set at the end, you will barely be able to lift anything!!

X STRETCH - This isn't really a workout but it's included just in case you want to do some stretching when your muscles are sore. I just want to say that I'm a big fan of stretching. I sometimes do this DVD just to loosing up. It's a full body program and works wonders. I highly recommend it!

AB RIPPER - I saved the best for last. This is exactly as it sounds. You perform this program 3 days a week along with the other workouts. It's about 15 minutes long and it CRUSHES your abs!! There are 11 moves, 25 reps each. I'll admit that I could not complete this workout for awhile when I first began. It takes time. I started with 10 reps per exercise and gradually increased it until I was at the recommended 25. This workout is hard.


So, those are the workouts. Here is the schedule for the program:

The classic P90x workout plan looks like this:

Weeks 1, 2, and 3
Day 1 – Chest and Back, plus Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Plyometrics
Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

The p90x workout schedule for week 4 is supposed to be a recovery week after hitting it hard six days a week for three weeks:

P90x Workout Plan Week 4
Day 1 – Yoga X
Day 2 – Core Synergistics
Day 3 – Kenpo X
Day 4 – X Stretch
Day 5 – Core Synergistics
Day 6 – Yoga X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

For week 5 the P90x workout schedule changes yet again

P90X Workout Plan Weeks 5, 6, 7
Day 1 – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Plyometrics
Day 3 – Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

Time to kick back to another recovery phase week for week 8

P90x Calendar Week 8 (Recovery Phase)
Day 1 – Yoga X
Day 2 – Core Synergistics
Day 3 – Kenpo X
Day 4 – X Stretch
Day 5 – Core Synergistics
Day 6 – Yoga X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

The following workout program appears in Weeks 9 and then again in Week 11

Day 1 – Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Plyometrics
Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 Rest or X Stretch

Here’s the P90X Calendar for Weeks 10 and 12

Day 1 – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 2- Plyometrics
Day 3 – Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

P90X Workout Schedule Week 13 (Final Week!!)
Day 1 – Yoga X
Day 2 – Core Synergistics
Day 3 – Kenpo X
Day 4 – X Stretch
Day 5 – Core Synergistics
Day 6 – Yoga X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch

As you can see, the P90X workout schedule has you working out six days a week for 13 weeks, for about an hour each day (Yoga is 90 minutes).

The program also comes with a nuitrition guide that helps you decide what to eat and how much while you're on this program.

The equipement that is the bare minimum for doing P90X are dumbells or exercise bands, and a pullup bar. There is more equipment that you can purchase, but I seemed to get by fine with just those.

I highly recommend drinking a gold standard protein shake after these workouts to help your muscles grow and help with recovery.

FINAL REVIEW - I found this program to be excellent! It is meant to increase your overall health, not just to get ripped, and that is what it does. It works on building muscle, building a solid core, flexibility and cardio endurance. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to take their fitness to the next level. With that being said, I want to say that this is not a beginner program!! You have to be in somewhat good shape to begin this. For more information, check it out here, p90x.

So You Want To Start Running But You Don't Know How

I've heard a lot of people say they would like to start jogging, but they are not really sure what they are doing and get discourage and quit after a week. It seems pretty simple. Put on some exercise clothes, stretch out a little and start putting one foot in front of the other. The key is to set a goal before you start. That way you can track your progress and keep improving.

Here is a beginner running program to help you start:

1. Week one: Walk for six minutes, then jog at an easy pace for one minute. Repeat three times. Aim for three sessions with that same sequence for week one.
   
2. Week two: Walk for five minutes, then jog for two minutes. Repeat three times. Aim to do three sessions in week two.
3. Week three: Walk for three minutes, then jog for four minutes. Repeat four times. Aim for three sessions in week three.
4. Week four: Walk for two minutes, then jog for five minutes. Repeat four times. Shoot for three of those sessions in week four.
5. Week five: Walk for two minutes, then jog for eight minutes. Repeat three times. Do three of those sessions in week five.
6. Week six: Walk for two minutes, then jog for nine minutes. Repeat three times. Try to do three sessions for week six.
7. Week seven: Walk for one minute, then jog for 11 minutes. Repeat three times. Do three sessions this week.
8. Week eight: Congratulations on making it to week eight! For your first run this week, try walking for five minutes to begin and end the workout, and run for 20 minutes in between. By the end of the week, try to run for 30 minutes without stopping. Aim to run for 30 minutes three times a week, and you'll notice that your stamina and fitness will continue to improve. Soon you'll be ready to run your first 5K!
   

Tips:

1. Use your breathing as your guide when running. You should be able to carry on a conversation while running and your breathing shouldn't be heavy.
2. Drink water at the end of your workouts to rehydrate. If it's hot and humid, you should also drink some water (about 4-6 ounces) halfway through your workout.
3. Make sure to stretch before and especially after the run. Stretching after the run will help your muscles recover from the workout they just received and you will be less sore.
4. Make sure to keep a log. Write down how far you ran, how you felt, what you ate before, what the weather was like, etc. All this will help you keep improving.

Let me know if you start this program or have any questions I can answer. I would like to hear from you. Good Luck!!


Mark

Dangers of Diet Soda

Thursday May 17th, 2012 Post #2

I totally forgot to talk about something that I wanted to in my previous post today. That is regualer soda and diet soda. Everyone knows that regular soda isn't good for you. It is loaded with sugars and calories. Knowing this, many of us drink diet soda instead. Here is an article I took from healthland.time.com:

More bad news, diet soda drinkers: data presented recently at the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) Scientific Sessions suggest that diet drinks may actually contribute to weight gain and that the artificial sweeteners in them could potentially contribute Type 2 diabetes.
In one study, researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, looked at aggregate data from 474 older adults in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging, or SALSA. At the time of enrollment and at three follow-up exams thereafter, all participants reported their diet soda intake and were measured for height, weight and waist circumference. The researchers wanted to track any association between diet soda drinking and body fat over time. What they found was that all participants saw their waistlines expand, but those who reported drinking diet soda had 70% greater increases in waistline growth than non-drinkers 9.5 years later. Among frequent drinkers — those who consumed two or more diet sodas a day — waistline growth was 500% greater than among non-drinkers. Researchers said their results were adjusted for other contributing factors like diabetes status, leisure-time physical activity level and age.

The data didn’t say why diet sodas might play a role in weight gain, but previous research suggests it has to do with the disconnect between the taste of artificial sugars and their lack of calories. The brain is wired to expect a big load of calories when foods taste sweet or fatty. But because diet foods fail to deliver, it throws the brain out of whack. Studies in animals suggest that artificial sweetener consumption may lead to even more eating and weight gain, perhaps in part because it triggers the body to start storing more calories as fat.
Excess weight, especially around the belly, as measured in the SALSA participants, is a risk factor for a variety of ills, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
In another study presented at the ADA meeting, researchers found an association between consumption of aspartame, an artificial sweetener found in many diet drinks, and elevated fasting glucose levels in mice.
The researchers, also from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, fed 40 mice their typical chow with added corn oil (to make the diet high-fat). For the half the mice, researchers also added aspartame to their food. After three months, researchers found that the mice in the aspartame group had elevated fasting glucose levels, an indication of a diabetic or pre-diabetic condition.

Of course, the findings aren’t directly translatable to humans, but the researchers think they’re still meaningful. “These results suggest that heavy aspartame exposure might potentially directly contribute to increased blood glucose levels, and thus contribute to the associations observed between diet soda consumption and the risk of diabetes in humans,” said Dr. Gabriel Fernandes, a University of Texas professor of rheumatology and clinical immunology, in a statement.
Maybe it’s time to switch to water.



As you can see, diet soda might actually increase your waistline!! It also can cause other medical issue. Just a thought, but I agree with the end of this article that states that it's time to switch to water


Mark

Fad Diets Don't work

Thursday May 17, 2012

I was thinking today about all the crazy diets people put themselves on trying to lose weight. They starve themselves and end up not losing much of anything so they get discouraged and stop trying. They gain all the weight back that they did lose and even more. The reason for this is that most diets don't work. Sure, you might see some immediate results, but in the long term, you end up just gaining the weight back. The only way to lose weight, and to keep it off, is to burn more calories than you are eating. This is a two step process through eating healthier and exercising.

When people starve themselves, the body goes into "salvation" mode. That means it starts storing fat to use as fuel because it doesn't know when the next meal is coming. The key is to eat 5-6 small meals a day, every 3-4 hours. Keep the body digesting food and it will keep your motabilism up.  When I say small meals, I don't mean a pancakes with whipped cream for breakfast, a couple cheeseburgers for lunch and then 3 slices of pizza for dinner. I'm talking high protein, high quality food. My meal choices usually consist of eggs, grilled chicken, fish (not fried), vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, etc. Have a healthy omelet for breakfast, a bananna and some nuts for a mid morning snack, a grilled chicken salad or sandwich for lunch, a protein shake or protein bar (I recommend pure protein bars and pure protein shakes) mid-afternoon and some grilled or baked fish with steamed vegetables for dinner. It's amazing how full you will be eating quality protein. Protein fills you up.

The second part of all this is exercise. It doesn't matter if you just go for a 15 minute walk instead of sitting around watching TV and eating chips. You would lose the calories of the chips plus burn some calories with the walk. It's like doubling up on the calorie burn.

You just have to do it!!! Start small. Go for a walk tonight. Don't eat that bag of chips or that ice cream. Skip that cheese on the burger. Walk up the stairs instead of taking the escalator or elevator. Little things like this will start to add up and you will notice a difference. And once you start living a healthier life, it will become second nature and you will continue on to reach your goals. Just go for it and do it!! Start tonight!

Mark

Pound for Pound muscle and fat are equal

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

Good morning everyone,

I was getting ready for work today and was thinking about what I wanted to write about this morning and I thought I would talk about one of the biggest misconceptions there is and that is that muscle weighs more than fat. That is totally not true. Look at it this way. What weighs more, 1 pound of muscle or 1 pound of fat? They weigh the same amount since they are both one pound. A better way of looking at this is to compare a pound of rocks to a pound of feathers. You will have a lot more feathers than rocks to make up that pound, but in the end, a pound is still a pound. What it all boils down to is that muscle is much more dense than fat. Hopefully that makes sense

Mark

About me and why I'm doing this blog

Tuesday, May 15th 2012

I decided to start a blog today on working out. I'm not sure why, I just felt like sharing my accomplishments and hopefully motivate some people into starting a workout program.

A little bit about me. I'm 43 years old and have been pretty active my whole life. I went through a period though where I was about 40 pounds overweight. Currently, I'm 6'0 and about 185 pounds. At that time, I was around 225 and not very happy with myself. I have always jogged for exercise but I decided back then that I would start running 5K races just to remain active. I started running about 3 days a week and doing 5K runs monthly. The next year, I decided to do a 10K. It snowballed from there. 15 years later, I have done 2 marathons and 5 halfs, along with around 10 5K's a year. I guess my point being, it doesn't matter how small you start, you just have to start. You don't have to run marathons or even 5K's, just get out there and walk if you have too. I feel so great after exercising. It's amazing what a little exercise will do for the mind and body. 

My goal for this blog is to motivate people to exercise and live healthier. I will be reveiwing exercise programs, giving instruction on exercise, linking articles about workouts and healthy eating, etc. I look around at the world today and see all the unhealthy habits that 90% of people have and it upsets me. When someone that is 20 years old is struggling to walk, there is a problem. I'm going to try and help with motivation. Come back later and check out more of my blog. Thanks for reading

Mark