Excuses

Exercise has the ability to change body shape, reduce body fat, fight disease, rehabilitate from injury and even delay the inevitable ageing process. All you have to do in return for these priceless gifts is that you participate on a regular basis.

You don't even have to join an expensive gym, buy lots of fitness gizmos or even exercise hard. All that's required is a couple of hours a week to challenge your heart and lungs, move your joints and strengthen your postural muscles and you, too, could have good health and a good body to match.

For such a small outlay you'd think that people would be flocking to this 'wonder pill' in droves, but this really isn't the case at all. Aside from January when thousands of us sign up for gym memberships and exercise classes, it seems that there are always more people quitting rather than starting fitness programmes and diets.

The reasons for quitting are many, with some of them sounding really quite credible, yet a deeper inspection reveals them for what they are... excuses!

This excuse-making may be the result of a little-known yet highly contagious medical condition known as Exercisicus Excusicus.

The following is a guide to this most persistent of medical symptoms, allowing both health professionals and sufferers alike to identify and overcome this condition.

Symptom 1: The patient complains that they do not have enough time to incorporate even the briefest of exercises.

Diagnosis: Time is the easiest of all excuses, as it seems that if there is no time, there is no time. Yet realistically, it's highly improbable that someone has no time at all to spare, unless they are literally on the go from when they rise to when they go to bed.

Cure:1. Cut out (or down) on the time-intensive, non-essential parts of your day, like TV watching or chatting on the phone
2. Work out near to home or work to save on travel time – even better, walk to or from work for at least part of the journey
3. Use the stairs at work or at the tube station and ban yourself from lifts or escalators
4. Use workout videos at home
5. Hire the services of a personal trainer – let them plan and organise your sessions at the time and place of your choice. You'll also find that the cost of cancelling will do wonders for your time management!

strength & Conditioning : keeping altogether

Many coaches tend to view strength and conditioning as two separate entities – “We strength train and then we condition”.

Oftentimes, this sort of thought process leads to a rigid compartmentalization of qualities as the coach is trying to develop too many different and/or competing qualities at one time.  This sort of separation ends up creating an antagonistic environment within the training program and can have a dampening effect on the end result as the individual does not have the opportunity to really develop one thing, but rather, becomes a jack of all trades and master of none.

Perhaps it may be more beneficial to look at both strength and conditioning as a singular entity working together to enhance the physiological state of the athlete.  In doing so, we can efficiently establish training phases that prioritize whatever fitness quality we are looking to enhance.

For example, if the athlete is just starting their training program (perhaps coming back from an injury, the start of offseason training after taking time off, or a total beginner with a training age of zero) your initial goal would be to develop general fitness in order to set them up for more intense training and higher volumes of training in later phases.  Therefore, your training program in this phase should reflect that goal and the methods you choose – whether it be lifting weights or performing conditioning on the field – should work together and not compete with one another.  In this example, the resistance portion of the program should be of a lower intensity (65-75%) for a moderate number of reps and the methods selected for your field work should be lower intensity also (tempo runs, aerobic plyometric activities, cardiac output work, etc).  This does not mean that you cannot work at a little higher intensity/lower reps in resistance training, it does not mean that you cannot work on a low volume of plyometrics, and it does not mean that you cannot work on a more intense method at the field; HOWEVER, these sorts of things are not the priority at this time!  A greater amount of your training should be spent focusing on the goal of the training phase, keeping strength and conditioning as one singular entity, and only a very small percentage of the time should be spent with the other qualities.  This allows you to prioritize your training – give the athlete what they need - without making things too cluttered and having a program that it schizophrenic.  I know block periodization is very popular these days and there seems to be a ton of semantics surrounding that stuff depending on which book you read and which coach you listen to.  I really don’t think it has to be any more complicated than: Train everything but have only one emphasis at a time and rotate that emphasis as the training program progresses on. 

The way that I do it is I set up a spread sheet and put down each phase and the length of time I am looking to spend in each phase (obviously this is flexible depending on how the athlete is progressing) across the top of the page.  On the left side of the page I write down the various qualities and from there, I fill in the boxes determining how much frequency each quality will be trained in a given phase, again, always keeping the goal in mind and the idea that strength and conditioning are not separate and need to work together. 

What about hypertrophy training and general fitness?

A young strength coach asked me a question recently about setting up training phases and was concerned that doing more hypertrophy type of training in the first phase (a quality that some of his rugby athletes needed) would interfere with their development of cardiac output in the conditioning portion of the workout because the hypertrophy work would be more “anaerobic” in nature.

I think it can be easy to get swept away in all of this stuff and writing a training program can be a daunting task as there seems to be so much stuff to consider.  In this instance, however, I don’t see too much of a problem.  First, it is important to remember that most people who are unfit and in need of cardiac output type training are going to make some anaerobic adaptations first.  What I mean by this is that anything they do with any little bit of intensity will push them up into an anaerobic state to meet the demands of the task.  Of course, after a few weeks of this sort of training, they will begin to make the necessary adaptations, their fitness level will increase, and it will take a different sort of stimulus/stress to get more changes and improvements.  For an athlete in need of hypertrophy training, 2-3x/week of hypertrophy specific work with low to moderate volume (when just starting out on the training program) should be sufficient to see those sorts of adaptations.  This leaves a lot of time to develop the main quality of cardiac output and ensure that the athlete is recovering properly and making the adaptations that you seek.

I think the key thing is to look at your training week and ensure that you are managing stress well and that the progressions you are using are sound and not destroying the athlete right from the get go.  Too often coaches will start a training program with incredibly high amounts of volume and/or intensity only to have an athlete that is broken down 3-4 weeks later.  As I talked about in a previous article, Movement Reserve: Enhancing the Physiological Buffer Zone, managing stress and training appropriately are paramount.  An athlete who is just starting their training program should be eased into the process to ensure they are sufficiently tolerating the stresses you are exposing them to and the training program should be created to help them develop a higher level of fitness over several weeks.  Train only as much as you need to get an adaptation and then no more.  The problem of undertraining is an easy one to remedy – simply add a little more work and see if you get the changes you want.  The problem of overtraining can be a bit more difficult as you are always trying to playcatch up with the athlete as they are generally breaking down more frequently from training and needing to take time off only to try and start over again.  Additionally, if the athlete is overtraining because they are slammed from their offseason training program, as the pre-season approaches this presents a serious problem as the athlete is not going to be able to miss practice or pre-season games, causing the strength coach to determine what parts of training the athlete should miss out on or scale back on and then sometimes the athlete will also need therapy (which is an additional stress on the system).

At the end of the day it really comes down to two things:

1) Figure out what you need from your training program and prioritize that.  Don’t separate strength and conditioning, as they should work together.  Separating them causes the program to have mixed messages as there is a bleed over between strength and conditioning when they are trained as separate functions and one will start to rob the other.

2) Manage stress, start slow, progress properly, and only train as much as you need to get what you want.

Can Diet Soda Cause you to Gain Weight?

With so many people drinking soda, coffee or popping diet pills it was a must for me to explain all the positive and negative things associated with this highly addictive stimulant. I’m going to give you the Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly. Everything we do and eat must have balance. Too much caffeine can have some bad side effects.

The GOOD- (if taken in moderation, 1-2 cups of coffee or tea, and no sugar added)
- You become more alert and think clearer
- Increases your short-term memory
- Can help you stay younger feeling
- Short term improves your mood and overcomes depression, creating an
- Can increase exercise intensity and stamina
- Can be used as a painkiller
- Grows brain cells in the areas of the brain responsible for long-term memory

The BAD-(in excess, drinking it morning, noon and night)

- Mood Swings

- Insomnia

- Weight Gain

- Depression

- Anxiety

- Energy swings

The UGLY-(downright gross)

Many people who are addicted to caffeine were shown to be addicted to another stimulate called tobacco. We all know the risks of smoking such as cancer, emphysema to name a few. Caffeine can be just as addicting and have some negative effects such as anxiety, mood swings, insomnia and periods of fatigue during the day. You want to keep your body balanced energy wise pretty much from the moment you wake up till the moment you go to bed other then your workout where you will need to fuel your body with foods that will spike your energy levels for better performance and when you are getting ready for bed you need to become much more calm and relaxed so you can sleep properly. Drinking things like soda and coffee in excess will cause imbalance of energy levels, which means you will have higher energy levels temporarily but you will crash than will have feeling of fatigue and depression. You want to stay away from soda for another reason, the large amount of sugar and empty calories. Sugar is the one thing that must be eliminated for your diet for you to achieve the body and health you desire. When you take too much sugar in at once your insulin levels spike causing you to store fat that is not burned off. The key is trying to get all your energy from working out and eating the proper foods. Start adding oatmeal in the morning and brown rice for lunch these are slower digestive carbohydrates that are geared to give you long term energy not the super high, super low feeling

Not enough reason to quit yet, ok keep reading.

ADDICTED TO SODA, HOW TO QUIT?

So now down to the nitty giddy… How do I quit drinking soda, IM ADDICTED? Over 5 years ago my mother went through a period of time where she was drinking up to 6 cans or more per day. Each one of these very popular soft drinks had over 35 grams of sugar and 200 calories in them. That’s 800-1200 calories and over 140-260 grams of sugar causing her constant up and downs throughout the day and weight gain over that period of time. When she started crashing she would drink another can to keep her energized. Needless to say I showed her what I used my soda for, I opened my hood on my car to find a corroded battery cable.. I poured my soda all over the corrosion and to her surprise it ate all of it off the battery. I also shared with her a study they did with a bolt and a popular soda that she happened to drink. They placed the bolt into the soda and within a period of time the soda had 100% eaten the bolt. What does this do to your insides? My mother soon quit all sodas and switched to nothing but water. In 3 months she lost 20 lbs just because of the soda and felt far more energized throughout the day. Initially she was tired and told me she was having headaches but it was only a matter of time when even the thought of soda seemed disgusting. PEOPLE GET OFF THE SODA there is no other way to put it. It’s an addiction much like other addictions, you only have control of the situation when you take control, until then your soda will have control and cause a downward plunge. You will look in the mirror one day and ask yourself “what has happened to me”.
Where do soda calories go if they are not burned off? Yep that’s right, your butt, your things, your arms and your stomach, EVERYWHERE. If you are genetically bigger in your butt then your butt is going to get bigger ladies. Men your stomach growing on you and those 33 jeans no longer fit, get off the soda. Soda will make cause highs and lows throughout the day and you will gain extra weight which means you have to buy bigger clothes, is all of this worth it to you all over something that is 100% controllable

The findings come from eight years of data collected by Sharon P. Fowler, MPH, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. Fowler reported the data at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Diego.
Fowler’s team looked at seven to eight years of data on 1,550 Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white Americans aged 25 to 64. Of the 622 study participants who were of normal weight at the beginning of the study, about a third became overweight or obese.
For regular soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
• 26% for up to 1/2 can each day
• 30.4% for 1/2 to one can each day
• 32.8% for 1 to 2 cans each day
• 47.2% for more than 2 cans each day.
For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
• 36.5% for up to 1/2 can each day
• 37.5% for 1/2 to one can each day
• 54.5% for 1 to 2 cans each day
• 57.1% for more than 2 cans each day.
For each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person’s risk of obesity went up 41%.

There is something within Diet soda that is causing people to become hungrier, it could be the fact they feel they are dieting with the soda so they super size everything or an actual chemical that is causing their brain to increase their appetite.

When you do decide to let this addiction go you will go through a week or so period of time of headaches and low energy, this is common but be prepared by taking your multi vitamins, eat healthy foods and get your workouts in. Substitute your soda for water. Water is yummy and does the body good. We typically eat or drink certain things because we love the taste but you have to look at food and drinks as your fuel for the day and your workouts not short term satisfaction that only makes your life more difficult.

DROP THE POP
SODA IS SUICIDE TO THAT BODY YOU DESIRE

HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING: THE OPTIMAL PROTOCOL FOR FAT LOSS?

As exercise intensity increases, the proportion of fat utilized as an energy substrate decreases, while the proportion of carbohydrates utilized increases . The rate of fatty acid mobilization from adipose tissue also declines with increasing exercise intensity This had led to the common recommendation that low- to moderate-intensity, long duration endurance exercise is the most beneficial for fat loss . However, this belief does not take into consideration what happens during the post-exercise recovery period; total daily energy expenditure is more important for fat loss than the predominant fuel utilized during exercise . This is supported by research showing no significant difference in body fat loss between high-intensity and low-intensity submaximal, continuous exercise when total energy expenditure per exercise session is equated. Research by Hickson et al further supports the notion that the predominant fuel substrate used during exercise does not play a role in fat loss; rats engaged in a high-intensity sprint training protocol achieved significant reductions in body fat, despite the fact that sprint training relies almost completely on carbohydrates as a fuel source.

Some research suggests that high-intensity exercise is more beneficial for fat loss than low- and moderate-intensity exercise. Pacheco-Sanchez found a more pronounced fat loss in rats that exercised at a high intensity as compared to rats that exercised at a low intensity, despite both groups performing an equivalent amount of work. Bryner found a significant loss in body fat in a group that exercised at a high intensity of 80-90% of maximum heart rate, while no significant change in body fat was found in the lower intensity group which exercised at 60-70% of maximum heart rate; no significant difference in total work existed between groups. An epidemiological study found that individuals who regularly engaged in high-intensity exercise had lower skinfold thicknesses and waist-to-hip ratios (WHRs) than individuals who participated in exercise of lower intensities. After a covariance analysis was performed to remove the effect of total energy expenditure on skinfolds and WHRs, a significant difference remained between people who performed high-intensity exercise and people who performed lower-intensity exercise.

Tremblay performed the most notable study which demonstrates that high-intensity exercise, specifically intermittent, supramaximal exercise, is the most optimal for fat loss. Subjects engaged in either an endurance training (ET) program for 20 weeks or a high-intensity intermittent-training (HIIT) program for 15 weeks. The mean estimated energy cost of the ET protocol was 120.4 MJ, while the mean estimated energy cost of the HIIT protocol was 57.9 MJ. The decrease in six subcutaneous skinfolds tended to be greater in the HIIT group than the ET group, despite the dramatically lower energy cost of training. When expressed on a per MJ basis, the HIIT group's reduction in skinfolds was nine times greater than the ET group.

A number of explanations exist for the greater amounts of fat loss achieved by HIIT. First, a large body of evidence shows that high-intensity protocols, notably intermittent protocols, result in significantly greater post-exercise energy expenditure and fat utilization than low- or moderate-intensity protocols. Other research has found significantly elevated blood free-fatty-acid (FFA) concentrations or increased utilization of fat during recovery from resistance training (which is a form of HIIT) . Rasmussen found higher exercise intensity resulted in greater acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) inactivation, which would result in greater FFA oxidation after exercise since ACC is an inhibitor of FFA oxidation. Tremblay found HIIT to significantly increase muscle 3-hydroxyacyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase activity (a marker of the activity of b oxidation) over ET. Finally, a number of studies have found high-intensity exercise to suppress appetite more than lower intensities and reduce saturated fat intake .

Overall, the evidence suggests that HIIT is the most efficient method for achieving fat loss. However, HIIT carries a greater risk of injury and is physically and psychologically demanding , making low- and moderate-intensity, continuous exercise the best choice for individuals that are unmotivated or contraindicated for high-intensity exercise.

The Hayemaker Retires - Hayemaker News - The Official Hayemaker Website

The Hayemaker Retires - Hayemaker News - The Official Hayemaker Website

La Guerra contra las Grasas.

La Guerra contra la Grasa.

“La pérdida de grasa es una guerra. Tienes que atacar con todo lo que tienes. No es escoger un estilo de vida; es una batalla”.

En los últimos meses a través de mi empresa Sports Performance Center he asistido a seminarios y he hecho varios cursos con algunos gurus del fitness/acondicionamento físico cómo Alwyn Cosgrove, Martin Rooney y he visitado algunos de los mejores gimnasios / centros deportivos de EEUU como Results Fitness, Athletes Performance y creo que es nuestro deber compartir estas ideas con vosotros.

Hoy en día la pérdida de grasa es, sin duda, un de los grandes temas de la actualidad, uno de los grandes retos personales, todos queremos estar en forma. A todos nos gusta que nos digan lo bien que estamos... ¡Qué bien te sientan esos pantalones! Es verdad, ¿no?

Pero para llegar a ese punto hay un gran camino por delante. Tiene que haber un gran cambio de mentalidad, hay que hacer un “mind set”.

Tenemos que tener nuestro objetivo bien definido. Es como poner nuestro destino en el GPS y seguir bien nuestro camino. Tenemos un principio y un fin, una ruta.

A lo largo de este tiempo, muchas personas han pensado que el cardio es la mejor manera o el mejor camino para perder grasa.

¿Pero será verdad, o los conceptos simplemente cambiaron un poco?

Sabemos que la dieta es la clave principal para la pérdida de grasa. Cuando queremos añadir el ejercicio a nuestra dieta, pensamos que el cardio aeróbico es la forma mas efectiva para aprovechar nuestra hora de entrenamiento.

Así os paso algunas ideas en cuanto a la jerarquía de la pérdida de peso, defendidas por Alwyn Cosgrove:

1. Una correcta nutrición.

No hay mucho que se pueda hacer si estás haciendo una dieta que no es la adecuada.

Lo importante es que tienes que crear un déficit calórico, comiendo la suficiente proteína y grasa esencial. No hay que darle más vueltas.

Pero ¡cuidado!, si consumimos muy pocas calorías, sólo para que el cuerpo realice las funciones básicas, éste desacelerará todo su mecanismo y no tendrás energía suficiente para que el cuerpo funcione eficientemente.

Las dietas muy estrictas y muy bajas en calorías no necesariamente queman más grasa corporal, sino que quemarás masa muscular, y esto hace que tu metabolismo se ralentice.

2. Ver Punto nº1.

Si, en realidad es muy importante la dieta. La única diferencia entre entrenar para ganar musculo o entrenar para perder grasa, es la Dieta. ¡Es así de simple! Pero lo más importante y efectivo, es una correcta nutrición para alcanzar tu objetivo.

3. Actividades que queman calorías, mantienen y aumentan la masa muscular, y te aceleran el metabolismo.

La gran mayoría de calorías quemadas son determinadas por nuestra tasa de metabolismo en reposo. La cantidad de calorías que se queman sin estar en reposo (haciendo ejercicio, por efectos térmicos, etc.) son una pequeña cantidad que contribuyen al total de las calorías quemadas al día.

También podemos decir que la Tasa de Metabolismo Residual (TMR) se basa en la cantidad de músculo que tiene nuestro cuerpo y la intensidad con la que lo trabajamos. Además, añadiendo actividades que hagan aumentar o mantener nuestra masa muscular, harán que ésta trabaje y aumente la tasa metabólica.

La verdad sobre la pérdida de grasa no es cuánto quemas durante tu entrenamiento, sino lo que tu cuerpo está quemando durante el resto del día.

4.- Actividades que queman calorías y aumentan nuestro metabolismo.

El siguiente nivel en los entrenamientos para la pérdida de peso, será buscar actividades que consuman muchas calorías y aumenten el consumo de oxígeno, después de hacer ejercicio.

El “Exceso de Consumo de Oxígeno Post-Ejercicio” se define científicamente como “la recuperación de la tasa metabólica a los niveles que teníamos antes de entrenar” y se podrían llegar a necesitar varios minutos, para entrenamientos ligeros y varias horas, para entrenamientos interválicos de alta intensidad.

Esencialmente estamos buscando ejercicios/actividades que nos mantengan quemando más calorías después de la sesión de entrenamiento.

Estos son algunos de los entrenamientos que proponemos.

1.- Entreno metabólico con resistencia.

Nuestro objetivo es que hagas un trabajo intenso y frecuente con todos los grupos musculares, y con esta intensidad crearás un “disturbio” metabólico o un “afterburn”, que deja nuestro metabolismo elevado por varias horas, después del entreno.

2.- Entrenamiento Interválico de alta intensidad.

Este tipo de entrenamiento es el segundo ingrediente para el programa de pérdida de peso, el entrenamiento interválico de alta intensidad (EIAI).

Este tipo de entrenamiento eleva más tu metabolismo que cualquier otro entrenamiento de cardio.

En resumen, tenemos que tener en mente que el entrenamiento intensivo o interválico, es para nosotros uno de los mejores cuando quieres volver a tu talla, siempre complementado con una buena dieta.

Para añadir una pérdida extra de calorías, sólo tienes que moverte, poner tu cuerpo en movimiento.

Pero tienes que tener atención para que no entres en “sobre-entrenamiento”, porque puede afectar tu recuperación y a tu próximo entrenamiento.

Métodos hay muchos principios hay pocos; los métodos cambian frecuentemente pero los principios no.

BIO CONT.

Here i'm again.
It was a very good session tonight.good effort from the players .tonight after the dynamic warm up we spilt the group in two ,and we work in a circuit with 5 stations  4 set of 40" on 15"off, to change stations the players had throttle to the other station.
Well this my first blog so let me continue the story of my life.
Since i was young all i want to do was play sports, Basketball ,Football , Judo,Karate,swimming ....
so every free time i had i was playing.
when i was at the school if you want to find me it was at the field playing with my friends, ( i miss that )
Good friends i have ,actually we still speaking and remember the good times we had together.
So all my life i want to do what im doing now,so i can say that i follow my dream !!!

SO MY FIRST ADVICE OF MY BLOG IS FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS , NEVER GIVE UP BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.