The problem with training strictly on machines is supportive muscles don’t get challenged. If you are new to weight training, starting out on machines is ideal because it guides your movements, keeping you in the correct motion path.

When you are ready to advance your strength training, jump off the machines and grab some free weights (dumbbells or kettlebells). You may need to drop weight for the same type of exercise.

Remember, the machines guide you through the motion, and the supportive muscles don’t get many activations of supportive tissue. Those supportive muscles will be challenged and noticeably weak when you switch to free weights. In fact, it’s best to drop the weight when you first start out using free weights. This will help prevent injuries and ensure you develop proper form. Do NOT start free weight training using heavy weights!

If you want to optimize the effects of your workout sessions, be sure to properly fuel before the activity and AFTERWARDS. Once you put in the hard work, your body is primed for nutrient intake and ready to utilize what you consume efficiently. Your window of opportunity to maximize what your body does with the food you eat is 2-hours.

Especially important during this 2-hour window is to include protein. Protein will aid in muscle repair. Good quality carbs are also important to help refill your muscles’ stored glycogen. Glycogen is your immediate fuel source when you begin working out. Properly refueling will help you perform better the next day’s workout session.

So, post-workout, combine protein with carbs.
==> Protein helps Repair
==> Carbs help Replenish

Are you on good health “behavior” during the weekdays, but when the weekend hits, you loosen up on your diet, thinking that when Monday rolls around, you’ll just run it off? If so, you are likely frustrated that all your good efforts lead you to seemingly no success. Why?

If you are essentially “cheating” from Friday through Sunday, you potentially are consuming 9500 calories! This is assuming you completely let up on your dietary restrictions. Now, Monday comes around, and you go for a 5-mile run. That run will only burn around 500 calories…nowhere near what you might have consumed in excess by letting loose on the weekend.

A treat here and there is fine; just keep in mind you will get nowhere fast in achieving healthy living if you are only good on the weekdays. Relaxing on the weekend is one thing, but don’t completely blow it!

If your feet and legs support your body during an activity, that’s “weight-bearing” (jog/run, hike, dance, stair climb, even walk). Strength training provides even more bone-protective effects.

GOAL: Aim for 30-45 minutes three to five times per week.

This is likely the cause of falls and fractures in older adults. It is definitely a factor in weight gain. As muscle is lost, your natural ability to burn calories coincides, resulting in a slower metabolism or the rate at which your body burns calories. Less muscle = slower calorie burn.

Muscle is an active tissue meaning a leaner person burns more calories than a fluffier person while just sitting and reading this blog post. Fat is a storage tissue holding onto calories. As we age, strength training becomes imperative to keep your metabolism from slowing to a snail’s pace. Add to that… muscle keeps you strong and STABLE. Do you want to be that old person on the floor screaming, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up”? No, you don’t! It’s time to add strength training to your routine.

You know what it means to hit a plateau if you have exercised long enough. Hitting a plateau (or no longer seeing results) can be frustrating. Results are no longer evident. The good news — It’s not your fault!

The reality is our bodies were designed to adapt and think of survival, an efficiency necessary for surviving harsh elements. The fix is quite simple… Modify or change up your workout program every 6 to 8 weeks.

Sticking with a program for 6 to 8 weeks allows you to get the most out of the program. But sticking with it beyond that period doesn’t reap further benefits. You have to change, giving your body new challenges to adapt.

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Start exercising!

According to The National Weight Control Registry, 89% of people who combined diet and exercise successfully kept their weight off for OVER a year.

Losing weight through diet alone is tough, especially if you’ve been inactive for many years. The problem comes down to the type of tissue you’ve developed through years of not exercising… fat tissue.

Exercise preserves muscle tissue. Not exercising for a prolonged period means you lose muscle, and gains in fat typically follow. As much as you might dread the idea of exercising, it’s almost imperative if you truly want to be successful at losing weight.

Jumping rope for just 10 minutes equals about 30 minutes of running! It’s an extremely efficient activity to achieve big fitness gains. You’ll strengthen your thighs, glutes, and calves. In addition to toning the lower body, the upper body will be toned, and you’ll also strengthen your heart and bones.

GOAL: Try jumping rope for up to 10 minutes 3 to 5 days per week.

This sounds easier than it actually is. You will likely have to start jumping rope for 1-2 minutes and resting 30-60 seconds between jump sets. Build up to continuous jumping as tolerated.

While you can’t stop aging or the aging process, you can significantly slow it down with good daily habits. This includes exercise! Of special note, as you get older, the more strength training you do, the more you will slow aging. And stretch!

The other preventive actions are dietary and include eating more fruits and veggies and limiting sugar and alcohol. Fruits and veggies build you up and fight for you on the inside. Too much sugar and/or alcohol wreaks internal havoc. Is giving up something that’s not good for you really all that depriving?

Ask yourself if that short moment of satisfaction is worth the long-term effects. If you claim it is worth the consequence of weight gain, pain, health disease, etc., don’t complain when you are plagued with ailments. Remember…being C-Fit is the result of mindful axns!

Are you meeting your protein needs each day? It’s easy to calculate. Take your weight in pounds and multiply that number by 0.36. The number you get is the minimum amount of protein you should eat in a day.

If you are well hydrated, blood flows through your vessels more easily. So, better blood flow to your muscles means more nutrients are delivered, and more waste products are carried away.

To perform your best, you have to stay hydrated. This is true for exercise as well as any mental tasks.

The easiest way to know you are drinking enough is by paying attention to the color of your urine. Light yellow to clear = hydrated.

Exercise is your best detox!

You have to sweat else you are not doing much good. Get your heart pumping to burn off fat and clear out toxins!

Toxins in fat include pesticides, preservatives, food additives, heavy metals, pollutants, plastic, and environmental chemicals.

Solution?
Get Active to the Point of Sweating!