Every Gym’s Nightmare

Hi Kelly,

thanks,
Jenny

To read Jenny’s first Q and A she is referring to, head to Q and A: Over Doing It

your body IS slowed- you dont want it to slow down, you want it to speed bak up. over trained means it stopped working on you to protect itself, so even if you force it to workout, you arent going to get any of the benefits from it because it has slowed and stopped all of your body processes.

when it is able to rest- ie. not made to work out, it will start to trust you again, and start your body processes back up (burning calories, building muscle, etc.) Your bodies job is not to die, so if you make it work too hard, it thinks you re trying to kill it, and will do everything in its power not to let you. So it holds on to calories to preserve the energy (fat, calories) you are so desperately trying to burn off it.

Id keep your calories the same, because once your body kicks back in, its going to need them (you arent burning as many calories when you are over training, but when your body starts to work again, it will need those calories because it will be burning them) so you might lose weight by eating the same. If you find you arent, then I would lower them slightly, because you may be working out at such a high intensity/frequency, that even your slowed state is burning a lot of calories.

That was confusing.

Leave your calories alone, because you will need them when your body kicks in, but if you dont notice loss, I would re-do The Harris Benedict Formula and then figure out how many you need for your activity level. It takes a bit for your body to respond to rest, but not too long, so you should be able to do the equation and have it be accurate, because your body will be responding fully to the level of exercise you are doing.

I have a question (shocker, right?). In my day-to-day life, I get a lot of exercise. I walk everywhere, so probably anywhere between an hour to three hours of walking most days, plus I serve three times a week (so I’m walking around, carrying heavy trays, etc.) and I stretch when I first get out of bed in the mornings, so I’m curious as to whether this all counts towards the exercise that professionals say you should be getting every day. I’m not trying to lose weight (actually right now I’m trying to gain weight) and I’m healthy (normal blood pressure, cholestrol, etc.) so if my day-to-day life gives me enough fitness should I still be heading to the gym?

SarahF

Sadly, no, being active in your everyday life isn’t enough in terms of exercise.

People tend to get caught thinking about exercise as a way to burn calories- and if they are burning those calories through their everyday activity, which is entirely possible to do, that you don;t have to exercise. The truth is, exercise is vital for many different reasons, not just weight.

I myself got trapped in this way of thinking for a while. I used to wear a pedometer constantly to make sure I was walking enough. I would aim for 17,000 steps everyday, which is pretty high, but I would use that goal as a replacement for real cardio, thinking as long as it added up in the end, whats the difference?

There is a big difference. There are certain health benefits you can only get from exercise, which is why its can’t be skipped.

Elevated Heart Rate: Getting your heart rate up is probably the biggest reason to do traditional exercise. Getting your heart rate up will not only burn fat and calories, it increases oxygen production to your muscles and pumps blood through your arteries and veins. Why is this important? It increases your cardiovascular endurance, which trains your heart to beat stronger and last longer. Blood pumping hard through your veins breaks up cholesterol deposits, lowering your cholesterol and blood pressure- which is are huge risks for women. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, and cardiovascular exercise is the best way to prevent that. The harder you push your body, the better it rises to the challenge which it means it learns how to function with less effort- lowering your resting heart rate. The lower your resting heart, the longer it takes for your heart to eventually give out, adding years to your life.

Increased Bone Density: Another huge issue for women is bone density. As we age, our bone density decreases, and the only way to not only hold off the loss, but to improve bone density is through strength training. Usually with our bodies, as in the case of muscles, the more strain you put on them, the more likely you will cause injury (muscle pull or tear.) Bones are special- they stick to the “form follows function” rule, which means the harder you are on them, the stronger they become. If you break a bone, it grows back stronger than before. You need to put pressure on your bones to ensure that they become stronger- either through weight training, or medium-high impact cardio. Of course, be careful as your joints don’t always like to keep up with your bones, but ask any doctor and the number one way to prevent bone loss and osteoporosis is through exercise.

Increased Muscle Size and Strength: Some people are born thin, but no one is born muscular. Aside from giving you a killer frame, building muscle is very important to your health. Some people can develop muscle through incidental exercise, like people that haul heavy boxes all day, or do hard manual labor, but even then, they are not going to strengthen every muscle evenly. Muscle strength will not only prevent injury from day to day, it will also help improve your every day performance. The stronger you are, the easier every day tasks will be, and the more energy you will have.

Weight: There are certain added benefits exercise provides you when it comes to weight loss and keeping a healthy body fat percentage that just every day activity can’t provide. The more muscle you have on your body, and the harder you push your body through intense exercise, the higher your metabolism will become at rest. While indicental exercise will burn some calories, it will do very little to actually change the composition of your body, which will replace fat with muscle.

Long story short- yes, you need to exercise. There is no better way to prevent disease, prolong your life, and change your body composition for the better. Its about your health.

GIVEAWAYS!
EZ Rider Radio Flyer Scooter
Fluxus Clothing Giveaway!

Check out my P90X Product Overview post, and ask questions! Ill answer them in the following post, with links to your blogs, if you’ve got em.

Also, expect an announcement about probably the most exciting thing to happen to me all year, and how you can get in on it, too!

Hi Kelly,

thanks,
Jenny

Usually I edit these to make them concise, but i left this one as is, because I think all the parts are important.

The biggest things that stick out to me is unrealistic expectations and over training.

Over training first: you are working out too hard. The only people that need to work out this hard/often are athletes, and even then, their workouts are sports specific. You are pushing your body too hard for too long too often, and its rebelling. Its scared of you, in a sense. When you make your body work that hard, even if you eat enough calories, its not going to respond. You will be able to get through your workouts, but all your processes (metabolism, calorie burn, muscle growth) are going to slow because if it kept up with how hard you were working out, it would lose weight too quickly, causing toxins to build, your muscles and organs would begin to metabolize themselves for fuel (eat themselves) and your bones and connective tissues won’t be strong enough to support your muscle growth. You need to cut it back- especially the cardio. If you drop it down, probably in duration first, you’ll notice a difference.

Expectations: You said you know you dont eat or exercise healthily, and this is pretty apparent. You are as close to being addicted to exercise as you can be (you get nervous when you skip a workout, obsessively cutting out fat grams) 108 is NOT a healthy weight for you. You aren’t going to be able to get to that weight through healthy eating and exercise. 10 pounds is probably doable from where you are now, but it doesn’t sound like you are going to be satisfied when you get there. You CANT workout 7 days a week, your body needs time to rest- especially when you are pushing yourself so hard. Its going to give out on you. You are going to get injuries, and possibly illnesses from it. More is not always better when it comes to your body.

You have to cut yourself a break- working out shouldn’t be your life, and especially not everyday.
Cut back, and you’ll see results, but only as far as is healthy for your body.

Giveaways!
MD Skincare
Hello Kitty Set

www.toothpastefordinner.com

I am in quite good shape; I had a fit test that put me in the top 6% in terms my cardio health (not really sure what this means or if it is helpful, just reiterating what the trainer told me after a bunch of tests). My BMI is normal, I’ve worked out consistently (more like, religiously) for nearly 7 years (5-6x week). I could go on, but the point is, I consider myself to be in quite good shape, especially for a woman.

Jennifer

This one has a ton of different levels, and while I’m not going to be able to tell you with certainty, I can toss out a few ideas.

RE: Heart rate. If you are healthy, as you say you are, you dont have to live and die by your heart rate- especially if you are focusing on the higher end. The max heart rate is mainly to keep old people from exploding, and then the minimum is to make sure you are working out hard enough to get benefits. A lot of people claim (and ive seen it) to have worked out at their very max (100% of their maximum heart rate- which 220- your age) and still be able to hold a conversation. That “zone” you talk about is one of those things that doesnt work for everyone so dont bother trying to stay in a specific range for certain gains- its all theory and generic. Obviously, not everyone of a certain age should be working out at the same heart rate, because everyone weighs different amounts, and is cardiovascularly in different places. One reason for the spike, however, is that you are running too fast- which 6 MPH might be for you. Thats a big mistake beginning runners make- thinking they have to run fast right off the bat. Try running more at a trot pace, perhaps 4.7-5 and see if that helps any.

RE running vs spinning: these are completely different modes of cardio, so dont compare performace in one area to the other. Spinning is more explosive, and really, 5-10 beats per minute isnt a huge difference in terms of how hard your body is working. Running is the hardest form of cardio in all physical areas, so running is probably your threshold- spinning, not so hard for you, but running jacks it up a notch you arent equipt for yet. What makes someone more a good endurance athlete is their amount of slow twitch muscle fibers, which are built for endurance activities (fast twitch are for explosive movements.) unfortunately, you cant change the amount of fibers you are have, which is why i insist I am made of all fast twitch fibers- I cant do endurance activities either.

Bottom line- running just might not be your thing- especially if it bugs your knees. If you keep forcing it, you might blow them out so stick to non weight baring or low impact, like walking, spinning, biking, swimming or the elliptical.

as for the POSE technique, for those of you that dont know what it is, its specific running form to stick to that supposedly makes you more efficient and eliminates pain. Its one of those things that if it works for you, cool, but its not going to work for everyone. If you think about it, its just form, and everyone runs with different form. Its not gunna kill you, but its not a miracle worker- and its not one size fits all. some people hate it and some people love it, but its safe, so go ahead, fear-free.

When it really comes down to it, running is probably the hardest form of cardio that there is. Its hard on the joints, hard on the lungs and hard on them muscles. If you don’t enjoy it, or if it injures you, don’t do it. Don’t feel like to be a true athlete or to truly be fit you should be a runner. Some people are naturals, and some will never quite get the hang of it. Find something that you love, and do it, and dont focus so much on the numbers.

www.nataliedee.com

Kelly,
I’m trying to gain weight after cutting down too far. I’m 5′4″ and around 110 pounds. I’m not clinically underweight, but my shoulders and back are way too bony. I’d like to gain around 5-10 pounds, but I’d want it to be muscle, not fat.
So, a few interrelated questions: How much should I eat so that I can get hypertrophy but not just be packing on weight? What is a good rate of increase (where I know that the gain is healthy)? How much does food quality count? I eat clean most of the time, but since I have a liiittle extra room right now, would eating a few extra Newman O’s derail my muscle goals? How hard do I need to be working out to grow muscle? I lift weights 3x a week, but should I leave the gym wanting to collapse, or just be fatigued? What do you recommend for cardio? I walk around my campus all day and jog to the gym and back (it’s a about a 1/4 mile each way), but other than that I’m not doing much…bad, I know. Do you find adding some cardio helps healthy gains, as long as it’s not creating a deficit?
Thank you!- Mimi

What refreshing question. Isnt it a shame that most of you probably have no idea what the answer to these questions are? Its because every fitness outlet assumes everyone wants to lose weight, which drives me nuts.

Im going to take this question by question so I dont miss anything.

How much should I eat so that I can get hypertrophy but not just be packing on weight?

First off: wow on using the word hypertrophy. You are going to need to eat a little bit more, but its just because you are going to have to work out HARD to gain muscle mass. Eat to support your activity level, which you can figure out here.

What is a good rate of increase (where I know that the gain is healthy)?

Its all going to depend on how hard you go at it. To make sure you are gaining weight, but that it is muscle, you are going to have to keep track of your weight and your body fat. Your body fat should stay the same as your weight goes up. Gaining muscle isnt dangerous to your health like losing weight can be, so there isnt a safe, or healthy time frame. You arent going to gain muscle too fast- its hard to do.

How much does food quality count? I eat clean most of the time, but since I have a liiittle extra room right now, would eating a few extra Newman O’s derail my muscle goals?

This is the fun part. The quality of the food you are consuming is important, but extras aren’t. What I mean is, you have to make sure you are eating all your needs: protein, carbs, veggies and fruits, low fat dairy and healthy fats. Since youare shredding your muscles you are going to need to factor that in when you think about protein- probably about 1 gram per kg of body weight, as opposed to the .8 the average exerciser needs. Beyond that, as long as you aren’t eating too many calories, you can indulge every once in a while. Its different from trying to lose weight, where you have to cut out all the extra crap, but if you hit all your food groups, and still need some calories, eat a cookie. Thats my philosophy on eating in general, though.

How hard do I need to be working out to grow muscle? I lift weights 3x a week, but should I leave the gym wanting to collapse, or just be fatigued?

ok here’s the nitty gritty stuff: heavy weights, lower reps. everyone gains muscle at a different rate, so I cant give you concrete numbers on weight and frequency, but when you are trying to gain muscle mass, you are going to have to lift harder. Instead of the 12-15 reps most people lift with, you are going to have to find a weight that maxes you at 6-8 reps, and actually maxes you to the point of failure (you literally cannot do another rep with good form.) Feeling like you want to collapse depends on your threshold, but in the beginning you are probably going to feel that way. You are probably going to find yourself moving through your routine a lot slower too because you are going to need time to recover between each set. I would recommend working each muscle group every other day, which means full body every other day or split workouts (upper and lower, or however you split them) every day. Thinks how hard body builders have to work out and how often: thats what you want to train like, you are just in the baby stages of it. When you lift for gains, you are going to be lifting heavy weights, so dont combine exercises (like lunges with bicep curls) because to have heavy enough weights to max your arms at 6-8 reps, you are going to need to hold a steady base (feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, or sitting on a bench) to protect yourself. I cant stress that enough- do only isolation exercises- or else you are going to injure yourself

I walk around my campus all day and jog to the gym and back (it’s a about a 1/4 mile each way), but other than that I’m not doing much…bad, I know. Do you find adding some cardio helps healthy gains, as long as it’s not creating a deficit?

Cardio is what is going to keep the fat weight off. Lifting to max yourself isn’t going to get the heart rate up (its till burns calories because the heavier you lift the harder your body works, and it needs more calories to repair itself, which is factored into the equation i linked to) or atleast, not for very long, so cardio will keep you lean, and plus, you still need all the cardio benefits. Luckily, since weight loss isnt an issue, you dont have to do very much- just the baseline for health: 30 minutes of moderate intensity most days of the week (4-6). Everyone needs to do this amount of cardio, just to keep yourself healthy. If it ends up creating a deficit, you need to eat more to counter act it.

Basically, to gain weight with muscle you have to lift heavy weights often, eat more because you are increasing the intensity of your workouts, be sure to get enough protein to repair your muscles, and keep doing cardio, but don’t create a deficit.

Im pretty sure there are going to be some follow up questions for this, so Mimi, and everyone, feel free to ask.

www.marriedtothesea.com

Running. I know, right? I have no idea why, but 3 days ago, I had the urge to go for a run, and I don;t know if it was mental, or because I’ve been doing more cardio lately, but it was pretty easy, and I actually enjoyed it.

I guess hell has finally frozen over.

The arch of my foot hurts, but I know its just not used to running. Hopefully, it’ll go away. Man, its always one thing after another with me.

I got a question the other day about the T-Bow:

Hi Kelly,
I read your review of The Wave. Have you ever tried a T-Bow? I want to purchase one of the two and am looking for further input. Price is not really an issue. I am more concerned with a safety. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Lee

I had never heard of this before, so I looked it up. Simply put: it looks exactly the same to me. Safety wise- just don’t fall off. Except this one is from England, so it probably has an adorable accent.

Anyone seen/tried this before?

Don’t forget the giveaway! It ends Wednesday!

LINKS:
Pure Bar Review
Dan gets second chance The Biggest Loser
Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty: Will it Help or Hurt?
Pole Dancer: Your Son’s New Favorite Toy

My knee has been killing me lately, I think because I have been doing the bike so much so I can read, and knees have a tendency to lean inward, which is no good. It was a leg day today, but since it was so bad, I turned it into a cardio day.

I did 35 minutes on the bike, and did two walks: one to the bank, 1.6 miles, and then one to Blockbuster to return I Love You, Man, which was suprisingly hilarious.

Yesterday, I did upper body, and I can barely lift my arms

8/26 Workout
Upper Body:
Seated Shoulder Press- 15 lb dumbbells, 15 reps, 2 sets
EZ Curl Bar Bicep Curls- 25 pounds, 10 reps, 2 sets
Overhead Cable Tricep Extensions with Rope- 27.5 pounds, 15 reps, 2 sets
Cable Tricep Pulldowns to failure (after each set of overhead extensions)- 27.5 pounds, around 5-7 reps
Explosive Pushups with Barbell (around knee height)- 15 reps, 2 sets
Barbell Body Rows (around bellybutton height)- 15 reps, 2 sets
Uneven Bosu Pushups- about 8 reps, 2 sets. These were the last things I did and I was pretty lucky to not skin my nose off the ground when my arms gave out

Abs: (I did these in this order, twice through w/o resting)
Crunches w/ plate, arms extended towards ceiling, range of motion- up to sitting: 25 lb weight plate, 10 reps
Regular crunches- 15 reps
Opposite Elbow Opposite Knee crunches- (kind of like Bicycle crunches) 10 reps to each side
Oblique crunches- 10 reps to each side

Lani asked me this question:

I wanted to know how you deal with body image issues as a PT who has a history with eating disorders? Its been something I have had concerns about as other women who are PT’s in my life constantly talk about how image is everything and how their clients expect them to be super skinny (also when did super skinny start to equal fit? I never quite understood how that came to be).

I was a little worried when I started training that image would be everything, and that clients would judge my appearance and use that as a reason to work with me/ not work with me/not trust me, etc. Turns out, it really doesn’t matter. Honestly, if you know your shit, no one is going to care what you look like. I am thin, and I have muscle tone in my arms (I wear pants so they cant see much else), so people know I practice what I preach. No one expects me to be thin, they expect me to lead by example. Most often, people are impressed to know how much I work out, because it shows that I do it too, and that I work just as hard, if not harder than they do for the way that I look.

I don’t ever feel like people are judging my as a trainer based on my appearance because the only people I deal with are my clients, and the first thing I do is drill into them that health is what is important, not looks. Weight loss is a side effect of exercise, not the focus. Increasing energy,

We’ve had all kinds of trainers at my work: short and skinny girls, tall and buff guys, tall and curvy girls, squat and “softer” guys, etc. and there has never been an issue. I have a feeling big gym trainers are judged a bit more, because we weed out the unmotivated. People are more focused on whether or not they can get results, not what their trainers look like.

The only time I feel judged is when people tell me I don’t know what it’s like to be overweight- like I couldn’t possibly understand what they are going through, and am there for judging them as being weak/lazy/making excuses. I don;t share my past with all my clients, because most of the time I don;t feel it is relevant, but in these situations, where I can tell it isn’t just a comment made in jest, its an actual trust issue I will share my past with them. I will tell them that even though I have not ever been technically overweight, I know what it is like to be out of control with food and be embarrassed of my body. I know what it is like to feel out of control and have people stare at you for your size. After that, they are usually embarrassed and apologize, which is not my goal, but they gain a little understanding that things are not always as they appear, and most importantly, they start to trust me.

LINKS:

Celebrity Gossip Blogs Fuel Body Image Fire
How to Pick a Personal Trainer
Exercise for Glowing Skin
The Rise of Green Gyms
Backpack Giveaway
Do You Weigh Too Much?

Ok, Im over my bird murdering guilt and made it into the gym today.

Cardio

30 minutes on the recumbent bike (reading Breaking Dawn- almost done!)

Strength Training- Leg Day
Lunges off step- 15lb dumbells in both hands, 10 in each leg, 2x’s through
Side Lunges onto BOSU- holding 12lb medicine ball under chin, 15 each leg, 2x’s through
Calf raises- holding 25lb dumbell, 15 each leg, 2x’s through
Squats on Black side of BOSU- 20lb dumbell under chin, 20 reps, 2x’s through

So I just realized the hard part is going to be if you guys know what any of this stuff is, so I decided to kind of just spell it out as best as i could. If you have any questions, let me know.

Alright- I’m off for the weekend!

LINKS:

My take on that damn TIME magazine article knocking exercise

Set Yourself Up for Success

Taylor Lautner’s Beef Up Sends Healthy Message

Eating Disorders Newest Fad Diet

Can You Ever Have Too Much Protein?

Giveaway!

Fad Dieting Starts Young

I was gearing up for a hard cardio/lower body workout today, but then I hit a bird on the way to the gym, and could only manage to get through 30 minutes on the bike.

I feel sick.

www.toothpastefordinner.com

I mentioned yesterday that I since I have been working from home, I’ve had a lot more time to workout, and thus I have been working out a lot more. Make sense, right?

I mentioned 2 a day workouts, which doesn’t actually mean I am working out twice a day. Well, sometimes, but usually not. I mean I am doing two workouts in one day, usually back to back- which means cardio then upper body, then the next day cardio, and lower body. Its awesome. I love it. I can already see changes and feel like my workouts are something I can take my time with, and enjoy instead just trying to cram it in inbetween shifts.

The only problem is, I don’t have any goals yet, and I can’t think of any. I don’t want anything with weight, because I don’t want to lose weight, and I don’t want to focus on body fat because that will happen naturally, so I’m thinking I should set some strength goals. I want to build more muscle (I have a feeling I’m going to end up looking like a pro wrestler soon) but the problem with that is I don’t really keep track of that stuff. Maybe I should keep track. If I did, I would keep track on here, and I dont know if you guys would be bored with that stuff.

Are you interested in seeing my workouts/weight progressions?

Gah- I have to do a “photo shoot” this weekend. I wrote an article for Breathe Magazine’s Winter Issue about how to train for ski season and was asked to be in the pictures. Think I can officially add “fitness model” to my resume?

LINKS:

You On a Diet listed their top 34 weight loss blogs, and EGN was included. Thanks!!

Why I Think the Kelly Clarkson Airbrushing Outrage is a Good Thing

Healthy Foods That Aren’t: Gorcery Store Addition

Runner’s High: Is it Real?

Ruby Reminds Us of the Dangers of Food Pushers

Sonoma Crisps Giveaway!

Michelle Obama Shorts (I didnt write this one but I think the comments are hilarious)