Beginners Guide to the Gym- Aerobic Endurance

Having any form of aerobic endurance is a great place to start when it comes to getting fit. Being aerobically fit lets you run longer, harder, farther and gives you the oppurtunity to metabolically use fats better. You will be more likely to store them in your muscles instead of in your fat cells and it will help you have sustained energy longer. There are several ways that people increase their aerobic endurance and im going to cover them and give you tips to help you increase your aerobic endurance.

Increasing Aerobic Endurance

1. Long Slow Distance- This is exactly what it sounds like. Taking and longer amount of time to run a longer distance at a slower speed. This is a great place to start to build your aerobic endurance. Long slow distance allows you to take your time and go at an easier pace so you can go longer than you would at a higher pace. Now if you have a very low aerobic level you really need to start slow, even walking until you can build up to running would be your best bet if you need to. Use this to build a base level and even later on in training to help with recovering from high intensity training sessions.
2. Aerobic Intervals- Ive talked about intervals in previous articles but those were geared more towards anaerobic(without oxygen) intervals at a very high intensity. Aerobic intervals are the same concept except take are longer periods. You would run at a higher intensity for say 15 minutes then rest for 5 minutes. So the work to rest ratio with aerobic intervals is 3:1 whereas with anaerobic intervals its 1:3. When doing aerobic intervals you shoul shoot for around 3-4 intervals in the beginning and trying to build up from there.
3. Anaerobic Intervals- As strange as it might sound, anaerobic intervals can help increase your aerobic endurance just as good as aerobic intervals. Anaerobic intervals help increase lactate threshold which in turn allows your body to clear lactate from the muscle longer and at higher concentrations meaning you can run longer and harder than someone who has a lower threshold. Anaerobic intervals should start out easier with 15s hard work and at least 45s rest, probably longer when starting out though. Then build up to 20/40 and so on. Never let work be greater than rest though, the lowest your work to rest ratio should be is 1:1. Implement these and you'll be able to give your hardest for a longer time and give yourself a better time.
4. Fartlek- Fartlek is a swedish word that means "speed play". The concept is similar to intervals except there are no set times or distances. Simply start running and randomly begin sprinting/ running faster for a period of time and then ease up and run at a slower pace for however long you want. How far you want to go or how long is completely up to you. If your listening to music when running try jogging for a song then running at a faster pace for another song and keep switching. Youll always have different distances and times and help yourself increase your aerobic endurance.

The last few options are going to be a lot harder and more intense than simply going for a run and should be utilized once you have a solid aerobic base. Also, once you build up your base and begin to add in these other training methods you should vary them up and add resistance training into your training. Resistance training adds strength and stamina to your muscles to allow you to work harder and longer in your runs. Always allow days to rest and recover, these include complete off days, or easy paced long slow distance runs.

Summing It Up
There are many benefits to increasing your aerobic endurance. Fat loss, increased metabolic processing, and an ability to run longer and harder. There are also many ways to increase your aerobic endurance. Remember to always build a solid base of aerobic endurance before starting a high intensity aerobic endurance training program. Make sure to incorporate high intensity anaerobic work to increase lactate thershold increase lactate clearance. Dont forget the importance of rest, because if you dont take a break and let your body heal your going to hurt yourself more and gain less.

Goal Setting for Fitness

Many fitness goers out there set goals. Whether its to lose 20lbs, gain 20 lbs, lift a certain weight, or whatever the goal might be everyone has a goal they want to reach. The problem with setting one goal is that if you dont reach that goal as quickly as you want many people will quit or start to give up. Having one large goal to shoot for is great but without instant gratification or instantly achieving your goal many gym goers get frustrated and simply think that they cant do it or that its too much. There are many ways to achieve to your goal but first you need to set up a plan to help you attain what your shooting for.

Tips to help you reach your fitness goals

1. Make sure its reachable. Dont pick an arbitrary goal such as to lose 20 lbs in 4 weeks. That is outrageous and will put too much stress on your body in those 4 weeks that you could injure yourself. When setting goals give yourself enough time to reach them. When trying to lose weight you should try to not lose more than 2-3 lbs a week which is still high. So that 20 lbs should take you 10 weeks or more. Dont rush your goals because you want instant gratification, your body needs time to adapt to training and nutrition and just because you want it faster doesnt mean your body will adapt faster.
2. Set small goals to achieve every week or even every workout. Having one goal for the end of your training is great but if its a large goal it might seem impossible to overcome. If your overall training goal is to lose 20 lbs in 10 weeks, set up a weekly weight goal plan. Set up a target weight you want to be at at the end of each week and work each to drop to that weight. When you hit your smaller goals each week you will get the gratification you want and you will feel better about your working out and want to keep going. Smaller goals will help keep you motivated and help you keep plugging away at your large goal of 20lbs.
3. Don't get discouraged. If you miss a workout or skip a meal or eat something that you probably shouldnt have, dont get discouraged. Just keep going with the rest of your plan as usual. Many people these days will miss a workout and then think that they are never going to reach their goal because of one workout. So what if you miss one workout or one meal isnt that good for you. Its only one. Keep steady and just pick up and keep going with your goal as usual. One workout or meal isnt going to hurt you or ruin everything. Just keep going like normal with your next meal or your next workout.
4. Write it down and talk about it. When you write down your goals they seem more real. You can see it everyday and it can remind you of what your working towards. Writing down any goal you have can really help you keep focused and wanting to work towards it more. Also, talking about it to others. Keeping a friend or even a stranger informed about what your working towards can be a big wakeup call if your slacking behind. Plus the motivation you get from knowing someone else is interested in you achieving your goals will really help you keep going. Find a friend, a loved one, or even start writing about it online can give you the motivation you want and need to not give up and the reinforcement from others might give you just enough extra to push you past your goal and help you do better than you even imagined.

Summing It Up
Having a large goal that you are trying to reach is a great end point but it may be too far into the distance to give you the faith that you can accomplish it. Keep your goals, large or small, realistic to give you a real shot at achieving them. Set up smaller goals that will help you get to your larger goal. Everytime you achieve the smaller goals it will reinforce your want and drive to get to your larger goal and help to motivate you to get to where you wish to be. Dont give up just because you missed one meal or one workout. Keeping going with your small and large goals and understand that one meal or workout isnt the end of your fitness goals. Just keep going strong and know that its ok and you can still reach the goals you want. Talk about your goals. Whether writing them down or talking about them with a friend, being able to see it, hear it and get feedback from others about it can help you stay on task and keep working. Having someone else helping you get to where you want to be is a great motivator and will give you a better chance of getting the fitness you want.

Easy and Quick Ways to Workout at Home

For most working adults getting to the gym is hard. Between work, kids, spouse, hobbies, and everything else we jam into our days it might be hard to find time to drive to the gym, workout, and come home especially if your workouts take more than an hour. Lifes daily restrictions play a toll on our fitness goals so working out at home can become a necessity but without a home gym or basic equipment how can anyone workout at home? Or how can anyone get a good workout in at home in a timely manner? Im going to give you a few different workouts you can do from home with little to no equipment and in under 30 minutes.

Workout #1- At Home Tabata Workout- Time: 4 minutes, Equipment: Body weight or medicine ball
Tabata training is a relatively new style of training but is very similar to interval training. In this tabata workout your only going to do one exercise. The exercise is called a "thruster". To perform this you will either use your bodyweight or a medicine ball. For this examply we will use the medicine ball. Standing with your feet slightly outside hip width and toes pointed out, hold the medicine ball at your chest level. Squat down than explosively stand up while pressing the medicine ball over your head then repeat. Thats all there is to the exercise. Now your going to perform the exercise for 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds, trying to get as many "thrusters" completed in those 20 seconds. you will repeat the 20/10 split for 8 sets or 4 total minutes(Each set is 30 seconds long). By the last few sets your going to be sore and hurting. Try to keep going but if you have to stop and rest than do so. Try to get at least 8 reps in each set.

Workout #2- Bodyweight Circuit- Time: 15 minutes, Equipment: Body weight
Circuit training has become a staple in many gyms and in many training routines. Its a great way to get your whole body worked in a short amount of time. With this workout you will perform all bodyweight exercises back to back until you have completed them all then you will get a short rest. Here is your workout:

1. Push ups
2. Burpee- From standing, bend down and put your hands on the ground, then jump and push your legs back so you are in a push up position, then jump your legs back up towards your chest than stand up again. Thats one burpee. (Variation: If this is too high impact than just squat down and touch the ground than stand back up)
3. Reverse Lunge- Like a normal lunge but instead of stepping forward, step backwards.
4. Chair dip- Using a chair, rest your palms on the edge of the chair seat with your back towards the chair, stretch your legs out away from your body. Bending at the elbows, lower your body until your upper arm is parallel to the ground or your butt hit the floor. Push your self back up. Then repeat.
5. Mountain Climber- From a push up position start with one knee bent, near the chest with the other leg still extended. Then explosively jump, switching your legs bringing the straight leg towards your chest and straightening your bent leg.
6. Plank- In a push up position lower onto your elbows and hold the position. Making sure to squeeze your abdominals together(it should feel like your trying to pull them through your belly button)
7. Side Plank(L)- Like a normal plank but rest on one elbowso one side of your body is close to the ground. Hold and squeeze like a normal plank.
8. Side Plank(R)- same as above.
9. REST!!!!

Perform each exercise for 15 seconds trying to get as many reps completed in the 15 seconds then switch to the next without rest. After all 8 exercises take a 1 minute rest. Performing 5 circuits will take 15 minutes.

Workout #3- Circuit Training- Time: 20-24 minutes, Equipment: Swiss ball, dumbells
This will be similar to the circuit training above in the methods of performing the workouts with 15 seconds on each exercise for the first 4, then resting for 1 minute, then perform the next 4 exercises in the same fashion with a minute rest after. This is one circuit, repeat for 5-6 circuits making the total time between 20 and 24 minutes. These exercises are performed with equipment that is affordable and wont take up much room in your house.

1. Swiss ball push ups- This can be done two ways with either your feet and shins resting on the ball, or your hands on the ball and your feet on the ground. Either way you choose, perform a normal push up.
2. Dumbbell Row- With weights in hand, slightly bend your knees and hips so your torso is at a 45 degree angle. Then let the weights hang in front of you, then pulling the weights to your chest making sure to squeeze your shoulder blades together, then slowly lower the weights.
3. Thruster- Standing upright with dumbbells at shoulder level, squat down, then explosively stand up pushing the dumbbells overhead.
4. DB RDL- RDL stands for Romanian Deadlift which is similar to a normal deadlift except you only lower the weight just past your knees. To perform the exercise, stand upright with the weights being held in front of you. Bend at the knees and hip and lower until the weights just get past the knees, then stand back up.
5. REST!!!!
6. Swiss ball Roll out- Kneel in front of the swiss ball with your elbows resting on it. Slowly roll the ball outward so your torso starts to lower and gets closer to the floor. Then contract your core and pull the ball back toward you. Thats one rep.
7. Swiss ball glute/ham raise- With your back on the ground, rest your legs on top of a swiss ball. Then lift your torso off the ground so you form a straight line with the back of your ankles/ calves on the ball and your shoulders still on the ground. Then try to curl the ball toward your butt. Roll the ball back out keeping your torso in the air. Thats one rep. Be careful on this and dont try to rush reps or you will fall off the ball and could hurt yourself.
8. Swiss ball DB Curl and Press- Sitting on a swiss ball with your arms at your sides and DB in your hands, curl the weights up and press them overhead. Next, slowly lower the weight to your sides and repeat.
9. Swiss ball plank- Similar to the swiss ball push up, you can rest either your legs or hands on the ball. Either way get into a push up position and hold this like a plank. Making sure to squeeze your abdominals tight.
10. REST!!! 

These are just a few of the ways to get a quick workout in at home either when you have some downtime or even in a rush. These intensity of the workouts gives you a cardio workout while the exercises you do helps develop your muscles. Either one of these workouts will help you in your fitness goals especially if you cant make it to the gym but still want a challenging workout. So turn on the tv and get in a workout!

Beginners Guide to the Gym- What to do- Part IV Strength Training

Strength training is a big goal for anyone playing sports, powerlifting, those who want better control in daily activites or just wanting to be more physically fit. However, there is a lot that goes into building strength than just lifting weights. Targeting the proper neural adaptations and proper muscle types are the keys to gaining strength. Of course to those who are new to working out building muscle and strength will be quick at first. Your first few weeks of gains will be mostly based on increases of neural connections to your muscles that allow more muscle to be recruited at once allowing you to lift heavier weights.

For those starting out using extra loads(weights other than body weight) should not be done until a solid base is built. Begin with body weight exercises such as push ups, body weight squats, lunges, assisted pull ups/ chin up, and a good core training base with planks and stability training( see How To Train Your Core). These exercises will help all your muscles begin their neural adaptations as well as strengthen your joints and stabilizer mucles so that when you begin adding external loads you will be able to handle the loads better.

Here are some tips and ways to help build strength to help you in sports, lifting, or in your general fitness needs.

Ways to Build Strength

1. Muscle strength is in direct relation with muscle size. The bigger the muscle, the stronger it can become. Always preceed your strength training routine with a muscle building routine. For 4-6 weeks do weight training with reps in the 8-12 range. This range promotes muscle growth and will allow your muscles to grow in size before your strength phase allowing you to gain more strength in the long run. For ideas about ways to build muscle read Beginners Guide to the Gym Part III Building Muscle. Ladies dont worry if you think your going to get big and bulky by building muscle and strength. You lack the testosterone production to get the type of growth that men get with weight training and in the long run you will get the healthy look you want so relax.
2. When you start your strength phase keep your weights in a 2-7 range starting at the higher end and working up to the 2 rep range. Make sure you have back off weeks to allow your body to repair it self. For example rep ranges for your weeks should look like 7,6,5,4,5,4,3,4,3,2. This makes your strength phase 10 weeks but gives you back off weeks so that you can recover and allows you to keep your gains coming instead of hitting a plateau.
3. Use multi-joint exercises. I keep saying this in every post but the use of multi-joint exercises allow you to use more muscle, release more anabolic enzymes and giving you a better chance of building more strength. Also, for athletes trying to gain strength it allows them to train their muscles to work together which is key for sports performance. Athletes using single joint exercises are limiting themselves because in an athletic event or sports activity your body needs to work together and training only one muscle at a time is counterproductive to an athlete.
4. Use the proper weight. As with all weight training, using the proper weight for gaining strength is just as important. Keeping your weights heavy enough to get all the reps your supposed to and not more is key to gaining the strength you want.

Summing it Up
Building muscle strength is great for anyone trying to get better at sports, weight lifting, having better control of everyday activities, or anyone just wanting to improve their general fitness. Women need not to worry about gaining the type of muscle that men gain and should continue weight training for whatever their fitness goal. Remember the bigger your muscle, the stronger it can become. Use multi-joint exercises to increase muscle involvement and release more anabolic(building) enzymes. Keep the weights heavier(if possible depending on fitness level and injury status) in the 2-7 rep range to get he strength your looking for. Always, remember to start out easy before getting into hard stressing workouts. 

Dont forget about the "Featured Friday Article"

Hey just a reminder to everyone email me today at mh05740@gmail.com with any questions or topics you want me to answer or cover and ill write about it on friday in the Featured Friday Article. Hurry, the topic goes to the first person to email me!

How To Train Your Core

This post was done by Troy Grube, a great friend of mine and fellow member of the Salisbury University Laboratory for Human Performance. Troy is also a lifeguard and Personal Trainer whom everyone can gain a great bit of fitnowledge from. Enjoy.

Core training (abs, hips, and lower back) is an important piece to everybody’s fitness goals. Power lifters, field athletes, and even weight loss oriented gym goers should include core work as an important aspect of their workout regiment.

If you’re thinking, “I already do 500 sit-ups a day, this advice isn’t for me.” Stay tuned; there is a lot of room for new improvements. Sit-ups, although valuable as a measure of general fitness, are not the necessarily best way to train your core. Stability training is the best route to take when looking for a strong core.

The best part of stability training is that you can do it while you work out the rest of your body. Through the use of these simple pieces of gym equipment and small weight lifting tricks:

Buso ball:

This is my favorite piece of equipment in the gym. It is a half moon shaped ball, usually blue, and has a flat plastic side. You can stand on either the blue, inflatable side or the black flat plastic side. Standing on either side can be very challenging because it is difficult to balance, use your core muscles to stabilize your body and prevent you from falling. I tell my clients all the time, “do your best L.L. Cool J impression.” Once you are comfortable standing on the ball, incorporate it into your other lifts. Anything that is done standing up can be done on a buso ball. Curls, shoulder press, tricep extensions, even squats and deadlifts can be done while standing on the ball.

Swiss ball:

This full sized inflatable ball is a little bit more difficult to manage but incredibly valuable. Although not impossible standing on this ball is far more challenging; I prefer to use it as a platform. Lying on top of this ball and using it as a bench is a great alternative to conventional bench press. Also, propping your feet up on the ball and doing push-ups is a great way to work both your chest, arms and core.

Unilateral or Suitcase Exercises:

Have you ever carried something very heavy that only fits in one hand? Like a duffle bag or a cooler? If you have, you notice that your body tends to tip to help make it easier to carry. Well using that principle in weight lifting helps us train our core muscles. Curls are always a great example of a suitcase exercise. Grab only one dumbbell to do your curl work with next time. Stand in front of the mirror and get to work. Make sure that your shoulders are level and that you are keeping your core tight (doing your L.L. Cool J impression). This same principle will work for any exercise that you are holding weight below your shoulders. Try it with heavy dumbbell deadlifts or lunges and feel the difference.

These methods of training your core not only works better than sit-ups on the floor or silly As Seen on TV products; but can show great dividends toward whatever your fitness goals may be. Many power lifters would be surprised how much of a limiting factor your core is. Working your core can improve most, if not all of your other lifts such as squats cleans and deadlifts. Field athletes need their core to be among their strongest body parts. Core muscles help speed, power and especially strength out of awkward positions, which is often in any sport. Most importantly though, those of you or are weight loss oriented and are trying to burn as many calories as possible in a short window of time can benefit immensely from stability training. By working on an unstable surface you are forcing your body to contract more muscle, and therefore burning more calories. Stability training is useful for everybody in gym.

Beginners Guide to the Gym- What to do- Part III Building Muscle

Building muscle is a great goal to have with any fitness plan. With more muscle you will be stronger and able to better handle your dailiy activities, you will have more control and balance when performing simple tasks such as walking and running and you will also burn more calories everyday. It takes more energy to keep the muscle you have because your body must provide it with nutrients to sustain it. So if you put on muscle and keep your nutritional habits the same your body will have to use more stored energy(Fat) to keep it. There are so many benefits to increasing your muscle that it is poposterous that people dont try to do it in the fight to lose weight.

Im sure that many women will see this and think that I dont want to get huge and I'm afraid of putting on too much muscle. STOP IT! Putting on muscle is going to happen no matter what type of training you do. Whether its the smaller Type 1 fibers or the larger Type 2 fibers your goign to build muscle. But you arent going to be able to build the type of muscle that men can build because of your low amounts of testosterone. So stop worrying and start building.

Ways to Build Muscle

1. Multi Joint Exercises- Ive talked about these in a previous post but these are exercises that require more than one joint to perform(i.e., bench press, squat, row, lat pull down, deadlift). These types of exercises use and incorporate more muscle than single joint exercises(i.e., bicep curls, tricep extentions) which means that you will be building more because your using more.  
2. Proper weight- The key to building muscle is using the right weight. With the information you learned from the post on weight selection you need to find a weight for each exercise that allows you to perform between 8-15 reps. This range keeps you in the hypertrophy/endurance range which gives you the ability to build muscle size or with the higher rep range build muscle without as much size. Most women will choose to stay between 12-15 reps because you will still build the muscle just without the same effort put towards the larger muscles fibers.
3. If you workout 3 days a week continue to work your whole body with weight training each day. Pick 1-2 exercises to perform for each part of your body(chest, shoulders, back, legs, arms). Try to use free weights as much as you can because they strain your body more than the machine because you have to keep the weight steady throughout unlike the machine that keeps the weight steady. If your lifting 4 days a week your going to want to back away from full body training because you wont give yourself enough rest in between. Try to break your workouts down into body motions and not body parts when going 4 days a week. Breaking down into body parts tends to lead to more single joint exercises but if your doing exercises with the same motion it leads to more multi joint. Try this:
1. Monday-Upper body pushing: Chest presses, shoulder presses, dips and all variations of these exercises
2. Tuesday- Lower body pulling: Leg Curl, Deadlifts, Glute/Ham Raise and all variations of these exercises
3. Thursday- Upper body pulling: Bent row, Lat Pulldown, Shoulder Raise, Upright Row and all variations of these exercises
4. Friday-  Lower body pushing: Leg Press, squat, lunge and all variations of these exercises
4. Proper Nutrition- Building muscle isnt about just lifting properly, nutrition is a huge part of any fitness goal and without proper nutrition you will never reach your goals of building muscle. Read my post on Pre- and Post- Workout Nutrition to learn the best way to fuel your body for workouts and the best way to start the repair process after your workouts.
5. Multiple Sets- The more you overload your muscles the better gains you get in muscle size and strength. So complete at the very least 2 but 3-4 is preferable.

Summing it Up
Building muscle is a great way to help increase weight loss, gain strength and making all of your daily activities easier. When trying to build muscle use exercises that require more muscles and joints(Multi-Joint Exercises). Make sure to pick a weight that challenges you but doesnt make you fail on the first set. Complete multiple sets to increase your gains. If your working out more than 3 days a week break your workouts down into muscle actions and not body parts. Get the proper nutrition you need to fuel your workouts and help repair them afterward. Building muscle has more benefits than it does cons so never be afraid of building muscle and women dont be afraid of getting big and bulky like man, unless your taking steroids and lifting like a body builder, your going to be fine. Now stop worrying and start building!